METHOD FOR COLLECTING BUSINESS DATA

Abstract

A procedure for collecting operational data from a motor vehicle has the following steps: a) Determining a measurement time (S1); b) Creating a data set (S3), wherein the creation includes measuring a plurality of operating parameters of the motor vehicle in a given temporal relationship with the specified measurement time and storing the measured operating parameters in a form linked to the measurement time; c) Repeat steps a) and b) to create a plurality of records, and transfer (S4) the plurality of records to a remote evaluation unit (1), characterized by a step d) Linking each data record created in step b) with information indicating whether the data record was created during a calibration process or during normal driving operation (S2).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for collecting operating data of a motor vehicle.

[0002] The increasing spread of wireless data networks has created the opportunity for motor vehicle manufacturers to collect large quantities of data on how users use their vehicles. This data can be used to determine user behavior and the vehicles' reactions to it with unprecedented accuracy and to use this data as the basis for further developments and optimizations.

[0003] In order to draw correct conclusions from values ​​of a farm variable collected at different times, it is necessary to know the conditions under which each of these values ​​was obtained. Therefore, the values ​​of the farm variable are not measured in isolation, but always in a temporal context with other farm variables that influence each other.

[0004] How the measured variables are related to one another depends on the operation of the vehicle's memory-controlled control units, such as the vehicle's engine and, if applicable, transmission control units, and this, in turn, is defined by the values ​​of setting parameters loaded into the memory of the control units, which, although constant during normal driving, can be changed during calibration.

[0005] A method for collecting operating data from a motor vehicle, which allows such setting parameters to be changed during calibration, is known, for example, from DE 10 2021 208 938 A1. According to this method, the values ​​of the setting parameters can be transmitted in special frames using the CAN bus protocol. However, the document ignores problems that arise when evaluating collected values ​​of an operating variable if these are influenced by a change in the setting parameters during calibration.

[0006] The problem can be illustrated using a simplified example: If one of the measured operating variables is, for example, the engine speed, then a simultaneously measured vehicle speed can be used to assess whether this could be an idling speed. Taking into account other operating variables measured at the same time, particularly temperatures, it can be assessed whether the idling speed is as expected. However, if one of the stored setting parameters is changed during a calibration process and this influences the measured speed, this is not apparent from the measured operating variables, and there is a risk that incorrect conclusions will be drawn from the collected data or that existing relationships between the measured operating data will remain undetected.

[0007] An object of the invention is to provide a method for collecting operating data in which impairment of the data quality by calibration processes can be avoided.

[0008] According to one aspect of the invention, the object is achieved by a method for collecting operating data of a motor vehicle, comprising the steps: a) Determining a measurement time; b) creating a data set, wherein the creation comprises measuring a plurality of operating variables of the motor vehicle in a predetermined temporal relationship with the specified measuring time and storing the measured operating variables in a form linked to the measuring time; c) repeating steps a) and b) to create a plurality of data sets and transmitting the plurality of data sets to a remote evaluation unit, characterized by a step d) linking each data set created in step b) with information indicating whether the data set was created during a calibration process or during normal driving.

[0009] The linking can consist in each change into a calibration mode and back being recorded in a simultaneously recorded data set and the data sets being stored in a form that allows the predecessor or successor of each data set to be determined so that during a later evaluation it can be subsequently determined for each data set whether it was recorded during a calibration process or not; in the simplest case it consists in the relevant information being incorporated into each data set at the time of its creation.

[0010] A set of motor vehicle adjustment parameters stored in the control unit, which form the basis for normal vehicle operation, is referred to below as a reference sheet. During the calibration process, the vehicle's operation may be based on a worksheet that differs from the reference sheet in the value of at least one of the adjustment parameters.

[0011] The reference sheet should remain stored in the control unit during the calibration process. This allows the previous state to be safely restored after the calibration process.

[0012] The fact that a calibration process is in progress can then be detected at any time based on a difference between the worksheet and the reference sheet. If a metric representative of the differences between the worksheet and the reference sheet is defined, the information added in step d) can be the value of this metric. Thus, not only can a data set reveal whether it was recorded during a calibration process or not, but with a suitable definition of the metric, the type of calibration process or the change made during the calibration process can also be identified.

[0013] If the metric is a one-to-one function of the difference, a recipient of the collected operational data can recognize not only that a data set originates from a calibration procedure, but also how the worksheet used in the calibration procedure differs from the reference data sheet.

[0014] After the calibration process is completed, the reference sheet can be overwritten with the current worksheet.

