VEHICLE LIGHT ANOMALY STATE WARNING

• US 20150279194A1
• Filed: 04/01/2014
• Published: 10/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Tseng, Fling, Dudar, Aed M., Makki, Imad Hassan, Jentz, Robert Roy
• Granted Patent: US 9,666,059 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/1423 Automatic dimming circuits, i.e. switching between high beam and low beam due to change of ambient light or light level in road traffic
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/314 Ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/47 Direct command from other road users, i.e. the command for switching or changing the beam is sent by other vehicles or road devices
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2900/50 Arrangements to reconfigure features of lighting or signalling devices, or to choose from a list of pre-defined settings
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/182 Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/185 Electrical failure alarms
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096725 where the received information generates an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 where the origin of the information is another vehicle

Abstract

A vehicle system includes a communication interface in communication with a processing device. The communication interface is configured to receive ambient light information from a remote server over a communication network. The processing device is configured to selectively enable a vehicle lighting system in accordance with the ambient light information.

Claims

1. A vehicle system comprising:

a communication interface configured to receive ambient light information from a remote server over a communication network;

a processing device configured to selectively enable a vehicle lighting system in accordance with the ambient light information.

2. The vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the processing device is configured to process the ambient light information to determine an amount of ambient light near a vehicle.

3. The vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the ambient light information includes at least one of a date, a time of day, a sunrise time, a sunset time, an amount of time after sunrise, an amount of time before sunset.

4. The vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the ambient light information includes weather information.

5. The vehicle system of claim 4, wherein the weather information includes at least one of a weather forecast, a current weather condition, and an amount of precipitation.

6. The vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the processing device is configured to process the ambient light information to determine whether to enable the vehicle lighting system.

7. The vehicle system of claim 1, further comprising a user interface device, wherein the processing device is configured to prompt the user to manually enable the vehicle lighting system based on the ambient light information.

8. The vehicle system of claim 7, wherein the processing device is configured to selectively enable the vehicle lighting system in accordance with a user input provided to the user input device.

9. The vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the communication interface is configured to receive ambient light information via a vehicle-to-vehicle communication protocol.

10. The vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the communication interface is configured to transmit ambient light information via a vehicle-to-vehicle communication protocol.

17. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising a user interface device, wherein the processing device is configured to prompt the user to manually enable the vehicle lighting system based on the ambient light information.

18. The vehicle of claim 17, wherein the processing device is configured to selectively enable the vehicle lighting system in accordance with a user input provided to the user input device.

11. A vehicle comprising:

a lighting system;

a communication interface configured to receive ambient light information from a remote server over a communication network;

a processing device configured to selectively enable the vehicle lighting system in accordance with the ambient light information.

12. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the processing device is configured to process the ambient light information to determine an amount of ambient light near the vehicle.

13. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the ambient light information includes at least one of a date, a time of day, a sunrise time, a sunset time, an amount of time after sunrise, an amount of time before sunset.

14. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the ambient light information includes weather information.

15. The vehicle of claim 14, wherein the weather information includes at least one of a weather forecast, a current weather condition, and an amount of precipitation.

16. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the processing device is configured to process the ambient light information to determine whether to enable the vehicle lighting system.

19. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the communication interface is configured to receive ambient light information via a vehicle-to-vehicle communication protocol.

20. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the communication interface is configured to transmit ambient light information via a vehicle-to-vehicle communication protocol.