Autonomous vehicle mode alert system for bystanders
View Patent ↗An alert may be triggered to notify a pedestrian of the current operational mode of a nearby vehicle. For instance, a vehicle may operate in an autonomous or manual mode, and may occasionally switch from one mode to the other. A pedestrian who may be unaware of the current operational mode of a nearby vehicle may notice the alert and proceed accordingly. In one embodiment, an indication of the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle may be transmitted to an electronic device associated with the pedestrian. The device may generate a notification to the pedestrian based on the current operational mode. In an additional or alternative embodiment, the alert may be transmitted by the vehicle externally to be visible or audible to the pedestrian. In some embodiments, the alert may be triggered only for particular operational modes (e.g., only for autonomous or only for manual).
1. An electronic device configured to alert pedestrians of operational modes of nearby vehicles, comprising:
a user interface;
a transceiver configured to communicate data via at least one network connection;
a memory configured to store non-transitory computer executable instructions; and
a processor configured to interface with the user interface, the transceiver and the memory, and configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the processor to:
receive an indication of a current operational mode transmitted by a nearby vehicle having one or more autonomous features, wherein the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle is one of autonomous or manual; and
trigger an alert based, at least in part, on whether the current operational mode is autonomous or manual, and one or more current external conditions, including a time of day, a weather condition, a traffic condition, or a road condition, the alert configured to notify a pedestrian of a risk associated with the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle when combined with the one or more current external conditions.
2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the triggered alert is one or more of a sound, vibration, light, or display of the electronic device.
3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the computer executable instructions further cause the processor to:
cease the triggered alert upon receiving an indication of a dismissal of the triggered alert by the pedestrian.
4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the computer executable instructions further cause the processor to cease the triggered alert when a proximity of the nearby vehicle is greater than a minimum vehicle proximity.
5. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the computer executable instructions causing the processor to cease the triggered alert when the proximity of the nearby vehicle is greater than the minimum vehicle proximity cause the processor to:
receive the current location of the nearby vehicle;
determine the current location of the electronic device;
determine, based on the current location of the nearby vehicle and the current location of the electronic device, that the proximity of the nearby vehicle to the electronic device is greater than the minimum vehicle proximity; and
cease the triggered alert in response to the determination that the proximity of the nearby vehicle to the electronic device is greater than the minimum vehicle proximity location.
6. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the indication of the current operational mode transmitted by the nearby vehicle is a short-range signal, and wherein the computer executable instructions causing the processor to cease the triggered alert when the proximity of the nearby vehicle is greater than the minimum vehicle proximity cause the processor to cease the triggered alert when the signal is no longer received by the electronic device.
7. The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the computer executable instructions further cause the processor to receive, via the user interface, an indication of a preference to trigger the alert based on the current operational mode.
8. A computer-implemented method for alerting pedestrians of operational modes of nearby vehicles, comprising:
receiving, by an electronic device associated with a pedestrian, an indication of a current operational mode transmitted by a nearby vehicle having one or more autonomous features, wherein the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle is one of autonomous or manual; and
triggering, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, an alert based, at least in part, on whether the current operational mode is autonomous or manual, and one or more current external conditions including a time of day, a weather condition, a traffic condition, or a road condition, the alert configured to notify a pedestrian of a risk associated with the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle when combined with the one or more current external conditions.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the triggered alert is one or more of a sound, vibration, light, or display of the electronic device.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising:
Ceasing, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, the triggered alert upon receiving an indication of a dismissal of the triggered alert by the pedestrian.
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising:
ceasing, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, the triggered alert when the nearby vehicle is no longer nearby.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , wherein ceasing the triggered alert when the nearby vehicle is no longer nearby comprises:
receiving, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, a location of the nearby vehicle;
determining, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, that the location of the nearby vehicle is at least a threshold distance from a location of the electronic device; and
in response to the determining, ceasing, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, the triggered alert.
13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , wherein the indication is a short-range signal, and wherein ceasing the triggered alert when the nearby vehicle is no longer nearby comprises:
ceasing, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, the triggered alert when the short-range signal is no longer received by the electronic device.
14. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising: receiving, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, an indication of a preference to trigger the alert based on the current operational mode.
15. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising:
triggering, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, a second alert when the current operational mode of the vehicle switches to the another operational mode.
16. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions for alerting pedestrians of operational modes of nearby vehicles, when executed by at least one processor of an electronic device associated with a pedestrian, cause the electronic device associated with the pedestrian to:
receive an indication of a current operational mode transmitted by a nearby vehicle having one or more autonomous features, wherein the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle is one of autonomous or manual;
determine the position of the electronic device; and
trigger an alert based, at least in part, on whether the current operational mode is autonomous or manual, and one or more current external conditions including a time of day, a weather condition, a traffic condition, or a road condition, the alert configured to notify a pedestrian of a risk associated with the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle when combined with the one or more current external conditions.
17. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions further cause the electronic device associated with the pedestrian to cease the triggered alert when the nearby vehicle is no longer nearby.
18. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions causing the electronic device associated with the pedestrian to cease the triggered alert when the nearby vehicle is no longer nearby include instructions causing the electronic device associated with the pedestrian to:
receive a location of the nearby vehicle;
determine that the location of the nearby vehicle is at least a threshold distance from a location of the electronic device; and
in response to the determining, cease the triggered alert.
19. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions causing the electronic device associated with the pedestrian to cease the triggered alert when the nearby vehicle is no longer nearby include instructions causing the electronic device associated with the pedestrian to:
cease the triggered alert when the short-range signal is no longer received by the electronic device.
20. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions further cause the electronic device associated with the pedestrian to receive an indication of a preference to trigger the alert based on the current operational mode.