Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Jonathan Scott

David Skipp

Jianbo Lu

Dimitar Petrov Filev

Sanghyun Hong

Smruti Panigrahi

Eric H Wingfield

Richard Gendal Brown

Will Farrelly

Arnold Babila

Yu Chen

Junheung Park

Douglas Nicoll

Nikola Ristivojevich

Daniel Gimeno Ferrer

John Lippe

Giuseppe Calo

Guiseppe Calo

Rick Chen

According to one example there is provided a method comprising selecting a first location from a set of locations and analysing, by a processor, data collected from a first vehicle located within a first distance of the first location. A first value representative of a first performance parameter of the first vehicle is generated. A second value representative of a second performance parameter of the first vehicle is generated. At least one of the first and second values is compared with a first threshold and, when one of the first and second values is greater than the first threshold, a safety alert is issued greater than (in some examples, less than).

Determining road safety

A controller for a vehicle is configured to determine a driving behaviour of a first vehicle and a second vehicle. The controller is configured to receive data relating to at least one of a flow of traffic at the given location and a geography at the given location. If the controller determines that the driving behaviour of the first vehicle and the driving behaviour of the second vehicle are similar and the controller determines that at least one of the flow of traffic at the given location departs from a normal traffic flow and the geography at the given location increases the risk of accident, then the controller is configured to issue an alert.

Crash detection in a road vehicle includes determining an impact location. Acceleration and yaw rate are measured, and occurrence of an impact is detected by comparing a total acceleration to an impact threshold. An impact angle is determined according to an arctangent of a ratio of lateral and longitudinal accelerations. A center-of-gravity to impact distance is determined according to vehicle mass, moment of inertia, acceleration, and yaw rate. When the yaw rate is less than a yaw threshold and the impact angle is within a predetermined range of an integer multiple of 90&#xb0;, then the impact location is determined in response to a projection of the impact distance selected according to signs of the accelerations. Otherwise, the impact location is determined in response to a projection of the impact distance selected according to signs of the accelerations and a sign of the yaw rate.

Use of vehicle dynamics to determine impact location

Light or moderate impacts against a vehicle are detected. Measured acceleration and yaw rate are compared to baseline thresholds in a baseline state. When the acceleration is above the threshold, a distance from an estimated impact location to a vehicle center-of-gravity is determined. When the determined distance is less than a vehicle edge distance, an impact-suspected state will be entered if at least one of the acceleration and yaw rate is above the respective threshold for a predetermined duration. In the impact-suspected state, a plurality of vehicle dynamic behaviors are monitored for confirming occurrence of the light impact. A return is made to the baseline state if the acceleration and yaw rate fail to remain above the respective threshold or if the calculated distance fails to remain less than the edge distance. The impact is detected when at least one of the behaviors confirms the occurrence.

Light impact detection for vehicle using low computation overhead

A request for a parking space is received from a requesting vehicle. Data is received from at least one data-collecting vehicle related to at least one parking space. Based at least in part on the received data, a parking availability map is generated indicating a parking space appropriate for the requesting vehicle. If the parking space is occupied by an unauthorized vehicle, a message is provided to a parking enforcement authority that the parking space is occupied by an unauthorized vehicle.

Unauthorized vehicle detection

A request to identify a parking spot is received. A response to the request, including an identification of at least one available parking spot, is provided. A parking spot selected from the response is identified. Data relating to the selected spot are collected. A user profile based on the collected data is updated.

Method and system for vehicle parking

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Chelmsford, United Kingdom

Jonathan Scott