US-20260127922-A1 - SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR VISUAL BASED COMMUNICATION AND PLANT MARSHALING

US20260127922A1US 20260127922 A1US20260127922 A1US 20260127922A1US-20260127922-A1

Abstract

A method includes the determination of a current status associated with a vehicle and the output of an indication corresponding to the current status associated with the vehicle via a lighting element of the vehicle. The method also includes the receipt of one or more marshaling commands based on the indication and the initiation of one or more actions in response to the receipt of the one or more marshaling commands.

Inventors

Stuart C. Salter
Krishna Bandi
Mario Anthony Santillo
Brendan Diamond

Assignees

FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20240926

Claims (20)

1 . A method comprising: determining a current status associated with a vehicle; outputting, via a lighting element of the vehicle, a first indication corresponding to the current status associated with the vehicle; receiving one or more marshaling commands based on the first indication; and initiating one or more actions in response to the receipt of the one or more marshaling commands.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is a partially built vehicle configured to be marshaled through a manufacturing environment, and wherein the lighting element is permanently integrated within a body of the vehicle or temporarily affixed to the body of the vehicle.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the manufacturing environment includes one or more workstations equipped with an electronic device, and wherein the electronic device is configured to output a second indication, and further wherein the second indication is a visual cue that corresponds to a step of a manufacturing process, a destination of the vehicle, a corresponding location associated with the vehicle, a delay in the manufacturing process associated with the vehicle, a delay in a marshaling process associated with the vehicle, a duration of the vehicle being stopped, or a combination thereof.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the first indication and the second indication comprise a light color output, a sequence of light output, or a combination thereof.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first indication is outputted by different parts of the lighting element corresponding to different vehicle systems, and wherein the first indication is a visual cue that corresponds to a location associated with a construct of the vehicle that needs repair, a location associated with the construct of the vehicle that needs inspection, a fault associated with the vehicle, a trajectory associated with a current movement of the vehicle, a predicted future location associated with the vehicle, one or more vehicle options, or a combination thereof.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a frequency and a duration of the output of the first indication varies based on global positioning system coordinates of the vehicle and one or more characteristics associated with the vehicle, wherein the one or more characteristics include a state of charge of a battery, a step of a manufacturing process, a key fob, a phone as a key feature, Bluetooth® low energy-based wireless communication, cellular-based wireless communication, wireless fidelity-based wireless communication, or a combination thereof.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more actions include marshaling of the vehicle to a repair bay, a parking location, or a future location.
8 . A system comprising: a vehicle system configured to: determine a current status associated with a vehicle, output, via a lighting element of the vehicle, a first indication corresponding to the current status associated with the vehicle, receive one or more marshaling commands based on the first indication, and initiate one or more actions in response to the receipt of the one or more marshaling commands; and an infrastructure system configured to: observe the first indication, and transmit the one or more marshaling commands based on the observation of the first indication.
9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the vehicle is a partially built vehicle configured to be marshaled through a manufacturing environment, and wherein the lighting element is permanently integrated within a body of the vehicle or temporarily affixed to the body of the vehicle.
10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the manufacturing environment includes one or more workstations equipped with an electronic device, and wherein the electronic device is configured to output a second indication, and further wherein the second indication is a visual cue that corresponds to a step of a manufacturing process, a destination of the vehicle, a corresponding location associated with the vehicle, a delay in the manufacturing process associated with the vehicle, a delay in a marshaling process associated with the vehicle, a duration of the vehicle being stopped, or a combination thereof.
11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the first indication and the second indication comprise a light color output, a sequence of light output, or a combination thereof.
12 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the first indication is outputted by different parts of the lighting element corresponding to different vehicle systems, and wherein the first indication is a visual cue that corresponds to a location associated with a construct of the vehicle that needs repair, a location associated with the construct of the vehicle that needs inspection, a fault associated with the vehicle, a trajectory associated with a current movement of the vehicle, a predicted future location associated with the vehicle, one or more vehicle options, or a combination thereof.
13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein a frequency and a duration of the output of the first indication varies based on global positioning system coordinates of the vehicle and one or more characteristics associated with the vehicle, wherein the one or more characteristics include a state of charge of a battery, a step of a manufacturing process, a key fob, a phone as a key feature, Bluetooth® low energy-based wireless communication, cellular-based wireless communication, wireless fidelity-based wireless communication, or a combination thereof.
14 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more actions include marshaling of the vehicle to a repair bay, a parking location, or a future location.
15 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: determine a current status associated with a vehicle; output, via a lighting element of the vehicle, a first indication corresponding to the current status associated with the vehicle; receive one or more marshaling commands based on the first indication; and initiate one or more actions in response to the receipt of the one or more marshaling commands, wherein the one or more actions include marshaling of the vehicle to a repair bay, a parking location, or a future location.
16 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the vehicle is a partially built vehicle configured to be marshaled through a manufacturing environment, and wherein the lighting element is permanently integrated within a body of the vehicle or temporarily affixed to the body of the vehicle.
17 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , wherein the manufacturing environment includes one or more workstations equipped with an electronic device, and wherein the electronic device is configured to output a second indication, and further wherein the second indication is a visual cue that corresponds to a step of a manufacturing process, a destination of the vehicle, a corresponding location associated with the vehicle, a delay in the manufacturing process associated with the vehicle, a delay in a marshaling process associated with the vehicle, a duration of the vehicle being stopped, or a combination thereof.
18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17 , wherein the first indication and the second indication comprise a light color output, a sequence of light output, or a combination thereof.
19 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the first indication is outputted by different parts of the lighting element corresponding to different vehicle systems, and wherein the first indication is a visual cue that corresponds to a location associated with a construct of the vehicle that needs repair, a location associated with the construct of the vehicle that needs inspection, a fault associated with the vehicle, a trajectory associated with a current movement of the vehicle, a predicted future location associated with the vehicle, one or more vehicle options, or a combination thereof.
20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein a frequency and a duration of the output of the first indication varies based on global positioning system coordinates of the vehicle and one or more characteristics associated with the vehicle, wherein the one or more characteristics include a state of charge of a battery, a step of a manufacturing process, a key fob, a phone as a key feature, Bluetooth® low energy-based wireless communication, cellular-based wireless communication, wireless fidelity-based wireless communication, or a combination thereof.

Description

FIELD The present disclosure relates to marshaling a vehicle. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to marshaling the vehicle using visual based communication. BACKGROUND The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art. The utilization of vehicle exterior lighting is increasingly used for more than just illuminating a pathway for the vehicle. For example, vehicle exterior lighting can be used for visual based communication to onboard and/or offboard the vehicle from a server in a marshaling setting. However, there can be inaccuracies of identification of a particular vehicle in a fleet of vehicles when the vehicle exterior lighting is used to communicate a message, and/or limitations with respect to message(s) that may be communicated by the vehicle exterior lighting. The present disclosure addresses these and other issues related to visual based communication associated with vehicle exterior lighting of a vehicle. SUMMARY This section provides a general summary of the disclosure and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features. The present disclosure provides a method comprising: determining a current status associated with a vehicle; outputting, via a lighting element of the vehicle, a first indication corresponding to the current status associated with the vehicle; receiving one or more marshaling commands based on the first indication; and initiating one or more actions in response to the receipt of the one or more marshaling commands; wherein the vehicle is a partially built vehicle configured to be marshaled through a manufacturing environment, and wherein the lighting element is permanently integrated within a body of the vehicle or temporarily affixed to the body of the vehicle; wherein the manufacturing environment includes one or more workstations equipped with an electronic device, and wherein the electronic device is configured to output a second indication, and further wherein the second indication is a visual cue that corresponds to a step of a manufacturing process, a destination of the vehicle, a corresponding location associated with the vehicle, a delay in the manufacturing process associated with the vehicle, a delay in a marshaling process associated with the vehicle, a duration of the vehicle being stopped, or a combination thereof; wherein the first indication and the second indication comprise a light color output, a sequence of light output, or a combination thereof; wherein the first indication is outputted by different parts of the lighting element corresponding to different vehicle systems, and wherein the first indication is a visual cue that corresponds to a location associated with a construct of the vehicle that needs repair, a location associated with the construct of the vehicle that needs inspection, a fault associated with the vehicle, a trajectory associated with a current movement of the vehicle, a predicted future location associated with the vehicle, one or more vehicle options, or a combination thereof; wherein a frequency and a duration of the output of the first indication varies based on global positioning system coordinates of the vehicle and one or more characteristics associated with the vehicle, wherein the one or more characteristics include a state of charge of a battery, a step of a manufacturing process, a key fob, a phone as a key feature, Bluetooth® low energy-based wireless communication, cellular-based wireless communication, wireless fidelity-based wireless communication, or a combination thereof; and wherein the one or more actions include marshaling of the vehicle to a repair bay, a parking location, or a future location. The present disclosure provides a system comprising: a vehicle system configured to: determine a current status associated with a vehicle, output, via a lighting element of the vehicle, a first indication corresponding to the current status associated with the vehicle, receive one or more marshaling commands based on the first indication, and initiate one or more actions in response to the receipt of the one or more marshaling commands; and the infrastructure system configured to: observe the first indication, and transmit the one or more marshaling commands based on the observation of the first indication; wherein the vehicle is a partially built vehicle configured to be marshaled through a manufacturing environment, and wherein the lighting element is permanently integrated within a body of the vehicle or temporarily affixed to the body of the vehicle; wherein the manufacturing environment includes one or more workstations equipped with an electronic device, and wherein the electronic device is configured to output a second indication, and further wherein the second indication is a visual cue that corresponds to a step of a manufacturing process, a destination of the vehicle, a corresponding location as