Granted Patent B2

US 8,200,397 · App. 12/174,146 · Granted Jun 12, 2012

Abstract

Claims (43)

1. Method for automatically adjusting mirror position on a motor vehicle, comprising:

controlling a side mirror position based upon a preferred position through a plurality of iterations, each iteration comprising:

monitoring an interior rearview mirror position;

determining an eye position of a vehicle operator based upon said interior rearview mirror position and geometric relationships with respect to said vehicle;

calculating said preferred position for said side mirror based upon said eye position; and

controlling said side mirror position to said preferred position;

for each of said iterations, monitoring operator input to an override function allowing said vehicle operator to override said control of said side mirror from said preferred position to an override position;

analyzing said operator inputs for said plurality of iterations to correct said preferred position based upon said iterative operation; and

controlling said side mirror position based upon said corrected preferred position.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing said operator inputs for said plurality of iterations comprises utilizing a machine learning algorithm.

3. Method for automatically adjusting mirror position on a motor vehicle, comprising

monitoring an interior rearview mirror position;

determining an eye position of a vehicle operator based upon said interior rearview mirror position and geometric relationships with respect to said vehicle;

calculating a preferred position for a side mirror based upon said eye position; and

controlling said side mirror position to said preferred position;

wherein said controlling further comprises an override function allowing said vehicle operator to override said control of said side mirror position to an override position;

wherein said calculating said preferred position comprises machine learning algorithms including learning operator preferences through iterative operation of said override function and biasing said preferred position to said override position; and

wherein said calculating said preferred position further comprises a training function to diminish said biasing over multiple vehicle operation cycles.

4. Method for automatically adjusting mirror position on a motor vehicle, comprising

monitoring an interior rearview mirror position;

determining an eye position of a vehicle operator based upon said interior rearview mirror position and geometric relationships with respect to said vehicle;

calculating a preferred position for a side mirror based upon said eye position; and

controlling said side mirror position to said preferred position;

wherein said controlling further comprises an override function allowing said vehicle operator to override said control of said side mirror position to an override position; and

wherein said override function is effective only when said vehicle is operating below a predetermined speed.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising pre-adjusting said side mirror based upon at least one of seat settings, operator weight, particular key fob presence, operator identification, or biometric identification.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising pre-adjusting said interior rearview mirror based upon at least one of seat settings, operator weight, particular key fob presence, operator identification, or biometric identification.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

monitoring vehicle operating conditions; and

controlling said side mirror position to an outboard position when said monitored vehicle operating conditions indicate an incipient high speed lane change.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising utilizing said eye position to adjust position properties of at least one of gauges, visual displays, and control mechanisms within said vehicle.

9. Apparatus for automatically adjusting a mirror on a motor vehicle to produce a pre-selected field of vision to a vehicle operator based upon a manual adjustment of an interior rearview mirror, said apparatus comprising:

an internal rearview mirror adjustment sensor;

a side mirror actuation assembly;

a processing module

receiving input from said sensor and comprising logic to estimate an eye position for said vehicle operator and logic to calculate side mirror adjustment angles for said side mirror actuation assembly based upon said eye position;

receiving operator input to an override function allowing said vehicle operator to override said control of said side mirror position to an override position;

determining commanded mirror angles based upon said override position when said vehicle is operating below a predetermined speed; and

determining commanded mirror angles based upon said calculated side mirror adjustment angles when said vehicle is operating above said predetermined speed; and

a side mirror command module effecting signals to control said side mirror actuation assembly based upon said commanded mirror angles.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein said processing module and said side mirror command module are operated within a single device.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising a second side mirror actuation assembly; and

wherein said processing module further comprises logic to calculate side mirror adjustment angles for said second side mirror actuation assembly based upon said eye position.

Assignments (12)