Method and system for controlling a vehicle

• US 6,768,944 B2
• Filed: 08/09/2002
• Issued: 07/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: American Vehicular Sciences LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Intelligent Technologies International, Inc.
• Inventors: Breed, David S., Johnson, Wendell C., DuVall, Wilbur E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zanelli, Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US10/216,633
• Publication Number:
  US 20030191568A1
• Time in Patent Office: 718 Days
• Field of Search: 701/301, 701/208, 701/211, 701/36, 701/213, 701/216, 701/220, 342/357.06, 342/357.09, 342/357.14, 348/118
• US Class Current: 701/301
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/095 Predicting travel path or likelihood of collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/06 Road conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/11 wherein the cooperating elements are pseudolites or satellite radio beacon positioning system signal repeaters

Abstract

Control system and method for controlling a vehicle or a component of a vehicle in which an inertial reference unit includes accelerometers and gyroscopes which provide data on vehicle motion and a processor processes the data and controls the vehicle or the component of the vehicle based thereon. Movement of the vehicle may be controlled via control over servos, such as a servo associated with the braking system, a servo associated with the drive train or throttle and a servo associated with the steering system. A display to the driver can also be controlled by the processor to provide data on vehicle motion or data or information derived from the data on vehicle motion. Optionally, a Kalman filter is coupled to the processor for optimizing the data on vehicle motion from the inertial reference unit.

Claims

1. A control system for controlling a warning system of a vehicle, comprising:

an inertial reference unit including three accelerometers and three gyroscopes which provide data on vehicle motion;

a processor coupled to said inertial reference unit; and

a navigation system coupled to said processor and arranged to provide information about a roadway on which the vehicle is traveling from a map database to said processor.

said processor being arranged to process the data on vehicle motion provided by said inertial reference unit and the roadway information provided by said navigation system and control the warning system to provide a warning to the driver upon detection of a potential crash situation.

2. The control system of claim 1, further comprising a Kalman filter coupled to said processor for optimizing the data on vehicle motion from said inertial reference unit.

3. The control system of claim 1, wherein said processor is structured and arranged to consider the vehicle being about to run off a road, cross a yellow line and run a stop sign as potential crash situations.

4. The control system of claim 1, further comprising a sensor for obtaining input on the color of an approaching stoplight, said processor being structured and arranged to consider the vehicle being about to run off a road, cross a yellow line, run a stop sign and run a red stoplight as potential crash situations.

5. The control system of claim 1, wherein said warning system is at least one of an alarm, a light, a buzzer, an audible noise generator and a simulated rumble strip.

6. The control system of claim 1, wherein said processor is arranged to control the movement of the vehicle based on the data on vehicle motion.

7. The control system of claim 1, wherein said processor is arranged to control a display in the vehicle based on the data on vehicle motion.

8. The control system of claim 1, further comprising a GPS receiver arranged to receive positioning signals relating to the position of the vehicle, said processor being coupled to said GPS receiver and arranged to process the data on vehicle motion provided by said inertial reference unit and signals relating to the position of the vehicle received by said GPS receiver and control the warning system based thereon.

9. The control system of claim 8, further comprising a Kalman filter coupled to said processor for optimizing the data on vehicle motion provided by said inertial reference unit and the signals relating to the position of the vehicle received by said GPS receiver.

10. The control system of claim 8, wherein said processor is arranged to process the data on vehicle motion provided by said inertial reference unit, the signals relating to the position of the vehicle received by said GPS receiver and the roadway information provided by said navigation system and control the warning system to provide a warning to the driver upon detection of a potential crash situation.

11. The control system of claim 10, wherein said processor is structured and arranged to consider the vehicle being about to run off a road, cross a yellow line and run a stop sign as potential crash situations.

12. The control system of claim 10, further comprising a sensor for obtaining input on the color of an approaching stoplight, said processor being structured and arranged to consider the vehicle being about to run off a road, cross a yellow line, run a stop sign and run a red stoplight as potential crash situations.

13. The control system of claim 10, wherein said warning system is at least one of an alarm, a light, a buzzer, an audible noise generator and a simulated rumble strip.

14. The control system of claim 8, wherein said processor is arranged to control the movement of the vehicle based on the data on vehicle motion and signals relating to the position of the vehicle.

15. The control system of claim 8, wherein said processor is arranged to control a display in the vehicle based on the data on vehicle motion and signals relating to the position of the vehicle.

16. The control system of claim 1, wherein a first one of said accelerometers is arranged to sense vehicle acceleration in a latitude direction, a second one of said accelerometers is arranged to sense vehicle acceleration in a longitudinal direction and a third one of said accelerometers is arranged to sense vehicle acceleration in a vertical direction.

17. The control system of claim 1, wherein a first one of said gyroscopes is arranged to sense angular rate about the pitch axis, a second one of said gyroscopes is arranged to sense angular rate about the yaw axis and a third one of said gyroscopes is arranged to sense angular rate about the roll axis.

18. A control system for controlling a warning system of a vehicle, comprising:

an inertial reference unit including three accelerometers and three gyroscopes which provide data on vehicle motion;

a GPS receiver arranged to receive positioning signals relating to the position of the vehicle;

a processor coupled to said inertial reference unit and to said GPS receiver;

a Kalman filter coupled to said processor for optimizing the data on vehicle motion from said inertial reference unit and the signals relating to the position of the vehicle from said GPS receiver; and

a navigation system coupled to said processor and arranged to provide information about a roadway on which the vehicle is traveling from a map database to said processor,

said processor being arranged to process the data on vehicle motion provided by said inertial reference unit, the signals relating to the position of the vehicle received by said GPS receiver and the roadway information provided by said navigation system and control the warning system to provide a warning to the driver upon detection of a potential crash situation.

