305 results about "Motor Vehicle Operators" patented technology

Described herein are a system and method of training a motor vehicle operator in crash-avoidance skills. Critical crash-avoidance skills comprise actively scanning a driving environment to identify, recognize, and remember what is seen; adjusting vehicle speed and position to accommodate road conditions, visibility, and traffic; proactively identifying and responding to potential hazards before the potential hazards become immediate hazards; recognizing, assessing, and responding to driving risks; creating a space cushion in order to identify and maintain possible escape routes; and identifying and minimizing visual, manual, and cognitive distractions. Training comprises at least one interactive driving simulation in which use of technology by a motor vehicle operator impacts performance of the motor vehicle operator. The training comprises computer-based learning tutorials, interactive point-of-view driving simulations, and conjoint experienced driver mentor / inexperienced trainee activities, as well as objective testing of motor vehicle operators on skills and driving knowledge.

The invention relates to a method for authenticating a driver (2) in a motor vehicle (1) by means of a recognition device (10) disposed in the motor vehicle (1) for collecting actual data (50) of the driver (2) which are transmitted during the authentication to a checking device (20) disposed in an external station (3) outside the motor vehicle (1), wherein the checking device (20) compares the actual data (50) with the target data (60) and in the event of conformity of the actual data (50) with the target data (60) an enabling signal (70) is sent from the external station (3) to the motor vehicle (1), thus enabling the driver (2) to start the motor vehicle (1).

A method controls the speed of a motor vehicle in accordance with risk. Each risk element of a road segment is evaluated for the specific risk potential thereof by taking into consideration the perils and the actual speed of the driver of the motor vehicle. An integral risk potential is calculated for the road segment on the basis of the sum of the specific risk potentials of all detected risk elements. A system is provided to carry out the method of the invention.

A personal traffic congestion avoidance system for drivers of motor vehicles traveling on roadways in motor vehicles with GPS-based navigational systems. The system includes a GPS-based navigational system that includes a GPS receiver connected to a visual display, a map database and a wireless communication device for communicating with a remote computer over a wireless communication network. The GPS-based navigation system continuously determines the motor vehicle exact physical location in a region that is intermittently or continuously uploaded to a remote computer via the wireless communication network. The remote computer is connected to a traffic monitoring database or service that provides current traffic affecting events in the region thereto. When a traffic affecting event is located in the designated vicinity of the current location of the motor vehicle, on the current roadway used by the motor vehicle, or on a roadway that may affect the traffic on the current roadway, an alert warning is generated and delivered to the GPS-based navigational system and displayed on the visual display. The driver may ignore the warning or take an alternative route to avoid the traffic congestion.

Methods and apparatus for storing, accessing, generating and using information about speed limits and speed traps are described. The system includes a positional sensor such as a GPS device. Position information is used to access a database of speed limit and / or speed trap information. The database may be local or remote. Access to a remote database may be achieved using a wireless communications device such as a wireless (cellular) modem. Encountered speed traps are logged in response to the activation of a speed trap alert button by a user of the device or the output of a radar / laser detector. Speed trap position, date and time information is transmitted to the remote database system. Speed limit information is used to control the speed of the automobile as part of a cruise control operation and / or is used to provide the motor vehicle operator with warnings, e.g., that the applicable speed limit is being exceeded. Speed trap information which is retrieved using positional information provided by the GPS device is used to warn the user of the device of speed traps in the user's vicinity as the user approaches the location of the known speed trap.

A personal traffic congestion avoidance system for drivers of motor vehicles traveling on roadways in motor vehicles with GPS-based navigational systems. The system includes a GPS-based navigational system that includes a GPS receiver connected to a visual display, a map database and a wireless communication device for communicating with a remote computer over a wireless communication network. The GPS-based navigation system continuously determines the motor vehicle's exact physical location in a region that is intermittently or continuously uploaded to a remote computer via the wireless communication network. The remote computer is connected to a traffic monitoring database or service that provides current traffic affecting events in the region thereto. When a traffic affecting event is located in the designated vicinity of the current location of the motor vehicle, or on the current roadway used by the motor vehicle or on a roadway that may affect the traffic on the current roadway, an alert warning is generated and delivered to the GPS-based navigational system and displayed on the visual display. The driver may ignore the warning or take an alternative route to avoid the traffic congestion.

These gloves are capable of preventing motor vehicle operators from falling asleep at the wheel, a dangerous condition that happens to frequently. With strategically placed pressure sensors in the lining of the glove, a driver's grasp force on the steering wheel is monitored and an alarm system activated when pressure readings fall outside of accepted range. Communication between left glove and right gloves allows for control of the steering wheel with either hand.

