Vehicle driving position control system and method
First Claim
1. A driving position control system for a vehicle, in which one of plural candidate driving positions is selected, the control system comprising:
- a detecting means for detecting, when a user enters into the vehicle, environmental information on an environment and physical information on a user'"'"'s physical condition, the environment being divided into environment zones, and the physical condition being divided into condition zones;
a storing means for storing statistical data each representing a probability of the user selecting one of the candidate driving positions in one of the environment zones and the condition zones;
an estimating means for estimating, from the detected information and the stored statistical data, an optimum driving position among the candidate driving positions as most likely to be optimum for the user in the environment or condition zone into which the detected information falls; and
a driving position adjusting means for adjusting a present driving position in the vehicle to the optimum driving position estimated to be optimum.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A detector detects at least one of environmental information on the environment and physical information on the user'"'"'s physical condition, when the user gets into a vehicle. Each of the environment and the physical condition is divided into a plurality of zones. A memory stores statistical data each representing the probability of the user selecting one of the driving positions in the vehicle in one of the zones. One of the driving positions can, from the probabilities allotted to them, be estimated to be optimum for the user in the zone into which the detected information falls. As a result, even if the user'"'"'s preference in driving position changes with the environment or the user'"'"'s physical condition in which the user gets into the vehicle, it is possible to adjust the driving position automatically according to the current preference.
22 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A driving position control system for a vehicle, in which one of plural candidate driving positions is selected, the control system comprising:
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a detecting means for detecting, when a user enters into the vehicle, environmental information on an environment and physical information on a user'"'"'s physical condition, the environment being divided into environment zones, and the physical condition being divided into condition zones; a storing means for storing statistical data each representing a probability of the user selecting one of the candidate driving positions in one of the environment zones and the condition zones; an estimating means for estimating, from the detected information and the stored statistical data, an optimum driving position among the candidate driving positions as most likely to be optimum for the user in the environment or condition zone into which the detected information falls; and a driving position adjusting means for adjusting a present driving position in the vehicle to the optimum driving position estimated to be optimum. - View Dependent Claims (2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 19)
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3. A driving position control system for a vehicle, in which one of plural candidate driving positions is selected, the control system comprising:
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a detecting means for detecting, when a user enters into the vehicle, at least one of environmental information on an environment and physical information on a user'"'"'s physical condition, the environment being divided into environment zones, and the physical condition being divided into condition zones; a storing means for storing statistical data each representing a probability of the user selecting one of the candidate driving positions in one of the environment zones and the condition zones; an estimating means for estimating, from the detected information and the stored statistical data, an optimum driving position among the candidate driving positions as most likely to be optimum for the user in the environment or condition zone into which the detected information falls; and a driving position adjusting means for adjusting a present driving position in the vehicle to the optimum driving position estimated to be optimum, wherein the storing means further stores likelihood data each representing the estimated likelihood of one of the candidate driving positions being suitable for the user; and the estimating means calculates a product of the estimated likelihood for each of the candidate driving positions and an associated probability of selection for each of the environment and condition zones, and estimates that the candidate driving position associated with a largest product will be likely to be optimum for the user. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A driving position control method for a vehicle comprising:
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detecting by a sensor a parameter including at least a user'"'"'s physical condition, when a user gets into a vehicle; determining a zone of the parameter detected by the sensor among a plurality of zones predetermined with respect to the parameter; storing statistical data in a memory, the statistical data indicating prior probability of a plurality of driving positions in respect of a combination of each driving position and a zone of the parameter; estimating an optimum driving position based on the determined zone and the statistical data in the memory by selecting one of the plurality of driving positions at which the prior probability for the determined zone is highest; adjusting automatically a driving position to the estimated optimum driving position; detecting a final driving position taken by the user after automatic adjustment of the driving position; and updating the statistical data of the memory in accordance with the detected final driving position taken by the user. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification