Optimal warning distance

• US 9,514,651 B2
• Filed: 08/19/2014
• Issued: 12/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Linder, Eric, Giurgiu, Gavril, Stenneth, Leon
• Primary Examiner(s): Swarthout, Brent
• Application Number:
  US14/462,841
• Publication Number:
  US 20160055750A1
• Time in Patent Office: 840 Days
• Field of Search: 340/905, 340/439, 340/575, 340/576
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/221 Physiology, e.g. weight, heartbeat, health or special needs
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/40 Coefficient of friction
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4041 Position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/064 Degree of grip
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/068 Road friction coefficient
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3697 Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level G01C21/3679 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0129 for creating historical data or processing based on historical data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0141 for traffic information dissemination
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0967 Systems involving transmission of highway information, e.g. weather, speed limits transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• 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: G08G 1/16 Anti-collision systems road vehicle drive control systems for predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision otherwise than by control of a particular sub-unit B60W30/08
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 : for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 : for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/46 : for vehicle-to-vehicle communication [V2V]

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatuses are provided for determining an optimal warning distance for a vehicle. For example, the geographic location of the vehicle is received along with a reaction profile of the operator of the vehicle. Based on the geographic location, a roadway condition is determined. An optimal warning distance is then determined based on a braking distance of the vehicle and the reaction profile of the operator of the vehicle. The operator of the vehicle, or a navigation system of the vehicle itself, is alerted to the roadway condition when the vehicle is located at the optimal warning distance.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a geographic location of a vehicle;

receiving a reaction profile of an operator of the vehicle;

determining, using a processor, a roadway condition based on the geographic location of the vehicle;

calculating an optimal warning distance from the roadway condition based on a braking distance of the vehicle and the reaction profile of the operator; and

alerting the operator or a navigation system of the vehicle to the roadway condition when the vehicle is located at the optimal warning distance;

wherein the reaction profile includes a vehicle computed reaction time of the operator of the vehicle, the vehicle computed reaction time selected from a database comprising a plurality of times from historical probe data that an operator adjusted a velocity ahead of a roadway condition, wherein the roadway condition is a scenario for which the vehicle reduces speed for safety.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the reaction profile of the operator comprises an operator'"'"'s age, an operator'"'"'s health, an operator'"'"'s driving experience and accident history, an operator'"'"'s knowledge of the geographic location, an operator'"'"'s experience operating the vehicle, an operator'"'"'s employer'"'"'s driving profile preferences, an operator'"'"'s insurance provider'"'"'s driving profile preferences, an operator'"'"'s personal driving preferences, an operator'"'"'s reaction time, or a combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the reaction profile of the operator is a weighted combination of the reaction time of the operator and at least one of:

the operator'"'"'s age, the operator'"'"'s health, the operator'"'"'s driving experience and accident history, the operator'"'"'s knowledge of the geographic location, the operator'"'"'s experience operating the vehicle, the operator'"'"'s employer'"'"'s driving profile preferences, the operator'"'"'s insurance provider'"'"'s driving profile preferences, or the operator'"'"'s personal driving preferences.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the braking distance of the vehicle is determined from a predetermined fixed distance, a calculated distance based on physics principles, an average braking distance based on historical probe data, a vehicle queue length from the roadway condition, or a weighted combination thereof.

2. A method comprising:

receiving a geographic location of a vehicle;

receiving a reaction profile of an operator of the vehicle from a profile database including reaction profiles for multiple operators;

determining, using a processor, a roadway condition based on the geographic location of the vehicle;

calculating an optimal warning distance from the roadway condition based on a braking distance of the vehicle and the reaction profile of the operator; and

alerting the operator or a navigation system of the vehicle to the roadway condition when the vehicle is located at the optimal warning distance,

wherein the reaction profile comprises a reaction time of the vehicle operator,

wherein the reaction time is a vehicle computed reaction time, the vehicle computed reaction time selected from a database comprising a plurality of times an operator adjusted velocity of a vehicle, each time associated with a distance from a known roadway condition.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the reaction time is an operator computed reaction time, wherein the operator is subjected to a series of visual tests or audio tests.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the reaction time is a variable reaction time based on a time of day, day of week, or day of year of operation of the vehicle.

