VEHICLE-INCIDENT DETECTION METHOD AND SYSTEM

• US 20140074315A1
• Filed: 09/07/2012
• Published: 03/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Frye, Mark S., Cepuran, Lawrence D., Swanson, Steven, Everhart, Charles A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,874,279 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/00 Methods or arrangements for processing data by operating upon the order or content of the data handled logic circuits H03K19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/01 Detecting movement of traffic to be counted or controlled G08G1/07 - G08G1/14 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0104 Measuring and analyzing of parameters relative to traffic conditions

Abstract

A vehicle-incident detection method is disclosed herein. Vehicle data is received at a cloud computing system from a vehicle, where the vehicle data is generated by the vehicle in response to an initial detection of a vehicle-related event. After receiving the data, the cloud computing system requests additional vehicle data from the vehicle. The additional vehicle data is generated by the vehicle at a time subsequent to the initial detection of the vehicle-related event. The additional vehicle data is received from the vehicle, and an application resident in the cloud computing system analyzes the vehicle data and the additional vehicle data to determine that the vehicle-related event occurred. The application includes computer readable code embedded on a non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium for performing the analyzing. Also disclosed herein is a vehicle-incident detection system.

Claims

1. A vehicle-incident detection method, comprising:

receiving vehicle data at a cloud computing system from a vehicle, the vehicle data being generated by the vehicle in response to an initial detection of a vehicle-related event wherein the cloud computing system is remote from the vehicle;

after receiving the data, by the cloud computing system, requesting additional vehicle data from the vehicle, the additional vehicle data being generated by the vehicle at a time subsequent to the initial detection of the vehicle-related event and utilized by the cloud computing system along with the vehicle data to verify that the initially detected vehicle-related event occurred;

receiving the additional vehicle data from the vehicle; and

by an application resident in the cloud computer system, analyzing the vehicle data and the additional vehicle data to verify that the vehicle-related event occurred, the application including computer readable code embedded on a non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium for performing the analyzing;

wherein both the vehicle data and the additional vehicle data are generated by the vehicle, not by the vehicle occupant.

2. The vehicle-incident detection method as defined in claim 1 wherein the vehicle data includes at least a vehicle speed and a vehicle location generated by the vehicle at a time t₀, wherein t₀ is the time when the vehicle-related event is initially detected, and wherein the additional vehicle data includes at least the vehicle speed and the vehicle location generated by the vehicle at a time t₁, wherein t₁ is a time subsequent to the initial detection of the vehicle-related event.

3. The vehicle-incident detection method as defined in claim 2 wherein:

the analyzing includes comparing the vehicle data generated at time t₀ and the additional vehicle data generated at time t₁; and

the method further comprises determining that the vehicle-related event did not occur when the vehicle location at time t₁ is outside of a predefined position zone for the vehicle at time t₀, and when the vehicle speed at time t₀ is at least ½

the vehicle speed at time t₁.

4. The vehicle-incident detection method as defined in claim 3, further comprising resetting the application upon determining that the vehicle-related event did not occur.

5. The vehicle-incident detection method as defined in claim 3 wherein the predefined position zone is defined by a length of the vehicle+½

(the length of the vehicle).

6. The vehicle-incident detection method as defined in claim 2, further comprising:

receiving subsequent additional vehicle data at a time t_1+n, wherein n is an integer equal to or greater than 1, wherein the subsequent additional vehicle data is generated by the vehicle, not by the vehicle occupant; and

analyzing the vehicle data, the additional vehicle data, and the subsequent additional vehicle data to update the determination that the vehicle-related event occurred.

7. The vehicle-incident detection method as defined in claim 1, further comprising resetting the application upon determining that the vehicle-related event occurred.

8. The vehicle-incident detection method as defined in claim 1 wherein:

the analyzing includes comparing the vehicle data generated at time t₀ and the additional vehicle data generated at time t₁; and

the method further comprises;

determining that the vehicle-related event occurred based on the comparison; and

notifying a vehicle service center that the vehicle-related event occurred.

22. The vehicle-incident detection method as defined in claim 2 wherein the vehicle data and the additional vehicle data, at time t₀ and t₁, respectively, further include vehicle gear shift location data, rollover sensor data, ambient vehicle sound data, vehicle heading data, steering angle data, or combinations thereof.

