TRAINABLE TRANSCEIVER AND CAMERA SYSTEMS AND METHODS

• US 20150302736A1
• Filed: 04/17/2015
• Published: 10/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gentex Corporation
• Original Assignee: Gentex Corporation
• Inventors: Geerlings, Steven L., Witkowski, Todd R., Wright, Thomas S., Smeyers, Marc A., Dorst, Jonathan E., Papay, Douglas C.
• Granted Patent: US 9,805,589 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/20 Binding and programming of remote control devices
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/21 Programming remote control devices via third means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/66 Remote control of cameras or camera parts, e.g. by remote control devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A system for installation in a vehicle and for controlling a remote device includes a camera, a trainable transceiver, and a control circuit coupled to the camera and the trainable transceiver. The control circuit is configured to use geographic location information to determine when to initiate a process of using the camera to identify the remote device and transmit an activation signal formatted to control the remote device. Upon initiation of the process, the control circuit is configured to use the camera to identify the remote device by comparing information received via the camera to information stored in memory, and wherein the control circuit is configured to automatically transmit an activation signal formatted to control the remote device, using the trainable transceiver, in response to identifying the remote device.

Claims

1. A system for installation in a vehicle and for controlling a remote device, comprising:

a camera;

a trainable transceiver; and

a control circuit coupled to the camera and the trainable transceiver, the control circuit configured to use geographic location information to determine when to initiate a process of using the camera to identify the remote device and transmit an activation signal formatted to control the remote device,

wherein, upon initiation of the process, the control circuit is configured to use the camera to identify the remote device by comparing information received via the camera to information stored in memory, and wherein the control circuit is configured to automatically transmit an activation signal formatted to control the remote device, using the trainable transceiver, in response to identifying the remote device.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a positioning system coupled to the control circuit and configured to provide the geographic location information to the control circuit.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a positioning system interface coupled to the control circuit and configured receive the geographic location information from a vehicle system or mobile communications device and to provide the geographic location information to the control circuit.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is configured to use geographic information corresponding with a location of the remote device and stored in memory to define a geographic boundary in relation to the remote device.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the control circuit is configured to initiate the process of using the camera to identify the remote device when the control circuit determines that a current location of the system is within the geographic boundary.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the geographic boundary is determined based on the location of the remote device stored in memory and a predetermined geographic boundary distance.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the control circuit is configured to store the geographic information corresponding with the location of the remote device during a training process in which the system is trained to control the remote device.

8. A system for installation in a vehicle and for controlling a remote device, comprising:

a trainable transceiver;

a camera; and

a control circuit coupled to the trainable transceiver and the camera, wherein the control circuit is configured to use the camera to identify the remote device by (A) comparing information received via the camera to information stored in memory and (B) comparing geographic location information corresponding to a positon of the vehicle with geographic information stored in memory and corresponding to one or more remote devices, and wherein the control circuit is configured to automatically transmit an activation signal formatted to control the remote device, using the trainable transceiver, in response to identifying the remote device.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the control circuit is configured to store the geographic information corresponding with locations of the one or more remote devices during training processes in which the system is trained to control the one or more remote devices.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the control circuit is configured to create a first geographic boundary based on the geographic information stored in memory and corresponding to a first remote device, and wherein the control circuit is configured to create a second geographic boundary based on the geographic information stored in memory and corresponding to a second remote device.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the control circuit is configured to identify, in part, the first remote device when the control circuit determines that the system is located within the first geographic boundary, and wherein the control circuit is configured to identify, in part, the second remote device when the control circuit determines that the system is located within the second geographic boundary.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the first remote device and the second remote device are associated with the same identifying information to which the control circuit compares the information received via the camera.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the first remote device and the second remote device are associated with the same machine readable image or identifying information contained within a machine readable image.

14. A method controlling a remote device using a system in a vehicle, comprising:

receiving, at a control circuit of the system, geographic information corresponding to the location of the vehicle;

comparing the geographic information corresponding to the location of the vehicle with geographic information stored in memory of the system and corresponding to the remote device;

determining, based on the comparison of the geographic information, whether the vehicle is within a predetermined distance of the remote device; and

in response to determining that the vehicle is within the predetermined distance;

receiving, via a camera of the system and at the control circuit, image data;

comparing, using the control circuit, the received image data to information stored in memory and corresponding to the remote device; and

in response to identifying the remote device, via the comparison, transmitting an activation signal formatted to control the remote device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the geographic information corresponding to the location of the vehicle is received from a positioning system coupled to the control circuit and configured to provide the geographic location information to the control circuit.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the geographic information corresponding to the location of the vehicle is received from a vehicle system or mobile communications device and to provide the geographic location information to the control circuit.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising establishing a geographic boundary defined in relation to stored geographic information corresponding to the remote device.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the control circuit is configured to determine that the vehicle is within a predetermined distance of the remote device when a current location of the system is within the geographic boundary.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the geographic boundary is established based on a location of the remote device stored in memory and a predetermined geographic boundary distance.

20. The system of claim 14, further comprising storing, in memory, the geographic information corresponding to the remote device during a training process in which the system is trained to control the remote device.