Patent ID: 9669840
Date: 2017-06-06
CPC Classifications: B60K,B60W

Claim:
1. A method of controlling the output of information to a driver of a vehicle, the method comprising the following steps performed by a control system of the vehicle: monitoring, via a workload estimator module of the control system, at least one operating parameter of the vehicle, wherein the at least one operating parameter specifies an operational status or an operating range of one or more associated vehicle systems; estimating, via the workload estimator module, a driver workload based on the at least one operating parameter; controlling output of information to the driver, via a message management module of the control system, based on the estimated driver workload, wherein the driver workload is estimated with reference to a plurality of thresholds which define a plurality of driver workload ratings; presenting, via at least one output device of the vehicle, one or more messages to the driver based on a current driver workload rating, wherein the at least one output device comprises at least one of an audio output device, a haptic output device, and a visual output device; and periodically changing the current workload rating, via a conditioning module of the control system, to one or more of the workload ratings having a lower rating than the current workload rating, irrespective of the current estimated driver workload.