METHOD AND APPARATUS TO ANALYZE GPS DATA TO DETERMINE IF A VEHICLE HAS ADHERED TO A PREDETERMINED ROUTE

• US 20100185479A1
• Filed: 03/15/2010
• Published: 07/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zonar Systems, Inc. (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Zonar Systems, Inc. (Continental AG)
• Inventors: Brinton, Brett, McQuade, Charles Michael
• Granted Patent: US 8,972,179 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096805 where the transmitted instructions are used to compute a route
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096844 where the complete route is dynamically recomputed based on new data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

System and method for analyzing position data from a vehicle equipped with a geographical position system to determine if the vehicle has adhered to a predetermined schedule, where the vehicle is scheduled to arrive at each one of a plurality of predetermined locations during a corresponding predetermined time window, the position data identifying a specific geographical location of the vehicle at a specific point in time. Position data from the vehicle is collected as the vehicle travels to the plurality of different locations, the position data identifying a specific geographical location of the vehicle at a specific point in time. Then the position data is analyzed to determine whether the vehicle was at each predetermined location during the corresponding predetermined time window. An exception report is automatically generated for each instance that the vehicle was not at one of the plurality of predetermined locations during the corresponding time window.

Claims

1. A method for analyzing position data from a vehicle equipped with a geographical position system to determine if the vehicle has adhered to a predetermined schedule, where the vehicle is scheduled to arrive at each one of a plurality of predetermined locations during a corresponding predetermined time window;

the method comprising the steps of;

(a) collecting position data from the vehicle as it travels to the plurality of different locations, the position data identifying a specific geographical location of the vehicle at a specific point in time;

(b) analyzing the position data to determine whether the vehicle was at each predetermined location during the corresponding predetermined time window; and

(c) automatically generating an exception report for each instance that the vehicle was not at one of the plurality of predetermined locations during the corresponding time window.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of analyzing the position data to determine whether the vehicle was at each predetermined location during the corresponding predetermined time window comprises the steps of:

(a) for each time window, determining an actual geographic position of the vehicle during that time window; and

(b) for each time window, comparing the actual geographic position of the vehicle with the plurality of predetermined locations, such that an exception report will be generated when the actual geographic position of the vehicle during the time window does not correspond to one of the plurality of predetermined locations.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of comparing the actual geographic position of the vehicle with the plurality of predetermined locations comprises the step of ignoring any actual geographic position of the vehicle if the position data collected from the vehicle indicates that the vehicle arrived at the predetermined location corresponding to the specified time window at an earlier point in time, such that no exception report will be generated when the vehicle arrived at the corresponding predetermined location early.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of analyzing the position data to determine whether the vehicle was at a predetermined location during a predetermined time window comprises the steps of:

(a) for each of the plurality of predetermined locations, determining an arrival time that the vehicle arrived at the location; and

(b) for each of the plurality of predetermined locations, comparing the arrival time with the corresponding time window for that location, such that an exception report will be generated when the arrival time is not within the corresponding time window.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of comparing the arrival time with the corresponding time window for that location comprises the step of ignoring any arrival time that is earlier than the corresponding time window, such that no exception report will be generated for an early arrival time.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of conveying the position data to a remote computer for analysis, such that analysis of the position data is performed externally of the vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of conveying the position data to the remote computer comprises the step of conveying the position data to the remote computer while the vehicle is traveling to the plurality of different locations, such that the analysis of the position data is performed in real-time, and the step of automatically generating the exception report for each location is performed in real-time.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of automatically delivering each exception report to a dispatcher responsible for the vehicle via at least one of an email message, an instant message, a voicemail message, or a popup window on a computer assigned to the dispatcher.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of enabling a dispatcher responsible for the vehicle to define the temporal window for each location, such that each temporal window can be identical or different.

10. A memory medium having machine instructions stored thereon for analyzing position data from a vehicle equipped with a geographical position system to determine if the vehicle has adhered to a predetermined schedule, where the vehicle is scheduled to arrive at each one of a plurality of predetermined locations during a corresponding predetermined time window, the position data identifying a specific geographical location of the vehicle at a specific point in time, the machine instructions, when implemented by a processor, carrying out the steps of:

(a) analyzing the position data to determine whether the vehicle was at each predetermined location during the corresponding predetermined time window; and

(b) automatically generating an exception report for each instance that the vehicle was not at one of the plurality of predetermined locations during the corresponding time window.

