Adaptive Mobile Vehicle Control via Dynamic Control Files
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Solution Overview
Problem
Different vehicles from various manufacturers require distinct commands to execute common functions, leading to compatibility issues for application developers, and users often need to download separate applications for each vehicle, especially in ridesharing scenarios, where functionality and access control can vary significantly.
Innovation Solution
A mobile device processor requests and receives a control file defining available vehicle controls, populates a mobile device interface, and configures vehicle function calls based on the vehicle's capabilities, allowing for a dynamic, adaptable interface that presents consistent controls while sending vehicle-specific commands, and enables OEMs to push updates directly to vehicles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single application is used to control multiple vehicles from different OEMs, then the application must handle numerous different function calls and vehicle responses, but this increases the complexity of maintaining compatibility across various vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a control file as an intermediary layer between the application and the vehicle. This control file contains vehicle-specific function call definitions and mappings, allowing the application to adapt to different vehicles without hardcoding multiple vehicle-specific implementations. The control file acts as a mediator that translates generic application commands into vehicle-specific instructions, resolving the contradiction between versatility and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically loads and applies control files based on the detected vehicle type. Instead of a static application structure that must accommodate all vehicles, the control file is dynamically selected and applied at runtime, allowing the application to adapt its behavior to the specific vehicle it is controlling. This dynamic approach reduces complexity by only loading the necessary vehicle-specific configurations when needed.
2Reliability
If developers provide countless different versions of applications to service various OEMs, models or vehicle lines, then compatibility is maintained, but this increases the burden on developers to constantly update and maintain multiple software versions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the vehicle-specific configuration data into separate control files, distinct from the core application code. This segmentation allows the main application to remain universal and unchanged, while only the lightweight control files need to be updated for different vehicles or vehicle updates. This dramatically reduces the maintenance burden compared to maintaining multiple full application versions.
Solution Approach 2:
The application is designed to be universal by using a standardized control file format that can accommodate multiple OEMs, models, and vehicle lines. The same application core can service diverse vehicles by simply loading different control files, eliminating the need to create and maintain countless different application versions. This universal design significantly reduces developer workload while maintaining compatibility.
3Ease of operation
If the application shows control for a function that may not be available in all vehicles, then the interface appears complete, but this results in indicated functionality not being available in vehicles that lack certain onboard functionality
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by loading and analyzing the control file before presenting the user interface. The control file contains information about which functions are available for each vehicle type. Based on this pre-loaded information, the application dynamically configures the interface to only display controls for functions that are actually available in the specific vehicle, preventing the issue of showing unavailable functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes a mobile device that requests a control file, defining a plurality of available vehicle controls. The mobile device also receives the control set file and populate a mobile device interface based on the available vehicle controls. The mobile device then receives selection of one of the vehicle controls via the mobile device interface. The mobile device then configures a vehicle function call, defined in accordance with the vehicle-control in the control file and transmits the configured vehicle function call to a vehicle.