[0015] Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying figure. It shows: Fig. 1 is a block diagram of components used to carry out the method according to the invention; and Fig. 2 a flow chart of the procedure.

[0016] In Fig. 1 denotes a computer of a vehicle manufacturer or a service provider commissioned by him, which is capable of establishing communication links to a plurality of vehicles 4 of the manufacturer, typically via the Internet 2 and a plurality of radio interfaces 3 connected thereto.

[0017] Each of these vehicles 4 has a radio interface 5 capable of communicating with at least one of the radio interfaces 3, e.g., a WLAN interface in a home network of the user of the vehicle 4. The radio interface 5 is connected via a bus 6 of the vehicle, typically a CAN bus, to at least one program-controlled control unit of the vehicle, here, for example, an engine control unit 7.

[0018] The engine control unit 7 is connected to various sensors 8 and an engine 9 of the vehicle in order to detect a first plurality of operating variables of the engine 9 (e.g. torque requirement, temperatures, etc.) and to control a second plurality of operating variables, e.g. fuel injection times and quantities, ignition times, etc.

[0019] The values ​​of m setting parameters (where m is any natural number) which are taken into account by the engine control unit 7 when determining setpoints for the operating variables of the second plurality are stored in a worksheet 10.

[0020] During normal driving, the values ​​of worksheet 10 are identical to those of a reference sheet 11. For example, reference sheet 11 may be a memory area of ​​a non-volatile memory, while worksheet 10 is located in a volatile memory that is overwritten with a copy of reference sheet 11 each time the vehicle is started.

[0021] In a calibration process, the value of at least one setting parameter in worksheet 10 is overwritten with a new value, so that the values ​​of the setting parameter in worksheet and reference sheet 10, 11 differ.

[0022] An instance 12, which is shown in the figure as a logic gate, but in practice can also be implemented as a software routine executed by the engine control unit 7 or another connected control unit, compares the contents of the working and reference sheets 10, 11 and outputs a metric of the difference to bus 6. In the simplest case, the metric is binary-valued and merely distinguishes whether each value of a setting parameter in the working sheet 10 matches the value of the same setting parameter in the reference sheet 11 or not. It is also conceivable that the metric identifies, in coded form, those setting parameters in which the working and reference sheets differ. For example, the value of the nth bit of the at least m-bit-wide metric can specify whether the nth setting parameter has been changed or not.Since the adjustment parameters have different technical functions, different adjustment parameters are changed depending on the type of calibration process. This allows the changed adjustment parameters or the bits with a value of 0 or 1 in the metric to identify which of several different predefined calibration processes is currently running. Alternatively, the metric can have a real number as its value, for example, whose decimal part indicates the changed adjustment parameter and whose predecimal part quantitatively specifies the change in the adjustment parameter.

[0023] A data logger 13 is connected to bus 6 in order to determine measurement times according to a predetermined rule (step S1 in Fig. 2) and, at these measurement times, to read both the data that the sensors 8 exchange with the engine control unit 7 and the respective current value of the metric from bus 6, to store them in the form of data records assigned to the respective measurement time (S3), and to forward them to computer 1 upon request (S4). Based on the value of the metric contained in the data records, data records recorded on computer 1 during a calibration process can be differentiated from those from normal driving operation and can be discarded during evaluation or considered in a different way than the data records from normal driving operation.

[0024] When the vehicle is started, the engine control unit 7 first copies the contents of reference sheet 11 to worksheet 10 (step S0). Thus, during a subsequent phase of normal driving operation, both sheets are identical, and data records recorded in steps S1-S3 during this phase each contain a zero metric value. This value allows the data records to be identified as belonging to normal driving operation even after their transmission (S4) to the computer 1.

[0025] To initiate a calibration process, the vehicle's computer 1 or an on-board computer 14, which is higher-level to the control units, accesses the worksheet 10 and changes the value of at least one of the setting parameters (step S5). From this point on, the metric of the data records recorded by the data logger 13 in step S3 has a value other than zero, and data records with a metric value other than zero can be sorted out and discarded after transmission S4 on the computer 1. This prevents falsification of the collected data due to unusual measured values ​​of one or another operating parameter that only occur during calibration.

[0026] At the end of a calibration, the change to one of the setting parameters can be reversed by, for example, repeating step S0, copying the original value of the setting parameter retained in reference sheet 11 back into worksheet 10. However, the result of a calibration can also be that the value stored in worksheet 10 at the end of the calibration process is to be retained for the continued normal driving operation. In this case, the contents of worksheet 10 are copied into reference sheet 11 (step S6). As a result, the metric of the difference between the worksheet and reference sheet is zero again, so that subsequently generated data records can again be recognized as belonging to normal driving operation.