11. The memory medium of claim 10, wherein the machine instructions, when implemented by a processor, analyze the position data to determine whether the vehicle was at each predetermined location during the corresponding predetermined time by performing the steps of:

(a) for each time window, determining an actual geographic position of the vehicle during that time window; and

(b) for each time window, comparing the actual geographic position of the vehicle with the plurality of predetermined locations, such that an exception report will be generated when the actual geographic position of the vehicle during the time window does not correspond to one of the plurality of predetermined locations.

12. The memory medium of claim 10, wherein the machine instructions, when implemented by a processor, analyze the position data to determine whether the vehicle was at each predetermined location during the corresponding predetermined time by performing the steps of:

(a) for each of the plurality of predetermined locations, determining an arrival time that the vehicle arrived at the location; and

(b) for each of the plurality of predetermined locations, comparing the arrival time with the corresponding time window for that location, such that an exception report will be generated when the arrival time is not within the corresponding time window.

13. The memory medium of claim 10, wherein the machine instructions, when implemented by a processor, further carry out the step of automatically delivering each exception report to a dispatcher responsible for the vehicle via at least one of an email message, an instant message, a voicemail message, or a popup window on a computer assigned to the dispatcher.

14. The memory medium of claim 10, wherein the machine instructions, when implemented by a processor, further carry out the step of enabling a dispatcher responsible for the vehicle to define the temporal window for each location, such that each temporal window can be identical or different.

15. A system for analyzing position data from a vehicle equipped with a geographical position system to determine if the vehicle has adhered to a predetermined schedule, where the vehicle is scheduled to arrive at each one of a plurality of predetermined locations during a corresponding predetermined time window, the position data identifying a specific geographical location of the vehicle at a specific point in time, the system comprising:

(a) a memory in which a plurality of machine instructions are stored;

(b) a data link for communicating the position data collected while operating the vehicle; and

(c) a processor coupled to the memory and to the data link, said processor executing the machine instructions to carry out a plurality of functions, including;

(i) analyzing the position data to determine whether the vehicle was at each predetermined location during the corresponding predetermined time window; and

(ii) automatically generating an exception report for each instance that the vehicle was not at one of the plurality of predetermined locations during the corresponding time window.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the plurality of functions further include automatically delivering each exception report to a dispatcher responsible for the vehicle via at least one of an email message, an instant message, a voicemail message, or a popup window on a computer assigned to the dispatcher.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the plurality of functions further include enabling a dispatcher responsible for the vehicle to define the temporal window for each location, such that each temporal window can be identical or different.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the machine instructions, when implemented by a processor, analyze the position data to determine whether the vehicle was at each predetermined location during the corresponding predetermined time by performing the steps of:

(a) for each time window, determining an actual geographic position of the vehicle during that time window; and

(b) for each time window, comparing the actual geographic position of the vehicle with the plurality of predetermined locations, such that an exception report will be generated when the actual geographic position of the vehicle during the time window does not correspond to one of the plurality of predetermined locations

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the machine instructions, when implemented by a processor, analyze the position data to determine whether the vehicle was at each predetermined location during the corresponding predetermined time by performing the steps of:

(a) for each of the plurality of predetermined locations, determining an arrival time that the vehicle arrived at the location; and

(b) for each of the plurality of predetermined locations, comparing the arrival time with the corresponding time window for that location, such that an exception report will be generated when the arrival time is not within the corresponding time window.

20. A method for analyzing position data from a vehicle equipped with a geographical position system to determine if the vehicle has adhered to a predetermined schedule, where the vehicle is scheduled to arrive at each one of a plurality of predetermined locations during a corresponding predetermined time window, the position data identifying a specific geographical location of the vehicle at a specific point in time, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) collecting position data from the vehicle as it travels to the plurality of different locations, the position data identifying a specific geographical location of the vehicle at a specific point in time;

(b) for each of the plurality of different locations, determining an arrival time that the vehicle arrived at the location;

(c) for each of the plurality of different locations, comparing the arrival time with the corresponding predetermined time window for that location; and

(d) automatically generating an exception report for each location where the arrival time did not fall within the predetermined time window.