PRO-ACTIVE FUEL AND BATTERY REFILLING FOR VEHICLES

• US 20170193424A1
• Filed: 12/30/2015
• Published: 07/06/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: BOTEA, Adi Ionel, XIE, Fan
• Granted Patent: US 11,023,833 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24575 using context
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/047 Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

A pro-active mobile refueling service uses a multiple agents and targets solution to assign mobile service agents to re-fuel moving vehicles. A subscription service continually monitors the fuel consumption and fuel reserves of subscribed moving vehicles to predict when a subscribed vehicle will need fuel replenishing.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for pro-active mobile refueling of a target vehicle, the computer-implemented method comprising:

at a remote device monitoring a fuel status of the target vehicle;

generating a map with positions of multiple target vehicles and multiple service agents;

receiving an indicator that a fuel level of the target vehicle has fallen below a threshold level, wherein the fuel level measures one of;

petrol, diesel, battery power, and current;

determining that the target vehicle will need replenishing of fuel; and

responsive to the determining, performing;

generating a distance matrix of current distances between available service agents and target vehicles;

computing an assignment between a service agent and the target vehicle to reach the target vehicle and perform the replenishing, wherein the service agent is assigned in an optimized order based on a current location of the target vehicle, disregarding any possible future movements of the target vehicle;

computing moves guiding the assigned service agent to the target vehicle;

dispatching the assigned service agent to reach the target vehicle and perform the replenishing, wherein the target vehicle can remain in motion until the assigned service agent has reached the target vehicle; and

continually updating the location of the target vehicle.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising continually re-computing the assignment until a service agent reaches the target vehicle to maintain the optimal order, wherein continually re-computing the assignment results in dynamically reassigning another service agent to reach the target vehicle.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein replenishing the fuel comprises at least one action selected from a group consisting of:

refilling with petrol, refilling with diesel, charging a battery, and replacing a battery.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising subscribing the target vehicle to a subscription service for performing the mobile refueling.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein determining that the target vehicle will need replenishing is based on at least one of:

current fuel reserves, a projected route of the target vehicle, and a confirmation from an operator of the target vehicle.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 wherein the target vehicle is an electric vehicle, and wherein monitoring the fuel status comprises receiving a battery charge indicator.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein computing the assignment comprises:

finding a minimum weight w in the distance matrix such that after removing all edges with larger weight than w, there still exists one perfect match of service agent to target vehicle; and

finding a minimum weight bipartite match in the map after removing all edges with larger weight than w.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein computing the moves guiding the service agent comprises using moves retrieved from a compressed path database.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising providing instructions to an operator of the target vehicle.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising overriding a manufacturer-recommended threshold level.

11. An information processing system for pro-active mobile refueling of a target vehicle, the information processing system comprising:

a service computer monitoring a fuel status of the target vehicle, the service computer comprising;

memory storing instructions;

a location-determining system; and

a processor device operably coupled with the location-determining system and the memory and executing the instructions stored therein, the instructions comprising;

generating a map with positions of multiple target vehicles and multiple service agents;

receiving an indicator that a fuel level of the target vehicle has fallen below a threshold level, wherein the fuel level measures one of;

petrol, diesel, battery power, and current;

determining that the target vehicle will need replenishing of fuel; and

responsive to the determining, performing;

generating a distance matrix of current distances between available service agents and target vehicles;

computing an assignment between a service agent and the target vehicle to reach the target vehicle and perform the replenishing, wherein the service agent is assigned in an optimized order based on a current location of the target vehicle, disregarding any possible future movements of the target vehicle;

computing moves guiding the assigned service agent to the target vehicle;

dispatching the assigned service agent to reach the target vehicle and perform the replenishing, using the computed moves, wherein the target vehicle can remain in motion until the assigned service agent has reached the target vehicle; and

continually updating the location of the target vehicle.

12. The information processing system of claim 11 wherein the instructions further comprise continually re-computing the assignment until the service agent reaches the moving vehicle to maintain the optimal order, wherein continually re-computing the assignment results in dynamically reassigning another service agent to reach the target vehicle.

13. The information processing system of claim 11 wherein the fuel comprises at least one action selected from a group consisting of:

refilling with petrol, refilling with diesel, charging a battery, and replacing a battery.

14. The information processing system of claim 11 wherein the pro-active mobile refueling is provided to the target vehicle as a subscription service.

15. The information processing system of claim 11 wherein the instructions for computing the assignment comprise:

finding a minimum weight w in the distance matrix such that after removing all edges with larger weight than w, there still exists one perfect match of service agent to target vehicle; and

finding a minimum weight bipartite match in the map after removing all edges with larger weight than w.

16. The information processing system of claim 11 wherein the instructions further comprise overriding a manufacturer-recommended threshold level.

17. A computer program product for pro-active mobile refueling of a target vehicle, the computer program product comprising:

a storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method at a remote device monitoring a fuel status of the target vehicle, the method comprising;

generating a map with positions of multiple target vehicles and multiple service agents;

receiving an indicator that a fuel level of the target vehicle has fallen below a threshold level, wherein the fuel level measures one of;

petrol, diesel, battery power, and current;

determining that the target vehicle will need replenishing of fuel; and

responsive to the determining, performing;

generating a distance matrix of current distances between available service agents and target vehicles;

computing an assignment between a service agent and the target vehicle to reach the target vehicle and perform the replenishing, wherein the service agent is assigned in an optimized order based on a current location of the target vehicle, disregarding any possible future movements of the target vehicle;

computing moves guiding the assigned service agent to the target vehicle;

dispatching the assigned service agent to reach the target vehicle and perform the replenishing, wherein the target vehicle can remain in motion until the assigned service agent has reached the target vehicle; and

continually updating the location of the target vehicle.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the method further comprises continually re-computing the assignment until the service agent reaches the moving vehicle to maintain the optimal order, wherein continually re-computing the assignment results in dynamically reassigning another service agent to reach the target vehicle.

19. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein computing the assignment comprises:

finding a minimum weight w in the distance matrix such that after removing all edges with larger weight than w, there still exists one perfect match of service agent to target vehicle; and

finding a minimum weight bipartite match in the map after removing all edges with larger weight than w.

20. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the method further comprises overriding a manufacturer-recommended threshold level.