METHOD FOR DETERMINING DRIVING CHARACTERISTICS OF A VEHICLE AND VEHICLE ANALYZING SYSTEM

• US 20170309092A1
• Filed: 04/26/2017
• Published: 10/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walter Steven Rosenbaum
• Original Assignee: Walter Steven Rosenbaum
• Inventors: ROSENBAUM, WALTER STEVEN
• Granted Patent: US 10,467,824 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/007 Wheeled or endless-tracked vehicles G01M17/08 takes precedence
• 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 method for determining driving characteristics of a vehicle. To provide an enhanced method to determine from a driving characteristics of the vehicle a long term mechanical stress of a vehicle, it is proposed that during operation of the vehicle an acceleration of the vehicle is detected by an acceleration sensor in the vehicle and evaluated by a vehicle analyzing system in the vehicle, wherein a driving parameter occurring during an acceleration event in which the vehicle acceleration is above a predetermined threshold is used to determine a driving characteristics value of the vehicle.

Claims

1. Method for determining driving characteristics of a vehicle, wherein during operation of the vehicle an acceleration of the vehicle is detected by an acceleration sensor in the vehicle, wherein a driving parameter occurring during an acceleration event in which the vehicle acceleration is above a predetermined threshold is used to determine a driving characteristics value of the vehicle.

2. Method according to claim 1,

wherein the driving characteristics value is a value indicating mechanical stress of at least one mechanical component of the vehicle, and the value is used to determine a long term driver induced mechanical stress of the vehicle.

3. Method according to claim 1,

wherein the acceleration is a speedup of the vehicle, and the driving parameter is a maximum speed value during the acceleration event, wherein the maximum speed value is used to calculate the driving characteristics value of the vehicle.

4. Method according to claim 1,

wherein an acceleration event value is calculated from the driving parameter being a vehicle speed value and a geostationary speed value assigned to the position where the acceleration event occurred, and the acceleration event value is used in the calculation of the driving characteristics value

5. Method according to claim 4,

wherein the acceleration event value is used in the calculation of the driving characteristics value only if the vehicle speed is in a predetermined relation to the geostationary speed value, and the speed value is erased from the memory before any use in a calculation of the driving characteristics value if the vehicle speed is outside the predetermined relation to the geostationary speed value.

6. Method according to claim 4,

wherein the geostationary speed value is a statutory speed limit at that position, and the predetermined relation is the speed value being higher than the statutory speed limit.

7. Method according to claim 4,

wherein the geostationary speed value is an average speed of other vehicles at that position, especially dependent on the time of the day.

8. Method according to claim 1,

wherein the driving characteristics value is derived from driving parameter values of a plurality of acceleration events during a driving event.

9. Method according to claim 1,

wherein the driving parameter is a vehicle speed which occurred during the acceleration event, and wherein for determination of the driving characteristics value the vehicle speed is assigned to a geostationary traffic categories

10. Method according to claim 9,

wherein the traffic category is urban, rural or highway of the place of occurrence of the acceleration event.

11. Method according to claim 9,

wherein for each category a plurality of driving parameter values are averaged to a driving metric.

12. Method according to claim 1,

wherein the communication system comprises a mobile communication device and a communication device fixed in the vehicle, wherein the mobile communication device collects position data of the positions where the vehicle drove during the acceleration event and calculates a vehicle speed from the position data.

13. Method according to claim 12,

wherein the mobile communication device is a mobile phone.

14. Method according to claim 1,

wherein the acceleration sensor is located in a mobile device of the vehicle analyzing system which further comprises a software application which adapts the acceleration threshold to the type of the acceleration sensor.

15. Vehicle analyzing system comprising an acceleration sensor, a communication unit prepared for sending data to a remote server, an acceleration monitoring unit for monitoring the acceleration of the vehicle and an evaluation unit to determine a driving parameter of the vehicle occurring during an acceleration event in which the vehicle acceleration is above a predetermined threshold.