US 12,283,182 B2
Dynamic control of vehicle drivetrain modes
Roy Hendrikx, Kinrooi/Limburg (BE); Stuart Easson, Santa Cruz, CA (US); Adam Weber, Kingsfsord, MI (US); Rathi Munukur, San Jose, CA (US); Tariq Alexander Willis, St. Albans/Hertfordshire (GB); Michael Huynh, Cologne (DE); and Alexandra Holz, Aachen/NRW (DE)
Assigned to Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed by Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed on Nov. 19, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/531,137.
Claims priority of application No. 20209880 (EP), filed on Nov. 25, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0165152 A1, May 26, 2022
Int. Cl. G08G 1/01 (2006.01); B60W 20/30 (2016.01); H04L 9/00 (2022.01); H04L 9/06 (2006.01)
CPC G08G 1/0145 (2013.01) [B60W 20/30 (2013.01); G08G 1/0125 (2013.01); H04L 9/0643 (2013.01); H04L 9/50 (2022.05)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system, comprising:
a plurality of air quality sensors placed within a geographic area and configured for wirelessly transmitting sensor data, wherein the sensors of the plurality of air quality sensors are arranged at locations that occupy vertices of a virtual, two-dimensional grid, wherein a distance between adjacent vertices is chosen in dependence of dimensions of the geographic area;
a cloud-based computing device configured to:
acquire data from the air quality sensors placed within the geographic area;
evaluate the acquired data for air quality based on at least one predetermined condition;
assign predetermined values for at least one air quality parameter to respective locations outside the geographic area and within a predetermined distance of a boundary of the geographic area; and
based on the evaluated air quality, cause a wireless transmission of a location and a shape of at least one low or zero emission traffic zone to a hybrid vehicle that is approaching or driving within the geographic area;
a positioning system in the hybrid vehicle that is configured to determine whether at least one predetermined condition is met based on the wireless transmission and a current position of the hybrid vehicle with regard to or within the at least one established low or zero emission traffic zone at a current time; and
an electronic control unit (ECU) in the hybrid vehicle operatively connected to the positioning system to receive the determination whether the at least one predetermined condition is met, and to generate a blockchain data block that at least includes the current position of the hybrid vehicle and data regarding a dynamically operated drivetrain of the hybrid vehicle, and to add the generated blockchain data block to a blockchain.