Patent Application
20160078692
This application claims foreign priority to United Kingdom Patent Application 1416318.2, filed 16 Sep. 2014, the complete disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
The present disclosure relates to vehicular data. More particularly, it relates to a method and system for collating vehicular data and analysing the data to generate processed vehicle data to be shared with multiple users.
On-board diagnostics (OBD) is an automotive term referring to self-diagnostic and reporting capability of a vehicle. OBD systems provide a vehicle owner or repair technician access to the status of the various vehicle sub-systems. Modern OBD implementations use a standardized digital communications port to provide real-time data in addition to a standardized series of diagnostic trouble codes, or DTCs, which allow one to rapidly identify and remedy malfunctions within the vehicle. Controller Area Network (CAN) bus is a vehicle bus standard designed to allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other within a vehicle without a host computer. CAN bus is a message-based protocol, designed specifically for automotive applications but now also used in other areas such as aerospace, maritime, industrial automation and medical equipment.
A typical on-board diagnostics (OBD) device may be configured to interface with an OBD port of a vehicle and receive power and data communications therefrom. The OBD device may comprise computer circuitry configured to receive time, location, and/or distance information associated with a journey taken by the vehicle, the information being received through the OBD port of the vehicle. The computer circuitry may be configured to communicate with a computing device disposed within the vehicle over a local area network when the OBD device is connected to the OBD port. Also, the computer circuitry may be configured to communicate the journey information received from the vehicle to a data cloud external to the vehicle.
The vehicle may further include a GPS receiver. The GPS receiver may be electrically coupled to an antenna external to the OBD device. The computer circuitry may be configured to communicate with external computing devices including the cloud over a 3G/4G, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection. The computer circuitry may be configured to transmit odometer information to the external computing devices. Furthermore, the one or more external computing devices may be smartphones.
A process of communicating vehicle information may include receiving odometer, time, and/or location information from an on-board diagnostics (OBD) system of a vehicle over a wired connection; communicatively linking wirelessly with a mobile computing device disposed within the vehicle; and transmitting the odometer, time, and/or location information over the wireless link while the vehicle is in transit.
An intelligent cloud-based system for detecting and monitoring vehicular traffic is also known. Such a system generally comprises a cloud server and an on-board terminal. A fleet of cloud servers may be deployed. The reason for using a cloud based solution is to scale up or down depending on the demand and volume of traffic data. The on-board terminal is configured to acquire vehicle parameters and vehicle component running state parameters through one or more OBD sensors, acquire vehicle location information through a GPS module and send the information to the cloud server. The GPS module may be external to the vehicle or may be a GPS device already installed in the vehicle. The cloud server is configured to receive and analyse the vehicle parameters and location information. Data resulting from the analysis may be transmitted back to the on-board terminal. For example, a comparison may be conducted according to stored reference data of different types of vehicles. Signals may be generated if it is determined that vehicles are running abnormally, and fault guide information may be generated according to the location information of the vehicles and stored information of maps and garages. The information transmitted to the on-board terminal can be used to remind drivers when detecting abnormal vehicle conditions, and other abnormalities.
In view of the above, there are many situations where it would be desirable to share data obtained from the vehicle parameters and location information with other users. An improved system for providing transport information to a user would therefore be desirable.
The present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method for providing transport information to a plurality of user computing devices. The method is performed by a cloud computing system and includes operating a processor associated with the cloud computing system to: analyse vehicle data collated from one or more vehicles remote from the cloud computing system to generate processed vehicle data; and configure the processed vehicle data to be accessed through a portal of each of the user computing devices.
Also provided is a cloud computing system configured to deliver processed vehicle data to a plurality of user computing devices; the cloud computing system includes: a memory; and a processor configured to perform the method described just above.
The present disclosure further provides a computing device configured to receive processed vehicle data from a cloud computing system as described just above. The computing device includes a processor and a display configured to display the processed vehicle data. The computing device is remote from the cloud computing system.
The present disclosure even further provides a computer-readable medium including non-transitory instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to carry out the method described just above.
Advantageous features are provided in the dependent claims.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to an exemplary system for collating and analysing vehicular data and analysing the data to generate processed vehicle data to be shared with multiple users. It will be understood that the exemplary system is provided to assist in an understanding of the present teaching and is not to be construed as limiting in any fashion. Furthermore, modules or elements that are described with reference to any one Figure may be interchanged with those of other Figures or other equivalent elements without departing from the spirit of the present teaching.
