IN-TRUCK FUEL ECONOMY ESTIMATOR

• US 20140277971A1
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: PACCAR Incorporated
• Original Assignee: PACCAR Incorporated
• Inventors: Duffy, John D., Balton, Christopher, Oshiro, Kevin S.
• Application Number:
  US13/804,462
• Publication Number:
  US 20140277971A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/51
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/174 Economic driving
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/28 characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0075 Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/0638 Engine speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/1005 Transmission ratio engaged
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/10 Historical data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/00 Registering or indicating the working of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/84 Data processing systems or methods, management, administration

Abstract

A system and method for generating vehicle fuel economy estimates. Information describing a path of travel and a vehicle are received from a user. A detailed representation of the path of travel is obtained. Road condition information for segments of the path of travel is obtained, and the path of travel is verified as being traversable by the described vehicle. This information is used to generate a drive cycle profile, which contains at least the simulated path traversed by the vehicle, the speed of the vehicle along segments of the path, and any ambient conditions taken into account when predicting the speed of the vehicle. One or more drive cycle profiles are used to generate a fuel economy estimate for the vehicle.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of generating vehicle fuel economy estimates, the method comprising:

obtaining by a computer, a drive cycle profile based on the path of travel, the road condition information, and the vehicle configuration information; and

generating a fuel economy estimate based on the path of travel, the road condition information, and the vehicle configuration information.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the drive cycle profile comprises:

obtaining by a computer, vehicle configuration information and a path of travel;

obtaining by a computer, road condition information for segments of the path of travel; and

generating by a computer, a drive cycle profile based on the path of travel, the road condition information, and the vehicle configuration information.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein generating a fuel economy estimate includes determining one of fuel economy, fuel consumption, and fuel consumption per mile.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein generating a fuel economy estimate includes determining at least one of energy consumption and energy consumption per mile.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein generating a fuel economy estimate includes determining at least one of an engine rpm and an engine torque.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein generating a fuel economy estimate includes determining at least one of a gear and a shift point.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising displaying operating instructions to a vehicle operator.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein displaying operating instructions comprises displaying at least one of a suggested speed, a suggested gear, and a suggested engine rpm.

9. A system for generating vehicle fuel economy estimates, the system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a tangible computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by at least one processor of the system, cause the system to generate one or more fuel economy estimates by;

obtaining vehicle configuration information and a path of travel;

obtaining road condition information for segments of the path of travel;

generating a drive cycle profile based on the path of travel, the road condition information, and the vehicle configuration information; and

generating a fuel economy estimates based on the drive cycle profile.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein generating a fuel economy estimate includes determining one of fuel economy, fuel consumption, and fuel consumption per mile.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein generating a fuel economy estimate includes determining at least one of an engine rpm and an engine torque.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein generating a fuel economy estimate includes determining at least one of a gear and a shift point.

13. The system of claim 9, execution of the computer-executable instructions displaying operating instructions to a vehicle operator.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein displaying operating instructions comprises displaying at least one of a suggested speed, a suggested gear, and a suggested engine rpm.

15. A tangible, computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to perform actions for generating a fuel economy estimate, the actions comprising:

obtaining vehicle configuration information and a path of travel;

obtaining road condition information for segments of the path of travel;

generating more than one drive cycle profile based on the path of travel, the road condition information, and the vehicle configuration information; and

generating a fuel economy estimates based on the more than one drive cycle profiles.

16. The tangible, computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein generating a fuel economy estimate includes determining at least one of energy consumption and energy consumption per mile.

17. The tangible, computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein generating a fuel economy estimate includes determining at least one of an engine rpm and an engine torque.

18. The tangible, computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein generating a fuel economy estimate includes determining at least one of a gear and a shift point.

19. The tangible, computer-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising displaying operating instructions to a vehicle operator.

20. The tangible, computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein displaying operating instructions comprises displaying at least one of a suggested speed, a suggested gear, and a suggested engine rpm.