Modemless transmitter for test vehicle tracking system

• US 5,900,828 A
• Filed: 04/14/1997
• Issued: 05/04/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Chrysler Corporation (Stellantis NV)
• Original Assignee: Chrysler Corporation (Stellantis NV)
• Inventors: Friedrichs, H. Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Benjamin C.
• Application Number:
  US08/843,181
• Time in Patent Office: 750 Days
• Field of Search: 340/988, 340/905, 340/989, 340/991, 340/993, 340/439, 340/514, 340/516, 342/385, 342/386, 342/415, 342/450, 342/42, 342/44, 342/46, 701/35, 455/11.1, 455/42, 455/43, 455/516, 455/517, 455/91, 455/102, 455/107
• US Class Current: 340/988
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/123 indicating the position of vehicles, e.g. scheduled vehicles; Managing passenger vehicles circulating according to a fixed timetable, e.g. buses, trains, tramstransmission of navigation instructions to vehicles G08G1/0968

Abstract

A system for recording vehicle data from vehicles traversing a test track includes a plurality of locator beacons buried in respective well casings around the test track for transmitting location signals. Each beacon includes a transmitter and a microprocessor that controls the transmitter. Receivers are disposed in the test vehicles for receiving the location signals as the vehicles pass by the beacons, and a respective computer receives the position signals from each receiver and formats the signals as appropriate for the vehicle'"'"'s onboard flight recorder. Then, after checking for signal fidelity the computer sends each signal to the flight recorder, which time stamps the position signals along with other data collected from the vehicle. In this way, data can be correlated to particular segments of the test track.

Claims

1. A vehicle test system for recording vehicle data from vehicles traversing a test track, comprising:

a plurality of locator beacons juxtaposed with the test track for transmitting position signals, each beacon identifying a specific location on the test track, each beacon including;

a transmitter for broadcasting a carrier wave;

a microprocessor controlling the transmitter, wherein the microprocessor energizes the transmitter to indicate a first logical signal and deenergizes the transmitter to indicate a second logical signal, such that the carrier wave remains unmodulated;

the microprocessor controlling the transmitter to repetitively transmit a series of the first and second logical signals which make up a unique identifier code for the beacon, the unique identifier code comprising the position signal for that beacon;

the vehicle test system further including a receiver located within a vehicle traversing the track for receiving the position signal for each beacon as the vehicle traverses the track and a flight recorder located within the vehicle for periodically recording sets of vehicle parameters as the vehicle traverses the test track and the location of the track where the vehicle was at when each set of vehicle parameters was recorded as determined from the received position signals.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of at least partially buried well casings, each well casing for holding a respective beacon, each well casing having an open end;

a plurality of caps, each cap being removably engaged with a respective well casing to cover the respective top end thereof,

a computer in communication with the receiver for receiving the position signals therefrom.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein each beacon further comprises a battery connected to the transmitter and the microprocessor for energizing the battery and microprocessor.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein each beacon is associated with at least one solar cell for charging the battery.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein each beacon further comprises a temperature sensor generating a temperature signal and a battery voltage sensor generating a battery voltage signal, the temperature signal and the battery voltage signal being sent to the microprocessor for transmission thereof in the position signal.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the position signals are sent from the receiver to a low pass filter and then to a discriminator, prior to being sent to the computer.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein each position signal includes plural beacon address bytes, and a position signal is not sent by the computer to the flight recorder when one address byte differs from another address byte in the position signal.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein each position signal includes a transmitted check sum, and wherein the computer determines a received check sum based on the position signal, and the computer does not send the position signal to the flight recorder when the transmitted check sum does not equal the received check sum.