VEHICLE-BASED REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20180096684A1
• Filed: 10/04/2017
• Published: 04/05/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gentex Corporation
• Original Assignee: Gentex Corporation
• Inventors: Goote, Nicholas J., Geerlings, Steven L., Wright, Thomas S.
• Granted Patent: US 10,553,212 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/023 for transmission of signals between vehicle parts or subsystems
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/30 Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command

Abstract

A vehicle-based remote control system and method are provided herein. A first in-vehicle device and a second in-vehicle device are provided. The second in-vehicle device includes a user-input mechanism having at least one actuatable member, and a controller programmed to respond to input from the user-input mechanism. Upon actuation of the at least one actuatable member, the controller prompts the first in-vehicle device to transmit a pre-recorded user voice command assigned to the at least one actuatable member. The pre-recorded user voice command is transmitted to a server. The server processes the pre-recorded user voice command and generates a command for executing an action specified by the pre-recorded user voice command. The command is executed by one or more smart devices located remotely from a vehicle.

Claims

1. A remote control system of a vehicle, comprising:

a first in-vehicle device; and

a second in-vehicle device comprising;

a user-input mechanism; and

a controller programmed to respond to input from the user-input mechanism, wherein, upon actuation of the user-input mechanism, the controller prompts the first in-vehicle device to transmit an electronic communication resulting in a user voice command being supplied to a server, and wherein the server processes the user voice command and generates a command for executing an action specified by the user voice command.

2. The remote control system of claim 1, wherein the first in-vehicle device is a mobile electronic device and the second in-vehicle device is incorporated in a rearview mirror assembly of a vehicle.

3. The remote control system of claim 1, wherein the user voice command is pre-recorded and stored on the first in-vehicle device, wherein the electronic communication transmitted from the first in-vehicle device includes the user voice command.

4. The remote control system of claim 1, wherein the user voice command is pre-recorded and stored on a host server, wherein the electronic communication transmitted from the first in-vehicle electronic device includes an instruction prompting the host server to transmit the user voice command to the server.

5. The remote control system of claim 1, wherein the user voice command is assigned to the user-input mechanism and is transmitted to the server each time the user-input mechanism is actuated.

6. The remote control system of claim 1, wherein the command is for controlling one or more smart devices located remotely from the vehicle.

7. The remote control system of claim 6, wherein the one or more smart devices comprises a voice-controlled smart device connected to the server over the internet.

8. The remote control system of claim 1, wherein the command is for requesting information from one or more smart devices located remotely from a vehicle.

9. The remote control system of claim 1, wherein the command is for requesting a service from a web-based service provider.

10. The remote control system of claim 1, wherein when the command is executed, auditory feedback is played over a speaker of the mobile electronic device or a vehicle sound system.

11. The remote control system of claim 1, wherein the second in-vehicle device further comprises one or more visual indicators for expressing visual feedback after the command is executed.

12. A remote control system of a vehicle, the remote control system in communication with a first in-vehicle device and comprising:

a second in-vehicle device comprising;

a user-input mechanism having at least one actuatable member; and

a controller programmed to respond to input from the user-input mechanism, wherein, upon actuation of the at least one actuatable member, the controller prompts the first in-vehicle device to transmit a pre-recorded user voice command assigned to the at least one actuatable member, wherein the pre-recorded user voice command is transmitted to a server in communication with one or more smart devices located remotely from the vehicle.

13. The remote control system of claim 12, wherein the pre-recorded user voice command is assigned to the at least one actuatable member using an application stored on the first in-vehicle device.

14. The remote control system of claim 13, wherein the pre-recorded user voice command is spoken by a user and recorded using the first in-vehicle device, and wherein the pre-recorded user voice command is stored on the first in-vehicle device and is transmitted to the server for processing each time the at least one actuatable member is actuated.

15. The remote control system of claim 13, wherein the pre-recorded user voice command includes a generic voice command recording provided by the application, and wherein the generic voice command recording is stored on the first in-vehicle device and actuation of the at least one actuatable member causes the generic voice command recording to be transmitted to the server and processed thereby under a user directive.

16. The remote control system of claim 13, wherein the pre-recorded user voice command includes a semi-generic voice command recording provided by the application and requires a user to speak and record one or more words, wherein the application updates the semi-generic voice command recording with the speech recorded by the user, and wherein the updated semi-generic voice command recording is stored on the first in-vehicle device and is transmitted to the server for processing each time the at least one actuatable member is actuated.

17. The remote control system of claim 12, wherein the controller is further programmed to automatically prompt the first in-vehicle device to transmit a pre-recorded user voice command in response to input received from one or more vehicle equipment.

18. The remote control system of claim 12, wherein the one or more smart devices comprises at least one of a voice-controlled smart device and a smart device linked to the voice-controlled smart device.

19. The remote control system of claim 12, wherein the server processes the pre-recorded user voice command and generates a command for executing an action specified by the pre-recorded user voice command, and wherein the command is executed by the one or more smart devices.

20. A vehicle-based remote control method comprising the steps of:

providing an in-vehicle device comprising a user-input mechanism coupled to a controller, the user-input mechanism including at least one actuatable member having a pre-recorded user voice command assigned thereto;

supplying input from the user-input mechanism to the controller based on activation of the at least one actuatable member; and

using the controller to prompt another in-vehicle device to transmit the pre-recorded user voice command to a server in communication with one or more smart devices located remotely from a vehicle.