Travel information sensing and communication system
First Claim
1. A method for conveying driving conditions and using the conveyed driving conditions for vehicular control, comprising:
- determining when a vehicle is within a set distance from an activatable sensor using a proximity sensor coupled to the activatable sensor, the activatable sensor being configured to generate information, when activated, about a travel surface of the vehicle or an environment around the travel surface that affects interaction between tires of the vehicle and the travel surface;
only when the proximity sensor determines that the vehicle is within the set distance from the activatable sensor, activating the activatable sensor tomeasure or detect a property or condition of the travel surface or the environment around the travel surface that affects interaction between tires of the vehicle and the travel surface using a measuring or detecting component that is part of the activatable sensor, the measured or detected property or condition constituting at least part of the sensor-generated information;
communicate the sensor-generated information directly from the activatable sensor to the vehicle determined to be within the set distance from the activatable sensor or occupant thereof; and
providing energy to the activatable sensor from an energy harvesting system included in or connected to the activatable sensor and that generates energy and provides the generated energy to the measuring or detecting component to enable the measuring or detecting component to measure or detect the property or condition of the travel surface or the environment around the travel surface, whereby the sensor-generated information is not communicated from the activatable sensor until the activatable sensor is activated by the proximity sensor; and
causing operation of at least one of a display, navigation, control and guidance system in the vehicle determined to be within the set distance from the activatable sensor to change from an existing operating state to one of a plurality of different operating states as a result of the communication of the sensor-generated information, the specific one of the different operating states to which the display, navigation, control or guidance system is changed being determined based on the sensor-generated information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Method for conveying driving conditions includes determining when a vehicle is within a set distance from an activatable sensor using a proximity sensor coupled thereto. Only when the proximity sensor determines that the vehicle is within the set distance from the activatable sensor, the activatable sensor is activated (from a deactivated state) to measure or detect a property or condition of the travel surface or the environment around the travel surface that affects interaction between tires of the vehicle and the travel surface using a measuring or detecting component, and communicate the sensor-generated information directly from the activatable sensor to the vehicle or occupant thereof. Energy is provided to the activatable sensor from an energy harvesting system associated with the activatable sensor to enable it to measure or detect the property or condition of the travel surface or the environment around the travel surface.
53 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for conveying driving conditions and using the conveyed driving conditions for vehicular control, comprising:
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determining when a vehicle is within a set distance from an activatable sensor using a proximity sensor coupled to the activatable sensor, the activatable sensor being configured to generate information, when activated, about a travel surface of the vehicle or an environment around the travel surface that affects interaction between tires of the vehicle and the travel surface; only when the proximity sensor determines that the vehicle is within the set distance from the activatable sensor, activating the activatable sensor to measure or detect a property or condition of the travel surface or the environment around the travel surface that affects interaction between tires of the vehicle and the travel surface using a measuring or detecting component that is part of the activatable sensor, the measured or detected property or condition constituting at least part of the sensor-generated information; communicate the sensor-generated information directly from the activatable sensor to the vehicle determined to be within the set distance from the activatable sensor or occupant thereof; and providing energy to the activatable sensor from an energy harvesting system included in or connected to the activatable sensor and that generates energy and provides the generated energy to the measuring or detecting component to enable the measuring or detecting component to measure or detect the property or condition of the travel surface or the environment around the travel surface, whereby the sensor-generated information is not communicated from the activatable sensor until the activatable sensor is activated by the proximity sensor; and causing operation of at least one of a display, navigation, control and guidance system in the vehicle determined to be within the set distance from the activatable sensor to change from an existing operating state to one of a plurality of different operating states as a result of the communication of the sensor-generated information, the specific one of the different operating states to which the display, navigation, control or guidance system is changed being determined based on the sensor-generated information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 21)
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15. A method for conveying driving conditions and using the conveyed driving conditions for vehicular control, comprising:
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determining when a vehicle is within a set distance from one of a plurality of physically spaced apart, activatable sensor using a respective proximity sensor coupled to each of the activatable sensors, each of the activatable sensors being configured to generate information, when activated, about a travel surface of the vehicle or an environment around the travel surface that affects interaction between tires of the vehicle and the travel surface; only when the proximity sensor determines that the vehicle is within the set distance from one of the activatable sensors, activating that sensor to measure or detect a property or condition of the travel surface or the environment around the travel surface that affects interaction between tires of the vehicle and the travel surface using a measuring or detecting component that is part of the activatable sensor, the measured or detected property or condition constituting at least part of the sensor-generated information; and communicate the sensor-generated information directly from the activatable sensor to the vehicle determined to be within the set distance from the activatable sensor or occupant thereof; providing energy to each of the activatable sensors from a respective energy harvesting system included in or connected to the activatable sensor and that generates energy and provides the generated energy to the measuring or detecting component to enable the measuring or detecting component to measure or detect the property or condition of the travel surface or the environment around the travel surface, whereby the sensor-generated information is not communicated from each of the activatable sensors until that activatable sensor is activated by the respective proximity sensor; and causing operation of at least one of a display, navigation, control and guidance system in the vehicle determined to be within the set distance from the activatable sensor to change from an existing operating state to one of a plurality of different operating states as a result of the communication of the sensor-generated information, the specific one of the different operating states to which the display, navigation, control or guidance system is changed being determined based on the sensor-generated information. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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16. A method for conveying driving conditions and using the conveyed driving conditions for vehicular control, comprising:
