DETECTION OF ROAD SURFACE DEFECTS

• US 20180068495A1
• Filed: 09/06/2016
• Published: 03/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chainer, Timothy J., Parida, Pritish R., Taubenblatt, Marc A.
• Granted Patent: US 11,145,142 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/105 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2530/10 Weight
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2530/20 Tyre data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2756/10 Involving external transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/06 Road conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/025 Active steering aids, e.g. helping the driver by actively influencing the steering system after environment evaluation B62D1/28 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C

Abstract

A method of detecting and identifying road surface defects is provided. Motion and position information is received from a plurality of vehicles. A profile is retrieved for a particular vehicle from a database of vehicle profiles by using an identifier of the particular vehicle. One or more criteria are identified for detecting a particular type of road surface defect based on the retrieved profile of the particular vehicle. Upon determining that the received motion and position data satisfies the identified criteria, a detection of a road surface defect of the particular type and a location associated with the detected road surface defect based on the received position information is reported.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving motion and position information from a plurality of vehicles;

retrieving a profile for a particular vehicle from a database of vehicle profiles by using an identifier of the particular vehicle;

identifying one or more criteria for detecting a particular type of road surface defect based on the retrieved profile of the particular vehicle; and

upon determining that the received motion and position data satisfies the identified criteria, reporting a detection of a road surface defect of the particular type and a location associated with the detected road surface defect based on the received position information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the received motion information of the vehicle comprises a plurality of sets of sensor data, each set of sensor data associated with a different wheel or tire of the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a set of sensor data associated with a tire comprises tire pressure.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the retrieved profile of the vehicle comprises a weight associated with the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the particular type of road surface defect is a pothole and the criteria is a threshold tire pressure that is determined based on the weight associated with the vehicle.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the retrieved profile of the vehicle further comprises a dimension of a tire of the vehicle, wherein the threshold tire pressure is further based on the dimension of the tire.

7. The method of claim 1,

wherein the retrieved profile for the vehicle is for a type of vehicles that includes the vehicle, and

wherein the retrieved profile is based on characteristics of the vehicle that are common to vehicles of the type.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising reporting a road obstruction upon determining that more than a threshold number of vehicles report motion and position data indicative of a road obstruction at a same location.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying a service agency based on the detected event and notifying the identified service agency.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the profile comprises one or more signatures of an expected response of the vehicle due to the particular type of road surface defect, wherein the identified criteria includes a metric computed based on the received motion and position data to match the signature.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the received motion information of the vehicle comprises events detected by the vehicle based on an analysis of sensor data produced at the vehicle.

12. A computing device comprising:

a processor;

a network interface coupled to the processor;

a storage device storing a set of instructions, wherein an execution of the set of instructions by the processor configures the computing device to perform acts comprising;

collecting data from a set of sensors of a vehicle;

retrieving a profile for the vehicle;

identifying one or more criteria for detecting a particular type road surface defect based on the retrieved profile of the vehicle; and

upon determining that the collected sensor data satisfies identified criteria, reporting to a datacenter a detection of a road surface defect of the particular type and a location associated with the detected road surface defect, based on the received position information.

13. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the received motion information of the vehicle comprises a plurality of sets of sensor data, each set of sensor data associated with a different wheel or tire of the vehicle.

14. The computing device of claim 13, wherein a set of sensor data associated with a tire comprises a tire pressure.

15. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the retrieved profile of the vehicle comprises a weight of the vehicle.

16. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the particular type of road surface defect is a pothole and the criteria is a threshold tire pressure that is determined based on the weight of the vehicle.

17. The computing device of claim 16:

wherein the retrieved profile of the vehicle further comprises a dimension of a tire of the vehicle, and

wherein the threshold tire pressure is further based on the dimension of the tire.

18. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the collected sensor data are calibrated by a transfer function to eliminate an effect of characteristics of the vehicle that deviate from the retrieved vehicle profile.

19. The computing device of claim 12:

wherein the collected sensor data comprises vibration data of the vehicle'"'"'s tires, and

wherein the execution of the set of instructions by the processor further configures the computing device to perform acts comprising;

reporting a detection of a road surface defect upon determining a change in the vibration data of one of the vehicle'"'"'s tires.

20. The computing device of claim 12:

wherein the collected sensor data comprises steering data, and

wherein the execution of the set of instructions by the processor further configures the computing device to perform acts comprising;

reporting a detection of road surface defect when the steering data indicate a sudden change in alignment.

21. A method comprising:

collecting data from a set of sensors of a vehicle;

retrieving a profile for the vehicle;

identifying one or more criteria for detecting a particular type road surface defect based on the retrieved profile of the vehicle; and

upon determining that a collected sensor data satisfies the one or more identified criteria, activating a video camera in the vehicle for recording images of the road.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the particular type of road surface defect is a slippery condition.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the collected sensor data from the vehicle'"'"'s steering system.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the criteria is for detecting the steering that fails to move the vehicle in the direction of travel.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the collected sensor data further comprises data from the vehicle'"'"'s stability control system, and the criteria is for detecting steering that fails to move vehicle in the direction of travel and attempts by the stability control system to correct for the slippery condition.