Enhanced lane negotiation

• US 10,562,450 B2
• Filed: 09/21/2015
• Issued: 02/18/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Prakah-Asante, Kwaku O., Chen, Yifan, Kolisetty, Padma Aiswarya, Tonshal, Basavaraj, Yang, Hsin-hsiang
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam, Mirza F
• Application Number:
  US15/749,268
• Publication Number:
  US 20180222386A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,611 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/00 Arrangement or adaptation of signal devices not provided for in one of main groups B60Q1/00 - B60Q7/00 , e.g. haptic signalling
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/00 Input parameters relating to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/12 Lane keeping
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18163 Lane change; Overtaking manoeuvres
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• 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: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection

Abstract

A time to lane crossing that is a measure of a time for a vehicle to cross from a lane to another lane, is determined. A lane negotiation characteristic that is a measure of a mean vehicle offset front the lane, is determined. A first mechanism is actuated in a wearable device when the time to lane crossing is below a first threshold and the lane negotiation characteristic exceeds a second threshold. A second mechanism is actuated in the vehicle when a lane negotiation controller detects an imminent lane departure.

Claims

1. A system, comprising a computer including a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the computer to:

actuate a lane detection warning controller to detect a lane departure;

determine a time to lane crossing that is a measure of a time for a vehicle to cross from a lane to another lane;

determine a lane negotiation characteristic that is a measure of a mean vehicle offset of a vehicle position within the lane;

provide a first output in a wearable device of a driver when the time to lane crossing is below a first threshold and the lane negotiation characteristic exceeds a second threshold;

then, after providing the first output in the wearable device of the driver, detect an imminent lane departure with the lane detection warning controller; and

then, upon detecting the imminent lane departure, provide a second output in the vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further include instructions to collect data from the vehicle.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the data include at least one of vehicle speed, vehicle trajectory, and visual inputs.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further include instructions to provide the first output only in the wearable device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the first output is a haptic output.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further include instructions to develop a lane departure profile for the driver based at least in part on driving behavior of the driver.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the memory stores a plurality of lane departure profiles for a plurality of drivers.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the first and second thresholds are based at least in part on the lane departure profile for a current driver.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further include instructions to provide the first output in the wearable device before providing the second output in the vehicle.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further include instructions to determine the lane negotiation characteristic with a first device that is the wearable device and a second device that is a user device.

10. A method, comprising:

actuating a lane detection warning controller to detect a lane departure;

determining a time to lane crossing that is a measure of a time for a vehicle to cross from a lane to another lane;

determining a lane negotiation characteristic that is a measure of a mean vehicle offset of a vehicle position within the lane;

providing a first output in a wearable device of a driver when the time to lane crossing is below a first threshold and the lane negotiation characteristic exceeds a second threshold;

then, after providing the first output in the wearable device of the driver, detecting an imminent lane departure with the lane detection warning controller; and

then, upon detecting the imminent lane departure, providing a second output in the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising collecting data from the vehicle.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the data include at least one of vehicle speed, vehicle trajectory, and visual inputs.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the data are collected by data collectors, the data collectors including at least one of radar, lidar, image sensors, and motion sensors.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising developing a lane departure profile for the driver based at least in part on driving behavior of the driver.