System and method for transportation vehicle monitoring, feedback and control

• US 7,113,852 B2
• Filed: 07/20/2001
• Issued: 09/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: 2283188 Ontario Limited
• Original Assignee: Hilary Vieira, Viraf S. Kapadia
• Inventors: Kapadia, Viraf S., Vieira, Hilary
• Primary Examiner(s): Zanelli, Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US10/333,330
• Publication Number:
  US 20050065682A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,894 Days
• Field of Search: 701/117, 701/120, 701/35, 701/14, 701/213, 701/33, 342/357.09, 342/357.07, 342/357.15, 342/457, 340/989, 340/994, 340/992
• US Class Current: 701/33
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 5/40 Maintaining or repairing aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

A system provides monitoring/feedback to a transportation vehicle regarding the state of that vehicle based on, at least, information provided by sensors located on or in the transportation vehicle. Monitoring the transportation vehicle provides information about the status of the transportation vehicle and equipment on or in the vehicle. Feedback information is provided to the transportation vehicle based on the information received during monitoring. Additionally, feedback information may be formulated based on additional criteria received from equipment other than the sensors located on or in the vehicle, for example, meteorological systems, geographic location systems, e.g., a radar system, a global positioning system, etc. The information provided by the sensors and the formulated feedback information may be stored in memory on the transportation vehicle as well as at a stable location for archiving and subsequent analysis.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring operation of at least one transportation vehicle and generating information based on the monitored operation, the method comprising:

monitoring data associated with at least one operation criterion of the transportation vehicle during operation of the transportation vehicle on the transportation vehicle;

comparing the monitored data with at least one operation parameter;

storing the monitored data and results of the comparison of the monitored data with the at least one operation parameter in a first memory on the transportation vehicle;

transmitting the monitored data from the transportation vehicle to a base-station;

comparing the transmitted data with at least one operation parameter;

storing the transmitted data in a second memory at the base-station;

transmitting feedback data to the at least one transportation vehicle based on the comparison between the transmitted data and the at least one operation parameter; and

formulating archived scenario data from the data stored in the second memory at the base station that is configured to be used for vehicle operation.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the feedback data in the second memory at the base-station.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing compression of the monitored data prior to transmitting the data from the transportation vehicle to a base-station.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising performing decompression of the transmitted data at the base-station.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing data reduction of the monitored data prior to transmitting the monitored data from the transportation vehicle to a base-station.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing encryption of the monitored data prior to transmitting the monitored data from the transportation vehicle to a base-station.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising performing decryption of the transmitted data at the base-station.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the transportation vehicle is selected from one of the list consisting of:

an aircraft;

a bus;

a truck;

a car;

a boat;

a ship;

a submarine;

a hovercraft;

a satellite;

a rocket;

a missile;

a blimp;

a balloon;

a utility vehicle;

a train; and

a tank.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring data uses a data bus installed in the transportation vehicle.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitored data is transmitted from the transportation vehicle to the base-station using the Airborne Call and Recording System and the feedback data is transmitted from the base-station to the transportation vehicle using the Airborne Call and Recording System.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitored data is transmitted from the transportation vehicle to the base-station using the Internet and the feedback data is transmitted from the base-station to the transportation vehicle using the Internet.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing analysis of the transmitted data stored in a second memory at the base-station.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the analysis compares the transmitted data with other corresponding data for at least one other transportation vehicle.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the analysis compares the transmitted data with other corresponding data for a plurality of other transportation vehicles.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the analysis compares the transmitted data with a range of acceptable values for corresponding data.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the archived scenario data is used to provide at least one suggestion for operation of at least one transportation vehicle.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the archived scenario data is configured to be used to provide at least one suggestion for subsequent operation of the at least one transportation vehicle.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the archived scenario data is configured to be used to provide at least one suggestion for subsequent operation of transportation vehicles of a same type as the at least one transportation vehicle.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the archived scenario data is configured to be used to provide at least one suggestion for subsequent operation of transportation vehicles.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the archived scenario data is configured to be used to control subsequent operation of the at least one transportation vehicle.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the archived scenario data is configured to be used to control subsequent operation of transportation vehicles of a same type as the at least one transportation vehicle.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the archived scenario data is configured to be used to control subsequent operation of transportation vehicles.

23. A system for monitoring operation of at least one transportation vehicle and generating information based on the monitored operation, the system comprising:

an on-vehicle component that is located on a transportation vehicle; and

a base-station component that is located at a base-station for monitoring the transportation vehicle,

wherein, the on-vehicle component monitors data associated with at least one operation criterion of the transportation vehicle during operation of the transportation vehicle, compares the monitored data with at least one operation parameter, stores the monitored data and results of the comparison of the monitored data with the at least one operation parameter in a first memory, and transmits the monitored data to the base-station component, and wherein, the base-station component compares the transmitted data with at least one operation parameter, stores the transmitted data in a second memory at the base-station, transmits feedback data to the at least one transportation vehicle based on the comparison between the transmitted data with the at least one operation parameter, and formulates archived scenario data from the data stored in the second memory that is configured to be used for vehicle operation.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the on-vehicle component comprises:

a first operational memory coupled to an on-vehicle component bus, the first operational memory being configured to store instructions for operation of the on-vehicle component;

a first controller coupled to the on-vehicle component bus, the first controller being configured to control operation of the on-vehicle component;

a first processor coupled to the on-vehicle component bus, the first controller being configured to control the first processor to fetch instructions from the first operational memory to control operation of the on-vehicle component via the on-vehicle component bus;

a first archival memory coupled to the on-vehicle component bus, the first archival memory being configured to store the monitored data; and

a first transceiver unit coupled to the on-vehicle component bus, the first transceiver unit being configured to transmit the monitored data.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the first operational memory is a flash memory.

26. The system of claim 24, further comprising a transportation vehicle data bus interface coupled to the on-vehicle component bus and to a transportation vehicle data bus, the transportation vehicle data bus interface being configured to receive transportation vehicle operation data from the transportation vehicle data bus.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the transportation vehicle data bus interface is configured to provide an interface with a transportation vehicle data recorder and to transportation vehicle sensors that provide information about the operation of the transportation vehicle.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the on-vehicle component further comprises at least one auxiliary sensor that acquires information about the transportation vehicle that is supplementary to the data provided by the transportation vehicle data bus interface.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein the on-vehicle component further comprises at least one auxiliary sensor associated with at least one part of the transportation vehicle.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the transportation vehicle is a train and the at least one auxiliary sensor is associated with a train engine.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the transportation vehicle is a train and the on-vehicle component is incorporated in a train engine.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein the transportation vehicle is a tractor trailer and the at least one auxiliary sensor is associated with a tractor or a trailer.

33. The system of claim 29, wherein the transportation vehicle is a tractor trailer and the on-vehicle component is incorporated in a tractor.

34. The system of claim 27, wherein the on-vehicle component further comprises at least one auxiliary sensor that is configured to monitor for and detect pathogens on the transportation vehicle.

35. The system of claim 27, wherein the on-vehicle component further comprises at least one auxiliary sensor configured to monitor for and detect spoilage of perishable cargo on the transportation vehicle.

36. The system of claim 23, wherein a transportation vehicle profile is associated with all monitored and archived data associated with a corresponding transportation vehicle provided by the system.

37. The system of claim 23, wherein at least one of the on-vehicle and base station components receive sensory information from sensors located off the transportation vehicle.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the transportation vehicle is a train and the sensors located off the transportation vehicle indicate track condition of train tracks that indicate at least one of track conditions, track obstructions, and track integrity.

39. The system of claim 23, wherein transmission of data between the on-vehicle component and the base-station component is packet-based.

40. The system of claim 23, wherein transmission of data between the on-vehicle component and the base station component is encrypted.

41. The system of claim 23, wherein transmission of data between the on-vehicle component and the base station component utilizes Secure Sockets Layer protocol.

42. The system of claim 23, wherein data received from sensors on the transportation vehicle is retransmitted a plurality of times from the on-vehicle component to the base-station component and the base station component selects data to be processed and analyzed from the plurality of data received.

43. The system of claim 23, wherein the base-station component is configured to access weather data relating to the transportation vehicle.

44. The system of claim 23, wherein the base-station component is configured to access traffic data relating to a geographic location of the transportation vehicle.

45. The system of claim 23, wherein the on-vehicle component of the monitoring and feedback system is compatable with the Bluetooth industry specification.

46. The system of claim 23, wherein the on-vehicle component is configured to allow a technician to transfer data from the on-vehicle component to a hand held device using a Bluetooth or other wireless transfer protocol or technology.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein the hand held device includes analysis software that analyzes data transferred from the on-vehicle component.

48. The system of claim 23, wherein the on-vehicle component includes a network configured to enable cooperation, communication and interaction of sub-components of the on-vehicle component.

