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US 8,948,924 B2Granted
Apparatus and method for deciding travel condition of vehicle
AssigneeThinkware Systems Corporation
InventorsKwon Soo Lee, Yong Kwan Park
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and method of determining a driving state of a moving object using a gravity value sensor and a speed measurement device is provided. Specifically, disclosed is an apparatus and method that can determine whether a moving object is in a level driving state or in an inclining/declining-slope driving state using a Y-axis measurement value of an acceleration sensor and a speed of a speed measurement unit.
Claims8
A navigation system for determining a driving state of a moving object, the navigation system comprising:
- a gravity value sensor to sense a value of gravity acting on the moving object;
- wherein the gravity value sensor comprises an acceleration sensor, and the acceleration sensor periodically senses a Y-axis measurement value that is obtained by matching a sensor axis of the acceleration sensor with a travel direction of the moving object;
- a speed measurement unit to measure a speed of the moving object;
- and
- a driving state decision unit to determine whether the moving object is in a level driving state or in an inclining/declining-slope driving state, based on the gravity value;
- wherein the driving state decision unit comprises:
- a speed change amount or rate decision unit to calculate a speed change amount or rate that the measured speed is changed for a predetermined reference time;
- a Y-axis value change amount or rate decision unit to calculate a Y-axis value change amount or rate that the sensed Y-axis measurement value is changed for a time corresponding to the predetermined reference time;
- and
- a driving state decision unit to determine whether the moving object is in the level driving state, or in the inclining/declining-slope driving state, based on the speed change amount or rate and the Y-axis value change amount;
- wherein when an increase of the Y-axis measurement value is greater than a predetermined reference value and the speed change amount is within a reference range, the driving state decision unit determines that the moving object is in the inclining-slope driving state;
- wherein when a decrease of the Y-axis measurement value is greater than the predetermined reference value and the speed change amount is within the reference range, the driving state decision unit determines that the moving object is in the declining-slope driving state;
- wherein when the increase of the Y-axis measurement value is greater than the predetermined reference value and the speed change is a decrease and the speed change amount is outside the reference range, the driving state decision unit determines that the moving object is in the inclining-slope driving state;
- and
- wherein when the decrease of the Y-axis measurement value is greater than the predetermined reference value and the speed change is an increase and the speed change amount is outside the reference range, the driving state decision unit determines that the moving object is in the declining-slope driving state.
12 more elements
A method of determining by a navigation system a driving state of a moving object, the method comprising:
- reading an output value of an acceleration sensor that senses a value of gravity acting on the moving object;
- wherein the reading of the output value periodically reads an output value of Y-axis corresponding to an acceleration sensor axis matching a travel direction of the moving object;
- reading a speed of the moving object from a speed measurement unit;
- and
- determining by the navigation system whether the moving object is in a level driving state or in an inclining/declining-slope driving state based on a Y-axis value change amount of the output value and a speed change amount or rate that the measured speed is changed for a predetermined reference time;
- wherein the determining by the navigation system comprises:
- calculating the Y-axis value change amount for a predetermined reference time by subtracting a Y-axis measurement value taken at time t0 from a Y-axis measurement value taken at time t1 corresponding to the predetermined reference time, and calculating the speed change amount for a time corresponding to the predetermined reference time;
- wherein when an increase of the Y-axis measurement value is greater than a predetermined reference value and the speed change amount is within a reference range, the determining determines that the moving object is in the inclining-slope driving state;
- wherein when a decrease of the Y-axis measurement value is greater than the predetermined reference value and the speed change amount is within the reference range, the determining determines that the moving object is in the declining-slope driving state;
- wherein when the increase of the Y-axis measurement value is greater than the predetermined reference value and the speed change is a decrease and the speed change amount is outside the reference range, the determining determines that the moving object is in the inclining-slope driving state;
- and
- wherein when the decrease of the Y-axis measurement value is greater than the predetermined reference value and the speed change is an increase and the speed change amount is outside the reference range, the determining determines that the moving object is in the declining-slope driving state.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.