Patent attributes
An apparatus comprising an interface and a processor. The interface may be configured to receive pixel data of an exterior environment of a vehicle. The processor may be configured to process the pixel data arranged as video frames, perform computer vision operations to detect objects in the video frames, extract characteristics about the objects detected, determine driving conditions in response to an analysis of the characteristics and generate a control signal. The control signal may be configured to perform a gear shift. The driving conditions may be used to predict a future drivetrain configuration of the vehicle. The gear shift may be performed if a comparison of the future drivetrain configuration with a current drivetrain configuration of the vehicle meets a threshold condition. The gear shift may not be performed if the comparison does not meet the threshold condition.