GPS Drive Path Analysis for Waste Route Stop Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for detecting customer and container locations for waste and recycling service vehicles are expensive, burdensome, and lack reliable data collection, integration, and analysis for determining service duration and location.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing GPS drive path analysis to identify customer and container locations by collecting location data at intervals, associating it with street and parcel data, and designating stops based on consistent GPS readings and low vehicle speed, with optional user verification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual logging or equipment modifications (cameras, sensors) are used to detect customer and container locations, then detection reliability improves, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the detection function from complex physical equipment (cameras, sensors, RFID tags) and relocates it to existing GPS telematics data. By analyzing GPS location traces, speed variations, and stop durations from the vehicle's existing tracking system, the solution identifies customer and container locations without adding detection equipment to vehicles or containers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical/detective systems (cameras, RFID readers, weight sensors) with an information-processing system that substitutes physical detection with computational analysis of GPS data patterns. The system uses algorithms to detect service events through temporal and spatial analysis of location data rather than through physical sensing.
2Measurement precision
If GPS data collection frequency is increased to improve service detection accuracy, then measurement precision improves, but use of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs periodic GPS data collection at optimized intervals (e.g., every 30 seconds to 5 minutes) rather than continuous monitoring. This periodic sampling captures sufficient information to detect service events (stops, duration, location) while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to continuous high-frequency tracking.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts GPS sampling parameters based on vehicle state and route characteristics. GPS collection frequency is modified according to whether the vehicle is moving or stationary, and whether it is in urban or rural areas, optimizing the balance between detection accuracy and energy usage for different operational contexts.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for vehicle drive path analysis for a waste/recycling service vehicle are provided. The system and method can enable identifying of the customers and/or container locations for waste and recycling collection routes using vehicle drive path analysis. Some non-limiting properties that can be derived from the analysis include the customer location, address of customers, and/or the locations of containers at the customer location.