System for determining weather information and providing ambient parameter data

• US 7,406,382 B2
• Filed: 02/18/2005
• Issued: 07/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Brulle-Drews, Christian
• Primary Examiner(s): McElheny, Jr.; Donald E
• Application Number:
  US11/061,859
• Publication Number:
  US 20050187714A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,257 Days
• Field of Search: 702 2- 5, 342 26 R- 26 D, 340/601, 340/539.13, 340/539.17, 340/539.2, 340/628
• US Class Current: 702/3
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3691 Retrieval, searching and output of information related to real-time traffic, weather, or environmental conditions arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions G08G1/09
• CPC Class Codes: G01W 1/10 Devices for predicting weather conditions computers per se G06; display devices G09
• 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: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

A system that collects parametric information that reflects local weather conditions receives signals from sensors. The signals are transmitted to a server that combines the information contained within the signals with weather data to determine local weather conditions and develop forecasts. The local weather conditions and forecasts may be transmitted to a vehicle and may be combined with navigation information to optimize travel routes.

Claims

1. A system on a vehicle for providing a weather condition comprising:

a sensor configured to measure an ambient parameter;

a receiver that receives a value of the ambient parameter from the sensor and receives a position parameter of the vehicle identifying a position of the vehicle, where the ambient parameter and the position parameter are combined as the weather data; and

an initiator that initiates the transmission of the weather data to an external server from the receiver, where the external server receives meteorological data from a meteorological station that is combined with the weather data to determine the weather condition at the position of the vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a triggering device that sends a triggering signal to the sensor to measure the value of the ambient parameter.

3. The system of claim 2, where the triggering device is configured to provide the triggering signal at regular time intervals.

4. The system of claim 3, where the triggering device is a clock.

5. The system of claim 1, where the meteorological station comprises a Doppler radar station or a satellite station.

6. The system of claim 1, where the external receiver receives weather data from a plurality of vehicles, where the weather data from the plurality of vehicles is combined with the meteorological data to establish the weather condition.

7. The system of claim 1, where the receiver is configured to receive the position parameter of the vehicle from the sensor.

8. The system of claim 7, where the position parameter is received from a navigation system.

9. The system of claim 7, where the initiator is configured to automatically initiate a transmission of the position parameter to the external server.

10. The system of claim 1, where the initiator is configured to initiate the transmission via a wireless data link.

11. The system of claim 1, where the vehicle is a car, a truck, a train, a bus, a recreational vehicle or a boat.

12. The system of claim 1, where the meteorological data received by the external server comprises a local area weather forecast, the local area being approximately an immediate area surrounding the position of the vehicle.

13. The system of claim 12, where the local weather forecast is used to calculate a route of travel.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising a navigation system configured to determine the position parameter.

15. The system of claim 1, where the sensor is selected from a group comprising a thermometer, a barometer, a precipitation sensor, a brightness sensor, a slip sensor, a sight range sensor, a wind sensor, and a weather radar unit.

16. A control system on a vehicle comprising:

receiving means configured to receive a value from a sensor associated with an ambient parameter;

navigating means configured to determine a position of the vehicle;

combining means configured to combine the value of the ambient parameter from the sensor with the position of the vehicle into a combined parameter value; and

initiating means configured to initiate a transmission of the combined parameter value to an external server, where the value is combined with meteorological data from a meteorological station at the external server, the external server determining a current weather condition at the position of the vehicle based on the combined parameter value and the meteorological data for that position, where the meteorological data is a weather forecast for a local area, the local area being the immediate surroundings of the approximate position of the vehicle.

17. The control system of claim 16, further comprising triggering means configured to provide a triggering signal to the sensor to measure a value of the ambient parameter.

18. The control system of claim 17, where triggering means is configured to provide the triggering signal on a regular time interval.

19. The control system of claim 17, where triggering means is configured to provide the triggering signal upon receipt of an external triggering signal.

20. The control system of claim 16, where the navigating means determines the position of the vehicle with a Global Position System (“

GPS”

) receiver.

21. The control system of claim 16, where the ambient parameter comprises at least one of temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation, wind visibility, brightness, fog, traction, or sunlight.

22. The control system of claim 16, where initiating means is configured to initiate the transmission via a wireless data link.

23. A method for providing weather condition, comprising:

receiving a first value of an ambient parameter associated with a sensor on a first vehicle, where the first value includes a position of the first vehicle;

receiving a second value of an ambient parameter at the position of the first vehicle from a weather provider;

receiving meteorological data from a weather provider;

combining the first value, the second value, and the meteorological data into a weather condition at the position; and

initiating the transmission of the weather condition to a second vehicle when the second vehicle is located at approximately the position.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising receiving a third value of an ambient parameter at the position by a second vehicle, where the weather condition at the position is a combination of the third value with the first value and the second value.

25. The method of claim 24, where the position of the first vehicle is determined by a navigation system.

26. The method of claim 23, where the second value from the weather provider is meteorological data and the weather provider provides a local area weather forecast.

27. The method of claim 23, where determining the position is performed by an external positioning device on the first vehicle.

28. The method of claim 23, where the first value is a combination of the value of the ambient parameter with the position of the vehicle into one message signal for transmission.

29. The method of claim 23, further comprising correlating the value of the ambient parameter with the position of the vehicle into the first value.

30. The method of claim 23, where initiating the transmission to the server occurs through a wireless network.

31. The method of claim 30, where the wireless network comprises a telephone network.

32. The method of claim 23, further comprising triggering the sensor to measure the values of the ambient parameter, where the triggering is performed at a regular time interval.

33. The method of claim 23, where the weather provider is a one of a meteorological station or a weather satellite.

34. The method of claim 23, where the ambient parameter comprises at least one of temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation, wind visibility, brightness, fog, traction, or sunlight.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising calculating a route of travel between an origin and a destination based upon the weather condition.

36. A system for transmitting weather parameters comprising:

an external server;

a plurality of vehicles coupled with the external server, where each of the plurality of vehicles comprises;

a weather sensor for measuring a weather parameter;

a position sensor for measuring a position value;

a receiver coupled with the weather sensor and the position sensor, the receiver configured to receive the weather parameter and the position value;

an initiator coupled with the receiver and configured to transmit the weather parameter and the position value as a single signal to the external server;

where the external server is configured to combine the single signal from the plurality of vehicles with weather data from a weather provider to determine a weather condition for a position;

further where the external server is configured to provide the weather condition to at least one of the plurality of vehicles based on a current position of the at least one of the plurality of vehicles.