U.S. patent application number 15/407064 was filed with the patent office on 2018-07-19 for method and system for using weather information in operation of autonomous vehicles.
The applicant listed for this patent is NIO USA, Inc.. Invention is credited to Austin L. Newman.
Application Number | 20180203443 15/407064 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 62841350 |
Filed Date | 2018-07-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180203443 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Newman; Austin L. |
July 19, 2018 |
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR USING WEATHER INFORMATION IN OPERATION OF
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
Abstract
Systems of an electrical vehicle and the operations thereof are
provided that receives weather forecast information associated with
a current geographic location of the vehicle and alters or
implement a change to an autonomous driving operational setting
and/or selects and activates one or more climate control settings
to condition the vehicle interior for one or more occupants.
Inventors: |
Newman; Austin L.; (San
Jose, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
NIO USA, Inc. |
San Jose |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
62841350 |
Appl. No.: |
15/407064 |
Filed: |
January 16, 2017 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y02T 90/16 20130101;
B60Y 2300/24 20130101; B60L 2240/64 20130101; B60L 1/00 20130101;
B60H 1/00771 20130101; G01C 21/3484 20130101; Y02T 10/70 20130101;
B60L 2240/66 20130101; B60Y 2200/91 20130101; B60Y 2200/92
20130101; Y10S 903/93 20130101; Y02T 10/72 20130101; B60L 58/12
20190201; G01C 21/3691 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G05D 1/00 20060101
G05D001/00; G01C 21/36 20060101 G01C021/36; B60H 1/00 20060101
B60H001/00; G05D 1/02 20060101 G05D001/02; G01C 21/34 20060101
G01C021/34 |
Claims
1. A vehicle, comprising: a vehicle interior for receiving one or
more occupants; a climate control system to control a temperature
in at least a portion of the vehicle interior or exterior; a
plurality of sensors to collect sensed information associated with
the vehicle interior and exterior of the vehicle; rechargeable
energy storage; an automatic vehicle location system to determine a
current spatial location of the vehicle; a computer readable medium
to store an autonomous driving agent to operate autonomously
vehicle operations; and a microprocessor, coupled to the plurality
of sensors, climate control system, automatic vehicle location
system, and computer readable medium, that receives weather
forecast information associated with a current geographic location
of the vehicle and at least one of: (a) alters or implement a
change to an autonomous driving operational setting to be employed
when the vehicle is in a full automation level in which the
microprocessor requires no human driver interaction in any driving
operation of the vehicle or (b) selects and activates one or more
climate control settings based on a selected state of charge of the
rechargeable energy storage to condition the vehicle interior for
one or more occupants while maintaining a sufficient amount of
energy in the rechargeable energy storage to meet a predicted
energy demand for the vehicle using the selected state of
charge.
2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the microprocessor performs
operation (a) and wherein the autonomous driving operational
setting is one or more of a change to a throttle peddle mapping, a
change in a torque level produced by one or more electric motors,
change a braking distance of the vehicle, an electronic stability
control setting, a traction control system setting, a sensitivity
setting of a sensor, a predicted behavior of an exterior object,
and a safety restraint restriction.
3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the microprocessor performs
operation (b), wherein the weather forecast information comprises
one or more of an expected temperature, wind speed, wind direction,
relative humidity, wind chill, dew point, barometric pressure,
ultraviolet index, degree of visibility, level of precipitation, or
type of precipitation at the current geographic location of the
vehicle, and wherein the microprocessor applies an inference engine
in determining when or how to activate the one or more climate
control settings.
4. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein input to the inference engine
comprises plural of an amount of energy to be consumed by the
activated one or more climate control settings, a future or current
state of charge of an energy storage unit of the vehicle, and an
amount of energy to be consumed by the vehicle traveling a
predetermined route.
5. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the autonomous driving agent
determines the predetermined route to be traveled based on one or
more of waypoint, destination or route that is currently programmed
into the vehicle, currently programmed into a portable computing
device of a potential occupant, derived from an appointment on an
electronic calendar of a potential occupant, derived from Internet
search results stored in the vehicle or the portable computing
device, or based on historic behavior of the potential
occupant.
6. The vehicle of claim 2, wherein the vehicle is parked in a
protected environment, wherein the changed autonomous driving
operational setting is a predicted behavior of an exterior object,
and wherein the protected environment has a different temperature
and moisture level than the environment exterior to the protected
environment.
7. A method, comprising: in a vehicle comprising a vehicle interior
for receiving one or more occupants, a climate control system to
control a temperature in at least a portion of the vehicle interior
or exterior, a plurality of sensors to collect sensed information
associated with the vehicle interior and exterior of the vehicle,
rechargeable energy storage, and an automatic vehicle location
system to determine a current spatial location of the vehicle,
receiving, by a microprocessor, coupled to the plurality of
sensors, climate control system, automatic vehicle location system,
and computer readable medium, weather forecast information
associated with a current geographic location of the vehicle; and
performing, by the microprocessor, at least one of: (a) altering or
implement a change to an autonomous driving operational setting to
be employed when the vehicle is in a full automation level in which
the microprocessor requires no human driver interaction in any
driving operation of the vehicle or (b) selecting and activating
one or more climate control settings to condition the vehicle
interior for one or more occupants while maintaining a sufficient
amount of stored charge in the rechargeable energy storage to meet
a predicted energy usage for the vehicle using the stored
charge.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the microprocessor alters or
implements a change to an autonomous driving operational setting
and wherein the autonomous driving operational setting is one or
more of a change to a throttle peddle mapping, a change in a torque
level produced by one or more electric motors, change a braking
distance of the vehicle, an electronic stability control setting, a
traction control system setting, a sensitivity setting of a sensor,
a predicted behavior of an exterior object, and a safety restraint
restriction.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the microprocessor selects and
activates one or more climate control settings to condition the
vehicle interior for one or more occupants, wherein the weather
forecast information comprises one or more of an expected
temperature, wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, wind
chill, dew point, barometric pressure, ultraviolet index, degree of
visibility, level of precipitation, or type of precipitation at the
current geographic location of the vehicle, and wherein the
microprocessor applies an inference engine in determining when or
how to activate the one or more climate control settings.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein input to the microprocessor
comprises plural of an amount of energy to be consumed by the
activated one or more climate control settings, a future or current
state of charge of an energy storage unit of the vehicle, and an
amount of energy to be consumed by the vehicle traveling a
predetermined route.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the microprocessor determines
the predetermined route to be traveled based on one or more of
waypoint, destination or route that is currently programmed into
the vehicle, currently programmed into a portable computing device
of a potential occupant, derived from an appointment on an
electronic calendar of a potential occupant, derived from Internet
search results stored in the vehicle or the portable computing
device, or based on historic behavior of the potential
occupant.
12. The method of claim 8, wherein the vehicle is parked in a
protected environment, wherein the changed autonomous driving
operation setting is a predicted behavior of an exterior object,
and wherein the protected environment has a different temperature
and moisture level than the environment exterior to the protected
environment.
13. A vehicle, comprising: a vehicle interior for receiving one or
more occupants; a climate control system to control a temperature
in at least a portion of the vehicle interior or exterior; a
plurality of sensors to collect sensed information associated with
the vehicle interior and exterior of the vehicle; rechargeable
energy storage; an automatic vehicle location system to determine a
current spatial location of the vehicle; a computer readable medium
to store an autonomous driving agent to operate autonomously
vehicle operations; and a microprocessor, coupled to the plurality
of sensors, climate control system, automatic vehicle location
system, and computer readable medium, that receives weather
forecast information associated with a current geographic location
of the vehicle and one or more of (a) alters or implement a change
to an autonomous driving operational setting to be employed when
the vehicle is in a full automation level in which the
microprocessor requires no human driver interaction in any driving
operation of the vehicle and (b) selects and activates one or more
climate control settings to condition the vehicle interior for one
or more occupants while maintaining a sufficient amount of energy
in the rechargeable energy storage to meet a predicted energy
demand for the vehicle using the selected state of charge.
14. The vehicle of claim 13, wherein the microprocessor performs
operation (a) and wherein the autonomous driving operational
setting is one or more of a change to a throttle peddle mapping, a
change in a torque level produced by one or more electric motors,
change a braking distance of the vehicle, an electronic stability
control setting, a traction control system setting, a sensitivity
setting of a sensor, a predicted behavior of an exterior object,
and a safety restraint restriction.
15. The vehicle of claim 13, wherein the microprocessor performs
operation (a) and wherein the autonomous driving agent selects and
activates one or more climate control settings to condition the
vehicle interior for one or more occupants.
16. The vehicle of claim 15, wherein the microprocessor performs
operation (a) and wherein the autonomous driving operational
setting is one or more of a change to a throttle peddle mapping, a
change in a torque level produced by one or more electric motors,
change a braking distance of the vehicle, an electronic stability
control setting, a traction control system setting, a sensitivity
setting of a sensor, and a safety restraint restriction.
17. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein the microprocessor performs
operation (b), wherein the weather forecast information comprises
one or more an expected temperature, wind speed, wind direction,
relative humidity, wind chill, dew point, barometric pressure,
ultraviolet index, degree of visibility, level of precipitation, or
type of precipitation at the current geographic location of the
vehicle, and wherein the microprocessor applies an inference engine
in determining when or how to activate the one or more climate
control settings.
18. The vehicle of claim 17, wherein input to the inference engine
comprises plural of an amount of energy to be consumed by the
activated one or more climate control settings, a future or current
state of charge of an energy storage unit of the vehicle, and an
amount of energy to be consumed by the vehicle traveling a
predetermined route.
19. The vehicle of claim 18, wherein the autonomous driving agent
determines the predetermined route to be traveled based on one or
more of waypoint, destination or route that is currently programmed
into the vehicle, currently programmed into a portable computing
device of a potential occupant, derived from an appointment on an
electronic calendar of a potential occupant, derived from Internet
search results stored in the vehicle or the portable computing
device, or based on historic behavior of the potential
occupant.
20. The vehicle of claim 14, wherein the vehicle is parked in a
protected environment, wherein the changed autonomous driving
operational setting is a predicted behavior of an exterior object,
and wherein the protected environment has a different temperature
and moisture level than the environment exterior to the protected
environment.
Description
FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure is generally directed to vehicle
systems, in particular, toward electric and/or hybrid-electric
vehicles.
BACKGROUND
[0002] In recent years, transportation methods have changed
substantially. This change is due in part to a concern over the
limited availability of natural resources, a proliferation in
personal technology, and a societal shift to adopt more exterior
environmentally friendly transportation solutions. These
considerations have encouraged the development of a number of new
flexible-fuel vehicles, hybrid-electric vehicles, and electric
vehicles.
[0003] While these vehicles appear to be new they are generally
implemented as a number of traditional subsystems that are merely
tied to an alternative power source. In fact, the design and
construction of the vehicles is limited to standard frame sizes,
shapes, materials, and transportation concepts. Among other things,
these limitations fail to take advantage of the benefits of new
technology, power sources, and support infrastructure. In
particular, the implementation of an artificially intelligent
vehicle has lagged far behind the development vehicle
subsystems.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0004] FIG. 1 shows a vehicle in accordance with embodiments of the
present disclosure;
[0005] FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the vehicle in accordance with
at least some embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0006] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a
communication environment of the vehicle in accordance with
embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0007] FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the instrument panel of the
vehicle according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0008] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a
communications subsystem of the vehicle;
[0009] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a computing environment
associated with the embodiments presented herein;
[0010] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a computing device associated
with one or more components described herein;
[0011] FIG. 8 is block diagram of a computational system in a
vehicle and associated with one or more components described
herein;
[0012] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an autonomous driving vehicle
system according to an embodiment;
[0013] FIG. 10 is a flow chart associated with one or more
embodiments presented herein;
[0014] FIG. 11 is a flow chart associated with one or more
embodiments presented herein;
[0015] FIG. 12 is a flow chart associated with one or more
embodiments presented herein;
[0016] FIG. 13 is a flow chart associated with one or more
embodiments presented herein; and
[0017] FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a computing system associated
with one or more components described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in
connection with a vehicle, and in some embodiments, an electric
vehicle, rechargeable electric vehicle, and/or hybrid-electric
vehicle and associated systems.
[0019] Embodiments can provide an intelligent autonomous vehicle
control system that uses current or forecasted weather information
and operator information to operate or configure for operation an
autonomous vehicle in an energy efficient, safe, and intelligent
manner. Examples include maintaining climate control (e.g., HVAC)
settings in an energy efficient manner and preconfiguring the
autonomous vehicle operational settings for higher levels of driver
and passenger safety.
[0020] As will be appreciated, a "weather" refers to the state of
the atmosphere and is typically the collection of environmental
conditions for a specified geographic location. Examples include
wind speed and direction, visibility, precipitation level, type of
precipitation (e.g., rain or snow), temperature, level of
cloudiness or cloud cover, atmospheric pressure, humidity, storm
(e.g., tornado, hurricane, blizzard, electrical storm, ice storm,
thunderstorm, tropical cyclone, etc.), and sunshine.
[0021] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a vehicle 100 in
accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The electric
vehicle 100 comprises a vehicle front 110, vehicle aft or rear 120,
vehicle roof 130, at least one vehicle side 160, a vehicle
undercarriage 140, and a vehicle interior 150. In any event, the
vehicle 100 may include a frame 104 and one or more body panels 108
mounted or affixed thereto. The vehicle 100 may include one or more
interior components (e.g., components inside an interior space 150,
or user space, of a vehicle 100, etc.), exterior components (e.g.,
components outside of the interior space 150, or user space, of a
vehicle 100, etc.), drive systems, controls systems, structural
components, etc.
