Cooperative Occupant Sensing via Mobile Device Pairing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Vehicles struggle to distinguish between multiple drivers and store accurate driver profiles, leading to suboptimal customization of settings, and occupant information privacy concerns when stored locally, preventing seamless transfer across vehicles.

Innovation Solution

A vehicle system that pairs with a mobile device to receive and update occupant information, using a communication interface and processing device to customize settings based on occupant data, while ensuring privacy through remote storage and deletion after use.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If occupant information is stored locally in vehicle memory, then the vehicle can access and use the information to update settings, but privacy concerns arise and the information cannot be transferred to other vehicles

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvevehicle settings customizationVSAvoidprivacy concerns

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

A mobile device acts as an intermediary between the occupant and the vehicle system. The mobile device stores occupant information remotely and transmits it to the vehicle when needed, eliminating the need for the vehicle to store sensitive data locally while still enabling personalized settings customization.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Device complexity

If a single driver profile is developed using multiple drivers' habits, then the vehicle can operate with one profile, but the profile becomes inaccurate for individual drivers

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprofile management simplicityVSAvoiddriving habits accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments driver profiles by associating each mobile device with a specific driver profile. Instead of creating one composite profile for multiple drivers, the system maintains separate profiles for each driver, allowing accurate tracking of individual driving habits while keeping the system simple through automatic device-based identification.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

3Object-affected harmful factors

If occupant information is stored remotely on a mobile device, then privacy is protected and information can be transferred across vehicles, but the vehicle cannot directly access and use the information

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprivacy protectionVSAvoidinformation access便利性

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by having the mobile device prepare and transmit the data file containing occupant information to the vehicle before the vehicle needs to use it. The communication interface in the vehicle is pre-configured to receive and process this information, enabling seamless access without compromising privacy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS9509775B2Cooperative occupant sensing

Publication Date: 2016.11.29 FORD GLOBAL TECH LLC

AI summary

A vehicle system includes a communication interface and a processing device. The communication interface is programmed to pair with at least one mobile device. The processing device is programmed to receive a data file, which includes occupant information, sent from the mobile device. The processing device is further programmed to update at least one vehicle setting based on the occupant information.