Method And Apparatus For Determining Location-Based Vehicle Behavior

• US 20170365169A1
• Filed: 12/01/2015
• Published: 12/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Tennent, Toby, Filley, George, Belkin, Tony, Moran, Kevin
• Granted Patent: US 10,755,566 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0031 Mathematical model of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/20 Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0129 for creating historical data or processing based on historical data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0141 for traffic information dissemination
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0145 for active traffic flow control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/08 according to detected number or speed of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096758 where no selection takes place on the transmitted or the received information
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/123 indicating the position of vehicles, e.g. scheduled vehicles; Managing passenger vehicles circulating according to a fixed timetable, e.g. buses, trains, tramstransmission of navigation instructions to vehicles G08G1/0968

Abstract

A method, apparatus and computer program product are described so as to provide more additional information regarding vehicular behavior. In the context of a method, information is received regarding a location of the vehicle at a plurality of instances in time. The plurality of instances in time define a time period. The method also includes determining an environmental condition at the location during the time period and comparing the behavior of the vehicle to that of other vehicles at the location that are also subjected to the environmental condition. Additionally, the method may determine a score for the vehicle in relation to a risk factor based upon the behavior of the vehicle and the comparison to other vehicles at the location that are also subjected to the envir onmental condition.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving information regarding a location of a vehicle at a plurality of instances in time, wherein the plurality of instances in time define a time period;

determining an environmental condition at the location during the time period; and

comparing behavior of the vehicle to other vehicles at the location that are also subjected to the environmental condition.

2. A method according to claim 1 further comprising determining a score for the vehicle in relation to a risk factor based upon the behavior of the vehicle in comparison to other vehicles at the location that are also subjected to the environmental condition.

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein determining a score for the vehicle in relation to a risk factor comprises determining a score for the vehicle in relation to a plurality of risk factors, each risk factor based upon the behavior of the vehicle in comparison to other vehicles at the location that are also subjected to a different, respective environmental condition.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein comparing the behavior of the vehicle to other vehicles comprises determining a statistical model representative of the behavior of the other vehicles at the location that are also subjected to the environmental condition and comparing the behavior of the vehicle to the statistical model representative of the behavior of the other vehicles at the location that are also subjected to the environmental condition.

5. A method according to claim 4 further comprising generating a plurality of statistical models representative of the behavior of other vehicles at the location that are subjected to different, respective environmental conditions.

6. A method according to claim 1 further comprising determining the location of the vehicle along a roadway as defined by a geographic database.

7. A method according to claim 1 wherein determining the environmental condition comprises determining the environmental condition at the location during the time period to be within a range of environmental conditions.

8. A method according to claim 1 wherein the environmental condition comprises one or more of a weather condition at the location of the vehicle, an incident along a roadway on which the vehicle is traveling or a volume of traffic along the roadway on which the vehicle is traveling.

9. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least:

receive information regarding a location of a vehicle at a plurality of instances in time, wherein the plurality of instances in time define a time period;

determine an environmental condition at the location during the time period; and

compare behavior of the vehicle to other vehicles at the location that are also subjected to the environmental condition.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the at least one memory and computer program code are further configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to determine a score for the vehicle in relation to a risk factor based upon the behavior of the vehicle in comparison to other vehicles at the location that are also subjected to the environmental condition.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10 wherein the at least one memory and computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to determine a score for the vehicle in relation to a risk factor by determining a score for the vehicle in relation to a plurality of risk factors, each risk factor based upon the behavior of the vehicle in comparison to other vehicles at the location that are also subjected to a different, respective environmental condition.

12. An apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the at least one memory and computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to compare the behavior of the vehicle to other vehicles by determining a statistical model representative of the behavior of the other vehicles at the location that are also subjected to the environmental condition and comparing the behavior of the vehicle to the statistical model representative of the behavior of the other vehicles at the location that are also subjected to the environmental condition.

13. An apparatus according to claim 12 wherein the at least one memory and computer program code are further configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to generate a plurality of statistical models representative of the behavior of other vehicles at the location that are subjected to different, respective environmental conditions.

14. An apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the at least one memory and computer program code are further configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to determine the location of the vehicle along a roadway as defined by a geographic database.

15. An apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the at least one memory and computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to determine the environmental condition by determining the environmental condition at the location during the time period to be within a range of environmental conditions.

16. An apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the environmental condition comprises one or more of a weather condition at the location of the vehicle, an incident along a roadway on which the vehicle is traveling or a volume of traffic along the roadway on which the vehicle is traveling.

17. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code portions stored therein, the computer-executable program code portions comprising program code instructions configured to:

receive information regarding a location of a vehicle at a plurality of instances in time, wherein the plurality of instances in time define a time period;

determine an environmental condition at the location during the time period; and

compare behavior of the vehicle to other vehicles at the location that are also subjected to the environmental condition.

18. A computer program product according to claim 17 wherein the computer-executable program code portions further comprise program code instructions configured to determine a score for the vehicle in relation to a risk factor based upon the behavior of the vehicle in comparison to other vehicles at the location that are also subjected to the environmental condition.

19-24. -24. (canceled)