VEHICULAR FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHODS OF MONITORING AND IMPROVING DRIVER PERFORMANCE IN A FLEET OF VEHICLES

• US 20140226010A1
• Filed: 07/18/2012
• Published: 08/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC (Estate of Heinz Hermann Thiele)
• Original Assignee: Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC (Estate of Heinz Hermann Thiele)
• Inventors: Molin, Hans M., Au, Ken D.
• Granted Patent: US 9,922,567 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/148
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0816 Indicating performance data, e.g. occurrence of a malfunction
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/01 Conversion of standards , e.g. involving analogue television standards or digital television standards processed at pixel level

Abstract

A system and method is described in which vehicles are configured to collect driver and vehicle event data, selectively compress and encode the collected driver and vehicle event data, and communicate the compressed and encoded data wirelessly to one or more telematics service providers. Servers poll this driver event data periodically, process it, and present multiple methods to end users by which they are able to view and analyze it. The present system permits fleet managers to use this driver event data, received through a report or notification, or pulled directly from a web-based portal, to monitor, correct or reward driver behavior, and to implement driver education and training programs.

Claims

1. A method of aggregating data derived from a vehicular fleet for presentation to an associated user, the method comprising:

accumulating driver event data from one or more vehicle-mounted devices configured to capture and record on-board vehicular data associated with a particular driver in a fleet of vehicles;

compressing and encrypting the driver event data as processed event data;

transmitting the processed driver event data to a server that is polled at particular intervals for aggregation of the processed driver event data in one or more reporting and notification modules;

packaging the aggregated driver event data into a preselected format; and

,

presenting to a user via a user interface configured to display the packaged driver event data in a form that permits the user to analyze and monitor a performance of the particular driver.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the presenting comprises presenting to the user via the user interface configured to display the packaged driver event data in a form that permits the user to analyze and monitor the performance of the particular driver relative to one or more other drivers in a sorted performance report display.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein:

the presenting the driver event data in the sorted performance report display comprises presenting the driver event data in the sorted performance report comprising a color coded grid of the particular driver and the one or more other drivers versus plural driver event data accumulated from the one or more vehicle-mounted devices types associated with each driver, wherein separate cells of the grid are assigned separate colors relating the a predetermined seriousness parameter of the plural event data.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the presenting comprises presenting to the user via the user interface configured to display the packaged driver event data in a form that permits the user to analyze and monitor the performance of the particular driver relative to one or more other drivers by displaying a graph of the set of drivers and one or more plural event data types associated with each driver of the set of drivers, wherein the graph is a histogram displaying the set of drivers versus the following distance event data related to each of the set of drivers.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the accumulating comprises accumulating driver event data from one or more vehicle-mounted devices configured to capture video images from an area adjacent to a vehicle and record on-board vehicular data associated with a particular driver in a fleet of vehicles

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein:

the presenting comprises presenting to the user via the user interface configured to display the packaged driver event data in a form that permits the user to analyze and monitor the performance of the particular driver relative to one or more other drivers by displaying a customizable video format to the end user.

7. A method of managing a vehicular fleet, comprising:

installing one or more driver event data capture devices in each vehicle in a fleet of vehicles;

configuring the one or more driver event capture devices in each vehicle to record driver and vehicle event data; and

presenting the driver and vehicle event data for a user'"'"'s customizable analysis of driver behavior of a selected driver in the fleet of vehicles using a web-based portal and user interface comprised of one or more reporting and notification modules.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein:

the presenting comprises presenting to the user via the user interface configured to display the recorded driver event data in a form that permits the user to analyze and monitor the performance of the selected driver relative to one or more other drivers in a sorted performance report display.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein:

the presenting the driver event data in the sorted performance report display comprises presenting the driver event data in the sorted performance report comprising a color coded grid of the selected driver and the one or more other drivers versus plural driver event data accumulated from the one or more vehicle-mounted devices types associated with each driver, wherein separate cells of the grid are assigned separate colors relating the a predetermined seriousness parameter of the plural event data.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein:

the presenting comprises presenting to the user via the user interface configured to display the recorded driver event data in a form that permits the user to analyze and monitor the performance of the selected driver relative to one or more other drivers by displaying a graph of the set of drivers and one or more plural event data types associated with each driver of the set of drivers, wherein the graph is a histogram displaying the set of drivers versus the following distance event data related to each of the set of drivers.

