RANGE MARKER FOR A NAVIGATION SYSTEM

• US 20120116670A1
• Filed: 11/09/2010
• Published: 05/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Rosekrans, Darin Paul
• Granted Patent: US 9,043,134 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/426
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3469 Fuel consumption; Energy use; Emission aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3626 Details of the output of route guidance instructions traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3697 Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level G01C21/3679 takes precedence

Abstract

Devices, methods and systems are disclosed herein to describe a range marker for a navigation system. The range marker may delineate a bounded area within a navigation map that a vehicle may travel based on the amount of fuel remaining. As the fuel continues to decrease during operation of the vehicle, the range marker may become smaller and smaller indicating a shrinking range since the fuel remaining decreases, thereby allowing the driver to easily identify which gas stations may be within a range of the vehicle (based on a current vehicle fuel level) and which gas stations might not be within the range of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A navigation unit configured to provide turn-by-turn directions, the navigation unit comprising:

a processor configured to receive or calculate a distance-to-empty information, the processor further configured to generate a range marker based on the distance-to-empty information;

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory configured to retrieve a location of a refueling station within an inner boundary of the range marker; and

a display configured to receive the range marker generated by the processor and the location of the refueling station, the display further configured to display both the range marker and the refueling station within the inner boundary of the range marker.

2. The navigation unit of claim 1, further comprising:

an input/output (I/O) interface coupled to the processor, the I/O interface configured to receive an input from a user to re-route the navigation unit to include turn-by-turn directions for leading the user to the location of the refueling station within the range marker; and

a route determination unit coupled to the I/O interface, the route determination unit configured to re-calculate turn-by-turn directions for leading the user to the location of the refueling station within the range marker,

wherein the display is further configured to output the turn-by-turn directions for leading the user to the location of the refueling station within the range marker.

3. The navigation unit of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to obtain a remaining fuel level and estimated fuel efficiency of the vehicle, and further configured to calculate the product of the remaining fuel level and estimated fuel efficiency to obtain the distance-to-empty information.

4. The navigation unit of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to transmit the distance-to-empty information and a current vehicle location information to the memory and request a location information for each refueling station with a distance equal to or less than the distance-to-empty information from a reference point defined by the current vehicle location.

5. The navigation unit of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to receive the distance-to-empty information from a vehicle control system.

6. The navigation unit of claim 5, wherein the navigation unit is integrated into a vehicle and communicates with the vehicle control system via a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus.

7. The navigation unit of claim 5, wherein the navigation unit is a third-party navigation system detachably connectable to a vehicle, and communicates with a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus of the vehicle control system via a Universal Serial Bus (USB).

8. The navigation unit of claim 1, wherein the refueling station is a gas station.

9. The navigation unit of claim 1, wherein the refueling station is a station providing electricity to an electric car.

10. A navigation system for providing a range marker and a refueling station within an inner boundary of the range marker, the navigation system comprising:

a navigation unit having a display, the navigation unit configured to;

request a first distance-to-empty information from a vehicle control system,

receive the first distance-to-empty information from the vehicle control system,

generate the range marker based on the first distance-to-empty information, the range marker having a radius size corresponding to the first distance-to-empty information,

determine a location of the refueling station within the inner boundary of the range marker, and

display the range marker and the location of the refueling station based on the first distance-to-empty information; and

a vehicle control system coupled to the navigation unit, the vehicle control system configured to;

receive a request from the navigation unit for the first distance-to-empty information,

retrieve the requested first distance-to-empty information, and

send the requested first distance-to-empty information to the navigation unit.

11. The navigation system of claim 10, wherein the navigation unit is further configured to:

request a second distance-to-empty information from the vehicle control system,

receive the second distance-to-empty information from the vehicle control system,

generate a new range marker, the new range marker having a radius size corresponding to the second distance-to-empty information, the new range marker having a smaller radius size compared to a previous range marker.

12. The navigation system of claim 11, wherein the navigation unit is further configured to remove a displayed refueling station when the location of the displayed refueling station is outside a boundary of the new range marker.

13. The navigation system of claim 10, wherein the refueling station is a gas station.

14. The navigation system of claim 10, wherein the refueling station is a station providing electricity to electric cars.

15. A method of providing a range marker and a refueling station on a navigation unit, the method comprising:

determining that a distance-to-empty is below a threshold;

activating a range marker mode in response to determining that the distance-to-empty is below the threshold; and

deactivating the range marker mode and activating a normal mode in response to determining that the distance-to-empty has increased from below the threshold to above or at the threshold.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the range marker mode comprises:

calculating the distance-to-empty;

calculating a radius of the range marker based on the distance-to-empty;

designating a refueling station as a nearby refueling station when the refueling station is within the radius of the range marker;

displaying nearby refueling stations and the range marker;

determining if a vehicle is refueled; and

in response to determining that the vehicle is refueled, removing the displayed nearby refueling stations and the range marker.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein in response to determining that the vehicle is not refueled, adjusting the radius of the range marker based on an updated distance-to-empty.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein in response to determining that no refueling stations are available within the range marker, transmitting a signal requesting assistance to a customer representative.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the range marker is a circular ring.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the range marker is a non-circular marker.