US 10,705,521 B2Granted

Autonomous driving interface

AssigneeVisteon Global Technologies, Inc.

InventorsShadi Mere, Theodore Charles Wingrove, Michael Eichbrecht, Kyle Entsminger

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Abstract

The aspects of the present disclosure provide an autonomous vehicle interface for a vehicle and a method of enabling and employing an autonomous vehicle interface for a vehicle. The autonomous vehicle interface may be configured to seamlessly transition driving modes or the vehicle's mode of operation from user controlled to an autonomous controlled driving without the user physically activating the autonomous controlled driving. The autonomous vehicle interface may also be configured to consider active components and environmental conditions employed by the user in activating the autonomous control. The autonomous vehicle interface may further be configured to consider the user's operational state and/or the user's attentiveness to activate the autonomous vehicle mode. Additionally, the autonomous vehicle interface may be configured to change the vehicle's mode of operation from the autonomous controlled to the user controlled driving in response to a positive change to the user's operational state and/or attentiveness.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A system for providing an autonomous vehicle interface for a vehicle, comprising:

a processor;
and
a memory that includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
receive, from a component interface in communication with a component module of the vehicle;
component data indicating whether corresponding components of the component module are active;
receive, from a gaze tracking interface, gaze data corresponding to a gaze of a driver of the vehicle relative to a road being traversed by the vehicle;
determine an operational state of the driver based on the component data and the gaze data;
switch, based on a determination that the operational state of the driver indicated that the driver is distracted, to a full autonomous vehicle mode, wherein the determination that the driver is distracted includes a determination, based on the component data, that the driver is experiencing at least one component of the component module and a determination, based on the gaze data, that the driver is not looking in the direction of the road;
switch, based on a determination that the operational state of the driver indicates that the driver is not looking in the direction of the road, to a partial autonomous vehicle mode, wherein the determination that the operational state of the driver indicates that the driver is not looking in the direction of the road includes a determination, based on the component data, that the driver is not experiencing any components of the component module and a determination, based on the gaze data, that the driver is not looking in the direction of the road;
determine, based on the component data, whether the driver is engaging with a mobile device;
switch, in response to a determination that the driver is engaging with the mobile device, to the full autonomous vehicle mode or the partial autonomous vehicle mode, wherein the component module interfaces with the mobile device and wherein the component data indicates that the mobile device is an active component;
receive, from a camera or a sensor, lane data corresponding to the road;
identify, using the lane data, lane edges of one or more lanes of the road;
determine a distance between the vehicle and the identified lane edges;
switch, in response to a determination that the operation state of the driver indicates that the driver is not distracted and a determination that the distance is greater than or equal to the threshold, to the partial autonomous vehicle mode or a driver controlled vehicle mode.

12 more elements

A method for providing an autonomous vehicle interface for a vehicle, the method comprising:

receiving, from a component interface in communication with a component module of the vehicle;
component data indicating whether corresponding components of the component module are active;
receiving, from a gaze tracking interface, gaze data corresponding to a gaze of a driver of the vehicle relative to a road being traversed by the vehicle;
determining an operational state of the driver based on the component data and the gaze data;
switching, based on a determination that the operational state of the driver indicates that the driver is distracted, to a full autonomous vehicle mode, wherein the determination that the driver is distracted includes a determination, based on the component data, that the driver is experiencing at least one component of the component module and a determination, based on the gaze data, that the driver is not looking in the direction of the road;
switching, based on a determination that the operational state of the driver indicates that the driver is not looking in the direction of the road, to a partial autonomous vehicle mode, wherein the determination that the operational state of the driver indicates that the driver is not looking in the direction of the road includes a determination, based on the component data, that the driver is not experiencing any components of the component module and a determination, based on the gaze data, that the driver is not looking in the direction of the road;
determining, based on the component data, whether the driver is engaging with a mobile device;
switching, in response to a determination that the driver is engaging with the mobile device, to the full autonomous vehicle mode or the partial autonomous vehicle mode, wherein the component module interfaces with the mobile device and wherein the component data indicates that the mobile device is an active component;
receiving, from a camera or a sensor, lane data corresponding to the road;
identifying, using the lane data, lane edges of one or more lanes of the road;
determining a distance between the vehicle and the identified lane edges;
switching, in response to a determination that the distance is less than a threshold, to the full autonomous vehicle mode or the partial autonomous vehicle mode;
and
switching, in response to a determination that the operation state of the driver indicates that the driver is not distracted and a determination that the distance is greater than or equal to the threshold, to the partial autonomous vehicle mode or a driver controlled vehicle mode.

11 more elements

A vehicle control system comprising:

a processor;
and
a memory including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
receive component data corresponding to activity of components of the vehicle;
receive gaze data corresponding to a gaze of a driver of the vehicle relative to a road being traversed by the vehicle;
determine whether the driver is experiencing at least one component of the vehicle based on the component data;
determine whether the driver is looking in a direction of the road based on the gaze data;
switch, based on a determination that the driver is experiencing at least one component of the vehicle and a determination that the driver is not looking in the direction of the road, to a full autonomous vehicle mode;
switch, based on a determination that the driver is not experiencing any components of the vehicle and a determination that the driver is not looking in the direction of the road, to a partial autonomous vehicle mode;
receive lane data corresponding to the road;
identify, using the lane data, lane edges of one or more lanes of the road;
switch, in response to a determination that a distance between the vehicle and the identified lane edges is less than a threshold, to the full autonomous vehicle mode or the partial autonomous vehicle mode;
and
switch, in response to a determination that the operation state of the driver indicates that the driver is not distracted and a determination that the distance between the vehicle and the identified lane edges is greater than or equal to the threshold, to the partial autonomous vehicle mode or a driver controlled vehicle mode.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/957,215Filed 2 Dec 2015 · us provisional application
Priority: 30 Dec 2014
Published: US 2016/0187879 A130 Jun 2016
Granted: 7 Jul 2020
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification19 codes

B60W 60/0051
Handover processes: from occupants to vehicle
B60W 30/143
Adaptive cruise control: speed control
B60W 40/09
Related to drivers or passengers: driving style or behaviour
B60W 50/082
Interaction between the driver and the control system: selecting or switching between different modes of propelling