Determination of vehicle assistance from vehicle vibration that results when the vehicle contacts vibration generating structures on the road

An apparatus for assisting a driver of a vehicle on a road having vibration generating structure, the apparatus comprising:

• at least one vibration sensor, each vibration sensor disposed on a respective location on the vehicle and detecting vibration of the vehicle when the vehicle contacts the vibration generating structure on the road to generate a respective vibration signal;
• a vibration signal analyzer, operatively coupled to the at least one vibration sensor, for analyzing the respective vibration signal from the at least one vibration sensor to determine a driving situation of the vehicle;
• and
• a navigation system input for accepting GPS (Global Positioning System) information for use in determining the driving situation.

An apparatus for assisting a driver of a vehicle on a road having vibration generating structure, the apparatus comprising:

• at least one vibration sensor, each vibration sensor disposed on a respective location on the vehicle and detecting vibration of the vehicle when the vehicle contacts the vibration generating structure on the road to generate a respective vibration signal;
• a vibration signal analyzer, operatively coupled to the at least one vibration sensor, for analyzing the respective vibration signal from each of the at least one vibration sensor and the respective location of each of the at least one vibration sensor to determine a driving situation of the vehicle, wherein the vibration generating structure has a groove length for causing a predetermined effect on each of the respective vibration signal detected by the at least one vibration sensor to indicate a corresponding driving situation:
• a navigation system input for accepting GPS (Global Positioning System) information for use in determining the driving situation;
• a roadmap database, operatively coupled to the vibration signal analyzer, which includes vibration generating structure information of the road;
• a warning unit, operatively coupled to the vibration signal analyzer, for warning at least one of the driver of the vehicle and another person on the road of the driving situation of the vehicle;
• and
• a vehicle control unit, operatively coupled to the vibration signal analyzer, for controlling the vehicle with an automatic vehicle assist action to compensate for the driving situation of the vehicle, wherein the vehicle control unit allows the driver of the vehicle to override the automatic vehicle assist action when the driver manually controls the vehicle.

An apparatus for assisting a driver of a vehicle on a road having vibration generating structure, the apparatus comprising:

• means for detecting vibration on at least one location of the vehicle when the vehicle contacts the vibration generating structure on the road to generate a respective vibration signal for each of the at least one location of the vehicle;
• wherein the vibration generating structure includes periodic grooves, each groove having a groove length that corresponds to a respective driving situation;
• and
• means for determining said groove length of said vibration generating structure from said respective vibration signal when said vehicle contacts the vibration generating structure to determine said respective driving situation.

A method for assisting a driver of a vehicle on a road having vibration generating structure, the method including the steps of:

• detecting vibration of the vehicle on at least one location of the vehicle when the vehicle contacts the vibration generating structure on the road to generate a respective vibration signal for each of the at least location of the vehicle;
• and
• analyzing the respective vibration signal from the at least one location of the vehicle to determine a driving situation of the vehicle;
• wherein the vibration generating structure has a predetermined shape for causing a predetermined effect on the respective vibration signal detected at the at least one location to indicate a corresponding driving situation;
• and wherein the vibration generating structure includes periodic grooves, each groove having a groove length that corresponds to a respective driving situation.

A method for assisting a driver of a vehicle on a road having vibration generating structure, the method including the steps of:

• detecting vibration of the vehicle on at least one location of the vehicle when the vehicle contacts the vibration generating structure on the road to generate a respective vibration signal for each of the at least location of the vehicle;
• analyzing the respective vibration signal from the at least one location of the vehicle to determine a driving situation of the vehicle;
• and
• accepting GPS (Global Positioning System) information for use in determining the driving situation.

A method for assisting a driver of a vehicle on a road having vibration generating structure, the method including the steps of:

• detecting vibration of the vehicle on at least one location of the vehicle when the vehicle contacts the vibration generating structure on the road to generate a respective vibration signal for each of the at least one location of the vehicle;
• analyzing the respective vibration signal from the at least one location of the vehicle to determine a driving situation of the vehicle, wherein the vibration generating structure has a predetermined shape for causing a predetermined effect on the respective vibration signal detected at the at least one location to indicate a corresponding driving situation, and wherein each of the at least one location corresponding to each of the respective vibration signal determines the driving situation;
• warning at least one of the driver of the vehicle and another person on the road of the driving situation of the vehicle;
• controlling the vehicle to compensate for the driving situation of the vehicle, wherein the step of controlling includes a step of:
• allowing the driver of the vehicle to override the respective automatic vehicle assist action when the driver manually controls the vehicle;
• and
• accepting GPS (Global Positioning System) information and vibration generating structure information of the road from a roadmap database for use in determining the driving situation.