[0027] In practice, not only are data collected during a calibration not comparable, or only comparable to a limited extent, with data collected during normal driving, but an interim calibration can also impair comparability when evaluating data collected during normal driving. Such data can be reliably distinguished by computer 1 or another entity evaluating the data collected by data logger 13 because data sets originating from the calibration lie between data sets collected in two normal driving phases separated by a calibration.

[0028] In order to be able to jointly evaluate data sets from different normal driving phases, it is important to know which setting parameters were changed and how in an intermediate calibration. Under certain circumstances, it may be sufficient, as mentioned above, to be able to identify the type of calibration process from the metric value in the collected data sets. However, it is also possible to encode complete information about the setting parameters changed during a calibration process and the extent of their change in the data sets and transmit this information to computer 1. Let us assume that as a result of a calibration process, the setting parameters m1 and m2 each received new values ​​that differ by Δm1 and Δm2 from the original values ​​still stored in reference sheet 11.The metric value is obtained by comparing the setting parameters in worksheet 10 and reference sheet 11 sequentially, from first to last. As soon as the first difference is found, the number of the setting parameter in question is used as the fractional part of the metric value, and the difference between the two values ​​of the setting parameter is used as the pre-decimal part. If all setting parameters are identical, the metric retains the value zero. In the case considered here, the first differing setting parameter is m1, which therefore determines a value of the metric "Δm1, m1." If, at the end of the calibration process, the data logger 13 has recorded a data set with this metric, the setting parameter m1 in reference sheet 11 is overwritten with the new value.As a result, the values ​​of the setting parameter m1 in the worksheet and reference sheet no longer differ, and when the metric needs to be determined for the next data set to be generated, the next setting parameter for which different values ​​are found is m2, and "Δm2, m2" is obtained as the value of the metric for this data set. By repeating this process as often as the setting parameters differ between worksheet 10 and reference sheet 11, successive data sets are obtained whose metrics specify each changed setting parameter and the extent of its change. In other words, step S6 of updating reference sheet 11 is stretched in time such that after each update of a setting parameter in reference sheet 11, a data set is generated such that the value of the metric in this data set specifies the next changed setting parameter and the change made to it.Thus, when the computer 1 has received the data from the data logger 13 in step S4, it has complete information about the changes made during the calibration process and can ensure the full comparability of the measurement data collected before and after the calibration by compensating for the effects of these changes on the measurement data. Reference symbol 1 computer 2 Internet 3 Radio interface 4 vehicle 5 Radio interface 6 buses 7 Engine control unit 8 Sensor 9 Engine 10 worksheets 11 Reference sheet 12 data loggers 13th instance 14 on-board computers QUOTES CONTAINED IN THE DESCRIPTION

[0000] This list of documents submitted by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the convenience of the reader. This list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature

[0000] DE 10 2021 208 938 A1

[0005]

Claims

[1] Method for collecting operating data of a motor vehicle, comprising the steps: a) Determining a measurement time point (S1); b) creating a data set (S3), wherein the creation comprises measuring a plurality of operating variables of the motor vehicle in a predetermined temporal relationship with the specified measuring time and storing the measured operating variables in a form linked to the measuring time; c) repeating steps a) and b) to create a plurality of data sets and transmitting (S4) the plurality of data sets to a remote evaluation unit (1), characterized by one step d) linking each data set created in step b) with information indicating whether the data set was created during a calibration process or during normal driving (S2). [2] The method of claim 1, wherein linking (S2) comprises incorporating the information into each data set. [3] Method according to claim 1 or 2, in which a reference sheet (11) defines values ​​of setting parameters of the motor vehicle which form the basis of the normal driving operation of the vehicle, and during the calibration process the operation of the vehicle is based on a worksheet (10) which differs from the reference sheet (11) in the value of at least one of the setting parameters. [4] Method according to claim 3, wherein the reference sheet (11) remains stored during the calibration process. [5] A method according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising the step e) determining the value of a metric representative of the differences between the worksheet and the reference sheet, wherein the information added in step d) is the value of the metric. [6] The method of claim 5, wherein the metric is a one-to-one function of the difference. [7] Method according to one of claims 4 to 6, wherein after completion of the calibration process the reference sheet (11) is overwritten with the current worksheet (10).

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