[0022] Although shown in the form of a car, it should be
appreciated that the vehicle 100 described herein may include any
conveyance or model of a conveyance, where the conveyance was
designed for the purpose of moving one or more tangible objects,
such as people, animals, cargo, and the like. The term "vehicle"
does not require that a conveyance moves or is capable of movement.
Typical vehicles may include but are in no way limited to cars,
trucks, motorcycles, busses, automobiles, trains, railed
conveyances, boats, ships, marine conveyances, submarine
conveyances, airplanes, space craft, flying machines, human-powered
conveyances, and the like.
[0023] In some embodiments, the vehicle 100 may include a number of
sensors, devices, and/or systems that are capable of assisting in
driving operations. Examples of the various sensors and systems may
include, but are in no way limited to, one or more of cameras
(e.g., independent, stereo, combined image, etc.), infrared (IR)
sensors, radio frequency (RF) sensors, ultrasonic sensors (e.g.,
transducers, transceivers, etc.), RADAR sensors (e.g.,
object-detection sensors and/or systems), LIDAR systems, odometry
sensors and/or devices (e.g., encoders, etc.), orientation sensors
(e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometer, etc.), navigation
sensors and systems (e.g., GPS, etc.), and other ranging, imaging,
and/or object-detecting sensors. The sensors may be disposed in an
interior space 150 of the vehicle 100 and/or on an outside of the
vehicle 100. In some embodiments, the sensors and systems may be
disposed in one or more portions of a vehicle 100 (e.g., the frame
104, a body panel, a compartment, etc.).
[0024] The vehicle sensors and systems may be selected and/or
configured to suit a level of operation associated with the vehicle
100. Among other things, the number of sensors used in a system may
be altered to increase or decrease information available to a
vehicle control system (e.g., affecting control capabilities of the
vehicle 100). Additionally or alternatively, the sensors and
systems may be part of one or more advanced driver assistance
systems (ADAS) associated with a vehicle 100. In any event, the
sensors and systems may be used to provide driving assistance at
any level of operation (e.g., from fully-manual to fully-autonomous
operations, etc.) as described herein.
[0025] The various levels of vehicle control and/or operation can
be described as corresponding to a level of autonomy associated
with a vehicle 100 for vehicle driving operations. For instance, at
Level 0, or fully-manual driving operations, a driver (e.g., a
human driver) may be responsible for all the driving control
operations (e.g., steering, accelerating, braking, etc.) associated
with the vehicle. Level 0 may be referred to as a "No Automation"
level. At Level 1, the vehicle may be responsible for a limited
number of the driving operations associated with the vehicle, while
the driver is still responsible for most driving control
operations. An example of a Level 1 vehicle may include a vehicle
in which the throttle control and/or braking operations may be
controlled by the vehicle (e.g., cruise control operations, etc.).
Level 1 may be referred to as a "Driver Assistance" level. At Level
2, the vehicle may collect information (e.g., via one or more
driving assistance systems, sensors, etc.) about an environment of
the vehicle (e.g., surrounding area, roadway, traffic, ambient
conditions, etc.) and use the collected information to control
driving operations (e.g., steering, accelerating, braking, etc.)
associated with the vehicle. In a Level 2 autonomous vehicle, the
driver may be required to perform other aspects of driving
operations not controlled by the vehicle. Level 2 may be referred
to as a "Partial Automation" level. It should be appreciated that
Levels 0-2 all involve the driver monitoring the driving operations
of the vehicle.
[0026] At Level 3, the driver may be separated from controlling all
the driving operations of the vehicle except when the vehicle makes
a request for the operator to act or intervene in controlling one
or more driving operations. In other words, the driver may be
separated from controlling the vehicle unless the driver is
required to take over for the vehicle. Level 3 may be referred to
as a "Conditional Automation" level. At Level 4, the driver may be
separated from controlling all the driving operations of the
vehicle and the vehicle may control driving operations even when a
user fails to respond to a request to intervene. Level 4 may be
referred to as a "High Automation" level. At Level 5, the vehicle
can control all the driving operations associated with the vehicle
in all driving modes. The vehicle in Level 5 may continually
monitor traffic, vehicular, roadway, and/or exterior environmental
conditions while driving the vehicle. In Level 5, there is no human
driver interaction required in any driving mode. Accordingly, Level
5 may be referred to as a "Full Automation" level. It should be
appreciated that in Levels 3-5 the vehicle, and/or one or more
automated driving systems associated with the vehicle, monitors the
driving operations of the vehicle and the driving environment.
[0027] As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 100 may, for example,
include at least one of a ranging and imaging system 112 (e.g.,
LIDAR, etc.), an imaging sensor 116A, 116F (e.g., camera, IR,
etc.), a radio object-detection and ranging system sensors 116B
(e.g., RADAR, RF, etc.), ultrasonic sensors 116C, and/or other
object-detection sensors 116D, 116E. In some embodiments, the LIDAR
system 112 and/or sensors may be mounted on a roof 130 of the
vehicle 100. In one embodiment, the RADAR sensors 116B may be
disposed at least at a front 110, aft 120, or side 160 of the
vehicle 100. Among other things, the RADAR sensors may be used to
monitor and/or detect a position of other vehicles, pedestrians,
and/or other objects near, or proximal to, the vehicle 100. While
shown associated with one or more areas of a vehicle 100, it should
be appreciated that any of the sensors and systems 116A-K, 112
illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be disposed in, on, and/or about
the vehicle 100 in any position, area, and/or zone of the vehicle
100.
[0028] Referring now to FIG. 2, a plan view of a vehicle 100 will
be described in accordance with embodiments of the present
disclosure. In particular, FIG. 2 shows a vehicle sensing
environment 200 at least partially defined by the sensors and
systems 116A-K, 112 disposed in, on, and/or about the vehicle 100.
Each sensor 116A-K may include an operational detection range R and
operational detection angle .alpha.. The operational detection
range R may define the effective detection limit, or distance, of
the sensor 116A-K. In some cases, this effective detection limit
may be defined as a distance from a portion of the sensor 116A-K
(e.g., a lens, sensing surface, etc.) to a point in space offset
from the sensor 116A-K. The effective detection limit may define a
distance, beyond which, the sensing capabilities of the sensor
116A-K deteriorate, fail to work, or are unreliable. In some
embodiments, the effective detection limit may define a distance,
within which, the sensing capabilities of the sensor 116A-K are
able to provide accurate and/or reliable detection information. The
operational detection angle .alpha. may define at least one angle
of a span, or between horizontal and/or vertical limits, of a
sensor 116A-K. As can be appreciated, the operational detection
limit and the operational detection angle .alpha. of a sensor
116A-K together may define the effective detection zone 216A-D
(e.g., the effective detection area, and/or volume, etc.) of a
sensor 116A-K.
[0029] In some embodiments, the vehicle 100 may include a ranging
and imaging system 112 such as LIDAR, or the like. The ranging and
imaging system 112 may be configured to detect visual information
in an environment surrounding the vehicle 100. The visual
information detected in the environment surrounding the ranging and
imaging system 112 may be processed (e.g., via one or more sensor
and/or system processors, etc.) to generate a complete 360-degree
view of an environment 200 around the vehicle. The ranging and
imaging system 112 may be configured to generate changing
360-degree views of the environment 200 in real-time, for instance,
as the vehicle 100 drives. In some cases, the ranging and imaging
system 112 may have an effective detection limit 204 that is some
distance from the center of the vehicle 100 outward over 360
degrees. The effective detection limit 204 of the ranging and
imaging system 112 defines a view zone 208 (e.g., an area and/or
volume, etc.) surrounding the vehicle 100. Any object falling
outside of the view zone 208 is in the undetected zone 212 and
would not be detected by the ranging and imaging system 112 of the
vehicle 100.
[0030] Sensor data and information may be collected by one or more
sensors or systems 116A-K, 112 of the vehicle 100 monitoring the
vehicle sensing environment 200. This information may be processed
(e.g., via a processor, computer-vision system, etc.) to determine
targets (e.g., objects, signs, people, markings, roadways,
conditions, etc.) inside one or more detection zones 208, 216A-D
associated with the vehicle sensing environment 200. In some cases,
information from multiple sensors 116A-K may be processed to form
composite sensor detection information. For example, a first sensor
116A and a second sensor 116F may correspond to a first camera 116A
and a second camera 116F aimed in a forward traveling direction of
the vehicle 100. In this example, images collected by the cameras
116A, 116F may be combined to form stereo image information. This
composite information may increase the capabilities of a single
sensor in the one or more sensors 116A-K by, for example, adding
the ability to determine depth associated with targets in the one
or more detection zones 208, 216A-D. Similar image data may be
collected by rear view cameras (e.g., sensors 116G, 116H) aimed in
a rearward traveling direction vehicle 100.
[0031] In some embodiments, multiple sensors 116A-K may be
effectively joined to increase a sensing zone and provide increased
sensing coverage. For instance, multiple RADAR sensors 116B
disposed on the front 110 of the vehicle may be joined to provide a
zone 216B of coverage that spans across an entirety of the front
110 of the vehicle. In some cases, the multiple RADAR sensors 116B
may cover a detection zone 216B that includes one or more other
sensor detection zones 216A. These overlapping detection zones may
provide redundant sensing, enhanced sensing, and/or provide greater
detail in sensing within a particular portion (e.g., zone 216A) of
a larger zone (e.g., zone 216B). Additionally or alternatively, the
sensors 116A-K of the vehicle 100 may be arranged to create a
complete coverage, via one or more sensing zones 208, 216A-D around
the vehicle 100. In some areas, the sensing zones 216C of two or
more sensors 116D, 116E may intersect at an overlap zone 220. In
some areas, the angle and/or detection limit of two or more sensing
zones 216C, 216D (e.g., of two or more sensors 116E, 116J, 116K)
may meet at a virtual intersection point 224.
[0032] The vehicle 100 may include a number of sensors 116E, 116G,
116H, 116J, 116K disposed proximal to the rear 120 of the vehicle
100. These sensors can include, but are in no way limited to, an
imaging sensor, camera, IR, a radio object-detection and ranging
sensors, RADAR, RF, ultrasonic sensors, and/or other
object-detection sensors. Among other things, these sensors 116E,
116G, 116H, 116J, 116K may detect targets near or approaching the
rear of the vehicle 100. For example, another vehicle approaching
the rear 120 of the vehicle 100 may be detected by one or more of
the ranging and imaging system (e.g., LIDAR) 112, rear-view cameras
116G, 116H, and/or rear facing RADAR sensors 116J, 116K. As
described above, the images from the rear-view cameras 116G, 116H
may be processed to generate a stereo view (e.g., providing depth
associated with an object or environment, etc.) for targets visible
to both cameras 116G, 116H. As another example, the vehicle 100 may
be driving and one or more of the ranging and imaging system 112,
front-facing cameras 116A, 116F, front-facing RADAR sensors 116B,
and/or ultrasonic sensors 116C may detect targets in front of the
vehicle 100. This approach may provide critical sensor information
to a vehicle control system in at least one of the autonomous
driving levels described above. For instance, when the vehicle 100
is driving autonomously (e.g., Level 3, Level 4, or Level 5) and
detects other vehicles stopped in a travel path, the sensor
detection information may be sent to the vehicle control system of
the vehicle 100 to control a driving operation (e.g., braking,
decelerating, etc.) associated with the vehicle 100 (in this
example, slowing the vehicle 100 as to avoid colliding with the
stopped other vehicles). As yet another example, the vehicle 100
may be operating and one or more of the ranging and imaging system
112, and/or the side-facing sensors 116D, 116E (e.g., RADAR,
ultrasonic, camera, combinations thereof, and/or other type of
sensor), may detect targets at a side of the vehicle 100. It should
be appreciated that the sensors 116A-K may detect a target that is
both at a side 160 and a front 110 of the vehicle 100 (e.g.,
disposed at a diagonal angle to a centerline of the vehicle 100
running from the front 110 of the vehicle 100 to the rear 120 of
the vehicle). Additionally or alternatively, the sensors 116A-K may
detect a target that is both, or simultaneously, at a side 160 and
a rear 120 of the vehicle 100 (e.g., disposed at a diagonal angle
to the centerline of the vehicle 100).
[0033] FIG. 3 is a is a block diagram of an embodiment of a
communication environment 300 of the vehicle 100 in accordance with
embodiments of the present disclosure. The communication system 300
may include one or more vehicle driving vehicle sensors and systems
304, sensor processors 340, sensor data memory 344, vehicle control
system 348, communications subsystem 350, control data 364,
computing devices 368, display devices 372, and other components
374 that may be associated with a vehicle 100. These associated
components may be electrically and/or communicatively coupled to
one another via at least one bus 360. In some embodiments, the one
or more associated components may send and/or receive signals
across a communication network 352 to at least one of a navigation
source 356A, a control source 356B, or some other entity 356N.
[0034] In accordance with at least some embodiments of the present
disclosure, the communication network 352 may comprise any type of
known communication medium or collection of communication media and
may use any type of protocols, such as SIP, TCP/IP, SNA, IPX,
AppleTalk, and the like, to transport messages between endpoints.
