Vehicle operator identification and operator-configured services

• US 9,008,853 B2
• Filed: 12/07/2011
• Issued: 04/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Petrucci, David R., Massoll, Charles A., Nguyen, Thiep T., Wisnewski, Mark A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, John Q
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hutchinson, Alan D
• Application Number:
  US13/313,618
• Publication Number:
  US 20130151027A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,224 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/36, 340/425.5
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0233 Vehicle tilting, overturning or roll over
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/037 for occupant comfort , e.g. for automatic adjustment of appliances according to personal settings, e.g. seats, mirrors, steering wheel

Abstract

A system for implementing customized vehicle services includes a vehicle control system including a computer processor, and logic executable by the computer processor, the logic configured to implement a method. The method includes receiving user-selected settings for distributing a communication, the user-selected settings input to the computer processor by a user of a vehicle. The method also includes monitoring vehicle components for a condition specified in the user-selected settings, and distributing the communication pursuant to the user-selected settings when the condition is met in response to the monitoring.

Claims

1. A system for implementing customized vehicle services, comprising:

a vehicle control system including a computer processor; and

logic executable by the computer processor, the logic configured to implement a method, the method comprising;

receiving, from a first operator of a vehicle, user-selected settings for distributing a communication to a second and subsequent operator, the user-selected settings input to the computer processor by the first operator, and the user-selected settings including an identifier that uniquely identifies the second operator;

receiving the communication generated by the first operator and storing the communication, the identifier of the first operator, and the identifier of the second operator in a memory device of the vehicle;

collecting data with respect to a current driving event, the data relating to operator behavior with respect to use of vehicle components, identification of a wireless personal communication device in the vehicle, and identification of a key fob in the vehicle;

comparing collected data from the current driving event with previously collected data that have been attributed to identifiers of other operators of the vehicle;

determining a presence of the second operator when the collected data for the current driving event substantially matches a set of the previously collected data associated with the identifier;

retrieving the communication from the memory device via the identifier of the second operator; and

presenting the communication on a display device of the vehicle pursuant to the user-selected settings when the presence is determined.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the user-selected settings further include emergency contact information and emergency alert information, the method further comprising:

receiving a condition from the first operator, wherein an occurrence of the condition results in generation of a communication to an emergency contact specified in the emergency contact information, wherein the condition includes at least one of a roll-over incident and an airbag deployment with respect to the vehicle, and the communication includes the emergency alert information comprising at least one of a health condition and allergy condition.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the collected data includes at least one of a selected radio station, seat position data, an amount of time used to connect a seatbelt, and an operator'"'"'s weight received from a sensor connected to a seat of the vehicle.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the user-selected settings include vehicle service criteria, the method further comprising:

receiving a condition from the first operator, wherein an occurrence of the condition results in generation of a message instructing initiation of a vehicle service, the condition including a threshold value for a metric associated with at least one of the vehicle components.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication is voice-recorded by the first operator and stored in a memory of the vehicle.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the user-selected settings include a mobile application and device associated with the communication.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the data relating to operator behavior with respect to use of vehicle components includes elements comprising a selected radio station, a selected seat position, an amount of time used to connect a seatbelt, a driving route, and a time of day of the current driving event, the method further comprising:

associating a probability indicator to portions of the collected data from the current driving event, the probability indicator specifying varying levels of confidence in accurately identifying the second operator based on the corresponding vehicle components.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the presenting the communication in the vehicle includes presenting the communication to the second operator at a time selected by the first operator via the user-selected settings.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the user-selected settings include a user notification, and the data relating to operator behavior with respect to use of vehicle components includes a driving route, the method further comprising:

comparing the driving route to a route pattern attributed to a current operator of the vehicle, the route pattern determined from the previously collected data; and

upon determining a deviation of the driving route from the route pattern, transmitting the user notification according to the user-selected settings.

10. A method for implementing customized vehicle services, comprising:

receiving, from a first operator of a vehicle, user-selected settings for distributing a communication to a second and subsequent operator, the user-selected settings input via a computer processor of a vehicle control system by the first operator of the vehicle, and the user-selected settings including an identifier that uniquely identifies the second operator;

receiving the communication generated by the first operator and storing the communication, the identifier of the first operator, and the identifier of the second operator in a memory device of the vehicle

collecting data with respect to a current driving event, the data relating to operator behavior with respect to use of vehicle components, identification of a wireless personal communication device in the vehicle, and identification of a key fob in the vehicle;

comparing collected data from the current driving event with previously collected data that have been attributed to identifiers of other operators of the vehicle;

determining a presence of the second operator when the collected data for the current driving event substantially matches a set of the previously collected data associated with the identifier;

retrieving the communication from the memory device via the identifier of the second operator; and

presenting the communication on a display device of the vehicle pursuant to the user-selected settings when the presence is determined.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the user-selected settings further include emergency contact information and emergency alert information, the method further comprising:

receiving a condition from the first operator, wherein an occurrence of the condition results in generation of a communication to an emergency contact specified in the emergency contact information, wherein the condition includes at least one of a roll-over incident and an airbag deployment with respect to the vehicle, and the communication includes the emergency alert information comprising at least one of a health condition and allergy condition.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the collected data includes at least one of a selected radio station, seat position data, an amount of time used to connect a seatbelt, and an operator'"'"'s weight received from a sensor connected to a seat of the vehicle.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the user-selected settings include vehicle service criteria, the method further comprising:

receiving a condition from the first operator, wherein an occurrence of the condition results in generation of a message instructing initiation of a vehicle service, the condition including a threshold value for a metric associated with at least one of the vehicle components.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the communication is voice-recorded by the first operator and stored in a memory of the vehicle.

15. A computer program product for implementing customized vehicle services, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium having computer program instructions embodied thereon, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement a method, the method comprising:

receiving, from a first operator of a vehicle, user-selected settings for distributing a communication to a second and subsequent operator the user-selected settings input to the computer by the first operator of the vehicle, and the user-selected settings including an identifier that uniquely identifies the second operator;

receiving the communication generated by the first operator and storing the communication, the identifier of the first operator, and the identifier of the second operator in a memory device of the vehicle;

collecting data with respect to a current driving event, the data relating to operator behavior with respect to use of vehicle components, identification of a wireless personal communication device in the vehicle, and identification of a key fob in the vehicle;

comparing collected data from the current driving event with previously collected data that have been attributed to identifiers of other operators of the vehicle;

determining a presence of the second operator when the collected data for the current driving event substantially matches a set of the previously collected data associated with the identifier;

retrieving the communication from the memory device via the identifier of the second operator; and

presenting the communication on a display device of the vehicle pursuant to the user-selected settings when the presence is determined.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the user-selected settings further include emergency contact information and emergency alert information, the method comprising:

receiving a condition from the first operator, wherein an occurrence of the condition results in generation of a communication to an emergency contact specified in the emergency contact information, wherein the condition includes at least one of a roll-over incident and an airbag deployment with respect to the vehicle, and the communication includes the emergency alert information comprising at least one of a health condition and allergy condition.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the collected data includes at least one of a selected radio station, seat position data, an amount of time used to connect a seatbelt, and an operator'"'"'s weight received from a sensor of the vehicle.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the user-selected settings include vehicle service criteria, the method further comprising:

receiving a condition from the first operator, wherein an occurrence of the condition results in generation of a message instructing initiation of a vehicle service, the condition including a threshold value for a metric associated with at least one of the vehicle components.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the communication is voice-recorded by the first operator and stored in a memory of the vehicle.

20. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the user-selected settings include a mobile application and device associated with the communication.