Using an external vehicle display for vehicle communication

• US 10,576,880 B1
• Filed: 01/08/2019
• Issued: 03/03/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2019
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Hecht, Ron M., Degani, Asaf, Telpaz, Ariel, Riess, Eilon, Shmueli Friedland, Yael, Kamhi, Gila
• Primary Examiner(s): Tweel, Jr., John A
• Application Number:
  US16/242,547
• Time in Patent Office: 420 Days
• Field of Search: 3404255
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/50 for indicating other intentions or conditions, e.g. request for waiting or overtaking
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/5035 electronic displays
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/507 specific to autonomous vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/543 for indicating other states or conditions of the vehicle indicating taxis' state of hire or fare G07B13/045
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/544 for indicating other states or conditions of the vehicle occupants, e.g. for indicating disabled occupants
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/161 Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Abstract

Examples of techniques for vehicle communication between a first vehicle and a second vehicle are disclosed. An example method includes displaying, on an external vehicle display of the first vehicle, vehicle data. The method further includes capturing, by a camera of the second vehicle, an image of the external vehicle display. The method further includes processing, by a processing device associated with the second vehicle, the image to extract the vehicle data about the first vehicle. The method further includes determining, by the processing device, a position of the first vehicle relative to a position of the second vehicle based at least in part on the vehicle data. The method further includes controlling, by the processing device associated with the second vehicle, the second vehicle based at least in part on the position of the first vehicle relative to the position of the second vehicle.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for using an external vehicle display for vehicle communication between a first vehicle and a second vehicle, the method comprising:

displaying, on the external vehicle display of the first vehicle, vehicle data about the first vehicle;

capturing, by a camera of the second vehicle, an image of the external vehicle display of the first vehicle;

processing, by a processing device associated with the second vehicle, the image to extract the vehicle data about the first vehicle;

determining, by the processing device associated with the second vehicle, a position of the first vehicle relative to a position of the second vehicle based at least in part on the vehicle data about the first vehicle; and

controlling, by the processing device associated with the second vehicle, the second vehicle based at least in part on the position of the first vehicle relative to the position of the second vehicle.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the external vehicle display comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs), wherein a first subset of the plurality of LEDs displays a human-recognizable image, and wherein a second subset of the plurality of LEDs displays the vehicle data about the first vehicle.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of LEDs are arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the second subset of the plurality of LEDs is one of the rows of the plurality of rows or one of the columns of the plurality of columns.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the second subset of the plurality of LEDs each display a plurality of colors, wherein each of the plurality of colors is associated with a bit of data.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the displaying, on the external vehicle display of the first vehicle, further comprises displaying a human-recognizable image on the external vehicle display of the first vehicle, wherein the human-recognizable image is displayed at a first frequency in frames per second, and wherein the vehicle data are displayed at a second frequency in frames per second.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the second frequency of the data is not detectable to a human.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle data are displayed intermittently with respect to a human recognizable image.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, by the processing device of the second vehicle, an acknowledgement to a processing device of the first vehicle.

10. A system comprising:

a memory comprising computer readable instructions; and

a processing device for executing the computer readable instructions for performing a method for using an external vehicle display for vehicle communication between a first vehicle and a second vehicle, the processing device being associated with the second vehicle, the method comprising;

displaying, on the external vehicle display of the first vehicle, a human-recognizable image and vehicle data about the first vehicle;

capturing, by a camera of the second vehicle, an image of the external vehicle display of the first vehicle;

processing, by the processing device associated with the second vehicle, the image to extract the vehicle data about the first vehicle;

determining, by the processing device associated with the second vehicle, a position of the first vehicle relative to a position of the second vehicle based at least in part on the vehicle data about the first vehicle; and

controlling, by the processing device associated with the second vehicle, the second vehicle based at least in part on the position of the first vehicle relative to the position of the second vehicle.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the external vehicle display comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs), wherein a first subset of the plurality of LEDs displays the human-recognizable image, and wherein a second subset of the plurality of LEDs displays the vehicle data about the first vehicle.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of LEDs are arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the second subset of the plurality of LEDs is one of the rows of the plurality of rows or one of the columns of the plurality of columns.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the second subset of the plurality of LEDs each display a plurality of colors, wherein each of the plurality of colors is associated with a bit of data.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the human-recognizable image is displayed at a first frequency in frames per second, and wherein the vehicle data are displayed at a second frequency in frames per second.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the second frequency of the data is not detectable to a human.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the vehicle data are displayed intermittently with respect to the human recognizable image.

18. A computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processing device to cause the processing device to perform a method for using an external vehicle display for vehicle communication between a first vehicle and a second vehicle, the processing device being associated with the second vehicle, the method comprising;

displaying, on the external vehicle display of the first vehicle, a human-recognizable image and vehicle data about the first vehicle;

capturing, by a camera of the second vehicle, an image of the external vehicle display of the first vehicle;

processing, by the processing device associated with the second vehicle, the image to extract the vehicle data about the first vehicle;

determining, by the processing device associated with the second vehicle, a position of the first vehicle relative to a position of the second vehicle based at least in part on the vehicle data about the first vehicle; and

controlling, by the processing device associated with the second vehicle, the second vehicle based at least in part on the position of the first vehicle relative to the position of the second vehicle.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the external vehicle display comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs), wherein a first subset of the plurality of LEDs displays the human-recognizable image, and wherein a second subset of the plurality of LEDs displays the vehicle data about the first vehicle.

20. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the vehicle data are displayed intermittently with respect to the human recognizable image.