FR3141274A1 - Method and device for providing an alert of a natural disaster event for a vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and a device for rendering an alert relating to a natural disaster event by a device embedded in a vehicle (10). For this purpose, location information of the vehicle (10) is transmitted via a wireless connection. Data representative of a natural disaster event relating to the area including the location of the vehicle (10) is received. An alert is issued based on the data received, for example displaying an alert message on an on-board display screen in the vehicle (10). Figure for abstract: Figure 1

Description

Method and device for providing an alert of a natural disaster event for a vehicle

The present invention relates to methods and devices for providing an alert of a natural disaster event for a vehicle, in particular for a motor vehicle. The present invention also relates to a method and a device for rendering instructions for breaking a window of a vehicle in the event of an alert for a natural disaster event.

Technology background

Users of vehicles, for example motor vehicles, are subject to higher or lower risks of exposure to natural disasters depending on the environment in which these vehicles operate.

The risks of natural disasters are numerous and depend in particular on the geography of the environment in which a vehicle travels or parks. These natural disaster events include, for example, mudslides, landslides, lava flows, snow flows, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, fires, etc.

One of the dangers associated with these natural disaster events for vehicles is the risk of finding yourself locked or stuck inside your vehicle without the possibility of opening an opening (door or trunk) of the vehicle.

Summary of the present invention

An object of the present invention is to solve at least one of the problems of the technological background described above.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the prevention of risks associated with natural disaster events.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the safety of vehicles and their passengers.

According to a first aspect, the present invention relates to a method of providing an alert of a natural disaster event for a vehicle, the vehicle carrying a window-breaking hammer, the method comprising the following steps:
- transmission of location information representative of the location of the vehicle via a wireless link;
- reception, via the wireless link, of data representative of a natural disaster event associated with a geographical area including the location of the vehicle;
- rendering of the alert based on the data on a rendering device embedded in the vehicle.

The transmission of vehicle location data makes it possible to receive alerts relating to current or planned natural disaster events in the area where the vehicle is located. Rendering the alert on an on-board device in the vehicle allows passengers to prepare for the risk associated with the alert, for example by moving away from the danger, by grabbing the on-board window breaking hammer or by becoming aware of the instructions for use associated with the window breaker hammer. This improves the safety of the vehicle and its passengers.

According to a variant, the method further comprises a step of rendering instruction data representative of a set of instructions for breaking a window of the vehicle with the breaker hammer.

According to another variant, the rendering of the instruction data comprises a display control of a set of graphic contents on at least one display screen on board the vehicle.

According to an additional variant, at least part of the set of graphic content is displayed in augmented reality.

According to yet another variant, the window breaker hammer being contained in a glove box of the vehicle, the method further comprises a step of automatic opening control of the glove box triggered by receipt of the alert data.

According to an additional variant, the rendering of the instruction data comprises a control of sound rendering of audio content on at least one speaker on board the vehicle.

According to a second aspect, the present invention relates to a device for rendering an alert of a natural disaster event for a vehicle carrying a window breaker hammer, the device comprising a memory associated with a processor configured for implementing the steps of the method according to the first aspect of the present invention.

According to one variant, the device corresponds to a mobile communication device.

According to a third aspect, the present invention relates to a vehicle, for example of the automobile type, comprising a device as described above according to the second aspect of the present invention.

According to a fourth aspect, the present invention relates to a computer program which comprises instructions adapted for the execution of the steps of the method according to the first aspect of the present invention, in particular when the computer program is executed by at least one processor.

Such a computer program can use any programming language, and be in the form of a source code, an object code, or an intermediate code between a source code and an object code, such as in partially compiled form, or in any other desirable form.

According to a fifth aspect, the present invention relates to a computer-readable recording medium on which is recorded a computer program comprising instructions for executing the steps of the method according to the first aspect of the present invention.

On the one hand, the recording medium can be any entity or device capable of storing the program. For example, the medium may comprise a storage means, such as a ROM memory, a CD-ROM or a ROM memory of the microelectronic circuit type, or even a magnetic recording means or a hard disk.

On the other hand, this recording medium can also be a transmissible medium such as an electrical or optical signal, such a signal being able to be conveyed via an electrical or optical cable, by conventional or terrestrial radio or by self-directed laser beam or by other ways. The computer program according to the present invention can in particular be downloaded onto an Internet type network.

Alternatively, the recording medium may be an integrated circuit in which the computer program is incorporated, the integrated circuit being adapted to execute or to be used in executing the method in question.

