REAL-TIME DRIVER REWARD DISPLAY SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20140266660A1
• Filed: 09/06/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PACCAR Incorporated
• Original Assignee: PACCAR Incorporated
• Inventors: Slaton, Zachary, Jahns, Steven Karl, Doll, John William Arthur, Lotz, Josef, Kim, Jennifer, Morrow, Jason
• Granted Patent: US 9,393,868 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/439
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/195 Blocking or enabling display functions
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/00 Vehicle fittings, acting on a single sub-unit only, for automatically controlling vehicle speed, i.e. preventing speed from exceeding an arbitrarily established velocity or maintaining speed at a particular velocity, as selected by the vehicle operator fittings acting on two or more sub-units B60W30/14; speedometers G01P; systems or devices for controlling speed in general G05D13/00 ; in traffic anti-collision system for road vehicles G08G1/16
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/04 and means for comparing one electrical quantity, e.g. voltage, pulse, waveform, flux, or the like, with another quantity of a like kind, which comparison means is involved in the development of an electrical signal which is fed into the controlling means
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/042 where at least one electrical quantity is set by the vehicle operator
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/29 Instruments characterised by the way in which information is handled, e.g. showing information on plural displays or prioritising information according to driving conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/30 Driving style
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/065 Idle condition
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/08 related to drivers or passengers
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0825 using optical means
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/40 Engine management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/84 Data processing systems or methods, management, administration

Abstract

A method and system for improved driver reward display functionality. A driver reward is calculated based on inputs, such as freight fuel, fuel economy, and % idle. The driver reward system configures and displays a primary driver reward image for various menu selections. The primary driver reward image is configured to indicate whether the driver reward is at full penalty, partial penalty, neutral, partial bonus, or full bonus. The image is displayed in one color if above an expected value and another color if below the expected level. Images that indicate to the operator of the vehicle the impact of each input on the overall driver reward or whether each input is improving or worsening may be displayed. A secondary driver reward image may also be displayed to indicate a specific bonus or penalty in miles per hour and speed limit.

Claims

1. In a driver reward system, wherein data associated with a driver'"'"'s operation of a vehicle is collected and analyzed to determine if the vehicle is being operated as expected and the driver is rewarded if the driver is operating the vehicle better than expected or penalized if the driver is operating the vehicle worse than expected, the driver reward system including a computer processing system that includes a processor, memory, and a display, the memory storing data of the type collected that defines the expected operation of the vehicle and a program for causing the processor to analyze the collected driver data, the improvement comprising:

the program causing the processor to analyze the collected data by comparing the collected driver data to the stored data defining the expected operation of the vehicle and displaying the results of the comparison on the display in a manner that allows the driver to determine in real time if the way the driver is operating the vehicle is as expected, better than expected, or worse than expected and in a way that minimizes driver distraction by displaying a speed offset increase in a nominal speed value (bonus image) if the vehicle is being operated better than expected, a speed offset decrease in the nominal speed value (penalty image) if the vehicle is being operated worse than expected, wherein the states of the bonus and penalty images are conditional in accordance with whether the image is a bonus image or a penalty image.

2. The improvement claimed in claim 1, wherein the conditional state of the bonus or penalty images is color-based such that a bonus image is one color and a penalty image is another color.

3. The improvement claimed in claim 1, wherein the type of display is determined by whether the vehicle is in a drive mode of operation (drive mode display) or a park mode of operation (park mode display), and wherein a drive mode display is a single page display.

4. The improvement claimed in claim 1, wherein the program also determines if the collected driver data shows that the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is improving or worsening and wherein the display includes an image showing whether the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is improving or worsening.

5. The improvement claimed in claim 4, wherein the image showing whether the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is improving or worsening is color coded such that the image is in one color if the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is improving and another color if the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is worsening.

6. The improvement claimed in claim 4, wherein the image showing whether the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is improving or worsening includes arrows that point in one direction if the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is improving and in another direction if the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is worsening.

7. The improvement claimed in claim 1, wherein the data associated with the driver'"'"'s operation includes one or more of:

(i) the units traveled by the vehicle per the amount of fuel consumed, such as miles per gallon or kilometers per liter;

(ii) the amount of time the vehicle is idling; and

(iii) the fuel consumption per freight weight consumed by the vehicle.

8. The improvement claimed in claim 1, wherein the program also causes the display to display a speed image that combines the nominal speed with either the speed offset increase or the speed offset decrease.

9. The improvement claimed in claim 1, wherein the driver reward system causes the display to display a plurality of pages including a driver reward page that includes the bonus or penalty images, and wherein a summary driver reward image is displayed on at least some of the plurality of pages other than the driver reward page.

10. A computer-implemented method of providing real-time rewards to a driver of a vehicle based on how the driver operates the vehicle, the method comprising:

(a) collecting data related to how the vehicle is being operated by the driver;

(b) comparing the collected data to stored data to determine if the driver is operating the vehicle as expected, better than expected, or worse than expected; and

(c) displaying the results of the comparison in a way that minimizes driver distraction, the displayed results including;

(i) a speed offset increase in the nominal speed of the vehicle (bonus image) if the vehicle is being operated better than expected; and

(ii) a speed offset decrease in the nominal speed of the vehicle (penalty image) if the vehicle is being operated worse than expected, wherein the state of the displayed bonus or penalty image is conditional based on whether the displayed image is a bonus image or a penalty image.

11. The method claimed in claim 10, wherein the conditional state of the displayed image is color-based on whether the displayed image is a bonus image or a penalty image, such that a bonus image is displayed in one color and a penalty image is displayed in another color.

12. The method claimed in claim 10, wherein the overall configuration of the display is determined by whether the vehicle is in a drive mode of operation or a park mode of operation and the display is a single page display when the vehicle is in a drive mode of operation.

13. The method claimed in claim 12, including determining if the collected data shows that the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is improving or worsening and displaying an image showing whether the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is improving or worsening.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the image showing whether the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is improving or worsening is color-coded such that the image is in one color if the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is improving and another color if the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is worsening.

15. The method claimed in claim 13, wherein the image showing whether the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is improving or worsening includes arrows that point in one direction if the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is improving and in another direction if the driver'"'"'s operation of the vehicle is worsening.

16. The method claimed in claim 10, wherein the method includes a plurality of selectable display pages, one of which is a driver rewards display page, the results of the comparison being displayed on the driver rewards display page, and wherein display pages other than the reward page include an image that summarizes the result of the comparison.

17. In a driver rewards system that analyzes how a driver operates a vehicle with respect to how the driver is expected to operate the vehicle and displays the result of the analysis on a driver reward page included in a plurality of pages displayable on a display, the improvement comprising displaying an image that summarizes the result of such analysis (summary image) on at least some of the plurality of pages other than the driver reward page.

18. The improvement claimed in claim 17, wherein the summary image includes an identification portion and a summary portion.

19. The improvement claimed in claim 18, wherein the analysis determines whether the operation of the vehicle by the driver is above or below expected levels, and wherein the summary portion of the summary image indicates whether the operation of the vehicle is above or below expected levels.

20. The improvement claimed in claim 19, wherein the summary portion of the summary image also indicates whether the operation of the vehicle is substantially above or substantially below expected levels.