Subscription-based safety features in car sharing

• US 10,346,765 B2
• Filed: 07/15/2016
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2016
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Shiraishi, Shinichi, Kim, BaekGyu, Yamaura, Masahiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Vetter, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US15/211,199
• Publication Number:
  US 20180018591A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,089 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/30 Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/803 Driving vehicles or craft, e.g. cars, airplanes, ships, robots or tanks
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0075 Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0082 for initialising the control system
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/55 using telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0098 Details of control systems ensuring comfort, safety or stability not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles

Abstract

The disclosure includes implementations for providing subscription-based safety features in car sharing. A method may include subscription data describing how to modify an operation of a safety system of a vehicle based on the preferences of a driver. The driver may have reserved the vehicle for their use during a time period via a car sharing service. The safety system of the vehicle may be operable to provide a plurality of safety features. Configuration data included in the safety system may define which of the plurality of safety features are provided during the operation of the vehicle. The subscription data may describe the time period when the vehicle is reserved for the driver and a subset of the plurality of safety features for the vehicle that the driver prefers to be active during the time period. The method may include modifying the configuration data based on the subscription data.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a vehicle communicatively coupled to a reservation server via a wireless network; and

a client device communicatively coupled to the reservation server via the wireless network;

wherein the client device includes a client module that is operable to receive one or more inputs from a driver that define user profile data for the driver and reservation data for the driver, wherein the user profile data describes a subset of a plurality of safety features for the vehicle that the driver prefers to be active;

wherein the client module is operable to provide a simulated driving experience for a virtual version of the vehicle that was modified based on the subset of the plurality of safety features for the vehicle that the driver prefers to be active and, responsive to the driver approving of the simulated driving experience, confirming a reservation of the vehicle;

wherein the reservation server includes a server subscription system that is operable to receive the reservation data and the user profile data from the wireless network and generate subscription data for the vehicle based on the reservation data and the user profile data and transmit the subscription data to the vehicle via the wireless network;

wherein the subscription data describes the reservation for the driver and the subset of the plurality of safety features for the vehicle that the driver prefers to be active;

wherein the vehicle includes a safety system and a vehicle subscription system;

wherein the safety system is operable to provide the plurality of safety features for an operation of the vehicle based on configuration data that defines which of the plurality of safety features are provided by the safety system during the operation of the vehicle; and

wherein the vehicle subscription system is operable to receive the subscription data from the wireless network and modify the configuration data for the safety system based on the subscription data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle includes a processor and the safety system includes code and routines that are operable, when executed by the processor, to cause the processor to generate a plurality of in-vehicle virtual electronic control units that are programmed to provide the subset of the plurality of safety features based on the configuration data as modified by the subscription system.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the safety system includes a plurality of subsystems that provide the safety features, and the plurality of subsystems include two or more of the following:

an adaptive cruise control system;

an adaptive high beam system;

an adaptive light control system;

an automatic parking system;

an automotive night vision system;

a blind spot monitor;

a collision avoidance system;

a crosswind stabilization system;

a driver drowsiness detection system;

a driver monitoring system;

an emergency driver assistance system;

a forward collision warning system;

an intersection assistance system;

an intelligent speed adaption system;

a lane departure warning system;

a pedestrian protection system;

a traffic sign recognition system;

a turning assistant;

a pre-crash safety system; and

a wrong-way driving warning system.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the reservation server is operated by a car sharing service.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the vehicle is available for reservation by a plurality of users through the car sharing service.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the client device includes a smartphone and the client module includes a smartphone application for the car sharing service.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the reservation server includes a game engine that is operable to provide the simulated driving experience and the client module is operable to communicate with the game engine via the wireless network to receive graphical data from the game engine that causes the client module to display interactive graphical images on the client device which provide the simulated driving experience to the driver so that the driver can confirm correctness of the user profile data.

8. A system comprising:

a vehicle including a safety system, a subscription system and a communication unit;

wherein the safety system is operable to provide a plurality of safety features for an operation of the vehicle based on configuration data that defines which of the plurality of safety features are provided by the safety system during the operation of the vehicle;

wherein the communication unit receives user profile data from a wireless network and the user profile data describes a set of safety features to be activated when a driver operates the vehicle and the set of safety features are selected by the driver from the plurality of safety features so that the safety system operates in accordance with one or more preferences of the driver;

wherein the subscription system receives a confirmation of a reservation responsive to a client module providing a simulated driving experience for a virtual version of the vehicle that was modified based on a subset of the plurality of safety features for the vehicle that the driver prefers to be active and responsive to the driver approving of the simulated driving experience; and

wherein the subscription system is communicatively coupled to the communication unit to receive the user profile data from the communication unit and modify the configuration data based on the user profile data so that the safety system provides the set of safety features selected by the driver from the plurality of safety features so that the safety system operates the vehicle in accordance with the one or more preferences of the driver.

