Vehicle health check via noise and vibration level

• US 10,055,903 B2
• Filed: 06/09/2016
• Issued: 08/21/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Koons, Douglas R., Auden, Joshua R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lin, Abby Y
• Application Number:
  US15/177,705
• Publication Number:
  US 20170358151A1
• Time in Patent Office: 803 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/00 Purposes of road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub-unit, e.g. of systems using conjoint control of vehicle sub-units
• CPC Class Codes: G01H 1/00 Measuring characteristics of vibrations in solids by using direct conduction to the detector G01H9/00, G01H11/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/08 Registering or indicating performance data other than driving, working, idle, or waiting time, with or without registering driving, working, idle or waiting time
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005

Abstract

Technical solutions are described for autonomously monitoring health of a vehicle, such as a car, a truck and so on. An example computer-implemented method includes receiving sensor data of the vehicle. For example, the sensor data includes vibration data and microphone data. The vibration data measures vibration experienced by an occupant of the vehicle. The microphone data measures noises experienced by the occupant, including noises emanated by the vehicle. The method further includes accessing a predetermined performance data of the vehicle and determining a difference in the received sensor data and the predetermined performance data. The method further includes transmitting a notification of condition of the vehicle in response to the difference surpassing a predetermined threshold.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for autonomously monitoring the health of a vehicle, the computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving vehicle sensor data comprising at least one from among vibration data of the vehicle and noise data of the vehicle, wherein the vibration data comprises measurements of vibration experienced by one or more components of the vehicle and the noise data comprises measurements of sound pressure levels associated with the vehicle, the vehicle sensor data received from a first set of sensors in the vehicle;

accessing vehicle performance data comprising at least one from among predetermined vibration performance data of the vehicle and predetermined noise performance data of the vehicle, the vehicle performance data collected over a predetermined period of time;

determining a difference in the received vehicle sensor data and the predetermined vehicle performance data;

in response to the difference being indicative of a performance degradation;

autonomously diagnosing the health of the vehicle by comparing component sensor data associated with one or more components to determine a cause of the difference based on a pattern of the received vehicle sensor data, the autonomous diagnosing comprising;

requesting and receiving component sensor data from a second set of sensors that is associated with a specific component; and

determining a performance degradation of the specific component by comparing the component sensor data with predetermined component performance data; and

transmitting a notification to an autonomous vehicle controller associated with the vehicle to navigate the vehicle in response to a diagnosis of the performance degradation of the specific component.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the vibration data comprises measurements from a vibration sensor mounted in communication with a seat track of the vehicle.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the vibration data comprises measurements from a vibration sensor mounted in communication with one of steering wheel and a steering column of the vehicle.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising detecting a tire condition based on the determined difference, wherein the predetermined vibration performance data comprises validated vibration data.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising detecting a powertrain condition based on the determined difference, wherein the predetermined vibration performance data comprises validated powertrain vibration data.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein accessing the predetermined vibration performance data comprises:

determining a type of the vehicle; and

accessing the predetermined vibration performance data associated with the determined type of the vehicle.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the type of the vehicle is determined based on a vehicle identifier associated with the vehicle.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the notification commands the autonomous vehicle controller to navigate the vehicle to a service facility.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the noise data comprises measurements from a microphone mounted in communication with a seat track of the vehicle.

10. An apparatus for autonomously monitoring the health of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

a memory;

a communication interface; and

a processor communicably coupled with the memory and the communication interface, wherein the processor is further configured to;

receive vibration data of the vehicle, wherein the vibration data comprises measurement of vibration of one or more components of the vehicle, the vibration data received from a first set of sensors in the vehicle;

access a predetermined vibration performance data of the vehicle;

determine a difference in the received vibration data and the predetermined vibration performance data;

in response to the difference being indicative of a performance degradation;

autonomously diagnosing the health of the vehicle by comparing component sensor data associated with one or more components to determine a cause of the difference based on a pattern of the received vibration data, wherein for the autonomous diagnosis the processor is configured to;

request and receive component vibration data from a second set of sensors that is associated with a specific component; and

determine a performance degradation of the specific component by comparing the component vibration data with predetermined component vibration performance data; and

transmit a notification to an autonomous vehicle controller associated with the vehicle to navigate the vehicle in response to a diagnosis of the performance degradation of the specific component.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the vibration data comprises measurements from a vibration sensor mounted in communication with a seat track of the vehicle.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the vibration data comprises measurements from a vibration sensor mounted in communication with a suspension of the vehicle.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to detect a driveline malfunction based on the determined difference, wherein the predetermined vibration performance data comprises validated driveline vibration data.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the predetermined vibration performance data is accessed based on a type of the vehicle.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the difference is a first difference, and the processor is further configured to:

receive noise data of the vehicle, wherein the noise data comprises measurements of noise experienced by an occupant of the vehicle;

access a predetermined noise performance data of the vehicle;

determine a second difference in the received noise data and the predetermined noise performance data; and

transmit the notification in response to the first difference being indicative of the performance degradation, and the second difference being indicative of the performance degradation.

16. A computer-program product for autonomously monitoring the health of a vehicle, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the computer readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions, wherein the computer readable storage medium comprises instructions to:

receive vibration data of the vehicle, wherein the vibration data comprises measurement of vibration experienced by an occupant of the vehicle;

access a predetermined vibration performance data of the vehicle;

determine a difference in the received vibration data and the predetermined vibration performance data;

in response to the difference being indicative of a performance

degradation;

autonomously diagnose the health of the vehicle by comparing component sensor data associated with one or more components to determine a cause of the difference based on a pattern of the received vibration data, the autonomous diagnosing comprising instructions to;

request and receive component vibration data from a second set of sensors that is associated with specific component; and

determine a performance degradation of the specific component by comparing the component vibration data with predetermined component vibration performance data; and

transmit a notification to an autonomous vehicle controller associated with the vehicle to navigate the vehicle in response to a diagnosis of the performance degradation of the specific component.

17. The computer-program product of claim 16, wherein the vibration data comprises measurements from a vibration sensor and a speed of the vehicle at which the measurements are recorded.

18. The computer-program product of claim 16, wherein the difference is a first difference, and the computer readable storage medium further comprises instructions to:

receive noise data of the vehicle, wherein the noise data comprises measurement of noise experienced by an occupant of the vehicle;

access a predetermined noise performance data of the vehicle;

determine a second difference in the received noise data and the predetermined noise performance data; and

transmit the notification in response to the first difference being indicative of the performance degradation, and the second difference being indicative of the performance degradation.

19. The computer-program product of claim 18, wherein the noise data comprises noise measurements captured by a sound pressure level measurement device located inside the vehicle.

20. The computer-program product of claim 18, wherein the noise data comprises noise measurements captured by a sound pressure level measurement device located outside the vehicle.