ALERT SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR A VEHICLE

• US 20130342338A1
• Filed: 05/14/2013
• Published: 12/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: GREEN, CHARLES A., KIEFER, RAYMOND J., GRIMM, DONALD K.
• Granted Patent: US 9,701,245 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/438
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/008 for anti-collision purposes
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/143 Alarm means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/095 Predicting travel path or likelihood of collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/16 Tactile feedback to the driver, e.g. vibration or force feedback to the driver on the steering wheel or the accelerator pedal
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/168 Driving aids for parking, e.g. acoustic or visual feedback on parking space

Abstract

A method of alerting a driver of a vehicle is provided. The method includes: receiving conditions data from one or more collision avoidance systems; determining an alert mode based on the conditions data, wherein the alert mode indicates at least two of alert conditions, vehicle conditions, and driving scenarios; and at least one of arbitrating, synchronizing, and combining at least two alert patterns associated with the at least two of the alert conditions, the vehicle conditions, and the driving scenarios and associated with one or more alert devices.

Claims

1. A method of alerting a driver of a vehicle, comprising:

receiving conditions data from one or more collision avoidance systems;

determining an alert mode based on the conditions data, wherein the alert mode indicates at least two of alert conditions, vehicle conditions, and driving scenarios; and

at least one of arbitrating, synchronizing, and combining at least two alert patterns associated with the at least two of the alert conditions, the vehicle conditions, and the driving scenarios and associated with one or more alert devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more alert devices comprise one or more of a haptic alert device, one or more of an auditory alert device, and one or more of a visual alert device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one of arbitrating, synchronizing, and combining the at least two alert patterns comprises arbitrating the at least two alert patterns associated with a single alert device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the arbitrating the at least two alert patterns comprises arbitrating based on a predefined priority scheme to determine a preferred pattern.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one of arbitrating, synchronizing, and combining the at least two alert patterns comprises combining the at least two alert patterns associated with a single alert device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the combining the at least two alert patterns comprises at least one of summing and superimposing the at least two alert patterns.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one of arbitrating, synchronizing, and combining the at least two alert patterns comprises arbitrating the at least two alert patterns associated with at least two different alert devices.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the arbitrating the at least two alert patterns comprises arbitrating based on a predefined priority scheme to determine a preferred pattern.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one of arbitrating, synchronizing, and combining the at least two alert patterns comprises synchronizing the at least two alert patterns associated with at least two different alert devices.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the conditions data is from at least one of a line-of-sight collision avoidance system and a non-line-of-sight collision avoidance system.

11. A control system for alerting a driver of a vehicle, comprising:

a first module that receives conditions data from one or more collision avoidance systems, and that determines an alert mode based on the conditions data, wherein the alert mode indicates at least two of alert conditions, vehicle conditions, and driving scenarios; and

a second module that at least one of arbitrates, synchronizes, and combines at least two alert patterns associated with the at least two of the alert conditions, the vehicle conditions, and the driving scenarios and associated with one or more alert devices.

12. The control system of claim 11, wherein the one or more alert devices comprise one or more of a haptic alert device, one or more of an auditory alert device, and one or more of a visual alert device.

13. The control system of claim 11, wherein the second module arbitrates at least two alert patterns associated with a single alert device.

14. The control system of claim 13, wherein the second module arbitrates at least two alert patterns associated with the single alert device based on a predefined priority scheme to determine a preferred pattern.

15. The control system of claim 11, wherein the second combines at least two alert patterns associated with a single alert device.

16. The control system of claim 15, wherein the second module combines at least two alert patterns associated with the single alert device by at least one of summing and superimposing the alert patterns.

17. The control system of claim 11, wherein the second module arbitrates the at least two alert patterns associated with at least two different alert devices.

18. The control system of claim 17, wherein the second module arbitrates the at least two alert patterns associated with at least two different alert devices based on a predefined priority scheme to determine a preferred pattern.

19. The control system of claim 11, wherein the second module synchronizes the at least two alert patterns associated with at least two different alert devices.

20. The control system of claim 11, wherein the conditions data is received from at least one of a line-of-sight collision avoidance system and a non-line-of-sight collision avoidance system.