Systems and methods for monitoring and reporting road quality

• US 9,108,640 B2
• Filed: 01/31/2012
• Issued: 08/18/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Jackson, Dean K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Toan
• Assistant Examiner(s): RIVERA VARGAS, MANUEL A
• Application Number:
  US13/362,013
• Publication Number:
  US 20150183440A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,295 Days
• Field of Search: 702/2, 701/469
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 40/06 Road conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/04 Monitoring the functioning of the control system
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0816 Indicating performance data, e.g. occurrence of a malfunction
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

Systems and methods for monitoring vehicle sensors to determine and report road quality using a communication device are disclosed. The communication device determines the vehicle'"'"'s location on a road, such as by use of a GPS-enabled head unit or similar device and appropriate mapping software. Monitoring road quality may be achieved by adding a sensor to the shocks, by use of a vertical displacement sensor present on the head unit, and the like. Various combinations of sensors may be employed. A horizontal displacement sensor may be used. The signals from the sensors are monitored by the head unit and analyzed to judge the quality of the road by the amount of vertical vibration that is encountered. This data, together with the vehicle'"'"'s location, may be transmitted through a mobile network to a central server for distribution in road quality reports and to improve driving directions in mapping software.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring and reporting road quality by a server device comprising an electronic circuit, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining, by the electronic circuit, a report comprising the geographic road location of a vehicle and a road quality indication of the geographic location;

updating, by the electronic circuit, a table correlating the geographic road location and the road quality indication;

determining, by the electronic circuit, average road quality indicia based on the road quality indications from a plurality of vehicles;

generating, by the electronic circuit, a calibration factor for the vehicle based on the difference between the obtained road quality indication and the determined average road quality indicia; and

,

generating, by the electronic circuit, a calibration factor for the geographic location based on the difference between the obtained road quality indication and the determined average road quality indicia.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

providing, by the electronic circuit in response to a query, information updates based on at least one of the average road quality indicia, the generated calibration factor for the vehicle, and the generated calibration factor for the geographic location.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the information update comprises at least one of an updated navigation route, an updated road quality indication algorithm, and average road quality indicia.

4. A device comprising an electronic circuit and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program for analyzing road quality information, the computer program having a plurality of code sections, the code sections executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform the steps of:

obtaining, by the electronic circuit, a report comprising geographic road location of a vehicle and a road quality indication of the geographic location;

updating, by the electronic circuit, a table correlating the geographic road location and the road quality indication;

wherein the device further comprises code sections for causing the computer to perform the steps of;

determining, by the electronic circuit, average road quality indicia based on the road quality indications from a plurality of vehicles;

generating, by the electronic circuit, a calibration factor for the vehicle based on the difference between the obtained road quality indication and the determined average road quality indicia; and

,

generating, by the electronic circuit, a calibration factor for the geographic location based on the difference between the obtained road quality indication and the determined average road quality indicia.

5. The device according to claim 4 further comprising code sections for causing the computer to perform the steps of:

providing, by the electronic circuit in response to a query, information updates based on at least one of the average road quality indicia, the generated calibration factor for the vehicle, and the generated calibration factor for the geographic location.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the information update comprises at least one of an updated navigation route, an updated road quality indication algorithm, and average road quality indicia.

7. A method for monitoring road quality using a device comprising an electronic circuit, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining, by the electronic circuit, a geographic location of a vehicle comprising the electronic circuit;

monitoring, by the electronic circuit, at least one sensor signal that corresponds to road quality;

determining, by the electronic circuit, a road quality indication of the geographic location based on the at least one sensor signal;

wherein obtaining the geographic location is performed using a global positioning system (GPS);

wherein the at least one sensor signal is generated by at least one of a suspension sensor, strut sensor, shock sensor, a horizontal displacement sensor, and a vertical displacement sensor;

transmitting, by the electronic circuit, the geographic location and the road quality indication to a server;

receiving, by the electronic circuit, information updates from the server comprising an average road quality indicia based on a plurality of road quality indications from a plurality of vehicles;

comparing, by the electronic circuit, the average road quality indicia to the road quality indication obtained in the determining step; and

,

if the average road quality indicia differs from the obtained road quality indication by more than a predetermined amount, indicating, by the electronic circuit, a potential problem with the at least one sensor signal.

8. A system comprising:

at least one sensor;

at least one electronic circuit configured to perform the following operations;

obtaining a geographic location of a vehicle comprising the electronic circuit;

monitoring at least one sensor signal generated by the sensor that corresponds to road quality;

determining a road quality indication of the geographic location based on the at least one sensor signal;

a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, wherein the electronic circuit is further configured to obtain the geographic location from GPS data obtained from the GPS receiver;

wherein the sensor is at least one of a suspension sensor, strut sensor, shock sensor, a horizontal displacement sensor and a vertical displacement sensor;

a transmitter; and

,

a receiver,

wherein the at least one electronic circuit is further configured to cause the transmitter to transmit the geographic location and the road quality indication to a server, and to obtain from the receiver information updates from the server comprising an average road quality indicia based on a plurality of road quality indications from a plurality of vehicles;

wherein the electronic circuit is further configured to perform the following operations;

comparing the received average road quality indicia to the obtained road quality indication; and

,

if the received average road quality indicia differs from the obtained road quality indication by more than a predetermined amount, indicating a potential problem with the at least one sensor signal.