Method and Apparatus for Manual-Mode Shifting Using Voice Commands in Automobile Transmissions

A method to provide a voice-command manual gear selection for a semi-manual transmission system in a vehicle, the method comprising:

• selecting a manual gearshift mode for the semi-manual transmission system;
• activating a shift-by-speech mode by pressing a shift-by-speech on/off button and/or depressing a gear selection voice command-activating pedal;
• capturing a driver's voice command indicating a particular gear number with a microphone operatively connected to a voice recognition program for the voice-command manual gear selection;
• comparing the driver's voice command to a plurality of known voice command profiles in the voice recognition program for the voice-command manual gear selection;
• and
• if the driver's voice command matches one of the plurality of known voice command profiles in the voice recognition program for the voice-command manual gear selection:
• checking whether the particular gear number indicated by the driver's voice command does not result in over-revving or any other mechanical harm to the vehicle;
• and
• if the particular gear number indicated by the driver's gearshift voice command does not result in over-revving or any other mechanical harm to the vehicle:
• shifting to the particular gear number in the semi-manual transmission system.

A shift-by-speech transmission system for a vehicle configured to select a gear indicated by a driver's voice command, the shift-by-speech transmission system comprising:

• a microphone configured to pick up the driver's voice command;
• an on/off switch configured to enable or disable a shift-by-speech manual-shifting mode;
• a gear selection voice command-activating pedal configured to provide a window of time to record the driver's voice command in the microphone when the gear selection voice command-activating pedal is depressed;
• a voice recognition program configured to analyze the driver's voice command for a driver's particular gear selection if the shift-by-speech manual-shifting mode is enabled, wherein the voice recognition program generates an output signal indicating the driver's particular gear selection if the driver's voice command is successfully understood;
• and
• a shift-by-speech transmission control system containing a manual-shifting mode control logic block operatively connected to a transmission gearbox, wherein the output signal of the voice recognition program to the shift-by-speech transmission control system enables choosing the driver's particular gear selection for the transmission gearbox.