System and method for vehicle driving style determination

• US 9,171,409 B2
• Filed: 05/04/2011
• Issued: 10/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Lee, Jin-Woo, Litkouhi, Bakhtiar Brian
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cuong H
• Application Number:
  US13/100,930
• Publication Number:
  US 20120283893A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,637 Days
• Field of Search: 340/441, 340/425.5, 340/901, 340438-439, 701/33.4, 701/34.2, 701 337- 338, 701/33.3, 701/93, 701/102, 705/4, 705/11
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/105 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/10 Accelerator pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

In one embodiment, a system and method may collect acceleration data for a driver for a vehicle, compare the acceleration data for the driver to a set of acceleration data representing a plurality of sample drivers driving in the same type of vehicle as the vehicle, and based on the comparison, determining a driving style rating for the driver.

Claims

1. A method of determining a rating of a driver comprising:

collecting, by at least one sensor, input data comprising;

current road data, current speed and current acceleration, for a vehicle being driven by the driver;

assigning the current acceleration to one of a plurality of speed bands, based on the current speed;

storing a specific database and a collective database, wherein the specific database comprises prior acceleration data of the driver, and the collective database comprises prior acceleration data representing a plurality of sample drivers driving same type of vehicle as the vehicle during prior driving trips,

wherein both the specific database and the collective database include, for each of the plurality of speed bands, a mean acceleration and an acceleration standard deviation (SD) of their acceleration data;

comparing, by a processor, the current acceleration with a weighted-acceleration, the weighted-acceleration comprises weightings of;

the current road data,

the mean acceleration and the acceleration SD, of the current acceleration assigned speed band, of at least one of;

the specific database and the collective database;

based on one or more of the comparisons, determining, by a processor, a driving style rating for the driver; and

displaying the driving style rating.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the collecting of the current acceleration comprises collecting from at least one of:

an accelerometer in the vehicle, speedometer and a gas pedal sensor.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein collecting the current acceleration comprises collecting during a specific driving trip, and wherein the comparing is responsive to data of prior similar driving trips.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is an automobile and wherein the method further comprising:

determining an eco-driving recommendation, responsive to the driving style rating, and

displaying the eco-driving recommendation.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing is responsive to data of a specific trip.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting, by a processor, acceleration profile of a cruise control of the vehicle, responsive to the driving style rating.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing comprises subtracting the mean acceleration of the collective data from the mean acceleration of the specific data, responsive to the plurality of speed bands.

8. A device to determine a rating of a driver driving a vehicle comprising:

a memory to store a specific database and a collective database, wherein the specific database comprises prior acceleration data of the driver, and the collective database comprises prior acceleration data representing a plurality of sample drivers driving in the same type of vehicle as the vehicle during prior driving trips, wherein both the specific database and the collective database include, for each of the plurality of speed bands, a mean acceleration and an acceleration standard deviation (SD) of their acceleration data; and

a controller to;

collect input data comprising;

current road data, current speed and current acceleration, from at least one sensor for the vehicle being driven by a driver, wherein the current acceleration is assigned to one of a plurality of speed bands, based on the current vehicle speed;

compare the current acceleration with a weighted-acceleration, the weighted-acceleration comprises weightings of;

the current road data,

the mean acceleration and the acceleration SD, of the current acceleration assigned speed band, of at least one of;

the specific database and the collective database; and

based on one or more of the comparisons, determine a driving style rating for the driver.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein collecting of the current acceleration comprises collecting from at least on of:

an accelerometer in the vehicle, speedometer and a gas pedal sensor.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein collecting the current acceleration data comprises collecting during a specific driving trip, and wherein the data is responsive to data of prior similar driving trips.

11. The device of claim 8, wherein the vehicle is an automobile and wherein the controller is further configured to determine an eco-driving recommendation, responsive to the driving style rating.

12. The device of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to compare responsively to data of a specific trip.

13. The device of claim 8, wherein the controller further configured to adjust acceleration profile of a cruise control of the vehicle, responsive to the driving style rating.

14. The device of claim 8, wherein the comparing comprises subtracting the mean acceleration of the collective data from the mean acceleration of the specific data, responsive to the plurality of speed bands.

15. A method of determining a rating of a driver comprising:

collecting, by at least one sensor, input data comprising;

current acceleration and current speed, for a vehicle being driven by the driver;

assigning the current acceleration to one of a plurality of speed bands, based on the current speed;

storing a collective database, the collective database comprises prior acceleration data representing a plurality of sample drivers driving same type of vehicle as the vehicle during prior driving trips, wherein the collective database includes, for each of the plurality of speed bands, an average acceleration and an acceleration standard deviation (SD);

subtracting, by a processor, for each of the plurality of speed bands, the corresponding average acceleration from corresponding current average of the current acceleration values, to produce interim ratings;

dividing, by a processor, the interim ratings by their corresponding acceleration SD to process a rating; and

providing the processed rating to the driver.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the collecting of the current acceleration comprises collecting from at least one of:

an accelerometer in the vehicle, speedometer and a gas pedal sensor.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the vehicle is an automobile and wherein the method further comprising:

determining an eco-driving recommendation, responsive to the rating, and

providing the eco-driving recommendation to the driver.

18. The method of claim 15, comprising determining a rating for each of the plurality of speed ranges.

19. The method of claim 18, comprising averaging the ratings of the plurality of speed ranges.

20. The method of claim 15, comprising multiplying the rating by the square root of the number of samples collected for the current driver.

21. The method of claim 15, comprising using the collected current acceleration data to update the collective database.