Collaborative Vehicle Travel Diaries via Distributed Terminal Logging

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing travel diary generation systems on vehicles are limited to single users and require substantial formatting work, with only the main terminal storing the diary, necessitating online export for later access.

Innovation Solution

A method for generating collaborative travel diaries on connected electronic terminals via a local network, enabling automatic creation, sharing, and logging of media content events, with each terminal maintaining a chronological record of sharing events, metadata, and position data, and allowing offline access and online sharing.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If a main terminal stores the travel journal centrally, then the journal can be created and managed by one system, but passengers cannot easily access it offline and must export it online

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveAccess to travel journalVSAvoidCentralized storage system
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides the centralized travel journal storage into multiple distributed copies, with each terminal (smartphone, tablet, onboard computer) maintaining its own local copy of the travel journal. This segmentation allows any terminal to access the journal independently without requiring central storage or online export, resolving the contradiction between ease of access and system complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Loss of information

If passengers can collaboratively format and enrich the travel journal, then the journal becomes more comprehensive, but significant formatting work is required which discourages participation

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveTravel journal contentVSAvoidJournal formatting effort
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system automatically generates travel journal entries by detecting media sharing events between terminals and creating structured log entries with metadata (timestamps, locations, participants, shared content descriptions). This self-service automation eliminates the need for manual formatting work while still capturing comprehensive travel information, allowing passengers to contribute content without the burden of formatting tasks.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system pre-establishes the travel journal structure and automatic entry generation rules before the journey begins. Templates for journal entries, metadata fields, and sharing event detection protocols are prepared in advance, enabling automatic population of the journal during the trip without requiring real-time formatting decisions from passengers.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Adaptability or versatility

If multiple terminals are connected via local network for collaborative journal creation, then all passengers can contribute, but the system requires significant setup and coordination

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveMulti-passenger collaborationVSAvoidNetwork configuration
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The onboard vehicle network serves as an intermediary that automatically manages the connections between multiple passenger terminals. The system detects when terminals are present in the vehicle and automatically establishes the local network for journal collaboration, eliminating the need for passengers to manually configure network settings or coordinate connections, thus enabling multi-passenger collaboration without increasing user-facing complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentEP3519775B1Method of generation of collaborative travel diaries on electronic terminals embedded in a vehicle
Publication Date: 2021.11.10 PSA AUTOMOBILES SA
  • EP3519775B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2

AI summary

The invention relates to a method for generating collaborative travel journals on electronic terminals installed in a vehicle and connected together via a local area network, characterised in that it comprises the following steps: - automatically creating a travel journal, on each of said terminals, when connecting this terminal to the local area network; - sharing of one or more media contents hosted by the one of said terminals with one or more other terminals of said local area network; and - for each sharing event performed, automatically adding, in the travel journal of each of the terminals, an entry (200, 300) noting this event.