Method and apparatus for reporting road conditions

• US 20070078570A1
• Filed: 10/04/2005
• Published: 04/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations Incorporated (Motors Liquidation Co. GUC Trust)
• Inventors: Dai, Xiaowen, Roesser, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 7,571,029 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0104 Measuring and analyzing of parameters relative to traffic conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 where the origin of the information is another vehicle

Abstract

An on-vehicle system for identifying and reporting external conditions is presented. The system has an operator-selectable user interface to identify occurrence of an external condition, a global positioning system receiver; and, a wireless communications system. The unit may be used to assist in discovering localized roadway conditions that adversely affect safety and travel. The unit is placeable into a vehicle of a volunteer, is manually operated whenever a hazard is detected. Reportable hazards include potholes, obstacles or debris in the highway, snow or ice patches, fog, unusual traffic or pedestrian activity, and localized incidences, such as presence of disabled or emergency vehicles. Nature of the hazard is indicatable by manual activation of additional push buttons or other suitable devices. A GPS receiver is incorporated to estimate position, speed, and heading of the hazard. The information is encoded as a message sent to a central server.

Claims

1. On-vehicle system for identifying and reporting external conditions, comprising:

a. a user interface operable to identify occurrence of an external condition;

b. a global positioning system receiver; and

,

c. a wireless communications system.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface comprises an in-cockpit device having a plurality of discrete external conditions.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the discrete external conditions are selectable.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the plurality of discrete external conditions comprises road surface conditions.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the plurality of discrete external conditions comprises ambient conditions.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the plurality of discrete external conditions comprises traffic conditions.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the user interface comprises a push-button device.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein the user interface comprises a graphic-user interface device.

9. The system of claim 2, wherein the operator selectable user interface comprises a voice recognition system.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless communications system is operable to capture a time-stamped location of occurrence of an identified external condition when the operator selects one of the plurality of discrete external conditions of the user interface.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the time-stamped location of occurrence of the identified external condition further comprises a position, speed, and heading of the vehicle at the time of selecting one of the plurality of discrete external conditions.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising the wireless communications system operable to communicate the time-stamped location of occurrence of the identified external condition to a remote site.