Vehicular diagnostic system
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- in a circuit within a vehicle having an engine,communicating with a vehicle diagnostics system using an electrical connection via an external diagnostics port to obtain data relating to operation of the vehicle from the vehicle diagnostics system while the vehicle is being driven via driver control inputs,using the obtained data to determine operational characteristic data including emissions data and data characterizing a prediction of actual fuel used in real-time while the vehicle is being driven, andusing the determined operational characteristic data to generate data that characterizes a driver control input that influences at least one of emissions or fuel use, whereby the data characterizing the driver control input is provided via access to diagnostics data obtained from the external diagnostics port, without accessing data directly from systems within the vehicle.
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Abstract
The present invention provides an onboard system for determining vehicle emissions. The emissions are determined in real-time and may be transmitted to a remote terminal for storage and/or analysis. Data is supplied solely to an emissions unit from a vehicle diagnostic system: the vehicle diagnostic system receives vehicle data from vehicle systems and sub-systems.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
in a circuit within a vehicle having an engine, communicating with a vehicle diagnostics system using an electrical connection via an external diagnostics port to obtain data relating to operation of the vehicle from the vehicle diagnostics system while the vehicle is being driven via driver control inputs, using the obtained data to determine operational characteristic data including emissions data and data characterizing a prediction of actual fuel used in real-time while the vehicle is being driven, and using the determined operational characteristic data to generate data that characterizes a driver control input that influences at least one of emissions or fuel use, whereby the data characterizing the driver control input is provided via access to diagnostics data obtained from the external diagnostics port, without accessing data directly from systems within the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 19)
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7. An apparatus for predicting actual fuel used by a vehicle having an engine controller that controls at least one fuel-based operational characteristic of the vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
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an emissions unit communicatively coupled to a vehicle diagnostic unit and configured and arranged to receive data characterizing fuel-based operational characteristics of the vehicle from the vehicle diagnostic unit; and a processing unit configured and arranged to use the data received at the emissions unit from the vehicle diagnostic unit to predict, in real-time, actual fuel used by the vehicle while the vehicle is being operated, independently from any calculations done inside the engine controller. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of analyzing driving inputs provided for operating a vehicle having a vehicle diagnostics system connected to a GPS receiver, the method comprising:
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obtaining data relating to the operation of the vehicle from diagnostics outputs obtained via an external port of the vehicle diagnostics system and the GPS receiver while the vehicle is being driven, using the obtained data to identify and use at least one of speed, time and distance travelled with data received via the vehicle diagnostics system and the GPS receiver to predict, in real-time, actual fuel used by the vehicle and to detect a characteristic of the driving inputs and routes travelled to provide data for monitoring usage of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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17. An apparatus for characterizing driver-inputs for operating a vehicle independent from any calculations done in a vehicle engine controller, the apparatus comprising:
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an emissions unit configured and arranged to couple to a vehicle diagnostic unit via a diagnostic port and to obtain information pertaining to the operation of the vehicle from the vehicle diagnostics unit; a GPS receiver connected to the vehicle diagnostics unit; and an on-board processing unit configured and arranged to interpret data received from the vehicle diagnostic unit via the emissions unit, the interpreted data characterizing the driver-inputs and providing a prediction of actual fuel used by the vehicle in real time while the vehicle is being operated, and transmit the interpreted data for access by a remote terminal. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification