REMOTE MONITORING OF A PLURALITY OF VEHICLES

• US 20110264318A1
• Filed: 04/22/2011
• Published: 10/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mission Motor Company (Vayon Holdings Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Mission Motor Company (Vayon Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: LAFORGE, SETH, WAGNER, JON
• Granted Patent: US 8,954,225 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/22
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/60 using power supplied by batteries in combination with fuel cells B60L50/75
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

A method for remotely monitoring and gathering information about a plurality of vehicles, including the steps of accessing the plurality of vehicles wherein each vehicle is individually operated, selecting vehicle data from the plurality of vehicles, communicating the vehicle data from the plurality of vehicles to a remote processor, and processing the plurality of vehicle data into population data by the remote processor. The individual operation of each vehicle preferably includes the steps of generating vehicle data, operating the vehicle based on the vehicle data with a vehicle controller, and storing the vehicle data in a database located on the vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for remotely monitoring a plurality of individually operated vehicles, each vehicle including a battery with a plurality of coupled secondary cells that powers the vehicle and each vehicle including a vehicle controller that controls the vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

generating vehicle data including battery data;

controlling the vehicle, with the vehicle controller, based on the vehicle data;

storing the vehicle data in a database located on the vehicle;

selecting vehicle data from the plurality of vehicles;

communicating the vehicle data from the plurality of vehicles to a remote processor; and

processing the plurality of vehicle data into population data by the remote processor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of processing the plurality of vehicle data into population data by the remote processor further includes the steps of processing vehicle data for each vehicle into vehicle trend data and processing the vehicle trend data into population data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the vehicle data selected from a first subset of vehicles is different from the vehicle data selected from a second subset of vehicles.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the vehicle trend data comprises average battery health over time.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the vehicle trend data comprises average motor power consumption across the plurality of vehicles.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the vehicle trend data is the communicated vehicle data.

7. The method of claim 1, further including the step of allowing third party access to the vehicle trend data.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of allowing third party access to vehicle trend data includes allowing access of an API to the vehicle trend data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of communicating the vehicle data from the plurality of vehicles to a remote processor includes the step of encrypting the vehicle data before the vehicle data is communicated.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of communicating the vehicle data from the plurality of vehicles to a remote processor is performed by a plurality of wireless transmitters, each coupled to a vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, and a wireless receiver coupled to the remote processor.

11. method of claim 1, wherein each vehicle further includes a data extraction module that accesses the vehicle database and extracts vehicle data, wherein the data extraction module is isolated from the vehicle controller such that it does not affect vehicle operation, wherein the step of selecting vehicle data from the plurality of vehicles includes the step of extracting vehicle data from the vehicle database by the data extraction module of the vehicle.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the data extraction module is isolated from the vehicle controller by having read-only access to the vehicle data.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of selecting vehicle data from the plurality of vehicles further includes the steps of:

determining desired vehicle data for a first vehicle by the remote processor;

generating extraction instructions for the first vehicle based on the desired vehicle data by the remote processor;

sending the extraction instructions by the remote processor to the first vehicle; and

,

receiving extraction instructions by the first vehicle;

wherein the step of extracting vehicle data from the vehicle database is performed by the data extraction module of the first vehicle, wherein the extracted vehicle data is based on the extraction instructions.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the remote processor determines the desired vehicle data for each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, generates extraction instructions for each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, and sends the extraction instructions for each vehicle to each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the desired vehicle data includes a desired vehicle data set and a desired vehicle data amount.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the desired vehicle data is determined from the vehicle data of the first vehicle communicated to the remote processor.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the remote processor monitors the communicated vehicle data for a trigger event, and determines a second desired vehicle data when the trigger event is met.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the vehicle data communicated to the remote processor comprises a value, wherein the trigger event is the determination of proximity of the value to a predetermined operational threshold.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the desired vehicle data is at least one of the group consisting of:

battery data, motor data, location data, transmission data, and cooling data.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the extraction instructions further include processing steps to be applied to the vehicle data, wherein the step of communicating vehicle data to the remote processor further includes the step of processing the vehicle data before it is communicated to the remote processor by the data extraction module.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the database is stored on non-volatile memory located on the vehicle.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein each vehicle further includes a module that controls a vehicle sub-operation, wherein the step of generating vehicle data further includes the steps of generating module data by the module and processing the module data into vehicle data by the vehicle controller.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of processing the module data into vehicle data includes calculating the vehicle data from the module data.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein each vehicle further includes a second module, wherein the step of operating the vehicle based on the vehicle data with the vehicle controller includes changing the operation of the first module based on vehicle data generated from the module data of the second module by the vehicle controller.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the first module includes a battery module that controls battery operations, and the second module includes a motor module that controls motor operations.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of generating module data further includes the steps of measuring a series of operation parameter measurements, storing the series of operation parameter measurements, and processing the series of operation parameter measurements into module data.

27. The method of claim 26, further including the step of controlling the vehicle sub-operation with the module, wherein the module controls the vehicle sub-operation based on the generated module data.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the operation parameter measurements are performed by a sensor.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the sensor is one of the group consisting of:

an impedance sensor, a voltage sensor, and a current sensor.

30. method of claim 28, wherein the sensor is a GPS sensor.

31. A system for remotely monitoring a vehicle, comprising:

a battery sensor that measures a series of battery operation measurements;

a battery module coupled to the sensor that processes the battery operation measurements into battery module data and manages a battery operation parameter based on the battery module data;

a motor sensor that measures a series of motor operation measurements;

a motor module coupled to the sensor that processes the motor operation measurements into motor module data and manages a motor operation parameter based on the motor module data;

a vehicle controller module that processes the battery module data and motor module data into vehicle data and manages the interaction between the battery module and a motor module based on the vehicle data;

a data storage that stores the vehicle data;

a data extraction module that receives extraction instructions from a remote processor, extracts data from the data storage based on the extraction instructions, and sends the extracted data to the remote processor; and

an isolation mechanism that separates the data extraction module from the vehicle controller such that the instructions received by the data extraction module do not affect the operation of the vehicle operation module.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the extraction instructions further include processing instructions, wherein the data extraction module processes the extracted data before sending the extracted data to the remote processor.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein the data extraction module is located on the same processor as the vehicle controller, wherein the isolation mechanism logically separates the data extraction module from the vehicle controller.

34. The system of claim 31, wherein the isolation mechanism is read-only access by the data extraction module to the data storage.