The communication network 352 may include wired and/or wireless
communication technologies. The Internet is an example of the
communication network 352 that constitutes an Internet Protocol
(IP) network consisting of many computers, computing networks, and
other communication devices located all over the world, which are
connected through many telephone systems and other means. Other
examples of the communication network 104 include, without
limitation, a standard Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), an
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), the Public Switched
Telephone Network (PSTN), a Local Area Network (LAN), such as an
Ethernet network, a Token-Ring network and/or the like, a Wide Area
Network (WAN), a virtual network, including without limitation a
virtual private network ("VPN"); the Internet, an intranet, an
extranet, a cellular network, an infra-red network; a wireless
network (e.g., a network operating under any of the IEEE 802.9
suite of protocols, the Bluetooth.RTM. protocol known in the art,
and/or any other wireless protocol), and any other type of
packet-switched or circuit-switched network known in the art and/or
any combination of these and/or other networks. In addition, it can
be appreciated that the communication network 352 need not be
limited to any one network type, and instead may be comprised of a
number of different networks and/or network types. The
communication network 352 may comprise a number of different
communication media such as coaxial cable, copper cable/wire,
fiber-optic cable, antennas for transmitting/receiving wireless
messages, and combinations thereof.
[0035] The driving vehicle sensors and systems 304 may include at
least one navigation 308 (e.g., global positioning system (GPS),
etc.), orientation 312, odometry 316, LIDAR 320, RADAR 324,
ultrasonic 328, camera 332, infrared (IR) 336, and/or other sensor
or system 338. These driving vehicle sensors and systems 304 may be
similar, if not identical, to the sensors and systems 116A-K, 112
described in conjunction with FIGS. 1 and 2.
[0036] The navigation sensor 308 may include one or more sensors
having receivers and antennas that are configured to utilize a
satellite-based navigation system including a network of navigation
satellites capable of providing geolocation and time information to
at least one component of the vehicle 100. Examples of the
navigation sensor 308 as described herein may include, but are not
limited to, at least one of Garmin.RTM. GLO.TM. family of GPS and
GLONASS combination sensors, Garmin.RTM. GPS 15x.TM. family of
sensors, Garmin.RTM. GPS 16x.TM. family of sensors with
high-sensitivity receiver and antenna, Garmin.RTM. GPS 18x OEM
family of high-sensitivity GPS sensors, Dewetron DEWE-VGPS series
of GPS sensors, GlobalSat 1-Hz series of GPS sensors, other
industry-equivalent navigation sensors and/or systems, and may
perform navigational and/or geolocation functions using any known
or future-developed standard and/or architecture.
[0037] The orientation sensor 312 may include one or more sensors
configured to determine an orientation of the vehicle 100 relative
to at least one reference point. In some embodiments, the
orientation sensor 312 may include at least one pressure
transducer, stress/strain gauge, accelerometer, gyroscope, and/or
geomagnetic sensor. Examples of the navigation sensor 308 as
described herein may include, but are not limited to, at least one
of Bosch Sensortec BMX 160 series low-power absolute orientation
sensors, Bosch Sensortec BMX055 9-axis sensors, Bosch Sensortec
BMI055 6-axis inertial sensors, Bosch Sensortec BMI160 6-axis
inertial sensors, Bosch Sensortec BMF055 9-axis inertial sensors
(accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer) with integrated Cortex
M0+ microcontroller, Bosch Sensortec BMP280 absolute barometric
pressure sensors, Infineon TLV493D-A1B6 3D magnetic sensors,
Infineon TLI493D-W1B6 3D magnetic sensors, Infineon TL family of 3D
magnetic sensors, Murata Electronics SCC2000 series combined gyro
sensor and accelerometer, Murata Electronics SCC1300 series
combined gyro sensor and accelerometer, other industry-equivalent
orientation sensors and/or systems, and may perform orientation
detection and/or determination functions using any known or
future-developed standard and/or architecture.
[0038] The odometry sensor and/or system 316 may include one or
more components that is configured to determine a change in
position of the vehicle 100 over time. In some embodiments, the
odometry system 316 may utilize data from one or more other sensors
and/or systems 304 in determining a position (e.g., distance,
location, etc.) of the vehicle 100 relative to a previously
measured position for the vehicle 100. Additionally or
alternatively, the odometry sensors 316 may include one or more
encoders, Hall speed sensors, and/or other measurement
sensors/devices configured to measure a wheel speed, rotation,
and/or number of revolutions made over time. Examples of the
odometry sensor/system 316 as described herein may include, but are
not limited to, at least one of Infineon TLE4924/26/27/28C
high-performance speed sensors, Infineon TL4941plusC(B) single chip
differential Hall wheel-speed sensors, Infineon TL5041plusC Giant
Mangnetoresistance (GMR) effect sensors, Infineon TL family of
magnetic sensors, EPC Model 25SP Accu-CoderPro.TM. incremental
shaft encoders, EPC Model 30M compact incremental encoders with
advanced magnetic sensing and signal processing technology, EPC
Model 925 absolute shaft encoders, EPC Model 958 absolute shaft
encoders, EPC Model MA36S/MA63S/SA36S absolute shaft encoders,
Dynapar.TM. F18 commutating optical encoder, Dynapar.TM. HS35R
family of phased array encoder sensors, other industry-equivalent
odometry sensors and/or systems, and may perform change in position
detection and/or determination functions using any known or
future-developed standard and/or architecture.
[0039] The LIDAR sensor/system 320 may include one or more
components configured to measure distances to targets using laser
illumination. In some embodiments, the LIDAR sensor/system 320 may
provide 3D imaging data of an environment around the vehicle 100.
The imaging data may be processed to generate a full 360-degree
view of the environment around the vehicle 100. The LIDAR
sensor/system 320 may include a laser light generator configured to
generate a plurality of target illumination laser beams (e.g.,
laser light channels). In some embodiments, this plurality of laser
beams may be aimed at, or directed to, a rotating reflective
surface (e.g., a mirror) and guided outwardly from the LIDAR
sensor/system 320 into a measurement environment. The rotating
reflective surface may be configured to continually rotate 360
degrees about an axis, such that the plurality of laser beams is
directed in a full 360-degree range around the vehicle 100. A
photodiode receiver of the LIDAR sensor/system 320 may detect when
light from the plurality of laser beams emitted into the
measurement environment returns (e.g., reflected echo) to the LIDAR
sensor/system 320. The LIDAR sensor/system 320 may calculate, based
on a time associated with the emission of light to the detected
return of light, a distance from the vehicle 100 to the illuminated
target. In some embodiments, the LIDAR sensor/system 320 may
generate over 2.0 million points per second and have an effective
operational range of at least 100 meters. Examples of the LIDAR
sensor/system 320 as described herein may include, but are not
limited to, at least one of Velodyne.RTM. LiDAR.TM. HDL-64E
64-channel LIDAR sensors, Velodyne.RTM. LiDAR.TM. HDL-32E
32-channel LIDAR sensors, Velodyne.RTM. LiDAR.TM. PUCK.TM. VLP-16
16-channel LIDAR sensors, Leica Geosystems Pegasus:Two mobile
sensor platform, Garmin.RTM. LIDAR-Lite v3 measurement sensor,
Quanergy M8 LiDAR sensors, Quanergy S3 solid state LiDAR sensor,
LeddarTech.RTM. LeddarVU compact solid state fixed-beam LIDAR
sensors, other industry-equivalent LIDAR sensors and/or systems,
and may perform illuminated target and/or obstacle detection in an
environment around the vehicle 100 using any known or
future-developed standard and/or architecture.
[0040] The RADAR sensors 324 may include one or more radio
components that are configured to detect objects/targets in an
environment of the vehicle 100. In some embodiments, the RADAR
sensors 324 may determine a distance, position, and/or movement
vector (e.g., angle, speed, etc.) associated with a target over
time. The RADAR sensors 324 may include a transmitter configured to
generate and emit electromagnetic waves (e.g., radio, microwaves,
etc.) and a receiver configured to detect returned electromagnetic
waves. In some embodiments, the RADAR sensors 324 may include at
least one processor configured to interpret the returned
electromagnetic waves and determine locational properties of
targets. Examples of the RADAR sensors 324 as described herein may
include, but are not limited to, at least one of Infineon RASIC.TM.
RTN7735PL transmitter and RRN7745PL/46PL receiver sensors, Autoliv
ASP Vehicle RADAR sensors, Delphi L2C0051TR 77 GHz ESR
Electronically Scanning Radar sensors, Fujitsu Ten Ltd. Automotive
Compact 77 GHz 3D Electronic Scan Millimeter Wave Radar sensors,
other industry-equivalent RADAR sensors and/or systems, and may
perform radio target and/or obstacle detection in an environment
around the vehicle 100 using any known or future-developed standard
and/or architecture.
[0041] The ultrasonic sensors 328 may include one or more
components that are configured to detect objects/targets in an
environment of the vehicle 100. In some embodiments, the ultrasonic
sensors 328 may determine a distance, position, and/or movement
vector (e.g., angle, speed, etc.) associated with a target over
time. The ultrasonic sensors 328 may include an ultrasonic
transmitter and receiver, or transceiver, configured to generate
and emit ultrasound waves and interpret returned echoes of those
waves. In some embodiments, the ultrasonic sensors 328 may include
at least one processor configured to interpret the returned
ultrasonic waves and determine locational properties of targets.
Examples of the ultrasonic sensors 328 as described herein may
include, but are not limited to, at least one of Texas Instruments
TIDA-00151 automotive ultrasonic sensor interface IC sensors,
MaxBotix.RTM. MB8450 ultrasonic proximity sensor, MaxBotix.RTM.
ParkSonar.TM.-EZ ultrasonic proximity sensors, Murata Electronics
MA40H1S-R open-structure ultrasonic sensors, Murata Electronics
MA40S4R/S open-structure ultrasonic sensors, Murata Electronics
MA58MF14-7N waterproof ultrasonic sensors, other
industry-equivalent ultrasonic sensors and/or systems, and may
perform ultrasonic target and/or obstacle detection in an
environment around the vehicle 100 using any known or
future-developed standard and/or architecture.
[0042] The camera sensors 332 may include one or more components
configured to detect image information associated with an
environment of the vehicle 100. In some embodiments, the camera
sensors 332 may include a lens, filter, image sensor, and/or a
digital image processer. It is an aspect of the present disclosure
that multiple camera sensors 332 may be used together to generate
stereo images providing depth measurements. Examples of the camera
sensors 332 as described herein may include, but are not limited
to, at least one of ON Semiconductor.RTM. MT9V024 Global Shutter
VGA GS CMOS image sensors, Teledyne DALSA Falcon2 camera sensors,
CMOSIS CMV50000 high-speed CMOS image sensors, other
industry-equivalent camera sensors and/or systems, and may perform
visual target and/or obstacle detection in an environment around
the vehicle 100 using any known or future-developed standard and/or
architecture.
[0043] The infrared (IR) sensors 336 may include one or more
components configured to detect image information associated with
an environment of the vehicle 100. The IR sensors 336 may be
configured to detect targets in low-light, dark, or poorly-lit
environments. The IR sensors 336 may include an IR light emitting
element (e.g., IR light emitting diode (LED), etc.) and an IR
photodiode. In some embodiments, the IR photodiode may be
configured to detect returned IR light at or about the same
wavelength to that emitted by the IR light emitting element. In
some embodiments, the IR sensors 336 may include at least one
processor configured to interpret the returned IR light and
determine locational properties of targets. The IR sensors 336 may
be configured to detect and/or measure a temperature associated
with a target (e.g., an object, pedestrian, other vehicle, etc.).
Examples of IR sensors 336 as described herein may include, but are
not limited to, at least one of Opto Diode lead-salt IR array
sensors, Opto Diode OD-850 Near-IR LED sensors, Opto Diode
SA/SHA727 steady state IR emitters and IR detectors, FLIR.RTM. LS
microbolometer sensors, FLIR.RTM. TacFLIR 380-HD InSb MWIR FPA and
HD MWIR thermal sensors, FLIR.RTM. VOx 640.times.480 pixel detector
sensors, Delphi IR sensors, other industry-equivalent IR sensors
and/or systems, and may perform IR visual target and/or obstacle
detection in an environment around the vehicle 100 using any known
or future-developed standard and/or architecture.
[0044] In some embodiments, the driving vehicle sensors and systems
304 may include other sensors 338 and/or combinations of the
sensors 308-336 described above. Additionally or alternatively, one
or more of the sensors 308-336 described above may include one or
more processors configured to process and/or interpret signals
detected by the one or more sensors 308-336. In some embodiments,
the processing of at least some sensor information provided by the
vehicle sensors and systems 304 may be processed by at least one
sensor processor 340. Raw and/or processed sensor data may be
stored in a sensor data memory 344 storage medium. In some
embodiments, the sensor data memory 344 may store instructions used
by the sensor processor 340 for processing sensor information
provided by the sensors and systems 304. In any event, the sensor
data memory 344 may be a disk drive, optical storage device,
solid-state storage device such as a random access memory ("RAM")
and/or a read-only memory ("ROM"), which can be programmable,
flash-updateable, and/or the like.
[0045] The vehicle control system 348 may receive processed sensor
information from the sensor processor 340 and determine to control
an aspect of the vehicle 100. Controlling an aspect of the vehicle
100 may include presenting information via one or more display
devices 372 associated with the vehicle, sending commands to one or
more computing devices 368 associated with the vehicle, and/or
controlling a driving operation of the vehicle. In some
embodiments, the vehicle control system 348 may correspond to one
or more computing systems that control driving operations of the
vehicle 100 in accordance with the Levels of driving autonomy
described above. In one embodiment, the vehicle control system 348
may operate a speed of the vehicle 100 by controlling an output
signal to the accelerator and/or braking system of the vehicle. In
this example, the vehicle control system 348 may receive sensor
data describing an environment surrounding the vehicle 100 and,
based on the sensor data received, determine to adjust the
acceleration, power output, and/or braking of the vehicle 100. The
vehicle control system 348 may additionally control steering and/or
other driving functions of the vehicle 100.
