CN113246880A - Method and system for vehicle maintenance - Google Patents
Method and system for vehicle maintenance Download PDFInfo
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- CN113246880A CN113246880A CN202110172330.9A CN202110172330A CN113246880A CN 113246880 A CN113246880 A CN 113246880A CN 202110172330 A CN202110172330 A CN 202110172330A CN 113246880 A CN113246880 A CN 113246880A
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
- G06Q10/20—Administration of product repair or maintenance
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B60R16/00—Electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for; Arrangement of elements of electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for
- B60R16/02—Electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for; Arrangement of elements of electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for electric constitutive elements
- B60R16/023—Electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for; Arrangement of elements of electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for electric constitutive elements for transmission of signals between vehicle parts or subsystems
- B60R16/0231—Circuits relating to the driving or the functioning of the vehicle
- B60R16/0232—Circuits relating to the driving or the functioning of the vehicle for measuring vehicle parameters and indicating critical, abnormal or dangerous conditions
- B60R16/0234—Circuits relating to the driving or the functioning of the vehicle for measuring vehicle parameters and indicating critical, abnormal or dangerous conditions related to maintenance or repairing of vehicles
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
- G06Q10/06—Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
- G06Q10/063—Operations research, analysis or management
- G06Q10/0631—Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
- G06Q10/06311—Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
Abstract
A controller of the vehicle is configured to determine a location of the vehicle and determine a vehicle maintenance event. The controller receives and analyzes data from the user scheduling device that describes a schedule of a vehicle user. Based on the analysis, the controller predicts a downtime of the vehicle. The controller determines whether there are any vehicle service centers located within a threshold proximity of the determined location of the vehicle and receives data from at least one of the service centers. The received data describes an indication of at least one available subscription at the at least one service center. The controller compares data received from the at least one service center to the predicted downtime of the vehicle to determine whether there are available reservations for one of the at least one service center that match the predicted downtime in time. If so, the controller selects a service center having an available reservation matching the predicted down time and transmits a signal containing data describing the vehicle maintenance event to the selected service center.
Description
Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a controller and method for a maintenance vehicle and in particular, but not exclusively, to a controller configured for selecting and communicating with a service center of a maintenance vehicle.
Background
Vehicles may require regular maintenance and service to maintain seaworthiness. Sometimes, in order to perform vehicle maintenance, the vehicle must be taken off the road, for example, often during standard working hours. For some vehicle owners (e.g., commercial vehicles) to drive their vehicles off the road may result in lost revenue, and thus, scheduling maintenance for vehicles such as commercial vehicles is cumbersome and costly.
Disclosure of Invention
Examples herein relate to a controller and a method that can analyze availability of a vehicle and schedule reservations to service a fault within a predicted downtime of the vehicle.
A "maintenance event" as referred to herein means, inter alia, but not exclusively, a fault that has been ascertained in the vehicle, a fault that requires maintenance in the vehicle, and thus a maintenance event indicates that a component of the vehicle requires maintenance. Herein, "predicted downtime" especially, but not exclusively, means time when the predicted vehicle is not in use. For example, the predicted downtime may be a time when delivery is predicted without using the vehicle if the vehicle is a delivery vehicle, or a nighttime time when no user is using the vehicle if the vehicle is used primarily during the daytime as a commercial vehicle.
According to an example, there is provided a vehicle controller, the controller is configured to determine a location of the vehicle, determine a vehicle maintenance event, receive and analyze data describing a vehicle user schedule from the user schedule device, predict an outage time of the vehicle based on the analysis of the data received from the user schedule device, determine whether a vehicle service center is present within a threshold proximity of the currently determined vehicle location, receive data describing a representation of at least one available reservation at the at least one service center from the at least one service center, compare the data received from the at least one service center to the predicted outage time, determine whether an available reservation exists for one of the at least one service centers that matches the predicted outage time in time, select a service center having an available reservation that matches the predicted outage time, and send a signal containing the data describing the vehicle maintenance event to the selected service center.
In one example, the threshold proximity is a distance (e.g., 10 miles). In one example, the threshold proximity is time (e.g., a period of 30 minutes traveling at 50 miles per hour).
