FACTOR COST TIME SERIES TO OPTIMIZE DRIVERS AND VEHICLES: METHOD AND APPARATUS
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- a) from tangible storage or through a physical interface, obtaining data that includes(i) settings of controls of a vehicle at a sequence of points along a road route, and(ii) estimates of force and/or torque transfers between internal components of the vehicle at the sequence of points along the route;
b) using the data and a model of processes that govern physics of motion of the vehicle, allocating, at the sequence of points, costs of operating the vehicle to a plurality of factor costs, wherein a factor cost can be(i) a driver factor cost, which corresponds to a category of control setting choices made by the driver along the route, or(ii) a vehicle factor cost, which corresponds to an aspect of configuration of the vehicle.
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Abstract
A method and system for analyzing and improving driver and vehicle performance are described. Detailed vehicle data, including high frequency time series data, which was collected during a trip, is obtained, as well as external data regarding trip route and environment. Using the data and a model of the physics of the vehicle, driver and vehicle time series may be obtained for the trip. These time series may allocate fuel consumption to various factor costs relating to the driver (e.g., rate of acceleration, choice of gear) and to the vehicle (e.g., choice of engine, aerodynamic improvements). From trip simulations run with virtual drivers, an optimal (relative to some criterion) virtual driver (i.e., control choices) can be obtained. Simulations with the optimal driver can find an optimal vehicle from a set of virtual vehicles. Losses due to driver behavior and to vehicle configuration can be computed by comparisons, and alternatives suggested.
15 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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a) from tangible storage or through a physical interface, obtaining data that includes (i) settings of controls of a vehicle at a sequence of points along a road route, and (ii) estimates of force and/or torque transfers between internal components of the vehicle at the sequence of points along the route; b) using the data and a model of processes that govern physics of motion of the vehicle, allocating, at the sequence of points, costs of operating the vehicle to a plurality of factor costs, wherein a factor cost can be (i) a driver factor cost, which corresponds to a category of control setting choices made by the driver along the route, or (ii) a vehicle factor cost, which corresponds to an aspect of configuration of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method, comprising:
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a) in a simulation executed on a digital processing system, selecting control settings, which represent choices made by a driver of a vehicle, at route points during a road trip; b) from tangible storage, accessing (i) a model of the physical processes governing motion of the vehicle during the trip, wherein the model incorporates data obtained by monitoring components of power trains of similarly configured vehicles during actual road trips; and (ii) data characterizing the power train of the vehicle; c) using the model and the data, estimating transfers, which relate to vehicle propulsion, between internal components of the vehicle at route points; and d) based on the estimated transfers, (i) estimating progress of the vehicle under control of the driver, and (ii) at route points, allocating costs of operating the vehicle to a plurality of factor costs, wherein a factor cost can be (i) a driver factor cost, which corresponds to a category of control setting choices made by the driver along the route, or (ii) a vehicle factor cost, which corresponds to an aspect of configuration of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A system, comprising:
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a) tangible digital storage, including (i) time series data, received from a monitoring system onboard a vehicle, the data including (A) settings of vehicle controls, as selected by a driver over a route, (B) status of a plurality of power train components, (C) rate of fuel consumption, (D) speed of the vehicle, and (E) location of the vehicle (ii) logic that models physical processes of the vehicle; b) a processing system, including an electronic digital processor, that uses the logic and the data to estimate time series of a set of forces and/or torques acting on a plurality of components internal to the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification