Safety control system for vehicles

• US 8,301,108 B2
• Filed: 05/04/2004
• Issued: 10/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ACT-IP LLC
• Original Assignee: Mouhamad A. Naboulsi
• Inventors: Naboulsi, Mouhamad A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vuong, Quochien B
• Application Number:
  US10/838,708
• Publication Number:
  US 20040209594A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,101 Days
• Field of Search: 455/345, 455/411, 455/556.1, 455/557, 455/565, 455/567, 455/569.1, 455/569.2, 455/575.9, 340/438, 340/441, 340/525, 340/575, 340/576, 340/901
• US Class Current: 455/345
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/195 Blocking or enabling display functions
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/195 Blocking or enabling display functions
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/29 Instruments characterised by the way in which information is handled, e.g. showing information on plural displays or prioritising information according to driving conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/00 Arrangement or adaptation of signal devices not provided for in one of main groups B60Q1/00 - B60Q7/00 , e.g. haptic signalling
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/008 for anti-collision purposes
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 11/0264 for control means
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/023 for transmission of signals between vehicle parts or subsystems
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0232 for measuring vehicle parameters and indicating critical, abnormal or dangerous conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2011/001 Vehicle control means, e.g. steering-wheel or column
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/105 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0227 Cooperation and interconnection of the input arrangement with other functional units of a computer G06F3/023 - G06F3/037 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/06 indicating a condition of sleep, e.g. anti-dozing alarms
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6075 adapted for handsfree use in a vehicle H04M1/6058 takes precedence; arrangements for holding telephones in a vehicle B60R11/0241
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6083 by interfacing with the vehicle audio system
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6091 including a wireless interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72463 to restrict the functionality of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724631 by limiting the access to the user interface, e.g. locking a touch-screen or a keypad

Abstract

According to one aspect of one embodiment of the present invention, a safety control system for vehicles, includes, a communication device having at least one of an input accessible from within the vehicle and an output communicated within the vehicle, at least one sensor operable to sense at least one condition related to vehicle operation, and a controller communicated with the sensor and the communication device to selectively suppress at least one of said input and said output in response to a sensed parameter of said at least one condition being outside of a threshold. When an input is suppressed, the driver is prevented from accessing or inputting information into the communication device. When an output is suppressed, communication between the device and the driver of a vehicle is suppressed to, among other things, avoid distracting the driver during certain driving situations or conditions relating to the driver, vehicle and/or environment.

Claims

1. A safety control system for vehicles, including:

a communication device having at least one of an input accessible from within the vehicle and at least one output communicated within the vehicle;

at least one sensor operable to sense at least one condition related to vehicle operation; and

a controller communicated with the sensor and the communication device, the controller prevents said at least one output from being provided to the driver in the original format of said at least one output and provides said at least one output to the driver in a different format, and wherein the controller controls when at least one input and at least one output are provided to the driver so that prior to permitting the driver to access said input or prior to providing an output from the communication device to the driver, the controller determines whether said at least one condition is within a threshold and permits the driver to access said input or provides said output to said driver only when said at least one condition is within the threshold.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said communication device includes at least one of a telephone, a pager, vehicle indicator providing an audible, text to speech, or visual output, a telematic device with an acceleration sensor, a computer, a display monitor, a GPS system, a navigation system, audio equipment, video equipment, voice recorder, wireless device permitting access to internet, WAN or LAN network server, email, SMS and text messaging, digital address book, and a digital calendar.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein said communication device is portable and may be communicated with the controller by a USB connection.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein the communication device includes a calendar program and wherein controller is responsive to data or programmed commands of the calendar program to adjust the threshold as a function of said data or programmed commands.

5. The system of claim 2 wherein the communication device is in the vehicle associated with the communication device or in at least one other vehicle, or associated with at least one pedestrian.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein said controller includes at least one microprocessor having at least one input in communication with the sensor and at least one output in communication with the communication device.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein said at least one output of the microprocessor is communicated with the communication device to control an output of the communication device during certain vehicle operational conditions or driver physiological conditions.

