Vehicle route selection based on energy usage

• US 9,157,756 B2
• Filed: 04/18/2014
• Issued: 10/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Telogis Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Mason, Ralph James, Koch, Jason Mathew, Jelinek, Howard
• Primary Examiner(s): HOLLOWAY, JASON R
• Application Number:
  US14/256,265
• Publication Number:
  US 20150088414A1
• Time in Patent Office: 543 Days
• Field of Search: 340/441, 340/994, 705/7.13, 705/333, 705/336, 705/338, 705/341
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/043 Identity of occupants
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3469 Fuel consumption; Energy use; Emission aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3484 Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3617 using user history, behaviour, conditions or preferences, e.g. predicted or inferred from previous use or current movement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/047 Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching

Abstract

Vehicle management systems and associated processes can consider energy consumption when selecting routes for fleet vehicles. Vehicle management systems and associated processes are described that, in certain embodiments, evaluate vehicle energy usage based on factors such as terrain or elevation, vehicle characteristics, driver characteristics, road conditions, traffic, speed limits, stop time, turn information, traffic information, and weather information, and the like. The features described herein may also be implemented for non-fleet vehicles, such as in personal vehicle navigation systems.

Claims

1. A method for managing a fleet of powered vehicle assets, the method comprising:

by a computer system comprising computer hardware,

identifying a plurality of destinations to be visited by a fleet of vehicle assets;

identifying two or more vehicles, each of the vehicles having a corresponding vehicle type;

identifying two or more drivers capable of operating the vehicles, each driver having a corresponding driver profile;

wherein each driver profile comprises an assigned driver value based on past driving behavior of the driver; and

determining at least one combination of a vehicle of the two or more vehicles and a driver of the two or more drivers for a transportation route, wherein the transportation route comprises a subset of the plurality of destinations,

wherein the determined combination of the vehicle and the driver is determined based, at least in part, on the vehicle type and the assigned driver value.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating real-time predictive driving instructions for portions of the transportation route, the real-time predictive driving instructions being calculated to reduce energy use along the portions of the transportation routes during operation of the vehicle on the transportation route.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of the predictive driving instructions is for a calculated vehicle speed recommendation at a speed that is lower than a posted speed limit for the corresponding portion of the identified transportation route.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising outputting the transportation route to a driver of the powered vehicle, and outputting the calculated predictive driving instructions to the driver for the corresponding portions of the transportation route.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the combination of the vehicle and the driver for the transportation route are configured to reduce the total amount of energy required for the vehicles to visit the subset of the plurality of destinations.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the destinations is defined by three-dimensional location data having a latitude component, a longitude component, and an elevation component.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigned driver value is associated with a cost calculation factor for energy usage.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigned driver value is a constant cost value based on an average miles per gallon.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle type is internal combustion, electric or hybrid.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining additional combinations of a vehicle of the two or more vehicles and a driver of the two or more drivers for additional transportation routes, wherein each of the additional transportation routes comprise a subset of the plurality of destinations.

11. A system for managing a fleet of powered vehicle assets comprising:

a database comprising

first data records representing a plurality of destinations to be visited by a fleet of vehicle assets,

second data records representing two or more vehicles, each of the vehicles having a corresponding vehicle type, and

third data records representing two or more drivers capable of operating the vehicles, each driver having a corresponding driver profile, wherein each driver profile comprises an assigned driver value based on past driving behavior of the driver; and

a computing device comprising computer hardware in communication with the database and configured to;

determine at least one combination of a vehicle of the two or more vehicles and a driver of the two or more drivers for a transportation route, wherein the transportation route comprises a subset of the plurality of destinations, wherein the vehicle and the driver for the transportation route is determined based, at least in part, on the assigned driver value and the vehicle type.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the computer device is further configured to calculate real-time predictive driving instructions for portions of the transportation route, the real-time predictive driving instructions being calculated to reduce energy use along the portions of the transportation routes during operation of the vehicle on the transportation route.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer device is further configured to output the transportation route to a driver of the powered vehicle;

and output the calculated predictive driving instructions to the driver for the corresponding portions of the transportation route.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the combination of the vehicle and the driver for the transportation route are configured to reduce the total amount of energy required for the vehicles to visit the subset of the plurality of destinations.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the assigned driver value is associated with a cost calculation factor for energy usage.