Fleet Manager Vehicle Control via Sensor Fusion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current fleet management systems using GPS monitoring alone are inadequate for determining whether vehicle operators are driving safely, as they do not provide comprehensive insights into driving habits, leading to potential liability and costs for fleet managers.
Innovation Solution
A system that communicates desired driving behaviors to vehicle operators through mobile devices or vehicle computing systems, captures GPS data to assess compliance, and generates alerts for aberrant behavior, allowing real-time feedback or post-processing analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS monitoring is used to track vehicle location, then vehicle position tracking capability is improved, but the ability to determine safe driving behavior is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines GPS location tracking with additional sensing capabilities (accelerometers, gyroscopes, and mobile device sensors) to create a comprehensive monitoring system. This merging of multiple data sources enables the system to capture both position information and driving behavior characteristics (hard braking, sharp turns, speeding) that GPS alone cannot provide, thereby resolving the information loss about driving habits.
Solution Approach 2:
The fleet manager server acts as an intermediary that receives data from multiple sources (GPS devices, mobile devices, vehicle sensors), processes this information, and generates comprehensive safety assessments. This intermediary component synthesizes raw data from various sensors into meaningful driving behavior analysis, enabling safe operation determination beyond simple location tracking.
2Reliability
If comprehensive driving behavior monitoring is implemented, then safe operation determination is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) that drivers already possess, which serve multiple functions: communication device, navigation device, and safety monitoring sensor platform. By leveraging the existing multi-functional capabilities of mobile devices, the system achieves comprehensive driving behavior monitoring without adding significant complexity, as the mobile device itself provides GPS, accelerometer, and communication capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system leverages existing infrastructure and devices that drivers already have (mobile phones with GPS and sensors) to perform monitoring functions. The mobile device self-provides location tracking, motion sensing, and communication capabilities, reducing the need for additional specialized equipment and simplifying system deployment while maintaining reliable safe operation determination.
Data Source
AI summary
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.