Turn by turn activation of turn signals
First Claim
1. A turn signal system for activating a turn signal of a vehicle comprising:
- an electronic control unit comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readable memory;
one or more external vehicle environment sensors communicatively coupled to the electronic control unit;
a vehicle speed sensor communicatively coupled to the electronic control unit;
a turn signal communicatively coupled to the electronic control unit; and
a machine-readable instruction set stored in the non-transitory computer readable memory that causes the turn signal system to perform at least the following when executed by the processor;
determine a vehicle speed based on an output signal of the vehicle speed sensor;
determine the vehicle speed is below a threshold, wherein the threshold is based on at least one of;
(i) a distance between a current vehicle location and a predicted location of a vehicle turning maneuver or (ii) an angle between a current vehicle trajectory and a predicted vehicle trajectory upon completing the vehicle turning maneuver;
predict the vehicle turning maneuver based on one or more environment signals output by the one or more external vehicle environment sensors when the vehicle speed is below the threshold; and
automatically activate the turn signal in response to predicting the vehicle turning maneuver.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A turn signal system for activating a turn signal of a vehicle includes an electronic control unit having a processor and a non-transitory computer readable memory including a machine-readable instruction set. The electronic control unit is communicatively coupled to one or more external vehicle environment sensors, a vehicle speed sensor, and a turn signal. The machine-readable instruction set causes the processor to determine a vehicle speed based on an output signal of the vehicle speed sensor, predict a vehicle turning maneuver based on one or more environment signals output by the one or more external vehicle environment sensors when the vehicle speed is below a threshold, and automatically activate the turn signal in response to predicting the vehicle turning maneuver.
22 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A turn signal system for activating a turn signal of a vehicle comprising:
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an electronic control unit comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readable memory; one or more external vehicle environment sensors communicatively coupled to the electronic control unit; a vehicle speed sensor communicatively coupled to the electronic control unit; a turn signal communicatively coupled to the electronic control unit; and a machine-readable instruction set stored in the non-transitory computer readable memory that causes the turn signal system to perform at least the following when executed by the processor; determine a vehicle speed based on an output signal of the vehicle speed sensor; determine the vehicle speed is below a threshold, wherein the threshold is based on at least one of;
(i) a distance between a current vehicle location and a predicted location of a vehicle turning maneuver or (ii) an angle between a current vehicle trajectory and a predicted vehicle trajectory upon completing the vehicle turning maneuver;predict the vehicle turning maneuver based on one or more environment signals output by the one or more external vehicle environment sensors when the vehicle speed is below the threshold; and automatically activate the turn signal in response to predicting the vehicle turning maneuver. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 17)
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8. A method for activating a turn signal of a vehicle, the method comprising:
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determining a vehicle speed based on an output signal of a vehicle speed sensor; determining the vehicle speed is below a threshold, wherein the threshold is based on at least one of;
(i) a distance between a current vehicle location and a predicted location of a vehicle turning maneuver or (ii) an angle between a current vehicle trajectory and a predicted vehicle trajectory upon completing the vehicle turning maneuver;predicting the vehicle turning maneuver based on one or more signals output by one or more external vehicle environment sensors when the vehicle speed is below the threshold; and activating the turn signal of the vehicle in response to predicting the vehicle turning maneuver. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18)
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14. A vehicle having a turn signal system for activating a turn signal of the vehicle comprising:
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an electronic control unit comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readable memory; at least one external environment camera for capturing image data of an external environment of the vehicle communicatively coupled to the electronic control unit; a vehicle speed sensor communicatively coupled to the electronic control unit; a turn signal communicatively coupled to the electronic control unit; and a machine-readable instruction set stored in the non-transitory computer readable memory that causes the turn signal system to perform at least the following when executed by the processor; determine a vehicle speed based on an output signal of the vehicle speed sensor; determine the vehicle speed is below a threshold, wherein the threshold is based on at least one of;
(i) a distance between a current vehicle location and a predicted location of a vehicle turning maneuver or (ii) an angle between a current vehicle trajectory and a predicted vehicle trajectory upon completing the vehicle turning maneuver;predict the vehicle turning maneuver based on the image data from the at least one external environment camera when the vehicle speed is below the threshold; and automatically activate the turn signal in response to predicting the vehicle turning maneuver. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 19)
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Specification