Telematic programming logic control unit and methods of use

• US 20040023645A1
• Filed: 03/19/2003
• Published: 02/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Inventors: Jenkins, Rhesa, Olsen, John, Bradley, David
• Granted Patent: US 7,257,396 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/418
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0858 wherein the data carrier is removable
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

The present invention is directed to an apparatus, system and method for collecting, storing and time-stamping telematics data. A programmable ogic control unit is described that is connected to one or more sensors mounted on a vehicle to capture, time-stamp and store telematics data. And, upon the happening of a triggering event, time-stamped telematics data is transferred from the control until to an external device via wireless or other communications methods.

Claims

1. A telematic data collection system, comprising:

a programmable logic control unit, comprising;

an input interface;

a processor; and

a memory;

wherein said input interface receives telematics data from a sensor;

said processor time stamps said telematics data and stores said telematics data in said memory.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said programmable logic control unit further comprises an output interface.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising an external processing device in communication with said programmable logic control unit, said external processing device configured to receive said time-stamped telematics data from said output interface.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said external processor device communicates with said programmable logic control unit via a wireless radio.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein said external processor device communicates with said programmable logic control unit via at least one of an infrared and an optical communications link.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein said external processor receives time-stamped telematics data automatically whenever said external device is within a predetermined distance of said programmable logic control unit.

7. The system of claim 3, said external processor receives time-stamped telematics data from said programmable logic control unit in response to a manual trigger of said external device.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said processor is an Intel processor based on an 8086 chip.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said processor uses a ladder-logic programming language to manipulate and store said telematics data.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said ladder-logic programming language is configured to distinguish input signal characteristics and translate individual signal characteristics into a word that is useable in a wireless environment.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said sensor is a sensor mounted on a vehicle.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein said sensor is an electronic control module sensor.

13. The system of claim 1, further including an analog to digital converter that digitizes an analog input signal from said sensor.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein said programmable logic control unit further comprises an integrated power supply that allows a step up from 12 volts to 24 volts.

15. A method of processing vehicle information, said method comprising the steps of:

capturing an analog signal from a sensor associated with said vehicle;

converting said analog signal to a digital signal;

inputting said digital signal to an input interface of a programmable logic control unit;

assigning a time stamp to said digital signal;

storing said digital signal and time stamp data in a memory of said programmable logic control unit; and

transmitting said digital signal and time stamp data to an external device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein said analog signal captured from a sensor comprises telematics data.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein capturing an analog signal from a sensor associated with said vehicle comprises capturing data from a sensor associated with an electronic control module.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein said transmission of digital signal and time stamp data to said external device occurs via wireless transmission.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein said transmission of digital signal and time stamp data to said external device occurs via at least one of an infrared and an optical communications link.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein said transmission of digital signal and time stamp data to said external device occurs automatically when said external device is within a predetermined distance of said programmable logic control unit.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein said transmission of digital signal and time stamp data occurs in response to a triggering event.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein said triggering event is the switching on or off of a vehicle ignition.

23. The method of claim 15, further comprising uploading said digital signal and time stamp data from said external device to a host system.

24. A method of collecting and storing signal data using a programmable logic controller, said programmable logic controller comprising at least one input and output terminal, a processor and memory, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving said signal data at said input terminal;

translating said signal data to a desired output format;

time-stamping said signal data;

moving said translated and time-stamped data to said memory; and

transmitting said translated data from memory to an external device in response to a triggering event.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of translating said signal comprises preparing said signal data for transmission in a wireless environment.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising associating an event type with said signal data.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising storing said event type in said memory.