If multiple service centers all have available time slots, the controller may be configured to select the closest service center. For example, if the three service centers are within a predetermined threshold radius (e.g., 10 kilometers), the controller may be configured to select the service center closest to the vehicle location.
If multiple service centers have available time slots, the controller may be configured to select the service center closest in time. For example, if all three service centers are within a predetermined threshold time (e.g., within 1 hour of walking), the controller may be configured to select the service center that is the fastest possible to reach for driving the vehicle. For example, two service centers may be as far apart in nature, but one service center can only be reached through a busy residential street, while the other service center can be reached through a highway. In this case, even though the service center accessible through the residential street may be the closer of the two from the actual distance, the service center accessible through the highway may be the "closest" in terms of the time required to drive there and select the service center accessible through the highway.
If multiple service centers all have available time slots, the controller may be configured to select the service center having the available reservation closest in time to the determined vehicle maintenance event.
In some examples, the controller is configured to program the location of the selected service center into the route guidance device.
In some examples, the controller is configured to instruct the vehicle to drive to the selected service center under autonomous control.
In some examples, to determine a vehicle maintenance event, the controller is configured to receive a signal from a vehicle portion requiring maintenance and, upon receipt of the signal from the vehicle portion requiring maintenance, to consult a lookup table stored in memory to determine whether a stored event has a signature corresponding to the received signal, the stored event including metadata describing the nature of the vehicle fault and including transmitting the metadata of the stored event to the service center.
The controller may be configured to consult a look-up table to determine a reservation duration that may be required based on the determined vehicle maintenance event. Selection of the service center may then be made based on whether the available reservation reaches a threshold duration (e.g., whether the available reservation is at least as long as the determined reservation duration). Thus, the controller may be configured to determine whether the available reservations of the service center are at least as long as the determined duration, and if so, to select the service center.
The controller may be configured to receive a user schedule from a user schedule device, the user schedule including entries including a date component, a time component, and an activity component, and identify an entry without an associated activity component as a downtime of the vehicle.
The controller may be configured to receive a service center schedule from at least one service center, the service schedule including entries including a date component, a time component, and an appointment component, and identify the entries without an associated appointment component as available appointments.
To match a reservation with a predicted downtime, the controller may be configured to compare time and date components of corresponding entries without associated reservation components and activity components to determine if the time and date components are the same. In this manner, the controller effectively determines whether a common time slot exists in the user calendar and the service center calendar to schedule the appointment in the common time slot.
Predicting the downtime may include determining the downtime. For example, downtime may be determined from an analysis of a user schedule (which may include a diary and/or calendar).
The controller may include a user scheduling device.
The vehicle may include a controller.
The controller is configured to determine whether a user of the vehicle is within a threshold distance of the vehicle and automatically connect to the user's smart device. In this example, the user's smart device may maintain data describing the user's schedule. Thus, the controller may be configured to access the user's schedule when the user is within a certain distance of the vehicle.
According to another example, there is provided a method (e.g., a computer-implemented method) for maintaining a vehicle, the method comprising: determining a current location of the vehicle, determining a vehicle maintenance event, receiving and analyzing data from a user scheduling device describing a vehicle user schedule, predicting a downtime of the vehicle based on the analysis of the data received from the user scheduling device, determining whether there are any vehicle service centers located within a threshold proximity of the currently determined location of the vehicle, the method includes receiving data from at least one service center describing a representation of at least one available reservation at the at least one service center, comparing the data received from the at least one service center to a predicted downtime of the vehicle, determining whether there is an available reservation for one of the at least one service center that temporally matches the predicted downtime, selecting one of the at least one service center having an available reservation that matches the predicted downtime, and transmitting a signal containing data describing a vehicle maintenance event to the selected service center. At least some of the steps of the method may be performed by a processor and/or a vehicle controller (e.g., the controller may include a processor for performing the method).
Transmitting the signal may include proactively scheduling the reservation (e.g., transmitting a signal including an instruction that, when executed at the service center, instructs the service center to schedule the reservation). Sending the signal may include instructing the mobile service center to visit the vehicle to the location of the vehicle.
The sending of the signal describing the maintenance event may occur before the selection of the service center.