Brief description of the figures

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the description of the particular and non-limiting examples of embodiment of the present invention below, with reference to the attached Figures 1 to 3, in which:

schematically illustrates an environment of a vehicle, according to a particular and non-limiting embodiment of the present invention;

schematically illustrates a device configured for rendering an alert of a natural disaster event for the vehicle of the , according to a particular and non-limiting embodiment of the present invention;

illustrates a flowchart of the different stages of a process for rendering an alert of a natural disaster event for the vehicle of the , according to a particular and non-limiting embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the implementation examples

A method and a device for rendering an alert of a natural disaster event for a vehicle will now be described in what follows with reference jointly to Figures 1 to 3. The same elements are identified with the same reference signs throughout. throughout the description which follows.

According to a particular and non-limiting example of an embodiment of the present invention, the rendering of an alert relating to a current or future natural disaster event comprises the transmission, by a device embedded in a vehicle, of data or information vehicle location. These data or information are for example obtained from a receiver of a satellite geolocation system integrated into or associated with the on-board device. The transmission of this location information is advantageously implemented via a wireless link, for example via a terrestrial cellular network. The device having transmitted the location information receives data representative of a natural disaster event for the geographical area including the position of the vehicle indicated by the location data, this data relating to a natural disaster event in progress or to predictions of an upcoming natural disaster event. Receipt of the data triggers the rendering of an alert on a rendering device, for example a display screen, on board the vehicle. The alert is thus geolocated.

The on-board device corresponds for example to a set of computers comprising at least one vehicle computer. According to another example, the on-board device corresponds to a mobile communication device (for example a smart phone (from the English "smartphone"), a tablet or a connected object) present in the vehicle and optionally connected via wireless communication to the vehicle. According to yet another example, the on-board device corresponds to a system formed of one or more vehicle computers connected in wireless communication with a mobile communication device.

There schematically illustrates an environment 1 in which a vehicle 10 operates, according to a particular and non-limiting embodiment of the present invention.

The vehicle 10 corresponds for example to a vehicle with a thermal engine, with an electric motor(s) or even a hybrid vehicle with a thermal engine and one or more electric motors. The vehicle 10 thus corresponds for example to a land vehicle, for example an automobile or a utility vehicle.

According to a particular embodiment, the vehicle 10 carries one or more computers. These computers form, for example, a multiplexed architecture for the production of different services useful for the proper functioning of the vehicle and to assist the driver and/or passengers of the vehicle in controlling the vehicle 10 via the control of systems embedded in the vehicle 10, for example a system for displaying graphic content and/or an audio rendering system for audio content and/or a vehicle geolocation system. The computers communicate and exchange data with each other via one or more computer buses, for example a CAN data bus type communication bus (from the English “Controller Area Network” or in French “Réseau de controllers”). "), CAN FD (from the English "Controller Area Network Flexible Data-Rate" or in French "Network of controllers with flexible data rate"), FlexRay (according to the ISO 17458 standard), LIN (from the English " Local Interconnect Network” or in French “Local Interconnected Network”) or Ethernet (according to the ISO/IEC 802-3 standard).

According to a particular embodiment, the vehicle 10 carries a geolocation system comprising for example a receiver of a satellite geolocation system, for example a receiver of the GPS system (from the English “Global Positioning System” or in French “Global Positioning System”). Global Positioning System") or a Galileo system receiver.

The environment 1 of the vehicle 10 further comprises a mobile communication infrastructure, for example an infrastructure of a V2X type network (from the English “Vehicle-to-everything” or in French “Véhicule vers tout”), with which the vehicle 10 is configured to communicate data. The communication infrastructure 1 for example implements communications according to LTE technology (from the English “Long-Term Evolution” or in French “Evolution à long term”), LTE-Advanced (from the English “Long- Term Evolution - Advanced” or in French “Long term evolution advanced”), C-V2X (from the English “Cellular – Vehicle to Everything” or in French “Cellulaire – Véhicule vers tout”) which is based on 4G and/or 5G, based on LTE.

For this purpose, the vehicle 10 carries a communication device corresponding for example to a telematic control unit, called TCU (from the English “Telematic Control Unit”) associated with one or more antennas.

The vehicle 10 communicates advantageously using a so-called V2X communication system, for example based on the 3GPP LTE-V or IEEE 802.11p standards of ITS G5. In such a V2X communication system, each vehicle has a node to enable V2V vehicle-to-vehicle (vehicle-to-vehicle) and vehicle-to-vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication. -infrastructure) and/or vehicle-to-pedestrian V2P.

The network infrastructure includes, for example, communication devices 110 corresponding to relay antennas and/or roadside units (UBR), each corresponding to a node of the network.

