Method for vehicle data collection

• US 10,819,771 B2
• Filed: 06/19/2019
• Issued: 10/27/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kitty Hawk Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kitty Hawk Corporation
• Inventors: Preissl, Robert, Hata, Kosuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Jacobs, Lashonda T
• Application Number:
  US16/446,163
• Publication Number:
  US 20190306226A1
• Time in Patent Office: 496 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 27/20 Rotorcraft characterised by having shrouded rotors, e.g. flying platforms
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2045/0085 Devices for aircraft health monitoring, e.g. monitoring flutter or vibration
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 5/60 Testing or inspecting aircraft components or systems
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 60/10 specially adapted for use on water
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/003 Flight plan management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/40 Support for services or applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5683 Storage of data provided by user terminals, i.e. reverse caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

A vehicle data collection method is disclosed. The method comprises receiving vehicle data, determining that an internet connection is not available, storing the vehicle data, determining that an internet connection has become available, and transmitting the vehicle data based at least in part on the determination that an internet connection has become available.

Claims

1. A vehicle data collection method, comprising:

receiving vehicle data at a first device on a vehicle during vehicle operation;

determining a subset of the vehicle data to be stored while the vehicle is in operation; and

transmitting the subset of the vehicle data to a second device;

wherein the second device is configured to determine that an internet connection to an online network has become available to the second device and to upload the stored vehicle data to the online network accessible by a remote processor based at least in part on the determination that the internet connection has become available.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second device comprises a tablet, phone, or other portable connected device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is installed on the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device comprises a vehicle data recording device installed on the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein stored vehicle data comprises time series data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein stored vehicle data comprises audio data, video data, or actuator parameters.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle data is transmitted to the second device over a Bluetooth connection, over a local area network, or in absence of an internet or cellular connection.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising determining whether the internet connection is secured.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote processor is configured to aggregate vehicle data for a plurality of vehicles.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is configured to collect higher resolution data compared with the second device and the subset of vehicle data transmitted by the second device is lower resolution compared with data collected by the first device.

9. A vehicle data recording device configured to:

receive vehicle data at a first device on a vehicle during vehicle operation;

determine a subset of the vehicle data to be stored while the vehicle is in operation; and

transmit the subset of the vehicle data to a second device;

wherein the second device is configured to determine that an internet connection to an online network has become available to the second device and to upload the stored vehicle data to the online network accessible by a remote processor based at least in part on the determination that the internet connection has become available.

10. The vehicle data recording device of claim 9, wherein the second device comprises a tablet, phone, or other portable connected device.

11. The vehicle data recording device of claim 9, wherein the first device is further configured to determine the subset of vehicle data to be transmitted to the second device.

12. The vehicle data recording device of claim 9, wherein stored vehicle data comprises time series data.

13. The vehicle data recording device of claim 9, wherein stored vehicle data comprises audio data, video data, or actuator parameters.

14. The vehicle data recording device of claim 9, wherein the vehicle data is transmitted to the second device over a Bluetooth connection, over a local area network, or in absence of an internet or cellular connection.

15. The vehicle data recording device of claim 9, comprising determining whether the internet connection is secured.

16. A computer program product to collect vehicle data, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and comprising computer instructions for:

receiving vehicle data at a first device on a vehicle during vehicle operation;

determining a subset of the vehicle data to be stored while the vehicle is in operation; and

transmitting the subset of the vehicle data to a second device;

wherein the second device is configured to determine that an internet connection to an online network has become available to the second device and to upload the stored vehicle data to the online network accessible by a remote processor based at least in part on the determination that the internet connection has become available.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the second device comprises a tablet, phone, or other portable connected device.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the first device is further configured to determine the subset of vehicle data to be transmitted to the second device.

19. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein stored vehicle data comprises time series data.

20. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein stored vehicle data comprises audio data, video data, or actuator parameters.