Patent ID: 8731815

Claim:
A method for controlling a vehicle using holistic cybernetic vehicle control to prevent collisions, the vehicle having a human operator and a vehicle control system comprising manual controls, a computer, sensors, control actuators, and other information delivery apparatus, the method comprising: using at least one of the sensors to monitor the vehicle's external environment and provide input to the computer; using at least one of the sensors to monitor the operator and provide input to the computer; using the computer to identify a potential threat based on data from at least one of the sensors; using the computer to determine action to be taken by at least one of the control actuators; using the computer to control the at least one control actuator to provide suggested vehicle control actions through the manual controls; delivering the suggested actions to the human operator through the actuated manual controls and other information delivery apparatus of the vehicle; modifying the actuated vehicle control actions and other information delivery apparatus in response to additional input from the at least one sensor to provide further suggested actions to the operator; allowing the operator to override the suggested actions of the holistic cybernetic vehicle control when the operator deems such action necessary; and actions of said holistic cybernetic vehicle control including: bias against movement of said manual controls; movement of said manual controls; modification of controls to affect vehicle movement; flashing vehicle lights to communicate with operators of other vehicles; vehicle speed adjustment based on movement and distance to other vehicles; vehicle speed adjustment based on the position of nonmoving objects; vehicle speed adjustment based on sensed road conditions; and vehicle separation adjustment based on vehicle speed and the speed of other vehicles.