Process for the monitoring of vehicles of a motor vehicle fleet

• US 8,825,269 B2
• Filed: 09/06/2012
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• Original Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• Inventors: Cogiel, Janus, Schnelle, Frank, Staudacher, Bernhard
• Primary Examiner(s): Algahaim, Helal A
• Assistant Examiner(s): PATEL, SHARDUL D
• Application Number:
  US13/605,362
• Publication Number:
  US 20130066513A1
• Time in Patent Office: 726 Days
• Field of Search: 701/29.3, 701/2, 701/31.4, 701/35
• US Class Current: 701/29.3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

In a process for monitoring motor vehicles of a motor vehicle fleet which is operated by a fleet operator, by way of a sensor system in the respective vehicle of at least a part of the vehicle fleet, vehicle-related data of the vehicle are determined. The vehicle-related data includes at least its geographical position. By use of at least a portion of the vehicle-related data, a number of servicing parameters are determined, which describe the service requirement of the respective vehicle. By using a data network, by way of which the respective vehicle and a user interface assigned to the fleet operator communicate, the number of servicing parameters and the geographical position of the respective vehicle are output by way of the user interface.

Claims

1. A process for monitoring motor vehicles in a motor vehicle fleet operated by a fleet operator, the process comprising the acts of:

determining, by way of a sensor system in a respective vehicle in the motor vehicle fleet, vehicle-related data concerning the vehicle, the vehicle-related data comprising at least a geographical position of the vehicle;

determining, via the geographical position of the vehicle, in which location category of a plurality of location categories influencing the degree of soiling the vehicle is situated;

determining a degree of soiling of a body shell of the vehicle based on at least the determined location category;

determining, by use of at least a portion of the vehicle-related data, one or more servicing parameters for the respective vehicle, including a service parameter corresponding to the determined degree of soiling of the body shell, the servicing parameters describing a service requirement of the respective vehicle; and

outputting, by way of a user interface of the fleet operator, the one or more servicing parameters, including the service parameter corresponding to the determined degree of soiling of the body shell, and the geographical position of the respective vehicle, wherein communication between the respective vehicle and the user interface occurs over a data network.

2. The process according to claim 1, wherein the data network comprises the Internet.

3. The process according to claim 1, wherein the respective vehicle communicates with the data network via a wireless interface.

4. The process according to claim 1, further comprising the acts of:

receiving, in a central computer, the vehicle-related data from the respective vehicle, the central computer determining, at least partially, the number of servicing parameters using at least a portion of the received vehicle-related data.

5. The process according to claim 1, wherein the respective vehicle determines from at least a portion of the vehicle-related data at least partially the number of servicing parameters, the respective vehicle transmitting the number of servicing parameters to the data network.

6. The process according to claim 1, wherein, for determining the one or more servicing parameters, factoring into account external information not originating from the respective vehicle.

7. The process according to claim 1, wherein the one or more servicing parameters are indicative of servicing measures to be carried out at that time and/or any predetermined future time period.

8. The process according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle-related data of the respective vehicle comprises at least one of:

(a) a condition of one or more of a fuel tank filled-up condition, an engine oil level, a cooling water level, a tire inflation pressure, and a filling condition of a window washing system;

(b) a state of charge of an onboard battery of the respective vehicle;

(c) a mileage of the vehicle;

(d) a wear state of one or more vehicle components;

(e) sensor data of a rain sensor of the respective vehicle;

(f) data concerning window wiper activity of the respective vehicle;

(g) data concerning a condition of an air conditioner of the respective vehicle;

(h) data concerning atmospheric pressure and/or ambient temperature at a location of the respective vehicle;

(i) data concerning sound propagation in an interior of the respective vehicle, the sound propagation originating from an anti-theft warning system of the respective vehicle; and

(j) image data of a body shell of the respective vehicle acquired via a vehicle camera system.

9. The process according to claim 1, wherein for influencing the determination of the degree of soiling of the body shell of the vehicle, at least one or more of the following are factored into account:

(a) image data of the body shell of the vehicle acquired by a vehicle camera system;

(b) sensor data of a rain sensor of the vehicle;

(c) data concerning window washing system activity of the vehicle;

(d) data concerning atmospheric pressure and/or ambient temperature at a location of the vehicle.

10. The process according to claim 9, wherein, via the geographical position of the respective vehicle, the process determines in which location category of a plurality of location categories influencing the degree of soiling the respective vehicle is situated.

11. The process according to claim 9, wherein weather data at the geographical position of the vehicle are taken into account as external information when determining the degree of soiling of the body shell of the vehicle.

12. The process according to claim 1, wherein, by use of at least a portion of the vehicle-related data of the respective vehicle, a degree of soiling of an interior of the vehicle is determined as one of the one or more servicing parameters.

13. The process according to claim 12, wherein data concerning sound propagation in the interior of the vehicle originating from an anti-theft warning system influence the determining of the degree of soiling of the interior of the vehicle.

14. The process according to claim 1, wherein:

the outputting by way of the user interface comprises displaying on a visual user interface the number of servicing parameters and the geographical position of a plurality of respective vehicles; and

the visual user interface comprises at least one of a table containing an assignment of the number of servicing parameters to the respective vehicles, and a roadmap containing an assignment of the respective vehicles to the geographic positions of the respective vehicles.

15. The process according to claim 1, further comprising the act of:

blocking, by use of the user interface, one or more of the respective vehicles from being provided to customers of the fleet operator.

16. A system for monitoring vehicles in a motor vehicle fleet operated by a fleet operator, the system comprising:

a vehicle-related data determining unit for determining vehicle-related data of a respective vehicle in the motor vehicle fleet, the vehicle-related data comprising at least a geographical position of the respective vehicle, wherein the vehicle-related data determining unit further determines, via the geographical position of the vehicle, in which location category of a plurality of location categories influencing the degree of soiling the vehicle is situated, and wherein a degree of soiling of a body shell of the vehicle is determined based on at least the determined location category;

a servicing parameter determining unit for determining a number of servicing parameters by use of at least a portion of the vehicle-related data, including a service parameter corresponding to the determined degree of soiling of the body shell, the number of servicing parameters describing a service requirement of the respective vehicle; and

a user interface assigned to the fleet operator, the user interface providing an output of the number of servicing parameters, including the service parameter corresponding to the determined degree of soiling of the body shell, and the geographical position of the respective vehicle.

17. A graphical user interface for a fleet operator of a motor vehicle fleet comprising a plurality of motor vehicles, the graphical user interface comprising:

a display indicating a number of servicing parameters and a geographical position of one or more respective vehicles in the motor vehicle fleet, wherein the number of servicing parameters, including a service parameter corresponding to a degree of soiling of a body shell of the vehicle, are determined based on vehicle-related data determined via a sensor system in a respective vehicle, the vehicle-related data comprising at least a geographical position of the respective vehicle that is used to determine in which location category of a plurality of location categories influencing the degree of soiling the vehicle is situated, and the number of servicing parameters describing a service requirement of the respective vehicle, and the number of servicing parameters, including the service parameter corresponding to the determined degree of soiling of the body shell, and the geographical position of the respective vehicle are communicated to the user interface via a data network.

18. The graphical user interface according to claim 17, wherein the graphical user interface comprises at least one of a table containing an assignment of the number of servicing parameters to the respective vehicles and a map comprising an assignment of the respective vehicles to their geographical positions.