Situation awareness assistant for vehicle control
First Claim
1. A system for informing a driver of a vehicle of a surrounding hazard and road position of the vehicle comprising:
- at least one sensor configured to identify location of the hazard relative to the vehicle; and
a controller configured to;
receive inputs from the at least one sensor regarding location of the hazard;
determine a threat potential of the hazard based on at least one of location of the hazard relative to the vehicle, speed of the vehicle, and heading of the vehicle;
send commands to a display for visually displaying the hazard to the driver based on the determined threat potential of the hazard;
determine position of the hazard relative to a first zone defined about the vehicle by the controller and a second zone defined about the vehicle by the controller, the second zone is between the first zone and the vehicle;
display the second zone as surrounding the first zone;
display the hazard on the display relative to at least one of the first zone and the second zone; and
illuminate a portion of the first zone corresponding to location of the hazard relative to the vehicle, and vary at least one of the intensity and color of the illumination relative to a determined threat potential of the hazard.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for informing a driver of a vehicle of a surrounding hazard and road position of the vehicle. The system includes at least one sensor configured to identify location of the hazard relative to the vehicle. A controller is configured to: receive inputs from the at least one sensor regarding location of the hazard; determine a threat potential of the hazard based on at least one of location of the hazard relative to the vehicle, speed of the vehicle, and heading of the vehicle; and send commands to a display for visually displaying the hazard to the driver based on the determined threat potential of the hazard.
14 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system for informing a driver of a vehicle of a surrounding hazard and road position of the vehicle comprising:
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at least one sensor configured to identify location of the hazard relative to the vehicle; and a controller configured to; receive inputs from the at least one sensor regarding location of the hazard; determine a threat potential of the hazard based on at least one of location of the hazard relative to the vehicle, speed of the vehicle, and heading of the vehicle; send commands to a display for visually displaying the hazard to the driver based on the determined threat potential of the hazard; determine position of the hazard relative to a first zone defined about the vehicle by the controller and a second zone defined about the vehicle by the controller, the second zone is between the first zone and the vehicle; display the second zone as surrounding the first zone; display the hazard on the display relative to at least one of the first zone and the second zone; and illuminate a portion of the first zone corresponding to location of the hazard relative to the vehicle, and vary at least one of the intensity and color of the illumination relative to a determined threat potential of the hazard. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 19)
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6. A system for informing a driver of a vehicle of a surrounding hazard and road position of the vehicle comprising:
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a plurality of sensors configured to sense at least one of hazards or location of the vehicle on a roadway; a receiver configured to receive at least one of road conditions, traffic conditions, or data representing location of at least one of the hazard or the driver'"'"'s vehicle; and a controller configured to; receive inputs from at least one of the plurality of sensors or the receiver; determine a threat potential of the hazard based on at least one of location of the hazard relative to the vehicle, speed of the vehicle, and heading of the vehicle; send commands to a display for visually displaying the hazard to the driver based on the determined threat potential of the hazard; and send commands to the display to visually display location of the vehicle relative to lane lines on the roadway; wherein the display includes graphics representing the driver'"'"'s vehicle, lane markers, blind spots, a comfort zone surrounding the vehicle, and a safety zone about the vehicle between the graphic representing the driver'"'"'s vehicle and the comfort zone; wherein the controller is further configured to display the hazard on the display relative to at least one of the comfort zone and the safety zone; and wherein the controller is configured to illuminate a portion of the comfort zone corresponding to location of the hazard relative to the vehicle, and vary at least one of the intensity and color of the illumination relative to a determined threat potential of the hazard. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20)
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18. A method for displaying surrounding hazards to a driver of a vehicle and a threat potential of the surrounding hazards, the method comprising:
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determining locations of the surrounding hazards relative to the vehicle; determining a threat potential of each of the surrounding hazards to the driver; filtering the surrounding hazards based on threat potential; displaying only the surrounding hazard or hazards that have the greatest threat potential to the driver on a display; highlighting areas of the display with at least one of a color code or a graphic icon based on location and determined threat potential of the surrounding hazard or hazards; displaying a first alert at a first position inside a circle or oval displayed surrounding a graphic of the vehicle when a hazard enters a first predetermined zone defined about the vehicle, the first alert displayed at a first intensity or color keyed to a threat level of the hazard, the first alert located at a location about the graphic of the vehicle corresponding to location of the hazard, varying at least one of intensity and color of the first alert relative to a determined threat potential of the hazard; and displaying a second alert closer to the graphic of the vehicle than the first alert when the hazard enters a second predetermined zone defined about the vehicle that is closer to the vehicle than the first predetermined zone, the second alert displayed at a second intensity greater than the first intensity or a second color different than the first color keyed to a threat level of the hazard, the second alert at a location about the graphic of the vehicle corresponding to location of the hazard. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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Specification