PLATOON CONTROLLER STATE MACHINE
First Claim
1. A method of initiating a platoon between a host vehicle and a platoon partner, the method comprising:
- establishing communications with the platoon partner;
receiving a message that the platoon partner'"'"'s platoon control system is ready to platoon;
determining whether a platoon controller on the host vehicle is ready to platoon, wherein a multiplicity of platooning prerequisite checks must be met before the host vehicle is determined to be ready to platoon;
sending a host system ready to platoon message to the platoon partner, wherein the host system ready to platoon message is only sent to the platoon partner when the platoon controller on the host vehicle is determined to be ready to platoon and after the platoon partner'"'"'s platoon control system ready message has been received;
receiving a platoon partner ready to platoon message indicating that the platoon partner has consented to platooning, wherein the platoon partner ready to platoon message is only received after sending the host system ready to platoon message;
informing a driver of the host vehicle that the platoon partner is ready to platoon, wherein the driver is only informed that the platoon partner is ready to platoon after the platoon partner ready to platoon message has been received;
receiving an initiate platoon command from the driver;
initiating at least partially automated platoon control of the host vehicle in response to the initiate platoon command.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems, methods, controllers and algorithms for controlling a vehicle to closely follow another vehicle safely using automatic or partially automatic control are described. The described control schemes are well suited for use in vehicle platooning and/or vehicle convoying applications, including truck platooning and convoying controllers. In one aspect, methods of initiating a platoon between a host vehicle and a platoon partner are described. In another aspect, a number of specific checks are described for determining whether a platoon controller is ready to initiate platoon control of the host vehicle. In another aspect, a platoon controller that includes a state machine that determines the state of the platoon controller is described. In another aspect, methods for generating braking alerts to a driver of a vehicle while the vehicle is being at least semi-automatically controlled by a platoon controller are described.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of initiating a platoon between a host vehicle and a platoon partner, the method comprising:
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establishing communications with the platoon partner; receiving a message that the platoon partner'"'"'s platoon control system is ready to platoon; determining whether a platoon controller on the host vehicle is ready to platoon, wherein a multiplicity of platooning prerequisite checks must be met before the host vehicle is determined to be ready to platoon; sending a host system ready to platoon message to the platoon partner, wherein the host system ready to platoon message is only sent to the platoon partner when the platoon controller on the host vehicle is determined to be ready to platoon and after the platoon partner'"'"'s platoon control system ready message has been received; receiving a platoon partner ready to platoon message indicating that the platoon partner has consented to platooning, wherein the platoon partner ready to platoon message is only received after sending the host system ready to platoon message; informing a driver of the host vehicle that the platoon partner is ready to platoon, wherein the driver is only informed that the platoon partner is ready to platoon after the platoon partner ready to platoon message has been received; receiving an initiate platoon command from the driver; initiating at least partially automated platoon control of the host vehicle in response to the initiate platoon command. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for determining whether a platoon controller on a host vehicle is ready to initiate platoon control of the host vehicle, the method comprising:
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verifying that a platoon partner is currently in a ready to platoon state; verifying that the platoon partner is within a designated range of the host vehicle; verifying that communications between the host and the platoon partners are stable; and verifying that a tracking unit on the host has a fix on the platoon partner. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A platoon controller for controlling a host vehicle'"'"'s participation in a platoon that includes the host vehicle and a partner vehicle, the platoon controller comprising a state machine that determines the state of the platoon controller, wherein available states of the state machine when the host vehicle is designated a trailing vehicle include:
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a rendezvous state; a back system ready state; a back ready to platoon state; a back maintain platoon control state; and a back dissolve platoon state. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for generating braking alerts to a driver of a vehicle while the vehicle is being at least semi-automatically controlled by a platoon controller as a trailing vehicle in a platoon, the method comprising:
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determining a desired braking level based at least in part on information received from a platoon partner that is in front of the trailing vehicle; determining whether the desired braking level exceeds a maximum braking that can be commanded by the platoon controller; and when it is determined that the desired braking level exceeds the maximum braking that can be commanded by the platoon controller and additional braking is deemed necessary, issuing an alert to the driver to manually apply brakes. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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Specification