NAVIGATION DEVICE & METHOD FOR DETERMINING ROAD-SURFACE FEATURES

• US 20110112764A1
• Filed: 06/24/2009
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TomTom Traffic B.V. (TomTom NV)
• Original Assignee: TomTom International BV (TomTom NV)
• Inventors: Trum, Jeroen
• Granted Patent: US 8,589,063 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/213
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3476 using point of interest [POI] information, e.g. a route passing visible POIs
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3614 through interaction with a road map, e.g. selecting a POI icon on a road map
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3685 the POI's being parking facilities
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/091 Traffic information broadcasting broadcasting communication H04H
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09675 where a selection from the received information takes place in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096844 where the complete route is dynamically recomputed based on new data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096861 where the immediate route instructions are output to the driver, e.g. arrow signs for next turn
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096883 where input information is obtained using a mobile device, e.g. a mobile phone, a PDA
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096888 where input information is obtained using learning systems, e.g. history databases
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0969 having a display in the form of a map
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/141 with means giving the indication of available parking spaces

Abstract

A navigation device includes a processor, a memory accessible by the processor, and a device to determine at least one physical parameter applied to the navigation device and to output information indicative of the at least one parameter to the processor. In at least one embodiment, the processor is arranged to determine a road-surface feature based upon the received information and to store road-surface quality information in the memory indicating the location of the road-surface feature.

Claims

1. A navigation device, comprising:

a processor;

a memory accessible by the processor; and

a device to determine at least one physical parameter applied to the navigation device and to output information indicative of the at least one parameter to the processor,

the processor being arranged to determine a road-surface feature based upon the received information and to store information indicative of a location of the road-surface feature in the memory.

2. The navigation device of claim 1, wherein the device to determine at least one physical parameter comprises a device to measure acceleration of the navigation device and output an acceleration signal indicative of the measured acceleration.

3. The navigation device of claim 2, wherein the processor is arranged to determine the road-surface feature according to one or more characteristics of the acceleration signal.

4. The navigation device of claim 3, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least one of a magnitude of the acceleration signal and a pattern of the acceleration signal.

5. The navigation device of claim 1, wherein the device to determine at least one physical parameter comprises a device to determine an orientation of the navigation device and output an orientation signal in response thereto.

6. The navigation device of claim 5, wherein the processor is arranged to determine the road-surface feature according to a pattern of the orientation signal.

7. The navigation device of claim 1, wherein the processor is arranged to determine a length of the road surface feature based upon the received information and to store information indicating the length in the memory.

8. The navigation device of claim 1, wherein the processor is arranged to determine the road-surface feature as a vertically-displaced portion of the road surface.

9. The navigation device of claim 8, wherein the vertically-displaced portion of the road surface includes one or more of a speed-reducing measure, a bump or a hole in the road surface.

10. The navigation device of claim 1, wherein the information indicating the location of the road-surface feature is determined according to received GPS signals.

11. The navigation device of claim 1, further comprising:

a communication device to communicate with a server, wherein

the processor is arranged to communicate the stored road-surface quality information to the server.

12. A method of determining road-surface feature information, the method comprising:

receiving information indicative of one or more physical parameters of a navigation device;

determining a road-surface feature based upon the received information; and

storing in a memory information indicative of a geographical location of the road-surface feature.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the information indicates at least one of acceleration of the navigation device and an orientation of the navigation device.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the road surface feature is determined based on at least one of a magnitude of the received information and a pattern of the received information.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium to store computer software comprising one or more software modules operable, when executed on a computer device, to perform the method of claim 12.