8. The system of claim 6 wherein the microprocessor is part of an existing vehicle system.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller is a stand alone device.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the controller is a phone.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein said controller prevents an attempted input or output in response to a sensed parameter of said at least one condition being outside of a threshold and is operable to permit access to a said input or communication of a said output from the communication device after said sensed condition that caused prevention of the attempted input or output is again sensed to be within the threshold limit.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the controller delays access to a prevented input or communication of a prevented output from the communication device for a predetermined period after the sensed condition is again sensed to be within the threshold limit.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein said controller enables an output detectable by the driver of the vehicle, and said output provides information to the driver as to a driving modification that can be made to re-enable the suppressed input or output.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one sensor includes a plurality of sensors that sense a plurality of operating conditions and said controller includes one or more controllers that assess the sensed conditions as a function of thresholds for individual sensed conditions and as a function of at least one threshold for a combination of two or more sensed conditions, said one or more controllers being operable to control at least one input or output of the communication device in response to assessed conditions at or outside of said thresholds.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein said at least one threshold for a combination of two or more sensed conditions is set at a level that can be exceeded without any of said two or more sensed conditions being above its individual threshold.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the two or more sensed conditions are independent of each other.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the two or more sensed conditions occur at different times.

18. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one sensor is operable to determine at least one of instantaneous acceleration or velocity of the vehicle.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the controller is responsive to vehicle acceleration indicative that the vehicle has been involved in an accident to provide an output detectable from outside of the vehicle to indicate that the vehicle has been in an accident.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein said communication device is a phone and said output includes placing a call from said phone.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein said phone is a portable phone.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein the phone is in the possession of the person controlling the vehicle.

23. The system of claim 19 wherein, in addition to the output detectable from outside of the vehicle to indicate that the vehicle has been in an accident a verbal or visual countdown within the vehicle before providing said output.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein said output detectable from outside of the vehicle to indicate that the vehicle has been in an accident may be aborted by the person controlling the vehicle before the output is provided.

25. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one sensor is operable to determine at least one physiological condition of a driver of the vehicle.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the physiological condition includes intoxication of the driver.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein the controller is responsive to the intoxication of the driver to provide an output indicative that the driver is intoxicated.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the output indicative that the driver is intoxicated includes activating the vehicle emergency lights, limiting vehicle speed, or sending a message indicative that the driver is intoxicated, where the message may be sent via a phone, LAN, WAN, or internet.

29. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller is communicated with data specific to a vehicle being used and said threshold is determined based at least in part on data specific to the vehicle being used so that the threshold is different for different types of vehicles.

30. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller is communicated with data specific to a person controlling the vehicle and said threshold is determined based at least in part on data specific to the person controlling the vehicle so that the threshold is different for different people.

31. The system of claim 30 wherein said data specific to the person controlling the vehicle includes data provided by said person.

32. The system of claim 30 wherein said data specific to the person controlling the vehicle includes data provided by said controller in response to historical information specific to said person.

33. The system of claim 30 wherein the controller compares said data specific to a person controlling the vehicle with data from said sensor to determine if said data specific to a person controlling the vehicle relates to the person actually controlling the vehicle.

34. The system of claim 33 wherein said controller is operable to prevent access to at least one of the vehicle or communication device if said data specific to a person controlling the vehicle does not sufficiently relate to the person actually controlling the vehicle.

35. The system of claim 33 wherein said data specific to a person controlling the vehicle includes at least one of seat position, mirror position or weight, and said sensor is responsive to at least the same one of seat position, steering wheel position, mirror position or weight to provide to the controller data of person currently controlling the vehicle so that the controller can compare that data with stored data specific to the person controlling the vehicle.

36. The system of claim 30 wherein when the vehicle is not operating the data specific to the person controlling the vehicle is removed from the controller.

37. The system of claim 30 wherein when the vehicle is not operating the data specific to the person controlling the vehicle is uploaded to the communications device and removed from the controller.