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arranging a plurality of physically spaced apart, activatable sensors in a position in which each activatable sensor is able to generate information, when activated, about a travel surface for vehicles or an environment around the travel surface that affects interaction between tires of the vehicles and the travel surface; coupling a proximity sensor to each of the activatable sensors; configuring each of the proximity sensors to determine when a vehicle is within a set distance from a respective one of the activatable sensors coupled to that proximity sensor; only when one of the proximity sensors determines that the vehicle is within the set distance from the respective one of the activatable sensors, causing the activatable sensor to be activated to measure or detect a property or condition of the travel surface or the environment around the travel surface that affects interaction between tires of the vehicle and the travel surface using a measuring or detecting component that is part of the activatable sensor, the measured or detected property or condition constituting at least part of the sensor-generated information; and communicate the sensor-generated information directly from the activatable sensor to the vehicle determined to be within the set distance from the activatable sensor or occupant thereof; and coupling each of the activatable sensors to a respective energy harvesting system included in or connected to the activatable sensor and that generates energy and provides the generated energy to the measuring or detecting component to enable the measuring or detecting component to measure or detect the property or condition of the travel surface or the environment around the travel surface, whereby the sensor-generated information is not communicated from each of the activatable sensors until the activatable sensor is activated by the respective one of the proximity sensors; and causing operation of at least one of a display, navigation, control and guidance system in the vehicle determined to be within the set distance from the activatable sensor to change from an existing operating state to one of a plurality of different operating states as a result of the communication of the sensor-generated information, the specific one of the different operating states to which the display, navigation, control or guidance system is changed being determined based on the sensor-generated information. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 23)
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24. A method for controlling a display system to provide driving condition specific information, comprising:
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generating driving condition specific information by; determining when the vehicle is within a set distance from an activatable sensor using a proximity sensor coupled to the activatable sensor, the activatable sensor being configured to generate information, when activated, about a travel surface of the vehicle or an environment around the travel surface that affects interaction between tires of the vehicle and the travel surface; only when the proximity sensor determines that the vehicle is within the set distance from the activatable sensor, activating the activatable sensor to measure or detect a property or condition of the travel surface or the environment around the travel surface that affects interaction between tires of the vehicle and the travel surface using a measuring or detecting component that is part of the activatable sensor, the measured or detected property or condition constituting at least part of the sensor-generated information; communicate the sensor-generated information directly from the activatable sensor to the display system; and providing energy to the activatable sensor from an energy harvesting system included in or connected to the activatable sensor and that generates energy and provides the generated energy to the measuring or detecting component to enable the measuring or detecting component to measure or detect the property or condition of the travel surface or the environment around the travel surface, whereby the sensor-generated information is not communicated from the activatable sensor until the activatable sensor is activated by the proximity sensor; and causing the display system to generate a visual indication of the communicated sensor-generated information, the display system being situated on a stationary mounting structure at a location proximate the activatable sensor, whereby the visual indication is oriented in such a manner to be visible by an occupant of the vehicle looking out of the vehicle.
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25. A method for controlling output from an audio system to provide driving condition specific information, comprising:
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generating driving condition specific information by; determining when the vehicle is within a set distance from an activatable sensor using a proximity sensor coupled to the activatable sensor, the activatable sensor being configured to generate information, when activated, about a travel surface of the vehicle or an environment around the travel surface that affects interaction between tires of the vehicle and the travel surface; only when the proximity sensor determines that the vehicle is within the set distance from the activatable sensor, activating the activatable sensor to measure or detect a property or condition of the travel surface or the environment around the travel surface that affects interaction between tires of the vehicle and the travel surface using a measuring or detecting component that is part of the activatable sensor, the measured or detected property or condition constituting at least part of the sensor-generated information; communicate the sensor-generated information directly from the activatable sensor to the audio system; and providing energy to the activatable sensor from an energy harvesting system included in or connected to the activatable sensor and that generates energy and provides the generated energy to the measuring or detecting component to enable the measuring or detecting component to measure or detect the property or condition of the travel surface or the environment around the travel surface, whereby the sensor-generated information is not communicated from the activatable sensor until the activatable sensor is activated by the proximity sensor; and causing the audio system to generate an audio indication of the communicated sensor-generated information, the audio system being situated on a stationary mounting structure at a location proximate the activatable sensor, whereby the audio indication is oriented in of such a magnitude to be heard by an occupant of the vehicle.
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Specification