4. A method comprising:

receiving a geographic location of a vehicle;

receiving a reaction profile of an operator of the vehicle from a profile database including reaction profiles for multiple operators;

determining, using a processor, a roadway condition based on the geographic location of the vehicle;

calculating an optimal warning distance from the roadway condition based on a braking distance of the vehicle and the reaction profile of the operator; and

alerting the operator or a navigation system of the vehicle to the roadway condition when the vehicle is located at the optimal warning distance,

wherein the reaction profile comprises a reaction time of the vehicle operator,

wherein the reaction time is a vehicle computed reaction time, the vehicle computed reaction time selected from a database comprising a plurality of times an operator adjusted velocity of the vehicle, each time associated with a known roadway condition and a distance from the known roadway condition.

9. A non-transient computer readable medium containing program instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of:

receiving a geographic location and direction of travel of an autonomous vehicle;

receiving a reaction profile including historically recorded driver characteristics including braking distances for a roadway condition, and including an operator'"'"'s age, an operator'"'"'s health, an operator'"'"'s driving experience and accident history, an operator'"'"'s knowledge of the geographic location, an operator'"'"'s experience operating the vehicle, an operator'"'"'s employer'"'"'s driving profile preferences, an operator'"'"'s insurance provider'"'"'s driving profile preferences, an operator'"'"'s personal driving preferences, or a combination thereof;

determining a roadway condition in the direction of travel of the vehicle based on the geographic location of the vehicle;

calculating an optimal warning distance from the roadway condition based on a braking distance of the vehicle and the reaction profile of the operator; and

alerting a navigation system of the autonomous vehicle to the roadway condition when the vehicle is located at the optimal warning distance.

10. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform;

receive a geographic location and direction of travel of a vehicle;

receive a reaction profile of an operator of the vehicle from a plurality of reaction profiles for a plurality of operators in a database, wherein the reaction profile includes historically recorded driver characteristics including braking distances for a roadway condition;

determine the roadway condition exists in the direction of travel of the vehicle based on the geographic location of the vehicle;

calculate an optimal warning distance from the roadway condition based on a braking distance of the vehicle and the reaction profile of the operator including historically recorded driver characteristics for the roadway condition; and

alert the operator or a navigation system of the vehicle to the roadway condition when the vehicle is located at the optimal warning distance.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the reaction profile is a manually entered reaction time by the vehicle operator.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the reaction profile is an operator computed reaction time, wherein the operator is subjected to a series of visual tests or audio tests.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the reaction profile is (1) a variable reaction time based on a time of day, day of week, or day of year of operation of the vehicle, or (2) determined from a historical database of operator reaction times.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the reaction profile is a weighted combination of at least two reaction time factors selected from the group consisting of:

a predetermined reaction time, a manually entered reaction time, an operator computed reaction time, a vehicle computed reaction time, and historical reaction time data of the operator.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the reaction profile is an operator'"'"'s age, an operator'"'"'s health, an operator'"'"'s driving experience and accident history, an operator'"'"'s knowledge of the geographic location, an operator'"'"'s experience operating the vehicle, an operator'"'"'s employer'"'"'s driving profile preferences, an operator'"'"'s insurance provider'"'"'s driving profile preferences, an operator'"'"'s personal driving preferences, or an operator'"'"'s reaction time, or a combination thereof.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the reaction profile of the operator is a weighted combination of the reaction time of the operator and at least one of:

the operator'"'"'s age, the operator'"'"'s health, the operator'"'"'s driving experience and accident history, the operator'"'"'s knowledge of the geographic location, the operator'"'"'s experience operating the vehicle, the operator'"'"'s employer'"'"'s driving profile preferences, the operator'"'"'s insurance provider'"'"'s driving profile preferences, or the operator'"'"'s personal driving preferences.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the braking distance of the vehicle is determined from a predetermined fixed distance, a calculated distance based on physics principles, an average braking distance based on historical probe data, a vehicle queue length from the roadway condition, or a weighted combination thereof.

13. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform;

receive a geographic location and direction of travel of a vehicle;

receive a reaction profile of an operator of the vehicle;

determine a roadway condition in the direction of travel of the vehicle based on the geographic location of the vehicle;

calculate an optimal warning distance from the roadway condition based on a braking distance of the vehicle and the reaction profile of the operator; and

alert the operator or a navigation system of the vehicle to the roadway condition when the vehicle is located at the optimal warning distance,

wherein the reaction profile is a vehicle computed reaction time, the vehicle computed reaction time selected from a database comprising a plurality of times an operator adjusted velocity of the vehicle, each time associated with a known roadway condition and a distance from the known roadway condition.