Radio frequency identification tag based speedometer calibration

• US 7,277,809 B1
• Filed: 09/12/2006
• Issued: 10/02/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Levine, Frank Eliot, Pineda, Enio Manuel, Hussain, Riaz Y., DeWitt, Jimmie Earl Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Barlow; John
• Assistant Examiner(s): KUNDU, SUJOY K
• Application Number:
  US11/531,161
• Time in Patent Office: 385 Days
• Field of Search: 702/96, 702/104
• US Class Current: 702/96
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 21/02 of speedometers
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 3/66 using electric or magnetic means G01P3/80 takes precedence; measuring short time intervals G04F8/00, G04F10/00

Abstract

A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for calibrating a speedometer of a vehicle. First information is received by the vehicle from a first radio frequency identification tag. Second information is received by the vehicle from a second radio frequency identification tag. A first measured speed of the vehicle is determined based on a reading from the speedometer and a second measured speed of the vehicle is determined using an elapsed time between when the first information was read and when the second information was read and a predetermined distance. The speedometer is calibrated based on a speed difference between the first measured speed and the second measured speed.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for calibrating a speedometer of a vehicle, the computer implemented method comprising:

receiving first information from a first radio frequency identification tag by the vehicle;

receiving second information from a second radio frequency identification tag by the vehicle;

determining a first measured speed of the vehicle based on a reading from the speedometer;

determining a second measured speed of the vehicle based on dividing a predetermined distance provided by at least one of the first information or the second information by an elapsed time between when the first information was read and when the second information was read; and

calibrating the speedometer based on a speed difference between the first measured speed and the second measured speed, wherein the calibrating is performed based on driver input.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first information includes the predetermined distance and a first radio frequency identifier, and wherein the second information includes the predetermined distance and a second radio frequency identifier.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein a first time stamp identifies when the first information was received, wherein a second time stamp identifies when the second information was received, and wherein the second time stamp is subtracted from the first time stamp to determine the elapsed time.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the elapsed time is determined by a timer.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining whether the first radio frequency identification tag and the second radio frequency identification tag are in a predetermined sequence based on the first radio frequency identifier and the second radio frequency identifier for determining whether the second measured speed determined is accurate.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 5, further comprising:

responsive to determining the second radio frequency identification tag is not in the predetermined sequence with the first radio frequency identification tag, disregarding the second measured speed for calibration purposes.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is any of a car, truck, bus, train, bicycle, motorcycle, boat, or plane on a ground surface, and wherein the vehicle is equipped with a radio frequency identification tag reader.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

reading the first radio frequency identification tag;

reading the second radio frequency identification tag;

comparing read times for the first radio frequency identification tag and the second radio frequency identification tag to determine the elapsed time; and

calculating the second measured speed based on the elapsed time and the predetermined distance.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 5, wherein the predetermined sequence is any of characters, numbers, and values in an ordinal sequence.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 9, wherein the ordinal sequence is a repeating ordinal sequence.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the receiving, determining, and calibrating steps are performed continuously while the vehicle is in motion.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the speed difference is greater than a tolerance;

responsive to a determination that the speed difference is less than the tolerance, disregarding the second measured speed for calibration purposes.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

recording a first odometer reading when the information is received from the first radio frequency identification tag;

recording a second odometer reading when the information is received from the second radio frequency identification tag;

comparing a measured distance based on the first odometer reading and the second odometer reading with the predetermined distance to determine a distance difference; and

calibrating an odometer based on the distance difference.

14. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first radio frequency identification tag and the second radio frequency identification tag are activated by any of vehicle pressure, motion, sound or proximity of a radio frequency identification tag reader.

15. A speedometer calibration system comprising:

a roadway including a set of radio frequency identification tags including at least a first tag and a second tag;

a vehicle including a computing platform wherein the computing platform further comprises;

a radio frequency identification tag reader for receiving first information from the first tag and second information from the second tag and associating a first time stamp with a time when the first information is received and a second time stamp with a time when the second information is received, wherein the first information includes a first identifier and a predetermined distance between the first tag and the second tag, and wherein the second information includes a second identifier and the predetermined distance; and

a computing system controlling functionality of the vehicle for processing the first time stamp, the second time stamp, and the predetermined distance to determine a second measured speed of the vehicle based on dividing the predetermined distance by an elapsed time between the first time stamp and the second time stamp which is compared with a first measured speed of the vehicle measured by a speedometer operably connected to the computing system, wherein the speedometer is calibrated based on a speed difference between the first measured speed and the second measured speed, and wherein calibration of the speedometer is performed based on driver input.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the computing platform further comprises:

a display system for displaying the speed difference to a driver;

an alert system for alerting the driver that the second measured speed of the vehicle exceeds a safe driving speed; and

a communication system for communicating with individuals and devices to alert the individuals and devices that the second measured speed of the vehicle exceeds the safe driving speed.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the first tag and the second tag are part of any of a roadway, lane indicators, paint, speed bumps, guard rails, curbs, and reflector poles.

18. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium including computer usable program code for calibrating a speedometer of a vehicle, the computer program product comprising:

computer usable program code for receiving first information from a first radio frequency identification tag by the vehicle;

computer usable program code for receiving second information from a second radio frequency identification tag by the vehicle;

computer usable program code for determining a first measured speed of the vehicle based on a reading from the speedometer;

computer usable program code for determining a second measured speed of the vehicle based on dividing a predetermined distance provided by at least one of the first information or the second information by an elapsed time between when the first information was read and the second information was read; and

computer usable program code for calibrating the speedometer based on a speed difference between the first measured speed and the second measured speed, wherein the calibrating is performed based on driver input.

19. A computer implemented method for calibrating an odometer of a vehicle, the computer implemented method comprising:

receiving a first value of a first radio frequency identification tag by the vehicle;

responsive to receiving the first value of the first radio frequency identification tag, reading a first mileage of the odometer in the vehicle;

receiving a second value of a second radio frequency identification tag by the vehicle, wherein the second radio frequency identification tag is located at a predetermined distance from a location of the first radio frequency identification tag;

responsive to receiving the second value of the second radio frequency identification tag, reading a second mileage of the odometer;

determining an odometer distance using the first mileage and the second mileage;

identifying an odometer error by comparing the odometer distance with the predetermined distance; and

calibrating the odometer of the vehicle by adjusting the odometer using the odometer error, wherein the calibrating is performed based on driver input.