Enhanced vehicle securement system
AssigneeFca US LLC
InventorAbhilash Gudapati
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle system having an automatic vehicle securement feature to prevent an unoccupied vehicle from driving away includes a controller programmed to initiate the automatic vehicle securement feature, if a first set of conditions is satisfied, by engaging the parking brake and/or parking pawl to thereby prevent the vehicle from driving away. The controller determines if there is a fault of the first set of conditions, if the first set of conditions is not satisfied, and then determines, by the camera-based monitoring system, if a driver is present within the vehicle, if there is a fault of the first set of conditions. The controller initiates the automatic vehicle securement feature if the driver is determined not present within the vehicle, even though the first set of conditions is not satisfied.
Claims18
A vehicle system having an automatic vehicle securement feature to prevent an unoccupied vehicle from driving away, the vehicle system comprising:
- a shifter configured to move the vehicle between Park, Reverse, Neutral, and Drive (PRND) positions;
- a brake system controller configured to selectively engage and disengage a parking brake and/or a park pawl;
- an occupant restraint controller configured to determine a buckled or unbuckled status of a driver seat belt;
- a body computer configured to determine if a driver door is ajar;
- a camera-based monitoring system configured to determine a driver presence within the vehicle;
- and
- a controller, having one or more processors, in signal communication with the shifter, the brake system controller, the occupant restraint controller, the body computer, and the camera-based monitoring system, the controller programmed to:
- determine if a first set of conditions is satisfied to initiate a normal operation of the automatic vehicle securement feature;
- initiate the automatic vehicle securement feature, if the first set of conditions is satisfied, and engage the parking brake and/or parking pawl to thereby prevent the vehicle from driving away;
- determine if there is a fault of the first set of conditions, if the first set of conditions is not satisfied;
- determine, by the camera-based monitoring system, if a driver is present within the vehicle, if there is a fault of the first set of conditions;
- and
- initiate the automatic vehicle securement feature, if the driver is determined not present within the vehicle, even though the first set of conditions is not satisfied.
A computer-implemented method for operating a vehicle system having an automatic vehicle securement feature to prevent an unoccupied vehicle from driving away, the vehicle including a shifter configured to move the vehicle between Park, Reverse, Neutral, and Drive (PRND) positions, a brake system controller configured to selectively engage and disengage a parking brake and/or park pawl, an occupant restraint controller configured to determine a buckled or unbuckled status of a driver seat belt, a body computer configured to determine if a driver door is ajar, a camera-based monitoring system configured to determine a driver presence within the vehicle, and a controller having one or more processors and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the method comprising:
- determining, by the controller, if a first set of conditions is satisfied to initiate a normal operation of the automatic vehicle securement feature;
- initiating, by the controller, the automatic vehicle securement feature, if the first set of conditions is satisfied, and engaging the parking brake and/or parking pawl to thereby prevent the vehicle from driving away;
- determining, by the controller, if there is a fault of the first set of conditions, if the first set of conditions is not satisfied;
- determining, by the camera-based monitoring system, if a driver is present within the vehicle, if there is a fault of the first set of conditions;
- and
- initiating, by the controller, the automatic vehicle securement feature, if the driver is determined not present within the vehicle, even though the first set of conditions is not satisfied.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.