Technique for ensuring safe travel of a vehicle or safety of an occupant therein
First Claim
1. A land vehicle, comprising:
- an occupant safety system that is designed to reduce injury to an occupant during an accident involving the vehicle;
a processor coupled to said safety system and that receives at least one inertial property of the vehicle and information about a portion of a road ahead of the vehicle in a travel direction of the vehicle, wherein said processor is configured to initiate action to ensure safe travel of the vehicle or safety of the occupant when said processor determines, based on the at least one inertial property and the information, that the vehicle is unlikely to safely travel that portion of the road; and
at least one accelerometer that provides acceleration of the vehicle in three orthogonal directions to said processor and at least one gyroscope that provides angular velocity of the vehicle to said processor such that the at least one inertial property includes acceleration of the vehicle in three orthogonal directions and angular velocity of the vehicle about three orthogonal axes, the accelerations and angular velocities being measured at a substantially common location.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Vehicle with an occupant safety system includes an occupant safety system designed to reduce injury to an occupant during an accident involving the vehicle and a processor coupled to the safety system and that receives at least one inertial property of the vehicle and information about a portion of a road ahead of the vehicle in its travel direction. If the processor determines, based on the at least one inertial property and the information, that the vehicle is unlikely to safely travel that portion of the road, the processor initiates action to ensure safe travel of the vehicle or safety of the occupant. The inertial property of the vehicle may be provided by an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that measures acceleration in three orthogonal directions and angular velocity about three orthogonal axes, all at a substantially common location. The occupant safety system may include one or more inflatable airbags.
50 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A land vehicle, comprising:
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an occupant safety system that is designed to reduce injury to an occupant during an accident involving the vehicle; a processor coupled to said safety system and that receives at least one inertial property of the vehicle and information about a portion of a road ahead of the vehicle in a travel direction of the vehicle, wherein said processor is configured to initiate action to ensure safe travel of the vehicle or safety of the occupant when said processor determines, based on the at least one inertial property and the information, that the vehicle is unlikely to safely travel that portion of the road; and at least one accelerometer that provides acceleration of the vehicle in three orthogonal directions to said processor and at least one gyroscope that provides angular velocity of the vehicle to said processor such that the at least one inertial property includes acceleration of the vehicle in three orthogonal directions and angular velocity of the vehicle about three orthogonal axes, the accelerations and angular velocities being measured at a substantially common location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A land vehicle, comprising:
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an occupant safety system that is designed to reduce injury to an occupant during an accident involving the vehicle; a processor coupled to said safety system and that receives at least one inertial property of the vehicle and information about a portion of a road ahead of the vehicle in a travel direction of the vehicle, wherein said processor is configured to initiate action to ensure safe travel of the vehicle or safety of the occupant when said processor determines, based on the at least one inertial property and the information, that the vehicle is unlikely to safely travel that portion of the road, the action initiated by said processor including actuation of said safety system, said processor embodying a pattern recognition technique for analyzing the at least one inertial property; and at least one accelerometer that provides acceleration of the vehicle in three orthogonal directions to said processor and at least one gyroscope that provides angular velocity of the vehicle to said processor such that the at least one inertial property includes acceleration of the vehicle in three orthogonal directions and angular velocity of the vehicle about three orthogonal axes, the accelerations and angular velocities being measured at a substantially common location. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A land vehicle, comprising:
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an occupant safety system that is designed to reduce injury to an occupant during an accident involving the vehicle; a processor coupled to said safety system and that receives at least one inertial property of the vehicle and information about a portion of a road ahead of the vehicle in a travel direction of the vehicle, wherein said processor is configured to initiate action to ensure safe travel of the vehicle or safety of the occupant when said processor determines, based on the at least one inertial property and the information, that the vehicle is unlikely to safely travel that portion of the road, wherein the information about the portion of the road ahead of the vehicle is obtained from a digital map or using telematics, and wherein the action initiated by said processor includes issuance of a warning to a driver of the vehicle or notification to an off-vehicle site; and at least one accelerometer that provides acceleration of the vehicle in three orthogonal directions to said processor and at least one gyroscope that provides angular velocity of the vehicle to said processor such that the at least one inertial property includes acceleration of the vehicle in three orthogonal directions and angular velocity of the vehicle about three orthogonal axes, the accelerations and angular velocities being measured at a substantially common location. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification