Method and apparatus for identifying a cause for a fuel inefficiency of a vehicle via a network

• US 10,144,434 B2
• Filed: 12/04/2015
• Issued: 12/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Smith, Taylor, Dabholkar, Abhay, Drotar, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Hutchinson, Alan D
• Application Number:
  US14/960,307
• Publication Number:
  US 20170158203A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,096 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance

Abstract

A method and apparatus for identifying a cause for a fuel inefficiency of a vehicle are disclosed. For example, the method categorizes a plurality of vehicles into a plurality of peer groups, determines for each peer group a baseline of a vehicle operation efficiency, determines for each peer group a baseline of driving behavior, identifies at least one vehicle with a vehicle operation efficiency in one peer group of the plurality of peer groups that is an outlier as compared to the baseline of the vehicle operation efficiency associated with the one peer group, determines whether a driving behavior of a driver driving the at least one vehicle is an outlier as compared to the baseline of the driving behavior associated with the one peer group, and identifies a cause for the vehicle operation efficiency being an outlier.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

categorizing, via a processor, a plurality of vehicles into a plurality of peer groups, wherein the categorizing of a vehicle of the plurality of vehicles is based on at least one of;

a weight of the vehicle and a population density at a location wherein the vehicle is operated;

determining, via the processor, for each peer group of the plurality of peer groups, a baseline of a vehicle operation efficiency;

determining, via the processor, for each peer group of the plurality of peer groups, a baseline of driving behavior, wherein the baseline of the driving behavior that is determined comprises one or more of;

a behavior associated with speeding, a behavior associated with braking, a behavior associated with accelerating, a behavior associated with tailgating, a behavior associated with stopping and going, and a behavior associated with lane changing;

identifying, via the processor, at least one vehicle with a vehicle operation efficiency in one peer group of the plurality of peer groups that is a vehicle operation efficiency outlier as compared to the baseline of the vehicle operation efficiency associated with the one peer group;

determining, via the processor, whether a driving behavior of a driver driving the at least one vehicle is a driving behavior outlier as compared to the baseline of the driving behavior associated with the one peer group;

identifying, via the processor, for the at least one vehicle, the driving behavior of the driver driving the vehicle as being a cause for the vehicle operation efficiency being identified as the vehicle operation efficiency outlier, when the driving behavior of the driver driving the vehicle is determined to be the driving behavior outlier, or identifying for the at least one vehicle, a need for maintenance of the vehicle as being the cause for the vehicle operation efficiency being identified as the vehicle operation efficiency outlier, when the driving behavior of the driver driving the vehicle is not determined to be the driving behavior outlier; and

providing, via the processor, an output, wherein the output comprises the at least one vehicle in a list of vehicles with vehicle operation efficiencies and, for each vehicle in the list of vehicles, the cause for the vehicle operation efficiency being determined to be the vehicle operation efficiency outlier.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, via the processor, for each peer group of the plurality of peer groups, a model driving behavior.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

providing, via the processor, for each peer group of the plurality of peer groups, the model driving behavior that is determined, to a customer.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the baseline of the vehicle operation efficiency that is determined comprises one or more of:

an average of miles traveled per gallon of fuel for all vehicles in each peer group, a median of miles traveled per gallon of fuel for all vehicles in each peer group, and a probability distribution of miles traveled per gallon of fuel for all vehicles in each peer group.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the baseline of the vehicle operation efficiency is determined in accordance with data obtained from one or more sources, wherein the data that is obtained comprises one or more of:

refueling data, maintenance data, sensor data, and weather data.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the refueling data is obtained from a database of a customer.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the refueling data is obtained directly from the plurality of vehicles.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the refueling data is obtained from a financial transaction database.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the financial transaction database contains one or more of:

pre-paid card records, debit card records, credit card records, and expense account records.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the maintenance data is obtained from one or more of:

a customer database, a database of a maintenance service provider of a customer, and the plurality of vehicles.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the sensor data comprises one or more of:

maintenance data, an average revolutions per minute of an engine, an average speed of a vehicle, a median speed of a vehicle, a distribution of a speed of a vehicle, a number of stops and starts by a vehicle, a frequency of braking per a pre-determined period of time, a number of times of hard-braking action per a pre-determined period of time, a percentage of time spent idling, and a number of times a vehicle slows down and then accelerates.

12. The method of claim 5, wherein the weather data is obtained from a database of a weather service provider.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is a truck, a trailer, a sports utility vehicle, a van, a car or a motorcycle.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

categorizing a plurality of vehicles into a plurality of peer groups, wherein the categorizing of a vehicle of the plurality of vehicles is based on at least one of;

a weight of the vehicle and a population density at a location wherein the vehicle is operated;

determining for each peer group of the plurality of peer groups, a baseline of a vehicle operation efficiency;

determining for each peer group of the plurality of peer groups, a baseline of driving behavior, wherein the baseline of the driving behavior that is determined comprises one or more of;

a behavior associated with speeding, a behavior associated with braking, a behavior associated with accelerating, a behavior associated with tailgating, a behavior associated with stopping and going, and a behavior associated with lane changing;

identifying at least one vehicle with a vehicle operation efficiency in one peer group of the plurality of peer groups that is a vehicle operation efficiency outlier as compared to the baseline of the vehicle operation efficiency associated with the one peer group;

determining whether a driving behavior of a driver driving the at least one vehicle is a driving behavior outlier as compared to the baseline of the driving behavior associated with the one peer group;

identifying for the at least one vehicle, the driving behavior of the driver driving the vehicle as being a cause for the vehicle operation efficiency being identified as the vehicle operation efficiency outlier, when the driving behavior of the driver driving the vehicle is determined to be the driving behavior outlier, or identifying for the at least one vehicle, a need for maintenance of the vehicle as being the cause for the vehicle operation efficiency being identified as the vehicle operation efficiency outlier, when the driving behavior of the driver driving the vehicle is not determined to be the driving behavior outlier; and

providing an output, wherein the output comprises the at least one vehicle in a list of vehicles with vehicle operation efficiencies and, for each vehicle in the list of vehicles, the cause for the vehicle operation efficiency being determined to be the vehicle operation efficiency outlier.

15. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable storage device storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising;

categorizing a plurality of vehicles into a plurality of peer groups, wherein the categorizing of a vehicle of the plurality of vehicles is based on at least one of;

a weight of the vehicle and a population density at a location wherein the vehicle is operated;

determining for each peer group of the plurality of peer groups, a baseline of a vehicle operation efficiency;

determining for each peer group of the plurality of peer groups, a baseline of driving behavior, wherein the baseline of the driving behavior that is determined comprises one or more of;

a behavior associated with speeding, a behavior associated with braking, a behavior associated with accelerating, a behavior associated with tailgating, a behavior associated with stopping and going, and a behavior associated with lane changing;

identifying at least one vehicle with a vehicle operation efficiency in one peer group of the plurality of peer groups that is a vehicle operation efficiency outlier as compared to the baseline of the vehicle operation efficiency associated with the one peer group;

determining whether a driving behavior of a driver driving the at least one vehicle is a driving behavior outlier as compared to the baseline of the driving behavior associated with the one peer group;

identifying for the at least one vehicle, the driving behavior of the driver driving the vehicle as being a cause for the vehicle operation efficiency being identified as the vehicle operation efficiency outlier, when the driving behavior of the driver driving the vehicle is determined to be the driving behavior outlier, or identifying for the at least one vehicle, a need for maintenance of the vehicle as being the cause for the vehicle operation efficiency being identified as the vehicle operation efficiency outlier, when the driving behavior of the driver driving the vehicle is not determined to be the driving behavior outlier; and

providing an output, wherein the output comprises the at least one vehicle in a list of vehicles with vehicle operation efficiencies and, for each vehicle in the list of vehicles, the cause for the vehicle operation efficiency being determined to be the vehicle operation efficiency outlier.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

determining, for each peer group of the plurality of peer groups, a model driving behavior.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, the operations further comprising:

providing for each peer group of the plurality of peer groups, the model driving behavior that is determined, to a customer.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the baseline of the vehicle operation efficiency that is determined comprises one or more of:

an average of miles traveled per gallon of fuel for all vehicles in each peer group, a median of miles traveled per gallon of fuel for all vehicles in each peer group, and a probability distribution of miles traveled per gallon of fuel for all vehicles in each peer group.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the baseline of the vehicle operation efficiency is determined in accordance with data obtained from one or more sources, wherein the data that is obtained comprises one or more of:

refueling data, maintenance data, sensor data, and weather data.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the refueling data is obtained:

from a database of a customer, directly from the plurality of vehicles, or from a financial transaction database.