Method and system for assessing the trip performance of a driver

• US 10,384,688 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2016
• Issued: 08/20/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Greater Than AB, Co.
• Original Assignee: Greater Than AB, Co.
• Inventors: Lindelof, Anders
• Primary Examiner(s): King, Curtis J
• Application Number:
  US15/781,114
• Publication Number:
  US 20180345985A1
• Time in Patent Office: 978 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 28/02 responsive to conditions relating to the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/0638 Engine speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/0652 Speed change rate
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/105 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/10 Historical data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/65 Data transmitted between vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2756/10 Involving external transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/08 related to drivers or passengers
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0841 Registering performance data recording measured values G01D; information storage G11B

Abstract

Method for automatically assessing performance of a driver (110) of a vehicle (100) for a particular trip, wherein current driving data sets, comprising basic driving data are repeatedly read from the vehicle, which method comprises the steps a) collecting previous-trip driving data sets, comprising instantaneous vehicle energy consumption and instantaneous vehicle velocity, for different previous trips, different drivers and different vehicles; b) for a plurality of said previous-trip datasets, calculating a respective relative instantaneous vehicle energy consumption value; c) calculating a characteristic vehicle relative energy consumption function; and d) calculating a value of a trip performance parameter based upon a weighted average value of the respective relative instantaneous energy consumptions for previous-trip data sets that correspond to each of said current-trip data sets, which weighting is performed using said characteristic vehicle relative energy consumption function. The invention also relates to a system.

Claims

1. A method for automatically assessing performance of a driver of a current vehicle for a particular current trip, wherein updated current-trip driving data sets are repeatedly read from the vehicle, the current-trip data sets each comprises data from at least a predetermined set of basic driving data parameters, wherein the current-trip data sets are read from the vehicle at consecutive observation time points separated by at the most a predetermined observation time period, wherein the method comprises the steps of

a) collecting previous-trip driving data sets, observed at a plurality of different observation time points, for a plurality of different previous trips made by a plurality of different drivers and a plurality of different vehicles, the previous-trip data sets each comprises parameter values for at least a certain predetermined set of qualified driving data parameters in turn comprising the basic parameter set and in particular instantaneous vehicle energy consumption and instantaneous vehicle velocity;

b) for a plurality of said previous-trip data sets, calculating a respective relative instantaneous vehicle energy consumption value, the relative energy consumption is relative to a total energy consumption for a respective trip during which the previous-trip data set in question was observed;

c) calculating a characteristic vehicle relative energy consumption function regarding the value of said relative instantaneous vehicle energy consumption for different instantaneous vehicle velocity parameter values; and

d) calculating a value of a trip performance parameter based upon a weighted average value of the respective relative instantaneous energy consumptions for previous-trip data sets that correspond to each of said current-trip data sets based upon a similarity or conformance measure regarding the respective values of said basic parameters, the weighting is performed using said characteristic vehicle relative energy consumption function.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said characteristic vehicle relative energy consumption function is calculated based upon an average relative instantaneous vehicle energy consumption for several previous-trip data sets having the same vehicle velocity.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said previous-trip data sets are classified into one of a plurality of different predetermined basic historic groups based upon a basic similarity measure arranged to measure similarity between driving data sets, and wherein each current-trip data set is mapped to at the most one of said basic historic groups based upon said basic group conformity measure.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the characteristic vehicle relative energy consumption function is calculated based upon a plurality of such groups, and specifically upon a respective value of said relative instantaneous vehicle energy consumption for the previous-trip data sets belonging to the respective basic historic group in question.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein said relative instantaneous vehicle energy consumption value is calculated for the respective previous-trip data sets in the basic historic group to which the current-trip data set in question is mapped, in relation to a total energy consumption for the complete trip during which the previous-trip data set in question was observed.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the step of classifying said previous-trip data sets into a set of collections, wherein each of said collections only comprises previous-trip data sets for a particular class of vehicles, wherein the current vehicle is classified into a particular current class of a set of classes based upon a basic class conformity measure between driving data sets for the vehicle in question and a set of class-defining parameters, said class corresponding to a current collection of previous-trip driving data sets, wherein all previous-trip driving data sets of one and the same vehicle are classified into one and the same collection, based upon said basic class conformity measure;

wherein the trip performance parameter value is calculated based upon only the respective relative instantaneous vehicle energy consumption values for previous-trip data sets in said current collection.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the basic parameter set comprises instantaneous vehicle velocity and instantaneous engine rotation speed, and wherein the class-defining parameters comprise, for each class of vehicles, a characteristic engine rotation speed for a particular vehicle velocity.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein said predetermined observation time period is at the most 10 seconds.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein parameter values of said basic parameter set are automatically recorded by the vehicle and either communicated to a portable electronic device arranged at the vehicle, the portable electronic device communicates, via a wireless link, said parameter values to a central server, or communicated, via a wireless link, directly from the vehicle to said central server.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the trip performance parameter value is calculated by and communicated, via a wireless link, from a central server to the vehicle, such as to a portable electronic device arranged at the vehicle, and presented to the driver.

11. The method according claim 10, wherein a value of said trip performance parameter is calculated repeatedly, at least every 10 minutes, during the current trip, wherein the current trip is considered to be the current trip up to the moment at which the value of the trip performance parameter is calculated and for the purposes of calculating the trip performance parameter value in question, and wherein the currently calculated trip performance parameter value is communicated to the vehicle and presented to the driver upon calculation.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of said previous-trip driving data sets is observed at a respective one of said plurality of different observation time points, and wherein the parameter values of the previous-trip driving data sets are each read either as a respective instantaneous value or a respective average value read across a certain respective time period of at the most 5 seconds of length.

13. A system for automatically assessing performance of a driver of a current vehicle for a particular current trip, the system is arranged to repeatedly read updated current-trip driving data sets from the vehicle, the current-trip data sets each comprises data from at least a predetermined set of basic driving data parameters, wherein the system is arranged to read the current-trip data sets from the vehicle at consecutive observation time points separated by at the most a predetermined observation time period, wherein the system comprises a server, arranged to collect previous-trip driving data sets, observed at a plurality of different observation time points, for a plurality of different previous trips made by a plurality of different drivers and a plurality of different vehicles, the previous-trip data sets each comprises parameter values for at least a certain predetermined set of qualified driving data parameters in turn comprising the basic parameter set and in particular instantaneous vehicle energy consumption and instantaneous vehicle velocity, wherein the server is arranged to, for a plurality of said previous-trip data sets, calculate a respective relative instantaneous vehicle energy consumption value, the relative energy consumption is relative to a total energy consumption for a respective trip during which the previous-trip data set in question was observed, wherein the server is arranged to calculate a characteristic vehicle relative energy consumption function regarding the value of said relative instantaneous vehicle energy consumption for different instantaneous vehicle velocity parameter values, and wherein the server is arranged to calculate a value of a trip performance parameter based upon a weighted average value of the respective relative instantaneous energy consumptions for previous-trip data sets that correspond to each of said current-trip data sets based upon a similarity or conformance measure regarding the respective values of said basic parameters, the weighting is performed using said characteristic vehicle relative energy consumption function.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the system is arranged to observe each of said previous-trip driving data sets is at a respective one of said plurality of different observation time points, and wherein the system is arranged to read the parameter values of the previous-trip driving data sets either as a respective instantaneous value or a respective average value read across a certain respective time period of at the most 5 seconds of length.