U-turn assistance

• US 10,723,352 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2015
• Issued: 07/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Schein, Victoria Leigh
• Primary Examiner(s): Trivedi, Atul
• Application Number:
  US16/060,460
• Publication Number:
  US 20180362035A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,693 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2300/14 Tractor-trailers, i.e. combinations of a towing vehicle and one or more towed vehicles, e.g. caravans; Road trains
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/215 Selection or confirmation of options
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/0953 the prediction being responsive to vehicle dynamic parameters
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18145 Cornering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/00 Estimation or calculation of non-directly measurable driving parameters for road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub unit, e.g. by using mathematical models
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/10 related to vehicle motion
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/08 Interaction between the driver and the control system
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3453 Special cost functions, i.e. other than distance or default speed limit of road segments
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3461 Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types, segments such as motorways, toll roads, ferries

Abstract

Methods, devices and apparatuses pertaining to U-turn assistance. The method may include receiving, by a computing device, vehicle information associated with a vehicle from a plurality of sensors that are placed on a plurality of locations of the vehicle and obtaining a length and a width of the vehicle based on the received vehicle information. The computing device may calculate a turning radius of the vehicle, and provide a recommendation for routing the vehicle based at least in part on the turning radius.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a mobile device, vehicle information associated with a vehicle from a plurality of sensors that are placed on a plurality of locations of the vehicle;

obtaining a length and a width of the vehicle based on the received vehicle information;

calculating a turning radius of the vehicle; and

providing a recommendation for routing the vehicle based at least in part on the turning radius, the recommendation including a U-turn event along a route if the U-turn event is feasible for the vehicle and not including the U-turn event along the route otherwise, the providing including

receiving, from an interface, a driving assistance request associated with the U-turn event,

collecting geographic information of a geographic location using a Global Positioning System (GPS) function of the mobile device,

determining a feasibility of the U-turn in a predetermined range of the geographic location using a U-turn algorithm based on the geographic information and the calculated turning radius of the vehicle, the feasibility specifying a likelihood of the vehicle being capable of making the U-turn at the geographic location, and

generating the recommendation to include the U-turn event or not include the U-turn event based on whether or not the feasibility of the U-turn indicates that the U-turn is feasible.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle includes a towing vehicle and a towed vehicle, and the receiving of the vehicle information associated with the vehicle includes receiving vehicle information of the towed vehicle.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of sensors includes a plurality of sensors that are temporarily attached to the towed vehicle.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the obtaining of the length and the width of the vehicle based on the received vehicle information comprises:

receiving, from a user, a selection including information of the towing vehicle;

obtaining a length and a width of the towing vehicle from a vehicle database; and

obtaining the length and the width of the vehicle based on the length and the width of the towing vehicle and the received vehicle information of the towed vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the interface comprises a human interface device installed on a dashboard or a steering wheel of the vehicle, and wherein the interface facilitates a communication between the mobile device and a driver of the vehicle.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing an additional geographic location for the U-turn in response to a determination that the feasibility of the U-turn event is less than a predetermined value.

7. The Method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving user feedback from the interface after the U-turn event occurs;

associating the geographic information with the vehicle information and the user feedback; and

storing the geographic information and the vehicle information.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving geographic information of a destination and geographic information of a current location of the vehicle;

determining a route using a routing algorithm based on the turning radius of the vehicle and the geographic information of the destination and the geographic information of the current location of the vehicle; and

providing information related to the route to a driver of the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving user feedback after the vehicle arrives the destination; and

modifying the routing algorithm based on the user feedback.

10. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory to maintain a plurality of components executable by the one or more processors, the plurality of components comprising;

a communication module configured to;

receive vehicle information associated with a vehicle from a plurality of sensors that are placed on a plurality of locations of the vehicle, and

obtain a length and a width of the vehicle based on the received vehicle information,

a calculation module configured to calculating a turning radius of the vehicle, and

a recommendation module configured to provide a recommendation for routing the vehicle based at least in part on the turning radius, the recommendation including a U-turn event along a route if the U-turn event is feasible for the vehicle and not including the U-turn event along the route otherwise, the operation to provide including to

receive, from an interface, a driving assistance request associated with the U-turn event,

collect geographic information of a geographic location using a Global Positioning System (GPS) function of the mobile device,

determine a feasibility of the U-turn in a predetermined range of the geographic location using a U-turn algorithm based on the geographic information and the calculated turning radius of the vehicle, the feasibility specifying a likelihood of the vehicle being capable of making the U-turn at the geographic location, and

generate the recommendation to include the U-turn event or not include the U-turn event based on whether or not the feasibility of the U-turn indicates that the U-turn is feasible.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the vehicle comprises a towing, vehicle and a towed vehicle, and wherein the receiving of the vehicle information associated with the vehicle comprises receiving vehicle information of the towed vehicle, and wherein the plurality of sensors comprise a plurality of sensors that are temporarily attached to the towed vehicle.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the communication module is further configured to:

receive, from a user, a selection including information of the towing vehicle;

obtain a length and a width of the towing vehicle from a vehicle database; and

obtain the length and the width of the vehicle based on the length and the width of the towing vehicle and the received vehicle information of the towed vehicle.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the communication module is configured to receive geographic information of a destination and geographic information of a current location of the vehicle, wherein the calculation module is further configured to determine a route using a routing algorithm based on the turning radius of the vehicle and the geographic information of the destination and the geographic information of the current location of the vehicle, and wherein the recommendation module is further configured to provide information related to the route to a driver of the vehicle.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the plurality of components further comprise a feedback module configured to:

receive user feedback after the vehicle arrives the destination; and

modify the muting algorithm based on the user feedback.

15. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

receive, at a mobile device, vehicle information associated with a vehicle from a plurality of sensors, the vehicle comprising a towing vehicle and a towed vehicle, the plurality of sensors placed on a plurality of locations of the towed vehicle;

obtain a length and a width of the vehicle based on the received vehicle information;

calculate a turning radius of the vehicle; and

provide a recommendation for routing the vehicle based at least in part on the turning radius, the recommendation including a U-turn event along a route if the U-turn event is feasible for the vehicle and not including the U-turn event along the route otherwise, the operation to provide including to

receive, from an interface, a driving assistance request associated with the U-turn event,

collect geographic information of a geographic location using a Global Positioning System (GPS) function of the mobile device,

determine a feasibility of the U-turn in a predetermined range of the geographic location using a U-turn algorithm based on the geographic information and the calculated turning radius of the vehicle, the feasibility specifying a likelihood of the vehicle being capable of making the U-turn at the geographic location, and

generate the recommendation to include the U-turn event or not include the U-turn event based on whether or not the feasibility of the U-turn indicates that the U-turn is feasible.

16. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the plurality of sensors include a plurality of sensors that are temporarily attached to the towed vehicle.

17. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the computer-executable instructions further comprise instructions that, when executed on the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

receive, from a user, a selection including information of the towing vehicle;

obtain a length and a width of the towing vehicle from a vehicle database; and

obtain the length and the width of the vehicle based on the length and the width of the towing vehicle and the received vehicle information of the towed vehicle.

18. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the computer-executable instructions further comprise instructions that, when executed on the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

receive user feedback from the interface after the U-turn event occurs;

associate the geographic information with the vehicle information and the user feedback; and

store the geographic information and the vehicle information.