Predictive vehicle operating assistance
View Patent ↗Described herein are various systems and processes for predictive operating assistance of vehicles. The systems and techniques described herein may be applicable to vehicles such as vehicles operated by a driver, semi-autonomous vehicles, and/or autonomous vehicles. The assistance techniques described herein may be predictive. That is, the techniques allow for the prediction of non-optimal or dangerous operating conditions before the vehicle control is compromised. Accordingly, a warning may be provided and/or operation of the vehicle may be changed based on the predictive assistance determinations. In certain embodiments, the techniques described herein may provide warnings to a driver, may detect faults within the vehicle, may aid in route planning, may detect obstacles proximate to the vehicle, and/or may aid in the operation of the vehicle.
1 . A delivery truck comprising:
a body;
an interior disposed within the body and comprising a user interface;
a wheel assembly;
a speed sensor, configured to sense a rotational speed of the wheel assembly and provide speed sensor data based on the rotational speed;
a tire pressure sensor, configured to sense a tire pressure of the wheel assembly and provide tire pressure data;
a first sensor, configured to determine that a road surface is wet and provide weather data;
a multi-mode external camera, configured to selectively operate within one of at least a visual mode and an infrared mode;
a temperature sensor, configured to provide temperature data; and
a controller, communicatively coupled to the speed sensor, the first sensor, the tire pressure sensor, the multi-mode external camera, the temperature sensor, and the interior, wherein the controller is configured to:
receive the weather data;
determine that the delivery truck is traveling on a wet surface from the weather data;
receive the speed sensor data;
determine a ground speed of the delivery truck from the speed sensor data;
receive the tire pressure data;
determine the tire pressure of the wheel assembly from the tire pressure data;
determine a hydroplaning speed based on the tire pressure of the wheel assembly determined from the tire pressure data;
determine that the ground speed is greater than the hydroplaning speed;
output, based on the determining that the ground speed is greater than the hydroplaning speed, a hydroplane warning with the user interface;
receive the temperature data;
determine, based on the temperature data, that an outside temperature indicates an increased risk of possible ice;
set, based on the determining the increased risk of possible ice, the multi-mode camera to the infrared mode; and
determine planned routes and maintenance condition of the delivery truck.
2 . The delivery truck of claim 1 , wherein the hydroplaning speed, in miles per hour, is determined by multiplying a square root of the tire pressure, in pounds per square inch, by a first factor.
3 . The delivery truck of claim 2 , wherein the first factor is a pre-determined factor.
4 . The delivery truck of claim 2 , wherein the first factor has a value of nine.
5 . The delivery truck of claim 1 , wherein the delivery truck is an autonomous delivery truck and the controller is further configured to:
reduce, based on the determining that the ground speed is greater than the hydroplaning speed, the ground speed of the delivery truck.
6 . The delivery truck of claim 1 , wherein the delivery truck further comprises:
a global positioning system (GPS) sensor configured to output GPS data, wherein the controller is further configured to:
receive the GPS data;
determine, based on the GPS data, a GPS speed of the delivery truck;
compare the GPS speed to the ground speed;
determine, based on the comparing the GPS speed to the ground speed, a wear amount of a tire of the wheel assembly;
determine that the wear amount is greater than a threshold amount; and
output, based on the determining that the wear amount is greater than the threshold amount, a tire wear warning with the user interface.
7 . The delivery truck of claim 6 , wherein the determining that the wear amount is greater than the threshold amount comprises determining that the GPS speed is higher than the ground speed by a threshold amount.
8 . The delivery truck of claim 6 , wherein the hydroplaning speed is adjusted based on the wear amount.
9 . The delivery truck of claim 6 , wherein the ground speed is determined based further on the tire pressure data.
10 . The delivery truck of claim 1 , wherein the delivery truck further comprises:
a communications module configured to receive communications data from a third party.
11 . The delivery truck of claim 10 , wherein the determining that the delivery truck is traveling on the wet surface is further based on the communications data.
12 . The delivery truck of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
provide, via the communications module, planned routes and maintenance condition of the delivery truck to a server system such that data associated with the planned routes and maintenance condition of the delivery truck are accessible by an application.
13 . The delivery truck of claim 12 , wherein the application is configured to communicate with the controller through wireless data.
14 . A non-transitory machine readable medium, the non-transitory machine readable medium configured to cause a delivery truck controller to perform operations comprising:
receiving weather data from a first sensor;
determining that a delivery truck is traveling on a wet surface from the weather data;
receiving speed sensor data from a speed sensor of the delivery truck;
determining a ground speed of the delivery truck from the speed sensor data;
receiving tire pressure data tire pressure sensor of a wheel assembly of the delivery truck;
determining the tire pressure of the wheel assembly from the tire pressure data;
determining a hydroplaning speed based on the tire pressure of the wheel assembly determined from the tire pressure data;
determining that the ground speed is greater than the hydroplaning speed;
outputting, based on the determining that the ground speed is greater than the hydroplaning speed, a hydroplane warning with a user interface of the delivery truck;
receiving temperature data from a temperature sensor;
determining, based on the temperature data, that an outside temperature indicates an increased risk of possible ice;
set, based on the determining the increased risk of possible ice, a multi-mode camera, configured to selectively operate within one of at least a visual mode and an infrared mode, to the infrared mode; and
providing planned routes and maintenance condition of the delivery truck.
15 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the delivery truck is an autonomous delivery truck.
16 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the hydroplaning speed, in miles per hour, is determined by multiplying a square root of the tire pressure, in pounds per square inch, by a first factor.
17 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the first factor is a pre-determined factor.
18 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the first factor has a value of nine.
19 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 18 , the non-transitory machine readable medium further configured to cause the delivery truck controller to perform operations comprising:
determining that a wear amount is greater than the threshold amount by determining that a GPS speed of the delivery truck is higher than the ground speed by a threshold amount.
20 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the determining that the delivery truck is traveling on the wet surface is further based on the communications data.