METHOD AND SYSTEM TO MODIFY ROUTING INFORMATION BASED ON DETECTION OF RATE OF CHANGE OF PRESSURE IN TIRES

• US 20120296515A1
• Filed: 05/20/2011
• Published: 11/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Boss, Gregory J., Jones, Andrew R., McConnell, Kevin C., Moore, John E. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 8,615,344 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/32.3
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3453 Special cost functions, i.e. other than distance or default speed limit of road segments

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method, system and program product for monitoring the rate of deflation or inflation in vehicular tires to determine the time or distance it takes before the tire pressure of one or more tires enters an undesirable state. Under the present invention, tire specifications, environmental modifiers, vehicular modifiers, road and weather conditions, and current tire pressure for each tire are recorded as input to provide an alert with a route plan for a driver to bring a vehicle to a service station before tire pressure reaches an undesirable condition. In one embodiment, the system can inform the driver at what time in the future a tire will reach an undesirable condition. In another embodiment, the system can inform the driver at what distance (measured in miles, for example) a tire will reach an undesirable condition. In yet another embodiment, the system can modify a route in order to avoid an unsafe tire condition.

Claims

1. A method for vehicle route optimization based on a measured rate of change of tire pressure, comprising:

recording specifications for at least one tire;

recording at least one of;

an environmental modifier, a road condition, a weather condition, and a vehicular modifier;

recording a rate of change of pressure in the at least one tire;

determining a threshold at which the pressure within the at least one tire becomes undesirable;

determining, based on the rate of change, a point at which the pressure reaches the threshold; and

presenting the point to a user.

2. The method of claim 1, the point at which the pressure reaches the threshold being one of:

a point in time and a distance point on a driving route.

3. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

determining a location of a service station; and

presenting to the user directions to the service station, wherein the service station may be reached at a point in time before the point at which the pressure reaches the threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising modifying an existing route in order to prevent the pressure from reaching the threshold.

5. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising determining a safe location for the user to pull over a vehicle before the point at which the pressure reaches the threshold.

6. The method of claim 5, the method further comprising placing a call for roadside assistance.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the undesirable threshold is a measure of at least one of:

safety and performance.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the presenting the point to a user is through at least one of:

a visual, an audio, and an electronic interface.

15. The system of claim 8, wherein the undesirable threshold is a measure of at least one of:

safety and performance.

9. A system for vehicle route optimization based on a measured rate of change of tire pressure, comprising:

a bus;

a processor coupled to the bus; and

a memory medium coupled to the bus, the memory medium comprising instructions to;

record specifications for at least one tire;

record at least one of;

an environmental modifier, a road condition, a weather condition, and a vehicular modifier;

record a rate of change of pressure in the at least one tire;

determine a threshold at which the pressure within the at least one tire becomes undesirable;

determine, based on the rate of change, a point at which the pressure reaches the threshold; and

present the point to a user.

10. The system of claim 9, the point at which the pressure reaches the threshold being one of:

a point in time and a distance point on a driving route.

11. The system of claim 9, the memory medium further comprising instructions to:

determine a location of a service station; and

present to the user directions to the service station, wherein the service station may be reached at a point in time before the point at which the pressure reaches the threshold.

12. The system of claim 9, the memory medium further comprising instructions to modify an existing route in order to prevent the pressure from reaching the threshold.

13. The system of claim 9, the memory medium further comprising instructions to determine a safe location for the user to pull over a vehicle before the point at which the pressure reaches the threshold.

14. The system of claim 13, the memory medium further comprising instructions to place a call for roadside assistance.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the point is presented to a user through at least one of:

a visual, an audio, and an electronic interface.

17. A computer program product for vehicle route optimization based on a measured rate of change of tire pressure, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage media, and program instructions stored on the computer readable storage media, to:

record specifications for at least one tire;

record at least one of;

an environmental modifier, a road condition, a weather condition, and a vehicular modifier;

record a rate of change of pressure in the at least one tire;

determine a threshold at which the pressure within the at least one tire becomes undesirable;

determine, based on the rate of change, at least one of;

a time and a distance at which the pressure reaches the threshold; and

present the at least one of time and distance to a user.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, the computer program product further comprising program instructions to:

determine a location of a service station; and

present to the user directions to the service station, wherein the service station may be reached at a time before the time at which the pressure reaches the threshold.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, the computer program product further comprising program instructions to modify an existing route in order to prevent the pressure from reaching the threshold.

21. The computer program product of claim 17, the computer program product further comprising program instructions to:

determine a safe location for the user to pull over a vehicle before the at least one of time and distance at which the pressure reaches the threshold; and

place a call for roadside assistance.

22. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the undesirable threshold is a measure of at least one of:

safety and performance.

23. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the point is presented to a user through at least one of:

a visual, an audio, and an electronic interface.

24. A method for deploying a system for vehicle route optimization based on a measured rate of change of tire pressure, comprising:

deploying a computer infrastructure being operable to;

record specifications for at least one tire;

record at least one of;

an environmental modifier, a road condition, a weather condition, and a vehicular modifier;

record a rate of change of pressure in the at least one tire;

determine a threshold at which the pressure within the at least one tire becomes undesirable;

determine, based on the rate of change, at least one of;

a time and a distance at which the pressure reaches the threshold; and

present the at least one of time and distance to a user.

25. The method of claim 24, the computer infrastructure being further operable to:

modify an existing route in order to prevent the pressure from reaching the threshold;

determine a location of a service station; and

present to the user directions to the service station, wherein the service station may be reached at a point in time before the point at which the pressure reaches the threshold.