SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING WHEN A TASK MAY BE PERFORMED ON A VEHICLE

• US 20100289633A1
• Filed: 05/13/2009
• Published: 11/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations Incorporated (Motors Liquidation Co. GUC Trust)
• Inventors: Aryal, Bijaya, Angell, Linda S.
• Granted Patent: US 9,376,018 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/441
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/195 Blocking or enabling display functions
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/29 Instruments characterised by the way in which information is handled, e.g. showing information on plural displays or prioritising information according to driving conditions

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are provided for determining when a task may be performed on a vehicle that is moving. The method includes generating a driver workload value based on at least one task parameter describing a predetermined attribute of the task and preventing a user from performing the task if the driver workload value exceeds a predetermined driver workload threshold and the vehicle is moving.

Claims

1. A method for determining when a task may be performed on a vehicle, the method comprising:

generating a driver workload value based on at least one task parameter describing a predetermined attribute of the task; and

preventing a user from performing the task if the driver workload value exceeds a predetermined driver workload threshold and the vehicle is moving.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a value of the at least one task parameter.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one task parameter comprises a task status parameter and the step of determining further comprises determining the value of the task status parameter based on the current status of the task.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of determining the value of the task status parameter, wherein the value of the task status parameter corresponds to one of a newly initiated status, a pending status, a terminated status, and a completed status.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one task parameter further comprises a task type parameter and the step of determining further comprises determining the value of the task type parameter, wherein the value of the task type parameter corresponds to one of a plurality of predetermined task types.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one task parameter further comprises a task structure parameter and the step of determining further comprises determining the value of the task structure parameter based on a predetermined attribute of the structure of the task.

7. The method claim 2, wherein:

the step of determining further comprises determining the value of at least one vehicle parameter that describes an attribute of the vehicle; and

the step of generating further comprising generating the driver workload value, wherein the driver workload value is further based on the at least one vehicle parameter.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one vehicle parameter comprises a vehicle motion parameter and the step of determining further comprises determining the value of the vehicle motion parameter based on a predetermined attribute of the motion of the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one vehicle parameter comprises a vehicle environment parameter and the step of determining further comprises determining the value of the vehicle environment parameter based on a predetermined attribute of the environment of the vehicle.

10. A system for determining when a task may be performed on a vehicle, the system comprising:

a user interface for receiving input from a user of the vehicle;

a processor coupled to the user interface and configured to;

generate a driver workload value in response to input from the user, wherein the driver workload value is based on at least one task parameter describing an attribute of the task and at least one vehicle parameter describing an attribute of the vehicle; and

lock-out the task if the driver workload value exceeds a predetermined driver workload threshold and the velocity of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined velocity threshold.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a value of the at least one task parameter and the at least one vehicle parameter before generating the driver workload value.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one task parameter comprises a task status parameter that identifies the current status of the task.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the current status of the task is one of a newly initiated status, a pending status, a terminated status, and a completed status.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one task parameter further comprises a task type parameter that identifies one of a plurality of predetermined task types.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one predetermined task parameter further comprises at least one task structure parameter that describes a predetermined attribute of the structure of the task.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one vehicle parameter further comprises a vehicle motion parameter describing a predetermined attribute of the motion of the vehicle.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one vehicle parameter further comprises a vehicle environment parameter describing a predetermined attribute of the environment of the vehicle.

18. A method for determining when a user of a vehicle may perform a task on a user interface, the method comprising:

determining a value of at least one task parameter that describes an attribute of the task and at least one vehicle parameter that describes an attribute of the vehicle;

generating a driver workload value, wherein the driver workload value is a function of the at least one task parameter and the at least one vehicle parameter; and

locking-out the task if the driver workload value exceeds a predetermined driver workload value and the velocity of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined velocity threshold.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one task parameter comprises a task status parameter, a task type parameter, and a task structure parameter and the step of determining further comprises:

determining the value of the task status parameter based on the current status of the task, wherein the current status of the task is one of a newly initiated status, a pending status, a terminated status, and a complete status;

determining the value of the task type parameter based on a task type that corresponds to the task, wherein the task type is one of a menu-selection task type, a list-selection task type, and an alphanumeric keypad task type; and

determining the value of the task structure parameter based on a predetermined attribute of the structure of the task.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one vehicle parameter further comprises a vehicle motion parameter and a vehicle environment parameter and the step of determining further comprises:

determining the value of the vehicle motion parameter based on a predetermined attribute of the motion of the vehicle; and

determining the value of the vehicle environment parameter based on a predetermined attribute of the environment of the vehicle.