In at least one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method for providing transport information to a plurality of user computing devices, the method being performed by a cloud computing system and comprising operating a processor associated with the cloud computing system to: analyse vehicle data collated from one or more vehicles remote from the cloud computing system to generate processed vehicle data; and configure the processed vehicle data to be accessed through a portal of each of the user computing devices. The vehicle data may comprise at least one of vehicle metrics, on-board diagnostic (OBD) data and GPS data. The vehicle metrics may comprise for example, torque, engine speed, vehicle speed, odometer reading, and the like. The vehicle metrics constitute vehicle information other than data related to vehicle diagnostic data and is thus distinct from OBD data.
The step of collating vehicle data from one or more vehicles is known to those skilled in the art. Such a system generally comprises a cloud server and an on-board terminal in each of the vehicles. Such architecture is generally well known in the art. The on-board terminal in the vehicle is configured to acquire vehicle parameters and vehicle component running state parameters through one or more OBD sensors, acquire vehicle location information through a GPS module and send the vehicle data to the cloud server. The cloud server is configured to receive and analyse the vehicle parameters and location information. Data resulting from the analysis may be transmitted back as processed data to the on-board terminal. The processed data may be in the form of vehicular analysis data and/or transport information as described below.
Each of the vehicles 100 may have a portal disposed therein through which the processed vehicle data can be accessed. For example the portal may comprise a display 107. The display 107 may be operatively connected to the OBD port 108. The display 107 may include a screen or any other such presentation device that enables the user of the vehicle 100 to view various options, parameters, and results. For example, the display may be configured to display the vehicle data referred to above, and to display vehicular analysis data and/or transport information generated at the cloud server 200. The display 107 may be a digital display such as an LED display, and may include a graphical user interface. For example, the display 107 may be a touch screen display in which a graphical user interface may be integrated. Each of the one or more external computing devices 300 and the vehicles 100 may be configured to run an application which implements the methods of the present disclosure. For example, the methods may be primarily aimed at users of mobile devices such as smartphones. The methods may be embodied as part of an application or ‘app’ on a mobile device.
The cloud server 200 may be an Internet-based computing environment, and may be configured to be accessible by the vehicle 100, for example by a telematics unit, via the Internet or the world-wide-web. The cloud server 200 may be configured to receive data from the OBD port 108 of the vehicle 100 via the vehicle interface 106. The cloud server 200 may include suitable physical and/or virtual hardware operatively coupled over a network so as to perform specific computing tasks, such as tasks related to the examples of the method disclosed herein. For example, the cloud server 200 may include a processor 201, memory device(s) 202, and communication interface 240. The processor 201 may be configured to run software 260 such as an application which implements the methods according to the present disclosure. The application may include computer readable code embedded on a non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium. The application may be a type of social media application configured to run on the external computing devices 300. The application may be configured for execution by a processor of each of the vehicles 100 to display vehicular analysis data and/or transport information on the display 107 of the respective vehicle 100.
The memory device(s) 202 of the cloud server 200 may be configured to store the application and other software. The memory device(s) 202 may also be configured to store information such as the vehicle data obtained from the vehicle 100. The vehicle data received at the cloud server 200 is analysed by the processor 201 to generate processed vehicle data. The processed vehicle data may be provided to a user computing device located in a vehicle from which the vehicle data is collected. Alternatively, the processed vehicle data may be provided to a user computing device remote from the vehicle from which the vehicle data is collected. The processed vehicle data may be accessed via a portal of each of a plurality of user computing devices. It will thus be understood by those skilled in the art that vehicle data obtained from a plurality of vehicles may be used to generate processed vehicle data configured to be shared with multiple users. The processed vehicle data may comprise at least one of trip statements, trip behaviour, and trip trading options, and other applications which are described below. The processed vehicle data may be displayed on the display 107 in the vehicle, as illustrated in
As mentioned above, the processed vehicle data may be configured to be accessed via a portal of each of a plurality of external computing devices 300. For example, the processed vehicle data may be configured to be displayed on the external computing devices 300 via an application or app configured to present the data in a manner similar to that displayed on the display 107 of the vehicle 100. The application may be a social media application configured to run on mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, or the like. This allows other users in other situations outside of vehicles to view the processed vehicle data on their own device. For instance, a user B running the application on their mobile device may be able to see processed vehicle data generated from another user A who is driving a vehicle, wherein the users A and B are remote from each other.
