Data mining in a digital map database to identify intersections located at hill bottoms and enabling precautionary actions in a vehicle
First Claim
1. A warning system adapted to provide a precautionary action in a vehicle for a hazardous combination of conditions before a vehicle operator or a vehicle sensor detects a condition of the hazardous combination of conditions, the system comprising:
- a positioning system that determines a current location relative to the data representing a geographic region; and
a precautionary action application stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium coupled with the positioning system and a database and responsive to the positioning system and the database, the database being adapted to contain data representing a geographic region in which the warning system is being operated, wherein the data includes data that represents a road network located in the geographic region and precautionary action data associated with those locations in the geographic region where the hazardous combination of conditions has been determined to exist, wherein the hazardous combination of conditions comprises an intersection of roads located at a bottom of a hill the precautionary action application being operative to provide a precautionary action when the positioning system determines that the current location is approaching or at a location associated with precautionary action data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a feature for a vehicle that enables taking precautionary actions in response to conditions on the road network around or ahead of the vehicle, in particular, an intersection located at the bottom of a hill. A database that represents the road network is used to determine locations where an intersection of roads is located at the bottom of a hill and then, precautionary action data is added to the database to indicate such locations. A precautionary action system installed in a vehicle uses this database, or a database derived therefrom, in combination with a positioning system to take a precautionary action as the vehicle approaches such a location.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A warning system adapted to provide a precautionary action in a vehicle for a hazardous combination of conditions before a vehicle operator or a vehicle sensor detects a condition of the hazardous combination of conditions, the system comprising:
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a positioning system that determines a current location relative to the data representing a geographic region; and a precautionary action application stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium coupled with the positioning system and a database and responsive to the positioning system and the database, the database being adapted to contain data representing a geographic region in which the warning system is being operated, wherein the data includes data that represents a road network located in the geographic region and precautionary action data associated with those locations in the geographic region where the hazardous combination of conditions has been determined to exist, wherein the hazardous combination of conditions comprises an intersection of roads located at a bottom of a hill the precautionary action application being operative to provide a precautionary action when the positioning system determines that the current location is approaching or at a location associated with precautionary action data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for providing precautionary actions for a hazardous combination of conditions before a vehicle operator or a vehicle sensor detects a condition of the hazardous combination of conditions, the method comprising:
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determining a current position; accessing a database adapted to contain data representing a geographic region, wherein the data includes data that represents a road network located in the geographic region and precautionary action data associated with those locations in the geographic region where the hazardous combination of conditions has been determined to exist, wherein the hazardous combination of conditions comprises an intersection of roads located at a bottom of a hill; and upon determining that the data representations of the part of the road network at, or being approached from, the current position include precautionary action data, taking a precautionary action. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for providing precautionary actions for a hazardous combination of conditions before a vehicle operator or a vehicle sensor detects a condition of the hazardous combination of conditions, the method comprising:
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adapting a database that contains previously collected data representative of a road network in a geographic region, identifying, based solely on the previously collected data, a data record therein associated with a location in the geographic region comprising an intersection at a hill bottom and augmenting the database to include precautionary action data associated with the identified data record, the precautionary action data operative to indicate a potentially hazardous location at which a precautionary action is to be taken when approaching; determining a current location; accessing the database based on the current location to identify one or more data records associated with one or more locations being approached from the current location and determine if any of the identified one or more data records are associated with precautionary action data; and taking a precautionary action if approaching a location associated with any of the identified one or more data records determined to be associated with precautionary action data. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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Specification