ACCURATE RANGE CALCLUATION FOR VEHICLES, COMPUTED OUTSIDE OF THE VEHICLE

• US 20140074390A1
• Filed: 09/12/2012
• Published: 03/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Williams, Aaron, Paesler, Henrik, Tran, Binh, Lehmann, Jens, Phorn, Kim Srea, Ryder, Geoff, Long, Mary, Shmoilova, Natalia, Balasubramanian, Vivek
• Granted Patent: US 9,292,257 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/123
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 9/00 Measuring volume flow relative to another variable, e.g. of liquid fuel for an engine
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 9/001 with electric, electro-mechanic or electronic means G01F9/008 and G01F9/02 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 9/023 with electric, electro-mechanic or electronic means
• 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: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C

Abstract

Example systems and methods for estimating range for a vehicle are provided. In an example, a server remotely located from a vehicle receives vehicle status information from the vehicle as well as reference data from sources other than the vehicle. An estimated range for the vehicle is computed based on both the vehicle status information and the reference data, and then this estimated range is transmitted to the vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for providing an estimated operating range for a vehicle, the method comprising:

receiving, at a server remotely located from the vehicle, vehicle status data from the vehicle via a communication network;

accessing reference data derived from a source other than the vehicle;

calculating an estimated range for the vehicle using the vehicle status data and the reference data.; and

communicating the estimated range to the vehicle via the communication network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference data includes information from a driver model.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference data includes driver-specific data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference data includes information about other vehicles and/or drivers.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference data includes map information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference data includes traffic information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference data includes weather information.

8. A cloud server comprising:

a processor;

memory;

an interface to a plurality of range estimation servers, each of the range estimation servers designed to calculate a range for a vehicle for a particular route based on identical vehicle status information received from a vehicle but different reference data for each range estimation server;

an algorithm combination module designed to compute an estimated range for the vehicle based upon a combination of each of the calculated ranges from each of the plurality of range estimation servers; and

a vehicle communication module designed to transmit the estimated range from the algorithm combination module to the vehicle.

9. The cloud server of claim 8, wherein at least one of the plurality of range estimation servers bases its calculated range on information received from other vehicles.

10. The cloud server of claim 8, wherein the estimated range is an estimated range of travel before recharging of the vehicle is necessary.

11. The cloud server of claim 8, wherein the estimated range is an estimated range of travel before refueling of the vehicle is necessary.

12. The cloud server of claim 8, wherein the estimated range provided by the algorithm combination module includes a plurality of ranges at different confidence levels.

13. The cloud server of claim 12, wherein the vehicle is designed to display the plurality of ranges as a heat map.

14. A system comprising:

a plurality of electronic devices, wherein each of the plurality of electronic devices is intended to travel some distance;

a server in communication with the plurality of electronic devices;

wherein the plurality of electronic devices are each designed to transmit a request to the server for an estimated range of travel, along with information about a position of the electronic device and

wherein the server is designed to calculate an estimated range of travel for a particular one of the plurality of the electronic devices using the information about the position of the electronic device as well as information received from others of the plurality of electronic devices.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the estimated range of travel includes an estimation of how far a human being carrying the particular electronic device can hike in a single day.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receive, at a server remotely located from the vehicle, vehicle status data from the vehicle via a communication network;

access reference data derived from a source other than the vehicle;

calculate an estimated range for the vehicle using the vehicle status data and the reference data; and

communicate the estimated range to the vehicle via the communication network.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the vehicle status information includes vehicle position.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the vehicle status information includes vehicle speed.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the vehicle status information includes air conditioning status.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the vehicle status information includes tire pressure.