DRIVABILITY EVALUATION TARGET LEVELS

• US 20130079989A1
• Filed: 09/23/2011
• Published: 03/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Motor Corporation
• Original Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Incorporated (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Viggers, John Stephen
• Granted Patent: US 8,483,904 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/41
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/8006 for monitoring and displaying scenes of vehicle interior, e.g. for monitoring passengers or cargo
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/30 Driving style
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/10 Historical data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/045 Monitoring control system parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/007 Wheeled or endless-tracked vehicles G01M17/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

The automobile described herein is configured with a system for capturing subjective and objective data related to automobile performance events. The automobile may comprise or be configured with a drivability evaluation system. This drivability evaluation system may be configured to capture subjective driver responses, monitor driver commands, and monitor automobile performance based on the driver commands. Moreover, the system may be employed in real world driving scenarios, where a driver'"'"'s commands and the associated automobile responses are indicative of actual every day driving.

Claims

1. An automobile, comprising:

a plurality of automobile controls including a steering mechanism, an accelerator and a brake, wherein a driver is capable of providing inputs to the plurality of automobile controls to operate the automobile;

an engine operatively coupled to the plurality of automobile controls;

a plurality of wheels operatively coupled to the steering mechanism, wherein the engine drives at least one of the plurality of wheels;

a body configured to at least partially enclose the engine;

a control unit in communication with the engine and the plurality of automobile controls, wherein the control unit is configured to manage the operation of the automobile;

a first data collection unit configured to monitor and record first data from the control unit; and

a second data collection unit configured to monitor and record second data indicative of the operational parameters of the automobile and at least a portion of the first data from the control unit.

2. The automobile of claim 1, wherein the first data includes data corresponding to a first automobile control.

3. The automobile of claim 2, wherein the second data includes data corresponding to a first operational characteristic of the automobile and the data corresponding to the first automobile control.

4. The automobile of claim 3, wherein the first data and the second data are combined based on the data corresponding to the first automobile control such that, the first data and the second data are correlated.

5. The automobile of claim 4, wherein the first automobile control is acceleration.

6. The automobile of claim 1, further comprising a subjective driver monitoring device.

7. The automobile of claim 6, wherein the subjective driver monitoring device is configured to record a subjective response of the driver in response to an input to the automobile control.

8. The automobile of claim 7, wherein the driver command is an input at the accelerator.

9. The automobile of claim 6, wherein the subjective driver monitoring device records data during an entire automobile evaluation.

10. The automobile of claim 9, wherein the subjective driver monitoring device records subjective driver data during a driving test conducted by the driver over a predetermined course.

11. The automobile of claim 10, wherein the subjective driver data is correlated to the first data and the second data, and wherein the subjective driver data, the first data and the second data each comprise common data that is correlated with the subjective driver data, the first data and the second data.

12. The automobile of claim 11, wherein the common data provides a baseline for analysis of each of the subjective driver data, the first data and the second data.

13. A driver response information collection system, comprising:

a first data collection unit configured to collect first data indicative of a first driver command, second data indicative of a second driver command, and a first automobile response, wherein the first automobile response corresponds to at least one of the first driver command or the second driver command;

a second data collection unit configured to collect the first data indicative of the first driver command, third data indicative of a third driver command, and a second automobile response, wherein the second automobile response corresponds to at least one of the first driver command or the third driver command; and

a subjective monitoring device configured to capture subjective monitoring data and in electronic communication with at least one of the first data collection unit or the second data collection unit, wherein at least one of the first data, the second data or the third data is time associated with the subjective monitoring data.

14. The driver response information collection system of claim 13, wherein the subjective monitoring device is a video capture device.

15. The driver response information collection system of claim 13, wherein the first data is indicative of acceleration.

16. The driver response information collection system of claim 13, wherein the first data is indicative of acceleration and the second data is indicative of force.

17. The driver response information collection system of claim 13, wherein the driver response information collection system is configured to collect data corresponding to an automobile response from at least one of the first driver command, the second driver command or the third driver command.

18. The driver response information collection system of claim 13, wherein the third data is a steering component input from a driver.

19. A method for establishing drivability evaluation targets, comprising:

providing an automobile configured with the drivability evaluation system, wherein the automobile comprises an automobile control and a sensor, and wherein the drivability evaluation system comprises a subjective data monitoring device, a first data collection unit and a second data collection unit;

receiving at the automobile control a command, wherein the command causes an operating event;

detecting, by the sensor, first data indicative of the operating event;

detecting, by the subjective data monitoring device, second data in response to the operating event, wherein the subjective data monitoring system is configured to capture subjective data;

receiving, by the first data collection unit, the first data indicative of the operating event from the sensor; and

receiving, by the second data collection unit, the first data indicative of the operating event from the sensor and the subjective data from the subjective data monitoring device, wherein the subjective data is correlated to the first data indicative of the operating event.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising determining a drivability evaluation target based on the correlated subjective data and the first data, wherein a user adjusts the automobile control based on the drivability evaluation target.