Referring to
The vehicle data may be analysed to generate other transport options as follows. For example, in a social media implementation in which there are multiple users, the cloud server 200 may process vehicle data from a plurality of users and push route recommendations to users. For example, if there is traffic congestion on a user's usual commuting route from ABC to XYZ based on vehicle data collected from a plurality of users, the cloud server 200 may recommend another less congested route. The cloud server 200 may also recommend other routes which may be more fuel efficient or having a shorter trip time.
In another application, the cloud server 200 may be configured to locate the vehicle based on vehicle data collected from the vehicle 100. The cloud server 200 may also be configured to use vehicle data to locate the vehicle 100 based on relative movement of the vehicle 100 compared to other vehicles on the same route. In the event of vehicle breakdown or emergency, the cloud server 200 may be configured in this scenario to send “Vehicle Breakdown Assistance” with an exact location, to a nearby breakdown assistance company.
In another application, if a driver of a vehicle 100 wants to make their vehicle location public, the cloud server 200 may be configured to circulate a link of their current route via email or social media to others. This enables others to determine the estimated arrival time of the driver. In another example, the processed vehicle data may be exported to third parties. The third parties may include insurance companies such as vehicle insurance companies. This enables, for example, car insurance companies to determine the driving habits of a driver from the processed vehicle data and offer better insurance rates if the driving habits compare favourably with those of other drivers.
One or more software modules 260 may be encoded in the memory 202. The one or more software modules 260 may comprise one or more software programs or applications 261 having computer program code or a set of instructions configured to be executed by the processor 201. Such computer program code or instructions for carrying out operations for aspects of the systems and methods disclosed herein may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages.
The one or more software modules 260 may include an application 261 configured to be executed by the processor 201. During execution of the application 261, the processor 201 configures the cloud server 200 to perform various operations relating to the facilitating and processing of steps according to embodiments of the present disclosure, as has been described above.
Other information and/or data relevant to the operation of the present systems and methods, such as a database 270, may also be stored on the memory 202. The database 270 may contain and/or maintain various data items and elements that are utilized throughout the various operations of the system described above. The information stored in the database 270 may include vehicle data such as the OBD data described above, and the vehicular analysis data and/or transport information generated from the vehicle data. It should be noted that although the database 270 is depicted as being configured locally to the cloud server 200, in certain implementations the database 270 and/or various other data elements stored therein may be located remotely. Such elements may be located on a remote device or server—not shown, and connected to the cloud server 200 through a network in a manner known to those skilled in the art, in order to be loaded into a processor and executed.
Further, the program code of the software modules 260 and one or more computer readable storage devices (such as the memory 202) form a computer program product that may be manufactured and/or distributed in accordance with the present disclosure, as is known to those of skill in the art.
The communication interface 240 is also operatively connected to the processor 201 and may be any interface that enables communication between the cloud server 200 and external devices, machines and/or elements including the external computing devices 300. The communication interface 240 is configured for transmitting and/or receiving data. For example, the communication interface 240 may include but is not limited to a Bluetooth, or cellular transceiver, a satellite communication transmitter/receiver, an optical port and/or any other such, interfaces for wirelessly connecting the cloud server 200 to the one or more external computing devices 300 and vehicles 100. Vehicle data received from the vehicle 100 via the vehicle interface module 106 may be communicated to the cloud server 200 via the communication interface 240. Similarly processed vehicle data generated from the vehicle data may be communicated to the vehicles 100 and the external computing devices 300 via the communication interface 240.
The operation of the cloud server 200 and the various elements and components described above will be understood by those skilled in the art with reference to the methods and systems according to the present disclosure. The methods and systems according to the present disclosure provide a user-friendly interactive means of sharing processed vehicle data between multiple users. Vehicle data obtained from a plurality of vehicles may be used to generate processed vehicle data configured to be shared with multiple users.
The present disclosure is not limited to the embodiment(s) described herein but can be amended or modified without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, it will be appreciated that in embodiments of the present disclosure some of the above-described steps may be omitted and/or performed in an order other than that described.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1416318.2 | Sep 2014 | GB | national |