Adaptive glasses for drivers or passengers of a motor vehicle, the glasses comprising lenses having a screen whose coefficient of transmission is variable between a maximum value (CTMAX) and a minimum value (CTmin). According to one embodiment of the invention, the coefficient of transmission (CT) of the glasses lenses (28) is controlled according to a wireless communication protocol.

The invention relates to an intelligent training system for a vehicle driver based on an actual vehicle. The intelligent training system comprises a vehicle-mounted intelligent training subsystem, a data processing subsystem, an operation management and control subsystem and a system-level data communication subsystem, wherein the vehicle-mounted intelligent training subsystem is mounted on the actual vehicle and is used for training interactive driving of the driver and acquiring and reporting data of a driver training process; the data processing subsystem manages basic information and is used for receiving, storing and processing the data of the training process acquired and reported by the vehicle-mounted intelligent training subsystem; the operation management and control subsystem monitors an operated state and a running state of the vehicle in real time and remotely controls the monitored vehicle according to actual conditions; the vehicle-mounted intelligent training subsystem is connected with the data processing subsystem and the operation management and control subsystem through the system-level data communication subsystem and realizes bidirectional information interaction.

A driver assistance system includes a sensor that detects objects and / or characteristics of objects in the surroundings of a motor vehicle, and an object recognition unit that evaluates data from the sensor to produce object information, and determines a confidence value indicating the probability of accuracy thereof. If the confidence value is greater than a minimum threshold but less than a predefined threshold, then the system displays the object information to the driver, who confirms or rejects it, e.g. by actuating or not actuating an operating element. Upon confirmation by the driver, the system begins or continues to perform a driver assistance function based on the object information. Upon rejection by the driver, the system does not perform or discontinues the driver assistance function based on the object information. If the confidence value exceeds the predefined threshold, then the system autonomously performs the driver assistance function.

The invention describes a visual driver information and warning system for a driver of a motor vehicle, which driver information and warning system comprises an information display device, at least one data detection means for information relating to the surrounding area and at least one data interchange device for information relating of he surrounding area, wherein a two-dimensional projection of at least one three-dimensional model of an actually existing, stationary or moving object which cannot be seen by the driver is displayed to the driver.

Specifically programmed, integrated motor vehicle dangerous driving warning and control system and methods comprising at least one specialized communication computer machine including electronic artificial intelligence expert system decision making capability further comprising one or more motor vehicle electronic sensors for monitoring the motor vehicle and for monitoring activities of the driver and / or passengers including activities related to the use of cellular telephones and / or other wireless communication devices and further comprising electronic communications transceiver assemblies for communications with external sensor networks for monitoring dangerous driving situations, weather conditions, roadway conditions, pedestrian congestion and motor vehicle traffic congestion conditions to derive warning and / or control signals for warning the driver of dangerous driving situations and / or for controlling the motor vehicle driver use of said cellular telephone and / or other wireless communication devices.

A siren sensor for detecting siren sounds emitted from emergency vehicles and electronic processing circuits for detecting and identifying the siren sounds electronically to control the traffic signal lights at an intersection to permit only the emergency vehicle to travel through an intersection with the right of way. The method and apparatus utilizes an acoustic horn in combination with a microphone for receiving the siren sounds and converting them to corresponding electrical signals. A conventional horn is modified to function as an acoustic lens to filter and amplify the siren sounds applied to the microphone. The modified acoustic horn and microphone combination comprise a tuned and directional audio sensor sensitive in the frequency range of an emergency vehicle siren. The electronic signal processing circuitry amplifies the resulting microphone signals to obtain the maximum sensitivity to the frequency spectrum of siren sounds. Detectors tuned to a harmonic of the siren signals is utilized for eliminating extraneous sounds along with unique filtering to band pass only sounds in siren frequency spectrum to a phase locked loop detector. The validity of the detected signal is verified by tracking a portion of the siren signal in pre-selected increment under time constraints to lock up and unlock the detector to verify a valid siren sound signal has been detected and provides a valid output signal for use in controlling a conventional traffic light sequencing control or to warn a motorist of an approaching emergency vehicle.

The invention relates to a vehicle control technology, in particular to a method and a device to utilize the data of the life activity characteristics of a driver to carry out the monitoring of the state of the driver. The invention aims at overcoming the shortcomings of the prior art that the detection of the monitoring method of the driver is not convenient, the using scope is limited and the monitoring is inadequate, so as to disclose the vehicle driver state monitoring method and the system, further to carry out the identification and monitoring on the driver. The invention carries out the comprehensive processing of various data by collecting the data of the life activity characteristics of the driver, in particular to heart rate, head movement distance and the standard deviation of the changes, and finally accurate judgment is made. The invention can be used for the monitoring of fatigue driving of the driver, driving by another person on behalf of the driver, vehicle anti-theft and so on. The invention is characterized by accurate judgment and convenient usage.

