Predictive monitoring for vehicle efficiency and maintenance

• US 20070027593A1
• Filed: 07/13/2006
• Published: 02/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Shemyakin, Mikhail, Richmond, James, Shah, Baiju
• Granted Patent: US 7,899,591 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/30
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/188 Controlling power parameters of the driveline, e.g. determining the required power
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/00 Details of control systems for road vehicle drive control not related to the control of a particular sub-unit , e.g. process diagnostic or vehicle driver interfaces

Abstract

A system and method for monitoring fuel efficiency of a vehicle is provided. Fuel efficiency of a vehicle may be monitored in real-time using telemetry transmitted from the vehicle. The telemetry may be analyzed in combination with a fuel efficiency model in order to determine whether the real-time fuel efficiency determination deviates from a baseline fuel efficiency. The real-time fuel efficiency monitoring system and method may be used for feedback for the driver, such as sending real-time messages to the driver to modify operation of the vehicle to increase fuel efficiency. The fuel efficiency model may further be used to assign vehicles in a fleet to particular routes, vehicles to particular drivers, or vehicles to particular routes with particular drivers.

Claims

1. An energy efficiency determination system comprising:

a receiver that receives operational data about an asset from a sensor indicative of at least one operational characteristic;

a memory that stores the operational data;

an asset efficiency model indicative of energy efficiency of the asset; and

a processor in communication with the asset efficiency model and the database, the processor analyzing real-time energy efficiency of the asset based on the operational data and the asset efficiency model, assessing whether to perform maintenance on the asset based at least on improved efficiency of the asset due to the performed maintenance, and scheduling the maintenance based on the assessing whether to perform the maintenance.

2. The energy efficiency determination system of claim 1, wherein the asset comprises a vehicle;

and

wherein the asset efficiency model comprises data indicative of optimal efficiency of the vehicle.

3. The energy efficiency determination system of claim 2, wherein analyzing real-time energy efficiency of the asset based on the operational data and the asset efficiency model comprises analyzing fuel efficiency variance.

4. The energy efficiency determination system of claim 3, wherein the asset efficiency model comprises a baseline measure of fuel economy;

wherein the operational data comprises average fuel economy; and

wherein analyzing fuel efficiency variance is based on the baseline measure of fuel economy and the average fuel economy.

5. The energy efficiency determination system of claim 2, wherein assessing whether to perform maintenance on the asset based at least on improved efficiency of the asset due to the performed maintenance comprises:

determining a first cost of an increased fuel consumption until a next scheduled vehicle maintenance event;

determining a second cost of performing maintenance on the asset; and

comparing the first cost impact with the second cost impact.

6. The energy efficiency determination system of claim 5, wherein determining the second cost comprises determining a cost of removing the vehicle from service, a labor cost of performing maintenance on the vehicle outside an existing maintenance schedule, a cost of parts for the maintenance, and a cost of use of a spare vehicle to replace the vehicle that is receiving maintenance.

7. The energy efficiency determination system of claim 2, further comprising an operational model for the vehicle to predict potential failures;

and

wherein the processor predicts failure of the vehicle based on the operational data and the operational model and assesses whether to perform maintenance on the vehicle based on the predicted failure.

8. The energy efficiency determination system of claim 7, wherein assessing whether to perform maintenance on the vehicle based on the predicted failure comprises determining an urgency of performing maintenance, determining a cost allowing the predicted failure to occur, determining a cost of performing maintenance, and comparing the cost of allowing the predicted failure to occur versus the cost of performing maintenance.

9. The energy efficiency determination system of claim 8, wherein the processor determines who to alert based on at least one of the urgency of performing maintenance, the cost allowing the predicted failure to occur, or the cost of performing maintenance.

10. A vehicle energy efficiency determination system comprising:

a telemetry receiver that receives operational data about a vehicle from a sensor indicative of at least one operational characteristic;

a memory that stores the operational data;

a vehicle efficiency model indicative of operational characteristics for optimal efficiency operation of the vehicle; and

a processor in communication with the vehicle efficiency model and the database, the processor analyzing real-time operational characteristics of the vehicle based on the operational data and the vehicle efficiency model, assessing a driver of the vehicle based on the real-time operational characteristics of the vehicle and the vehicle efficiency model, and generating a recommendation as to the assessment of the driver of the vehicle.

11. The vehicle energy efficiency determination system of claim 10, wherein the vehicle efficiency model comprises rate of acceleration and rate of breaking.

12. The vehicle energy efficiency determination system of claim 10, wherein the vehicle efficiency model comprises speed fluctuation and speed of cornering.

13. The vehicle energy efficiency determination system of claim 11, wherein generating a recommendation comprises generating an alert for transmission to the driver of the vehicle based on the assessment.

14. The vehicle energy efficiency determination system of claim 13, wherein the processor transmits the alert to the driver of the vehicle in real-time for presentation on at least one of a monitor or a speaker.

15. The vehicle energy efficiency determination system of claim 14, wherein the alert comprises a recommendation for review by the driver to modify driving behavior in order to increase fuel efficiency of the vehicle.

16. The vehicle energy efficiency determination system of claim 11, wherein generating a recommendation comprises generating a report regarding the assessment of the driver of the vehicle.

17. A vehicle allocation system for a transportation system comprising a plurality of vehicles traveling on a plurality of routes, the vehicle allocation system comprising:

a vehicle efficiency model for each of the plurality of vehicles, the vehicle efficiency model comprising fuel efficiency for the vehicle on each of at least two of the plurality of routes, the fuel efficiency being based at least partly on historical operational characteristics transmitted in real-time of the vehicle traveling on the at least two of the plurality of routes; and

a processor in communication with the vehicle efficiency model, the processor analyzing the vehicle efficiency model for each of the plurality of vehicles and assigning each of the plurality of vehicles to different routes based on the analysis.

18. The vehicle allocation system of claim 17, wherein a plurality of drivers drive the vehicles;

wherein the vehicle efficiency model comprises fuel efficiency for the vehicle on each of at least two of the plurality of routes for each of the plurality of drivers, the fuel efficiency being based at least partly on the historical operational characteristics transmitted in real-time of the vehicle being operated by the plurality of drivers traveling on the at least two of the plurality of routes; and

wherein the processor analyzes the vehicle efficiency model for each of the plurality of vehicles and each of the plurality of available drivers, and assigns the available drivers to each of the plurality of vehicles based on the analysis.

19. A vehicle allocation system for a transportation system comprising a plurality of vehicles traveling on a plurality of routes, the vehicle allocation system comprising:

database correlating the plurality of routes to corresponding a plurality of characteristics of the routes, at least one of the characteristics comprising speed limits on the routes;

a vehicle efficiency model for each of the plurality of vehicles, the vehicle efficiency model comprising fuel efficiency correlated to characteristics of the routes, at least one of the characteristics comprising fuel efficiency correlated to different vehicle speeds, the fuel efficiency being based at least partly on historical operational characteristics transmitted in real-time of the vehicle traveling at the different vehicle speeds; and

a processor in communication with the vehicle efficiency model and the database, the processor analyzing the vehicle efficiency model for each of the plurality of vehicles and the speed limits of the routes, and assigning each of the plurality of vehicles to different routes based on the analysis.

20. The vehicle allocation system of claim 19, wherein the vehicle comprises a public transportation;

wherein the routes comprise predefined vehicle stops along the routes; and

wherein the plurality of characteristics comprises one of altitude changes, and number and frequency of vehicle stops.