ON-BOARD VEHICLE WARNING SYSTEM AND VEHICLE DRIVER WARNING METHOD

• US 20090224942A1
• Filed: 03/10/2008
• Published: 09/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan Technical Center North America Incorporated (Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Takeda, Seiji, Iljima, Tetsuya, Goudy, Roy
• Granted Patent: US 8,294,594 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/905
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096783 where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/164 Centralised systems, e.g. external to vehicles

Abstract

An on-board vehicle warning system includes a vehicle location detecting section, a traffic regulation retrieving section, an incoming message receiving section, a vehicle information detecting section, a potential violation alerting section. The traffic regulation retrieving section is configured to retrieve information relating to a local traffic regulation corresponding to the location of the host vehicle from traffic regulation data including traffic regulations relating to a plurality of jurisdictions. The potential violation alerting section is configured to determine a potential traffic violation based on the intersection information and the vehicle travel information, and to selectively produce a driver notification to a driver of the host vehicle based upon a determination of the potential traffic violation according to the local traffic regulation corresponding to the location of the host vehicle.

Claims

1. An on-board vehicle warning system comprising:

a vehicle location detecting section configured to detect a location of a host vehicle equipped with the on-board vehicle warning system;

a traffic regulation retrieving section configured to retrieve information relating to a local traffic regulation corresponding to the location of the host vehicle from traffic regulation data including traffic regulations relating to a plurality of jurisdictions;

an incoming message receiving section configured to receive intersection information of a traffic intersection in front of the host vehicle with the intersection information containing at least phase information of a traffic light device that exists in the traffic intersection;

a vehicle information detecting section configured to detect vehicle travel information; and

a potential violation alerting section configured to determine a potential traffic violation by the host vehicle based on the intersection information and the vehicle travel information, and to selectively produce a driver notification to a driver of the host vehicle based upon a determination of the potential traffic violation according to the local traffic regulation corresponding to the location of the host vehicle.

2. The on-board vehicle warning system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the potential violation alerting section is configured to adjust a parameter indicative of a distance between the traffic intersection and the position of the host vehicle at which the driver notification is produced according to the local traffic regulation corresponding to the location of the host vehicle.

3. The on-board vehicle warning system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the traffic regulation retrieving section is configured to retrieve the information relating to the local traffic regulation corresponding to the location of the host vehicle from an on-board storage device that stores the traffic regulation data.

4. The on-board vehicle warning system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the traffic regulation retrieving section is configured to wirelessly download the information relating to the local traffic regulation corresponding to the location of the host vehicle from an external server that stores the traffic regulation data.

5. The on-board vehicle warning system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the incoming message receiving section is further configured to receive the intersection information containing a geometric configuration of the traffic intersection.

6. The on-board vehicle warning system as recited in claim 5, wherein

the incoming message receiving section is configured to receive the intersection information containing information relating to a width of the traffic intersection.

7. The on-board vehicle warning system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the vehicle information detecting section is configured to detect the vehicle travel information including a position of the host vehicle with respect to the traffic intersection.

8. The on-board vehicle warning system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the vehicle information detecting section is configured to detect the vehicle travel information including a current speed of the host vehicle.

9. The on-board vehicle warning system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the potential violation alerting section is further configured to determine whether the host vehicle is taking an action to avoid the potential traffic violation based on the vehicle travel information.

10. The on-board vehicle warning system as recited in claim 9, wherein

the potential violation alerting section is configured to produce the driver notification when the potential violation alerting section determines that the host vehicle is required to stop prior to the traffic intersection in order to avoid the potential traffic violation and that the host vehicle is not taking the action to avoid the potential traffic violation.

11. The on-board vehicle warning system as recited in claim 10, wherein

the potential violation alerting section is configured to issue a warning as the driver notification when the phase information of the traffic light device indicates a phase of the traffic light device is red and when the potential violation alerting section determines the host vehicle is not stopping.

12. The on-board vehicle warning system as recited in claim 11, wherein

the potential violation alerting section is configured to issue the warning upon the host vehicle reaching a position with respect to the traffic intersection which requires the host vehicle to decelerate at a prescribed rate in order to stop the host vehicle before the host vehicle reaches the traffic intersection.

13. The on-board vehicle warning system as recited in claim 10, wherein

the potential violation alerting section is configured to issue an advisory as the driver notification when the phase information of the traffic light device indicates an impending phase change and when the potential violation alerting section determines the host vehicle will commit a traffic violation under the local traffic regulation if the host vehicle continues to travel at a current speed.

14. The on-board vehicle warning system as recited in claim 13, wherein

the potential violation alerting section is configured to issue the advisory upon the host vehicle reaching a position with respect to the traffic intersection which requires the host vehicle to decelerate at a prescribed rate in order to stop the host vehicle before the host vehicle reaches the traffic intersection.

15. The on-board vehicle warning system as recited in claim 6, wherein

the potential violation alerting section is further configured to determine the potential traffic violation by taking into account a longitudinal length of a vehicle body of the host vehicle to calculate timings at which the host vehicle enters the traffic intersection and exits the traffic intersection.

16. A vehicle driver warning method comprising:

detecting a location of a host vehicle;

retrieving information relating to a local traffic regulation corresponding to the location of the host vehicle from traffic regulation data including traffic regulations relating to a plurality of jurisdictions;

receiving intersection information of a traffic intersection in front of the host vehicle with the intersection information containing at least phase information of a traffic light device that exists in the traffic intersection;

detecting vehicle travel information;

determining a potential traffic violation by the host vehicle based on the intersection information and the vehicle travel information; and

selectively producing a driver notification to a driver of the host vehicle based upon a determination of the potential traffic violation according to the local traffic regulation corresponding to the location of the host vehicle.

17. The vehicle driver warning method as recited in claim 16, wherein

the selectively producing of the driver notification includes adjusting a parameter indicative of a distance between the traffic intersection and the position of the host vehicle at which the driver notification is produced according to the local traffic regulation corresponding to the location of the host vehicle.

18. The vehicle driver warning method as recited in claim 16, wherein

the determining of the potential traffic violation includes determining whether the host vehicle is taking an action to avoid the potential traffic violation based on the vehicle travel information.

19. The vehicle driver warning method as recited in claim 18, wherein

the selectively producing of the driver notification includes producing the driver notification when the host vehicle is required to stop prior to the traffic intersection in order to avoid the potential traffic violation and when the host vehicle is not taking the action to avoid the potential traffic violation.

20. The vehicle driver warning method as recited in claim 19, wherein

the selectively producing of the driver notification includes producing the driver notification upon the host vehicle reaching a position with respect to the traffic intersection which requires the host vehicle to decelerate at a prescribed rate in order to stop the host vehicle before the host vehicle reaches the traffic intersection.