Navigation Device Automated Mode Sensing and Adjustment

• US 20110066364A1
• Filed: 09/15/2009
• Published: 03/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dish Technologies LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Echostar Technologies LLC (Echostar Corporation)
• Inventors: Hale, Jeffrey Charles
• Granted Patent: US 8,457,894 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/201
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3423 Multimodal routing, i.e. combining two or more modes of transportation, where the modes can be any of, e.g. driving, walking, cycling, public transport

Abstract

A navigation device automatically determines a travel mode based on at least one non-user input and configures itself based on the travel mode. The device generates one or more directions or navigation routes based on routing information, a user location, a destination, and the travel mode. The device then displays the one or more directions for the user. The automatic determination may be based on a travel speed, connection to an external power source, connection to an external power source and a travel speed, and/or receipt of one or more signals from a transmitter coupled to a vehicle. The user may be able to override configuration of the device based on the travel mode. The system may be implemented as an integrated device or may be implemented as a server computing device connected to a client computing device.

Claims

1. A method for automatic mode adjustment for a navigation device, comprising:

automatically determining, utilizing a navigation device, a travel mode based on at least one non-user input;

setting, utilizing the navigation device, an operational mode corresponding to the travel mode; and

generating, utilizing the navigation device, at least one direction based on at least a detected location of a user, an intended destination, and the travel mode.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying, on the navigation device, the at least one direction for the user;

automatically determining the travel mode has changed based on at least one additional non-user input;

setting an additional operational mode corresponding to the changed travel mode;

regenerating, utilizing the navigation device, the at least one direction based on at least the changed travel mode; and

displaying, on the navigation device, the regenerated at least one direction for the user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the travel mode comprises one selected from the group comprising walking and vehicular travel and the operational mode comprises one selected from the group comprising a pedestrian mode and a driving mode.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said automatically determining a travel mode based on at least one non-user input comprises:

calculating a travel speed based on the at least one non-user input; and

determining the travel mode if the travel speed is under a threshold.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said automatically determining a travel mode based on at least one non-user input comprises:

calculating a travel speed based on the at least one non-user input; and

determining the travel mode if the travel speed exceeds the threshold.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said automatically determining a travel mode based on at least one non-user input comprises:

determining whether the navigation device is connected to an external power source based on the at least one non-user input; and

determining the travel mode if the navigation device is connected to the external power source.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said automatically determining a travel mode based on at least one non-user input comprises:

determining whether the navigation device is connected to an external power source based on the at least one non-user input; and

determining the travel mode if the navigation device is not connected to the external power source.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one non-user input comprises at least one signal received from a global positioning system.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said setting an operational mode corresponding to the travel mode comprises:

presenting an alert to the user indicating that the operational mode will be set if the user does not override; and

setting the operational mode unless a response is received from the user specifying not to override.

10. A system for automatic mode adjustment, comprising:

at least one storage medium that stores routing information;

at least one processing unit, communicably coupled to the at least one storage medium, that generates at least one navigation route based on at least the routing information, a detected location, an intended destination, and an operational mode corresponding to a travel mode; and

at least one sensor, communicably coupled to the at least one processing unit, operable to receive at least one signal;

wherein the at least one processing unit is operable to automatically determine the travel mode based on the at least one signal.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one processing unit is operable to determine the travel mode has changed based on least one additional signal and regenerate the at least one navigation route based on the changed travel mode.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one processing unit generates the at least one navigation route based on the travel mode to direct pedestrian travel from the detected location to the intended destination.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one processing unit generates the at least one navigation route at least based on the travel mode to direct vehicular travel from the detected location to the intended destination.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the processing unit automatically determines the travel mode by determining one of a travel speed is under a threshold or the travel speed exceeds a threshold.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit determines the travel speed based on the at least one signal by detecting a first location of the at least one sensor at a first time and a second location of the at least one sensor at a second time and comparing the first location with the second location.

16. The system of claim 10, further including:

a navigation device that includes the at least one processing unit;

wherein the processing unit determines, based on the at least one signal, one of the navigation device is receiving power from an external power source or the navigation device is not receiving power from the external power source.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the external power source comprises an electrical system of a vehicle.

18. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a signal transmitter coupled to a vehicle;

wherein the signal is received from the signal transmitter.

19. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

an interface component, communicably coupled to the at least one processing unit, that displays the at least one navigation route to the user.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

a server computing device that includes the at least one processing unit; and

a client computing device, communicably connected to the server computing device, the client computing device including the at least one sensor and the interface component;

wherein the client computing device is operable to transmit the signal received by the at least one sensor to the server computing device and the server computing device is operable to transmit the at least one navigation route to the interface component of the client computing device.