19. The control system of claim 18, wherein said processor is structured and arranged to consider the vehicle being about to run off a road, cross a yellow line and run a stop sign as potential crash situations.

20. The control system of claim 18, further comprising a sensor for obtaining input on the color of an approaching stoplight, said processor being structured and arranged to consider the vehicle being about to run off a road, cross a yellow line, run a stop sign and run a red stoplight as potential crash situations.

21. The control system of claim 18, wherein said warning system is at least one of an alarm, a light, a buzzer, an audible noise generator and a simulated rumble strip.

22. The control system of claim 18, wherein said processor is arranged to control the movement of the vehicle based on the data on vehicle motion provided by said inertial reference unit and signals relating to the position of the vehicle received by said GPS receiver.

23. The control system of claim 18, wherein said processor is arranged to control a display in the vehicle based on the data on vehicle motion provided by said inertial reference unit and signals relating to the position of the vehicle received by said GPS receiver.

24. The control system of claim 18, wherein a first one of said accelerometers is arranged to sense vehicle acceleration in a latitude direction, a second one of said accelerometers is arranged to sense vehicle acceleration in a longitudinal direction and a third one of said accelerometers is arranged to sense vehicle acceleration in a vertical direction.

25. The control system of claim 18, wherein a first one of said gyroscopes is arranged to sense angular rate about the pitch axis, a second one of said gyroscopes is arranged to sense angular rate about the yaw axis and a third one of said gyroscopes is arranged to sense angular rate about the roll axis.

26. A method for controlling a warning system a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

arranging an inertial reference unit including three accelerometers and three gyroscopes on the vehicle;

obtaining data on vehicle motion from the inertial reference unit;

arranging a navigation system on the vehicle including a map database;

obtaining information about a roadway on which the vehicle is traveling from the map database;

controlling the warning system based on the data on vehicle motion obtained from the inertial reference unit and the roadway information obtained from the map database to provide a warning to the driver upon detection of a potential crash situation.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising the step of utilizing a Kalman filter to optimize the data on vehicle motion from the inertial reference unit.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising the step of determining whether the vehicle is about to run off a road, cross a yellow line and run a stop sign, the warning system being controlled in light of the determination.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising the steps of:

obtaining input on the color of an approaching stoplight; and

determining whether the vehicle is about to run off a road, cross a yellow line, run a stop sign and run a red stoplight, the warning system being controlled in light of the determination.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising the steps of:

arranging a GPS receiver on the vehicle to receive positioning signals relating to the position of the vehicle; and

controlling the warning system based on the data on vehicle motion from the inertial reference unit and signals relating to the position of the vehicle received by the GPS receiver.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising the step of utilizing a Kalman filter to optimize the data on vehicle motion from the inertial reference unit and the signals relating to the position of the vehicle received by the GPS receiver.

32. A control system for controlling a vehicle display, comprising:

an inertial reference unit including three accelerometers and three gyroscopes which provide data on vehicle motion;

a processor coupled to said inertial reference unit and the display;

a GPS receiver arranged to receive positioning signals relating to the position of the vehicle; and

a navigation system coupled to said processor and arranged to provide information about a roadway on which the vehicle is traveling from a map database to said processor,

said processor being arranged to process the data on vehicle motion provided by said inertial reference unit, the signals relating to the position of the vehicle received by said GPS receiver and the roadway information provided by said navigation system in order to ascertain potential crash situations and control the display to provide an indication to the driver of the status of the vehicle upon detection of a potential crash situation.

33. The control system of claim 32, wherein said processor is structured and arranged to consider the vehicle being about to run off a road, cross a yellow line and run a stop sign as potential crash situations.

34. The control system of claim 32, further comprising a sensor for obtaining input on the color of an approaching stoplight, said processor being structured and arranged to consider the vehicle being about to run off a road, cross a yellow line, run a stop sign and run a red stoplight as potential crash situations.

35. A control system for controlling a vehicle component which affects the movement of the vehicle, comprising:

an inertial reference unit including three accelerometers and three gyroscopes which provide data on vehicle motion;

a processor coupled to said inertial reference unit and the component;

a GPS receiver arranged to receive positioning signals relating to the position of the vehicle; and

a navigation system coupled to said processor and arranged to provide information about a roadway on which the vehicle is traveling from a map database to said processor,

said processor being arranged to process the data on vehicle motion provided by said inertial reference unit, the signals relating to the position of the vehicle received by said GPS receiver and the roadway information provided by said navigation system in order to ascertain potential crash situations and generates control signals to control the component upon detection of a potential crash situation.

36. The control system of claim 35, wherein said processor is structured and arranged to consider the vehicle being about to run off a road, cross a yellow line and run a stop sign as potential crash situations.

37. The control system of claim 35, further comprising a sensor for obtaining input on the color of an approaching stoplight, said processor being structured and arranged to consider the vehicle being about to run off a road, cross a yellow line, run a stop sign and run a red stoplight as potential crash situations.