[0046] The vehicle control system 348 may communicate, in
real-time, with the driving sensors and systems 304 forming a
feedback loop. In particular, upon receiving sensor information
describing a condition of targets in the environment surrounding
the vehicle 100, the vehicle control system 348 may autonomously
make changes to a driving operation of the vehicle 100. The vehicle
control system 348 may then receive subsequent sensor information
describing any change to the condition of the targets detected in
the environment as a result of the changes made to the driving
operation. This continual cycle of observation (e.g., via the
sensors, etc.) and action (e.g., selected control or non-control of
vehicle operations, etc.) allows the vehicle 100 to operate
autonomously in the environment.
[0047] In some embodiments, the one or more components of the
vehicle 100 (e.g., the driving vehicle sensors 304, vehicle control
system 348, display devices 372, etc.) may communicate across the
communication network 352 to one or more entities 356A-N via a
communications subsystem 350 of the vehicle 100. Embodiments of the
communications subsystem 350 are described in greater detail in
conjunction with FIG. 5. For instance, the navigation sensors 308
may receive global positioning, location, and/or navigational
information from a navigation source 356A. In some embodiments, the
navigation source 356A may be a global navigation satellite system
(GNSS) similar, if not identical, to NAVSTAR GPS, GLONASS, EU
Galileo, and/or the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) to
name a few.
[0048] In some embodiments, the vehicle control system 348 may
receive control information from one or more control sources 356B.
The control source 356 may provide vehicle control information
including autonomous driving control commands, vehicle operation
override control commands, and the like. The control source 356 may
correspond to an autonomous vehicle control system, a traffic
control system, an administrative control entity, and/or some other
controlling server. It is an aspect of the present disclosure that
the vehicle control system 348 and/or other components of the
vehicle 100 may exchange communications with the control source 356
across the communication network 352 and via the communications
subsystem 350.
[0049] Information associated with controlling driving operations
of the vehicle 100 may be stored in a control data memory 364
storage medium. The control data memory 364 may store instructions
used by the vehicle control system 348 for controlling driving
operations of the vehicle 100, historical control information,
autonomous driving control rules, and the like. In some
embodiments, the control data memory 364 may be a disk drive,
optical storage device, solid-state storage device such as a random
access memory ("RAM") and/or a read-only memory ("ROM"), which can
be programmable, flash-updateable, and/or the like.
[0050] In addition to the mechanical components described herein,
the vehicle 100 may include a number of user interface devices. The
user interface devices receive and translate human input into a
mechanical movement or electrical signal or stimulus. The human
input may be one or more of motion (e.g., body movement, body part
movement, in two-dimensional or three-dimensional space, etc.),
voice, touch, and/or physical interaction with the components of
the vehicle 100. In some embodiments, the human input may be
configured to control one or more functions of the vehicle 100
and/or systems of the vehicle 100 described herein. User interfaces
may include, but are in no way limited to, at least one graphical
user interface of a display device, steering wheel or mechanism,
transmission lever or button (e.g., including park, neutral,
reverse, and/or drive positions, etc.), throttle control pedal or
mechanism, brake control pedal or mechanism, power control switch,
communications equipment, etc.
[0051] FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of the instrument panel 400 of
the vehicle 100. The instrument panel 400 of vehicle 100 comprises
a steering wheel 410, a vehicle operational display 420 (e.g.,
configured to present and/or display driving data such as speed,
measured air resistance, vehicle information, entertainment
information, etc.), one or more auxiliary displays 424 (e.g.,
configured to present and/or display information segregated from
the operational display 420, entertainment applications, movies,
music, etc.), a heads-up display 434 (e.g., configured to display
any information previously described including, but in no way
limited to, guidance information such as route to destination, or
obstacle warning information to warn of a potential collision, or
some or all primary vehicle operational data such as speed,
resistance, etc.), a power management display 428 (e.g., configured
to display data corresponding to electric power levels of vehicle
100, reserve power, charging status, etc.), and an input device 432
(e.g., a controller, touchscreen, or other interface device
configured to interface with one or more displays in the instrument
panel or components of the vehicle 100. The input device 432 may be
configured as a joystick, mouse, touchpad, tablet, 3D gesture
capture device, etc.). In some embodiments, the input device 432
may be used to manually maneuver a portion of the vehicle 100 into
a charging position (e.g., moving a charging plate to a desired
separation distance, etc.).
[0052] While one or more of displays of instrument panel 400 may be
touch-screen displays, it should be appreciated that the vehicle
operational display may be a display incapable of receiving touch
input. For instance, the operational display 420 that spans across
an interior space centerline 404 and across both a first zone 408A
and a second zone 408B may be isolated from receiving input from
touch, especially from a passenger. In some cases, a display that
provides vehicle operation or critical systems information and
interface may be restricted from receiving touch input and/or be
configured as a non-touch display. This type of configuration can
prevent dangerous mistakes in providing touch input where such
input may cause an accident or unwanted control.
[0053] In some embodiments, one or more displays of the instrument
panel 400 may be mobile devices and/or applications residing on a
mobile device such as a smart phone. Additionally or alternatively,
any of the information described herein may be presented to one or
more portions 420A-N of the operational display 420 or other
display 424, 428, 434. In one embodiment, one or more displays of
the instrument panel 400 may be physically separated or detached
from the instrument panel 400. In some cases, a detachable display
may remain tethered to the instrument panel.
[0054] The portions 420A-N of the operational display 420 may be
dynamically reconfigured and/or resized to suit any display of
information as described. Additionally or alternatively, the number
of portions 420A-N used to visually present information via the
operational display 420 may be dynamically increased or decreased
as required, and are not limited to the configurations shown.
[0055] FIG. 5 illustrates a hardware diagram of communications
componentry that can be optionally associated with the vehicle 100
in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0056] The communications componentry can include one or more wired
or wireless devices such as a transceiver(s) and/or modem that
allows communications not only between the various systems
disclosed herein but also with other devices, such as devices on a
network, and/or on a distributed network such as the Internet
and/or in the cloud and/or with other vehicle(s).
[0057] The communications subsystem 350 can also include inter- and
intra-vehicle communications capabilities such as hotspot and/or
access point connectivity for any one or more of the vehicle
occupants and/or vehicle-to-vehicle communications.
[0058] Additionally, and while not specifically illustrated, the
communications subsystem 350 can include one or more communications
links (that can be wired or wireless) and/or communications busses
(managed by the bus manager 574), including one or more of CANbus,
OBD-II, ARCINC 429, Byteflight, CAN (Controller Area Network), D2B
(Domestic Digital Bus), FlexRay, DC-BUS, IDB-1394, IEBus, I2C, ISO
9141-1/-2, J1708, J1587, J1850, J1939, ISO 11783, Keyword Protocol
2000, LIN (Local Interconnect Network), MOST (Media Oriented
Systems Transport), Multifunction Vehicle Bus, SMARTwireX, SPI, VAN
(Vehicle Area Network), and the like or in general any
communications protocol and/or standard(s).
[0059] The various protocols and communications can be communicated
one or more of wirelessly and/or over transmission media such as
single wire, twisted pair, fiber optic, IEEE 1394, MIL-STD-1553,
MIL-STD-1773, power-line communication, or the like. (All of the
above standards and protocols are incorporated herein by reference
in their entirety).
[0060] As discussed, the communications subsystem 350 enables
communications between any if the inter-vehicle systems and
subsystems as well as communications with non-collocated resources,
such as those reachable over a network such as the Internet.
[0061] The communications subsystem 350, in addition to well-known
componentry (which has been omitted for clarity), includes
interconnected elements including one or more of: one or more
antennas 504, an interleaver/deinterleaver 508, an analog front end
(AFE) 512, memory/storage/cache 516, controller/microprocessor 520,
MAC circuitry 522, modulator/demodulator 524, encoder/decoder 528,
a plurality of connectivity managers 534, 558, 562, 566, GPU 540,
accelerator 544, a multiplexer/demultiplexer 552, transmitter 570,
receiver 572 and wireless radio 578 components such as a Wi-Fi
PHY/Bluetooth.RTM. module 580, a Wi-Fi/BT MAC module 584,
transmitter 588 and receiver 592. The various elements in the
device 350 are connected by one or more links/busses 5 (not shown,
again for sake of clarity).
[0062] The device 350 can have one more antennas 504, for use in
wireless communications such as multi-input multi-output (MIMO)
communications, multi-user multi-input multi-output (MU-MIMO)
communications Bluetooth.RTM., LTE, 4G, 5G, Near-Field
Communication (NFC), etc., and in general for any type of wireless
communications. The antenna(s) 504 can include, but are not limited
to one or more of directional antennas, omnidirectional antennas,
monopoles, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas,
dipoles, and any other antenna(s) suitable for communication
transmission/reception. In an exemplary embodiment,
transmission/reception using MIMO may require particular antenna
spacing. In another exemplary embodiment, MIMO
transmission/reception can enable spatial diversity allowing for
different channel characteristics at each of the antennas. In yet
another embodiment, MIMO transmission/reception can be used to
distribute resources to multiple users for example within the
vehicle 100 and/or in another vehicle.
[0063] Antenna(s) 504 generally interact with the Analog Front End
(AFE) 512, which is needed to enable the correct processing of the
received modulated signal and signal conditioning for a transmitted
signal. The AFE 512 can be functionally located between the antenna
and a digital baseband system in order to convert the analog signal
into a digital signal for processing and vice-versa.
[0064] The subsystem 350 can also include a
controller/microprocessor 520 and a memory/storage/cache 516. The
subsystem 350 can interact with the memory/storage/cache 516 which
may store information and operations necessary for configuring and
transmitting or receiving the information described herein. The
memory/storage/cache 516 may also be used in connection with the
execution of application programming or instructions by the
controller/microprocessor 520, and for temporary or long term
storage of program instructions and/or data. As examples, the
memory/storage/cache 520 may comprise a computer-readable device,
RAM, ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, and/or other storage device(s) and
media.
[0065] The controller/microprocessor 520 may comprise a general
purpose programmable processor or controller for executing
application programming or instructions related to the subsystem
350. Furthermore, the controller/microprocessor 520 can perform
operations for configuring and transmitting/receiving information
as described herein. The controller/microprocessor 520 may include
multiple processor cores, and/or implement multiple virtual
processors. Optionally, the controller/microprocessor 520 may
include multiple physical processors. By way of example, the
controller/microprocessor 520 may comprise a specially configured
Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or other integrated
circuit, a digital signal processor(s), a controller, a hardwired
electronic or logic circuit, a programmable logic device or gate
array, a special purpose computer, or the like.
[0066] The subsystem 350 can further include a transmitter 570 and
receiver 572 which can transmit and receive signals, respectively,
to and from other devices, subsystems and/or other destinations
using the one or more antennas 504 and/or links/busses. Included in
the subsystem 350 circuitry is the medium access control or MAC
Circuitry 522. MAC circuitry 522 provides for controlling access to
the wireless medium. In an exemplary embodiment, the MAC circuitry
522 may be arranged to contend for the wireless medium and
configure frames or packets for communicating over the
wired/wireless medium.
[0067] The subsystem 350 can also optionally contain a security
module (not shown). This security module can contain information
regarding but not limited to, security parameters required to
connect the device to one or more other devices or other available
network(s), and can include WEP or WPA/WPA-2 (optionally+AES and/or
TKIP) security access keys, network keys, etc. The WEP security
access key is a security password used by Wi-Fi networks. Knowledge
of this code can enable a wireless device to exchange information
with an access point and/or another device. The information
exchange can occur through encoded messages with the WEP access
code often being chosen by the network administrator. WPA is an
added security standard that is also used in conjunction with
network connectivity with stronger encryption than WEP.
[0068] In some embodiments, the communications subsystem 350 also
includes a GPU 540, an accelerator 544, a Wi-Fi/BT/BLE PHY module
580 and a Wi-Fi/BT/BLE MAC module 584 and wireless transmitter 588
and receiver 592. In some embodiments, the GPU 540 may be a
graphics processing unit, or visual processing unit, comprising at
least one circuit and/or chip that manipulates and changes memory
to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer for output
to at least one display device. The GPU 540 may include one or more
of a display device connection port, printed circuit board (PCB), a
GPU chip, a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor
(MOSFET), memory (e.g., single data rate random-access memory
(SDRAM), double data rate random-access memory (DDR) RAM, etc.,
and/or combinations thereof), a secondary processing chip (e.g.,
handling video out capabilities, processing, and/or other functions
in addition to the GPU chip, etc.), a capacitor, heatsink,
temperature control or cooling fan, motherboard connection,
shielding, and the like.
[0069] The various connectivity managers 534, 558, 562, 566 manage
and/or coordinate communications between the subsystem 350 and one
or more of the systems disclosed herein and one or more other
devices/systems. The connectivity managers 534, 558, 562, 566
include a charging connectivity manager 534, a vehicle database
connectivity manager 558, a remote operating system connectivity
manager 562, and a sensor connectivity manager 566.
