The disclosure relates to the field of display systems, and, more particularly, to display systems installed in motor vehicles.
Currently, automotive infotainment systems do not hold any vehicle identification information.
In the future, vehicles with more connectivity will require a unique attribute for identification and connectivity purposes. The inventive smart user interaction arrangement shall be very helpful in such a scenario, The invention may make vehicle identification number (VIN) information available in the car using the human machine interface (HMI). Particularly, the invention may make VIN information available via the vehicle's infotainment system.
In one embodiment, the invention comprises a vehicle including a memory device storing information identifying the vehicle. An infotainment user interface includes a display screen, a keyboard (a virtual keyboard in some cases), and an electronic processing device communicatively coupled to the memory device. The electronic processing device responds to a user keying in a set of predefined characters into the keyboard by displaying on the display screen the information identifying the vehicle.
In another embodiment, the invention comprises a method of operating an infotainment system of a vehicle, including storing information identifying the vehicle in a memory device. An infotainment user interface is provided, including a display screen, a keyboard, and an electronic processing device. The electronic processing device is communicatively coupled to the memory device. A response to a user keying in a set of predefined characters into the keyboard includes displaying on the display screen the information identifying the vehicle.
In yet another embodiment, the invention includes a method of operating an infotainment system of a vehicle, including displaying a list of active shortcuts on a display screen of an infotainment user interface. Each active shortcut defines an item of information to be displayed on the display screen in response to a user identifying the active shortcut. Each item of information is stored in a memory device. The user is prompted to indicate whether he would like to create an additional active shortcut. If the user indicates that he would like to create an additional active shortcut, then a list of inactive shortcuts is displayed. Each inactive shortcut is displayed in association with a corresponding item of information to be provided by the user, if the user indicates that he would not like to create an additional active shortcut, then the user is informed how he may create an additional active shortcut at a future time.
An advantage of the invention is that it may provide vehicle owners/drivers/mechanics/OEM dealerships/first responders, etc., with easy access to the vehicle identification number and other information.
A better understanding of the present invention will be had upon reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
In one embodiment of a method of the present invention for operating an automotive infotainment arrangement, the infotainment system hardware is in a power-ON state. The user may type “myVIN” (e.g., any combination of upper and lower case letters without a space between the words “my” and “VIN”) while on any display screen on the in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) interface. After the user has depressed the SPACE, TAB or ENTER key on the IVI interface, the smart engine shall populate the display screen of the interface with the actual vehicle identification number. In order to display the VIN, the HMI software may query CAN protocol 20 and retrieve that information, and the VIN number may be displayed to the user on the screen.
In addition to the vehicle identification number, the invention may be implemented to make other information available for easy display to the user via shortcuts.
A similar mechanism may access more information from the vehicle and such shortcuts, and may make access to driver/owner easy. For example, a “myCar” shortcut may present several lines identifying the vehicle, including the VIN, model, make, model year, engine size, whether the vehicle is front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, or all-wheel drive, and any other features that may vary from vehicle to vehicle.
During use, persistent memory device 22 may store in the IVI system the owner-entered information, and this information can be retrieved from memory device 22. The information may include, for example, “myHome”, which may display the identity of the dealership that originally sold the vehicle; “myLicense”, which may display the vehicle's current license plate number and renewal date; and “myServiceRecord”, which may display information pertaining to maintenance services which have been performed on the vehicle. Thus, this service record can easily be made accessible to the vehicle owner as well as to dealerships and service technicians.
In one embodiment, all the possible predefined and user-created smart tags do not include any space between the words “my” and “abcd . . . ”, where abcd represents the tag of the service.
Next, in step 304, an infotainment user interface is provided. The infotainment user interface includes a display screen, a keyboard, and an electronic processing device. For example, infotainment user interface 12 has a display screen 14, an electronic processor 16, and a keyboard 18.
In a next step 306, the electronic processing device is communicatively coupled to the memory device. For example, electronic processor 16 may be in bi-directional communication with memory device 22.
In a final step 308, a user keying in a set of predefined characters into the keyboard is responded to by displaying on the display screen the information identifying the vehicle. For example, if the user types in “myvin”, display screen 14 may display the actual vehicle identification number.
Next, in step 404, the user is prompted to indicate whether he would like to create an additional active shortcut. For example, the user may be asked via on-screen text or an audible message whether he wants to create additional shortcuts.
If it is determined in step 404 that the user would like to create an additional active shortcut, then a list of inactive shortcuts may be displayed in step 406. Each inactive shortcut may be displayed in association with a corresponding item of information to be provided by the user. For example, a template may be presented to the user on the display screen. The template may present a list of shortcut names and the corresponding information that the user would need to input into the system, either orally, by keying in the characters, or by uploading from the user's mobile telephone.
Conversely, if it is determined in step 404 that the user would not like to create an additional active shortcut, then in step 408 the user is informed about how he may create an additional active shortcut at a future time. For example, the user may be informed of pushbuttons that he may press in order to access the template of step 406.
The foregoing description may refer to “motor vehicle”, “automobile”, “automotive”, or similar expressions. It is to be understood that these terms are not intended to limit the invention to any particular type of transportation vehicle. Rather, the invention may be applied to any type of transportation vehicle whether traveling by air, water, or ground, such as airplanes, boats, etc.
The foregoing detailed description is given primarily for clearness of understanding and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom for modifications can be made by those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure and may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.
This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/332,735 filed on May 6, 2016, which the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62332735 | May 2016 | US |