Dynamic Road Usage Charging via In-Vehicle Telematics

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing road usage charging systems struggle to efficiently and accurately track and calculate road use charges in real-time, as they are limited to capturing total vehicle mileage and do not influence or track driving behavior, requiring significant manual intervention and resources.

Innovation Solution

A dynamic road usage charging management system that utilizes in-vehicle data sensors, such as a global navigation satellite system, to track and adjust road use charges based on various parameters like vehicle type, occupancy, location, and emissions, communicating with a management server to calculate and display charges in real-time.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If manual intervention and roadside equipment are used to monitor vehicles, then road charges can be collected, but significant resources are consumed and efficiency is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecharge collection reliabilityVSAvoidresource efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables vehicles to automatically report their own mileage and operational data through onboard telematics devices. The vehicle's own systems serve the dual purpose of both generating the charging data and transmitting it to the RUC authority, eliminating the need for external monitoring resources while maintaining accurate charge collection.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces manual monitoring and physical roadside equipment with electronic telematics systems. GPS tracking, onboard sensors, and automated data transmission substitute for human intervention and physical monitoring infrastructure, dramatically reducing resource consumption while improving efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Ease of manufacture

If traditional RUC systems capture only total mileage, then implementation is simple, but driving behavior cannot be tracked or influenced

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesystem implementation easeVSAvoiddriving behavior information
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the total mileage data into multiple behavioral dimensions including location-based charging zones, time-of-day patterns, vehicle occupancy levels, and emission profiles. This segmentation allows the system to maintain simplicity in implementation while extracting rich behavioral information from the same telematics infrastructure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Reliability

If pre-registration and roadside monitoring equipment are deployed, then charge management can be performed, but significant resources and infrastructure are required

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecharge management reliabilityVSAvoidinfrastructure complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts the monitoring function from roadside infrastructure and relocates it to the vehicle's onboard telematics system. The vehicle's own electronic systems capture and transmit charging-relevant data, eliminating the need for complex roadside monitoring equipment while maintaining reliable charge management through centralized server processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

4Measurement precision

If real-time tracking of RUC-related information is implemented, then accurate charging can be achieved, but practical challenges and resource requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecharging accuracyVSAvoidtracking efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The telematics system continuously collects and transmits relevant data including location, mileage, occupancy, and emission information throughout the vehicle's operation. This continuous data stream enables real-time charging calculations without requiring periodic manual interventions or batch processing, maintaining both accuracy and efficiency through uninterrupted automated tracking.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #20Continuity of useful action

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The system enables efficient and transparent dynamic adjustment of road use charges, reducing the need for manual intervention and minimizing resource allocation, while providing real-time transparency to vehicle operators and improving the accuracy and efficiency of charge collection.

Implementation Method 1

a geographic location of the vehicle determined by a global navigation satellite system receiver

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectGNSS satellite signal reception and processing:

Data Source

PatentEP4542514A1Method and system for GNSS road usage charging with dynamic RUC adjustment using invehicle data
Publication Date: 2025.04.23 VM CONSOLIDATED INC
  • EP4542514A1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4542514A1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4542514A1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A system, method, and apparatus are provided for dynamically managing road use charges for a vehicle which transmits one or more messages to a backend server of a road use charging (RUC) service with vehicle location data and RUC-related data collected from a memory storage device or one or more in-vehicle sensors which capture the RUC-related data relating to the vehicle operation and design so that the backend server of the RUC service can generate an RUC report which includes one or more adjustments to a RUC rate for the vehicle based on the RUC-related data in the second message.