The method may include determining a reservation duration, e.g., a reservation specific to a vehicle maintenance event, and may be determined based on a stored value in a look-up table, for example. Thus, the method may include accessing a stored value (e.g., accessing a look-up table) and obtaining a reservation duration corresponding to the type of maintenance event (e.g., to fix a particular fault, a 1 hour service reservation duration may be recommended). The method may then select a service center based on whether the available reservation is of a threshold duration (e.g., whether the available reservation is at least as long as the determined reservation duration). In other words, the method may include determining whether the available reservations of the service center are at least as long as the determined duration, and if so, selecting the service center.
The method may also include determining whether a user of the vehicle is within a threshold distance of the vehicle, and automatically accessing the smart device of the user to retrieve data from the smart device if the user is determined to be within the threshold distance of the vehicle. For example, a user's smart device may include user schedule data, and the accessing smart device may retrieve data describing the user schedule from the smart device.
According to another example, there is provided a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by a processor, the machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions to cause the processor to: determining a current location of the vehicle, determining a vehicle maintenance event, receiving and analyzing data from a user scheduling device describing a vehicle user schedule, predicting vehicle down time based on the analysis of the data received from the user scheduling device, determining whether there are any vehicle service centers located within a threshold proximity of the current determined location of the vehicle, the method includes receiving data from at least one service center describing a representation of at least one available reservation at the at least one service center, comparing the data received from the at least one service center to a predicted downtime of the vehicle, determining whether there is an available reservation for one of the at least one service center that temporally matches the predicted downtime, selecting one of the at least one service center having an available reservation that matches the predicted downtime, and transmitting a signal containing data describing a vehicle maintenance event to the selected service center.
The instructions may cause the processor to instruct the service center to schedule a reservation and/or instruct the mobile service center to visit the vehicle at the location of the vehicle.
The instructions may cause the processor to determine a reservation duration. For example, the instructions may cause the processor to access a stored value (e.g., access a lookup table) and retrieve a reservation duration corresponding to the maintenance event. The instructions may cause the processor to select a service center based on whether the available reservation is of a threshold duration (e.g., whether the available reservation is at least as long as the determined reservation duration).
The instructions may cause the processor to determine whether a user of the vehicle is within a threshold distance of the vehicle, and automatically access a smart device of the user to retrieve data from the smart device.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle controller configured to:
determining a position of the vehicle;
determining a vehicle maintenance event;
receiving and analyzing data from a user schedule device, the data describing a schedule of a user of the vehicle;
predicting a downtime of the vehicle based on an analysis of data received from the user scheduling device;
determining whether there are any vehicle service centers located within a threshold proximity of the determined location of the vehicle;
receiving data from at least one service center, the data describing a representation of at least one available reservation at the at least one service center;
comparing data received from the at least one service center to the predicted down time of the vehicle;
determining whether there are available reservations for one of the at least one service center that match in time the predicted downtime;
selecting a service center having available reservations that match the predicted downtime;
transmitting a signal containing data describing a vehicle maintenance event to a selected service center;
programming the location of the selected service center into the route guidance device; and
the vehicle is instructed to drive under autonomous control to a selected service center.
According to an embodiment of the invention, wherein the service center is a mobile service center with autonomous driving and/or autonomous service capabilities.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the controller is configured to determine a convenient location of the mobile service center and the vehicle to each other, and instruct the mobile service center and the vehicle to travel to the convenient location to each other under autonomous control.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for servicing a vehicle, comprising:
determining a position of the vehicle;
determining a vehicle maintenance event;
receiving and analyzing data from a user schedule device, the data describing a schedule of a user of the vehicle;
predicting a downtime of the vehicle based on an analysis of data received from the user scheduling device;
determining whether there are any vehicle service centers located within a threshold proximity of the determined location of the vehicle;
receiving data from at least one service center, the data describing a representation of at least one available reservation at the at least one service center;
comparing data received from the at least one service center to the predicted down time of the vehicle;
determining whether there are available reservations for one of the at least one service center that match in time the predicted downtime;
selecting a service center having available reservations that match the predicted downtime;
transmitting a signal containing data describing a vehicle maintenance event to a selected service center;
programming the location of the selected service center into the route guidance device; and
the vehicle is instructed to drive under autonomous control to a selected service center.
