Patent Application
20120303254
This application relates to vehicles and more particularly to vehicle economy comparisons.
Current ways to compare vehicle economy involve having drivers compare the miles the vehicle travels for every gallon (liter) of gas used by the vehicle. Alternatively drivers can enter the mileage information and vehicle model on website which then can provide a comparison based upon the vehicle model and user supplied information.
Some drawbacks with these conventional systems include having the driver provide the information which introduces a source of error, requires the user to obtain and enter the information, and such systems do not account for circumstances that are completely or substantially out of the control of the driver.
What is needed is a system and method for comparing vehicle economy data that in some embodiments automatically provides economy data and information about circumstances that are completely or substantially out of the control of the driver and provides comparison results based upon these more accurate metrics.
A system and method for determining the driving conditions during a particular trip/period of interest and then comparing the vehicle economy information, e.g., miles per gallon, miles per charge, of a particular user to other drivers who were driving in similar situations. In one embodiment, a driving level is determined based upon the speed during the trip/period of interest and the number of stops during the trip/period of interest (or combining different sub-periods within the trip/period of interest). The speed/stop information can be used to identify the driving level or driving circumstances during the trip/period of interest. This information more accurately reflects the driver's skill in driving economically when compared to only using miles per gallon (mpg) information since mpg information does not account for one driver who drives in stop-and-go traffic and another driver who drives on uncongested freeways.
The features and advantages described in the specification are not all inclusive and, in particular, many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification, and claims. Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.
a)-(c) illustrate examples of methods for determining driving metrics to be used to determine a driving level in accordance with one embodiment.
a)-(b) illustrate examples of methods for comparing and providing feedback of vehicle economy for drivers with similar driving levels in accordance with one embodiment.
The figures depict various embodiments for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles described herein.
Embodiments are now described with reference to the figures where like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Also in the figures, the left most digit of each reference number corresponds to the figure in which the reference number is first used.
Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or to “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” or “an embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
In-vehicle VTU system 112 and wireless mobile communication device 102 may communicate with each other via a short-range communication link 109 which uses short-range communication technology, such as, for example, Bluetooth® technology or other short-range communication technology, for example, Universal Serial Bus (USB). In-vehicle system 112 and wireless mobile communication device 102 may connect, or pair, with each other via short-range communication link 109. In an embodiment the in vehicle system 112 can includes a communications unit 116 to assist in the short range communications, a memory unit device 114, and a processor 118. The VTU system 112 includes memory/storage 114, processor(s) 118 and communication unit(s) 116.
Processors 108, 118, 128 and/or 138 process data signals and may comprise various computing architectures including a complex instruction set computer (CISC) architecture, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture, or an architecture implementing a combination of instruction sets. Although only a single processor is shown in
Examples of a wireless mobile communication device (MCD) 102 include a cellular phone, personal device assistant (PDA), smart phone, pocket personal computer (PC), laptop computer, smart watch or other devices having a processor, communications capability and are easily transportable, for example. In a common form, the MCD 102 application could be part of a larger suite of vehicle features and interactions. Examples of applications include applications available for the iPhone™ that is commercially available from Apple Computer, Cupertino, Calif. applications for phones running the Android™ operating system that is commercially available from Google, Inc., Mountain View, Calif., applications for BlackBerry devices, available from RIM, Ontario Canada or applications available for Windows Mobile devices, available from Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash. In an embodiment the MCD 102 includes a communications unit 106 a memory unit device 104, and a processor 108. The MCD 102 has an operating system and can include various applications either integrated into the operating system or stored in memory/storage 104 and executed by the processor 108.
In alternate embodiments a mobile communication device 102 can be used in conjunction with a communication device embedded in the vehicle, such as a vehicle embedded phone, a wireless network card or other device (e.g., a Wi-Fi capable device). For ease of discussion the description herein describes the operation of the embodiments with respect to an embodiment using a mobile communication device 102. However, this is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments and it is envisioned that other embodiments operate using other communication systems between the in-vehicle system 112 and the network 120, as described above.
In-vehicle VTU system 112 may send information to wireless mobile communication device 102. Wireless mobile communication device 102 may send information to in-vehicle VTU system 112 via short-range communication link 109. Wireless mobile communication device 102 may store information received from in-vehicle system 112, and/or may provide the information to a remote processing device, such as, for example, server 122, via network 120. Remote server 122 can include a communications unit 126 to connect to the network 120, for example a memory/storage unit 124 and a processor 128.