49. The system of claim 48, wherein the network enables passengers on the transportation vehicle to at least one of send or receive electronic mail, print out electronic mail, send or receive faxes, browse public or private networks, via a personal data assistant, personal computer, phone, pager, or user interface built into the transportation vehicle.

50. The system of claim 23, wherein the on-vehicle component includes hardware and software configured to provide video-on-demand capability.

51. The system of claim 23, wherein the on-vehicle component optionally exposes at least one passenger to uploaded data.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the uploaded data includes at least one of a television show, newspaper, book, movie, and audio program, at the passenger'"'"'s discretion.

53. The system of claim 51, wherein the uploaded data is transmitted to the on-vehicle component from the base-station component.

54. The system of claim 51, wherein the on-vehicle component optionally exposes at least one passenger to data including at least one of a television show, newspaper, book, movie and audio program stored in one or more memory devices coupled to the on-vehicle component.

55. The system of claim 23, wherein at least one of the on-vehicle component and the base station component receives information about a position of the transportation vehicle.

56. The system of claim 55, wherein the information about the position of the transportation vehicle is provided using a Global Positioning System.

57. The system of claim 23, wherein the on-vehicle component includes sensors that monitor for and detect passive transponders on the transportation vehicle.

58. The system of claim 57, wherein the passive transponders are associated with cargo on the transportation vehicle.

59. The system of claim 57, wherein the passive transponders are associated with passengers on the transportation vehicle.

60. The system of claim 57, wherein the passive transponders are associated with emergency equipment on the transportation vehicle.

61. The system of claim 24, wherein the first transceiver unit is configured to enable communication with the base-station component, wherein the first transceiver unit includes or is coupled to at least one antenna assembly configured to provide communication with an off-vehicle component.

62. The system of claim 61, wherein the at least one antenna assembly includes a blade antenna.

63. The system of claim 62, wherein the at least one antenna assembly is configured to track satellites dynamically to provide communication with the at least one base station component.

64. The system of claim 61, wherein the at least one antenna assembly includes an attitude controller.

65. The system of claim 61, wherein the at least one antenna assembly includes at least one patch antenna.

66. The system of claim 24, wherein the first transceiver unit includes or is coupled to a plurality of antenna assemblies located on a tail section of the transportation vehicle.

67. The system of claim 66, wherein the transceiver unit utilizes one of the plurality of antenna assemblies based on a determination of which antenna assembly provides a best communication link quality based on analysis performed using an algorithm.

68. The system of claim 24, wherein the base-station component comprises:

a second transceiver coupled to a base-station bus and configured to receive data corresponding to the at least one transportation vehicle criterion from the first transceiver of the base-station component;

a second controller coupled to the base-station bus, the second controller being configured to control operation of the base-station component;

a second operational memory coupled to the base-station bus, the second operational memory being configured to store instructions for operation of the base-station component;

a second processor coupled to the base-station bus, the second controller being configured to control the second processor to fetch instructions from the second operational memory to control operation of the base-station component via the base-station component bus;

a second archival memory coupled to the base-station bus, the second archival memory being configured to store the transmitted data; and

a network interface coupled to the base-station bus, the network interface being configured to provide access to information used by the processor to formulate the at least one operation parameter.

69. The system of claim 23, wherein the transportation vehicle is selected from one of the list consisting of:

an aircraft;

a bus;

a truck;

a car;

a boat;

a ship;

a submarine;

a hovercraft;

a satellite;

a rocket;

a missile;

a blimp;

a balloon;

a utility vehicle;

a train; and

a tank.

70. The system of claim 23, wherein the archived scenario data is used to provide at least one suggestion for operation of at least one transportation vehicle.

71. The system of claim 23, wherein the archived scenario data is configured to be used to provide at least one suggestion for subsequent operation of the at least one transportation vehicle.

72. The system of claim 23, wherein the archived scenario data is configured to be used to provide at least one suggestion for subsequent operation of transportation vehicles of a same type as the at least one transportation vehicle.

73. The system of claim 23, wherein the archived scenario data is configured to be used to provide at least one suggestion for subsequent operation of transportation vehicles.

74. The system of claim 23, wherein the archived scenario data is configured to be used to control subsequent operation of the at least one transportation vehicle.

75. The system of claim 23, wherein the archived scenario data is configured to be used to control subsequent operation of transportation vehicles of a same type as the at least one transportation vehicle.

76. The system of claim 23, wherein the archived scenario data is configured to be used to control subsequent operation of transportation vehicles.