VEHICLE TELEMATICS COMMUNICATION FOR GENERATING ROAD ROUTING INFORMATIION

• US 20100256903A1
• Filed: 04/01/2009
• Published: 10/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors Corporation (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Johnson, Richard A.
• Application Number:
  US12/416,697
• Publication Number:
  US 20100256903A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/209
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3415 Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3815 Road data

Abstract

A system and method for generating road routing information and using that information in providing navigation services to drivers. The method involves collecting off-route data indicative of occurrences of vehicles deviating from a planned route. Clusters of related off-route occurrences can then be identified based on the off-route data, and for each of at least some of the clusters, a road condition (e.g., closed, new, shifted, congested) is determined based on attributes of the cluster. Thereafter, road routing information is generated based on the determined road condition. Various routing actions can then be carried out, such as updating map data so that the system can provide drivers with improved route guidance.

Claims

1. A method of generating road routing information for use in providing navigation services to drivers, comprising the steps of:

(a) collecting off-route data for different vehicles at a central facility, wherein the off-route data for each of the vehicles represents an occurrence of the vehicle deviating from a planned route being followed by the vehicle;

(b) identifying clusters of related off-route occurrences based on the off-route data; and

(c) for each of at least some of the clusters, carrying out the following steps;

(c1) determining a road condition based on the cluster; and

(c2) generating road routing information based on the determined road condition.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, for each of at least some of the vehicles, the method further comprises, prior to step (a) the steps of receiving a request for navigation instructions, generating the planned route, and sending the planned route to the vehicle, and wherein step (a) further comprises receiving a re-route request in response to the occurrence of the vehicle deviating from the planned route.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises receiving re-route requests from vehicles.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) further comprises identifying a group of off-route occurrences for which the associated vehicles have a location and heading that each meet a pre-established requirement.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the pre-established requirement for the location is that each of the vehicles is within a preselected maximum distance of the other vehicles when the off-route condition occurred.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the preselected maximum distance is no more than 250 meters.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the pre-established requirement for the heading is that a determined direction of travel for each of the vehicles is within a preselected angle of the other vehicles.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the preselected angle is no more than 20 degrees.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein step (b) further comprises identifying a group of off-route occurrences for which the associated vehicles are lined up along the heading.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) further comprises the steps of:

determining if the off-route data corresponds to an existing cluster and, if not, assembling similar off-route occurrences into a new cluster; and

creating reports with new clusters and associated geographic data files.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c2) further comprises generating road closure information based on the determined road condition.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step (c3) of carrying out a routing action based on the road routing information.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the routing action comprises updating map data using the road routing information.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the routing action comprises changing navigation guidance.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein changing navigation guidance further comprises providing a route that includes a new road.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the routing action comprises changing routing behavior.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the routing action comprises changing map data to reflect shifted roads based on the road routing information.

18. A method of generating and using road routing information for use in connection with navigation services provided to drivers, comprising the steps of:

(a) collecting off-route data for different vehicles at a central facility, wherein the off-route data for each of the vehicles represents an occurrence of the vehicle deviating from a planned route being followed by the vehicle;

(b) identifying clusters of related off-route occurrences by processing the off-route data for each of at least some of the vehicles using the following steps (b1)-(b3);

(b1) associating the off-route data for a particular vehicle with an existing cluster if the off-route data for that particular vehicle indicates a location and heading that each meet a pre-established requirement relative to other off-route data in that existing cluster;

(b2) if the off-route data for that particular vehicle indicates a location and heading that do not meet the pre-established requirements for an existing cluster, then determining if there are a selected minimum number of vehicles having off-route data that indicate that their associated vehicle has a location and heading that each meet the pre-established requirement relative to each other; and

(b3) identifying a new cluster where the desired minimum number of vehicles is determined to exist; and

(c) for each of at least some of the identified clusters, carrying out the following steps (c1)-(c3);

(c1) determining road condition based on cluster;

(c2) generating road routing information based on the road condition; and

(c3) carrying out routing action based on road routing information.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the pre-established requirement for location is that all off-route data associated with the cluster indicate a vehicle location that is within 250 meters of each other.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the pre-established requirement for heading is that all off-route data associated with the cluster indicate a direction of travel that is within a 20°

angle of each other.