SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING VEHICLE DRIVE CYCLE PROFILES

• US 20120330479A1
• Filed: 06/27/2011
• Published: 12/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PACCAR Incorporated
• Original Assignee: PACCAR Incorporated
• Inventors: Duffy, John D., Oshiro, Kevin S.
• Granted Patent: US 9,239,995 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/047 Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083

Abstract

A system and method for generating vehicle drive cycles. Information describing a path of travel and a vehicle are received from a user. A detailed representation of the path of travel is obtained. Road condition information for segments of the path of travel is obtained, and the path of travel is verified as being traversable by the described vehicle. This information is used to generate a drive cycle profile, which contains at least the simulated path traversed by the vehicle, the speed of the vehicle along segments of the path, and any ambient conditions taken into account when predicting the speed of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of generating a vehicle drive cycle profile, the method comprising:

obtaining, by a computer, vehicle configuration information and a path of travel;

obtaining, by a computer, road condition information for segments of the path of travel; and

generating, by a computer, a drive cycle profile based on the path of travel, the road condition information, and the vehicle configuration information.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein obtaining a path of travel includes:

receiving a start location and an end location; and

receiving the path of travel in response to a request transmitted to a driving directions provider, the request based on at least the start point and the end point.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the request is based on at least one stop location.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein obtaining road condition information for segments of the path of travel includes obtaining speed limit information for segments of the path of travel.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein obtaining road condition information for segments of the path of travel includes obtaining one or more of grade information, road elevation information, and road curvature information.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein generating a drive cycle profile includes determining a target vehicle speed for segments of the path of travel.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein determining the target vehicle speed for a given segment of the path of travel is based on one or more of a speed limit, a grade of the segment, a predicted weather condition, a predicted traffic condition of the segment, and a surface of the segment.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein generating a drive cycle profile includes determining an actual vehicle speed for segments of the path of travel based on at least the target vehicle speed and a vehicle acceleration profile.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising verifying a distance traveled for segments of the path of travel based on the determined actual vehicle speed and a time of travel for the segments of the path of travel.

10. A system for generating drive cycle profiles, the system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a tangible computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by at least one processor of the system, cause the system to generate one or more drive cycle profiles by;

obtaining vehicle configuration information and a path of travel;

obtaining road condition information for segments of the path of travel; and

generating a drive cycle profile based on the path of travel, the road condition information, and the vehicle configuration information.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein obtaining a path of travel includes receiving a stop description for a stop along the path of travel.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the stop description includes a stop location and a stop duration.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the stop description includes an indication of whether a vehicle engine is running or is not running during the stop.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein generating a drive cycle profile includes generating information indicating times during the drive cycle when the engine is running and times during the drive cycle when the engine is not running.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the stop description includes an indication of an activity that is performed during the stop.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the activity is adding or removing cargo from the vehicle.

17. A tangible computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to perform actions for generating a drive cycle profile, the actions comprising:

obtaining vehicle configuration information and a path of travel;

obtaining road condition information for segments of the path of travel; and

generating more than one drive cycle profile based on the path of travel, the road condition information, and the vehicle configuration information.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein generating more than one drive cycle profile includes randomly altering the road condition information within a range of values to cause the generated drive cycle profiles to be different.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein generating more than one drive cycle profile includes:

generating an actual vehicle speed for segments of the path of travel; and

randomly altering the actual vehicle speed within a range of values for segments of the path of travel to cause the generated drive cycle profiles to be different.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, the actions further comprising storing the drive cycle profiles in a drive cycle data store.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, the actions further comprising validating the path of travel based on the vehicle configuration information and the road condition information.