In some embodiments, in-vehicle system 112 may provide information to the wireless mobile communication device 102. Wireless mobile communication device 102 may use that information to obtain additional information from network 120 and/or server 122. The additional information may also be obtained in response to providing information with respect to a prompt on wireless mobile communication device 102 from in-vehicle system 112.
Network 120 may include a wireless communication network, for example, a cellular telephony network, as well as one or more other networks, such as, the Internet, a public-switched telephone network (PSTN), a packet-switching network, a frame-relay network, a fiber-optic network, and/or other types/combinations of networks.
The remote server 122 includes a processor 128, examples of which are described above, and a communication unit 126 for communicating with the Network 120, for example. The remote server 122 also includes a memory module 124 that in embodiments can be volatile and/or non-volatile memory, e.g., the memory may be a storage device such as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium such as a hard drive, compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), DVD, or a solid-state memory device. The memory 124 can be physically part of the remote server 122 or can be remote from the remote server 122, e.g., communicatively coupled to the remote server 122 via a wired/wireless connection, via a local area network (LAN), via a wide area network (WAN), via the Network 120, etc. For ease of discussion the memory 124 is described herein as being part of the remote server 122. Additional details regarding the operation of the remote server are set forth herein.
The computer 132 can be any computing device capable of executing computer modules/code for the functions described herein. For example, the computer can be a personal computer (PC) running on a Windows operating system that is commercially available from Microsoft Corp, Redmond, Wash., a computer running the Mac OS (and variations of) that is commercially available from Apple Computer, Inc., Cupertino, Calif., or other operating systems, a personal device assistant (PDA), a smart phone, e.g., an iPhone, commercially available from Apple Computer Inc. or a phone running the Android operating system, commercially available from Google, Inc, Mountain View, Calif. Other examples include a smart-watch, at tablet computer, e.g., the iPad (commercially available from Apple Computer, Inc) or any other device that can communicate with a network. For ease of discussion, the computer 132 will be described as a personal computer. The computer 132 includes a processor 138, as described above, a communication unit 136 for communicating with the network, a memory module 134, such as the memory modules described herein and an input/output unit 139 that can include input devices, e.g., keyboard, touch screen, mouse and output devices, e.g., a display.
The processor 118 processes data signals and may comprise various computing architectures including a complex instruction set computer (CISC) architecture, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture, or an architecture implementing a combination of instruction sets. Although only a single processor is shown, multiple processors may be included. The processor 118 comprises an arithmetic logic unit, a microprocessor, a general purpose computer, or some other information appliance equipped to transmit, receive and process electronic data signals from the memory 114, the input device 204, the output device 206, the communications unit 116, and/or the position detection device 210.
The input device 204 is any device configured to provide user input to the telematics-navigation device 104 such as, a cursor controller or a keyboard. In one embodiment, the input device 204 can include an alphanumeric input device, such as a QWERTY keyboard, a key pad or representations of such created on a touch screen, adapted to communicate information and/or command selections to processor 118 or memory 114. In another embodiment, the input device 204 is a user input device equipped to communicate positional data as well as command selections to processor 118 such as a joystick, a mouse, a trackball, a stylus, a pen, a touch screen, cursor direction keys or other mechanisms to cause movement adjustment of an image.
The output device 206 represents any device equipped to display electronic images and data as described herein. Output device 206 may be, for example, an organic light emitting diode display (OLED), liquid crystal display (LCD), cathode ray tube (CRT) display, or any other similarly equipped display device, screen or monitor. In one embodiment, output device 206 is equipped with a touch screen in which a touch-sensitive, transparent panel covers the screen of output device 206. In one embodiment, the output device 206 is equipped with a speaker that outputs audio.
The communication unit 116 represents a device that allows the VTU system 112 to communicate with entities via the network 120. The position detection device 210 represents a device that communicates with a plurality of positioning satellites (e.g., GPS satellites) to determine the geographical location of the electric vehicle 102. In one embodiment, to determine the location of the vehicle 102, the position detection device 210 searches for and collects GPS information or signals from four or more GPS satellites that are in view of the position detection device 210. Using the time interval between the broadcast time and reception time of each signal, the position detection device 210 calculates the distance between the vehicle 102 and each of the four or more GPS satellites. These distance measurements, along with the position and time information received in the signals, allow the position detection device 210 to calculate the geographical location of the vehicle 102.
The memory 114 stores instructions and/or data that may be executed by processor 118. The instructions and/or data may comprise code for performing any and/or all of the techniques described herein. Memory 114 may be a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device, a static random access memory (SRAM) device, Flash RAM (non-volatile storage), combinations of the above, or some other memory device known in the art. The memory 114 includes a plurality of modules adapted to communicate with the processor 118, the input device 204, the output device 206, the communications unit 116, and/or the position detection device 210.
A navigation module 214 can include a map database 216 and is optional for various embodiments. In an embodiment the route module uses the location information determined by the position detection device 210 and the map database 216 to determine the type of roads on which the vehicle is traveling. This information can be used in some embodiments to assist in automatically determining the driving level by providing information on the types of roads used during the trip/period of interest.
A speed module 218 uses information from a data bus in the vehicle to identify the speed of the vehicle during the relevant period, as described below, the speed during the period can be used to determine the driving level of the vehicle during the trip/period of interest.
A driving level history module 220 stores information related to the driving levels of the vehicle during previous and current trips/periods of interest. The information can include information correlating particular driving levels to specific drivers.
An identification module 224 identifies the driver of the vehicle 102. The vehicle may be operated by a number of drivers. For example, if the vehicle belongs to a husband and wife, the typical drivers may be the husband and the wife. In one embodiment, when a calibration drive is initiated or a destination is entered as to where the driver of the vehicle 102 wishes to travel to, the identification module 224 determines who the driver of the vehicle is for the current trip. In one embodiment, the identification module 224 determines who the current driver is by presenting a list of possible drivers to the current driver and having the driver select his or her name from the list. In another embodiment, the identification module 224 determines who the current driver is by having the driver enter his or her name or an identification number assigned to the driver.
In one embodiment, each driver of the vehicle 102 has his/her own unique key with a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. The RFID tag stores an identification number assigned to the driver. When a trip/period is initiated or a during the trip/period of interest, the identification module 224 determines the current driver of the vehicle 102 by transmitting a signal to the RFID tag of the driver's key via the transceiver device 203. In response, the RFID tag transmits to the identification module 224 a signal that includes the driver's identification number. In another embodiment the user may be identified using cameras (e.g., face recognition), finger print recognition, weight sensors in the driver's seat or other identification techniques. In one embodiment, the identification information obtained by the identification module 224 is used by the calibration module 216 and the energy module 220 as is described below. The driver information can be used to separate a continuous driving period, e.g., the period driven under a single tank of gas, into personalized driving periods, each personalized driving period associated with those times with which a particular driver is operating the vehicle.
The input device 304 is any device configured to provide direct user input to the remote server 122 such as, a cursor controller or a keyboard. In one embodiment, the input device 204 can include an alphanumeric input device, such as a QWERTY keyboard, a key pad or representations of such created on a touch screen, adapted to communicate information and/or command selections to processor 128 or memory 124. In another embodiment, the input device 304 is a user input device equipped to communicate positional data as well as command selections to processor 118 such as a joystick, a mouse, a trackball, a stylus, a pen, a touch screen, cursor direction keys or other mechanisms to cause movement adjustment of an image.
The output device 306 represents any device equipped to display electronic images and data as described herein. Output device 306 may be, for example, an organic light emitting diode display (OLED), liquid crystal display (LCD), cathode ray tube (CRT) display, or any other similarly equipped display device, screen or monitor. In one embodiment, output device 306 is equipped with a touch screen in which a touch-sensitive, transparent panel covers the screen of output device 306. In one embodiment, the output device 306 is equipped with a speaker that outputs audio as described herein.
The communication unit 126 represents a device that allows the remote server 122 to communicate with entities via the network 120. The memory 124 stores instructions and/or data that may be executed by processor 128. The instructions and/or data may comprise code for performing any and/or all of the techniques described herein. Memory 124 may be a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device, a static random access memory (SRAM) device, Flash RAM (non-volatile storage), combinations of the above, or some other memory device known in the art. The memory 124 includes a plurality of modules adapted to communicate with the processor 128, the input device 304, the output device 306, and/or the communications unit 126.
A route module 314 can include a map database 216 and is optional for various embodiments. In an embodiment the route module uses the location information determined by the position detection device 210 in the vehicle and the map database 216 and/or 316 to determine the type of roads on which the vehicle is traveling. This information can be used in some embodiments to assist in automatically determining the driving level by providing information on the types of roads used during the trip/period of interest.
