System and method for generating vehicle drive cycle profiles

• US 9,239,995 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2011
• Issued: 01/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PACCAR Incorporated
• Original Assignee: PACCAR Incorporated
• Inventors: Oshiro, Kevin S., Duffy, John D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen, Shelley
• Application Number:
  US13/170,068
• Publication Number:
  US 20120330479A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,667 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/047 Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083

Abstract

A system and method for generating vehicle drive cycles. Information describing a path of travel and a vehicle are received from a user. A detailed representation of the path of travel is obtained. Road condition information for segments of the path of travel is obtained, and the path of travel is verified as being traversable by the described vehicle. This information is used to generate a drive cycle profile, which contains at least the simulated path traversed by the vehicle, the speed of the vehicle along segments of the path, and any ambient conditions taken into account when predicting the speed of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of generating a vehicle drive cycle profile, the method comprising:

obtaining, by a computer, vehicle configuration information and a path of travel;

obtaining, by the computer, road condition information for segments of the path of travel;

receiving, by the computer, an indication of a level of granularity, wherein the level of granularity is representative of regular time intervals during a drive cycle along the path of travel; and

generating, by the computer, a drive cycle profile containing vehicle status information at the regular time intervals along the path of travel according to the level of granularity, wherein the generated drive cycle profile is based on the path of travel, the road condition information, the vehicle configuration information, and a change in vehicle configuration along the path of travel.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein obtaining a path of travel includes:

receiving a start location and an end location; and

receiving the path of travel in response to a request transmitted to a driving directions provider, the request based on at least the start point and the end point.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the request is based on at least one stop location.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein obtaining road condition information for segments of the path of travel includes obtaining speed limit information for segments of the path of travel.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein obtaining road condition information for segments of the path of travel includes obtaining one or more of grade information, road elevation information, and road curvature information.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein generating a drive cycle profile includes:

determining target vehicle speeds for segments of the path of travel; and

determining an actual vehicle speed for the segments of the path of travel by calculating a simulated performance of the vehicle for the segments of the path of travel based on the target vehicle speeds and a vehicle acceleration profile.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein determining the target vehicle speed for a given segment of the path of travel is based on one or more of a speed limit, a grade of the segment, a predicted weather condition, a predicted traffic condition of the segment, and a surface of the segment.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising verifying a distance traveled for segments of the path of travel based on the determined actual vehicle speed and a time of travel for the segments of the path of travel.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the change in vehicle configuration along the path of travel comprises a change in vehicle cargo load.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the level of granularity comprises a time interval.

9. A system for generating drive cycle profiles, the system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a tangible computer-readable medium having that, in response to execution by at least one processor of the system, cause the system to generate one or more drive cycle profiles by;

obtaining vehicle configuration information and a path of travel;

obtaining road condition information for segments of the path of travel;

receiving an indication of a level of granularity, wherein the level of granularity is representative of regular time intervals during a drive cycle along the path of travel; and

generating a drive cycle profile containing vehicle status information at the regular time intervals along the path of travel according to the level of granularity, wherein the generated drive cycle profile is based on the path of travel, the road condition information, the vehicle configuration information, and a change in vehicle configuration along the path of travel.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein obtaining a path of travel includes receiving a stop description for a stop along the path of travel.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the stop description includes a stop location and a stop duration.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the stop description includes an indication of whether a vehicle engine is running or is not running during the stop.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein generating a drive cycle profile includes generating information indicating times during the drive cycle when the engine is running and times during the drive cycle when the engine is not running.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the stop description includes an indication of an activity that is performed using the vehicle during the stop.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the activity is removing cargo from the vehicle.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein the activity is activating a power take off unit of the vehicle.

16. A tangible computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to perform actions for generating a drive cycle profile, the actions comprising:

obtaining vehicle configuration information and a path of travel;

obtaining road condition information for segments of the path of travel;

receiving an indication of a level of granularity, wherein the level of granularity is representative of regular time intervals during a drive cycle along the path of travel;

randomizing the road condition information of the path of travel to produce a plurality of different road conditions; and

generating a plurality of different drive cycle profiles, wherein each of the plurality of drive cycles contains vehicle status information at the regular time intervals along the path of travel according to the level of granularity, and wherein the plurality of different drive cycle profiles are based on the path of travel, the plurality of different road conditions, the vehicle configuration information, and a change in vehicle configuration along the path of travel.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein generating the plurality of different drive cycle profile includes:

generating an actual vehicle speed for segments of the path of travel by using the vehicle configuration information to simulate performance of the vehicle over the segments of the path of travel; and

randomly altering the actual vehicle speed within a range of values for segments of the path of travel, wherein the plurality of different drive cycle profiles are based on the randomly altered actual vehicle speed.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, the actions further comprising storing the plurality of different drive cycle profiles in a drive cycle data store.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, the actions further comprising validating the path of travel based on the vehicle configuration information and the road condition information.