The antenna or UBR 110 is advantageously connected to one or more remote servers 111, 112, for example via the “cloud” 100 (or in French “cloud”), via a wired and/or wireless connection. The antenna or UBR 110 is thus configured to act as a relay between the “cloud” 100 (and the remote server 111) and the vehicle 10.

The remote server 112 associated or connected to the antenna or UBR 110 corresponds for example to a peripheral computing device, to an MEC type device (from the English “Mobile Edge Computing” or “Multi-Access Edge Computing”) which allows to move computer traffic and services from the centralized “cloud” 100 to an edge network, closer to the users or client devices (for example the vehicle 10). Instead of sending all data to be processed in the “cloud”, an edge network analyzes, processes and/or stores the data. Collecting and processing data close to users reduces communications latency and increases the bandwidth available to each user by avoiding the bottleneck effect when all data is redirected to or emitted from the cloud. the “cloud” 100. The standards governing the operation of the architecture and MEC compatible devices are defined by ETSI (from the English “European Telecommunications Standards Institute” or in French “European Institute of Telecommunications Standards”). The peripheral computing device 112 is connected to the “cloud” infrastructure 100 (for example to “cloud” servers 100 such as the server 111) via a wired “backbone” type connection, for example Ethernet or optical fiber type.

According to a particular embodiment, the vehicle 10 carries one or more mobile communication devices such as one or more smart phones, that is to say that this or these mobile communication devices are in the vehicle 10 when the latter is traveling or parked. A mobile communication device is advantageously configured to communicate data with the “cloud” via the network infrastructure of environment 1, for example via a 4G or 5G LTE type wireless connection. A mobile communication device is further configured to communicate data with the vehicle 10 when a wireless or wired connection is established between this mobile communication device and the vehicle 10. A wireless connection is for example of the Wifi® or Bluetooth®. The mobile communication device includes, for example, a display screen. The mobile communication device comprises, for example, a receiver of a satellite geolocation system.

According to a particular example, the onboard mobile communication device is configured for rendering and displaying content in AR (from the English “Augmented Reality” or in French “Augmented Reality”). The display of content in AR includes for example the display of virtual objects on the screen of the mobile communication device in addition to so-called real content, that is to say real world content acquired by a camera. For example, in AR mode, an image of the real world acquired by a camera arranged on the back of the mobile communication device is displayed in real time, that is to say simultaneously with the acquisition, one or more graphic objects (text , icon for example) being displayed simultaneously overlaying the real content for example.

The vehicle 10 advantageously carries one or more window breaker hammers intended or configured to break a window of the vehicle 10. A window breaker hammer is for example arranged in a glove box of the vehicle 10, opposite or opposite the front passenger seat of the vehicle 10.

According to a particular embodiment, the vehicle 10 has an information rendering system controlled by a computer of the on-board system of the vehicle 10, for example by an IVI type computer (from the English “In-Vehicle Infotainment” or in French “In-car infotainment”).

Such a system comprises for example one or more display screens, for example integrated into the dashboard of the vehicle 10. A display screen corresponds for example to:
- an LCD type screen (from the English "Liquid Crystal Display" or in French "Display to crystal liquids"), for example of the TFT type (from the English "Thin-Film Transistor" or in French "Transistor in thin film”);
- an OLED type screen (from the English “Organic Light-Emitting Diode” or in French “Organic Electroluminescent Diode”);
- a head-up display type screen (also called Head-Up Vision, known as VTH or HUD (from the English “Head Up Display” or in French “Affichage Tête Haute”); or
- a pair of transparent glasses (from the English “see-through glasses”) for displaying AR content (from the English “Augmented Reality” or in French “Augmented Reality”), such a pair of glasses being by example arranged in a specific space in the passenger compartment, for example in the glove box with the window breaker hammer.

The display screen(s) are for example configured for the display of augmented reality content (from the English “Augmented Reality”, denoted AR) under the control of the IVI calculator for example.

The rendering system comprises for example one or more speakers (for example of the display screen(s)) each configured for the reproduction or rendering of sounds and/or vocal instructions.

The display screen(s) and/or speaker(s) are advantageously configured and used for rendering content(s) of a human-machine interface (HMI) for the restitution of information intended for the driver and/or or to passengers of vehicle 10.

A process for issuing an alert of a natural disaster event for a vehicle, for example a vehicle 10, is advantageously implemented by a device on board the vehicle 10.

The device corresponds for example to one or more computers (for example by one or more processors of this or these computers in relation to a memory) of the on-board system of the vehicle 10.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the device corresponds to a mobile communication device.

According to yet another example, the device corresponds to a system formed of one or more computers of the vehicle 10 connected in wireless communication with the mobile communication device.

