Intelligent vehicle for assisting vehicle occupants

• US 9,082,239 B2
• Filed: 04/15/2014
• Issued: 07/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AutoConnect Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: Flextronics America LLC (Flextronics International Limited)
• Inventors: Ricci, Christopher P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dunn, Alex C
• Application Number:
  US14/253,506
• Publication Number:
  US 20140309806A1
• Time in Patent Office: 455 Days
• Field of Search: 701/36, 701/1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/52 for indicating emergencies
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/00 Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles locks for vehicles E05B77/00-E05B85/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/1004 Alarm systems characterised by the type of sensor, e.g. current sensing means using door lock sensors B60R25/1001
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1917 using digital means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/25 Integrating or interfacing systems involving database management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/583 using metadata automatically derived from the content
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/00 Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• 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 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/012 Providing warranty services
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0265 Vehicular advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0639 : Item locations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 : Rental transactions; Leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 : Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/59 : inside of a vehicle, e.g. relating to seat occupancy, driver state or inner lighting conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/15 : Biometric patterns based on physiological signals, e.g. heartbeat, blood flow
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/166 : using acquisition arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/168 : Feature extraction; Face representation
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/28 : Recognition of hand or arm movements, e.g. recognition of deaf sign language static hand signs G06V40/113
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19647 : Systems specially adapted for intrusion detection in or around a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/06 : indicating a condition of sleep, e.g. anti-dozing alarms
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 : Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/188 : Data fusion; cooperative systems, e.g. voting among different detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096725 : where the received information generates an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 : where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 : where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41422 : located in transportation means, e.g. personal vehicle arrangements specially adapted for transportation systems in broadcast systems H04H20/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 : for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 : Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/068 : using credential vaults, e.g. password manager applications or one time password [OTP] applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/084 : using delegated authorisation, e.g. open authorisation [OAuth] protocol
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/088 : using filters or firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/68 : Gesture-dependent or behaviour-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/34 : Reselection control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 : Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 : for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 : for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/46 : for vehicle-to-vehicle communication [V2V]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 : Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/04 : based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 : Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/005 : Moving wireless networks

Abstract

Methods, systems, and a computer readable medium are provided for maintaining a persona of a vehicle occupant and, based on the persona of the vehicle occupant and vehicle-related information, performing an action assisting the vehicle occupant.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

maintaining, by a microprocessor executable profile identification module, a persona of a selected vehicle occupant, wherein the persona comprises one or more of bioinformatics, medical information, driving history, personal information, private information, travel information, and Internet browsing history and/or browsed content;

determining, by a microprocessor executable vehicle control system, vehicle-related information, wherein vehicle related information comprises one or more of vehicle context, state, external surroundings, location, past, current, and/or intended path of travel, waypoint, and destination; and

based on the persona of the selected vehicle occupant and the vehicle-related information, determining, by the microprocessor executable vehicle control system, a type of assistance to provide the selected vehicle occupant, the type of assistance not being based on or in response to a preceding request of the selected vehicle occupant;

performing, by the microprocessor executable vehicle control system, an action assisting the selected vehicle occupant, the action being one or more of providing a suggestion or recommendation to the selected vehicle occupant, providing a reminder to the selected vehicle occupant, scheduling an activity involving the selected vehicle occupant, purchasing an item on line for the selected vehicle occupant, adding an entry into the selected vehicle occupant'"'"'s electronic calendar, providing a notification to the selected vehicle occupant regarding an incoming message, call or action of a person, and/or sending a message to a person at a waypoint or destination of the vehicle regarding an arrival time of the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle-related information comprises at least one of a current and/or future vehicle location and path of vehicle travel and wherein the action is providing a notification of an instant message, email, voice mail from, and/or missed phone call from, current activity of and/or location of a friend.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the action performed depends on a seating position of the selected vehicle occupant and wherein the microprocessor executable vehicle control system senses a condition or activity of another vehicle occupant and notifies the selected vehicle occupant of the condition or activity.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the action is performed by an avatar, wherein the avatar is a graphical and/or voice representation of an object that can be the selected vehicle occupant or the selected vehicle occupant'"'"'s alter ego or character or of a person selected by the selected vehicle occupant, and wherein different vehicle occupants have different avatars.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the vehicle control system, relevant information other than the persona of the selected vehicle occupant and the vehicle-related information, the relevant information comprising one or more of a persona of a selected person not currently in the vehicle, a message from a friend or family member of the selected vehicle occupant, a current activity of the friend and/or family member, a current location of the friend or family member near the vehicle and/or the vehicle'"'"'s path of travel, and a road condition along a path of travel of the vehicle.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the vehicle obtains the persona from one or more of a different vehicle driven by the selected vehicle occupant and a home computer and wherein the vehicle synchronizes with the different vehicle and/or home computer when the vehicle is parked in proximity thereto and an ignition of the vehicle is turned off.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the maintaining of the persona comprises collecting information from one or more vehicle sensors and/or from a remote information source, wherein the microprocessor executable vehicle control system, based on information received from a sensor identifies and/or distinguishes the selected vehicle occupant'"'"'s clothing, held object and/or object in the possession of the selected vehicle occupant, —

and wherein the action is based on the identified and/or distinguished clothing, held object and/or object in the possession of the selected vehicle occupant.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle control system translates signage located outside the vehicle and provides a translated signage message to the selected vehicle occupant.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle control system uses a vehicle location-based trigger to activate and/or deactivate a feature and/or setting at a waypoint or destination.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle control system synchronizes with an electronic calendar of the selected vehicle occupant to provide scheduled activity alarms and calendar updates.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle control system synchronizes data with a wearable of the selected vehicle occupant and at least one of (i) enables the selected vehicle occupant to interact with the wearable via an on board vehicle display and (ii) uses the data received from the wearable as part of the persona of the selected vehicle occupant.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle control system provides a display to the selected vehicle occupant, the display comprising a plurality of selectable applications, an indicator of vehicle-related information, one or more messages for the selected vehicle occupant, a navigation input field for receiving a location-enabled object as a waypoint or destination for a route of travel, contact addresses of persons associated with the selected vehicle occupant, and electronic calendar information for the selected vehicle occupant.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of information collected by the microprocessor executable profile identification module for the selected vehicle occupant'"'"'s persona depends on a seating position and/or age of the selected vehicle occupant.

35. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the vehicle control system, relevant information other than the persona of the selected vehicle occupant and the vehicle-related information, the relevant information comprising one or more of a location, hours of operation, and/or descriptive information about a point and/or location of interest near the vehicle and/or the vehicle'"'"'s path of travel, a location, hours of operation, and/or descriptive information about a vehicle service facility near the vehicle and/or the vehicle'"'"'s path of travel, and a location, hours of operation, and/or descriptive information about a hotel and/or motel near the vehicle and/or the vehicle'"'"'s path of travel.

8. A vehicle, comprising:

a microprocessor executable profile identification module operable to maintain a persona of a selected vehicle occupant, wherein the persona comprises one or more of bioinformatics, medical information, driving history, personal information, private information, travel information, and Internet browsing history and/or browsed content; and

a microprocessor executable vehicle control system operable to;

determine vehicle-related information, wherein vehicle related information comprises one or more of vehicle context, state, external surroundings, location, past, current, and/or intended path of travel, waypoint, and destination;

based on the persona of the selected vehicle occupant and the vehicle-related information, determine a type of assistance to provide the selected vehicle occupant, the type of assistance not being based on or in response to a preceding request of the selected vehicle occupant; and

perform an action assisting the selected vehicle occupant, the action being one or more of providing a suggestion or recommendation to the selected vehicle occupant, providing a reminder to the selected vehicle occupant, scheduling an activity involving the selected vehicle occupant, purchasing an item on line for the selected vehicle occupant, adding an entry into the selected vehicle occupant'"'"'s electronic calendar, providing a notification to the selected vehicle occupant regarding an incoming message, call or action of a person, and/or sending a message to a person at a waypoint or destination of the vehicle regarding an arrival time of the vehicle.

9. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the vehicle-related information comprises at least one of a current and/or future vehicle location and path of vehicle travel and wherein the action is providing a notification of an instant message, email, voice mail from, and/or missed phone call from, current activity of and/or location of a friend.

10. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the action performed depends on a seating position of the selected vehicle occupant.

11. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the action is performed by an avatar, wherein the avatar is a graphical and/or voice representation of an object that can be the selected vehicle occupant or the selected vehicle occupant'"'"'s alter ego or character or of a person selected by the selected vehicle occupant, wherein the microprocessor executable vehicle control system senses a condition or activity of another vehicle occupant and notifies the selected vehicle occupant of the condition or activity, and wherein different vehicle occupants have different avatars.

12. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the vehicle control system is further operable to determine relevant information other than the persona of the selected vehicle occupant and the vehicle-related information, the relevant information comprising one or more of a persona of a selected person not currently in the vehicle, a message from a friend or family member of the selected vehicle occupant, a current activity of the friend and/or family member, a current location of the friend or family member near the vehicle and/or the vehicle'"'"'s path of travel, and a road condition along a path of travel of the vehicle.

13. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the vehicle obtains the persona from one or more of a different vehicle driven by the selected vehicle occupant and a home computer and wherein the vehicle synchronizes with the different vehicle and/or home computer when the vehicle is parked in proximity thereto and an ignition of the vehicle is turned off.

14. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein maintaining the persona comprises collecting information from one or more vehicle sensors and/or from a remote information source, wherein the microprocessor executable vehicle control system, based on information received from a sensor identifies and/or distinguishes the selected vehicle occupant'"'"'s clothing, held object and/or object in the possession of the selected vehicle occupant, —

and wherein the action is based on the identified and/or distinguished clothing, held object and/or object in the possession of the selected vehicle occupant, and wherein a type of information collected depends on a seating position of the selected vehicle occupant.

15. A tangible and non-transient computer readable medium comprising microprocessor executable instructions that, when executed, perform functions comprising:

maintaining a persona of a selected vehicle occupant, wherein the persona comprises one or more of bioinformatics, medical information, driving history, personal information, private information, travel information, and Internet browsing history and/or browsed content;

determining vehicle-related information, wherein vehicle related information comprises one or more of vehicle context, state, external surroundings, location, past, current, and/or intended path of travel, waypoint, and destination;

based on the persona of the selected vehicle occupant and the vehicle-related information, determining a type of assistance to provide the selected vehicle occupant, the type of assistance not being based on or in response to a preceding request of the selected vehicle occupant; and

performing an action assisting the vehicle occupant, the action being one or more of providing a suggestion or recommendation to the selected vehicle occupant, providing a reminder to the selected vehicle occupant, scheduling an activity involving the selected vehicle occupant, purchasing an item on line for the selected vehicle occupant, adding an entry into the selected vehicle occupant'"'"'s electronic calendar, providing a notification to the selected vehicle occupant regarding an incoming message, call or action of a person, and/or sending a message to a person at a waypoint or destination of the vehicle regarding an arrival time of the vehicle.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the vehicle-related information comprises at least one of a current and/or future vehicle location and path of vehicle travel and wherein the action is providing a notification of an instant message, email, voice mail from, and/or missed phone call from, current activity of and/or location of a friend.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the action performed depends on a seating position of the selected vehicle occupant and wherein the microprocessor executable vehicle control system senses a condition or activity of another vehicle occupant and notifies the selected vehicle occupant of the condition or activity.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the action is performed by an avatar, wherein the avatar is a graphical and/or voice representation of an object that can be the selected vehicle occupant or the selected vehicle occupant'"'"'s alter ego or character or of a person selected by the selected vehicle occupant, and wherein different vehicle occupants have different avatars.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising the function of determining relevant information other than the persona of the selected vehicle occupant and the vehicle-related information, the relevant information comprising one or more of a persona of a selected person not currently in the vehicle, a message from a friend or family member of the selected vehicle occupant, a current activity of the friend and/or family member, a current location of the friend or family member near the vehicle and/or the vehicle'"'"'s path of travel, and a road condition along a path of travel of the vehicle.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the vehicle obtains the persona from one or more of a different vehicle driven by the selected vehicle occupant and a home computer and wherein the vehicle synchronizes with the different vehicle and/or home computer when the vehicle is parked in proximity thereto and an ignition of the vehicle is turned off.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the maintaining of the persona comprises collecting information from one or more vehicle sensors and/or from a remote information source, wherein the microprocessor executable vehicle control system, based on information received from a sensor identifies and/or distinguishes the selected vehicle occupant'"'"'s clothing, held object and/or object in the possession of the selected vehicle occupant, and wherein the action is based on the identified and/or distinguished clothing, held object and/or object in the possession of the selected vehicle occupant.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein the maintaining of the persona comprises collecting information from one or more vehicle sensors and/or from a remote information source and wherein a type of information collected depends on one or more of an identity of the selected vehicle occupant, an age of the selected vehicle occupant, a seating position of the selected vehicle occupant, and an association of the selected vehicle occupant with the vehicle.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein the persona is defined in a format that can be processed by vehicles of different manufacturers, wherein the persona is provided, by the selected vehicle occupant, to a rental car company, and wherein the vehicle is rented by the selected vehicle occupant from the rental car company.

