Vehicle operation assistance information management

• US 9,865,164 B2
• Filed: 03/16/2017
• Issued: 01/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan North America Incorporated (Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Konet, Heather, Tan, Adrian, Goudy, Roy, Christensen, Andrew, Probert, Neal, Chambers, Jeremy
• Primary Examiner(s): TRUONG, NGUYEN T
• Application Number:
  US15/461,029
• Publication Number:
  US 20170186316A1
• Time in Patent Office: 299 Days
• Field of Search: 348148
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/22 Display screens
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/008 for anti-collision purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0138 comprising image capture systems, e.g. camera
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0093 with means for monitoring data relating to the user, e.g. head-tracking, eye-tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/01 Head-up displays
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10016 Video; Image sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30236 Traffic on road, railway or crossing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30241 Trajectory
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/292 Multi-camera tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/58 Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/582 of traffic signs
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/588 Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/597 Recognising the driver's state or behaviour, e.g. attention or drowsiness
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0962 having an indicator mounted inside the vehicle, e.g. giving voice messages
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09626 where the origin of the information is within the own vehicle, e.g. a local storage device, digital map
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096708 where the received information might be used to generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 : where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 : where the origin of the information is another vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/163 : involving continuous checking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/165 : for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 : for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

A vehicle may traverse a portion of a vehicle transportation network, which may include a processor of the vehicle executing instructions to identify a first vehicle operation assistance information item, and, on a condition that an immanency for the first vehicle operation assistance information item is within a maximum relevant immanence and a utility metric for the first vehicle operation assistance information item indicates high utility, present a representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item by, on a condition that a first urgency identified based on the immanency indicates a warning urgency or an advisory urgency, controlling a primary graphical display portion to present a first portion of a graphical representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item, and controlling a secondary graphical display portion to present a second portion of the graphical representation.

Claims

1. A vehicle configured to traverse a portion of a vehicle transportation network, the vehicle comprising:

a primary graphical display portion;

a secondary graphical display portion; and

a processor configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium to;

identify a first vehicle operation assistance information item; and

on a condition that an immanency for the first vehicle operation assistance information item is within a maximum relevant immanence and a utility metric for the first vehicle operation assistance information item indicates high utility, present a representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item by;

on a condition that a first urgency identified based on the immanency indicates a warning urgency or an advisory urgency;

controlling the primary graphical display portion to present a first portion of a graphical representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item; and

controlling the secondary graphical display portion to present a second portion of the graphical representation; and

on a condition that the first urgency indicates an advance urgency, controlling the secondary graphical display portion to present the graphical representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium to:

on a condition that the immanency for the first vehicle operation assistance information item exceeds the maximum relevant immanence, store information representing the first vehicle operation assistance information item; and

on a condition that the utility metric for the first vehicle operation assistance information item indicates low utility, store the information representing the first vehicle operation assistance information item.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising:

a first graphical display unit, wherein the first graphical display unit includes the primary graphical display portion; and

a second graphical display unit, wherein the second graphical display unit includes the secondary graphical display portion, and wherein the second graphical display unit is physically independent of the first graphical display unit.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the primary graphical display portion is spatially located within the vehicle along a first angular offset from a center of a primary field of view of a driver of the vehicle, and wherein the secondary graphical display portion is spatially located within the vehicle along a second angular offset from the center of the primary field of view of the driver of the vehicle, wherein the second angular offset is greater than the first angular offset, such that the primary graphical display portion is visually distinct from the secondary graphical display portion.

5. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium to identify the first vehicle operation assistance information item in response to at least one of:

receiving, via a wireless electronic communication link, external vehicle operation assistance information, wherein the external vehicle operation assistance information includes at least one of an infrastructure message from an external infrastructure device or an inter-vehicle message from another vehicle;

identifying vehicle transportation network information representing a portion of a vehicle transportation network in response to traversing a part of the portion of the vehicle transportation network;

or

receiving sensor information from a sensor, wherein the vehicle includes the sensor.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium to identify the first vehicle operation assistance information item based on a previously identified vehicle operation assistance information item by:

on a condition that a second urgency for the previously identified vehicle operation assistance information item indicates the advance urgency, identifying the previously identified vehicle operation assistance information item as the first vehicle operation assistance information item, wherein identifying the previously identified vehicle operation assistance information item as the first vehicle operation assistance information item includes determining that the first urgency is the advisory urgency; and

on a condition that a second urgency for the previously identified vehicle operation assistance information item indicates the advisory urgency, identifying the previously identified vehicle operation assistance information item as the first vehicle operation assistance information item, wherein identifying the previously identified vehicle operation assistance information item as the first vehicle operation assistance information item includes determining that the first urgency is the warning urgency.

7. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium to determine the immanency by:

on a condition that the first vehicle operation assistance information item includes an immanency value, identifying the immanency value as the immanency; and

on a condition that the first vehicle operation assistance information item omits the immanency value;

on a condition that a probability that a current expected path for the vehicle intersects with a target geospatial location in the vehicle transportation network indicated by the first vehicle operation assistance information item is within a minimum relevance threshold, identifying the immanency such that the immanency exceeds the maximum relevant immanence; and

on a condition that the probability that the current expected path for the vehicle intersects with the target geospatial location exceeds the minimum relevance threshold, identifying, as the immanency, a first temporal cost for the vehicle to traverse the vehicle transportation network from a current geospatial location of the vehicle in the vehicle transportation network to the target geospatial location.

8. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium to determine the first urgency by:

on a condition that the first vehicle operation assistance information item includes an urgency value, identifying the urgency value as the first urgency; and

on a condition that the first vehicle operation assistance information item omits the urgency value;

on a condition that a vehicle control action responsive to the first vehicle operation assistance information item is unavailable;

on a condition that the immanency exceeds a sum of a defined advisory action cost and an advisory offset, determining that the first urgency is an advance urgency; and

on a condition that the immanency is within the sum of the defined advisory action cost and the advisory offset;

on a condition that the immanency exceeds a sum of a defined warning action cost and a warning offset, determining that the first urgency is the advisory urgency; and

on a condition that the immanency is within the sum of the defined warning action cost and the warning offset, determining that the first urgency is the warning urgency; and

on a condition that the vehicle control action responsive to the vehicle operation assistance information item is available;

identifying a determined advisory action cost for the vehicle to traverse the vehicle transportation network in accordance with an advisory acceptability metric and the vehicle control action responsive to the first vehicle operation assistance information item;

on a condition that the immanency exceeds a sum of the determined advisory action cost and an advisory offset, determining that the first urgency is an advance urgency; and

on a condition that the immanency is within the sum of the determined advisory action cost and the advisory offset;

identifying a determined warning action cost for the vehicle to traverse the vehicle transportation network in accordance with a warning acceptability metric and the vehicle control action responsive to the first vehicle operation assistance information item;

on a condition that the immanency exceeds a sum of the determined warning action cost and a warning offset, determining that the first urgency is the advisory urgency; and

on a condition that the immanency is within the sum of the determined warning action cost and the warning offset, determining that the first urgency is the warning urgency.

9. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium to determine the utility metric by:

on a condition that a vehicle information presentation status includes information that indicates a second vehicle operation assistance information item, wherein a second urgency for the second vehicle operation assistance information item exceeds the first urgency, identifying the utility metric such that the utility metric indicates low utility; and

on a condition that the vehicle information presentation status includes information that indicates the second vehicle operation assistance information item, wherein the second urgency is within the first urgency, or on a condition that the vehicle information presentation status omits information that indicates the second vehicle operation assistance information item;

on a condition that the first urgency indicates a warning urgency;

on a condition that a vehicle operation risk metric exceeds a risk threshold;

on a condition that the immanency is within the determined warning action cost, identifying the utility metric such that the utility metric indicates high utility; and

on a condition that the immanency exceeds the determined warning action cost, identifying the utility metric such that the utility metric indicates low utility; and

on a condition that the vehicle operation risk metric is within the risk threshold, identifying the utility metric such that the utility metric indicates high utility; and

on a condition that the first urgency indicates the advisory urgency or the advance urgency;

on a condition that a vehicle control action responsive to the first vehicle operation assistance information item is unavailable, identifying the utility metric such that the utility metric indicates low utility; and

on a condition that the vehicle control action responsive to the first vehicle operation assistance information item is available;

on a condition that the first urgency indicates an advisory urgency, identifying the utility metric such that the utility metric indicates high utility; and

on a condition that the first urgency indicates an advance urgency;

