System and method to associate geographical position data collected from a vehicle with a specific route
First Claim
1. A method for automatically determining which of a plurality of predefined routes a vehicle has traveled, comprising the steps of:
- (a) collecting data at the vehicle in conjunction with operation of the vehicle, wherein the data collected include;
(i) data that includes a route identifier specifying which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traversed or is to during operation of the vehicle, and data that includes other data comprising vehicle inspection data, the step of collecting data comprising the step of providing vehicle inspection data collected by an operator of the vehicle using a portable data collection device configured to facilitate input of the vehicle inspection data that indicate a status of the vehicle, wherein the vehicle inspection data comprises token data collected by the portable data collection device from a plurality of tokens disposed proximate inspection locations associated with the vehicle, wherein the tokens and the inspection locations are disposed on the vehicle, the token data providing evidence that the operator was proximate the token during the vehicle inspection; and
(ii) vehicle geographical position data collected from the vehicle during operation of the vehicle;
(b) after completing the predefined route, conveying the data collected at the vehicle to a remote computing device for analysis to determine which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled; and
(c) automatically analyzing the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle to determine along which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled, and storing the predefined route that is identified, for later retrieval or display to a user, the step of automatically analyzing comprising the steps of;
(i) automatically determining if the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle include the route identifier that specifies which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled based on the route identifier; and
(ii) automatically determining if the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle include vehicle geographical position data, and if so, comparing the vehicle geographical position data with a plurality of route fingerprints, each route fingerprint corresponding to one of the plurality of predefined routes, to determine which one of the route fingerprints corresponds to the vehicle geographical position data, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled based on the vehicle geographical position data and its corresponding route fingerprint.
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Abstract
Data collected in connection with operation of a vehicle can be used to automatically determine upon which one of a plurality of predefined routes a vehicle has been operating. In one exemplary embodiment, an operator inputs identification data into a data set that also includes other types of data. The route identification data uniquely identifies the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes, enabling the route the vehicle was operating on during that time period corresponding to the data set to be determined. In a second exemplary embodiment, rather than requiring the operator to provide the route identification data, geographical position data collected during operation of a vehicle are compared with geographical position data corresponding to each one of the plurality of predefined routes until a match is found, thereby identifying the route the vehicle was operating on during collection of the geographical position data.
92 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method for automatically determining which of a plurality of predefined routes a vehicle has traveled, comprising the steps of:
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(a) collecting data at the vehicle in conjunction with operation of the vehicle, wherein the data collected include; (i) data that includes a route identifier specifying which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traversed or is to during operation of the vehicle, and data that includes other data comprising vehicle inspection data, the step of collecting data comprising the step of providing vehicle inspection data collected by an operator of the vehicle using a portable data collection device configured to facilitate input of the vehicle inspection data that indicate a status of the vehicle, wherein the vehicle inspection data comprises token data collected by the portable data collection device from a plurality of tokens disposed proximate inspection locations associated with the vehicle, wherein the tokens and the inspection locations are disposed on the vehicle, the token data providing evidence that the operator was proximate the token during the vehicle inspection; and (ii) vehicle geographical position data collected from the vehicle during operation of the vehicle; (b) after completing the predefined route, conveying the data collected at the vehicle to a remote computing device for analysis to determine which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled; and (c) automatically analyzing the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle to determine along which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled, and storing the predefined route that is identified, for later retrieval or display to a user, the step of automatically analyzing comprising the steps of; (i) automatically determining if the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle include the route identifier that specifies which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled based on the route identifier; and (ii) automatically determining if the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle include vehicle geographical position data, and if so, comparing the vehicle geographical position data with a plurality of route fingerprints, each route fingerprint corresponding to one of the plurality of predefined routes, to determine which one of the route fingerprints corresponds to the vehicle geographical position data, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled based on the vehicle geographical position data and its corresponding route fingerprint. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A system for automatically determining which one of a plurality of predefined routes a vehicle has traveled, comprising:
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(a) a memory in which a plurality of machine instructions are stored; (b) a data link for conveying data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle; and (c) a processor, coupled to the memory and to the data link, said processor being remote from the vehicle, wherein the data collected must be conveyed from a data collection device associated with the vehicle to the processor for analysis, the processor executing the machine instructions to carry out a plurality of functions, including; (i) automatically analyzing the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle that are received via the data link to determine which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled using the techniques of; (A) automatically determining if the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle includes token data collected by a portable data collection device from a plurality of tokens disposed proximate inspection locations associated with the vehicle, wherein the tokens and the inspection locations are on the vehicle, the token data providing evidence that the operator was proximate the token during the vehicle inspection, and if so, parsing the data to identify a route identifier that specifies which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled based on the route identifier; and (B) automatically determining if the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle comprises vehicle geographical position data, and if so, comparing the vehicle geographical position data with a plurality of route fingerprints, each route fingerprint corresponding to one of the plurality of predefined routes, to determine which one of the route fingerprints corresponds to the vehicle geographical position data, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled based on the vehicle geographical position data and its corresponding route fingerprint.
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7. A method for automatically determining which one of a plurality of predefined routes a vehicle has traveled, comprising the steps of:
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(a) collecting data at the vehicle in conjunction with operation of the vehicle; (b) conveying the data collected at the vehicle to a remote computing device for analysis to determine which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled; (c) after the vehicle has completed its travel, automatically analyzing the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle to determine if the data collected includes a route identifier that specifies which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled based on the route identifier, storing the predefined route for later retrieval or display to a user; and (d) where the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle does not comprise a route identifier that specifies the route the vehicle has traversed, automatically analyzing the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle to; (i) identify vehicle geographical position data from the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle; (ii) compare the vehicle geographical position data with a plurality of different route fingerprints, where each different route fingerprint comprises geographical position data corresponding to a specific one of the plurality of predefined routes; and (iii) determine which route fingerprint corresponds to the vehicle geographical position data, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traversed based on the vehicle geographical position data and the route fingerprint, and storing the predefined route that was identified for later retrieval or display to a user. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A method for automatically determining which of a plurality of predefined routes a vehicle has traveled, comprising the steps of:
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(a) collecting data at the vehicle in conjunction with operation of the vehicle, wherein the data collected include; (i) data that includes a route identifier in addition to other data, the route identifier specifying which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled during operation of the vehicle, other data including token data collected by a portable data collection device from a plurality of tokens disposed proximate inspection locations associated with the vehicle, wherein the tokens and the inspection locations are disposed on the vehicle, the token data providing evidence that the operator was proximate the token during a vehicle inspection; and (ii) vehicle geographical position data collected from the vehicle during operation of the vehicle; (b) conveying the data collected at the vehicle to a remote computing device for analysis to determine which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled; and (c) automatically analyzing the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle to determine along which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled, and storing the predefined route that is identified, for later retrieval or display to a user, the step of automatically analyzing comprising the steps of; (i) automatically determining if the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle include the route identifier that specifies which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traversed, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traversed based on the route identifier; and (ii) automatically determining if the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle include vehicle geographical position data, and if so, comparing the vehicle geographical position data with a plurality of route fingerprints, each route fingerprint corresponding to one of the plurality of predefined routes, to determine which one of the route fingerprints corresponds to the vehicle geographical position data, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled based on the vehicle geographical position data and its corresponding route fingerprint.
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Specification