Fully automated vehicle dispatching, monitoring and billing

• US 7,343,243 B2
• Filed: 08/23/2006
• Issued: 03/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Total Technology Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Total Technology Incorporated
• Inventors: Smith, legal representative, Edwards, Kenneth W., Smith, Chris C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zanelli; Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US11/466,654
• Publication Number:
  US 20060293835A1
• Time in Patent Office: 566 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 701/117
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• 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: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching

Abstract

A system for controlling vehicles (20) to provide transportation services without need for human intervention. A database (10) stores records each documenting needed transportation services. Processing circuitry (which may be one or several networked computers) performs a dispatching process (26) which reviews these records, locates records indicating a need for immediate transportation service, and instructs vehicles to provide the service. The processing circuitry also performs a monitoring process (28) which monitors vehicle activities by reviewing the records, and automatically obtained vehicle activity information, to identify transportation services which are not being adequately provided, and refer these to human dispatchers (16) for special attention. A variety of methods for obtaining and updating vehicle activity information are disclosed, as are various applications for the system.

Claims

1. A system for controlling vehicles to provide transportation services without need for human intervention, comprising:

a database including records each documenting needed transportation services;

processing circuitry performing a dispatching process including instructing a vehicle to provide transportation service identified in one said record by computing a street route for the vehicle to follow;

said processing circuitry further performing a monitoring process including reviewing vehicle activity information without human intervention to identify whether said vehicle is adequately providing the transportation services associated with the computed street route; and

communication circuitry forwarding the computed street route produced by said dispatching process from said processing circuitry to a vehicle;

said communication circuitry further providing vehicle activity information relating to said vehicle to said processing circuitry for review by said monitoring process.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said processing circuitry is a microcomputer running a multitasking operating system, said multitasking operating system supporting both said dispatching process and said monitoring process.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said processing circuitry is a network of computers, one computer of said network running said dispatching process and one computer of said network running said monitoring process.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein said processing circuitry performs multiple said dispatching processes in parallel and multiple said monitoring processes in parallel.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein said communications circuitry forwards instructions to a vehicle via radio communications.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein a vehicle reports information on its activities by radio communications to said communications circuitry.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein said communications circuitry forwards instructions to a vehicle and receives vehicle activity information from a vehicle via both ground-based radio communication and satellite-based radio communication.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising satellite-based vehicle tracking circuitry for tracking locations of said vehicles,

said communication circuitry being connected to said vehicle tracking circuitry for determining vehicle activities for forwarding to said monitoring circuitry.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein a request for transportation services requests a vehicle to travel to an appointed location, and

said monitoring process reviews said vehicle activities to determine whether a vehicle has arrived at or is en route to said appointed location in deciding whether transportation services are being adequately provided.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein a vehicle operator manually communicates the arrival of said vehicle at said appointed location to said communication circuitry, and said monitoring process determines whether said communication has been received from the vehicle operator to determine whether transportation services are being adequately provided.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein said vehicle includes circuitry for automatically transmitting a position of said vehicle to said communication circuitry, and said monitoring process determines whether said transmitted position is similar to said appointed location to determine whether a customer request is being adequately serviced.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein

said communication circuitry respectively reads and writes communication request and response records in said database,

said processing circuitry instructing a vehicle to provide services by writing a communication request in said database for later forwarding by said communication circuitry, and said processing circuitry obtaining vehicle activity information by reading response records in said database.

13. The system of claim 1 further comprising data entry circuitry for manual operation to create a record.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein said data entry circuitry is located at a remote site in telephonic communication with said database.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein said data entry circuitry includes a reader for reading information from an identification card used by a person requesting transportation services.

16. The system of claim 13 wherein said data entry circuitry is a touch-tone responsive telephone receiver for receiving touch-tone telephone signals and creating a record therefrom.

17. The system of claim 1 wherein said database, said processing circuitry and said communication circuitry are located at a plurality of locations and in telephonic communication with each other.

18. The system of claim 1 wherein said vehicles are ambulances and said records including an indication of whether requested transportation services must include advanced life support facilities.

19. The system of claim 1 wherein said monitoring process creates exception records in said database identifying those records which are not being adequately serviced, and said system further comprises dispatcher circuitry for operation by a human dispatcher to use the exception records to locate records which are not being adequately serviced and take action with respect to such records.

20. The system of claim 1 wherein said vehicle activity information indicates one or more of:

whether said vehicle is moving,

the velocity of said vehicle,

whether said vehicle is braking,

fuel usage of said vehicle,

whether emergency signals of said vehicle are operating, and

whether an engine of said vehicle is idling.