Systems and methods for scheduling driver interface tasks based on driver workload

• US 9,213,522 B2
• Filed: 11/18/2013
• Issued: 12/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Prakah-Asante, Kwaku O., Curry, Reates, Tijerina, Louis, Filev, Dimitar Petrov, Chen, Yifan, Greenberg, Jeffrey Allen, Strumolo, Gary Steven
• Primary Examiner(s): Alharbi, Adam
• Application Number:
  US14/082,514
• Publication Number:
  US 20140081519A1
• Time in Patent Office: 757 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/087 where the control system corrects or modifies a request from the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3697 Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level G01C21/3679 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/00 Methods or arrangements for processing data by operating upon the order or content of the data handled logic circuits H03K19/00

Abstract

A vehicle includes at least one processor that receives an in-coming communication for a driver, routes the in-coming communication to a mail system in response to a driver workload exceeding a predefined value, and after a predetermined period of time following routing the in-coming communication to the mail system, generates a notification for the driver indicating that a communication was received in response to the driver workload being less than the predefined value at an expiration of the predetermined period of time.

Claims

1. A communication system for a vehicle comprising:

at least one processor configured to

determine a plurality of scaled parameters each representing a driver workload and each based on one of (a) a level of interaction between a driver and one or more driver-vehicle interfaces, (b) a margin between a current handling condition and limit handling condition of the vehicle, (c) a variability of at least one driver control action input, or (d) a headway between the vehicle and another object,

receive a communication for a driver,

route the communication to a mail system in response to the driver workload exceeding a predefined value, and

after a predetermined period of time following routing the communication to the mail system, generate a notification for the driver indicating that the communication was received in response to the driver workload being less than the predefined value at an expiration of the predetermined period of time, increment a delay counter in response to the driver workload being greater than the predefined value at the expiration of the predetermined period of time, and generate a notification for the driver indicating that the communication was received in response to the delay counter exceeding a predefined number.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to route the communication to the driver regardless of the driver workload in response to the communication originating from a source identified on an exception list accessible by the at least one processor and specified by the driver.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to restrict a number of sources identified on the exception list to a predefined number of sources.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to route the communication to the mail system based on driver type.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the at least processor is further configured to route the communication to the driver regardless of the driver workload in response to the driver type being of a predefined category.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication is a phone call, a text message or a broadcast.

7. A vehicle comprising:

a processor configured to receive a communication for a driver, route the communication to a mail system in response to a driver workload exceeding a predefined value, and after a predetermined period of time following routing the communication to the mail system, generate a notification indicating that the communication was received in response to the driver workload being less than the predefined value at an expiration of the predetermined period of time, increment a delay counter in response to the driver workload being greater than the predefined value at the expiration of the predetermined period of time, and generate a notification for the driver indicating that the communication was received in response to the delay counter exceeding a predefined number.

8. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to route the communication to the driver regardless of the driver workload in response to the communication originating from a source identified on an exception list accessible by the processor and specified by the driver.

9. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to restrict a number of sources identified on the exception list to a predefined number of sources.

10. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to route the communication to the mail system further based on driver type.

11. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to route the communication to the driver regardless of the driver workload in response to driver type being of a predefined category.

12. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the communication is a phone call, a text message or a broadcast.

13. A method for a vehicle comprising:

by a processor,

controlling routing of communications based on workload and source, wherein the communications are routed to a mail system in response to the workload exceeding a predefined value and a driver in response to the source being included on a driver specified exception list regardless of the workload, and

generating a notification upon expiration of a time period if the workload is less than the predefined value.