 

on a condition that the first vehicle operation assistance information includes an indication of an abnormal vehicle transportation network status, identifying the utility metric such that the utility metric indicates high utility;

 

on a condition that the first vehicle operation assistance information omits the indication of the abnormal vehicle transportation network status;

 

on a condition that a frequency metric for the first vehicle operation assistance information item indicates a high frequency, identifying the utility metric such that the utility metric indicates low utility; and

 

on a condition that the frequency metric for the first vehicle operation assistance information item indicates a low frequency, identifying the utility metric such that the utility metric indicates high utility; and

 

on a condition that a call status for a driver of the vehicle is active, identifying the utility metric such that the utility metric indicates low utility.

10. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein identifying the utility metric such that the utility metric indicates high utility includes:

on a condition that the second urgency indicates the warning urgency, identifying the utility metric such that the utility metric indicates low utility; and

on a condition that the first urgency indicates the advisory urgency or the advance urgency, and in response to a determination that the current expected path for the vehicle intersects with an identified geospatial location in the vehicle transportation network indicated by the second vehicle operation assistance information item, wherein the immanency exceeds a temporal cost for the vehicle to traverse the vehicle transportation network from the current geospatial location of the vehicle in the vehicle transportation network to the identified geospatial location, identifying the utility metric such that the utility metric indicates low utility.

11. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein the vehicle is configured to traverse the vehicle transportation network from an origin to a destination, and wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium to determine the vehicle operation risk metric by:

in response to traversing a first portion of the vehicle transportation network by the vehicle, wherein the first portion of the vehicle transportation network corresponds geospatially with the origin, identifying a minimal vehicle operation risk metric as the vehicle operation risk metric; and

in response to traversing a second portion of the vehicle transportation network by the vehicle;

identifying a plurality of vehicle operation assistance information items, wherein each vehicle operation assistance information item from the plurality of vehicle operation assistance information items indicates a respective temporal location preceding a temporal location indicated by the first vehicle operation assistance information item, and wherein each vehicle operation assistance information item from the plurality of vehicle operation assistance information items indicates the warning urgency, and

for each vehicle operation assistance information item from the plurality of vehicle operation assistance information items, incrementing the vehicle operation risk metric.

12. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium to determine the frequency metric by:

identifying a frequency metric that indicates a low frequency as the frequency metric;

identifying a plurality of stored vehicle operation assistance information items, wherein each stored vehicle operation assistance information item from the plurality of stored vehicle operation assistance information items indicates a respective geospatial location in the vehicle transportation network that is spatially concurrent with a geospatial location in the vehicle transportation network indicated by the first vehicle operation assistance information item;

on a condition that a cardinality of a first set of stored vehicle operation assistance information items from the plurality of stored vehicle operation assistance information items exceeds a first frequency threshold, identifying a frequency metric that indicates a high frequency as the frequency metric, wherein for each stored vehicle operation assistance information item from the first set of stored vehicle operation assistance information items, a difference between a current temporal location and a respective temporal location indicated by the stored vehicle operation assistance information item is within a first maximum temporal relevance threshold; and

on a condition that a cardinality of a second set of stored vehicle operation assistance information items from the plurality of stored vehicle operation assistance information items, exceeds a second frequency threshold, identifying the frequency metric that indicates the high frequency as the frequency metric, wherein the second set of stored vehicle operation assistance information items includes at least one stored vehicle operation assistance information item that indicates a respective temporal location within each temporal duration from a sequence of temporal durations.

13. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein controlling the primary graphical display portion to present the first portion of the graphical representation includes:

on a condition that the primary graphical display portion is presenting other primary information prior to presenting the first portion of the graphical representation;

on a condition that the first urgency is the warning urgency, controlling the primary graphical display portion to omit the other primary information prior to presenting the first portion of the graphical representation; and

on a condition that the first urgency is the advisory urgency;

on a condition that the other primary information includes a distinct primary portion other than a primary navigation portion, controlling the primary graphical display portion to omit the distinct primary portion prior to presenting the first portion of the graphical representation; and

on a condition that the other primary information includes the primary navigation portion, controlling the primary graphical display portion to present the first portion of the graphical representation in conjunction with the primary navigation portion; and

on a condition that the secondary graphical display portion is presenting other secondary information prior to presenting the graphical representation;

on a condition that the first urgency is the warning urgency, controlling the secondary graphical display portion to omit the other secondary information prior to presenting the graphical representation; and

on a condition that the first urgency is the advisory urgency, and wherein the other secondary information includes a distinct secondary portion other than a secondary navigation portion, controlling the secondary graphical display portion to omit the distinct secondary portion prior to presenting the graphical representation.

14. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein controlling the primary graphical display portion to present the first portion of the graphical representation includes:

on a condition that the first urgency is the advisory urgency, including a first pictographic representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item in the first portion of the graphical representation; and

on a condition that the first urgency is the warning urgency, including a second pictographic representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item in the first portion of the graphical representation, wherein the second pictographic representation differs from the first pictographic representation.

15. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein controlling the secondary graphical display portion to present the graphical representation includes:

on a condition that the secondary graphical display portion is presenting other secondary information prior to presenting the graphical representation;

on a condition that the first urgency is the warning urgency, controlling the secondary graphical display portion to omit the other secondary information prior to presenting the graphical representation; and

on a condition that the first urgency is the advisory urgency;

on a condition that the other secondary information includes a distinct secondary portion other than a secondary navigation portion, controlling the secondary graphical display portion to omit the distinct secondary portion prior to presenting the graphical representation; and

on a condition that the other secondary information includes the secondary navigation portion, controlling the secondary graphical display portion to present the graphical representation in conjunction with the secondary navigation portion.

16. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein controlling the secondary graphical display portion to present the graphical representation includes:

on a condition that the first urgency is the advance urgency, including a first verbal description of the first vehicle operation assistance information item in the graphical representation;

on a condition that the first urgency is the advisory urgency, including a second verbal description of the first vehicle operation assistance information item in the second portion of the graphical representation, wherein the second verbal description differs from the first verbal description; and

on a condition that the first urgency is the warning urgency, including a third verbal description of the first vehicle operation assistance information item in the second portion of the graphical representation, wherein the third verbal description differs from the first verbal description and the second verbal description.

17. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein controlling the primary graphical display portion to present the first portion of the graphical representation includes initiating a timer, and wherein controlling the secondary graphical display portion to present the second portion of the graphical representation includes controlling the secondary graphical display portion to present the second portion of the graphical representation in response to an event, wherein the event indicates at least one of:

the timer exceeding a defined secondary display delay;

or

the vehicle traversing the vehicle transportation network in accordance with a vehicle control action responsive to the first vehicle operation assistance information item.

18. The vehicle of claim 17, wherein controlling the primary graphical display portion to present the graphical representation includes:

on a condition that the timer exceeds a sum of the immanence and a defined primary warning display duration, wherein the first urgency is the warning urgency, controlling the primary graphical display portion to omit the first portion of the graphical representation; and

on a condition that the first urgency is the advisory urgency;

in response to the vehicle traversing the vehicle transportation network in accordance with a vehicle control action responsive to the first vehicle operation assistance information item, controlling the primary graphical display portion to omit the first portion of the graphical representation; and

on a condition that the timer exceeds the immanence, controlling the primary graphical display portion to omit the first portion of the graphical representation.

