System for Providing Environmental Condition Information to Vehicles and Related Methods

• US 20130069798A1
• Filed: 11/09/2012
• Published: 03/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Baron Services Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Baron Services Incorporated
• Inventors: Jones, Erick C., Baron, Robert O. Sr., Thompson, Thomas S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,816,876 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/905
• CPC Class Codes: G01W 1/02 Instruments for indicating weather conditions by measuring two or more variables, e.g. humidity, pressure, temperature, cloud cover or wind speed G01W1/10 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0967 Systems involving transmission of highway information, e.g. weather, speed limits transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station

Abstract

An apparatus for communicating weather related information to a vehicle has been developed. The invention includes, a navigational positioning system that provides the location of the vehicle and a receiver for receiving weather related data at the vehicle that includes road conditions, atmospheric conditions, weather warnings and watches, and forecast conditions. The weather related data is associated with a geographic grid that is made of a plurality of cells. The invention'"'"'s processor determines if the weather related data is associated with the vehicle location and displays the weather related data to the vehicle'"'"'s occupants.

Claims

1. An apparatus for communicating weather related information comprising:

(a) a navigational positioning system that provides the location of a vehicle;

(b) a receiver for receiving weather related data at the vehicle, where the weather related data comprises,

road conditions,

atmospheric conditions,

weather warnings and watches, and

forecast conditions, where the weather related data is associated with a geographic grid comprised of a plurality of cells;

(c) a processor that determines if the weather related data is associated with the vehicle location; and

(d) a display device that displays the weather related data associated with the vehicle location.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, where the location of the vehicle is associated with the geographic grid.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, where the receiver is a satellite radio receiver.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, where each of the cells is identified by its longitude and latitude.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, where the processor also determines if the weather related data is associated with an anticipated future vehicle location.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, where the vehicle'"'"'s anticipated future location is based on the automobile'"'"'s current heading and speed.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, where the vehicle'"'"'s anticipated future location is based on a pre plotted route.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising memory configured to store the weather related data associated with a latitude or longitude near the vehicle location.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, where the weather related data associated with a geographic grid comprised of a plurality of cells is received by the receiver in different messages.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, where said messages comprise the weather related data associated with a row of cells having the same approximate latitude.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, where said messages comprise the weather related data associated with a column of cells having the same approximate longitude.

12. A system for receiving and processing environmental information related to a vehicle comprising:

(a) a receiver configured for receiving data associated with a plurality of grid cells, where the data comprises weather conditions, road conditions, and weather warnings and watches in said plurality of grid cells;

(b) means for providing a geographic position of said vehicle; and

(c) a computer system having a memory configured with processor-readable instructions to cause said computer system to receive the geographic position of the vehicle and determine if the received data associated with a plurality of grid cells is relevant to said geographic position of said vehicle.

13. The system of claim 12, where the receiver is a satellite radio receiver.

14. The system of claim 12, where the computer system determines whether the received data is relevant by determining if the data is associated with a latitude or longitude near the geographic position of said vehicle.

15. The system of claim 12, further comprising a display device that displays a visual alert associated with the relevant data.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, where the data associated with a plurality of grid cells is received by the receiver in different messages.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, where said messages comprise the data associated with a row of cells having the same approximate latitude.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, where said messages comprise the data associated with a column of cells having the same approximate latitude.

19. An apparatus for communicating weather related information comprising:

(a) means for determining the location of a vehicle;

(b) means for receiving weather related data associated with a geographic cell grid, where the weather related data comprises at least two of meteorological data, road condition data, road status data, and traffic data; and

(c) means for processing the weather related data based on the location of the vehicle to determine the relevant weather related data to an end user; and

(d) means for displaying the relevant weather related data to the end user.

20. An apparatus for communicating weather related information comprising:

(a) a global positioning system (GPS) that provides the location of an automobile based on the automobile'"'"'s current latitude and longitude;

(b) a satellite radio receiver for receiving weather related data associated with a geographic cell grid at the automobile, where the weather related data comprises,

threatening road condition data,

threatening atmospheric condition data,

National Weather Service (NWS) weather warning and watch data, and

current and forecast weather condition data;

(c) a microprocessor that filters the weather related data based on the location of the vehicle and stored preferences to determine the relevant weather related data associated with the vehicle'"'"'s present location and the vehicle'"'"'s anticipated future location; and

(d) a visual display device that displays the relevant weather related data associated with the vehicle location.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, where the microprocessor further determines if the relevant weather data is associated with the vehicle'"'"'s anticipated future location, where the vehicle'"'"'s anticipated future location is calculated as a fan-shaped area that is based on the vehicle'"'"'s current direction and speed

22. The apparatus of claim 21, where the display of relevant weather related data is also associated with the vehicle'"'"'s anticipated future location.

23. A system for providing weather related data to mobile users, comprising:

(a) a central processor that receives, processes and stores weather related data comprising,

meteorological data, and

road status data;

(b) a data distribution network that provides weather related data to multiple mobile users; and

(c) where the weather related data is formatted to allow sorting to determine relevant weather related data based on the mobile users location.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, where the weather related data is formatted corresponding to a grid pattern.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, where the grid pattern is divided into individual grid cells.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, where each grid cell is identified by its longitude and latitude.

27. The apparatus of claim 23, where the weather related data is distributed to the mobile users via satellite.

28. A computer system for providing environmental information to one or more mobile remote users comprising:

(a) a memory configured with processor-readable instructions to execute a method comprising;

(b) receiving environmental data, said environmental data being at least two of meteorological data, road condition data, road status data, and traffic data;

(c) processing the environmental data based on a geographic grid template comprising a plurality of cells, to determine which of the cells are affected by the environmental data,

(d) assigning an indicator to the plurality of cells of the geographic grid representing the environmental data associated with the plurality of cells, where the indicator represents at least two of meteorological conditions, road conditions, road status conditions, or traffic conditions; and

(e) outputting said assigned indicator to a distribution network for distribution to one or more remote mobile users.

29. The system of claim 28, where the assigned indicator comprises at least two of lighting, wind, and hail.

30. The system of claim 28, where the assigned indicator comprises road conditions, road status, and meteorological conditions.

31. The system of claim 28, where the assigned indicator data represents meteorological conditions comprising at least two of National Weather Service Warning and Watches, forecasted precipitation, visibility, and wind.

32. The system of claim 28, where the assigned indicator comprises at least four of road conditions, road status, lighting, wind, hail, National Weather Service Warning and Watches, forecasted precipitation, and visibility.

33. The system of claim 28, where the assigned indicator is output in single message to the distribution network for the cells of the geographic grid having the same approximate latitude.

34. The system of claim 28, where the assigned indicator is output in a single message to the distribution network for the cells of the geographic grid having the same approximate longitude.

35. The system of claim 28, where the distribution network comprises satellite radio.

36. The system of claim 28, where the distribution network comprises a cellular telephone network.

37. The system of claim 28, where the output to the distribution network further includes the latitude and longitude of the cells of the geographic grid to which the indicator has been assigned.

38. A method for providing environmental information to one or more mobile remote users comprising:

(a) step for receiving environmental data selected from at least two of the group comprising meteorological data, road condition data, road status data, and traffic data;

(b) step for processing the environmental data based on a geographic grid template comprising a plurality of cells, to determine which of the cells are affected by the environmental data;

(c) step for assigning a status indicator each of the cells that represents the conditions of that cell based on the environmental data; and

(d) step for outputting the status indicator to a distribution network for distribution to one or more remote mobile users.