Potable Geo-Coded Audio

• US 20090326806A1
• Filed: 06/30/2008
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors Corporation (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Patenaude, Russell A., Meissner, Christine E.
• Granted Patent: US 9,116,008 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/206
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/343 Calculating itineraries, i.e. routes leading from a starting point to a series of categorical destinations using a global route restraint, round trips, touristic trips travelling salesman problem G06Q10/04; optimisation of routes G06Q10/047
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3644 Landmark guidance, e.g. using POIs or conspicuous other objects
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3697 Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level G01C21/3679 takes precedence

Abstract

A method of providing route guidance to a vehicle user via a telematics unit comprises reading geo-coded route data from a removable medium at the telematics unit, the geo-coded data comprising a list of location and events associated with respective actions. The system senses the vehicle location and event status during the course of a trip. If the vehicle location matches a vehicle location listed in the geo-coded route data, the system executes an action associated in the list with that location and if a sensed event status indicates the occurrence of an event listed in the geo-coded route data, the system executes an action associated in the list with that event.

Claims

1. A system for providing route guidance to a user of a vehicle, the system comprising:

a telematics unit associated with the vehicle, adapted to act on geo-coded data to take one or more action selected from the group consisting of (1) playing an assigned audio file at an assigned geographic location and (2) executing an assigned action upon the occurrence of a specified event;

a computer linked to a data source for retrieving geo-coded data from the data source; and

a removable memory medium for use in conjunction with the computer and the telematics unit, whereby the geo-coded data is transferred from the computer to the telematics unit via the removable memory medium.

2. The system for providing route guidance to a user of a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the removable memory medium is a flash drive.

3. The system for providing route guidance to a user of a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the data source is a network server communicably linked to the computer.

4. The system for providing route guidance to a user of a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the assigned action includes notifying a specified person.

5. The system for providing route guidance to a user of a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the specified event includes one or more of a collision, vehicle warning, and departure from a specified route.

6. A computer-readable medium having thereon computer-executable instructions for executing a route plan comprising actions associated with specified locations and specified events, the computer-executable instructions comprising:

instructions for reading the route plan;

instructions for checking the location of a vehicle and comparing the location of the vehicle to the specified locations and if the location of the vehicle matches a specified location, executing a specified action associated with the specified location; and

instructions for sensing a vehicle event and comparing the vehicle event with the specified vehicle events, and if the sensed vehicle event matches a specified vehicle event, executing an action associated with the specified vehicle event.

7. The computer-readable medium according to claim 6, wherein the specified actions include notifying a specified person.

8. The computer-readable medium according to claim 6, wherein the specified vehicle events include one or more of a collision, a vehicle warning, and departure from a specified route.

9. The computer-readable medium according to claim 6, wherein the specified actions include notifying multiple specified persons.

10. The computer-readable medium according to claim 6, wherein the specified actions include playing one or more specified audio files.

11. The computer-readable medium according to claim 6, wherein the specified actions include one or more phone numbers.

12. A method of providing route guidance to a vehicle user via a telematics unit, the method comprising:

reading geo-coded route data from a removable medium at the telematics unit, the geo-coded data comprising a list of location and events associated with respective actions;

sensing the vehicle location and event status during the course of a trip; and

if the vehicle location matches a vehicle location listed in the geo-coded route data, executing an action associated in the list with that location and if a sensed event status indicates the occurrence of an event listed in the geo-coded route data, executing an action associated in the list with that event.

13. The method of providing route guidance to a vehicle user according to claim 12, wherein the specified actions include notifying a specified person.

14. The method of providing route guidance to a vehicle user according to claim 12, wherein the specified vehicle events include one or more of a collision, a vehicle warning, and departure from a specified route.

15. The method of providing route guidance to a vehicle user according to claim 12, wherein the specified actions include notifying multiple specified persons.

16. The method of providing route guidance to a vehicle user according to claim 12, wherein the specified actions include playing one or more specified audio files.

17. The method of providing route guidance to a vehicle user according to claim 12, wherein the specified locations, events, and actions are configurable by a user by modifying the geo-coded route data on the removable medium.

18. The method of providing route guidance to a vehicle user according to claim 12, wherein the removable medium is a flash drive.

19. The method of providing route guidance to a vehicle user according to claim 12, wherein the list of actions includes one or more phone numbers.

20. The method of providing route guidance to a vehicle user according to claim 12, wherein the list of actions includes one or more email addresses.