9. A method for providing subscription-based safety features in car sharing, the method comprising:

receiving, by a communication unit of a vehicle, subscription data describing how to modify an operation of a safety system of the vehicle based on one or more preferences of a driver for the operation of the safety system, wherein the safety system is operable to provide a plurality of safety features during the operation of the vehicle based on configuration data that defines which of the plurality of safety features are provided by the safety system during the operation of the vehicle and the subscription data describes a reservation for the driver and a subset of the plurality of safety features for the vehicle that the driver prefers to be active;

providing a simulated driving experience for a virtual version of the vehicle that was modified based on the subset of the plurality of safety features for the vehicle that the driver prefers to be active;

responsive to the driver approving of the simulated driving experience, confirming the reservation; and

modifying, by a processor of the vehicle, the configuration data of the safety system based on the subscription data, wherein the modifying of the configuration data results in the safety system providing only the subset of the plurality of safety features when the vehicle is operated by the driver.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising analyzing, by the processor of the vehicle, the subscription data to determine which portions of the configuration data to modify based on the subscription data to conform to the one or more preferences of the driver as described by the subscription data, wherein the modifying of the configuration data by the processor of the vehicle occurs responsive to the determination of which portions of the configuration data to modify so that the operation of the safety system conforms with the one or more preferences of the driver.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the configuration data as modified, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to generate a plurality of in-vehicle virtual electronic control units that are programmed to provide the subset of the plurality of safety features based on the configuration data as modified by the processor.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the safety system includes a plurality of subsystems that provide the safety features, and the plurality of subsystems include two or more of the following:

an adaptive cruise control system;

an adaptive high beam system;

an adaptive light control system;

an automatic parking system;

an automotive night vision system;

a blind spot monitor;

a collision avoidance system;

a crosswind stabilization system;

a driver drowsiness detection system;

a driver monitoring system;

an emergency driver assistance system;

a forward collision warning system;

an intersection assistance system;

an intelligent speed adaption system;

a lane departure warning system;

a pedestrian protection system;

a traffic sign recognition system;

a turning assistant;

a pre-crash safety system; and

a wrong-way driving warning system.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the car sharing service operates a reservation server that provides a wireless message that includes the subscription data.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the vehicle is available for reservation by a plurality of users through the car sharing service.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the driver has a smartphone that includes a smartphone application that is operable to reserve the vehicle with the car sharing service.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising a reservation server that receives user profile data from the driver describing the one or more safety features which the driver has subscribed to when reserving the vehicle with the car sharing service, wherein the reservation server generates the subscription data based at least in part on the user profile data and provides a wireless message including the subscription data to a wireless network.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising a client module that is operable by a client device of the driver, wherein the reservation server includes a game engine that is operable to provide the simulated driving experience for the virtual version of the vehicle that is modified based on the subset of the plurality of safety features for the vehicle that the driver prefers to be active and the client module is operable to communicate with the game engine via a wireless network to receive graphical data from the game engine that causes the client module to display interactive graphical images on the client device which provide the simulated driving experience to the driver so that the driver can confirm correctness of the user profile data.

18. A computer program product of a vehicle comprising a non-transitory memory storing computer-executable code that, when executed by a processor of the vehicle, causes the processor to:

receive a confirmation of a reservation responsive to a client module providing a simulated driving experience for a virtual version of the vehicle that was modified based on a subset of a plurality of safety features for the vehicle that a driver prefers to be active and responsive to the driver approving of the simulated driving experience;

receive subscription data describing how to modify an operation of a safety system of the vehicle based on one or more preferences of the driver for the operation of the safety system, wherein the safety system is operable to provide the plurality of safety features during the operation of the vehicle based on configuration data that defines which of the plurality of safety features are provided by the safety system during the operation of the vehicle and the subscription data describes the subset of the plurality of safety features for the vehicle that the driver prefers to be active; and

modifying, by the processor of the vehicle, the configuration data of the safety system, wherein the modifying of the configuration data configures the safety system to provide only the subset of the plurality of safety features when the vehicle is operated so that the operation of the safety system conforms to one or more safety features which the driver has subscribed to when reserving the vehicle.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the configuration data as modified, when executed by the processor of the vehicle, causes the processor to generate a plurality of in-vehicle virtual electronic control units that are programmed to provide the subset of the plurality of safety features based on the configuration data as modified by the processor of the vehicle.

20. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising a smartphone application is included in the client module and a reservation server that is operated by a car sharing service, wherein the smartphone application is communicatively coupled to the reservation server via a wireless network, wherein the driver provides inputs to the smartphone application via the smartphone that define (1) reservation data that describes a time period for reserving the vehicle for the driver and (2) user profile data that describes the subset of the plurality of safety features for the vehicle that the driver prefers to be active during the time period, wherein the smartphone application transmits the user profile data and the reservation data to the reservation server via the wireless network to reserve the vehicle with the car sharing service during the time period and cause the safety system of the vehicle to be configured based on the user profile data, wherein the subscription data is generated by the reservation server based on the reservation data and the user profile data, wherein the reservation server includes a game engine that is operable to provide the simulated driving experience and the smartphone application is operable to communicate with the game engine via the wireless network to receive graphical data from the game engine that causes the smartphone to display interactive graphical images on the smartphone which provide the simulated driving experience to the driver so that the driver has an opportunity to ascertain a correctness of the user profile data and provide an input describing the correctness of the user profile data prior to the time period associated with their reservation of the vehicle based on a performance of the virtual version of the vehicle in the simulated driving experience provided by the game engine.