[0070] The charging connectivity manager 534 can coordinate not
only the physical connectivity between the vehicle 100 and a
charging device/vehicle, but can also communicate with one or more
of a power management controller, one or more third parties and
optionally a billing system(s). As an example, the vehicle 100 can
establish communications with the charging device/vehicle to one or
more of coordinate interconnectivity between the two (e.g., by
spatially aligning the charging receptacle on the vehicle with the
charger on the charging vehicle) and optionally share navigation
information. Once charging is complete, the amount of charge
provided can be tracked and optionally forwarded to, for example, a
third party for billing. In addition to being able to manage
connectivity for the exchange of power, the charging connectivity
manager 534 can also communicate information, such as billing
information to the charging vehicle and/or a third party. This
billing information could be, for example, the owner of the
vehicle, the driver/occupant(s) of the vehicle, company
information, or in general any information usable to charge the
appropriate entity for the power received.
[0071] The vehicle database connectivity manager 558 allows the
subsystem to receive and/or share information stored in the vehicle
database. This information can be shared with other vehicle
components/subsystems and/or other entities, such as third parties
and/or charging systems. The information can also be shared with
one or more vehicle occupant devices, such as an app (application)
on a mobile device the driver uses to track information about the
vehicle 100 and/or a dealer or service/maintenance provider. In
general any information stored in the vehicle database can
optionally be shared with any one or more other devices optionally
subject to any privacy or confidentially restrictions.
[0072] The remote operating system connectivity manager 562
facilitates communications between the vehicle 100 and any one or
more autonomous vehicle systems. These communications can include
one or more of navigation information, vehicle information, other
vehicle information, weather information, occupant information, or
in general any information related to the remote operation of the
vehicle 100.
[0073] The sensor connectivity manager 566 facilitates
communications between any one or more of the vehicle sensors
(e.g., the driving vehicle sensors and systems 304, etc.) and any
one or more of the other vehicle systems. The sensor connectivity
manager 566 can also facilitate communications between any one or
more of the sensors and/or vehicle systems and any other
destination, such as a service company, app, or in general to any
destination where sensor data is needed.
[0074] In accordance with one exemplary embodiment, any of the
communications discussed herein can be communicated via the
conductor(s) used for charging. One exemplary protocol usable for
these communications is Power-line communication (PLC). PLC is a
communication protocol that uses electrical wiring to
simultaneously carry both data, and Alternating Current (AC)
electric power transmission or electric power distribution. It is
also known as power-line carrier, power-line digital subscriber
line (PDSL), mains communication, power-line telecommunications, or
power-line networking (PLN). For DC environments in vehicles PLC
can be used in conjunction with CAN-bus, LIN-bus over power line
(DC-LIN) and DC-BUS.
[0075] The communications subsystem can also optionally manage one
or more identifiers, such as an IP (internet protocol) address(es),
associated with the vehicle and one or other system or subsystems
or components therein. These identifiers can be used in conjunction
with any one or more of the connectivity managers as discussed
herein.
[0076] FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a computing
environment 600 that may function as the servers, user computers,
or other systems provided and described herein. The computing
environment 600 includes one or more user computers, or computing
devices, such as a vehicle computing device 604, a communication
device 608, and/or more 612. The computing devices 604, 608, 612
may include general purpose personal computers (including, merely
by way of example, personal computers, and/or laptop computers
running various versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows.RTM. and/or
Apple Corp.'s Macintosh.RTM. operating systems) and/or workstation
computers running any of a variety of commercially-available
UNIX.RTM. or UNIX-like operating systems. These computing devices
604, 608, 612 may also have any of a variety of applications,
including for example, database client and/or server applications,
and web browser applications. Alternatively, the computing devices
604, 608, 612 may be any other electronic device, such as a
thin-client computer, Internet-enabled mobile telephone, and/or
personal digital assistant, capable of communicating via a network
352 and/or displaying and navigating web pages or other types of
electronic documents. Although the exemplary computing environment
600 is shown with two computing devices, any number of user
computers or computing devices may be supported.
[0077] The computing environment 600 may also include one or more
servers 614, 616. In this example, server 614 is shown as a web
server and server 616 is shown as an application server. The web
server 614, which may be used to process requests for web pages or
other electronic documents from computing devices 604, 608, 612.
The web server 614 can be running an operating system including any
of those discussed above, as well as any commercially-available
server operating systems. The web server 614 can also run a variety
of server applications, including SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)
servers, HTTP(s) servers, FTP servers, CGI servers, database
servers, Java servers, and the like. In some instances, the web
server 614 may publish operations available operations as one or
more web services.
[0078] The computing environment 600 may also include one or more
file and or/application servers 616, which can, in addition to an
operating system, include one or more applications accessible by a
client running on one or more of the computing devices 604, 608,
612. The server(s) 616 and/or 614 may be one or more general
purpose computers capable of executing programs or scripts in
response to the computing devices 604, 608, 612. As one example,
the server 616, 614 may execute one or more web applications. The
web application may be implemented as one or more scripts or
programs written in any programming language, such as Java.TM., C,
C#.RTM., or C++, and/or any scripting language, such as Perl,
Python, or TCL, as well as combinations of any
programming/scripting languages. The application server(s) 616 may
also include database servers, including without limitation those
commercially available from Oracle.RTM., Microsoft.RTM.,
Sybase.RTM., IBM.RTM. and the like, which can process requests from
database clients running on a computing device 604, 608, 612.
[0079] The web pages created by the server 614 and/or 616 may be
forwarded to a computing device 604, 608, 612 via a web (file)
server 614, 616. Similarly, the web server 614 may be able to
receive web page requests, web services invocations, and/or input
data from a computing device 604, 608, 612 (e.g., a user computer,
etc.) and can forward the web page requests and/or input data to
the web (application) server 616. In further embodiments, the
server 616 may function as a file server. Although for ease of
description, FIG. 6 illustrates a separate web server 614 and
file/application server 616, those skilled in the art will
recognize that the functions described with respect to servers 614,
616 may be performed by a single server and/or a plurality of
specialized servers, depending on implementation-specific needs and
parameters. The computer systems 604, 608, 612, web (file) server
614 and/or web (application) server 616 may function as the system,
devices, or components described in FIGS. 1-6.
[0080] The computing environment 600 may also include a database
618. The database 618 may reside in a variety of locations. By way
of example, database 618 may reside on a storage medium local to
(and/or resident in) one or more of the computers 604, 608, 612,
614, 616. Alternatively, it may be remote from any or all of the
computers 604, 608, 612, 614, 616, and in communication (e.g., via
the network 610) with one or more of these. The database 618 may
reside in a storage-area network ("SAN") familiar to those skilled
in the art. Similarly, any necessary files for performing the
functions attributed to the computers 604, 608, 612, 614, 616 may
be stored locally on the respective computer and/or remotely, as
appropriate. The database 618 may be a relational database, such as
Oracle 20i.RTM., that is adapted to store, update, and retrieve
data in response to SQL-formatted commands.
[0081] FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a computer system 700
upon which the servers, user computers, computing devices, or other
systems or components described above may be deployed or executed.
The computer system 700 is shown comprising hardware elements that
may be electrically coupled via a bus 704. The hardware elements
may include one or more central processing units (CPUs) 708; one or
more input devices 712 (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, etc.); and one
or more output devices 716 (e.g., a display device, a printer,
etc.). The computer system 700 may also include one or more storage
devices 720. By way of example, storage device(s) 720 may be disk
drives, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such
as a random access memory ("RAM") and/or a read-only memory
("ROM"), which can be programmable, flash-updateable and/or the
like.
[0082] The computer system 700 may additionally include a
computer-readable storage media reader 724; a communications system
728 (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an
infra-red communication device, etc.); and working memory 736,
which may include RAM and ROM devices as described above. The
computer system 700 may also include a processing acceleration unit
732, which can include a DSP, a special-purpose processor, and/or
the like.
[0083] The computer-readable storage media reader 724 can further
be connected to a computer-readable storage medium, together (and,
optionally, in combination with storage device(s) 720)
comprehensively representing remote, local, fixed, and/or removable
storage devices plus storage media for temporarily and/or more
permanently containing computer-readable information. The
communications system 728 may permit data to be exchanged with a
network and/or any other computer described above with respect to
the computer environments described herein. Moreover, as disclosed
herein, the term "storage medium" may represent one or more devices
for storing data, including read only memory (ROM), random access
memory (RAM), magnetic RAM, core memory, magnetic disk storage
mediums, optical storage mediums, flash memory devices and/or other
machine readable mediums for storing information.
[0084] The computer system 700 may also comprise software elements,
shown as being currently located within a working memory 736,
including an operating system 740 and/or other code 744. It should
be appreciated that alternate embodiments of a computer system 700
may have numerous variations from that described above. For
example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular
elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including
portable software, such as applets), or both. Further, connection
to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may
be employed.
[0085] Examples of the processors 340, 708 as described herein may
include, but are not limited to, at least one of Qualcomm.RTM.
Snapdragon.RTM. 800 and 801, Qualcomm.RTM. Snapdragon.RTM. 620 and
615 with 4G LTE Integration and 64-bit computing, Apple.RTM. A7
processor with 64-bit architecture, Apple.RTM. M7 motion
coprocessors, Samsung.RTM. Exynos.RTM. series, the Intel.RTM.
Core.TM. family of processors, the Intel.RTM. Xeon.RTM. family of
processors, the Intel.RTM. Atom.TM. family of processors, the Intel
Itanium.RTM. family of processors, Intel.RTM. Core.RTM. i5-4670K
and i7-4770K 22 nm Haswell, Intel.RTM. Core.RTM. i5-3570K 22 nm Ivy
Bridge, the AMD.RTM. FX.TM. family of processors, AMD.RTM. FX-4300,
FX-6300, and FX-8350 32 nm Vishera, AMD.RTM. Kaveri processors,
Texas Instruments.RTM. Jacinto C6000.TM. automotive infotainment
processors, Texas Instruments.RTM. OMAP.TM. automotive-grade mobile
processors, ARM.RTM. Cortex.TM.-M processors, ARM.RTM. Cortex-A and
ARM926EJ-S.TM. processors, other industry-equivalent processors,
and may perform computational functions using any known or
future-developed standard, instruction set, libraries, and/or
architecture.
[0086] With reference to FIGS. 3 and 8-9, the communication network
800 includes the vehicle 120 is in wireless communication, via
network 352, with navigation source 356A comprising a map database
manager 812 and associated map database 816 and the control source
356B comprising a control manager 804 and associated control source
database 824 and a weather forecast information provider 808 and
associated weather database 810. Communication of the vehicle 100
with the navigation source 356A, control source 356B, or weather
forecast information provider 808 can be by the communication
subsystem 350, communication system 728, wireless radio 578,
transmitter 570 and/or receiver 572.
[0087] The map database manager 812 and map database 816 interact
with the navigation sensor 308 (which is part of the automatic
vehicle location system 908 discussed below) in the vehicle 100 to
provide navigation or map output to an autonomous driving agent 904
in the vehicle 100.
[0088] The map database manager 812 stores and recalls navigation
information from the map database 816.
[0089] The map database 816 commonly stores maps as graphs, or two
or three dimensional arrays of objects with attributes of location
and category, where some common categories include parks, roads,
cities, and the like. A map database commonly represents a road
network along with associated features, with the road network
corresponding to a selected road network model. Commonly, such a
model comprises basic elements (nodes, links and areas) of the road
network and properties of those elements (location coordinates,
shape, addresses, road class, speed range, etc.). The basic
elements are referred to as features and the properties as
attributes. Other information associated with the road network can
also be included, such as points of interest, waypoints, building
shapes, and political boundaries. Geographic Data Files (GDF) is a
standardized description of such a model. Each node within a map
graph represents a point location of the surface of the Earth and
can be represented by a pair of longitude (lon) and latitude (lat)
coordinates. Each link can represent a stretch of road between two
nodes, and be represented by a line segment (corresponding to a
straight section of road) or a curve having a shape that is
generally described by intermediate points (called shape points)
along the link. However, curves can also be represented by a
combination of centroid (point or node), with a radius, and polar
coordinates to define the boundaries of the curve. Shape points can
be represented by longitude and latitude coordinates as are nodes,
but shape points generally do not serve the purpose of connecting
links, as do nodes. Areas are generally two- or three-dimensional
shapes that represent things like parks, cities, blocks and are
defined by their boundaries (usually formed by a closed
polygon).
[0090] The navigation information is a map selected by an operator
or the autonomous vehicle that plots a traceroute to be traveled by
the vehicle along with waypoints and a destination. A current
geographic location of the vehicle can be shown by an icon position
relative to the length of the traceroute. Other information can
also be provided, such as alternative traceroutes or routes of
travel, travel time to a waypoint or destination, estimated arrival
time at a waypoint or destination, and the like.
[0091] The control manager 804 and control source database 824
interact with the autonomous driving agent 904 in each vehicle 100
to receive various types of information regarding vehicle behavior
and the behaviors of nearby objects, such as other vehicles and
pedestrians, identify specific behaviors and other autonomous
driving information, and directly or indirectly provide the
autonomous driving information to selected vehicles for use in
determining and selecting various autonomous vehicle commands or
settings, particularly acceleration rate of the vehicle,
deceleration (e.g., braking) rate of the vehicle, steering angle of
the vehicle (e.g., for turns and lane changes), and inter-object
spacing (e.g., end-to-end or side-to-side spacing between the
vehicle and a nearby object).