38. The system of claim 30 wherein said data includes computer programs.

39. The system of claim 30 wherein the data specific to a person controlling the vehicle includes a profile of at least one of driver physiology, preferences, settings or habits.

40. The system of claim 30 wherein the data is synchronized and stored remotely from the vehicle, locally, or in a format accessible by a portable communications device.

41. The system of claim 30 wherein the data specific to a person controlling the vehicle and data related to the vehicle operation and geographic location are made accessible to another party with authorization by or permission of the vehicle owner.

42. The system of claim 30 wherein the data specific to a person controlling the vehicle includes medical data or data related to the health of the driver.

43. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller suppresses at least one of said input and said output in response to a sensed parameter of said at least one condition being outside of a threshold.

44. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller includes an output to provide to a driver of the vehicle an indication of the sensed parameter causing the prevention of said at least one of said input and said output.

45. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller activates an output to provide a signal visibly detectable outside of the vehicle in response to a sensed parameter of said at least one condition being outside of a threshold.

46. The system of claim 45 wherein the output is detectable within the vehicle when said output relates to safety of the vehicle with the controller and the output is detectable outside the vehicle when the output relates to safety of other vehicles.

47. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller activates an output to provide a visible, tactile or data signal detectable in at least one of within the vehicle or outside of the vehicle in response to a sensed parameter of said at least one condition being outside of a threshold.

48. The system of claim 1 wherein the threshold is adjustable by the controller.

49. The system of claim 48 wherein the controller is responsive to adjust the threshold as a function of at least one of driving purpose factors, driving application factors, proximity to other vehicles, communication factors, physiological factors, temporal factors, preferences, habits, skills or historical factors specific to a person controlling a vehicle.

50. The system of claim 49 wherein the controller is responsive to adjust the threshold as a function of at least one of instantaneous operational factors, base factors, temporal factors or historical factors relating to the vehicle.

51. The system of claim 50 wherein said at least one of instantaneous operational factors, base factors, temporal factors or historical factors relating to the vehicle are independent of the person controlling the vehicle.

52. The system of claim 50 wherein said at least one of instantaneous operational factors, base factors, temporal factors or historical factors relating to the vehicle are associated with the person controlling the vehicle.

53. The system of claim 52 wherein said at least one of instantaneous operational factors, base factors, temporal factors or historical factors relating to the vehicle are associated with a person other than the person controlling the vehicle.

54. The system of claim 49 wherein the controller is responsive to adjust the threshold as a function of at least one of interior vehicle environment, the exterior environment, geographic location of the vehicle, temporal factors or regulatory factors.

55. The system of claim 54 wherein the geographic location of the vehicle includes information relating to at least one of traffic lights, railroad crossings, school zones, road twists and turns, and stop signs.

56. The system of claim 55 wherein the controller controls the output of a communication device when the vehicle is approaching or in one of said geographic locations to provide a signal to the driver of the vehicle indicative of said geographic location.

57. The system of claim 1 wherein the input is a sensor manually operable by an occupant of the vehicle, or a function to be manually set by an operator of the vehicle, to permit the occupant to selectively accept or reject an output from said communications device.

58. The system of claim 1 which also includes a portable device capable of storing data related to at least one of communication factors, physiological factors, temporal factors, regulatory factors, preferences, software applications, webpages addresses, maximum allowed driving speed, standard acknowledgment, emergency vehicles siren or lights, emergency information for the driver, seat belt usage, privacy settings to prevent data access by others, allowable telematic activity, habits, skills or historical factors specific to a person controlling a vehicle and wherein the controller is responsive to the data stored on the portable device to determine said threshold at least in part as a function of said data.

59. The system of claim 58 wherein said device is portable and selectively communicated with the controller.

60. The system of claim 58 wherein the device includes or is defined primarily by flash memory.

61. The system of claim 1 which also includes a telematics device capable of storing data related to at least one of instantaneous operational factors, base factors, temporal factors, regulatory factors, or historical factors relating to a vehicle with which the controller is used and wherein the controller is responsive to the data stored on the telematics device to determine said threshold at least in part as a function of said data.