In some embodiments, a speed module 318 uses information received via the network 120 from a data bus in the vehicle to identify the speed of the vehicle during the relevant period, as described below, the speed during the period can be used to determine the driving level of the vehicle during the trip/period of interest.
A driving level history module 320 stores information related to the driving levels of the vehicles during previous and current trips/periods of interest. The information can include information correlating particular driving levels to specific drivers. A vehicle/driver database 324 stores information related to particular vehicles and drivers which can be associated with information in the driving level history module 320. While the various modules in
As described above, current methods to compare vehicle economy involve having drivers compare the miles the vehicle travels for every gallon (liter) of gas used by the vehicle. Alternatively drivers can enter the mileage information and vehicle model on website which then can provide a comparison based upon the vehicle model and user supplied information.
Some drawbacks with these conventional systems include requiring the driver provide the information which introduces a source of error and such systems do not account for circumstances that are completely or substantially out of the control of the driver.
The embodiments described herein compare vehicle economy data that in some embodiments automatically provides economy data and information about circumstances that are completely or substantially out of the control of the driver and provides comparison results based upon these more accurate metrics.
More particularly, various embodiments described herein solve these problems by determining the driving conditions during a particular trip/period of interest and then comparing the vehicle economy information, e.g., miles per gallon, miles per charge, of a particular user to other drivers who were driving in similar situations. In one embodiment, a driving level is determined based upon the speed during the trip/period of interest and the number of stops during the trip/period of interest (or combining different sub-periods within the trip/period of interest). The speed/stop information can be used to identify the driving level or driving circumstances during the trip/period of interest. This information more accurately reflects the driver's skill in driving economically when compared to only using basic miles per gallon (mpg) information since mpg information does not account for one driver who drives in stop-and-go traffic and another driver who drives on uncongested freeways. The information about vehicle performance can be automatically collected at a remote server 122 or on board the vehicle in the VTU 112 in response to a request from a user or automatically without a request from the user in various embodiments.
The VTU 112 collects data 402 related to one or more driving events, e.g., the time/status of a gas fill up/recharge, the arrival at a destination etc. Merely for ease of discussion, the following discussion will presume the data will be used for only a single driving event.
The speed module 218 in the VTU 112 collects speed data from the vehicle and determines 404 speed event rates of the vehicle which will be correlated to the driving event. This can be seen with reference to
The speed module 218 also determines the number of “stops” by the vehicle during the driving event. A “stop” can be defined as the vehicle not moving or can be defined as the period during which the vehicle is moving slower than a threshold speed, e.g., less than 5 mph. The stops can be measured in a variety of ways. For example, one stop can be counted every time the vehicle's speed transitions from above the threshold to less than the threshold. Alternatively, a stop measurement can be based upon the time spent with the vehicle traveling below the threshold speed. In this example, every time the vehicle's speed transitions from above the threshold to less than the threshold during the driving event the speed module increments a stop counter by one. The rate of identified stops is determined 406 by the speed module 218. In the example above and as illustrated in
The driving level history module 220 identifies 410 the driving level of the vehicle/driver during the driving event. In one example the driving level is based upon the average speed and stop rate during the driving event. In the example illustrated in
In the example illustrated in
In the above example, the driving event had an average speed of 25 mph and a stop rate of 0.2 stops/minute which corresponds in this example to a “medium” stop rate. This most closely matches driving level A, which is “Driving around town.”
In alternate embodiments multiple drivers may drive the vehicle during a particular driving event. The identification module 224 can identify the driver at different periods during the driving event. In various embodiments the driving level can be separated so as to identify only those portions of the driving event driven by each driver so a driving level and vehicle economy can be determined for each driver during the driving event. For example, if a driving event is the time between fillings of the gas tank, a husband and wife may each drive the vehicle. The identification module 224 can identify the driver using, for example, the techniques described herein. In this example, the husband may drive 200 miles and the wife 100 miles. The speed module 218 can identify the average speed and stop rate during the 200 miles driven by the husband and the average speed and stop rate during the 100 miles driven by the wife. The driving level for the husband and wife can be determined, and can be different from each other. The driving level history module 220 can determine the vehicle economy during the husband's 200 miles and the wife's 100 miles. This information can be sent to the remote server 122 and treated as separate driving events.