9. A vehicle-incident detection method, comprising:

initially detecting a vehicle-related event;

via a telematics unit operatively disposed in a vehicle, automatically transmitting data from the vehicle to a cloud computing system in response to the initial detection, the data being associated with a vehicle system, wherein the cloud computing system is remote from the vehicle;

in response to a request received from the cloud computing system, transmitting additional data from the vehicle via the telematics unit to the cloud computing system, the additional data being associated with the vehicle system and generated at a time subsequent to the initial detection of the vehicle-related event and utilized by the cloud computing system along with the vehicle data to verify that the initially detected vehicle-related event occurred; and

by an application resident in the cloud computing system, utilizing the vehicle data and the additional data to verify that the vehicle-related event occurred, the application including computer readable code embedded on a non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium for performing the verifying;

wherein both the vehicle data and the additional vehicle data are generated by the vehicle, not by the vehicle occupant.

10. The vehicle-incident detection method as defined in claim 9 wherein the initial detection is performed by at least one sensor operatively disposed in or on the vehicle.

11. The vehicle-incident detection method as defined in claim 9 wherein prior to automatically transmitting the data from the vehicle, the method further comprises, by a processor of the telematics unit, formulating any of a short message service (SMS) message or a packetized data message that includes the data, wherein the processor is to execute computer readable code embedded in a non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium for performing the formulating.

12. The vehicle-incident detection method as defined in claim 9 wherein the data includes at least a vehicle speed and a vehicle location generated at a time t₀, wherein t₀ is the time when the vehicle-related event, and wherein the additional data includes at least the vehicle speed and the vehicle location generated at a time t₁, wherein t₁ is a time subsequent to the initial detection of the vehicle-related event.

13. The vehicle-incident detection method as defined in claim 12 wherein the time t₁ occurs no more than five seconds after the time t₀.

14. The vehicle-incident detection method as defined in claim 12, further comprising:

receiving subsequent additional vehicle data at a time t_1+n, wherein n is an integer equal to or greater than 1, wherein the subsequent additional vehicle data is generated by the vehicle, not by the vehicle occupant; and

analyzing the data, the additional data, and the subsequent additional vehicle data to update the determination that the vehicle-related event occurred.

15. A vehicle-incident detection system, comprising:

a vehicle, including;

at least one sensor disposed in or on the vehicle, the at least one sensor to generate a signal indicative of a vehicle-related event;

a telematics unit disposed in the vehicle and selectively and operatively connected to the at least one sensor, the telematics unit to i) receive the signal from the at least one sensor, ii) initially detect, at a time t₀, the vehicle-related event based on the signal, iii) obtain vehicle data for the time t₀ from at least one vehicle system excluding data from a vehicle occupant upon making the initial detection, and iv) obtain additional vehicle data from the at least one vehicle system excluding data from the vehicle occupant at a time t₁ that is subsequent to the time t₀ in order to verify that the initially detected vehicle-related event occurred; and

a processor operatively associated with the telematics unit, the processor to execute computer readable code embedded on a tangible, non-transitory computer readable medium for formulating messages, one of the messages including the vehicle data obtained at the time t₀ and an other of the messages including the additional vehicle data obtained at the time t₁; and

a cloud computing system, remote from the vehicle, including;

networking equipment to receive the messages from the telematics unit; and

processing equipment to run an application stored in a memory of the cloud computing system, the application including computer readable code, embedded on a tangible, non-transitory computer readable medium, for extracting the vehicle data from the messages and for analyzing the vehicle data and the additional vehicle data to verify that the initially detected vehicle-related event occurred.

16. The vehicle-incident detection system as defined in claim 15 wherein the vehicle data is at least a vehicle location and a vehicle speed.

17. The vehicle-incident detection system as defined in claim 16 wherein the messages are formulated as short message service (SMS) messages or packetized data messages.

18. The vehicle-incident detection system as defined in claim 15 wherein the time t₁ represents a time occurring no more than five seconds after the time t₀.

19. The vehicle-incident detection system as defined in claim 15 wherein:

the computer readable code for analyzing the vehicle data includes computer readable code for comparing the vehicle data obtained at the time t₀ and the additional vehicle data obtained at the time t₁; and

the application further includes computer readable code for determining that the vehicle-related event did not occur when the vehicle location at the time t₁ is outside of a predefined position zone for the vehicle at the time t₀, and when the vehicle speed at the time t₀ is at least ½

the vehicle speed at the time t₁.

20. The vehicle-incident detection system as defined in claim 15 wherein:

the computer readable code for analyzing the vehicle data includes computer readable code for comparing the vehicle data obtained at the time t₀ and the additional vehicle data obtained at the time t₁;

the application further includes computer readable code for verifying that the vehicle-related event occurred; and

the network equipment of the cloud computing system is further configured to notify a vehicle service center that the vehicle-related event occurred.

21. The vehicle-incident detection system as defined in claim 15 wherein the application further includes computer readable code for resetting the application.