Context-aware in-vehicle dashboard

• US 9,226,115 B2
• Filed: 08/12/2013
• Issued: 12/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wipro Limited
• Original Assignee: Wipro Limited
• Inventors: Raghunathan, Sriraman Kandhadai, Premaradj, Aswath
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehmood, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): MORTELL, JOHN F
• Application Number:
  US13/964,443
• Publication Number:
  US 20140375447A1
• Time in Patent Office: 869 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40215 Controller Area Network CAN
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40273 the transportation system being a vehicle
• 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

Abstract

Context-aware in-vehicle dashboard systems and methods are disclosed. Said systems and methods are capable of determining vehicle states and context using a variety of both vehicle-based and non-vehicle based data sources, and adapting to different vehicle states. Systems and methods in accordance with the present disclosure may be capable of presenting different information and/or notifications based on the vehicle state and the category/priority of the information and/or notifications.

Claims

1. A dashboard for a vehicle comprising:

a primary display area;

a secondary display area; and

one or more hardware processors, wherein the one or more hardware processors are in communication with the primary display area and the secondary display area, and wherein the one or more hardware processors are configured to;

(A) determine whether a predefined stationary location of the vehicle is satisfied, the predefined stationary location including an area with traffic and a parking lot, wherein the determination is made based on at least one of;

a vehicle'"'"'s engine state, a vehicle'"'"'s speed, a proximity of the vehicle to a traffic signal junction;

a proximity of the vehicle to the parking lot, or a vehicle'"'"'s gear state;

(B) receive a notification request containing a notification from an application being executed by the one or more hardware processors;

(C) provide the notification using at least one of the primary display area or the secondary display area based on (I) the predefined stationary location of the vehicle being satisfied;

(II) a categorization of the application; and

(III) the application being one of a distracting or a non-distracting application, wherein a distracting application is provided in the secondary display area and a non-distracting application is provided in the primary display area; and

(D) prioritize execution of the application by the one or more hardware processors based on the categorization of the application.

2. The dashboard according to claim 1, wherein determining whether the predefined stationary location of the vehicle is satisfied comprises using one or more context-determination algorithms executed on the one or more hardware processors.

3. The dashboard according to claim 2, wherein two or more context-determination algorithms are used and each context-determination algorithm individually determines whether predefined stationary location of the vehicle is satisfied based on at least one of a vehicle'"'"'s engine state, a vehicle'"'"'s speed, a proximity of the vehicle to a traffic signal junction;

a proximity of the vehicle to the parking lot, or a vehicle'"'"'s gear state; and

wherein the one or more hardware processors are configured to determine whether predefined stationary location of the vehicle is satisfied by weighting the determination of each context-determination algorithm.

4. The dashboard according to claim 1, wherein the primary display area and the secondary display area are integrated into a single display device.

5. The dashboard according to claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to receive input from a driver using one or more input devices, wherein the one or more input devices include at least one of:

a touch-sensitive surface, a motion-sensing detector, a microphone, a keyboard, a touchscreen keyboard, or a pointing device.

6. The dashboard according to claim 5, wherein the one or more input devices include a microphone, and wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to process input from the microphone using a natural-language processing algorithm.

7. The dashboard according to claim 5, wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to disable one or more input devices when the vehicle is in motion.

8. The dashboard according to claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware processors are configured to determine whether predefined stationary location of the vehicle is satisfied using one or more on-board sensors, wherein the one or more on-board sensors include at least one of:

an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a speedometer, and a GPS.

9. The dashboard according to claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware processors are configured to provide the notification using the primary display area when (I) the one or more hardware processors determine that the vehicle is in motion and (II) the application is categorized as a high priority application.

10. The dashboard according to claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware processors are configured to provide the notification using the secondary display area when (I) the one or more the one or more hardware processors determine that the vehicle is stationary in park and (II) the application is categorized as an intermediate or low priority application.

11. The dashboard according to claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to:

determine whether the application has been associated with the primary display area or the secondary display area; and

save the association to a remote storage device when the application has been associated with the primary display area or the secondary display area.

12. The dashboard according to claim 11, wherein determining whether the application has been associated with the primary display area or secondary display area includes determining whether the association has been saved to the remote storage device.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for providing a dashboard for a vehicle having a primary display area and a secondary display area, wherein execution of the instructions by one or more hardware processors causes the one or more hardware processors to:

(A) determine whether a predefined stationary location of the vehicle is satisfied, the predefined stationary location including an area with traffic and a parking lot, wherein the determination is made based on at least one of;

a vehicle'"'"'s engine state, a vehicle'"'"'s speed, a proximity of the vehicle to a traffic signal junction;

a proximity of the vehicle to the parking lot, or a vehicle'"'"'s gear state;

(B) receive a notification request containing a notification from an application being executed by the one or more hardware processors;

(C) provide the notification using at least one of the primary display area or the secondary display area based on (I) the predefined stationary location of the vehicle being satisfied;

(II) a categorization of the application; and

(III) the application being one of a distracting or a non-distracting application, wherein a distracting application is provided in the secondary display area and a non-distracting application is provided in the primary display area; and

(D) prioritize execution of the application by the one or more hardware processors based on the categorization of the application.