In a first operation, location data or information of the vehicle 10 is transmitted via a wireless link to the “cloud” 100. The location data or information corresponds for example to a set of coordinates (for example latitude and longitude) obtained from a receiver of a satellite geolocation system of the vehicle 10 and/or the mobile communication device.

On receipt of this location information from the vehicle 10, the server 111 checks if a natural disaster event is taking place in the area in which the vehicle 10 is located and/or if the natural disaster event forecasts predict that an event of natural disaster will take place within a specific time horizon (for example in the next 15, 30, 60 or 120 minutes).

If not, that is to say if no event is in progress or planned, the process ends.

If so, that is to say if an event is in progress and/or is planned, the server 111 transmits data representative of the natural disaster event to the device implementing the process.

In a second operation, the data representative of the current or future natural disaster event are received via the wireless link, these data being associated with location information in the sense that the data is geolocated, that is to say -say that the natural disaster event concerns the geographical area including the geographical location of the vehicle 10.

Natural disaster event data includes, for example, textual and/or graphical data. The natural disaster event data includes, for example, an identifier of the type of event (mudslide, landslide, lava flow, snow flow, earthquake, volcanic eruption, tornado, hurricane, tsunami, fire, etc.). ), data identifying the geographical area concerned (for example the impacted roads), data on the time or time interval expected for the event, safety instructions or instructions, data on the level of risk, data on the level or intensity of the event, etc.

In a third operation, an alert is issued based on the natural disaster event data received, the rendering of the alert being triggered automatically upon receipt of the natural disaster event data received in the second operation.

The rendering of the alert includes for example a display of alert data on a display screen of the vehicle 10 and/or on a display screen of the mobile communication device.

The alert data corresponds for example to the natural disaster event data received or to data obtained by processing this received natural disaster event data.

The rendering includes for example a display of a message describing the natural disaster, the geographical area concerned, the time instant of the event, etc.

According to a variant, the rendering includes the rendering of an audio message, for example in addition to the display or instead of the display, via one or more speakers of the vehicle 10 and/or one or more speakers. speakers of the mobile communication device.

According to a variant embodiment, the rendering of the alert further comprises a display of a route to avoid the geographical area affected by the natural disaster event, the route being determined according to the natural disaster event data received. According to this variant, the route is displayed via a navigation system on board the vehicle 10 or corresponding to a mobile application installed on the mobile communication device.

According to yet another alternative embodiment, instruction data representative of instructions for breaking a window of the vehicle 10 with the window breaker hammer on board the vehicle 10 are rendered, for example by displaying these instructions on a display screen and/or by rendering audio content on the speaker(s).

The rendering of instructions is, for example, automatically triggered by the reception of natural disaster event data.

According to another example, the rendering of the instructions is triggered by an action of a user, for example by pressing on a touch interface of a screen on which the alert is displayed, by the utterance of a voice command or by any other means known to those skilled in the art.

Part or all of these instructions is for example displayed in augmented reality, for example via transparent augmented reality glasses connected in wireless communication with the device implementing the process or via the screen of the mobile communication device.

The display of instructions in augmented reality includes for example the display of text, of a graphic object such as a graphic representation of the window breaker hammer on content representing the real world, for example a window of the vehicle 10.

In a fourth optional operation, the automatic opening of the glove box including the window breaker hammer (and optionally transparent augmented reality glasses) is triggered by the device in charge of the process. For this purpose, a command is for example transmitted by the device implementing the process to a computer controlling an electric or electromechanical opening mechanism fitted to the glove box or the glove box lock, so that the latter controls the automatic opening of the glove box.

Controlling the automatic opening of the glove box has the advantage of implicitly indicating to the passengers of the vehicle 10 where the window breaker hammer is located, if the latter proves useful for exiting the vehicle 10 due to the risks of blocking the doors of the vehicle 10 associated with the natural disaster event.

There schematically illustrates a device 2 configured for rendering or controlling the rendering of a natural disaster event alert for a vehicle, for example for the vehicle 10, according to a particular and non-limiting embodiment of the present invention.

The device 2 corresponds for example to a device on board the vehicle 10, for example a computer.

According to another example, the device 2 corresponds to a mobile communication device.

According to yet another example, device 2 corresponds to a server type data processing device 111.

The device 2 is for example configured for the implementation of the operations described with regard to the and/or steps of the process described with regard to the . Examples of such a device 2 include, without being limited to, on-board electronic equipment such as an on-board computer of a vehicle, an electronic computer such as an ECU (“Electronic Control Unit”), a telephone smart, tablet, laptop, computer, server. The elements of device 2, individually or in combination, can be integrated into a single integrated circuit, into several integrated circuits, and/or into discrete components. Device 2 can be produced in the form of electronic circuits or software (or computer) modules or even a combination of electronic circuits and software modules.

