Acquisition of in-vehicle sensor data and rendering of aggregate average performance indicators

• US 9,299,201 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2011
• Issued: 03/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Clark, Roger A., Studzinski, William M., Krueger, Martin Hans, Nunning, Elizabeth S., Matthe, Roland, Yuen, Pui-Kei
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): LI, CE LI
• Application Number:
  US13/267,478
• Publication Number:
  US 20130090790A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,636 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/22, 701/29.3, 701/31.4, 701/32.1, 701/32.7, 701/33.4, 701/123
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/08 Registering or indicating performance data other than driving, working, idle, or waiting time, with or without registering driving, working, idle or waiting time

Abstract

Data collection and analysis processes include collecting energy consumption data from an in-vehicle energy source sensor, collecting emissions data from an in-vehicle emissions sensor, the emissions data reflecting emissions produced by a vehicle, and collecting mileage data from a mileage sensor in the vehicle. The data collection and analysis processes also include processing the energy consumption data and the emissions data as a function of the mileage data, calculating an efficiency rating from the processing, and transmitting results of the processing to a data collection system.

Claims

1. A system for acquisition of in-vehicle sensor data from a vehicle, comprising:

a computer processor; and

logic executable by the computer processor, the logic configured to implement a method, the method comprising;

collecting energy consumption data from an in-vehicle energy source sensor;

collecting emissions data from an in-vehicle emissions sensor, the emissions data reflecting emissions produced by the vehicle;

collecting mileage data from a mileage sensor in the vehicle;

processing the energy consumption data and the emissions data as a function of the mileage data to calculate results, the results comprising an efficiency rating based on a real time fuel utilization controlled by fuel conserving and emissions reduction technology of the vehicle;

transmitting the results of the processing to a data collection system;

receiving aggregate performance data from the data collection system, the aggregate performance data representing an aggregation of energy consumption data processed for multiple vehicles;

generating a report on amount of green house gas reduced by the vehicle based on the results and the aggregate performance data, the report relating the efficiency rating to the aggregate performance data to inform a vehicle operator of a usage consumption relative to a calculated average across the multiple vehicles, the report comprises vehicle manufacturer and model data with respect to the aggregate performance data and the results; and

displaying the report on a display in the vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the in-vehicle energy source sensor is one of a petroleum-based, an alternate fuel sensor, an electric motor control unit, and a diesel-based fuel sensor.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

displaying the results and the efficiency rating on a display in the vehicle.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein collecting the energy consumption data, the emissions data, and the mileage data includes downloading the energy consumption data, the emissions data, and the mileage data from a vehicle diagnostic system communicatively coupled to the vehicle;

and

wherein displaying the report to a display in the vehicle is performed in response to receiving the energy consumption data, the emissions data, and the mileage data from the vehicle diagnostic system.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the results are transmitted to the data collection system via a communications device resident in the vehicle.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the logic further implements:

receiving averaged energy consumption data from the data collection system, the averaged energy consumption data representing an aggregation of energy consumption data processed for multiple vehicles;

generating a report on amount of energy conserved relative to the averaged energy consumption data; and

displaying the report on the amount of energy conserved relative the averaged energy consumption a display in the vehicle.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the fuel conserving and emissions reduction technology is an active fuel management subsystem that actively shuts down at least one of a plurality of engine cylinders of the vehicle during specified operating conditions.

8. A method for acquisition of in-vehicle sensor data from a vehicle, comprising:

collecting energy consumption data from an in-vehicle energy source sensor, the energy consumption data including alternate fuel consumption data;

collecting emissions data from an in-vehicle emissions sensor, the emissions data reflecting emissions produced by the vehicle;

collecting mileage data from a mileage sensor in the vehicle;

processing the energy fuel consumption data and the emissions data as a function of the mileage data to calculate results, the results comprising an efficiency rating based on a real time fuel utilization controlled by fuel conserving and emissions reduction technology of the vehicle;

transmitting the results of the processing to a data collection system;

receiving aggregate performance data from the data collection system, the aggregate performance data representing an aggregation of energy consumption data processed for multiple vehicles;

calculating an amount of petroleum consumption avoided by the vehicle by using alternate fuel based on the results and the aggregate performance data, the amount of petroleum consumption avoided relating the efficiency rating to the aggregate performance data to inform a vehicle operator of a usage consumption relative to a calculated average across multiple vehicles with respect to vehicle manufacturer and model data; and

displaying the amount of petroleum usage avoided on a display in the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the in-vehicle energy source sensor is one of a(n):

petroleum-based fuel sensor;

diesel-based fuel sensor;

electric motor control unit; and

alternative fuel sensor.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

displaying the results and the efficiency rating on a display in the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein collecting the energy consumption data, the emissions data, and the mileage data includes downloading the energy consumption data, the emissions data, and the mileage data from a vehicle diagnostic system communicatively coupled to the vehicle;

and

wherein displaying the results to a display in the vehicle is performed in response to receiving the energy consumption data, the emissions data, and the mileage data from the vehicle diagnostic system.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the results are transmitted to the data collection system via a communications device resident in the vehicle.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving averaged energy consumption and emissions data from the data collection system, the averaged energy consumption and emissions data representing an aggregation of energy consumption data and emissions data processed for multiple vehicles; and

displaying the averaged energy consumption and emissions data on a display in the vehicle.

14. A computer program product for acquisition of in-vehicle sensor data from a vehicle, the computer program product includes a non-transitory computer storage medium embodied with instructions, which when executed by a computer cause the computer to implement a method comprising:

collecting energy consumption data from an in-vehicle energy source sensor;

collecting emissions data from an in-vehicle emissions sensor, the emissions data reflecting emissions produced by the vehicle;

collecting mileage data from a mileage sensor in the vehicle;

processing the energy consumption data and the emissions data as a function of the mileage data to calculate results, the results comprising an efficiency rating based on a real time fuel utilization controlled by fuel conserving and emissions reduction technology of the vehicle;

transmitting the results of the processing to a data collection system;

receiving aggregate performance data from the data collection system, the aggregate performance data representing an aggregation of energy consumption data processed for multiple vehicles;

generating a report on amount of green house gas reduced by the vehicle based on the results and the aggregate performance data, the report relating the efficiency rating to the aggregate performance data to inform a vehicle operator of a usage consumption relative to a calculated average across the multiple vehicles, the report comprises vehicle manufacturer and model data with respect to the aggregate performance data and the results; and

displaying the report on a display in the vehicle.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the in-vehicle energy source sensor is one of a petroleum-based and a diesel-based fuel sensor.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the in-vehicle energy source sensor is an electric motor control unit.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the in-vehicle energy source sensor is an alternate fuel sensor.

18. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:

displaying the results and the efficiency rating on a display in the vehicle.

19. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein collecting the energy consumption data, the emissions data, and the mileage data further includes downloading the energy consumption data, the emissions data, and the mileage data from a vehicle diagnostic system communicatively coupled to the vehicle;

and

wherein displaying the report to a display in the vehicle is performed in response to receiving the energy consumption data, the emissions data, and the mileage data from the vehicle diagnostic system.