ROUTE PLANNING USING LOCATION/TIME ENCODED DATA FROM LOCATION AWARE SNOWPLOWS

• US 20130080052A1
• Filed: 11/20/2012
• Published: 03/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Gooding, Thomas M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,880,330 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/468
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3407 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3461 Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types, segments such as motorways, toll roads, ferries
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3691 Retrieval, searching and output of information related to real-time traffic, weather, or environmental conditions arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions G08G1/09

Abstract

Techniques are described for using geographic location data of snowplows to update a snow depth associated with a section of a surface street. The route of the snowplow may be tracked continuously which allows the snow depth of the street to be reset in real-time. The updated snow depth may then be used to generate a cost of travelling on the street. The travelling cost may then be used to plan a route through the region. Alternatively, the cost may be graphically displayed on a map to permit a user to determine which surface streets to avoid. In another embodiment, the cost of travelling on a particular street may be changed by the attributes of the vehicle that will navigate the snow-covered roads, driver'"'"'s experience, or the geographic terrain of a road. This new cost may then be used, for example, to plan a route or display roads to avoid.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving location data associated with a vehicle, wherein the vehicle is equipped to remove frozen precipitation from a surface;

generating, by operation of one or more computer processors, a traveling cost for at least a portion of the surface, wherein the cost of travel is based on the location data; and

transmitting to a display device at least one of;

(i) map data that associates the traveling cost to a particular geographic location and (ii) a planned route based on the traveling cost.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the planned route includes the portion of the surface associated with the traveling cost and further comprising receiving a request to plan a route between at least two geographic points.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a current accumulation rate of the frozen precipitation on the portion of the surface; and

updating the traveling cost based on the current accumulation rate.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the map displays the traveling cost using a visual indicator, the visual indicator is at least one of:

a numerical value, a shaded cost gradient, highlighting, a static marker, and a flashing marker.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an attribute of a user vehicle associated with a user of the display device, wherein the attribute affects a performance of the user vehicle on a surface covered by the frozen precipitation; and

updating the traveling cost based on the received attributes.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the received attributes are at least one of:

a drive system of the user vehicle, a user vehicle type, a weight of the user vehicle, a clearance of the user vehicle, and whether the user vehicle is equipped with snow tires or snow chains.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the display device is part of a mobile device that is capable of using information from global positioning system (GPS) satellites.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle includes a plow configured to remove the frozen precipitation from the surface, and wherein the location data includes a historical route taken by the vehicle while the vehicle was removing the frozen precipitation with the plow.