62. The system of claim 1 which also includes a telematics device capable of storing data related to at least one of interior vehicle environment, the exterior environment, geographic location of the vehicle, infrastructure, signs, temporal factors or regulatory factors and wherein the controller is responsive to the data stored on the telematics device to determine said threshold at least in part as a function of said data.

63. The system of claim 1 wherein when the controller controls an output the output is changed to a different output.

64. The system of claim 1 wherein when the controller controls an output the controller delays the output.

65. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller includes an output and the controller is responsive to the duration of use of an input or output of the communication device and when said duration is beyond a threshold the controller output is operable to provide a signal detectable within the vehicle by the driver.

66. The system of claim 65 wherein the controller includes an input responsive to a driver action and said controller output provides said signal until the driver provides an action to which the controller input is responsive.

67. The system of claim 1 which includes a source of data related to at least one of factors relating to a person driving a vehicle, factors relating to the vehicle being driven, regulatory factors, or factors relating to the environment in which the vehicle is driven and said controller is responsive to said data to determine the threshold at least in part as a function of the data.

68. The system of claim 67 wherein said source is remote from said controller.

69. The system of claim 67 wherein the data is synchronized and stored on a LAN, a WAN, the internet, or a portable telematic device.

70. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is responsive to the presence of an item of food on a tray in the vehicle.

71. The system of claim 1 which also includes a second sensor which may be actuated from a first state to a second state and wherein the controller is responsive to a sensed condition outside of a threshold and indicative of an emergency to selectively provide an output indicative of the emergency after the driver changes the states of the second sensor.

72. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one sensor is responsive to two conditions which are related to each other so that data from said at least one sensor for one of said two conditions can be at checked for agreement with data from said at least one sensor for the other of said two conditions so that the controller can prevent erroneous data from said at least one sensor as to said one condition from affecting the threshold.

73. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller is part of multiple existing vehicle systems.

74. The system of claim 1 wherein said threshold includes a table of thresholds communicated with the controller.

75. The system of claim 1 wherein said controller is a plug and play device that docks with the vehicle physically or wirelessly.

76. The system of claim 75 wherein said controller docks with portable telematic devices physically or wirelessly.

77. The system of claim 76 wherein the portable telematic device docks via a USB connection or a wireless connection protocol.

78. The system of claim 75 wherein the controller docks with the vehicle via a USB connection or a wireless connection protocol.

79. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is responsive to a driver initiated action.

80. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is responsive to at least one of driver seat, sun visor, mirrors or vehicle accessory activation by the vehicle driver.

81. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is responsive to at least one of driver door controls, turn signal lamp and control, headlamps and control, fog lamps and control, gear shifter, pedals, and steering activation by the driver.

82. The system of claim 81 wherein the threshold is set as a function of the rate of change of the throttle pedal position or the rate of change of the brake pedal position.

83. The system of claim 82 wherein the sensor is responsive to a low rate of change or a high rate of change of the throttle or brake pedal positions and the threshold may be set as a function of at least one of the low rate of change or the high rate of change of the throttle or brake pedal positions.

84. The system of claim 1 wherein the vehicle includes a plurality of accessories and said controller is operable to actuate such accessories in response to at least one of instantaneous operational factors, base factors, driver physiology, driver actions, the exterior environment, geographical location of the vehicle heading and bearing of the vehicle, temporal factors or regulatory factors relating to a vehicle with which the controller is used and wherein the controller is responsive to determine said threshold at least in part as a function of said data.

85. The system of claim 84 wherein the accessories are at least one of a sun visor, a turn signal indicator, HVAC, or rear view mirrors.

86. The system of claim 84 wherein the vehicle includes at least one rear view mirror that enables viewing areas outside of the vehicle and when an object is in a blind spot of the vehicle mirror or in the generally intended direction of travel, said controller is operable to move the mirror and change the field of view of the mirror exposing the object or the generally intended direction of travel to the driver from the normal driving position.