The invention relates to a method for informing a motor vehicle driver of a driving maneuver planned by a driver assistance system of a motor vehicle and carried out by the motor vehicle, the driver assistance system for a motor vehicle that utilizes the method, and a motor vehicle with the driver's assistance system are provided. The method includes detecting current environmental data of the environment lying ahead of the motor vehicle by a detection means, planning and carrying out the driving maneuver on the basis of the environmental data, and reproducing the driving maneuver and at least a portion of the detected environmental data in an image on a display.

A programmable device that interfaces with a motor vehicle. The device is programmed to identify the operator who is gaining access to the motor vehicle. The device is further programmed to associate a maximum allowable speed with each person allowed to operate the motor vehicle. The device incorporates an access and operation means together with a computer that is compatible with the motor vehicle on board computer. The computer includes in it's output a signal that controls the maximum allowable speed that the on board computer will permit the motor vehicle to operate at for the identified operator.

A system for monitoring operator behavior, motor vehicle behavior, geography and environment, including at least one mobile device and / or at least one personal monitoring system; application software resident on the mobile device for gathering, recording, characterizing, comparing, classifying and communicating information relevant to the motor vehicle operator, the motor vehicle, the geography, and / or the environment, wherein the information is recorded and processed when the operator is operating the motor vehicle and / or not operating the motor vehicle, and wherein the application software is activated or deactivated based on certain predetermined trigger events; at least one central control system in communication with the mobile device and / or the personal monitoring device, wherein the central control system further augments, processes and classifies the information gathered by the application software and communicates the processed and characterized information to a user of the system; at least one algorithm that groups information relevant to the operator, the motor vehicle, the geography, and / or the environment based on quantitative patterns, relationships and interrelationships, wherein the algorithm classifies and provides ranking to the vehicle operator, the motor vehicle, the geography, and / or the environment.

The present invention provides a method and means for activating, controlling, and managing the display of decals, stickers, labels, placards, automatic toll paying devices, or similar items through the use of actuating decal plates that may be programmed to be exposed dependent on a motor vehicle's operating status, at the discretion of the motor vehicle operator, or based upon the reception of external or internal activating signals such as location based devises (ie: GPS, cellular, or radio tranmissions). The motor vehicle decal display system will comprise single or multiple decal display plates, decal display plate housing(s), and button(s), switch(es) or other means of manual or sensate activation, whereby decals may be displayed depending on the nature of the vehicles operation, the commands of the operator, or other stimuli.

Proposed is a OEM-linked, telematics-based system and platform (1) for score-driven operations associated with motor vehicles (41, . . . , 45) or transportation means of passengers or goods and based on a dynamic, telematics-based data aggregation, and method thereof. The telematics-based system (1) comprises vehicle embedded telematics devices (OEM line fitted) (411, . . . , 415) associated with the plurality of motor vehicles (41, . . . , 45), wherein the vehicle embedded telematics devices (OEM line fitted) (411, . . . , 415) comprise a wireless connection (42101-42108) to a central, expert-system based circuit (11). The telematics devices (411, . . . , 415) are connected via interfaces (421, . . . , 425) to the sensors and / or measuring devices (401, . . . , 405) and / or an on-board diagnostic system (431, . . . , 435) and / or an in-car interactive device (441, . . . , 445), wherein the telematics devices (411, . . . , 415) capture usage-based (31) and / or user-based (32) and / or operational (33) telematics data (3) of the motor vehicle (41, . . . , 45) and / or user (321, 322, 323). In response to an emitted shadow request (109) of a central, expert-system based circuit (10) of system (1) associated with a second risk-transfer system, individualized risk-transfer profiles (114) based upon the dynamically generated variable scoring parameters (1011, . . . , 1013) are transmitted from a first risk-transfer systems (11) to the corresponding motor vehicle (41, . . . , 45) and issued by means of a dashboard (461, . . . , 465) of the motor vehicle (41, . . . , 45) for selection by the driver of the motor vehicles (41, . . . , 45). In return of issuing an individualized risk-transfer profile (114) over said dashboard (461, . . . , 465), payment-transfer parameters are transmitted from the first risk-transfer system (11) to the OEM of the OEM-linked, telematics-based system and platform (1).