19. The vehicle of claim 17, wherein controlling the secondary graphical display portion to present the graphical representation includes:

on a condition that the timer exceeds a sum of the immanence and a defined secondary warning display duration, wherein the first urgency is the warning urgency, controlling the secondary graphical display portion to omit the graphical representation; and

on a condition that the first urgency is the advisory urgency or the advance urgency;

in response to the vehicle traversing the vehicle transportation network in accordance with a vehicle control action responsive to the first vehicle operation assistance information item, controlling the secondary graphical display portion to omit the graphical representation; and

on a condition that the timer exceeds the immanence, controlling the secondary graphical display portion to omit the graphical representation.

20. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium to:

control the primary graphical display portion to present the first portion of the graphical representation such that the first portion of the graphical representation includes at least one of a first pictographic representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item or a first text representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item in the first portion of the graphical representation;

control the secondary graphical display portion to present the second portion of the graphical representation such that, on a condition that the first portion of the graphical representation includes the first pictographic representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item, the second portion of the graphical representation includes a second pictographic representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item, wherein the second pictographic representation is visually similar to the first pictographic representation; and

control the secondary graphical display portion to present the second portion of the graphical representation such that, on a condition that the first portion of the graphical representation includes the first text representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item, the second portion of the graphical representation includes a second text representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item, wherein the second text representation is visually similar to the first text representation.

21. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising:

an auditory presentation device, wherein presenting the representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item includes;

on a condition that a first urgency indicates a warning urgency or an advisory urgency, controlling the auditory presentation device to present an auditory representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item, wherein controlling the auditory presentation device to present the auditory representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item includes;

on a condition that the first urgency is the warning urgency, and wherein the first vehicle operation assistance information item is associated with a defined item type having a high statistical frequency, using a defined advisory auditory representation as the auditory representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item; and

on a condition that the first urgency is the advisory urgency, and wherein the first vehicle operation assistance information item is associated with a defined item type having a high statistical frequency, omitting presenting the auditory representation.

22. A vehicle configured to traverse a portion of a vehicle transportation network, the vehicle comprising:

a primary graphical display unit;

a secondary graphical display unit, wherein the secondary graphical display unit is physically independent of the primary graphical display unit; and

a processor configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium to;

identify a vehicle operation assistance information item; and

on a condition that an immanency for the vehicle operation assistance information item is within a maximum relevant immanence, a utility metric for the vehicle operation assistance information item indicates high utility, and an urgency identified based on the immanency indicates a warning urgency or an advisory urgency;

control the primary graphical display unit to present a first portion of a graphical representation of the vehicle operation assistance information item; and

control the secondary graphical display unit to present a second portion of the graphical representation.

23. The vehicle of claim 22, wherein the primary graphical display unit is spatially located within the vehicle along a first angular offset from a center of a primary field of view of a driver of the vehicle, and wherein the secondary graphical display unit is spatially located within the vehicle along a second angular offset from the center of the primary field of view of the driver of the vehicle, wherein the second angular offset is greater than the first angular offset, such that the primary graphical display unit is visually distinct from the secondary graphical display unit.

24. A vehicle configured to traverse a portion of a vehicle transportation network, the vehicle comprising:

a primary graphical display unit;

a secondary graphical display unit, wherein the secondary graphical display unit is physically independent of the primary graphical display unit; and

a processor configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium to;

identify a first vehicle operation assistance information item, wherein the first vehicle operation assistance information item indicates a target location in the vehicle transportation network, such that a first temporal cost indicates an expected temporal cost for the vehicle to traverse the vehicle transportation network from a current location of the vehicle in the vehicle transportation network to the target location based on a current operating condition for the vehicle;

identify a first vehicle control action based on the first vehicle operation assistance information item, such that a second temporal cost indicates an expected temporal cost for the vehicle to traverse the vehicle transportation network in accordance with the first vehicle control action and a first acceptability metric; and

on a condition that first temporal cost is within the second temporal cost, control the primary graphical display unit to present a first portion of a graphical representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item and the first vehicle control action, and control the secondary graphical display unit to present a second portion of the graphical representation of the first vehicle operation assistance information item and the first vehicle control action.