87. The system of claim 84 wherein the vehicle includes a power sunvisor and said controller is operable to deploy the sun visor when the vehicle heading, location, time of day, day of year and driver height indicate that the driver is heading into the sun.

88. The system of claim 84 wherein the controller controls HVAC operation in response to at least one of driver preferences, environmental factors, the location, altitude and heading of the vehicle, or the temperature of a vehicle occupant.

89. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller is responsive to a signal received by the communications device to adjust the threshold as a function of the source or content of the signal.

90. The system of claim 89 wherein the source or content of the incoming signal is identifiable from information in the signal.

91. The system of claim 90 wherein the signal is a telephone based signal.

92. The system of claim 90 wherein the signal is an e-mail or text based signal.

93. The system of claim 90 wherein the signal is an internet based signal and the source of the signal is identifiable by its URL.

94. The system of claim 90 wherein the signal contains information that is to be visually displayed.

95. The system of claim 89 wherein the threshold is determined as a function of the legality of the content of the signal or as a function of at least one predetermined preference of the driver.

96. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller includes a controller located remotely from the vehicle and wirelessly communicated with the vehicle.

97. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is responsive to at least one condition indicative that the vehicle has been in an accident and wherein the controller is responsive to such a sensed condition to provide an output detectable from outside the vehicle.

98. The system of claim 97 wherein the output includes an email, text-to-speech communication or information uploaded to a WAN, LAN or the internet.

99. The system of claim 97 wherein said condition indicative that the vehicle has been in an accident includes a stopping distance of the vehicle from speed to zero is smaller than expected, the time of the vehicle to stop from speed to zero is smaller than expected, a G-force that is too high for normal maneuvers, vehicle staling after hard breaking, airbag deployment, rollover indication, or smoke detected in vehicle.

100. The system of claim 97 wherein the output includes data related to location of the vehicle or vehicle occupants.

101. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller is responsive to adjust the threshold as a function of at least one of interior vehicle environment, the exterior environment, geographic location of the vehicle, temporal factors or regulatory factors.

102. The system of claim 101 wherein the geographic location of the vehicle includes information relating to at least one of traffic lights, railroad crossings, school zones, road twists and turns, and stop signs.

103. The system of claim 102 wherein the controller controls the output of a communication device when the vehicle is approaching or in one of said geographic locations to provide a signal to the driver of the vehicle indicative of said geographic location.

104. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller is able to communicate with a LAN, WAN, cellular network, cellular device or via Data Burst, to permit uploading data, software or other information from the controller or downloading data, software or other information to the controller, or to update an operating system or add new applications.

105. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one sensor includes a smoke detector operable to sense the presence of smoke.

106. The system of claim 105 wherein, when a threshold level of smoke is sensed by the smoke detector, the controller will activate a signal detectable inside or outside the vehicle via a communication device.

107. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one sensor is operable to detect the state of a traffic light, wherein the state of the traffic light is whether the traffic light is displaying a green or red signal.

108. The system of claim 107 wherein said at least one sensor is operable to sense a red light of a traffic light.

109. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller transmits data related to vehicle operation in real time to either the communication device, LAN, WAN or internet.

110. The system of claim 1 wherein the communication device transmits or receives data related to vehicle operation in real time to either the communication device, LAN, WAN or internet.

111. The system of claim 1 wherein the threshold is determined as a function of the driver distraction associated with accessing and using said at least one input or being provided an output from the communication device, so that a lower threshold is provided for said sensed condition with regard to an input or output having a higher level of driver distraction.

112. The system of claim 111 wherein said communication device is docked with said controller either physically or wirelessly, and wherein said controller suppresses at least one of said input and said output when said communication device is docked with said controller, and permits access to or use of said input or output only when said sensed condition is within the threshold associated with said input or said output.

113. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller also prevents continued driver access of an input when the threshold is exceeded during driver use of the input, and the controller also prevents an output of the communication device from being communicated to the driver after the threshold is exceeded during an already initiated output from the communication device.