Vehicle flood detection

• US 10,255,782 B1
• Filed: 06/19/2018
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Ghannam, Mahmoud Yousef, Dudar, Aed M., Tippy, David James, Lee, Darren
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, An T
• Application Number:
  US16/012,447
• Time in Patent Office: 294 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0016 Fall in water
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/10 responsive to calamitous events, e.g. tornados or earthquakes
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/20 responsive to moisture
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/00 Traffic control systems for road vehicles arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00 ; automatic vehicle control B62D
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0133 for classifying traffic situation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0141 for traffic information dissemination
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 50/00 in human health protection, e.g. against extreme weather

Abstract

Method and apparatus are disclosed for vehicle flood detection. An example vehicle includes an engine, a humidity sensor, a GPS receiver to determine a vehicle location, a communication module, and a control module. The control module is to collect, via the humidity sensor, a humidity measurement within the engine and collect a humidity level of the vehicle location. The control module also is to identify a flooding event when the humidity measurement exceeds the humidity level by a predetermined threshold and record the flooding event with a remote server via the communication module.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising:

an engine;

a humidity sensor;

a GPS receiver to determine a vehicle location;

a communication module; and

a control module to;

collect, via the humidity sensor, a humidity measurement within the engine in response to detecting a flood characteristic;

collect a humidity level of the vehicle location;

identify a flooding event when the humidity measurement exceeds the humidity level by a predetermined threshold; and

record the flooding event with a remote server via the communication module.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the control module is located above a predefined vehicle flood level to deter the control module from being submerged by the flooding event.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, further including a camera, wherein the control module detects the flood characteristic via the camera.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, further including a proximity sensor, wherein the control module detects the flood characteristic via the proximity sensor.

5. The vehicle of claim 1, further including a rain sensor, wherein the control module detects the flood characteristic via the rain sensor.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, further including a water level sensor positioned adjacent a vehicle undercarriage, wherein the control module detects the flood characteristic via the water level sensor.

7. The vehicle of claim 1, further including a dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) module for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, wherein the control module detects the flood characteristic based upon the V2X communication.

8. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the control module detects the flood characteristic based upon the vehicle location and localized weather data.

9. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the control module collects the humidity level from a remote weather server via the communication module.

10. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the control module includes memory, wherein the control module stores the flooding event in the memory and subsequently disconnects from a battery.

11. The vehicle of claim 10, further including a battery management system that is configured to disconnect the control module from the battery.

12. The vehicle of claim 1, further including an alternative power source that is located above a predefined vehicle flood level and is configured to power the control module in response to the control module identifying the flooding event.

13. The vehicle of claim 12, wherein the alternative power source includes a solar panel.

14. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the control module presents a flood alert to a user upon identifying the flooding event.

15. The vehicle of claim 1, further including an autonomy unit that is configured to autonomously perform motive functions when the flooding event is identified.

16. The vehicle of claim 1, further including an engine control module that is configured to prevent the engine from being started when the flooding event is identified and the engine is inactive.

17. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, when the flooding event is recorded with the remote server, data of the flooding event is retrievable only by a certified operator and is erasable only by an authorized operator.

18. A method comprising:

determining a vehicle location via a GPS receiver;

collecting, via a humidity sensor, an engine humidity measurement responsive to detecting a flood characteristic;

collecting a humidity level of the vehicle location via a vehicle communication module;

identifying, via a processor, a flooding event responsive to determining the engine humidity measurement exceeds the humidity level by a predetermined threshold; and

recording, via the vehicle communication module, the flooding event with a remote server.