System and method for providing route information to a driver of a vehicle

• US 7,865,298 B2
• Filed: 05/03/2007
• Issued: 01/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Motor Company
• Original Assignee: Ford Motor Company
• Inventors: Loftus, Michael Edward, Macneille, Perry Robinson
• Primary Examiner(s): Zanelli; Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US11/743,931
• Publication Number:
  US 20080275644A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,342 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 701/201
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 1/02 comprising more than one electric motor
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/365 with the gears having orbital motion
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/445 Differential gearing distribution type
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 15/2045 for optimising the use of energy
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/16 by display
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/08 including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/26 for electrical energy, e.g. batteries or capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/00 Control systems specially adapted for hybrid vehicles hybrid vehicle design, B60K6/00; electric vehicles B60L
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/143 Alarm means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/244 Charge state
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/246 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/15 Road slope, i.e. the inclination of a road segment in the longitudinal direction
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/20 Road profile, i.e. the change in elevation or curvature of a plurality of continuous road segments
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/00 Input parameters relating to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/20 Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/08 Interaction between the driver and the control system
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3469 Fuel consumption; Energy use; Emission aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3676 : Overview of the route on the road map
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/62 : Hybrid vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/64 : Electric machine technologies in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 : Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 : Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

A system and method for providing route information to a driver of a vehicle given a predetermined destination having more than one route available to reach the predetermined destination includes receiving a driver input indicating a vehicle operating preference. Operating characteristics for the vehicle, such as a predicted time to reach the predetermined destination, are determined for at least some of the routes. One of the routes is selected based at least in part on the determined operating characteristics and the vehicle operating preference. An informational output is provided to the driver indicating the selected route.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving an input indicating an operating preference including a relative state of charge of an energy storage device when a predetermined destination is reached;

determining operating characteristics for a vehicle including a predicted state of charge of the energy storage device for routes available to reach the predetermined destination; and

selecting one of the routes to be displayed based in part on the determined operating characteristics and the received operating preference.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating preference further includes a relative road utilization.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising segmenting one of the routes into a plurality of sub-routes, each of the sub-routes defining a respective intermediate destination;

wherein the step of determining vehicle operating characteristics includes determining vehicle operating characteristics for each of the sub-routes, and

the step of selecting one of the routes includes selecting one of the sub-routes based at least in part on the determined operating characteristics and the received operating preference.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining vehicle operating characteristics further includes:

receiving route information including topography and geography of the route for at least some of the routes; and

predicting the vehicle operating characteristics based at least in part on the received route information.

5. The method of claim 1, the vehicle further including a powertrain that includes an engine and the energy storage device, and wherein the step of determining vehicle operating characteristics further includes:

receiving route information including current traffic conditions for at least some of the routes;

predicting a speed and flow of traffic the vehicle is likely to encounter along the at least some of the routes based on received route information related to current traffic conditions; and

predicting fuel consumption for the at least some of the routes and the powertrain'"'"'s ability to provide the necessary power along the at least some of the routes based at least in part on the speed and flow of the traffic.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

advising a driver when a particular maneuver is necessary, including at least one of switching lanes, accelerating, braking, stopping, or turning.

7. A method for providing route information to a driver of a vehicle given a predetermined destination having more than one route available to reach the predetermined destination, the method comprising:

receiving an input indicating driver operating preferences for the vehicle, the driver operating preferences including a relative fuel economy for the vehicle and a relative state of charge of an energy storage device when the predetermined destination is reached;

executing an algorithm for evaluating at least some of the routes available to reach the predetermined destination, the algorithm including a plurality of variables defined by respective operating characteristics for the vehicle, including a predicted fuel economy for the vehicle and a predicted state of charge of the energy storage device, the driver operating preferences acting as modifiers for the variables;

selecting one of the routes based at least in part on the execution of the algorithm; and

providing an informational output indicating the selected route.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the driver operating preferences further include at least one of:

a relative travel time to reach the predetermined destination or a relative road utilization.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein each of the driver operating preferences defines a coefficient for a respective one of the variables in the algorithm.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising segmenting one of the routes into a plurality of sub-routes, each of the sub-routes defining a respective intermediate destination;

and

executing the algorithm for evaluating each of the sub-routes, and

wherein the step of selecting one of the routes includes selecting one of the sub-routes based at least in part on the execution of the algorithm, and

the step of providing an informational output includes providing an informational output indicating the selected sub-route.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising segmenting another one of the routes into a plurality of other sub-routes, each of the other sub-routes defining a respective intermediate destination;

and

executing the algorithm for evaluating each of the other sub-routes, and

wherein the step of selecting one of the routes includes selecting one of the other sub-routes based at least in part on the execution of the algorithm, and

the step of providing an informational output includes providing an informational output indicating the selected other sub-route.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving route information for the at least some of the routes, the route information including at least one of;

a distance to the predetermined destination traveling the route, topography and geography of the route, traffic infrastructure of the route, current traffic conditions along the route, or current weather conditions along the route; and

predicting the operating characteristics of the vehicle for the at least some of the routes based at least in part on the received route information.

13. The method of claim 12, the vehicle further including a powertrain that includes an engine and the energy storage device, and wherein predicting the operating characteristics for the at least some of the routes includes:

predicting a speed and flow of traffic the vehicle is likely to encounter along the at least some of the routes based on received route information related to current traffic conditions; and

predicting fuel consumption for the at least some of the routes and the powertrain'"'"'s ability to provide the necessary power along the at least some of the routes based at least in part on the speed and flow of the traffic.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of providing an informational output includes advising the driver when a particular maneuver is necessary, including at least one of switching lanes, accelerating, braking, stopping, or turning.

15. A system for providing route information to a driver of a vehicle given a predetermined destination having more than one route available to reach the predetermined destination, the system comprising:

a control system operatively connected to a powertrain and including at least one controller, the control system being configured to;

receive inputs related to driver operating preferences for the vehicle,

receive route information for the routes, including for each of the routes a topography and geography of the route and at least one of;

a distance to the predetermined destination traveling the route, traffic infrastructure of the route, current traffic conditions along the route, or current weather conditions along the route, and

execute an algorithm for evaluating at least some of the routes available to reach the predetermined destination, the algorithm being configured to use operating characteristics for the vehicle for each of the at least some routes, apply a respective weighting factor to at least one of the operating characteristics, and rank each of the at least some routes based at least in part on the weighted operating characteristics,

the control system being further configured to select one of the routes based at least in part on the execution of the algorithm, and to provide an informational output indicating the selected route.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the operating characteristics include at least one of a predicted travel time to reach the predetermined destination and a predicted fuel economy for the vehicle, and a predicted state of charge for the energy storage device when the predetermined destination is reached.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the driver operating preferences include at least one of a relative travel time to reach the predetermined destination or a relative fuel economy for the vehicle.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the algorithm includes a plurality of variables, each of the variables being defined by a respective one of the operating characteristics for the vehicle.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein each of the driver operating preferences defines a coefficient for a respective one of the variables in the algorithm.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein execution of the algorithm provides a score for each of the at least some routes, and the selected route is chosen based on the score.