Vehicle mounted travel surface and weather condition monitoring system
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring and controlling a vehicle travel surface, comprising:
- determining a first geographic location of a surface conditioning vehicle, utilizing a geographic positioning system;
sending the first geographic location to a remote computer;
sending a second geographic location to the surface conditioning vehicle, to reroute the vehicle or another vehicle to the second geographic location;
sensing a surface condition of a travel surface at the second geographic location, andapplying a conditioning treatment from the vehicle to a travel surface, at the second location.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and apparatus for detecting and evaluating surface conditions on a road surface and atmospheric conditions simultaneously from a vehicle includes a sensor for detecting the presence of deposited material on a road surface, a detector for determining one or more characteristics of the deposited material such as freezing temperature, process means for converting a detected signal and display means for displaying the condition of the road surface, and a sensor for detecting falling precipitation. An embodiment of the present invention includes a remote sensing apparatus which utilizes electromagnetic radiation to sense actual surface material conditions, temperatures, and composition and local atmospheric conditions at the vehicle as it is moving over a travel surface. This information is then processed through a computer in order to determine those additional steps necessary to apply additional materials to the road surface in order to minimize hazardous driving conditions.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring and controlling a vehicle travel surface, comprising:
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determining a first geographic location of a surface conditioning vehicle, utilizing a geographic positioning system; sending the first geographic location to a remote computer; sending a second geographic location to the surface conditioning vehicle, to reroute the vehicle or another vehicle to the second geographic location; sensing a surface condition of a travel surface at the second geographic location, and applying a conditioning treatment from the vehicle to a travel surface, at the second location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for monitoring and controlling a vehicle travel surface, comprising:
- determining a location of the surface conditioning vehicle utilizing a geographic positioning system;
sensing a surface condition of the travel surface at the location;
accessing a treatment database containing treatment data;
determining a conditioning treatment to modify the surface condition based on the treatment data and one or both of the location and the sensed surface condition; and
applying the conditioning treatment to the travel surface. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
- determining a location of the surface conditioning vehicle utilizing a geographic positioning system;
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29. A method for monitoring a vehicle travel surface, comprising:
- positioning a surface conditioning vehicle at a first location;
sensing a travel surface condition from the vehicle;
monitoring a weather condition from the vehicle;
communicating information representative of travel surface and weather condition information from the vehicle to a remote location;
processing the travel surface and weather condition information with a database of surface treatment options at the remote location;
determining a surface treatment based upon the travel surface and weather condition information; and
transmitting information representative of the surface treatment from the remote location to the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33)
- positioning a surface conditioning vehicle at a first location;
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34. A method for monitoring and controlling a vehicle travel surface, comprising:
- determining a geographic location of the surface conditioning vehicle, utilizing a geographic positioning system;
communicating the location to a remote computer;
communicating treatment instructions to the vehicle based on the location; and
applying a conditioning treatment from the vehicle to a travel surface, at the location.
- determining a geographic location of the surface conditioning vehicle, utilizing a geographic positioning system;
Specification