METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR 3-D ACCELEROMTER BASED SLOPE DETERMINATION, REAL-TIME VEHICLE MASS DETERMINATION, AND VEHICLE EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS
First Claim
1. A method of evaluating driver performance using a road surface slope metric derived from data that includes 3-D accelerometer data, comprising the steps of:
- (a) while the driver is operating the vehicle, automatically collecting vehicle data, the vehicle data including;
(i) 3-D accelerometer data;
(ii) vehicle speed data;
(iii) torque data; and
(iv) engine speed data;
(b) using a first computing device to derive the road surface slope metric using vehicle position data;
(c) using the first computing device to determine a mass of the vehicle at a specific point in time, based on the road surface slope metric, vehicle speed data, torque data, and engine speed data corresponding to that point in time; and
(d) using a second computing device to evaluate driver performance using a plurality of factors, at least one of which is derived from the slope determined mass of the vehicle.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Three dimensional accelerometer data is used to determine a slope the vehicle is traveling over at a specific point in time. The slope data can then be combined with other metrics to provide an accurate, slope corrected vehicle mass. The vehicle mass can then be used along with other vehicle data to determine an amount of work performed by a vehicle, enabling s detailed efficiency analysis of the vehicle to be performed. To calculate slope, horizontal ground speed (VHGS) can be calculated using the Pythagorean Theorem. One can take the Z/Up magnitude and divide it by the horizontal ground speed. Replacing Z, x and y with directional vectors enables one to calculate slope. The slope data is then used to determine the mass of the vehicle at that time. Pervious techniques to calculate mass did not factor in slope, and thus are not accurate.
-
Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A method of evaluating driver performance using a road surface slope metric derived from data that includes 3-D accelerometer data, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) while the driver is operating the vehicle, automatically collecting vehicle data, the vehicle data including; (i) 3-D accelerometer data; (ii) vehicle speed data; (iii) torque data; and (iv) engine speed data; (b) using a first computing device to derive the road surface slope metric using vehicle position data; (c) using the first computing device to determine a mass of the vehicle at a specific point in time, based on the road surface slope metric, vehicle speed data, torque data, and engine speed data corresponding to that point in time; and (d) using a second computing device to evaluate driver performance using a plurality of factors, at least one of which is derived from the slope determined mass of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A method of producing a performance metric indicative of a performance of a driver using at least in part slope data derived from 3-D accelerometer data, the method comprising the steps of:
-
(a) while the driver is operating the vehicle, automatically collecting time indexed vehicle data, the vehicle data comprising; (i) the 3-D accelerometer data; (ii) vehicle speed data; (iii) torque data; and (iv) engine speed data; (b) using a computing device to determine a slope the vehicle is traveling over at a specific point in time using changes in the 3-D accelerometer data; (c) using a computing device to determine a mass of the vehicle at a specific point in time using the slope, vehicle speed data, torque data, and engine speed data for the specific point in time; (d) using a computing device to produce the performance metric based at least in part on the mass of the vehicle, the mass having been determined using slope data derived from the 3-D accelerometer data. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
Specification