In-Vehicle Signage Techniques

• US 20080106436A1
• Filed: 01/10/2008
• Published: 05/08/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: American Vehicular Sciences LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Intelligent Technologies International, Inc.
• Inventors: Breed, David
• Granted Patent: US 10,358,057 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/905
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2863 backward facing
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/18 including control of braking systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/20 including control of steering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0071 Controller overrides driver automatically
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0073 Driver overrides controller
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0075 Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/02 Control of vehicle driving stability
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/04 related to roll-over prevention
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/14 Adaptive cruise control
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18154 Approaching an intersection
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18159 Traversing an intersection
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18172 Preventing, or responsive to skidding of wheels
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/06 Road conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/072 Curvature of the road
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/076 Slope angle of the road
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/00 Details of control systems for road vehicle drive control not related to the control of a particular sub-unit , e.g. process diagnostic or vehicle driver interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/28 : with correlation of data from several navigational instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 : of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 : Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/89 : for mapping or imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/17 : Emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/41 : Differential correction, e.g. DGPS [differential GPS]
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 : Determining position
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/50 : whereby the position solution is constrained to lie upon a particular curve or surface, e.g. for locomotives on railway tracks
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2007/4975 : of sensor obstruction by, e.g. dirt- or ice-coating, e.g. by reflection measurement on front-screen
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9315 : Monitoring blind spots
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9316 : combined with communication equipment with other vehicles or with base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9318 : Controlling the steering
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93185 : Controlling the brakes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9319 : Controlling the accelerator
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/932 : using own vehicle data, e.g. ground speed, steering wheel direction
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9321 : Velocity regulation, e.g. cruise control
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9322 : using additional data, e.g. driver condition, road state or weather data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93271 : in the front of the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93272 : in the back of the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93273 : on the top of the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9329 : cooperating with reflectors or transponders
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0221 : involving a learning process
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0225 : involving docking at a fixed facility, e.g. base station or loading bay parking aids B62D15/027
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0246 : using a video camera in combination with image processing means
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0257 : using a radar radar systems designed for anti-collision purposes between land vehicles or between land vehicle and fixed obstacles G01S13/931
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/027 : comprising intertial navigation means, e.g. azimuth detector inertial navigation G01C21/16; inertial navigation combined with non-inertial navigation instruments G01C21/165
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 : using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 : using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/161 : Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/163 : involving continuous checking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/164 : Centralised systems, e.g. external to vehicles
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 : Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection

Abstract

System and method for displaying data to a vehicular occupant about road signs includes a display system arranged to be visible to the occupant and a processor coupled to the display system for receiving data about signs along roads on which the vehicle travels and displaying the received data to the occupant. The data may be provided by a map database containing data about signs along roads on which the vehicle travels, with the processor being coupled to the map database and receiving data about signs along the roads from the map database. A communications unit may be arranged in the vehicle and receives data about signs along the roads on which the vehicle travels from a transmission unit coupled to each sign. The processor may be coupled to or integrated with the communications unit and receives data about signs along the roads from the signs via the communications unit.

Claims

1. A system in a vehicle for displaying data to an occupant of the vehicle about road signs, comprising:

a display system visible to the occupant; and

a processor coupled to said display system for receiving data about signs along roads on which the vehicle travels and displaying the received data to the occupant.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a map database containing data about signs along roads on which the vehicle travels, said processor being coupled to said map database and receiving data about signs along the roads from said map database.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a communications unit arranged in the vehicle and arranged to receive data about signs along the roads on which the vehicle travels from a transmission unit coupled to each sign, said processor being coupled to or integrated with said communications unit and receiving data about signs along the roads from the signs via said communications unit.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said processor is arranged to translate the data about the signs along the road and display the translated data on said display system.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said processor is arranged to receive the data about the signs in a first language, translate the data about the signs along the road into a second language and display the data on said display system in both the first and second languages.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said processor includes a memory for storing data about the signs along the road, further comprising an input device which enables the occupant to access the stored data.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one input device for enabling the occupant to control said processor and thus control the content of the data being displayed on said display system by said processor.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for enabling the occupant to control said processor and thus control the content of the data being displayed on said display system by said processor.

9. A method for displaying data to an occupant of the vehicle about road signs, comprising:

arranging a display system in the vehicle in a position visible to the occupant; and

providing a processor on the vehicle with data about signs along roads on which the vehicle travels; and

controlling the display system via the processor such that data provided to the processor is displayed on the display system to the occupant.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of providing the processor with data about signs along roads comprises forming a map database containing data about signs along roads on which the vehicle travels and coupling the map database to the processor.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the map database is apart from the vehicle, further comprising transmitting the data about the signs along the road from the map database to a communications unit on the vehicle coupled to the processor.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

arranging a communications unit in the vehicle; and

transmitting data from each sign to the communications unit when the vehicle is within a transmission range of the sign;

wherein the step of providing the processor with data about signs along roads comprises coupling the communications unit to the processor such that the data received by the communications unit is forwarded to the processor.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the processor is arranged to translate the data about the signs along the road and display the translated data on the display system.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the processor is arranged to receive the data about the signs in a first language, translate the data about the signs along the road into a second language and display the data on the display system in both the first and second languages.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the processor includes a memory for storing data about the signs along the road, further comprising enabling the occupant to access the stored data via an input device coupled to the processor.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising enabling the occupant to control the processor and thus control the content of the data being displayed on the display system by the processor.