Vehicular simulation

• US 9,401,056 B2
• Filed: 11/19/2013
• Issued: 07/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lee, Craig A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): THOMAS, ANA D
• Application Number:
  US14/083,697
• Publication Number:
  US 20150142262A1
• Time in Patent Office: 980 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/007 Wheeled or endless-tracked vehicles G01M17/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/20 Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0825 using optical means
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

Vehicle profiles allow drivers of vehicles to select any vehicle they desire to simulate. A graphical dashboard may be reconfigured to assume a graphical interface of any vehicle. A prospective buyer of an electric vehicle may configure the dashboard of a conventional, internal combustion vehicle to visually simulate an electric vehicle.

Claims

1. A method of simulating an electric vehicle, comprising:

obtaining, by a processor, performance data generated by a controller operating in a driver'"'"'s current vehicle;

retrieving, by the processor, a profile describing the electric vehicle;

retrieving, by the processor from the profile, an electronic dashboard associated with the electric vehicle;

replacing, by the processor operating in the driver'"'"'s current vehicle, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) dashboard with the electronic dashboard associated with the electric vehicle;

generating, by the processor, display instructions for displaying the performance data using the electronic dashboard associated with the electric vehicle; and

simulating, by the processor, a charging cycle of the electric vehicle by the driver'"'"'s current vehicle;

wherein the driver'"'"'s current vehicle simulates the electric vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing an electronic database having electronic database associations between electronic dashboards and vehicles including a make and model of the electric vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving a charge time from the profile, the charge time for charging batteries in the electric vehicle; and

forcing the controller operating in the driver'"'"'s current vehicle to adhere to the charge time during a simulation of the charging cycle.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising forcing the driver'"'"'s current vehicle to remain parked during a simulation of the charging cycle.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a query to retrieve the profile describing the electric vehicle.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing a database that associates different vehicles to different profiles.

7. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing instructions that when executed cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising;

obtaining performance data generated by a controller operating in a driver'"'"'s current vehicle;

retrieving a profile describing an electric vehicle;

retrieving an electronic dashboard associated with the electric vehicle;

replacing an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) dashboard in the driver'"'"'s current vehicle with the electronic dashboard associated with the electric vehicle;

generating display instructions for displaying the performance data using the electronic dashboard associated with the electric vehicle that replaces the OEM dashboard; and

simulating a charging cycle of the electric vehicle by the driver'"'"'s current vehicle;

wherein the electronic dashboard simulates the electric vehicle.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise querying an electronic database for a model associated with the electric vehicle, the electronic database having electronic database associations between different electronic dashboards and different manufacturers and models of vehicles including a make and model of the electric vehicle.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise retrieving a charge time from the profile for charging batteries in the electric vehicle.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise forcing the driver'"'"'s current vehicle to adhere to the charge time during a charging simulation of the electric vehicle.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise forcing the driver'"'"'s current vehicle to remain parked during a charging simulation of the electric vehicle.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise sending a query to a profile server for the profile describing the electric vehicle.

13. A memory device storing instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

obtaining performance data generated by a controller operating in a driver'"'"'s current vehicle;

retrieving a profile describing an electric vehicle;

retrieving an electronic dashboard associated with the electric vehicle;

replacing an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) dashboard in the driver'"'"'s current vehicle with the electronic dashboard associated with the electric vehicle;

generating display instructions for displaying the performance data using the electronic dashboard associated with the electric vehicle that replaces the OEM dashboard; and

simulating a charging cycle of the electric vehicle by the driver'"'"'s current vehicle;

wherein the electronic dashboard simulates the electric vehicle.

14. The memory device of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise querying an electronic database for a model associated with the electric vehicle, the electronic database having electronic database associations between different electronic dashboards and different manufacturers and models of vehicles including a make and model of the electric vehicle.

15. The memory device of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise retrieving a charge time from the profile for charging batteries in the electric vehicle.

16. The memory device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise forcing the driver'"'"'s current vehicle to adhere to the charge time during a charging simulation of the electric vehicle.

17. The memory device of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise forcing the driver'"'"'s current vehicle to remain parked during a charging simulation of the electric vehicle.