[0092] The weather forecast information provider 808 and weather
database 810 can be any private or governmental entity providing
weather forecast information, such as a governmental agency (e.g.,
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National
Weather Service and Environment Canada's Meteorological Service), a
radio, newspaper, or television news source, and the like Weather
forecasting predicts the state of the atmosphere for a given
geographic location, such as determined by the GPS/Nav 308 of the
vehicle 100. Weather forecasting commonly relies on computer-based
models that take many atmospheric factors into account. Numerical
weather prediction effectively samples the state of the fluid at a
given time and uses the equations of fluid dynamics and
thermodynamics to estimate the state of the fluid at some time in
the future. The main inputs from country-based weather services are
surface observations from automated weather stations at ground
level over land and from weather buoys at sea. The World
Meteorological Organization acts to standardize the
instrumentation, observing practices and timing of these
observations worldwide. Stations either report hourly in METAR
reports, or every six hours in SYNOP reports. Sites launch
radiosondes, which rise through the depth of the troposphere and
well into the stratosphere. Data from weather satellites are used
in areas where traditional data sources are not available. Compared
with similar data from radiosondes, the satellite data has the
advantage of global coverage, however at a lower accuracy and
resolution. Meteorological radar provides information on
precipitation location and intensity, which can be used to estimate
precipitation accumulations over time. Additionally, if a pulse
Doppler weather radar is used then wind speed and direction can be
determined.
[0093] A model is a computer program that produces meteorological
information for future times at given locations and altitudes.
Models can be initialized using observed data. The irregularly
spaced observations can be processed by data assimilation and
objective analysis methods, which perform quality control and
obtain values at locations usable by the model's mathematical
algorithms (usually an evenly spaced grid). The data can then be
used in the model as the starting point for a forecast. Commonly,
the set of equations used to predict the physics and dynamics of
the atmosphere are called primitive equations. Primitive equations,
along with the ideal gas law, can evolve the density, pressure, and
potential temperature scalar fields and the velocity vector field
of the atmosphere through time. Additional transport equations for
pollutants and other aerosols can be included in some
primitive-equation mesoscale models. The equations used are
generally nonlinear partial differential equations which are
impossible to solve exactly through analytical methods, with the
exception of a few idealized cases. Therefore, numerical methods
obtain approximate solutions. Different models use different
solution methods: some global models use spectral methods for the
horizontal dimensions and finite difference methods for the
vertical dimension, while regional models and other global models
usually use finite-difference methods in all three dimensions.
[0094] Primitive equations are commonly initialized from the
analysis data and rates of change can then be determined. The rates
of change can predict the state of the atmosphere a short time into
the future. The equations are then applied to this new atmospheric
state to find new rates of change, and these new rates of change
predict the atmosphere at a yet further time into the future. This
time stepping procedure can be continually repeated until the
solution reaches the desired forecast time. The length of the time
step can be related to the distance between the points on the
computational grid.
[0095] The length of the time step chosen within the model is
generally related to the distance between the points on the
computational grid, and is chosen to maintain numerical stability.
Time steps for global models can be on the order of tens of
minutes, while time steps for regional models can be between one
and four minutes. The global models are run at varying times into
the future. The UKMET Unified Model can be run six days into the
future, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
model can be run out to 10 days into the future, while the Global
Forecast System model run by the Environmental Modeling Center can
be run 16 days into the future. The visual output produced by a
model solution is known as a prognostic chart, or prog. The raw
output can be often modified before being presented as the
forecast. This can be in the form of statistical techniques to
remove known biases in the model, or of adjustment to take into
account consensus among other numerical weather forecasts. MOS or
model output statistics is a technique used to interpret numerical
model output and produce site-specific guidance. This guidance is
presented in coded numerical form, and can be obtained for nearly
all National Weather Service reporting stations in the United
States.
[0096] The map, control source, and weather databases 816, 824, and
810 can be constructed according to any data model, whether
conceptual, logical, or physical, such as a flat model,
hierarchical model, network model, relational model,
object-relational model, star schema, entity-relationship model,
geographic model, generic model, semantic model, and the like.
[0097] With reference to FIG. 9, an on board autonomous driving
system 900 in the vehicle 100 is depicted that employs one or more
of the foregoing features. The autonomous driving system 900
includes an autonomous driving agent 904 in communication with an
automatic vehicle location system 908, sensor connectivity manager
566 and associated first, second, . . . Mth sensors 912a-M, and
user interface 920, and having access via working memory 736 or
communication systems 728 to the sensed object information 970,
sensed occupant information 916, weather related rules 974,
vehicle-related information 982, exterior environmental information
986, weather forecast information 978, and navigation information
924.
[0098] The automatic vehicle location system 908 is in
communication with the GPS/Nav sensor 308 to acquire current
vehicle position coordinates, which position coordinates are then
correlated by the map database manager 812 to a position on a road.
Dead reckoning using distance data from one or more sensors
attached to the drive train, a gyroscope sensor 312 and/or an
accelerometer sensor 312 can be used for greater reliability, as
GPS signal loss and/or multipath can occur due to the map database
manager 812, such as due to a cellular signal dead or low signal
strength area or passage of the vehicle through a tunnel.
[0099] The sensed object information 970 can be information sensed
by the first, second, . . . Mth sensors 912A-M regarding objects
external to the vehicle 100. Examples of sensed object information
970 include animate objects and attributes thereof such as animals
and attributes thereof (e.g., animal type, current spatial
location, current activity, etc.), and pedestrians and attributes
thereof (e.g., identity, age, sex, current spatial location,
current activity, etc.), and the like and inanimate objects and
attributes thereof such as other vehicles and attributes thereof
(e.g., current vehicle state or activity (parked or in motion or
level of automation currently employed), occupant or operator
identity, vehicle type (truck, car, etc.), vehicle spatial
location, etc.)), curbs and attributes thereof (topography and
spatial location), potholes and attributes thereof (size and
spatial location), lane division markers and attributes thereof
(type or color and spatial locations), signage and attributes
thereof (type or color and spatial locations such as speed limit
signs, yield signs, stop signs, and other restrictive or warning
signs), traffic signals and attributes thereof (e.g., red, yellow,
blue, green, etc.), buildings and attributes thereof (spatial
locations), walls and attributes thereof (height and spatial
locations), and barricades and attributes thereof (height and
spatial location).
[0100] The sensed occupant information 916 refers to information
sensed by the first, second, . . . Mth sensors 912A-M regarding
occupants in the selected vehicle 100. Examples of sensed occupant
information comprises number and identities of occupants and
attributes thereof (e.g., seating position, age, sex, gaze
direction, biometric information, authentication information,
preferences, historic behavior patterns (such as current or
historical user driving behavior, historical user route,
destination, climate control settings, and waypoint preferences),
nationality, ethnicity and race, language preferences (e.g.,
Spanish, English, Chinese, etc.), occupant climate control
preferences, current occupant role (e.g., operator or passenger),
electronic calendar information (e.g., Outlook.TM.), information
displayed by portable computing devices within the vehicle 100
(such as destination and waypoints set in a navigation
application), and medical information and history.
[0101] Vehicle-related information 982 can be any information
sensed by the first, second, . . . Mth sensors 912A-M regarding the
selected vehicle 100 itself. Examples include vehicle manufacturer,
type, model, year of manufacture, current vehicle geographic
location, current vehicle state or activity (parked or in motion or
level of automation currently employed), vehicle specifications and
capabilities, and currently sensed operational parameters for the
vehicle (such as state of charge (SOC) or stored energy level of
the energy storage unit).
[0102] Environmental information 986 can be any information sensed
by the first, second, . . . Mth sensors 912A-M regarding the
environment exterior to the selected vehicle 100. Examples include
road type (pavement, gravel, brick, etc.), road condition (e.g.,
wet, dry, icy, snowy, etc.), current weather information (e.g.,
outside temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction,
etc.), ambient light conditions (e.g., time-of-day), and degree of
development of vehicle surroundings (e.g., urban or rural), and the
like).
[0103] The weather forecast information 978 can be any information
that predicts the state of the atmosphere for the current or a
future geographic location of the vehicle 100, such as currently
determined by the GPS/Nav 308 of the vehicle 100 or predicted by
navigation information 924 configured by the operator. Weather
forecast information 978 commonly includes any predicted weather
information, such as temperature, wind speed and direction,
relative humidity, wind chill, dew point, barometric pressure,
ultraviolet index, degree of visibility, and level of and type of
precipitation (snow, rain, sleet, hail, etc.).
[0104] The first, second, . . . mth sensors 912a-m can collect the
sensed object information 970, sensed occupant information 916,
vehicle-related information 982, and exterior environmental
information 986. The first, second, . . . mth sensors 912a-m
include the sensors or systems 116A-K, 112, 312, 316, 320, 324,
328, 332, 336, and 338 discussed above, a camera to capture images
of interior objects (such as occupants), a seat belt sensor to
determine seat belt settings (e.g., closed or open), a seat weight
sensor settings, a microphone to capture audio within the vehicle
(such as occupant comments which are then input into a
speech-to-text engine to determine or identify one or more words
spoken by an occupant), a wireless network node that receives
unique identifiers of occupant portable computing devices (which
identifiers can be associated with a corresponding occupant to
identify the occupant), and the like. The information collected by
the sensors is received by the sensor connectivity manager 566 and
provided to the autonomous driving agent 904 and/or to the control
source 356B.
[0105] The user interface 920 receives user commands and other
input, such as user selections, preferences, and settings that are
used in configuring, determining, and selecting vehicle parameters,
settings, or operations, such as navigation route selection,
acceptable rates of acceleration and deceleration, acceptable
minimum inter-object spacing distance, and acceptable steering
lines, and stimuli or events triggering associated rule-based
actions. The user interface 920 can be one or more of vehicle
instrument panel 400, vehicle operational display 420, heads-up
display 434, and power management display 428. It can also be a
portable computational or communication device of an occupant.
[0106] The weather-related rules base 974 comprises a rules base
that maps or indexes selected values for the current and predicted
or future weather information and one or more of sensed object
information, sensed occupant information, vehicle-related
information, navigation information 924, and environmental
information against one or more vehicle operation or configuration
responses to enable the autonomous driving agent 904 to
substantially optimize energy usage or consumption by the vehicle
and enhance other vehicle operations and safety. As will be
appreciated, a rule-based function of the autonomous driving agent
904 typically comprises an inference engine or semantic reasoner,
which infers information or takes action based on the interaction
of the input predicted or future weather information and one or
more of sensed object information, sensed occupant information,
vehicle-related information, navigation information 924, and
environmental information and the rule base and executes a
production system program by performing a match-resolve-act cycle.
In a match phase of the cycle, a left-hand side of all productions
are matched against the contents of working memory 736. As a
result, a conflict set is obtained, which consists of
instantiations of all satisfied productions (or vehicle operations
or configuration responses). An instantiation of a production is an
ordered list of working memory 736 elements that satisfies the
left-hand side of the production. In a conflict-resolution phase,
one of the production instantiations in the conflict set is chosen
for execution. If no productions are satisfied, the reasoner halts.
In an act phase, the actions of the production selected in the
conflict-resolution phase are executed. These actions may change
the contents of working memory 736. At the end of this phase,
execution of the reasoner returns to the first phase. Other
software or hardware systems may be employed, such as an imperative
programming language that lists execution steps sequentially.
[0107] In a first example, the autonomous driving agent 904 can
determine, from the current weather forecast information 978 and
one or more of sensed occupant information 916, preferred or
desirable climate control settings for the vehicle (such as
received by user interface 920 or included in sensed occupant
information 916), and navigation information 924 (e.g., trip
duration to travel the route identified in the navigation
information 924), a predicted amount of energy required to provide
the preferred or desirable climate control settings (e.g., air
temperature setting within passenger compartment, seat warmer
settings, relative air vent loads (e.g., window defogger, lower
body and/or upper body heating or cooling), window defroster, side
and/or rear view mirror defroster, and the like) while travelling
the route identified in the navigation information, from the
navigation information 924 an amount of energy required to travel
the identified route, and from the vehicle-related information 982
a state of charge (SOC'') of the energy storage unit. The
information thus determined is provided as input to the inference
engine or semantic reasoner function of the autonomous driving
agent 924 that determines whether there is a sufficient amount of
energy stored in the energy storage unit to meet the predicted
energy demands imposed by the climate control settings and amount
of energy required to travel the route. If there is a sufficient
amount of energy stored in the energy storage unit to meet the
aggregate energy demands, the rules base causes the autonomous
driving agent 904 to implement the preferred or desirable climate
control settings. If there is an insufficient amount of energy
stored in the energy storage unit, the rules base can cause the
autonomous driving agent 904 to modify the preferred or desirable
climate control settings to consume an allowable amount of energy
while still providing a sufficient amount of energy for the vehicle
100 to travel the planned route. This can be done, for example, by
lowering certain (less important) climate control settings but not
other (more important) climate control settings or by lowering all
climate control settings or by some other set of actions set forth
in the rules base. As will be appreciated, the autonomous driving
agent 904 can select a desired temperature in the passenger
compartment and select a range of interior and exterior temperature
sensors to adjust the temperature of the air blown into the
compartment, and the fan speed to keep the compartment temperature
within a selected range.
[0108] In another example, the autonomous driving agent 904 can
determine, from the current weather information and sensed occupant
information 916 different sets of possible climate control settings
for the vehicle 100, from navigation information 924 corresponding
trip durations to travel each of the various possible routes to a
waypoint or destination currently identified in the navigation
information 924, from the navigation information 924 corresponding
amounts of energy required to travel each of the possible routes to
the identified waypoint or destination, and from vehicle-related
information 982 a state of charge of the energy storage unit. The
information thus determined is provided as input to the inference
engine or semantic reasoner function of the autonomous driving
agent 904 that determines which set of possible climate control
settings and which possible route are to be selected and
implemented to ensure that there is a sufficient amount of energy
stored in the energy storage unit to meet the predicted cumulative
energy demands imposed by the selected set of climate control
settings and amount of energy required for selected route
travel.