In another embodiment, the navigation module 214 can use the GPS information and the map database 216 to identify the types of roads that the driver is driving on. This information can be used in conjunction with the average speed and/or stop rate to determine a driving level.
In the above example, the speed module 218 and driving event history module 220 determines the various values. However, in alternate embodiments these determinations can be done remotely from the vehicle. In an embodiment these determinations are done at the remote server using the speed module 318 and driving event history module 320.
The driving level is sent to the remote server 122, or is determined by the remote server 122, and the vehicle economy information from step 408 is received by the remote server 122. The remote server then compares 412 the vehicle economy with similar drivers.
a)-(b) illustrate examples of methods for comparing and providing feedback of vehicle economy for drivers with similar driving levels in accordance with one embodiment.
As described above, this more specific comparison provides a more accurate assessment of the how the driver's driving style affects the vehicle economy since the comparison accounts for the driving level/the type of roads based on the average speed and stop rate, for example. In alternate embodiments, the speed alone can be used to classify the driving condition (a different (smaller or larger) set of driving levels can also be used). In another embodiment, a vehicle may include proximity sensors that can detect the position of nearby vehicles and this proximity information can be used by itself or in conjunction with additional information, e.g., speed and/or stop information, to classify the driving conditions.
The user accesses a computer 132 that is coupled to the remote server 122 via the network 120, for example, to access the comparison information. Alternatively, the user can receive the information in the vehicle. In alternate embodiments, the information is automatically sent to the user, for example, via a text message, email or to the vehicle. The functions described herein as being performed by the computer 132 can be performed via an application executed by a Smartphone or PDA, for example. For ease of discussion, the example herein will be based upon the user accessing the Internet from computer 132 and requesting information about vehicle economy comparisons. The user accesses the computer 132 and a webpage is displayed in the display unit 139 showing a comparison of the vehicle economy.
Returning to
Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or to “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” or “an embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
Some portions of the detailed description are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps (instructions) leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical, magnetic or optical signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared and otherwise manipulated. It is convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. Furthermore, it is also convenient at times, to refer to certain arrangements of steps requiring physical manipulations or transformation of physical quantities or representations of physical quantities as modules or code devices, without loss of generality. In this example, the tips to improve include “Take advantage of the downhill slopes by applying less throttle. Gravity can assist you.” In addition, a summary of the vehicle economy over multiple vehicle events or a particular duration/mileage etc can also be shown in the user interface 900. As an example, vehicle economy over the previous three month period is shown 906 along with tips to improve the vehicle economy.
As described above, the embodiments described herein compare vehicle economy data that in some embodiments automatically provides economy data and information about circumstances that are completely or substantially out of the control of the driver and provides comparison results based upon these more accurate metrics.
More particularly, various embodiments described herein solve these problems by determining the driving conditions during a particular trip/period of interest and then comparing the vehicle economy information, e.g., miles per gallon, miles per charge, of a particular user to other drivers who were driving in similar situations. In one embodiment, a driving level is determined based upon the speed during the trip/period of interest and the number of stops during the trip/period of interest (or combining different sub-periods within the trip/period of interest). The speed/stop information can be used to identify the driving level or driving circumstances during the trip/period of interest. This information more accurately reflects the driver's skill in driving economically when compared to only using basic miles per gallon (mpg) information since mpg information does not account for one driver who drives in stop-and-go traffic and another driver who drives on uncongested freeways.
However, all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or “determining” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device (such as a specific computing machine), that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.
Certain aspects of the embodiments include process steps and instructions described herein in the form of an algorithm. It should be noted that the process steps and instructions of the embodiments could be embodied in software, firmware or hardware, and when embodied in software, could be downloaded to reside on and be operated from different platforms used by a variety of operating systems. The embodiment can also be in a computer program product which can be executed on a computing system.
The embodiments also relate to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the purposes, e.g., a specific computer, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus. Memory can include any of the above and/or other devices that can store information/data/programs and can be transient or non-transient medium. Furthermore, the computers referred to in the specification may include a single processor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.
The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may also be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the method steps. The structure for a variety of these systems will appear from the description herein. In addition, the embodiment is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the embodiments as described herein, and any references herein to specific languages are provided for disclosure of enablement and best mode of the embodiments.
In addition, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments are intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the embodiments.
While particular embodiments and applications of the embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it is to be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the precise construction and components disclosed herein and that various modifications, changes, and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation, and details of the methods and apparatuses of the embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments.