11. The method according to claim 7, wherein:

the configuring the one or more driver event capture devices in each vehicle to record driver and vehicle event data comprises configuring the one or more driver event capture devices in each vehicle to record at least video data of areas adjacent each vehicle

12. The method according to claim 7, wherein:

the presenting comprises presenting to the user via the user interface configured to display the recorded event data in a form that permits the user to analyze and monitor the performance of the selected driver relative to one or more other drivers by displaying a customizable video format to the end user.

13. A method of monitoring driver safety metrics in a fleet of vehicles, the method comprising:

capturing event data from each monitored vehicle in the fleet of vehicles, wherein the event data includes at least video data of an area adjacent each monitored vehicle in the fleet of vehicles;

securely and wirelessly transmitting the captured event data to a central location for polling by an associated server;

receiving the event data in a packaged data format from the associated server;

establishing driver safety metrics from the event data received in the packaged data format from the associated server;

reporting the driver safety metrics based on customizable preferences and organization as determined by a fleet manager user responsible for one or more drivers of vehicles via a web-based portal and user interface configured to present the driver event data; and

,

notifying the fleet manager of severe driver events, the reporting the driver safety metrics and notifying of severe event data permitting the fleet manager user to monitor driver safety and vehicle and driver performance.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein:

the reporting comprises presenting to the user via the user interface configured to display the driver event data in a form that permits the user to analyze and monitor the performance of a particular driver relative to one or more other drivers in a sorted performance report display.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein:

the reporting the driver event data in the sorted performance report display comprises presenting the driver event data in the sorted performance report comprising a color coded grid of the particular driver and the one or more other drivers versus plural driver event data accumulated from the one or more vehicle-mounted devices types associated with each driver, wherein separate cells of the grid are assigned separate colors relating the a predetermined seriousness parameter of the plural event data.

16. The method according to claim 13, wherein:

the reporting comprises presenting to the user via the user interface configured to display the packaged driver event data in a form that permits the user to analyze and monitor the performance of a particular driver relative to one or more other drivers by displaying a graph of the set of drivers and one or more plural event data types associated with each driver of the set of drivers, wherein the graph is a histogram displaying the set of drivers versus the following distance event data related to each of the set of drivers.

17. The method according to claim 13, wherein:

the capturing the event data from each monitored vehicle in the fleet of vehicles comprises capturing at least video data of an area adjacent each monitored vehicle in the fleet of vehicles.

18. The method according to claim 13, wherein:

the reporting comprises presenting to the user via the user interface configured to display the driver event data in a form that permits the user to analyze and monitor the performance of a particular driver relative to one or more other drivers by displaying a customizable video format to the end user.

19. A fleet management system, comprising:

at least one capture device disposed in each associated vehicle in an associated fleet of vehicles driven by a set of drivers, the at least one capture device being configured to record event data;

a transmission module configured to transmit the captured event data to at least one associated service provider;

a server having a non-transitory memory and a processor in operative communication with the at least one associated service provider, the server being configured to receive the event data from the at least one associated service provider and package the event data into a preselected format for analysis by an end user; and

one or more reporting and notification modules configured to aggregate the packaged event data and present the packaged event in a customizable format to the end user operating an associated client computer accessing the web application by the web-based portal in a web application executable by the server and having a user interface via a web-based portal.

20. The fleet management system according to claim 19 wherein:

the one or more reporting and notification modules of the web application are operative to package and present the event data into a format relating separate ones of the set of drivers with one or more vehicles of the associated fleet of vehicles driven by the separate ones of the set of drivers during a user selected time period.

