Interactive vehicle control system
First Claim
1. An interactive vehicle control system comprising:
- a sensor mounted on a vehicle for detecting a specific physical parameter that relates to the vehicle or to driving of the vehicle and for outputting a detection signal;
discriminating means for inferring, from said detection signal, with a degree of reliability, existence of at least one specific condition to be considered in vehicle control, said physical parameter relating to said one specific condition;
output means for outputting a question for confirmation of said specific condition when the degree of reliability determined by said discriminating means lies within a predetermined range;
input means for inputting a user'"'"'s answer to said outputted question;
decision making means for, based on said user'"'"'s answer, determining whether or not said specific condition actually exists; and
execution means for executing a vehicle control operation in accordance with a result of the determination by said decision making means.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An interactive navigation system includes a navigation processing unit, a current position sensor, a speaker, a microphone and a display. When it is preliminary inferred, based on receipt of a detection signal from the sensor, that a vehicle has probably been diverted from a drive route determined by the navigation processing unit, a machine voice question is produced through the speaker for confirmation of the inferred probability of diversion. A driver or user in the vehicle answers the question, which is input through the microphone and analyzed to be affirmative or negative, from which a final decision is made as to the vehicle diversion. In a preferred embodiment the question is spoken by a personified agent who appears on the display. The agent'"'"'s activities are controlled by an agent processing unit. Communication between the agent and the user improves reliability and accuracy of inference of any vehicle condition which could not be determined perfectly by a sensor only.
363 Citations
14 Claims
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1. An interactive vehicle control system comprising:
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a sensor mounted on a vehicle for detecting a specific physical parameter that relates to the vehicle or to driving of the vehicle and for outputting a detection signal;
discriminating means for inferring, from said detection signal, with a degree of reliability, existence of at least one specific condition to be considered in vehicle control, said physical parameter relating to said one specific condition;
output means for outputting a question for confirmation of said specific condition when the degree of reliability determined by said discriminating means lies within a predetermined range;
input means for inputting a user'"'"'s answer to said outputted question;
decision making means for, based on said user'"'"'s answer, determining whether or not said specific condition actually exists; and
execution means for executing a vehicle control operation in accordance with a result of the determination by said decision making means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9)
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7. An interactive automatic transmission control system comprising:
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sensor means mounted on a vehicle for inferring, with a degree of reliability, that a vehicle is now running uphill or downhill at an angle of inclination greater than a predetermined angle;
output means for outputting a question for confirmation of the inference by said sensor means when the degree of reliability lies within a predetermined range;
input means for inputting a user'"'"'s answer to said outputted question; and
automatic transmission control means for outputting a down-shift command to an automatic transmission when it is confirmed by said user'"'"'s answer that the vehicle is actually running uphill or downhill. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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10. An interactive vehicle automatic transmission control system comprising:
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sensor means mounted on a vehicle for inferring, with a degree of reliability that a vehicle is now running on a slippery road;
output means for outputting a question for confirmation of the inference of existence of the slippery road by said sensor means, when the degree of reliability is within a predetermined range;
input means for inputting a user'"'"'s answer to said outputted question; and
an automatic transmission control means for outputting a down-shift command to an automatic transmission when it is confirmed by said user'"'"'s answer that the vehicle is actually running on the slippery road. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. An interactive navigation system comprising:
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a current position sensor for detecting current position of a vehicle;
route-finding means for determining a drive route from the current position detected by said current position sensor to a predetermined destination;
inference means, that receives during driving a detection signal from said current position sensor, for inferring from the detection signal, with a degree of reliability, that the vehicle has been diverted from the drive route determined by said route-finding means;
a speaker that outputs a machine voice question by which said inferred diversion can be confirmed, when the degree of reliability is within a predetermined range;
a microphone that inputs a user'"'"'s voice answer to said question;
final decision making means for, based on said user'"'"'s voice answer, determining whether or not the vehicle has actually been diverted from the drive route; and
position correct means for correcting vehicle position on a map in accordance with a result of determination by said final decision making means. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. An interactive navigation system comprising:
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a current position sensor for detecting current position of a vehicle;
route-finding means for determining a drive route from the current position detected by said current position sensor to a predetermined destination;
inference means for inferring, with a degree of reliability, a traffic jam on the drive route which has been determined by said route-finding means and along which the vehicle is currently driven;
a speaker that outputs a machine voice question by which said inferred traffic jam can be confirmed, when the degree of reliability is within a predetermined range;
a microphone that inputs a user'"'"'s voice answer to said question; and
final decision making means for, responsive to said user'"'"'s voice answer, determining whether or not there is actually a traffic jam on the current drive route;
wherein said route-finding means determines another drive route to the destination which detours the traffic jam, when said final decision making means confirms the traffic jam on the current drive route.
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Specification