System and method for vehicle control integrating health priority alerts of vehicle occupants

• US 9,399,430 B2
• Filed: 12/02/2014
• Issued: 07/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Kirsch, David M., Chen, Bonnie, Vashi, Harinkumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Huynh, Luke
• Application Number:
  US14/557,508
• Publication Number:
  US 20160152180A1
• Time in Patent Office: 602 Days
• Field of Search: 701/36, 701/1, 701/45, 701/48, 340/438, 340/575, 340/576, 340/573.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/1523 Matrix displays
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/178 Warnings
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/741 Instruments adapted for user detection
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/22 Display screens
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/28 characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/65 Instruments specially adapted for specific vehicle types or users, e.g. for left- or right-hand drive
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/00 Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor for lighting vehicle interior B60Q3/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/04 the devices being headlights
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/346 with automatic actuation
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/52 for indicating emergencies
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/544 for indicating other states or conditions of the vehicle occupants, e.g. for indicating disabled occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2500/30 Arrangements for illuminating different zones in the vehicle, e.g. front/rear, different seats
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/80 Circuits; Control arrangements for dashboards B60Q3/16; for mass transit vehicles B60Q3/47
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/00 Arrangement or adaptation of signal devices not provided for in one of main groups B60Q1/00 - B60Q7/00 , e.g. haptic signalling
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/08 related to drivers or passengers

Abstract

A method for vehicle control includes connecting one or more wearable computing devices, each associated with one or more vehicle occupants, to a vehicle and receiving physiological data associated with the one or more vehicle occupants. The method includes detecting a trigger event based on at least one of the physiological data and vehicle data and determining a health state of each of the one or more vehicle occupants based on the physiological data, the health state describing a current condition of each of the one or more vehicle occupants. The method includes determining a priority level for the health state of each of the one or more vehicle occupants, and controlling one or more vehicle systems of the vehicle to provide an indication of the health state according to the priority level and a location of each of the one or more vehicle occupants.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for vehicle control integrating health priority alerts of vehicle occupants, comprising:

connecting one or more wearable computing devices, each associated with one or more vehicle occupants, to a vehicle;

receiving physiological data associated with the one or more vehicle occupants from at least one of the one or more wearable computing devices and the vehicle;

detecting a trigger event based on at least one of the physiological data and vehicle data, the vehicle data received from one or more vehicle systems of the vehicle;

determining a health state of each of the one or more vehicle occupants based on the physiological data, the health state describing a current condition of each of the one or more vehicle occupants;

determining a priority level for the health state of each of the one or more vehicle occupants; and

controlling one or more vehicle systems of the vehicle to provide an indication of the health state according to the priority level of the health state and a location of each of the one or more vehicle occupants.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further including receiving behavioral data associated with the one or more vehicle occupants from at least one of the one or more wearable computing devices and the vehicles systems of the vehicle, wherein determining a health state of each of the one or more vehicle occupants is based on the behavioral data associated with the one or more vehicle occupants.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein detecting a trigger event further includes detecting a trigger event based on a crash signal received from a crash detection system of the vehicle.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the priority level further includes determining the priority level based on a severity of the health state.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more vehicle systems is an interior light system for providing a visual cue of the health state of each vehicle occupant, wherein the visual cue has an appearance according to the priority level.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the visual cue is a color emitted by the interior light system.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the visual cue is a light intensity emitted by the interior light system.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more vehicle systems is a vehicle headlight and turn signal control system for providing a visual cue of the health state of each vehicle occupant.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein controlling the vehicle headlight and turn signal control system further includes activating one or more turn-signals according to the priority level and the location of the one or more vehicle occupants.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more vehicle systems is an audio system for providing an audio cue of the health state of each vehicle occupant, wherein the audio cue has a sound according to the priority level.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more vehicle systems is a vehicle infotainment system for providing a visual display of the health state of each vehicle occupant on a display of the vehicle infotainment system.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further including transmitting a broadcast of the visual display to a first response system upon determining the display is damaged.

13. A system for vehicle control integrating health priority alerts of vehicle occupants, comprising:

one or more wearable computing devices each associated with one or more vehicle occupants;

a vehicle including one or more vehicle systems, one or more vehicle sensors and a processor, the processor operably connected for computer communication to the one or more wearable computing devices;

a data receiving module of the processor receives physiological data associated with the one or more vehicle occupants from at least one of the one or more wearable computing devices and the one or more vehicles sensors;

a trigger event module of the processor detects a trigger event based on at least one of the physiological data and vehicle data, the vehicle data received from the one or more vehicle systems of the vehicle;

a health prioritization module of the processor determines a health state of each of the one or more vehicle occupants based on the physiological data, the health state describing a current condition of each of the one or more vehicle occupants, and determines a priority level for the health state of each of the one or more vehicle occupants; and

a vehicle control module of the processor controls one or more vehicle systems of the vehicle to provide an indication of the health state according to the priority level of the health state and a location of the one or more vehicle occupants.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the health prioritization module further determines the location of the one or more vehicle occupants in relation to the vehicle.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more vehicle systems is an interior light system and the vehicle control module controls the interior light system to provide a visual cue of the health state of each vehicle occupant, wherein the visual cue has an appearance according to the priority level of the health state, and the visual cue is provided in an area proximate to the location of the one or more vehicle occupants.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the vehicle control module controls a light pattern of the interior light system, the light pattern having an appearance according to the priority level of the health state.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more vehicle systems is a vehicle headlight and turn signal control system and the vehicle control module controls the vehicle headlight and turn signal control system to activate one or more turn signals according to the priority level of the health state and a location of the one or more vehicle occupants.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the vehicle control module controls a turn signal pattern of one or more turn signals according to the priority level of the health state and a location of the one or more vehicle occupants.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform a method comprising:

initializing a connection for computer communication between one or more wearable computing devices, each associated with one or more vehicle occupants, and a vehicle;

receiving physiological data associated with the one or more vehicle occupants from at least one of the one or more wearable computing devices and vehicles sensors of the vehicle;

detecting a trigger event based on at least one of the physiological data and vehicle data, the vehicle data received from one or more vehicle systems of the vehicle;

determining a health state of each of the one or more vehicle occupants based on the physiological data, the health state describing a current condition of each of the one or more vehicle occupants;

determining a priority level of each of the health states of each of the one or more vehicle occupants; and

transmitting one or more vehicle commands to the vehicle to control one or more vehicle systems of the vehicle thereby providing an indication of the health state according to the priority level of the health state and a location of the one or more vehicle occupants.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein transmitting one or more vehicle commands further includes transmitting one or more vehicle commands to an interior light system thereby controlling the interior light system to provide a visual cue of the health state of each vehicle occupant, wherein the visual cue has an appearance according to the priority level of the health state.