[0109] While the route to be traveled can be determined from the
route, waypoints, or destination currently entered into the
navigation information 924, they can also be determined from sensed
occupant information. For example, a waypoint or destination can be
determined from an appointment scheduled on an electronic calendar
of an occupant, Internet search results locally stored in the
vehicle or on a portable computing device of the occupant, audio
conversations between occupants or by an occupant on a portable
phone, a route selected on a navigation application on a portable
computing device, historic driver behavior, and the like.
[0110] In yet another example, the autonomous driving agent 904 can
determine, while the vehicle 100 is parked, such as in a protected
environment (e.g., garage), and charging, the current or forecasted
weather information and preferred or desirable climate control
settings to condition the passenger compartment for the arrival of
the vehicle occupants. A protected environment typically has a
different temperature and moisture level than the environment
exterior to the protected environment (e.g., different than the
current weather outside the protected environment). The autonomous
driving agent 904 can determine, from navigation information 924 or
sensed occupant information, a trip start time and/or trip duration
and/or trip waypoint and/or trip destination, and from
vehicle-related information 982 a current and likely state of
charge of the energy storage unit (if charged until the trip start
time). The autonomous driving agent 904 further selects multiple
first sets of climate control options and start times and durations
for each set of climate control options and, for each selected
first set of climate control options and start times and durations,
the amount of energy required to condition the passenger
compartment by the trip start time, and selects one or more second
sets of climate control options to be employed while traveling the
identified route based on the navigation information 924 or sensed
occupant information 916 and, for each of the one or more second
sets of climate control options, an amount of energy required to
use each of the one or more second sets of climate control options
while traveling the route. The autonomous driving agent can further
determine an amount of energy to be consumed over the identified
route. The autonomous driving agent 904 input this information into
the weather-related rules base 974 which selects a combination of
first and second sets of climate control options to be employed to
provide a sufficient amount of energy in the energy storage unit,
after charging, to meet the predicted energy demands (e.g., travel
the identified route). As will be appreciated, the autonomous
driving agent 904 can modify the timing and/or order of
implementation of the preferred or desirable climate control
settings or the particular or specified preferred climate control
settings to reduce energy consumption while charging and thereby
maximize the SOC in the energy storage unit realized by charging
over the predicted remaining time period before trip commencement
and thereby enable the climate control settings to consume an
allowable amount of energy during and after charging and enable the
vehicle 100 to have sufficient SOC to travel the planned route. By
way of illustration, less energy is commonly consumed by climate
control during charging by gradually increasing the temperature of
the passenger compartment or maintaining a lower than occupant
preferred temperature to preserve or maintain heat energy already
in the seats and other components of the passenger compartment,
such as when an operator parks and charges the car for a short
period before initiating another trip or continuing the current
trip. The passenger compartment has already been heated during the
prior trip and, by maintaining a higher than ambient temperature in
the passenger compartment during charging, less heat may be
required to reheat the passenger compartment to the operator
preferred levels.
[0111] In another example, the autonomous driving agent, while the
vehicle is parked within a protected environment, such as a garage,
determines from the weather forecast information not only on what
climate control settings are to be implemented to produce desired
passenger compartment comfort conditions for the occupant but also
how to configure the vehicle itself for more effective and safe
autonomous or manual driving operations. By way of illustration, if
the weather forecast information indicates winter-storm-like
conditions with freezing temperatures and blowing snow, the
autonomous driving agent can proactively alter or implement the
throttle peddle mapping, reduce the torque level produced by the
electric motors, lengthen the braking distance, electronic
stability control or electronic stability program control settings,
traction control system settings, sensitivity settings of the
first, second, . . . Mth sensors (e.g., change the sensitivity of
the ultrasonic, radar, and lidar sensors to account for the higher
noise levels encountered during a snow storm), safety restraint
restrictions (e.g., prevent the occupant from swiveling the seat or
releasing one or more restraints or safety belts), and other
autonomous driving settings and presets to account for the
forecasted weather conditions. This can beneficially be done before
the occupant or operator moves the vehicle 100 from the protected
environment or parked location, thereby increasing vehicle
safety.
[0112] The autonomous driving agent 904 controls the driving
behavior of the vehicle, such as whether to execute an accelerate
event, acceleration rate, decelerate event, deceleration rate,
steering angle selected relative to a selected reference axis, and
selected inter-object spacing magnitude in response to the current
vehicle location, sensed object information 970, sensed occupant
information 916, vehicle-related information 982, exterior
environmental information 986, and navigation information 924 in
accordance with the autonomous driving information selected by the
behavior selector 978 and implemented by the autonomous driving
agent 904. In a typical implementation, the autonomous driving
agent, based on feedback from certain sensors, specifically the
LIDAR and radar sensors positioned around the circumference of the
vehicle, constructs a three-dimensional map in spatial proximity to
the vehicle that enables the autonomous driving agent to identify
and spatially locate animate and inanimate objects. Other sensors,
such as inertial measurement units, gyroscopes, wheel encoders,
sonar sensors, motion sensors to perform odometry calculations with
respect to nearby moving objects, and exterior facing cameras
(e.g., to perform computer vision processing) can provide further
contextual information for generation of a more accurate
three-dimensional map. The navigation information is combined with
the three-dimensional map to provide short, intermediate and long
range course tracking and route selection. The autonomous driving
system processes real-world information as well as GPS data, and
driving speed to determine accurately the precise position of each
vehicle, down to a few centimeters all while making corrections for
nearby animate and inanimate objects.
[0113] The autonomous driving agent 904 processes in real time the
aggregate mapping information and models behavior of other nearby
animate objects relying on the behavior selector's selected
autonomous driving information.
[0114] The autonomous driving agent, based on the learned and
autonomous driving information, issues appropriate commands
regarding implementing an accelerate event, acceleration rate,
deceleration event, deceleration rate, inter-object spacing
distance, and steering angle magnitude. While some commands are
hard-coded into the vehicle, such as stopping at red lights and
stop signs, other responses are learned and recorded by the control
source or autonomous driving agent based on previous driving
experiences.
[0115] The autonomous driving agent can be configured to handle
other autonomous operations, regardless of automation level.
Examples include adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, parking
functions, and the like.
[0116] The operations of the various executable modules will now be
discussed with reference to FIGS. 10-13.
[0117] With reference to FIG. 10, the autonomous driving agent 904,
in step 1000, detects a stimulus, such as any set forth above, and
commences execution of the instructions. Exemplary stimuli include,
for example, detection of a change in any of the previously sensed
vehicle location, sensed object information 970, sensed occupant
information 916, vehicle-related information 982, exterior
environmental information 986, and/or navigation information 924
and/or weather forecast information 978.
[0118] In step 1004, the autonomous driving agent 904 determines
from the automatic vehicle location system 908 the current
geographical location of the vehicle 100.
[0119] In step 1008, the autonomous driving agent 904 determines
forecasted weather information for the current geographical
location of the vehicle 100.
[0120] In step 1012, the autonomous driving agent 904 compares the
forecasted weather information against previously sensed
environmental information.
[0121] In decision diamond 1020, the autonomous driving agent 904
determines, applying the weather related rules, whether or not the
difference(s) between the forecasted weather information and
previously sensed environmental information is/are of a sufficient
magnitude to warrant reconfiguring one or more vehicle operational
settings. The weather information and environmental information
compared by the autonomous driving agent is typically of the same
type, e.g., ambient temperature level, precipitation level,
visibility level, UV level, and the like and the difference is
based on differences in the magnitudes of the compared sets of
information. However, a forecasted storm event can be determined to
be a difference of a sufficient magnitude to warrant
reconfiguration of one or more vehicle operational settings,
regardless of changes in temperature for instance.
[0122] When the difference is of a sufficient magnitude, the
autonomous driving agent 904, in step 1024, applies the
weather-related rules to determine changes in the autonomous
vehicle settings and implements the changes in step 1028.
[0123] When the difference is not of a sufficient magnitude in
decision diamond 1020 or after step 1028, the autonomous driving
agent returns to step 1000.
[0124] Referring to FIGS. 11-13, the autonomous driving agent 904,
in step 1100, detects a stimulus, such as any set forth above, and
commences execution of the instructions. Exemplary stimuli include,
for example, detection of a change in any of the previously sensed
vehicle location, sensed object information 970, sensed occupant
information 916, vehicle-related information 982, exterior
environmental information 986, and/or navigation information 924
and/or weather forecast information 978.
[0125] In step 1104, the autonomous driving agent 904 determines
from the automatic vehicle location system 908 the current
geographical location of the vehicle 100.
[0126] In step 1108, the autonomous driving agent 904 collects
vehicle-related information 982 from the sensor connectivity
manager 566.
[0127] In step 1112, the autonomous driving agent 904 collects
occupant-related information 916, such as the information set forth
above. This includes, for example, the identities of the vehicle
occupants, the roles of each identified occupant (e.g., driver or
passenger), a current activity of each occupant (e.g., operating
vehicle, operating portable computing device, interacting with an
on board vehicle user interface, and the like), gaze detection of
an occupant, and the like.
[0128] In step 1116, the autonomous driving agent 904 receives
weather forecast information and collects sensed exterior
environmental information 986 from the sensor connectivity manager
566.
[0129] In step 1120, the autonomous driving agent 908 collects
sensed animate and inanimate object information 970 from the sensor
connectivity manager 566.
[0130] Referring to FIG. 12, the autonomous driving agent 908, in
step 1200, determines a predicted energy usage before the next
charge cycle (assuming no changes to climate control settings).
This includes predicting the energy consumed not only by the
climate control settings but also by other operations including
driving, infotainment, interior and exterior lights, and the
like.
[0131] In decision diamond 1204, the autonomous driving agent 908
determines whether there is sufficient stored charge (including
after any charging or recuperative braking operations) to supply
the predicted energy usage. When there is sufficient stored charge
available to cover the predicted energy usage, the autonomous
driving agent 908 returns to step 1100. When there is not
sufficient stored charge, the autonomous driving agent 908 proceeds
to step 1208.
[0132] In step 1208, the autonomous driving agent 908 reconfigures
climate control settings to reduce the predicted energy usage to a
level that will enable the vehicle to have a sufficient amount of
stored charge to supply the predicted energy usage.
[0133] In optional step 1212, the autonomous driving agent 908
processes the determined information to provide contextual
information identifying nearby objects, relevant map information,
signage and other factors.
[0134] Referring to step 1300 of FIG. 13, the autonomous driving
agent 908, based on contextual information, predicts the behavior
of the objects.
[0135] In optional step 1304, the autonomous driving agent 908,
based on the current vehicle- and occupant-related information,
environmental and object information, and contextual information
and predicted behavior of nearby objects and learned and identified
autonomous driving information, determines a behavior of the
vehicle to be implemented.
[0136] In optional step 1308, the autonomous driving agent 904
generates and issues appropriate commands to implement the
determined behavior of the vehicle
[0137] With reference to FIG. 14, the logical instructions are
executed by an arithmetic/logic unit ("ALU"), which performs
mathematical operations, such as addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division, machine instructions, an address bus
(that sends an address to memory), a data bus (that can send data
to memory or receive data from memory), a read and write line to
tell the memory whether to set or get the addressed location, a
clock line that enables a clock pulse to sequence the processor,
and a reset line that resets the program counter to zero or another
value and restarts execution. The arithmetic/logic unit can be a
floating point processor that performs operations on floating point
numbers. The autonomous driving agent 904 or an inference engine or
semantic reasoner further includes first, second, and third
registers that are typically configured from flip-flops, an address
latch, a program counter (which can increment by "1" and reset to
"0"), a test register to hold values from comparisons performed in
the arithmetic/logic unit (such as comparisons in any of the steps
in FIGS. 10-13), plural tri-state buffers to pass a "1" or "0" or
disconnect its output (thereby allowing multiple outputs to connect
to a wire but only one of them to actually drive a "1" or "0" into
the line), and an instruction register and decoder to control other
components. Control lines, in the autonomous driving agent 904 or
an inference engine or semantic reasoner, from the instruction
decoder can: command the first register to latch the value
currently on the data bus, command the second register to latch the
value currently on the data bus, command the third register to
latch the value currently output by the ALU, command the program
counter register to latch the value currently on the data bus,
command the address register to latch the value currently on the
data bus, command the instruction register to latch the value
currently on the data bus, command the program counter to
increment, command the program counter to reset to zero, activate
any of the plural tri-state buffers (plural separate lines),
command the ALU what operation to perform, command the test
register to latch the ALU's test bits, activate the read line, and
activate the write line. Bits from the test register and clock line
as well as the bits from the instruction register come into the
instruction decoder. Hardware similar or identical to that of FIG.
14 is in each of the autonomous driving agent 904 or an inference
engine or semantic reasoner for executing the instructions of FIGS.
10-13. The ALU executes instructions for a random or pseudo-random
number generation algorithm and generates the recipient identifier
using the appropriate seed values.
[0138] Any of the steps, functions, and operations discussed herein
can be performed continuously and automatically.
[0139] The exemplary systems and methods of this disclosure have
been described in relation to vehicle systems and electric
vehicles. However, to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present
disclosure, the preceding description omits a number of known
structures and devices. This omission is not to be construed as a
limitation of the scope of the claimed disclosure. Specific details
are set forth to provide an understanding of the present
disclosure. It should, however, be appreciated that the present
disclosure may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond the
specific detail set forth herein.
