Integrated message display system for a vehicle

An integrated message system for a vehicle comprising:

• two or more electronic control units;
• an instrumentation control unit in communication with the one or more electronic control units, the instrumentation control unit including a visual display for displaying displayable vehicle messages and an audio transducer for generating auditory signals;
• wherein the instrumentation control unit displays a default screen and selectively overrides the default screen with prioritized displayable vehicle messages in response to predetermined events detected in the electronic control units;
• wherein the displayable vehicle messages indicate vehicle operating conditions requiring action, provide alerts for the vehicle operating conditions without user intervention, and are associated with the predetermined events detected in the electronic control units;
• wherein the prioritized displayable vehicle messages overriding the default screen are organized into levels of importance such that displayable vehicle messages from a more important level override displayable vehicle messages from a less important level, a more important level indicates a more serious condition of the vehicle, and each level of importance is associated with a different visual display protocol and a different corresponding auditory signal;
• wherein each level of prioritized message is associated with a different auditory tone indicating relative importance of the level relative to the other levels of messages;
• and
• wherein each level is associated with a different number of beeping tones indicating relative importance of the level relative to the other levels.

An integrated message system for a vehicle comprising:

• two or more electronic control units detecting vehicle operating conditions requiring action;
• an instrumentation control unit in communication with the one or more electronic control units, the instrumentation control unit including a visual display for displaying displayable vehicle messages and an audio transducer for generating auditory signals;
• a collision warning electronic control unit, wherein the collision warning electronic control unit communicates collision detection events to the instrumentation control unit and the collision detection events are associated with the different levels of prioritized messages overriding the default screen depending on relative importance of each collision detection event;
• wherein the instrumentation control unit displays a default screen and selectively overrides the default screen with prioritized displayable vehicle messages in response to predetermined operating conditions detected via the electronic control units;
• wherein the displayable vehicle messages indicate the vehicle operating conditions requiring action have occurred;
• and
• wherein the prioritized displayable vehicle messages overriding the default screen are organized into levels of importance such that displayable vehicle messages from a more important level override displayable vehicle messages from a less important level, a more important level indicates a more serious condition, when more than one displayable vehicle message is activated to override the default screen, arbitration resolves conflicts among messages of different priority overriding the default screen according to the levels of the messages, and each level of importance is associated with a different visual display protocol and a different corresponding auditory signal.

A method for providing an integrated audio-visual message system for a vehicle comprising:

• receiving messages regarding predetermined events detected in one or more electronic control units;
• displaying a default screen and selectively overriding the default screen with prioritized displayable messages in response to predetermined events detected in the electronic control units;
• wherein the displayable messages indicate vehicle operating conditions requiring action, provide alerts for the vehicle operating conditions without user intervention, and are associated with the predetermined events detected in the electronic control units;
• and
• wherein the prioritized displayable messages overriding the default screen are organized into levels of importance such that displayable messages from a more important level override alerts from a less important level, a more important level indicates a more serious condition of the vehicle, arbitration resolves conflicts among messages overriding the default screen according to the levels of the messages, and each level is associated with a different visual display protocol and a different corresponding auditory message.

An integrated audio-visual message system for a vehicle comprising:

• two or more electronic control units;
• an instrumentation control unit in communication with the two or more electronic control units, the instrumentation control unit including a visual display for displaying alphanumeric alerts and an audio transducer for generating auditory alerts;
• wherein the instrumentation control unit displays a default screen and selectively overrides the default screen with prioritized alphanumeric alerts in response to predetermined events detected in the electronic control units;
• wherein the displayable alphanumeric alerts indicate vehicle operating conditions requiring action, provide information relating to the vehicle operating conditions without user intervention, and are associated with the predetermined events detected in the electronic control units;
• and
• wherein the prioritized alphanumeric alerts overriding the default screen are organized into levels of importance such that alphanumeric alerts from a more important level override alerts from a less important level, when more than one prioritized alphanumeric alert is activated to override the default screen, conflicts are resolved based on the priorities of the prioritized alphanumeric alerts, a more important level indicates a more serious condition of the vehicle, and each level is associated with a different visual display protocol and a different corresponding auditory alert.

A method for presenting messages on a display unit in a vehicle, the method comprising:

• displaying a default message on the display unit;
• responsive to detecting vehicle operating conditions, activating at least two out of a plurality of overriding messages indicating different detected vehicle operating conditions, wherein the overriding messages are prioritized in a multi-level priority scheme;
• and
• when a plurality of overriding messages have been activated, resolving conflicts between the overriding messages via the priority levels of the overriding messages to display only the overriding message with the highest priority level.