METHOD FOR SELECTING SAFETY MEASURES TO BE TAKEN TO INCREASE THE SAFETY OF VEHICLE OCCUPANTS

• US 20110178682A1
• Filed: 08/26/2009
• Published: 07/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Wellhoefer, Matthias Marcus, Freienstein, Heiko
• Granted Patent: US 8,831,829 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/45
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0018 Roll-over
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0072 Convertible cars
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/00 Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks safety belts or body harnesses in vehicles B60R22/00; devices, apparatus or methods for life-saving in general A62B; safety devices for propulsion unit control specially adapted for, or arranged in, vehicles B60K28/00; seats constructed to protect the occupant from the effect of abnormal g-forces, e.g. crash or safety seats, B60N2/42; energy-absorbing arrangements for hand wheels for steering vehicles B62D1/11; energy-absorbing arrangements for vehicle steering columns B62D1/19; harnessing in aircraft B64D25/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096725 where the received information generates an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09675 where a selection from the received information takes place in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station

Abstract

In a method for selecting safety measures to be taken to increase the safety of occupants of a vehicle, which safety measures relate to a hazard due to environmental influences, a relevance of the hazard is inferred from received position data and warning message data, and at least one safety measure, which includes activation of an actuator in a vehicle, is selected and taken as a function of the relevance.

Claims

1-10. -10. (canceled)

11. A method for selecting at least one safety measure to be taken to provide safety of occupants of a vehicle in response to a hazard due to environmental influences, comprising:

receiving position data of the vehicle;

receiving warning message data;

determining in the vehicle a relevance of a hazard to the vehicle based on the received position data of the vehicle and the received warning message data; and

selecting and implementing at least one of multiple available safety measures as a function of the determined relevance of the hazard, wherein the multiple available safety measures include at least one measure involving activation of an actuator in the vehicle.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the relevance of the hazard is determined additionally based on sensor data provided by at least one sensor unit of the vehicle.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the warning message data include classification data, and wherein a type of the hazard is inferred from the classification data.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the at least one safety measure is selected as a function of the type of the hazard.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the selecting and implementing at least one safety feature includes determining as a function of the relevance of the hazard whether at least one safety measure involving activation of an actuator in the vehicle is selected.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the at least one safety measure is selected using the classification data and selection data provided by a memory unit.

17. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the at least one safety measure is selected using received measured data.

18. A control unit for selecting at least one safety measure to be taken to provide safety of occupants of a vehicle in response to a hazard due to environmental influences, comprising:

a first interface configured to receive warning message data;

a second interface configured to receive position data of the vehicle;

a third interface configured to interact with at least one actuator; and

an arithmetic unit configured to;

(i) determine a relevance of a hazard to the vehicle based on the received position data of the vehicle and the received warning message data;

and (ii) select and implement at least one of multiple available safety measures as a function of the determined relevance of the hazard in such a way that an actuator is activated via the third interface.

19. The control unit as recited in claim 18, further comprising:

a fourth interface configured to interface with at least one sensor unit of the vehicle, and wherein the arithmetic unit determines the relevance of the hazard additionally based on sensor data provided by the at least one sensor unit.

20. The control unit as recited in claim 19, wherein the arithmetic unit determines a type of hazard based on classification data included in the warning message data.