Trip management system and method for a vehicle

• US 9,715,771 B2
• Filed: 08/14/2012
• Issued: 07/25/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Incorporated (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Gregg, Christopher, Sitarski, Nicholas S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jos, Basil T
• Application Number:
  US13/585,647
• Publication Number:
  US 20130274993A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,806 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

A trip data management and display system for a vehicle. The system includes a processor, a memory, a user-interface and a display. During a trip traveled by the vehicle, the processor receives data from one or more systems or components. The processor receives input via the user-interface to associate a category and a filename with the received data for storage in the memory. The stored data may then be retrieved for display upon the display of the vehicle. The trip traveled by the vehicle is predefined according to user-settable parameters or is automatically determined based on vehicle characteristics. Instantaneous data corresponding to a trip currently being traveled by the vehicle may also be displayed on the display adjacent to the stored data from memory. The data stored may be managed by a user to associate it with different or multiple categories or to delete particular stored data.

Claims

1. A method for managing data of a vehicle, the method comprising:

acquiring, by a processor, first trip data that was measured from a start location of a first trip until an end location of the first trip, and second trip data that was measured from a start location of a second trip until an end location of the second trip;

automatically categorizing, by the processor, the first trip data that was measured from the start location of the first trip until the end location of the first trip into a respective category of a plurality of categories, each category of the plurality of categories having a plurality of trips, the plurality of trips having a same trip parameter, the same trip parameter corresponding to at least one of a distance traveled, a predetermined amount of time measured from a start location to an end location or a predetermined vehicle speed;

determining, by the processor, a first filename for the first trip data;

determining, by the processor, that the second trip data corresponds to the respective category;

determining, by the processor, a second filename for the second trip data;

storing, in a memory coupled to the processor, a first association of the first trip data, the respective category and the first filename;

storing, in the memory, a second association of the second trip data, the respective category and the second filename; and

displaying, on a display coupled to the processor, information corresponding to at least a portion of the first trip data or the second trip data based on a selection of the respective category and at least one of the first association or the second association.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of calculating, by the processor, the information based on at least the portion of the first trip data or the second trip data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the information that is based on at least the portion of the first trip data or the second trip data is fuel efficiency information for the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the processor, that the second trip has concluded when a desired end-of-trip parameter has been met for the second trip; and

stopping, by the processor, the acquiring of the second trip data when the second trip has been determined to be concluded.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the processor, a viewing format for the information corresponding to at least the portion of the first trip data or the second trip data and wherein displaying the information further includes displaying the information in the viewing format.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the viewing format includes at least one of a bar graph, a line graph, a numeral or a pie chart.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating, by the processor, an average fuel efficiency based on the first trip data and the second trip data, wherein the information displayed on the display is the average fuel efficiency.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein calculating the average fuel efficiency includes at least one of:

disregarding the first trip data if a distance of the first trip is less than a predetermined distance, or

disregarding the second trip data if a distance of the second trip is less than the predetermined distance.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the displaying, on the display, an instantaneous data value corresponding to the vehicle adjacent to the information that is based on at least the portion of the first trip data or the second trip data.

10. A method for managing data corresponding to a vehicle, the method comprising:

receiving, by a processor, first trip data that was measured during a first trip of the vehicle until a desired end-of-trip parameter has been met for the first trip, and a second trip data that was measured during a second trip of the vehicle until the desired end-of-trip parameter has been met for the second trip;

storing, in a memory coupled to the processor, the first trip data and the second trip data;

automatically categorizing, by the processor, the first trip data that was measured during the first trip into a respective category of a plurality of categories, each category of the plurality of categories having a s plurality of trips, the plurality of trips having a same trip parameter, the same trip parameter corresponding to at least one of a distance traveled, a redetermined amount of time measured for a trip or a predetermined vehicle seed;

associating, by the processor, a first filename with the first trip data;

determining, by the processor, that the second trip data corresponds to the respective category;

associating, by the processor, a second filename with the second trip data;

determining, by the processor, output data based on at least a portion of the first trip data or the second trip data; and

displaying, on a display coupled to the processor, the output data.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising calculating, by the processor, a statistic based on at least the portion of the first trip data or the second trip data, wherein the output data includes the statistic.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving, by an input device, data indicating a desired portion of the first trip data or the second trip data to be displayed, wherein determining the output data is further based on the data indicating the desired portion.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising displaying, on the display, an instantaneous data value corresponding to the vehicle adjacent to the output data.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving, from the input device, data requesting that the respective category be created,

receiving, by the processor, the data requesting that the respective category be created, and

adding, by the processor, the respective category to the list of available categories in response to receiving the data requesting that the respective category be created.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising automatically creating, by the processor, the first filename.

16. A system for management of trip data for a vehicle, comprising:

an input device configured to receive data indicating a desired end-of-trip parameter;

a processor coupled to the input device and configured to;

receive first trip data that was measured from a start location of a first trip until the desired end-of-trip parameter has been met for the first trip and second trip data that was measured from a start location of the second trip until the desired end-of-trip parameter has been met for the second trip,

automatically categorize the first trip data that was measured from the start location of the first trip into a respective category of a plurality of categories, each category of the plurality of categories having a plurality of trips, the plurality of trips having a same trip parameter, the same trip parameter corresponding to at least one of a distance traveled, a predetermined amount of time measured from the start location to desired end-of-trip parameter or a predetermined vehicle speed,

assign the category and a first filename to the first trip data,

assign the category and a second filename to the second trip data, and

calculate output data based on at least one of the first trip data or the second trip data;

a memory coupled to the processor and configured to store the first trip data and the second trip data; and

a display coupled to the processor and configured to display the output data.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the input device is further configured to receive the first filename.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the display is a liquid crystal display and is positioned in a dash of an interior of the vehicle.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the display is configured to display instantaneous data relating to the vehicle adjacent to the output data.