Vehicle to vehicle safety and traffic communications

• US 9,384,609 B2
• Filed: 04/15/2014
• Issued: 07/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AutoConnect Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: AutoConnect Holdings LLC
• Inventors: Ricci, Christopher P.
• Primary Examiner(s): McNally, Kerri
• Application Number:
  US14/253,006
• Publication Number:
  US 20140306834A1
• Time in Patent Office: 812 Days
• Field of Search: 340/902
• 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: 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 1/0965 : responding to signals from another vehicle, e.g. emergency vehicle
• 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 12/084 : 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 4/46 : 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 84/005 : Moving wireless networks

Abstract

A system for vehicle to another party communications that includes a vehicle personality module adapted to create a vehicle personality and a communications system that utilizes the created vehicle personality for one or more communications instead of a user'"'"'s profile. The one or more communications are associated with one or more of an identifier and an icon representing the vehicle personality, with this identifier and/or icon sent with at least one communication and displayable to the recipient of the communication.

Claims

1. A system for communication of safety information comprising:

a memory; and

a processor in communication with the memory that;

receives road hazard information from a sensor that detects at least one road hazard;

sends, in response to receiving the road hazard information, a road hazard category query to a safety module adapted to categorize the at least one road hazard;

receives the road hazard category;

receives location information from a navigation subsystem adapted to associate a GPS coordinate with the road hazard;

determines that the road hazard information should be communicated based on the road hazard category, the location information, and a user input;

based on the determination, sends the road hazard category, the location information, and the user input to a message module adapted to forward information about the road hazard based on the road hazard category, the location information, and the user input to one or more of a vehicle, a remote central repository, a department of transportation, and a law enforcement agency; and

wherein an image module automatically obtains and records one or more of an image and a video of the road hazard based on the road hazard category and the user input.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the forwarding of the road hazard category, the location information, and the user input is performed automatically based on the road hazard category, the location information, and the user input.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the road hazard category and the location information is forwarded to a remote central repository based on the road hazard category, the location information, and the user input.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the road hazard category and the location information is forwarded to a remote central repository and made accessible to one or more other drivers based on the road hazard category, the location information, and the user input.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor;

determines a second vehicle is approaching the road hazard;

determines the road hazard category and the location information should be communicated directly to the vehicle, based on the road hazard category, the location information, and the user input;

establishes communication with the vehicle; and

sends the road hazard category and the location information directly to the vehicle based on the vehicle'"'"'s proximity to the road hazard, the road hazard category, the location information, and the user input.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the road hazard is one or more of road damage, a pothole, a rough surface, an icy surface, an accident, an object on the road, a weather condition, a broken-down vehicle, an animal on the road and road conditions.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the road hazard category and location information is automatically forwarded to a law enforcement agency based on the road hazard category, the location information, and the user input.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the road hazard category and location information is pushed automatically to one or more other vehicles and displayed on the one or more other vehicle'"'"'s displays based on the road hazard category, the location information, and the user input.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the road hazard category and location information is automatically forwarded to a department of transportation based on the road hazard category, the location information, and the user input.

10. A method for communication of safety information comprising:

detecting, by a microprocessor executable sensor module, at least one road hazard;

categorizing, by a microprocessor executable safety module, the at least one road hazard;

associating, by a microprocessor executable navigation subsystem, a GPS coordinate with the road hazard;

determining, by a microprocessor, that a road hazard information should be communicated based on the categorization, the GPS coordinate, and a user input;

forwarding, by a microprocessor executable message module, information about the road hazard to one or more of a vehicle, a remote central repository, a department of transportation, and a law enforcement agency; and

wherein an image module automatically obtains and records one or more of an image and a video of the road hazard based on the categorization of the road hazard and the user input.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the forwarding of the categorization of the road hazard, the location information, and the user input is performed automatically based on the categorization of the road hazard, the location information, and the user input.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the categorization of the road hazard and the location information is forwarded to a remote central repository based on the road hazard category, the location information, and the user input.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the categorization of the road hazard and the location information is forwarded to a remote central repository and made accessible to one or more other drivers based on the categorization of the road hazard, the location information, and the user input.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the categorization of the road hazard and the location information is communicated directly to one or more other drivers based on the one or more other driver'"'"'s proximity to the road hazard, the categorization of the road hazard, the location information, and the user input.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the road hazard is one or more of road damage, a pothole, a rough surface, an icy surface, an accident, an object on the road, a weather condition, a broken-down vehicle, an animal on the road and road conditions.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the categorization of the road hazard and the location information is automatically forwarded to a law enforcement agency based on the road hazard category, the location information, and the user input.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the categorization of the road hazard and the location information is pushed automatically to one or more other vehicles and displayed on the one or more other vehicle'"'"'s displays based on the categorization of the road hazard, the location information, and the user input.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the categorization of the road hazard and the location information is automatically forwarded to a department of transportation based on the road hazard category, the location information, and the user input.