Rotating Vehicle Seat Control for Cabin Component Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
As vehicle systems become more advanced, the increasing number and complexity of vehicle components pose a challenge for the instrument panel to support all components, leading to components being mounted at various positions throughout the vehicle cabin, making it difficult for occupants to access them while seated.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses a computer with a processor and memory to identify vehicle components based on an occupant's gaze direction, determining the direction of the seat relative to the vehicle's forward-facing direction and the direction to the component, and then rotating the seat to align with the component, aided by audio and visual cues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the number and complexity of vehicle components increases, then vehicle systems become more advanced and functional, but the instrument panel cannot support all components and they must be mounted at various positions throughout the vehicle cabin, making it difficult for occupants to access them
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the seat rotatable rather than fixed. The seat can dynamically change its orientation to face different vehicle components throughout the cabin, allowing occupants to easily access components mounted at various positions. The rotation mechanism enables the seat to adapt its position based on which component the occupant needs to interact with, resolving the accessibility issue without limiting component placement flexibility.
2Volume of moving object
If components are mounted at various positions throughout the vehicle cabin to accommodate increasing component numbers, then packaging constraints are reduced, but occupants cannot easily access all components while seated
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable seat provides dynamic positioning capability that allows occupants to reach components distributed throughout the cabin volume. Instead of constraining component locations to a fixed instrument panel area, the system allows components to be placed optimally throughout the available cabin space, then enables access through seat rotation rather than requiring all components to be within a fixed reach zone.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs sensors to detect which component the occupant is looking at or reaching for, and automatically determines the appropriate seat rotation angle to bring that component within the occupant's access range. This self-service capability eliminates the need for manual seat adjustment while maintaining accessibility to distributed components.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle component is identified based on a gaze direction of an occupant in a vehicle seat. A first direction of the vehicle seat is determined relative to a forward-facing direction of a vehicle. A second direction is determined from the vehicle seat to the vehicle component. Then, the vehicle seat is rotated based on an angle between the first direction and the second direction.