Method of Controlling an Auxiliary Vehicle System

• Main Author: GRAHAM PHILIP R
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 03.12.2015
• Subjects: CALCULATING; COMPUTING; CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE ORDIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; COUNTING; DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS OR METHODS, SPECIALLY ADAPTED FORADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORYOR FORECASTING PURPOSES; ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT OR PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLEDVEHICLES; ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES, IN GENERAL; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MEASURING; MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; NAVIGATION; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY; PHYSICS; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TOTHE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT; SURVEYING; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE,COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORY OR FORECASTINGPURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TESTING; TRANSPORTING; VEHICLES IN GENERAL

A method of preparing a car for travel is provided. The system incorporates a user's calendar into the vehicle's navigation system, synchronizes the on-board calendar with the calendar contained on the user's device (e.g., cellular phone, laptop computer, tablet computer, personal digital assistant, computer system, etc.), determines the locations corresponding to each of the appointments contained on the calendar, estimates the travel time between locations, and determines appropriate departure times corresponding to each appointment on the calendar. Using this information, the system may be configured to automatically activate a thermal management system or other auxiliary system prior to an intended departure time.