Driving behavior monitoring system

• US 10,846,948 B2
• Filed: 01/08/2018
• Issued: 11/24/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LexisNexis Risk Solutions UK Ltd. (RELX PLC)
• Original Assignee: Wunelli Limited (RELX PLC)
• Inventors: Stacy, Paul Rowan
• Primary Examiner(s): Cass, Jean Paul
• Application Number:
  US15/864,214
• Publication Number:
  US 20180130268A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,051 Days
• Field of Search: 701 315
• 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

Abstract

A driving behavior monitoring system (11) comprising an on-board diagnostic module (3) adapted to be mounted in a vehicle, the on-board diagnostics module comprising a vehicle usage monitor operative to monitor usage of the vehicle and to generate vehicle usage data based on at least one usage characteristic of the vehicle, the system further comprising a controller (5) and a driving behavior scoring server (9) arranged to be in real-time communication with the controller via a telecommunications network, the on-board diagnostic module further comprising a transceiver operative to transmit the vehicle usage data to the server via the controller, the server comprising a database (12) on which vehicle usage data is stored, the server further comprising a data processor operative to generate a driving behavior score by processing the vehicle usage data generated by the on-board diagnostic module and the road usage data stored on the database.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a controller configured for communication with a driving behavior scoring server via a telecommunications network;

an on-board diagnostic module adapted to be mounted in a vehicle, the on-board diagnostic module comprising;

an accelerometer;

a vehicle usage monitor operative to monitor usage of the vehicle and to generate vehicle usage data based on at least one usage characteristic of the vehicle;

a transceiver comprising an on-board diagnostic port device, wherein the transceiver is configured to;

determine vehicle usage data for transmission to the controller, wherein the vehicle usage data includes accelerometer data, vehicle ignition-on and ignition-off event data, associated positional information, and one or more of horizontal and vertical GPS accuracy information;

aggregate the vehicle usage data;

periodically transmit packets of the aggregated vehicle usage data to the driving behavior scoring server via the controller; and

receive, from the driving behavior scoring server, feedback based on the vehicle usage data.

2. The system of claim 1;

wherein the driving behavior scoring server and the controller are configured to be in real-time communication via the telecommunications network.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the on-board diagnostic port device of the transceiver is retrofittable.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the on-board diagnostic module comprises a wireless transceiver operative to transmit and/or receive data from the controller wirelessly, the controller being provided on a separate mobile telecommunications device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the on-board diagnostic module and controller are integral, and wherein the transceiver of the on-board diagnostic module comprises a mobile telecommunications transceiver operative to enable communication between the controller and the server via a mobile telecommunications network.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the on-board diagnostic module further comprises a microprocessor, a PCB, a flash memory, and a tri-axial accelerometer.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the on-board diagnostic module is configured to detect and receive power from the vehicle.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the on-board diagnostic module further comprises an interface operative to connect with and receive data from the vehicle'"'"'s on-board diagnostic port.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the on-board diagnostic module is configured to process a time signal and to obtain vehicle usage data at periodic time intervals, the on-board diagnostic module further configured to time stamp the vehicle usage data based on the processed time signal, and to send time stamped data packets of vehicle usage data to the controller.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the on-board diagnostic module comprises a clock operative to generate the time signal.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the on-board diagnostic module is configured to receive a time signal generated from a clock on one or more of the controller and the driving behavior scoring server.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the on-board diagnostic module is operative to obtain vehicle usage data comprising one or more of:

wireless device connection events;

wireless device disconnection events; and

one or more wireless device power transition events;

wherein the one or more vehicle power transition events comprise one or more of a vehicle ignition-on event and a vehicle ignition-off event.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the driving behavior scoring server comprises:

a database on which vehicle usage data and road usage data is stored; and

a data processor operative to generate a driving behavior score by processing the vehicle usage data and the road usage data.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the transceiver is further operative to issue polling signals to determine whether the controller is in the vehicle.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller comprises a software application downloaded to one or more of a mobile telecommunications device and the on-board diagnostic module.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the driving behavior scoring server is configured to store road usage data indicative of a road speed limit, wherein the vehicle usage data and the road usage data are processed to generate the driving behavior score.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein one or more of the wireless device connection or disconnection events comprise Bluetooth connection or disconnection events.

17. A method comprising:

receiving, by a transceiver in communication with an on-board diagnostic port, accelerometer data using an on-board diagnostic module, the on-board diagnostic module adapted to be mounted in a vehicle to monitor usage of the vehicle;

generating vehicle usage data, the vehicle usage data including the accelerometer data, vehicle ignition-on and ignition-off event data, and one or more of horizontal and vertical GPS accuracy information;

aggregating the vehicle usage data;

periodically transmitting, to a driving behavior scoring server via a telecommunications network, time-stamped packets of the aggregated vehicle usage data;

receiving, from the driving behavior scoring server, feedback based on the vehicle usage data; and

displaying an indication of the feedback.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

issuing, by the transceiver, polling signals to a controller; and

determining whether the controller is in the vehicle.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the vehicle usage data further comprising one or more of wireless device connection events and wireless device disconnection events.