SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING VEHICLE DIAGNOSTICS

• US 20100256861A1
• Filed: 04/07/2009
• Published: 10/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Hodges, Thomas A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,285,439 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/33
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0234 related to maintenance or repairing of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/006 Indicating maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40006 Architecture of a communication node current supply arrangements H04L12/10; intermediate storage or scheduling H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40273 the transportation system being a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications

Abstract

One aspect includes a system for monitoring a vehicle'"'"'s health status. The system comprises a vehicle monitoring computer system configured to (1) receive information associating a cell phone with a vehicle, (2) receive vehicle diagnostic information including vehicle conditions, (3) automatically determine a severity status for the vehicle conditions based on pre-defined severity status values, and (4) if the severity status for any vehicle condition exceeds a pre-defined severity threshold value, automatically transmit a text message to the cellular telephone. Another aspect includes a system for detecting and monitoring a vehicle'"'"'s health status. The system comprises (1) a vehicle monitoring computer system and (2) a vehicle computer system configured to communicate wirelessly with a cellular telephone located within a vehicle or its vicinity to transmit diagnostic information to a telecommunications network for communication with the vehicle monitoring system.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring vehicle health status for one or more vehicles, the system comprising a vehicle monitoring computer system configured to (1) receive information associating a cellular telephone with a vehicle, (2) receive diagnostic information pertaining to a vehicle, the vehicle diagnostic information including one or more vehicle conditions, (3) automatically determine a severity status for the one or more vehicle conditions based on a pre-defined set of severity status values for a plurality of vehicle conditions, and (4) if the severity status for any of the vehicle conditions exceeds a pre-defined severity threshold value, automatically transmit a text message alert for the vehicle condition to the cellular telephone.

2. The system of claim 1 additionally comprising a vehicle computer system configured to communicate wirelessly with the cellular telephone located within the vehicle, or in the vehicle vicinity, to transmit the vehicle diagnostic information wirelessly to a telecommunications network for communication to the vehicle monitoring system.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the vehicle monitoring system associates the cellular telephone with the vehicle by associating the cellular telephone number with the vehicle identification number.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the text message additionally includes an instruction for addressing the vehicle condition(s).

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the text message includes information for obtaining a vehicle health report for the vehicle.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the information for obtaining a vehicle health report for the vehicle includes a hyperlink to the World Wide Web.

7. The system of claim 1 further comprising one or more triggers that are activated from the vehicle and configured to generate a request for a vehicle health status.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the one or more triggers include a voice activated trigger or a button trigger.

9. A system for detecting and monitoring the vehicle health status for one or more vehicles, the system comprising:

a vehicle computer system configured to communicate wirelessly with a cellular telephone located within a vehicle, or in the vehicle vicinity, to transmit vehicle diagnostic information wirelessly to a telecommunications network for communication with a vehicle monitoring system; and

a vehicle monitoring computer system configured to (1) receive information associating the cellular telephone with the vehicle, (2) receive diagnostic information pertaining to a vehicle, the vehicle diagnostic information including one or more vehicle conditions, (3) automatically determine a severity status for the one or more vehicle conditions based on a pre-defined set of severity status values for a plurality of vehicle conditions, and (4) if the severity status for any of the vehicle conditions exceeds a pre-defined severity threshold, automatically transmit a text message alert for the vehicle condition to the cellular telephone.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the vehicle computer system is configured to communicate wirelessly using a BLUETOOTH connection.

11. The system of claim 9 further comprising one or more triggers activated from the vehicle and configured to generate a request for a vehicle health status.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the one or more triggers include a voice activated trigger or a button trigger.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein the predefined set of severity status values comprise a plurality of values defined by a rating of the condition'"'"'s severity.

14. A computer program product embodied in a computer readable medium having computer readable instructions for monitoring vehicle health status for one or more vehicles, the computer program product comprising instructions for:

receiving information associating a cellular telephone with a vehicle;

receiving diagnostic information pertaining to the vehicle, the vehicle diagnostic information including one or more vehicle conditions;

automatically determining a severity status for the one or more vehicle conditions based on a pre-defined set of severity status values for a plurality of vehicle conditions; and

if the severity status for any of the vehicle conditions exceeds a pre-defined severity threshold, automatically transmitting a text message alert for the vehicle condition to the cellular telephone.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 further comprising instructions for associating the cellular telephone with the vehicle by associating the cellular telephone number with the vehicle identification number.

16. The computer program product system of claim 14 further comprising instructions for including instruction in the text message for addressing the vehicle condition(s).

17. The computer program product of claim 14 further comprising instructions for including information for obtaining a vehicle health report for the vehicle in the text message alert.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the information for obtaining a vehicle health report for the vehicle includes a hyperlink to the World Wide Web.

20. The computer implemented method of claim 14 further comprising activating one or more triggers from the vehicle and requesting a vehicle health status to be generated wherein the one or more triggers comprises a voice activated trigger or a button trigger.

19. A computer-implemented method for monitoring vehicle health status for one or more vehicles, the method comprising:

establishing a wireless communication with a cellular telephone located within a vehicle or in the vehicle vicinity;

upon establishing the wireless communication, wirelessly transmitting vehicle diagnostic information to a telecommunications network for communication with a vehicle monitoring system; and

at the vehicle monitoring system, (1) receiving information associating the handheld cellular telephone with a vehicle, (2) receiving the diagnostic information pertaining to a vehicle, the vehicle diagnostic information including one or more vehicle conditions, (3) automatically determining a severity status for the one or more vehicle conditions based on a pre-defined set of severity status values for a plurality of vehicle conditions; and

(4) transmitting a text message alert for the vehicle condition to the cellular telephone if the severity status for any of the vehicle conditions exceeds a pre-defined severity threshold.