[0140] Furthermore, while the exemplary embodiments illustrated
herein show the various components of the system collocated,
certain components of the system can be located remotely, at
distant portions of a distributed network, such as a LAN and/or the
Internet, or within a dedicated system. Thus, it should be
appreciated, that the components of the system can be combined into
one or more devices, such as a server, communication device, or
collocated on a particular node of a distributed network, such as
an analog and/or digital telecommunications network, a
packet-switched network, or a circuit-switched network. It will be
appreciated from the preceding description, and for reasons of
computational efficiency, that the components of the system can be
arranged at any location within a distributed network of components
without affecting the operation of the system.
[0141] Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links
connecting the elements can be wired or wireless links, or any
combination thereof, or any other known or later developed
element(s) that is capable of supplying and/or communicating data
to and from the connected elements. These wired or wireless links
can also be secure links and may be capable of communicating
encrypted information. Transmission media used as links, for
example, can be any suitable carrier for electrical signals,
including coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, and may
take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated
during radio-wave and infra-red data communications.
[0142] While the flowcharts have been discussed and illustrated in
relation to a particular sequence of events, it should be
appreciated that changes, additions, and omissions to this sequence
can occur without materially affecting the operation of the
disclosed embodiments, configuration, and aspects.
[0143] A number of variations and modifications of the disclosure
can be used. It would be possible to provide for some features of
the disclosure without providing others.
[0144] In yet another embodiment, the systems and methods of this
disclosure can be implemented in conjunction with a special purpose
computer, a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and
peripheral integrated circuit element(s), an ASIC or other
integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a hard-wired
electronic or logic circuit such as discrete element circuit, a
programmable logic device or gate array such as PLD, PLA, FPGA,
PAL, special purpose computer, any comparable means, or the like.
In general, any device(s) or means capable of implementing the
methodology illustrated herein can be used to implement the various
aspects of this disclosure. Exemplary hardware that can be used for
the present disclosure includes computers, handheld devices,
telephones (e.g., cellular, Internet enabled, digital, analog,
hybrids, and others), and other hardware known in the art. Some of
these devices include processors (e.g., a single or multiple
microprocessors), memory, nonvolatile storage, input devices, and
output devices. Furthermore, alternative software implementations
including, but not limited to, distributed processing or
component/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or
virtual machine processing can also be constructed to implement the
methods described herein.
[0145] In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be
readily implemented in conjunction with software using object or
object-oriented software development environments that provide
portable source code that can be used on a variety of computer or
workstation platforms. Alternatively, the disclosed system may be
implemented partially or fully in hardware using standard logic
circuits or VLSI design. Whether software or hardware is used to
implement the systems in accordance with this disclosure is
dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirements of the
system, the particular function, and the particular software or
hardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems being
utilized.
[0146] In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be
partially implemented in software that can be stored on a storage
medium, executed on programmed general-purpose computer with the
cooperation of a controller and memory, a special purpose computer,
a microprocessor, or the like. In these instances, the systems and
methods of this disclosure can be implemented as a program embedded
on a personal computer such as an applet, JAVA.RTM. or CGI script,
as a resource residing on a server or computer workstation, as a
routine embedded in a dedicated measurement system, system
component, or the like. The system can also be implemented by
physically incorporating the system and/or method into a software
and/or hardware system.
[0147] Although the present disclosure describes components and
functions implemented in the embodiments with reference to
particular standards and protocols, the disclosure is not limited
to such standards and protocols. Other similar standards and
protocols not mentioned herein are in existence and are considered
to be included in the present disclosure. Moreover, the standards
and protocols mentioned herein and other similar standards and
protocols not mentioned herein are periodically superseded by
faster or more effective equivalents having essentially the same
functions. Such replacement standards and protocols having the same
functions are considered equivalents included in the present
disclosure.
[0148] The present disclosure, in various embodiments,
configurations, and aspects, includes components, methods,
processes, systems and/or apparatus substantially as depicted and
described herein, including various embodiments, subcombinations,
and subsets thereof. Those of skill in the art will understand how
to make and use the systems and methods disclosed herein after
understanding the present disclosure. The present disclosure, in
various embodiments, configurations, and aspects, includes
providing devices and processes in the absence of items not
depicted and/or described herein or in various embodiments,
configurations, or aspects hereof, including in the absence of such
items as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g.,
for improving performance, achieving ease, and/or reducing cost of
implementation.
[0149] The foregoing discussion of the disclosure has been
presented for purposes of illustration and description. The
foregoing is not intended to limit the disclosure to the form or
forms disclosed herein. In the foregoing Detailed Description for
example, various features of the disclosure are grouped together in
one or more embodiments, configurations, or aspects for the purpose
of streamlining the disclosure. The features of the embodiments,
configurations, or aspects of the disclosure may be combined in
alternate embodiments, configurations, or aspects other than those
discussed above. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted
as reflecting an intention that the claimed disclosure requires
more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as
the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than
all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment,
configuration, or aspect. Thus, the following claims are hereby
incorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claim
standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment of the
disclosure.
[0150] Moreover, though the description of the disclosure has
included description of one or more embodiments, configurations, or
aspects and certain variations and modifications, other variations,
combinations, and modifications are within the scope of the
disclosure, e.g., as may be within the skill and knowledge of those
in the art, after understanding the present disclosure. It is
intended to obtain rights, which include alternative embodiments,
configurations, or aspects to the extent permitted, including
alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions,
ranges, or steps to those claimed, whether or not such alternate,
interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions, ranges, or
steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publicly
dedicate any patentable subject matter.
[0151] Embodiments include a vehicle comprising:
[0152] a vehicle interior for receiving one or more occupants;
[0153] a climate control system to control a temperature in at
least a portion of the vehicle interior or exterior;
[0154] a plurality of sensors to collect sensed information
associated with the vehicle interior and exterior of the
vehicle;
[0155] an automatic vehicle location system to determine a current
spatial location of the vehicle;
[0156] a computer readable medium to store an autonomous driving
agent to operate autonomously vehicle operations; and
[0157] a microprocessor, coupled to the plurality of sensors,
climate control system, automatic vehicle location system, and
computer readable medium, that receives weather forecast
information associated with a current geographic location of the
vehicle and at least one of: (a) alters or implement a change to an
autonomous driving operational setting or (b) selects and activates
one or more climate control settings to condition the vehicle
interior for one or more occupants.
[0158] Embodiments include a method that includes the steps:
[0159] in a vehicle comprising a vehicle interior for receiving one
or more occupants, a climate control system to control a
temperature in at least a portion of the vehicle interior or
exterior, a plurality of sensors to collect sensed information
associated with the vehicle interior and exterior of the vehicle,
and an automatic vehicle location system to determine a current
spatial location of the vehicle, receiving, by a microprocessor,
coupled to the plurality of sensors, climate control system,
automatic vehicle location system, and computer readable medium,
weather forecast information associated with a current geographic
location of the vehicle; and
[0160] performing, by the microprocessor, at least one of: (a)
altering or implement a change to an autonomous driving operational
setting or (b) selecting and activating one or more climate control
settings to condition the vehicle interior for one or more
occupants.
[0161] Embodiments include a vehicle comprising:
[0162] a vehicle interior for receiving one or more occupants;
[0163] a climate control system to control a temperature in at
least a portion of the vehicle interior or exterior;
[0164] a plurality of sensors to collect sensed information
associated with the vehicle interior and exterior of the
vehicle;
[0165] an automatic vehicle location system to determine a current
spatial location of the vehicle;
[0166] a computer readable medium to store an autonomous driving
agent to operate autonomously vehicle operations; and
[0167] a microprocessor, coupled to the plurality of sensors,
climate control system, automatic vehicle location system, and
computer readable medium, that receives weather forecast
information associated with a current geographic location of the
vehicle and alters or implement a change to an autonomous driving
operational setting.
[0168] Aspects of the above vehicle or method can include one or
more of: the microprocessor performing operation (a) and the
autonomous driving operational setting being one or more of a
change to a throttle peddle mapping, a change in a torque level
produced by one or more electric motors, change a braking distance
of the vehicle, an electronic stability control setting, a traction
control system setting, a sensitivity setting of a sensor, and a
safety restraint restriction.
[0169] Aspects of the above vehicle or method can include one or
more of: the microprocessor performing operation (b), the weather
forecast information comprising one or more of an expected
temperature, wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, wind
chill, dew point, barometric pressure, ultraviolet index, degree of
visibility, level of precipitation, or type of precipitation at the
current geographic location of the vehicle, and the microprocessor
applying an inference engine in determining when or how to activate
the one or more climate control settings.
[0170] Aspects of the above vehicle or method can include the input
to the inference engine comprising plural of an amount of energy to
be consumed by the activated one or more climate control settings,
a future or current state of charge of an energy storage unit of
the vehicle, and an amount of energy to be consumed by the vehicle
traveling a predetermined route.
[0171] Aspects of the above vehicle or method can include the
autonomous driving agent determining the predetermined route to be
traveled based on one or more of waypoint, destination or route
that is currently programmed into the vehicle, currently programmed
into a portable computing device of a potential occupant, derived
from an appointment on an electronic calendar of a potential
occupant, derived from Internet search results stored in the
vehicle or the portable computing device, or based on historic
behavior of the potential occupant.
[0172] Aspects of the above vehicle or method can include the
vehicle being parked in a protected environment and wherein the
protected environment has a different temperature and moisture
level than the environment exterior to the protected environment
and the autonomous mode of operation is at least level 2 or
higher.
[0173] Any one or more of the aspects/embodiments as substantially
disclosed herein.
[0174] Any one or more of the aspects/embodiments as substantially
disclosed herein optionally in combination with any one or more
other aspects/embodiments as substantially disclosed herein.
[0175] One or means adapted to perform any one or more of the above
aspects/embodiments as substantially disclosed herein.
[0176] The phrases "at least one," "one or more," "or," and
"and/or" are open-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and
disjunctive in operation. For example, each of the expressions "at
least one of A, B and C," "at least one of A, B, or C," "one or
more of A, B, and C," "one or more of A, B, or C," "A, B, and/or
C," and "A, B, or C" means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B
together, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C
together.
[0177] The term "a" or "an" entity refers to one or more of that
entity. As such, the terms "a" (or "an"), "one or more," and "at
least one" can be used interchangeably herein. It is also to be
noted that the terms "comprising," "including," and "having" can be
used interchangeably.
[0178] The term "automatic" and variations thereof, as used herein,
refers to any process or operation, which is typically continuous
or semi-continuous, done without material human input when the
process or operation is performed. However, a process or operation
can be automatic, even though performance of the process or
operation uses material or immaterial human input, if the input is
received before performance of the process or operation. Human
input is deemed to be material if such input influences how the
process or operation will be performed. Human input that consents
to the performance of the process or operation is not deemed to be
"material."
[0179] Aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of an
embodiment that is entirely hardware, an embodiment that is
entirely software (including firmware, resident software,
micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware
aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a
"circuit," "module," or "system." Any combination of one or more
computer-readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer-readable
medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a
computer-readable storage medium.
[0180] A computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but
not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,
infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any
suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a
non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable storage medium would
include the following: an electrical connection having one or more
wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access
memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable
read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a
portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage
device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of
the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer-readable
storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain or store
a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution
system, apparatus, or device.
[0181] A computer-readable signal medium may include a propagated
data signal with computer-readable program code embodied therein,
for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a
propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including,
but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable
combination thereof. A computer-readable signal medium may be any
computer-readable medium that is not a computer-readable storage
medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program
for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,
apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on a computer-readable
medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including,
but not limited to, wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF,
etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
[0182] The terms "determine," "calculate," "compute," and
variations thereof, as used herein, are used interchangeably and
include any type of methodology, process, mathematical operation or
technique.
[0183] The term "electric vehicle" (EV), also referred to herein as
an electric drive vehicle, may use one or more electric motors or
traction motors for propulsion. An electric vehicle may be powered
through a collector system by electricity from off-vehicle sources,
or may be self-contained with a battery or generator to convert
fuel to electricity. An electric vehicle generally includes a
rechargeable electricity storage system (RESS) (also called Full
Electric Vehicles (FEV)). Power storage methods may include:
chemical energy stored on the vehicle in on-board batteries (e.g.,
battery electric vehicle or BEV), on board kinetic energy storage
(e.g., flywheels), and/or static energy (e.g., by on-board
double-layer capacitors). Batteries, electric double-layer
capacitors, and flywheel energy storage may be forms of
rechargeable on-board electrical storage.
[0184] The term "hybrid electric vehicle" refers to a vehicle that
may combine a conventional (usually fossil fuel-powered) powertrain
with some form of electric propulsion. Most hybrid electric
vehicles combine a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE)
propulsion system with an electric propulsion system (hybrid
vehicle drivetrain). In parallel hybrids, the ICE and the electric
motor are both connected to the mechanical transmission and can
simultaneously transmit power to drive the wheels, usually through
a conventional transmission. In series hybrids, only the electric
motor drives the drivetrain, and a smaller ICE works as a generator
to power the electric motor or to recharge the batteries.
Power-split hybrids combine series and parallel characteristics. A
full hybrid, sometimes also called a strong hybrid, is a vehicle
that can run on just the engine, just the batteries, or a
combination of both. A mid hybrid is a vehicle that cannot be
driven solely on its electric motor, because the electric motor
does not have enough power to propel the vehicle on its own.
[0185] The term "rechargeable electric vehicle" or "REV" refers to
a vehicle with on board rechargeable energy storage, including
electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles.
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