Determining user's seating position in vehicle using barometer and motion sensors

• US 9,357,054 B1
• Filed: 03/11/2015
• Issued: 05/31/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2015
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Fullmer, Gy Stuart, Congden, Sean Thomas, Annamraju, Seetha Lakshmi, Lynnes, Brett Nathan, Froment, Arnaud Marie, Wong, Wendy Chiu Fai, Kiraly, Kenneth Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Fang, Keith
• Application Number:
  US14/644,595
• Time in Patent Office: 447 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72463 to restrict the functionality of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]

Abstract

A handheld electronic device determines its position in a moving vehicle based on changes in air pressure that occur when the vehicle undergoes acceleration. Based on a direction of acceleration that correlates to a subsequent reduction in air pressure, a determination is made as to whether the device is in the front left, front right, back left, or back right quadrant of the vehicle. The device then alters its configuration based on the quadrant in which it is located.

Claims

1. A method of determining a position of an electronic device located within a moving vehicle, the method comprising:

determining that the electronic device is located in a cabin of the vehicle based on first motion data provided by motion sensors of the electronic device;

determining an average direction of motion of the electronic device using the first motion data;

determine an average direction of motion of the electronic device over time;

dividing an area representing the cabin into a front-right quadrant, a front-left quadrant, a back-right quadrant, and a back-left quadrant, based on the average direction of motion of the electronic device;

receiving second motion data from the motion sensors;

determining, using the second motion data, that the vehicle is accelerating;

determining a rate of change of acceleration for the vehicle;

receiving, from a barometer of the electronic device, first air pressure data within the vehicle;

determining a rate of change of the air pressure within the vehicle based on the first air pressure data for a first time period, wherein the first time period starts after the vehicle starts accelerating and overlaps in time with a second time period during which the vehicle is accelerating;

comparing the rate of change of the air pressure to the rate of change of the acceleration to determine that a reduction in air pressure within the vehicle at a beginning of the first time period was caused by the acceleration;

determining that the device is located in the front-right quadrant based on a direction of the acceleration that caused the reduction in the air pressure being in a direction of the front-right quadrant; and

changing a configuration of the electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving third motion data from the motion sensors;

determining that the vehicle is stationary based on the third motion data;

receiving second air pressure data from the barometer, the second air pressure data corresponding to the vehicle being stationary; and

determining a reference pressure value for the vehicle from the second air pressure data,

wherein the reduction in air pressure is relative to the reference pressure.

3. A computing device comprising:

a processor;

a motion sensor;

a barometer;

a memory including instruction operable to be executed by the processor to configure the processor to;

determine a first change in acceleration of the computing device based on first motion data from the motion sensor, wherein the computing device is located in a vehicle;

determine, using the barometer, a first pressure value corresponding to air pressure within the vehicle;

compare the first pressure value to a reference pressure value for the vehicle to determine a first change in air pressure;

determine a first correlation between the first change in acceleration and the first change in air pressure following the first change in acceleration;

determine a position of the computing device in the vehicle based on the first correlation; and

execute an action based on the position of the computing device in the vehicle.

4. The computing device of claim 3, wherein the first pressure value is lower than the reference pressure value following the first change in acceleration.

5. The computing device of claim 4, wherein the instructions further configure the processor to:

determine that the vehicle is stationary based on second motion data from the motion sensor; and

determine, using the barometer, the reference pressure value for the vehicle.

6. The computing device of claim 3, wherein the first change in acceleration is in a first direction, and the instructions further configure the processor to:

determine a second change in acceleration of the computing device based on second motion data from the motion sensor, wherein the computing device is located in the vehicle, the second change in acceleration is in a second direction, and the second direction is different than the first direction;

determine, using the barometer, a second pressure value corresponding to air pressure within the vehicle;

compare the first pressure value to the reference pressure value for the vehicle to determine a second change in air pressure;

determine a second correlation between the second change in acceleration and the second change in air pressure following the second change in acceleration;

determine that the computing device is toward a front or a back of the vehicle based on the first correlation; and

determine that the computing device is toward a right side or a left side of the vehicle based on the second correlation,

wherein the position of the computing device in the vehicle is determined further based on the second correlation.