The invention discloses an intersection temporary traffic signal lamp and a red-light running snapshot device. The intersection temporary traffic signal lamp and the red-light running snapshot device are arranged at an intersection where power supply is insufficient or a traffic signal lamp is going to be built or a temporary failure of a traffic signal lamp exists and are used for supervising and urging drivers of automobiles to consciously obey the traffic rules. The red-light running snapshot device is characterized by being composed of a base, a supporting rod, a light supplementing device, high-definition cameras, a signal lamp box, a connection rod and a solar cell panel. A control box is fixed in the base, and a storage battery, a storage medium, a control unit, a red-light running behavior evidence obtaining unit are arranged in the control box. When the control unit controls two traffic signal lamps in a certain direction to be displayed to be red lamps, the control unit controls the two high-definition cameras in the direction to shoot the video in a monitoring area at the same time, and shooting is stopped till displaying of the red lamps is over. The red-light running behavior evidence obtaining unit processes the video, analyzes and detects moving vehicles, extracts the moving tracks of the vehicles and judges whether regulation violation behavior exists or not according to the tracks, and if yes, regulation violation evidence obtaining information is formed and stored into the storage medium.

The present invention provides a method and means for activating and controlling the display of decals, stickers, labels, placards, automatic toll paying devices, or similar items through the use of actuating decal plates that may be programmed to be exposed dependent on a motor vehicle's operating status, or at the discretion of the motor vehicle operator. The motor vehicle decal display system will comprise single or multiple decal display plates, decal display plate housing(s), and button(s), switch(es) or other means of manual or sensate activation, whereby decals may be displayed depending on the nature of the vehicles operation, or the commands of the operator.

An apparatus to aid motor vehicle operators who wish to contest speeding tickets that may have been unjustly issued is disclosed. The invention comprises an electronic interface within a motor vehicle that registers and records the last speed setting of the vehicle's cruise control system. Additional data such as the date, time activated, time deactivated, and the vehicle identification number (VIN) is also recorded. In the event of a suspected speeding violation, the driver would request the law enforcement officer to download this information into a hand held display device carried by the law enforcement officer. The hand held display device would print out two copies of the above information, one for the officer and one for the driver. In the event of a dispute, where the driver wishes to contest the speeding ticket, the print out would be admissible in court as evidence against speeding.

The head pose of a motor vehicle driver with respect to a vehicle frame of reference is assessed with a relative motion sensor positioned rearward of the driver's head, such as in or on the headrest of the driver's seat. The relative motion sensor detects changes in the position of the driver's head, and the detected changes are used to determine the driver's head pose, and specifically, whether the head pose is forward-looking (i.e., with the driver paying attention to the forward field-of-view) or non-forward-looking. The determined head pose is assumed to be initially forward-looking, and is thereafter biased toward forward-looking whenever driver behavior characteristic of a forward-looking head pose is recognized.

The invention discloses an automobile driver examination evaluation and judgment system and evaluation and judgment method. The system comprises a processor and a memory, a sensor group, a camera group, a radar detector and an automobile positioning component which are electrically connected with the processor. The memory stores the automobile driving examination system data. The sensor group is used for detecting the working state of each operation part in real time. The camera group acquires the external environmental data of the automobile front shield and the relevant data of the automobile driving seat examinee. The automobile positioning component performs automobile positioning. The radar detector detects the distance between the automobile and the surrounding objects. The processorreceives the real-time data acquired by the sensor group, the camera group, the radar detector and the automobile positioning component to perform comparative analysis so as to evaluate and score thedriving examination of the examinee. Automatic evaluation and scoring of each examination item in the automobile driver examination can be realized without manual participation of the supervisor so that the unfair phenomenon can be avoided.

In a method for course prediction in driver assistance systems for motor vehicles, a dynamic course hypothesis is created on the basis of vehicle-dynamics data of the vehicle, which method includes the following steps:creating an infrastructure course hypothesis on the basis of data from at least one information source that describe the traffic infrastructure;calculating, on the basis of features of the information source, a weighting factor that describes the reliability of the infrastructure course hypothesis; andfusing the infrastructure course hypothesis with the dynamic course hypothesis, with weighting in accordance with the calculated weighting factor, to produce a definitive course hypothesis.

A device and a method for notifying the driver of a motor vehicle, equipped with an adaptive distance and speed controller, by activating a takeover prompt, informing the driver that the vehicle is coming critically close to a target object. The takeover prompt is activated and deactivated as a function of a fixed minimum distance between the distance- and speed-controlled vehicle and the target object and / or a relative speed-dependent minimum distance between the distance- and speed-controlled vehicle and a target object and / or a maximum vehicle deceleration producible by the distance and speed controller.

A driver assistance system for motor vehicles, having a velocity regulation function for regulating the velocity of the subject vehicle to a nominal velocity, and having an adjacent-lane monitoring function, characterized by a turning assistance function which, when the velocity regulation function is active and an incoming signal indicates an imminent turning process that requires crossing an adjacent lane, monitors the traffic in the adjacent lane with the aid of the adjacent-lane monitoring function, and, as a function of locations and velocities of traffic participants in the adjacent lane, determines a spatial and temporal window for moving into the adjacent lane and adapts the nominal velocity to this window.