Vehicle management

• US 9,478,074 B2
• Filed: 01/21/2015
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Speedgauge Incorporated (Pelmorex, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Speedgauge Incorporated (Pelmorex, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hubbard, Jonathan, Kantarjiev, Christopher A.
• Primary Examiner(s): EL CHANTI, HUSSEIN A
• Application Number:
  US14/602,130
• Publication Number:
  US 20150206355A1
• Time in Patent Office: 643 Days
• Field of Search: 701/2, 701/36
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/143 Alarm means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/00 Input parameters relating to infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/597 Recognising the driver's state or behaviour, e.g. attention or drowsiness
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/052 with provision for determining speed or overspeed speed measuring in general G01P
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09626 where the origin of the information is within the own vehicle, e.g. a local storage device, digital map
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/207 with respect to certain areas, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas with possible alerting when inside or outside boundaries

Abstract

A fleet manager may communicate desired driving behavior, including maximum speed, desired route, areas to avoid, and other information to operators of vehicles in the fleet. The communication may be via an application on a mobile device, vehicle computer, or other device associated with each driver or vehicle. In operation, an administrator, such as, for example, a fleet manager, may communicate instructions to one or more vehicles, for example a vehicle of a fleet of vehicles.

Claims

1. A method of vehicle management, the method comprising:

transmitting a request dataset to a remote device that is coupled to a tracked vehicle, the request dataset requesting that the tracked vehicle avoid an identified structure;

receiving tracked position data generated by a positioning device coupled to the tracked vehicle, the tracked position data identifying at least a plurality of locations of the tracked vehicle along a movement path; and

identifying that the tracked vehicle has come within a predetermined distance of the identified structure; and

transmitting an alert identifying that the tracked vehicle has failed to avoid the identified structure.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing, in a memory, at least one of the tracked position data, a structure location of the identified structure, a structure type of the identified structure, the alert, or some combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert is transmitted to an administrator device that is distinct from the remote device that is coupled to the tracked vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the request dataset further requests that the tracked vehicle comply with a rule, wherein the rule identifies at least one of a maximum speed for the tracked vehicle to avoid exceeding, a desired route for the tracked vehicle to move along, a predetermined avoidance area for the tracked vehicle to avoid, a predetermined road condition for the tracked vehicle to avoid, or some combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the request dataset further requests that the tracked vehicle avoid aberrant movement behavior relative to other vehicles in a geographic area that includes a current location of the tracked vehicle.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving geographic data about a geographic area that includes a current location of the tracked vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the geographic data includes at least one of data identifying a position of a road that is located at least partially within the geographic area, data identifying a road condition that is located at least partially within the geographic area, data identifying a speed limit affecting at least a subset of the geographic area, data identifying a structure location of the identified structure, data identifying a structure type of the identified structure, or some combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the geographic data includes at least one of secondary position data identifying a position of a second vehicle in the geographic area or secondary speed data identifying a speed of the second vehicle in the geographic area.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the request dataset to the remote device thereby outputs at least a subset of the request dataset at the remote device in as at least one of text, graphics, audio, video, or some combination thereof.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert is transmitted to the remote device that is coupled to the tracked vehicle, thereby outputting information based on the alert at the remote device, the information including at least one of text, graphics, video, audio, or some combination thereof.

11. A system for vehicle management, the system comprising:

a communication transceiver that receives tracked position data generated by a positioning device coupled to a tracked vehicle, the tracked position data identifying at least a plurality of locations of the tracked vehicle along a movement path;

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory and to the communication transceiver, wherein execution of instructions stored in the memory by the processor;

triggers transmission of a request dataset to a remote device via the communication transceiver, the remote device coupled to the tracked vehicle, the request dataset requesting that the tracked vehicle avoid an identified structure,

identifies that the tracked vehicle has come within a predetermined distance of the identified structure, and

triggers transmission of an alert via the communication transceiver, the alert identifying that the tracked vehicle has failed to avoid the identified structure.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the communication transceiver further receives geographic data about a geographic area that includes a current location of the tracked vehicle, wherein the geographic data includes at least one of data identifying a position of a road that is located at least partially within the geographic area, data identifying a road condition that is located at least partially within the geographic area, data identifying a speed limit affecting at least a subset of the geographic area, data identifying a structure location of the identified structure, data identifying a structure type of the identified structure, or some combination thereof.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the request dataset is transmitted to the remote device at a transmission time, wherein the tracked vehicle is performing an activity at the transmission time, wherein the activity is one of moving or being stationary.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein execution of the data management module thereby further stores in memory at least one of the tracked position data, a structure location of the identified structure, a structure type of the identified structure, the alert, or some combination thereof.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the alert is transmitted to an administrator device that is distinct from the remote device that is coupled to the tracked vehicle.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the request dataset further requests that the tracked vehicle move while complying with a rule, wherein the rule identifies at least one of a maximum speed for the tracked vehicle to avoid exceeding, a desired route for the tracked vehicle to move along, a predetermined avoidance area for the tracked vehicle to avoid, a predetermined road condition for the tracked vehicle to avoid, or some combination thereof.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the request dataset further requests that the tracked vehicle avoid aberrant movement behavior relative to other vehicles in a geographic area that includes a current location of the tracked vehicle.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein transmitting the request dataset to the remote device thereby outputs at least a subset of the request dataset at the remote device as at least one of text, graphics, audio, video, or some combination thereof.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the alert is transmitted to the remote device that is coupled to the tracked vehicle, thereby outputting information based on the alert at the remote device, the information including at least one of text, graphics, video, audio, or some combination thereof.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform a method for providing vehicle management, the method comprising:

transmitting a request dataset to a remote device that is coupled to a tracked vehicle, the request dataset requesting that the tracked vehicle avoid an identified structure;

receiving tracked position data generated by a positioning device coupled to the tracked vehicle, the tracked position data identifying at least a plurality of locations of the tracked vehicle along a movement path; and

identifying that the tracked vehicle has come within a predetermined distance of the identified structure; and

transmitting an alert identifying that the tracked vehicle has come near the identified structure.