7. The computing device of claim 3, further comprising a radio receiver, wherein the instructions further configure the processor to:

determine a geographic location of the computing device based on data received by the radio receiver,

wherein the action is further based on the geographic location.

8. The computing device of claim 3, wherein the instructions further configure the processor to:

compare second motion data from the motion sensor with a plurality of motion signatures, each motion signature being associated with a different type of vehicle; and

determine a type of the vehicle based on the second motion data matching a motion signature of the plurality of motion signatures,

wherein the action is further based on the type of the vehicle.

9. The computing device of claim 3, wherein the motion sensor comprises an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or a magnetometer.

10. The computing device of claim 3, wherein the instructions further configure the processor to:

determine an average direction of motion over time based on second motion data from the motion sensor; and

divide an area representing a cabin of the vehicle into a front-right quadrant, a front-left quadrant, a back-right quadrant, and a back-left quadrant, based on the average direction of motion of the computing device,

wherein the position of the computing device is determined to be in one of the quadrants.

11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the instructions to divide the area representing the cabin further configure the processor to:

determine a direction of a longitudinal axis of the vehicle based on the average direction of motion of the computing device, the longitudinal axis dividing quadrants of the cabin left-and-right, and a lateral axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis dividing quadrants of the cabin front-and-back.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions for controlling a computing device, comprising program code to configure the computing device to:

determine a first change in acceleration based on first motion data from a motion sensor, wherein the motion sensor is located in a vehicle;

determine, using a barometer located in the vehicle, a first pressure value corresponding to air pressure within the vehicle;

compare the first pressure value to a reference pressure value for the vehicle to determine a first change in air pressure;

determine a first correlation between the first change in acceleration and the first change in air pressure following the first change in acceleration;

determine a position of the barometer in the vehicle based on the first correlation; and

execute an action based on the position of the barometer in the vehicle.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the first pressure value is lower than the reference pressure value following the first change in acceleration.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the program code further configures the computing device to:

determine that the vehicle is stationary based on second motion data from the motion sensor; and

determine, using the barometer, the reference pressure value for the vehicle.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the first change in acceleration is in a first direction, and the program code further configures the computing device to:

determine a second change in acceleration based on second motion data from the motion sensor, wherein the motion sensor is located in the vehicle, the second change in acceleration is in a second direction, and the second direction is different than the first direction;

determine, using the barometer, a second pressure value corresponding to air pressure within the vehicle;

compare the first pressure value to the reference pressure value for the vehicle to determine a second change in air pressure;

determine a second correlation between the second change in acceleration and the second change in air pressure following the second change in acceleration;

determine that the barometer is toward a front or a back of the vehicle based on the first correlation; and

determine that the barometer is toward a right side or a left side of the vehicle based on the second correlation,

wherein the position of the barometer in the vehicle is determined further based on the second correlation.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the program code further configures the computing device to:

determine a geographic location of the vehicle,

wherein the action is further based on the geographic location.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the program code further configures the computing device to:

compare second motion data from the motion sensor with a plurality of motion signatures, each motion signature being associated with a different type of vehicle; and

determine a type of the vehicle based on the second motion data matching a motion signature of the plurality of motion signatures,

wherein the action is further based on the type of the vehicle.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the program code further configures the computing device to:

determine an average direction of motion over time based on second motion data from the motion sensor; and

divide an area representing a cabin of the vehicle into a front-right quadrant, a front-left quadrant, a back-right quadrant, and a back-left quadrant, based on the average direction of motion,

wherein the position of the barometer is determined to be in one of the quadrants.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the program code to divide the area representing the cabin further configures the computing device to:

determine a direction of a longitudinal axis of the vehicle based on the average direction of motion of the computing device, the longitudinal axis dividing quadrants of the cabin left-and-right, and a lateral axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis dividing quadrants of the cabin front-and-back.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the program code further configures the computing device to:

receive at least one of the first motion data and the first pressure data via a wireless communication channel.