Apparatus and System for Generating Vehicle Usage Model

• US 20150348058A1
• Filed: 06/03/2014
• Published: 12/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Liu, Yimin, MacNeille, Perry Robinson, Gusikhin, Oleg Yurievitch, Cateriano, Alfredo, Wang, Fei
• Granted Patent: US 9,773,251 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005

Abstract

A vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device, comprising a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with the mobile device. The vehicle computer system also includes a processor in communication with the wireless transceiver. The processor is configured to receive information from one or more vehicle sensors regarding vehicle usage, send the information to an off-board server via the wireless transceiver, wherein the information is utilized in a damages-model regarding the vehicle, and output the information concerning the damages-model to a user display.

Claims

1. A vehicle computer system (VCS) configured to communicate with a mobile device, comprising:

a processor in communication with a wireless transceiver, the processor configured to;

1.) receive information from one or more vehicle sensors regarding vehicle usage and performance;

2.) transmit the information to an off-board server via the wireless transceiver, wherein the information is utilized in a damages-model regarding the vehicle usage and performance;

3.) output the information concerning the damages-model to a user display.

2. The vehicle computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more vehicle sensors includes an engine control unit.

3. The vehicle computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to receive vehicle environment data from a remote server via the mobile device.

4. The vehicle computer system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle environment data is utilized in a damages-model regarding the vehicle.

5. The vehicle computer system of claim 1, wherein the damages-model is utilized to assess a vehicle'"'"'s depreciation value.

6. The vehicle computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more vehicle sensors includes an engine control unit.

7. The vehicle computer system of claim 1, wherein the information concerning the damages-model is sent a user display via an e-mail or text message.

8. The vehicle computer system of claim 1, wherein the information concerning the damages-model is output to user display that is one or more of a vehicle display, a mobile phone, a computer monitor.

9. A server in communication with a vehicle, comprising:

a wireless transceiver in communication with a vehicle that is configured to exchange data;

a processor in communication with the wireless transceiver, the processor configured to;

1.) receive vehicle data from the vehicle that includes information regarding vehicle usage;

2.) receive vehicle environment data from an off-board server;

3.) aggregate the vehicle data and vehicle environment data and determine a vehicle'"'"'s depreciation value based on the aggregated data;

4.) transmit the vehicle'"'"'s depreciation value to a vehicle owner.

10. The server of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to transmit a promotion based on the vehicle data.

11. The server of claim 9, wherein the wireless transceiver is further configured to exchange data via an application program interface in communication with a mobile device in the vehicle.

12. The server of claim 9, wherein the vehicle data includes vehicle data from an engine control unit.

13. The server of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to receive vehicle environment data from a remote server via a mobile device located in the vehicle in communication with the server.

14. The server of claim 9, wherein the vehicle environment data is utilized in a damages-model regarding the vehicle.

15. The server of claim 9, wherein the damages-model is utilized to assess a vehicle'"'"'s depreciation value using at least the vehicle data and vehicle environment data.

16. The server of claim 9, wherein the one or more vehicle sensors includes an engine control unit.

17. The server of claim 9, wherein the information concerning the damages-model is sent to a third-party agency.

18. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

communicating with a mobile device located in a vehicle via a wireless transceiver;

receiving information from one or more vehicle sensors regarding vehicle usage via the mobile device;

determining a depreciation-value of the vehicle based on at least the information received from the one or more vehicle sensors and data indicating a vehicle environment; and

sending the depreciation-value of the vehicle to a user via the wireless transceiver.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the value of the vehicle is sent to a third-party agency.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the method further includes the step of:

determining a recommended insurance offering based on the depreciation value of the vehicle; and

sending the recommended insurance offering to the user via the wireless transceiver.