Method and system for aligning a vehicle with a wireless charging assembly
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- estimating a position of a driver'"'"'s eyes in a vehicle during a parking event in a parking spot that includes a wireless charging assembly in which a primary coil is installed;
projecting an image onto an interior surface of the vehicle at a location based on the estimated position of the driver'"'"'s eyes to assist the driver in aligning the vehicle with the wireless charging assembly;
transmitting signals from the vehicle toward a reference object located at a rear area of the parking spot and detecting echoed signals at the vehicle caused by the transmitted signals reflecting from a surface of the reference object;
performing one or more calculations based on the detected echoed signals to determine an alignment state of the vehicle with respect to the wireless charging assembly; and
listening for an alignment confirmation signal at the vehicle from the wireless charging assembly indicating that the vehicle is satisfactorily aligned with the wireless charging assembly,wherein the performing of the one or more calculations based on the detected echoed signals comprises;
calculating one or more of an amplitude of the detected echoed signals and a voltage caused by the detected echoed signals;
comparing the calculated amplitude to an amplitude of an echo with an angular offset of 0°
with respect to the transmitted signals, or comparing the calculated voltage to a voltage caused by the echo with the angular offset of 0°
; and
determining whether the difference between the calculated amplitude and the amplitude of the echo with the angular offset of 0°
or the difference between the calculated voltage and the voltage caused by the echo with the angular offset of 0°
is within a predetermined range.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method includes: estimating a position of a driver'"'"'s eyes in a vehicle during a parking event in a parking spot that includes a wireless charging assembly in which a primary coil is installed, projecting an image onto an interior surface of the vehicle at a location based on the estimated position of the driver'"'"'s eyes to assist the driver in aligning the vehicle with the wireless charging assembly, transmitting signals from the vehicle toward a reference object located at a rear area of the parking spot and detecting echoed signals at the vehicle caused by the transmitted signals reflecting from a surface of the reference object, and listening for an alignment confirmation signal at the vehicle from the wireless charging assembly indicating that the vehicle is satisfactorily aligned with the wireless charging assembly.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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estimating a position of a driver'"'"'s eyes in a vehicle during a parking event in a parking spot that includes a wireless charging assembly in which a primary coil is installed; projecting an image onto an interior surface of the vehicle at a location based on the estimated position of the driver'"'"'s eyes to assist the driver in aligning the vehicle with the wireless charging assembly; transmitting signals from the vehicle toward a reference object located at a rear area of the parking spot and detecting echoed signals at the vehicle caused by the transmitted signals reflecting from a surface of the reference object; performing one or more calculations based on the detected echoed signals to determine an alignment state of the vehicle with respect to the wireless charging assembly; and listening for an alignment confirmation signal at the vehicle from the wireless charging assembly indicating that the vehicle is satisfactorily aligned with the wireless charging assembly, wherein the performing of the one or more calculations based on the detected echoed signals comprises; calculating one or more of an amplitude of the detected echoed signals and a voltage caused by the detected echoed signals; comparing the calculated amplitude to an amplitude of an echo with an angular offset of 0°
with respect to the transmitted signals, or comparing the calculated voltage to a voltage caused by the echo with the angular offset of 0°
; anddetermining whether the difference between the calculated amplitude and the amplitude of the echo with the angular offset of 0°
or the difference between the calculated voltage and the voltage caused by the echo with the angular offset of 0°
is within a predetermined range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system comprising:
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a reference object located at a rear area of a parking spot; a heads-up display (HUD) in a vehicle that projects an image onto an interior surface of the vehicle at a location based on an estimated position of a driver'"'"'s eyes to assist the driver in aligning the vehicle with a wireless charging assembly, in which a primary coil is installed, included in the parking spot during a parking event; an ultrasonic sensor in the vehicle that transmits ultrasonic signals toward the reference object and detects echoed signals at the vehicle caused by the transmitted signals reflecting from a surface of the reference object; and a controller in the vehicle configured to;
i) estimate the position of the driver'"'"'s eyes based on an angle of one or more mirrors of the vehicle, ii) perform one or more calculations based on the detected echoed signals to determine an alignment state of the vehicle with respect to the wireless charging assembly, and iii) detect an alignment confirmation signal from the wireless charging assembly indicating that the vehicle is satisfactorily aligned with the wireless charging assembly,wherein the performing of the one or more calculations based on the detected echoed signals comprises; calculating one or more of an amplitude of the detected echoed signals and a voltage caused by the detected echoed signals; comparing the calculated amplitude to an amplitude of an echo with an angular offset of 0°
with respect to the transmitted signals, or comparing the calculated voltage to a voltage caused by the echo with the angular offset of 0°
; anddetermining whether the difference between the calculated amplitude and the amplitude of the echo with the angular offset of 0°
or the difference between the calculated voltage and the voltage caused by the echo with the angular offset of 0°
is within a predetermined range.
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18. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions for a system, which includes a reference object located at a rear area of a parking spot, a heads-up display (HUD) in a vehicle that projects an image onto an interior surface of the vehicle at a location based on an estimated position of a driver'"'"'s eyes to assist the driver in aligning the vehicle with a wireless charging assembly, in which a primary coil is installed, included in the parking spot during a parking event, and an ultrasonic sensor in the vehicle that transmits ultrasonic signals toward the reference object and detects echoed signals at the vehicle caused by the transmitted signals reflecting from a surface of the reference object, the computer readable medium comprising:
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program instructions that estimate the position of the driver'"'"'s eyes based on an angle of one or more mirrors of the vehicle; program instructions that perform one or more calculations based on the detected echoed signals to determine an alignment state of the vehicle with respect to the wireless charging assembly; and program instructions that detect an alignment confirmation signal from the wireless charging assembly indicating that the vehicle is satisfactorily aligned with the wireless charging assembly, wherein the performing of the one or more calculations based on the detected echoed signals comprises; calculating one or more of an amplitude of the detected echoed signals and a voltage caused by the detected echoed signals; comparing the calculated amplitude to an amplitude of an echo with an angular offset of 0°
with respect to the transmitted signals, or comparing the calculated voltage to a voltage caused by the echo with the angular offset of 0°
; anddetermining whether the difference between the calculated amplitude and the amplitude of the echo with the angular offset of 0°
or the difference between the calculated voltage and the voltage caused by the echo with the angular offset of 0°
is within a predetermined range.
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Specification