24. A method, comprising:

maintaining, by a microprocessor executable profile identification module, a persona of a vehicle occupant; and

based on the persona of the vehicle occupant and vehicle-related information, performing, by a microprocessor executable vehicle control system, an action assisting the vehicle occupant, wherein the vehicle obtains the persona from one or more of a different vehicle driven by the occupant and a home computer and wherein the vehicle synchronizes with the different vehicle and/or home computer when the vehicle is parked in proximity thereto and an ignition of the vehicle is turned off.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the persona comprises one or more of bioinformatics, medical information, driving history, personal information, private information, travel information, and Internet browsing history and/or browsed content, wherein vehicle related information comprises one or more of vehicle context, state, external surroundings, location, past, current, and/or intended path of travel, waypoint, and destination, and wherein the action is one or more of making an appointment, making a reservation, purchasing an item on line, adding a waypoint or destination to path of travel on a navigation system of the vehicle, adding an entry into the occupant'"'"'s electronic calendar, changing a destination or path of travel on the navigation system, warning the occupant, notifying the occupant, and sending a message to a person at a waypoint or destination of the vehicle regarding an arrival time.

26. A vehicle, comprising:

a microprocessor executable profile identification module operable to maintain a persona of a vehicle occupant; and

a microprocessor executable vehicle control system operable, based on the persona of the vehicle occupant and vehicle-related information, to perform an action assisting the vehicle occupant, wherein the vehicle obtains the persona from one or more of a different vehicle driven by the occupant and a home computer and wherein the vehicle synchronizes with the different vehicle and/or home computer when the vehicle is parked in proximity thereto and an ignition of the vehicle is turned off.

27. The vehicle of claim 26, wherein the persona comprises one or more of bioinformatics, medical information, driving history, personal information, private information, travel information, and Internet browsing history and/or browsed content, wherein vehicle related information comprises one or more of vehicle context, state, external surroundings, location, past, current, and/or intended path of travel, waypoint, and destination, and wherein the action is one or more of making an appointment, making a reservation, purchasing an item on line, adding a waypoint or destination to path of travel on a navigation system of the vehicle, adding an entry into the occupant'"'"'s electronic calendar, changing a destination or path of travel on the navigation system, warning the occupant, notifying the occupant, and sending a message to a person at a waypoint or destination of the vehicle regarding an arrival time.

28. A tangible and non-transient computer readable medium comprising microprocessor executable instructions that, when executed, perform functions comprising:

maintaining a persona of a vehicle occupant; and

based on the persona of the vehicle occupant and vehicle-related information, perform an action assisting the vehicle occupant, wherein the persona comprises one or more of bioinformatics, medical information, driving history, personal information, private information, travel information, and Internet browsing history and/or browsed content, wherein vehicle related information comprises one or more of vehicle context, state, external surroundings, location, past, current, and/or intended path of travel, waypoint, and destination, and wherein the action is one or more of making an appointment, making a reservation, purchasing an item on line, adding a waypoint or destination to path of travel on a navigation system of the vehicle, adding an entry into the occupant'"'"'s electronic calendar, changing a destination or path of travel on the navigation system, warning the occupant, notifying the occupant, and sending a message to a person at a waypoint or destination of the vehicle regarding an arrival time and wherein the vehicle obtains the persona from one or more of a different vehicle driven by the occupant and a home computer and wherein the vehicle synchronizes with the different vehicle and/or home computer when the vehicle is parked in proximity thereto and an ignition of the vehicle is turned off.