Transportation planner and route calculator for alternative travel methods

• US 9,389,086 B2
• Filed: 03/27/2014
• Issued: 07/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Heba Abdulmohsen Hashem, Thieab Aldossary
• Original Assignee: Heba Abdulmohsen Hashem, Thieab Aldossary
• Inventors: Hashem, Heba Abdulmohsen, Aldossary, Thieab
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaawat, Mussa A
• Assistant Examiner(s): JHA, ABDHESH K
• Application Number:
  US14/227,580
• Publication Number:
  US 20150276419A1
• Time in Patent Office: 838 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence

Abstract

A transportation planner and route calculator for alternative travel methods that recommends alternative modes of transport relating to the preferences of the user. Recommendations draw upon preferences generated from the user'"'"'s profile which is made up of inserted information from the user, travel historical log, a settings application and a method of auto adjusting the user'"'"'s profile. A calculator unit retrieves one or more generated attributes of the user and obtains various related information such as available public transport, weather forecasts, historical travel log, to calculate travel options that best suit the users needs. The application constantly updates the users profile based on the users travel patterns and preferences, as the application learns more about the user the better the application becomes at recommending travel routes that suite the user'"'"'s requirements.

Claims

1. A travel planner and personalized route calculating device, comprising:

circuitry configured to generate a user profile from at least one of a questionnaire, a settings application, scheduling information, social network information, and a log of previous journeys made by the user,

a global positioning system configured to determine a current location of the user,

generate a plurality of route recommendations based on the generated user profile, the current location of the user, localized transportation and Traffic Demand Management options,

generate a preference ranking based on the generated user profile, environmental information, health information and at least one of fitness information, a time, safety information, a cost, scenic information, weather information, a mode of transport for a user, and one of a first type of day and a second type of day, wherein the first type of day is a weekday and the second type of day is a weekend,

and update the user profile to include the preference ranking, wherein the plurality of route recommendations include a separate recommendation corresponding to each category of the preference rankings, and wherein the circuitry is configured to select a route recommendation having a highest preference ranking and to control a display to output the selected route recommendation,

wherein the circuitry determines a degree to which the user follows the route recommendation having the highest preference ranking and updates the user profile based on the determination, wherein the environmental information is information indicating a carbon footprint of one or more route recommendations, and wherein the health information indicates the health benefits to the user of one or more route recommendations,

wherein the generating of the preference ranking is an algorithm based on a median aggregation function that calculates a middle value for different attributes by using multiple observations from the user profile attributes, and wherein the algorithm computes an expected observation for each attribute corresponding to the first type of day and the second type of day, and determines, based on the type of day, a degree to which the user follows the recommended route by computing a deviation between the expected observation of each attribute and an actual observation of the attribute and computing a chi-square value for each attribute, and wherein the circuitry is further configured to compute a degree of freedom parameter corresponding to all attributes, the degree of freedom parameter corresponding to a significance of the computed chi-square values of the attributes.

2. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device in claim 1, wherein a number of options for a journey are generated based on a user profile algorithm that matches closest to a journey algorithm and are displayed in order of best match.

3. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to generate, a settings configuration that allows the user to further calibrate search results based on additional customizable attributes.

4. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to receive an input indicating a desired mode of transport, and filter the plurality of route recommendations based on the desired mode of transport and a priority setting corresponding to the desired mode of transport, wherein the priority setting is included in the user profile.

5. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device of claim 1, wherein integrated in the user profile are one or more sets of customizable targets and aims for the user to achieve.

6. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device of claim 2, wherein the circuitry is further configured to display one or more variable readings for one or more journeys.

7. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device of claim 3, wherein examples of one or more additional customizable attributes in the settings configuration are selected from the group consisting of preference filtration results based on weather conditions, time of day, day of the week, fitness aims, and environmental aims.

8. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device of claim 1, wherein the algorithm forecasts and recommends travel plans relating to the user profile preferences and actual travel patterns.

9. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device of claim 8, wherein forecasted and recommended travel plans retrieve assigned expected values from the individual profile attributes.

10. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device of claim 7, wherein previously visited locations are registered and closely matched with previously visited location outlets and events are recommended through a graphical map interface.

11. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device of claim 1, wherein the circuitry generates the preference ranking further based on the fitness information, the time, the safety information, the cost, the scenic information, the weather information, and the mode of transport for a user.

12. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device of claim 11, wherein the fitness information indicates calories burned and weight loss for one or more of the route recommendations.

13. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device of claim 11, Wherein the cost indicates cost information for each of a plurality of different transportation options for one or more route recommendations.

14. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to identify, based on the user profile, a type of vehicle the user uses regularly, identify, as a function of the type of vehicle, fuel consumption metrics, a cost of filling up the vehicle with gas, and the environment information, and generate the preference ranking further based on the fuel consumption metrics and the cost of filling up the vehicle.

15. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the route recommendations includes destinations determined as a function of the health information.

16. The travel planner and personalized route calculating device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the route recommendations includes a mode of transport determined as a function of the health information.

17. A travel planner and personalized route calculating device, comprising:

circuitry configured to generate a user profile from at least one of a questionnaire, a settings application, scheduling information, social network information, and a log of previous journeys made by the user,

a global positioning system configured to determine a current location of the user,

generate a plurality of route recommendations based on the generated user profile, the current location of the user, localized transportation and Traffic Demand Management options,

identify, based on the user profile, a type of vehicle the user uses regularly,

identify, as function of the type of vehicle, fuel consumption metrics, a cost of filling up the vehicle with the gas, and the environment information,

generate a preference ranking based on the generated user profile, environmental information, health information and at least one of fitness information, a time, safety information, a cost, scenic information, weather information, a mode of transport for the user, the fuel consumption metrics, the cost of filling up the vehicle with gas, and one of a first type of day and a second type of day, wherein the first type of day is a weekday and the second type of day is a weekend,

and update the user profile to include the preference ranking, wherein the plurality of route recommendations include a separate recommendation corresponding to each category of the preference rankings, and wherein the circuitry is configured to select a route recommendation having a highest preference ranking and to control a display to output the selected route recommendation,

wherein the circuitry determines a degree to which the user follows the route recommendation having the highest preference ranking and updates the user profile based on the determination, wherein the environmental information is information indicating a carbon footprint of one or more route recommendations, and wherein the health information indicates the health benefits to the user of one or more route recommendations,

wherein the generating of the preference ranking is an algorithm based on a median aggregation function that calculates a middle value for different attributes by using multiple observations from the user profile attributes, and wherein the algorithm computes an expected observation for each attribute corresponding to the first type of day and the second type of day, and determines, based on the type of day, a degree to which the user follows the recommended route by computing a deviation between the expected observation of each attribute and an actual observation of the attribute and computing a chi-square value for each attribute, and wherein the circuitry is further configured to compute a degree of freedom parameter corresponding to all attributes, the degree of freedom parameter corresponding to a significance of the computed chi-square values of the attributes.