Providing a notification to an occupant using a vehicle seat

• US 10,457,165 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2017
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Incorporated (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Toyoda, Heishiro, Lenneman, John K., Domeyer, Joshua E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cuong H
• Application Number:
  US15/443,711
• Publication Number:
  US 20180244173A1
• Time in Patent Office: 974 Days
• Field of Search: 701 49, 180282, 318445, 280734, 280735
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/02246 Electric motors therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0268 using sensors or detectors for adapting the seat or seat part, e.g. to the position of an occupant
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0276 reaction to emergency situations, e.g. crash
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2002/981 Warning systems, e.g. the seat or seat parts vibrates to warn the passenger when facing a danger
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2040/0872 Driver physiology
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/105 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/045 Occupant permissions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/223 Posture, e.g. hand, foot, or seat position, turned or inclined
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/225 Direction of gaze
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/00 Purposes of road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub-unit, e.g. of systems using conjoint control of vehicle sub-units
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/08 related to drivers or passengers
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/16 Tactile feedback to the driver, e.g. vibration or force feedback to the driver on the steering wheel or the accelerator pedal
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/001 Planning or execution of driving tasks

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing a notification of an upcoming acceleration to an occupant of a vehicle are disclosed herein. The vehicle includes a seat that is movable in one or more directions. The vehicle can identify a direction and magnitude of acceleration corresponding to an upcoming maneuver. The vehicle can also track one or more states of the occupant. The vehicle can generate control signals to move the seat based on the state of the occupant and the direction and magnitude of the acceleration for the upcoming maneuver.

Claims

1. A system for providing a notification of an upcoming acceleration to an occupant of a vehicle on a roadway, the system comprising:

a camera, configured to monitor the occupant;

a seat;

one or more seat actuators, the one or more seat actuators being operatively connected to the seat;

a processor operatively connected to the one or more seat actuators; and

a memory operatively connected to the processor, the memory storing;

an acceleration identification module including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to

identify a direction and magnitude of vehicle acceleration corresponding to a maneuver associated with the vehicle;

a state tracking module including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to

track a state of the occupant based on data received from the camera; and

determine, based on the received data, whether a gaze of the occupant is directed towards the roadway; and

a seat actuation module including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to

determine a seat acceleration rate, relative to the vehicle, in a direction corresponding to the direction of the vehicle acceleration, the seat acceleration rate based on the magnitude of the vehicle acceleration for the maneuver and the state of the occupant, wherein the seat acceleration rate includes a first seat acceleration rate when the gaze of the occupant is not directed towards the roadway and a second seat acceleration rate when the gaze of the occupant is directed towards the roadway, the first seat acceleration rate being different than the second seat acceleration rate; and

generate a signal to activate the one or more seat actuators to move the seat at the determined seat acceleration rate.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the state tracking module includes instructions that cause the processor to determine whether the occupant is sleeping based, at least in part, on the state of the occupant.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the seat actuation module includes instructions that cause the processor to generate the signal that moves the seat responsive to the occupant sleeping.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the seat acceleration rate includes a third seat acceleration rate when the occupant is sleeping.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the third seat acceleration rate is greater than the first seat acceleration rate.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the acceleration identification module further includes instructions that cause the processor to compare the magnitude of the vehicle acceleration to an acceleration threshold, and wherein the seat actuation module includes instructions that cause the processor to generate the signal to activate the one or more seat actuators to move the seat, relative to the vehicle, when the magnitude of the vehicle acceleration is greater than the acceleration threshold.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an automated control module including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to generate one or more control signals that cause the vehicle to execute the maneuver.

4. A method of providing a notification of an upcoming acceleration to an occupant of a vehicle on a roadway, the method comprising:

monitoring the occupant with a camera;

receiving data based on the monitoring of the occupant;

tracking a gaze of the occupant based on the received data;

identifying a direction and magnitude of vehicle acceleration corresponding to a maneuver associated with the vehicle;

determining a seat acceleration rate, relative to the vehicle, in a direction corresponding to the direction of the vehicle acceleration, and based on the magnitude of the vehicle acceleration and the gaze of the occupant, wherein the seat acceleration rate includes a first seat acceleration rate when the gaze of the occupant is not directed towards the roadway and a second seat acceleration rate when the gaze of the occupant is directed towards the roadway, the first seat acceleration rate being different from the second seat acceleration rate; and

generating a signal, to activate one or more seat actuators to move a seat at the determined seat acceleration rate.

14. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

determining whether the occupant is sleeping based, at least in part, on the gaze of the occupant.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first seat acceleration rate includes a third seat acceleration rate when the occupant is sleeping and a fourth seat acceleration rate when the occupant is not sleeping, and

further comprising generating the signal to activate the one or more seat actuators to move the seat at the third seat acceleration rate when it is determined that the occupant is sleeping.

16. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

comparing the magnitude of the vehicle acceleration to an acceleration threshold, and wherein generating the signal to activate the one or more seat actuators to move the seat, relative to the vehicle, is performed when the magnitude of the vehicle acceleration is greater than the acceleration threshold.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

generating the signal to activate the one or more seat actuators to move the seat at the fourth seat acceleration rate when it is determined that the occupant is not sleeping and the gaze of the occupant is not directed towards the roadway.

9. A system for providing a notification of an upcoming acceleration to an occupant of a vehicle on a roadway, the system comprising:

a camera, configured to monitor the occupant;

a seat;

one or more seat actuators, the one or more seat actuators being operatively connected to the seat;

a processor operatively connected to the one or more seat actuators; and

a memory communicably coupled to the processor, the memory storing;

an acceleration identification module including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to

identify a direction and magnitude of vehicle acceleration corresponding to an upcoming maneuver associated with the vehicle;

a state tracking module including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to

track a gaze of the occupant based on data received from the camera, and determine, based on the received data, whether the gaze of the occupant is directed towards the roadway; and

a seat actuation module including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to

determine a seat acceleration rate, relative to the vehicle, in a direction corresponding to the direction of the vehicle acceleration, and based on the magnitude of the vehicle acceleration for the maneuver; and

generate, when the gaze of the occupant is determined not to be directed towards the roadway, a signal, to activate the one or more seat actuators to move the seat, relative to the vehicle, from a first position (i) in a direction corresponding to the direction of the vehicle acceleration, and (ii) at the determined seat acceleration rate.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the acceleration identification module further includes instructions that cause the processor to compare the magnitude of the vehicle acceleration to an acceleration threshold, and wherein the seat actuation module includes instructions that cause the processor to generate the signal to activate the one or more seat actuators to move the seat, relative to the vehicle, when the magnitude of the vehicle acceleration is greater than the acceleration threshold.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the state tracking module further includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to determine whether the occupant is sleeping.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the acceleration threshold is a first acceleration threshold, and wherein the acceleration identification module further includes instructions that cause the processor to compare the magnitude of the vehicle acceleration to a second acceleration threshold responsive to the occupant sleeping, the second acceleration threshold being greater than the first acceleration threshold.

13. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

an automated control module including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to generate one or more control signals that cause the vehicle to execute the upcoming maneuver.