Monitoring of route and schedule adherence
First Claim
1. Apparatus for monitoring adherence of a vehicle to a selected vehicle route from a vehicle monitoring station, the apparatus comprising:
- location determination (LD) means, carried on a selected vehicle, for receiving LD signals from an LD signal source spaced apart from the vehicle and for determining and recording the location coordinates corresponding to a location L(ts) of the vehicle at a selected time t=ts ;
a computer, carried on the vehicle and communicating with the LD means, having an electronic map of a selected route R, where the selected route is approximated by an ordered sequence {Pk }k of path segments Pk, numbered k=1,2, . . , K (K≧
2), with path segment Pk'"'"' (1≦
k'"'"'<
K) being intersected by path segment Pk'"'"'+1, in at least one point and with each path segment Pk being surrounded by a corridor segment Ck having a width approximately equal to 2dk, measured in a direction approximately perpendicular to a general direction of the segment Pk, where dk is a selected positive distance;
where the computer determines the perpendicular foot π
k (L(ts)) of the location L(ts) on at least one of the path segments Pk, determines the distance Dk (L(ts)) from the location L(ts) to the perpendicular foot π
k (L(ts)), and determines whether the distance Dk (L(ts))≦
dk for at least one index value k;
where the computer determines that, when Dk (L(ts))≦
dk for at least one index value k, the vehicle is adhering to the selected route R; and
where the computer determines, when Dk (L(ts))>
dk for all index values k, that the vehicle is not adhering to the route R, and the computer then transmits at least one of (1) a signal indicating that the vehicle is not adhering to the route R and (2) the location coordinates of the vehicle for at least one selected time t=ts'"'"', for which Dk (L(ts'"'"'))>
dk, to a selected vehicle monitoring station that is spaced apart from the vehicle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for monitoring the movement of a vehicle along a selected route R to determine whether the vehicle is (i) adhering to that route and/or (ii) adhering to a selected time schedule along that route. Adherence to the route R requires that the vehicle travel within a corridor of selected positive width that surrounds a path defining the route R. Adherence to the time schedule requires that the vehicle move past one or more specified locations along or adjacent to the route R within a specified time interval. The method provides an electronic map with a visually perceptible display that indicates the present location of the vehicle and allows implementation of a snap-to-route command that displays the location on the route R that is closest to the present location of the vehicle.
304 Citations
12 Claims
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1. Apparatus for monitoring adherence of a vehicle to a selected vehicle route from a vehicle monitoring station, the apparatus comprising:
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location determination (LD) means, carried on a selected vehicle, for receiving LD signals from an LD signal source spaced apart from the vehicle and for determining and recording the location coordinates corresponding to a location L(ts) of the vehicle at a selected time t=ts ; a computer, carried on the vehicle and communicating with the LD means, having an electronic map of a selected route R, where the selected route is approximated by an ordered sequence {Pk }k of path segments Pk, numbered k=1,2, . . , K (K≧
2), with path segment Pk'"'"' (1≦
k'"'"'<
K) being intersected by path segment Pk'"'"'+1, in at least one point and with each path segment Pk being surrounded by a corridor segment Ck having a width approximately equal to 2dk, measured in a direction approximately perpendicular to a general direction of the segment Pk, where dk is a selected positive distance;where the computer determines the perpendicular foot π
k (L(ts)) of the location L(ts) on at least one of the path segments Pk, determines the distance Dk (L(ts)) from the location L(ts) to the perpendicular foot π
k (L(ts)), and determines whether the distance Dk (L(ts))≦
dk for at least one index value k;where the computer determines that, when Dk (L(ts))≦
dk for at least one index value k, the vehicle is adhering to the selected route R; andwhere the computer determines, when Dk (L(ts))>
dk for all index values k, that the vehicle is not adhering to the route R, and the computer then transmits at least one of (1) a signal indicating that the vehicle is not adhering to the route R and (2) the location coordinates of the vehicle for at least one selected time t=ts'"'"', for which Dk (L(ts'"'"'))>
dk, to a selected vehicle monitoring station that is spaced apart from the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. Apparatus for monitoring adherence of a vehicle to a selected time schedule along a selected vehicle route from a vehicle monitoring station, the apparatus comprising:
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location determination (LD) means, carried on a selected vehicle, for receiving LD signals from an LD signal source spaced apart from the vehicle and for determining and recording the location coordinates corresponding to a location L(ts) of the vehicle at a selected time t=ts ; a computer, carried on the vehicle and communicating with the LD means, having a selected time schedule for the vehicle stored therein, where the time schedule is represented by at least one ordered time schedule triple (TIn,Ln,dn) in an ordered sequence {(TIm,Lm,dm)}m of one or more time schedule triples of values, where TIn ={t|tn-Δ
tn ≦
t≦
tn +Δ
tn } is a selected time interval, with tn and Δ
tn being selected times and with Δ
tn >
0, Ln is a selected location in a region through which the vehicle passes, and dn is a selected positive number;where the LD means and computer are used to determine, for a sequence of one or more selected times t=t'"'"'r,u in an ordered sequence {t'"'"'r,v }v of such times, lying in a chosen time schedule time interval TIr with associated selected location Lr, the location L(t'"'"'r,u) of the vehicle at the time t=t'"'"'r,u, to determine the distance between the location Lr and the location L(t'"'"'r,u), and to determine whether the distance between the location Lr and the location L(t'"'"'r,u) satisfies the relation distance |Lr -L(t'"'"'r,u)|≦
dr for at least one selected time t'"'"'r,u in the time interval TIr ;where the computer determines that, when the relation distance relation |Lr -L(t'"'"'r,u)|≦
dr is satisfied for at least one selected time t'"'"'r,u in the time interval TIr, the vehicle has adhered to the selected time schedule in the time interval TIr ; andwhere the computer determines that, when the relation distance relation |Lr -L(t'"'"'r,u)|≦
dr is not satisfied for any selected time t'"'"'r,u in the time interval TIr, the vehicle has not adhered to the selected time schedule in the time interval TIr. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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Specification