The device 2 comprises one (or more) processor(s) 20 configured to execute instructions for carrying out the steps of the method and/or for executing the instructions of the software(s) embedded in the device 2. The processor 20 may include integrated memory, an input/output interface, and various circuits known to those skilled in the art. The device 2 further comprises at least one memory 21 corresponding for example to a volatile and/or non-volatile memory and/or comprises a memory storage device which may comprise volatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as EEPROM, ROM , PROM, RAM, DRAM, SRAM, flash, magnetic or optical disk.

The computer code of the embedded software(s) comprising the instructions to be loaded and executed by the processor is for example stored on memory 21.

According to different particular and non-limiting examples of embodiment, the device 2 is coupled in communication with other similar devices or systems and/or with communication devices, for example a TCU (from the English “Telematic Control Unit” or in French “Telematic Control Unit”), for example via a communications bus or through dedicated input/output ports.

According to a particular and non-limiting example of embodiment, the device 2 comprises a block 22 of interface elements for communicating with external devices, for example a remote server or the “cloud”, other nodes of the ad hoc network.

According to another particular and non-limiting example of embodiment, the device 2 comprises a communication interface 23 which makes it possible to establish communication with other devices (such as other computers of the on-board system) via a communication channel 230. The communication interface 23 corresponds for example to a transmitter configured to transmit and receive information and/or data via the communication channel 230. The communication interface 23 corresponds for example to a CAN type wired network (from the English “Controller Area Network” or in French “Réseau de controlleres”), CAN FD (from the English “Controller Area Network Flexible Data-Rate” or in French “Réseau de controllers à flow flexible data”), FlexRay ( standardized by the ISO 17458 standard) or Ethernet (standardized by the ISO/IEC 802-3 standard).

According to a particular and non-limiting embodiment, the device 2 can provide output signals to one or more external devices, such as a display screen 240, touch or not, one or more speakers 250 and/or other peripherals 260 (for example a haptic actuator) via output interfaces 24, 25 and 26 respectively. According to a variant, one or the other of the external devices is integrated into the device 2.

There illustrates a flowchart of the different stages of rendering or controlling the rendering of a natural disaster event alert for a vehicle, for example for the vehicle 10, according to a particular and non-limiting embodiment of the present invention. The method is for example implemented by a device on board the vehicle 10 or by the device 2 of the .

In a first step 31, location information representative of the location of the vehicle is transmitted via a wireless link.

In a second step 32, data representative of a natural disaster event associated with a geographical area including the location of the vehicle are received via the wireless link.

In a third step 33, the alert is issued based on the data on a rendering device embedded in the vehicle.

According to a variant, the variants and examples of the operations described in relation to the apply to the stages of the process of .

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described above but extends to a method of generating a natural disaster event alert which would include secondary steps without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention. The same would apply to a device configured to implement such a process.

The present invention also relates to a vehicle, for example an automobile or more generally an autonomous vehicle with a land engine, comprising the device 2 of the .

Claims (10)

Method for issuing an alert of a natural disaster event for a vehicle (10), said vehicle (10) carrying a window-breaking hammer, said method comprising the following steps:
- transmission (31) of location information representative of the location of said vehicle (10) via a wireless link;
- reception (32), via said wireless link, of data representative of a natural disaster event associated with a geographical area including the location of said vehicle (10);
- rendering (33) of said alert according to said data on a rendering device embedded in said vehicle (10). The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of rendering instruction data representative of a set of instructions for breaking a window of said vehicle (10) with said breaker hammer. Method according to claim 2, for which said rendering of the instruction data comprises a display control of a set of graphic contents on at least one display screen on board said vehicle (10). Method according to claim 3, for which at least part of said set of graphic contents is displayed in augmented reality. Method according to one of claims 1 to 4, for which, said window breaker hammer being contained in a glove box of said vehicle (10), said method further comprises a step of automatically opening control of said glove box triggered by said reception of data representative of a natural disaster event. Method according to one of claims 2 to 4, which said rendering of the instruction data comprises a control of sound rendering of audio content on at least one speaker on board said vehicle (10). Computer program comprising instructions for implementing the method according to any one of the preceding claims, when these instructions are executed by a processor. Device (2) for issuing an alert of a natural disaster event for a vehicle carrying a window breaker hammer, said device (2) comprising a memory (21) associated with at least one processor (20) configured for the implementation implementation of the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6. Device (2) according to claim 8, which device (2) corresponds to a mobile communication device. Vehicle (10) comprising the device (2) according to claim 8 or 9.