21. The fleet management system according to claim 20 wherein:

the at least one capture device in each associated vehicle in the associated fleet of vehicles driven by the set of drivers is configured to record plural event data types relating to operation of the associated fleet of vehicles driven by the set of drivers;

the transmission module is configured to transmit the captured plural event data types to the at least one associated service provider;

the server is configured to receive the plural event data types from the at least one associated service provider and package the plural event data types into the preselected format for analysis by the associated end user; and

the one or more reporting and notification modules of the a web application are configured to aggregate the packaged event data and present the packaged event in a customizable format to the end user by displaying a list of the set of drivers and one or more plural event data types associated with each driver of the set of drivers, wherein the list is sorted as a sorted performance report based on driver performance relative to the one or more plural event data types associated with each driver.

22. The fleet management system according to claim 21 wherein:

the one or more reporting and notification modules are configured to generate the sorted performance report comprising a color coded grid of the set of drivers versus the plural event data types associated with each driver, wherein separate cells of the grid are assigned separate colors relating the a predetermined seriousness parameter of the plural event data types.

23. The fleet management system according to claim 20 wherein:

the at least one capture device in each associated vehicle in the associated fleet of vehicles driven by the set of drivers is configured to record plural event data types relating to operation of the associated fleet of vehicles driven by the set of drivers, wherein at least one of the plural event data types is a following distance event data;

the transmission module is configured to transmit the captured plural event data types to the at least one associated service provider;

the server is configured to receive the plural event data types from the at least one associated service provider and package the plural event data types into the preselected format for analysis by the associated end user; and

the one or more reporting and notification modules of the a web application are configured to aggregate the packaged event data and present the packaged event in a customizable format to the end user by displaying a graph of the set of drivers and one or more plural event data types associated with each driver of the set of drivers, wherein the graph is a histogram displaying the set of drivers versus the following distance event data related to each of the set of drivers.

24. The fleet management system according to claim 19, wherein:

the at least one capture device is configured to record video event data;

the transmission module is configured to encode the captured video event data into packets and wirelessly transmit the captured video event data to at least one associated service provider;

the server is configured to receive the video event data encoded into the packets from the at least one associated service provider and package the encoded video event data into a preselected format for analysis by an end user; and

the one or more reporting and notification modules of the web application are configured to aggregate the packaged video event data and present the packaged event in a customizable video format to the end user operating an associated client computer accessing the web application by the web-based portal.

25. A driver safety monitoring system, comprising:

a driver event data capture apparatus installed in each vehicle in a fleet of vehicles, the driver event data capture apparatus having an image capture module configured to capture images from a camera and an on-board computer connection module configured to record data associated with a driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle;

a server configured to poll one or more third party service providers for driver event data wirelessly transmitted from the driver event data capture apparatus and package the driver event data for presentation on one or more web-based portals; and

a plurality of customizable reporting and notification modules designed to allow a fleet manager to analyze the driver event data and monitor driver performance in real time and regardless of which vehicle the driver has driven.

26. The driver safety monitoring system according to claim 25, wherein:

the driver event data capture apparatus installed in each vehicle of the fleet of vehicles comprises at least one of an ABS system, a TPMS system, an ESP system, an ACC system, or any combination of an ABS system, a TPMS system, an ESP system, and an ACC system; and

,

the driver event data capture apparatus is configured to communicate directly with the server to wirelessly transmit data from the at least one of the ABS system, the TPMS system, the ESP system, and the ACC system to the server as the driver event data.

27. A server architecture supporting a fleet management and driver safety monitoring system, comprising:

a plurality of connectors for communicating with one or more third party service providers to import driver event data comprising a data stream of numeric raw data and video raw data;

a decoder service the driver event data into specific, usable data for presentation to an end user, the numeric raw data being parsed into an import service for processing and the video raw data being parsed into a video file service for processing, the video file service storing and indexing video frames received as part of the video raw data

a web application providing a user interface for fleet managers to access reports, schedule notifications, and perform other data analysis functions on driver event data; and

a database environment comprising a master database for storing fleet and sharding information, a report database for storing processed on which reports are to be run, and an import state database for storing data needed by the import service for processing.