Control device

• US 9,031,715 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2011
• Issued: 05/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Suganuma, Hideaki, Gotoh, Takeshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Jabr, Fadey
• Assistant Examiner(s): Soofi, Yazan A
• Application Number:
  US13/805,850
• Publication Number:
  US 20130096737A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,420 Days
• Field of Search: 701/2
• US Class Current: 701/2
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/02 electric constitutive elements
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/00 Control of position, course, altitude or attitude of land, water, air or space vehicles, e.g. using automatic pilots drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles B60W60/00
• 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 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance

Abstract

Disclosed is a control device that changes control content of control means mounted in a vehicle, including: schedule acquisition means for acquiring a schedule relating to the vehicle; and change date and time generation means for estimating a time when the vehicle is not in use on the basis of the schedule acquired by the schedule acquisition means, and for generating and outputting change date and time when the control content is changed, according to the time.

Claims

1. A control device that changes control content of an electronic control unit mounted in a vehicle, comprising:

a user information acquiring unit for acquiring information on a user who owns the vehicle in which the control content should be updated;

schedule acquisition portion for acquiring a schedule that is an activity plan of the user of the vehicle, the schedule being obtained by the user information acquiring unit;

a time estimating unit for estimating a time when the vehicle is not in use on the basis of the schedule acquired by the schedule acquisition portion; and

a change date and time generation portion for generating and outputting change date and time when the control content is changed, according to the time,

wherein the schedule acquiring unit acquires the schedule from a database server on which the schedule of the user is stored, and

the time estimating unit determines whether there is a plan of the user in a preset candidate time of the changed control content, and if there is a plan in the candidate time, the time estimating unit estimates whether the time in the candidate time is the time when the vehicle is not in use.

2. The control device according to claim 1,

wherein change in the control content of the electronic control unit is acquired through an electric wave.

3. The control device according to claim 1,

wherein the schedule acquisition portion acquires the schedule from a terminal outside the vehicle.

4. The control device according to claim 1,

wherein the schedule includes at least one of a usage situation, a usage environment and a usage plan of the vehicle.

5. The control device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a time estimation portion for determining whether the vehicle is parked at a location which cannot be reached by electric waves,

wherein the time estimation portion estimates, in a case where it is determined that the vehicle is parked at the location which cannot be reached by the electric waves, a time when the vehicle is stopped at the location which cannot be reached by the electric waves from the schedule.

6. A control device that changes control content of an electronic control unit mounted in a vehicle, comprising:

a user information acquiring unit for acquiring information on a user who owns the vehicle in which the control content should be updated;

schedule acquisition unit acquiring a schedule that is an activity plan of the user of the vehicle, the schedule being obtained by the user information acquiring unit; and

a time estimating unit for estimating a time when the vehicle is not in use on the basis of the schedule acquired by the schedule acquisition unit;

a change date and time generation unit for generating and outputting change date and time when the control content is changed, according to the time,

wherein the schedule acquisition unit acquires the schedule from a database server on which the schedule of the user is stored, and

the time estimating unit determines whether there is a plan of the user in the preset candidate time of the changed control content, and if there is a plan in the candidate time, the time estimating unit estimates whether the time in the candidate time is the time when the vehicle is not in use.

7. The control device according to claim 6,

wherein change in the control content of the electronic control unit is acquired through an electric wave.

8. The control device according to claim 6,

wherein the schedule acquisition unit acquires the schedule from a terminal outside the vehicle.

9. The control device according to claim 6,

wherein the schedule includes at least one of a usage situation, a usage environment and a usage plan of the vehicle.

10. The control device according to claim 6, further comprising:

time estimation unit determining whether the vehicle is parked at a location which cannot be reached by electric waves,

wherein the time estimation unit estimates, in a case where it is determined that the vehicle is parked at the location which cannot be reached by the electric waves, a time when the vehicle is stopped at the location which cannot be reached by the electric waves from the schedule.