To avoid unnecessary duplication of work in the specification and repetition of text, certain features have been described only in connection with one or more aspects or embodiments of the present invention. However, it will be appreciated that features described in relation to any aspect or embodiment of the invention may also be used with any other aspect or embodiment of the invention where technically feasible.
Drawings
For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an example controller;
FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an example method;
FIGS. 3 and 4 are schematic diagrams of a service center within a threshold proximity of a vehicle, proximity referring to distance in FIG. 3 and time in FIG. 4; and
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example medium associated with a processor.
Detailed Description
The present application relates to a controller for a vehicle, such as a motor vehicle (e.g., car, van, truck, motorcycle, etc.), an industrial vehicle (e.g., tractor, forklift, bulldozer, excavator, etc.), a marine vessel, an aircraft, or any other type of vehicle.
Fig. 1 shows a controller 104 of a vehicle 102. The vehicle 102 is shown in fig. 1 as a van, such as a commercial van. However, it is understood that the vehicle 102 may comprise any vehicle and may or may not be used for commercial purposes. For example, the vehicle 102 may comprise a motor vehicle (car, van, truck, motorcycle, etc.) or may comprise an industrial vehicle (e.g., tractor, forklift, dozer, excavator, etc.), or a marine vessel, aircraft, or any other type of vehicle.
The controller 104 is configured to: determining a vehicle maintenance event, receiving and analyzing data descriptive of a vehicle user schedule provided by a user schedule device, predicting a downtime of the vehicle based on the analysis of the data provided by the user schedule device, determining whether any vehicle service centers are present within a threshold proximity of a currently determined location of the vehicle, receiving data descriptive of a representation of at least one available appointment at least one service center from the at least one service center, the method includes comparing data received from at least one service center to a predicted downtime of the vehicle, determining whether there is an available reservation for one of the at least one service center that matches in time the predicted downtime, selecting one of the at least one service center that has an available reservation that matches the predicted downtime, and transmitting a signal containing data describing a vehicle maintenance event to the selected service center.
In one example, the controller 104 is configured to communicate (e.g., connect to) a smart device (e.g., a smart device of a user) (e.g., a smartphone or tablet). In one example, the controller 104 may be configured for wireless connection or communication. The controller 104 may be configured to connect (e.g., with a smart device) when the user enters the vehicle 102, for example, the controller 104 may continue to connect to the user's smart device when the user enters the vehicle 102. In this example, the controller 104 is to determine the location of the user of the vehicle 102, and when the user of the vehicle 102 is within a threshold distance (e.g., a predetermined radius), the controller 104 is configured to automatically connect to the user's smart device. The controller 104 may be connected to the user's smart device, for example, through a central server. In this example, the controller 104 may be configured to connect to the user's smart device when the user is away from the vehicle, such as through a central server. In either example, the controller 104 is configured to schedule maintenance services for the vehicle when the vehicle is not in use (as determined by the predicted downtime). The smart device may include a user calendar device, and thus communicating with the user's smart device may cause the controller 104 to access the user's calendar. As shown in fig. 1 (by way of example only), the controller 104 may be remote from the vehicle 102. However, in some examples, the vehicle 102 may include the controller 104.
In some examples, the vehicle 102 may include a large number of components that periodically require maintenance or service (e.g., by a mechanic or other technician) to maintain the vehicle 102 in a state suitable for the roadway. Thus, the controller 104 is used to determine a vehicle maintenance event. To this end, the controller 104 may be configured to receive signals from components of the vehicle 102. The controller 104 may be configured to receive data from a component of the vehicle 102 describing a fault in the component. For example, a valve of the vehicle may need to be replaced (due to a crack), and the controller 104 may be configured to receive a signal indicating a valve failure.
Accordingly, the controller 104 may be configured to receive a signal (e.g., a signal indicative of a property of a component) from a component of the vehicle 102 and determine whether the signal is within an acceptable range (e.g., a predetermined range). If the signal value is outside of an acceptable range, the controller 104 may determine the presence of a vehicle maintenance event.
The controller 104 is configured to contact the user's schedule to determine a predicted time that the vehicle 102 is not in use and schedule a service to be performed on the vehicle 102. For example, analysis of the user scheduling device may determine that the vehicle will be parked at night and therefore not in use, and thus the controller 104 may attempt to schedule the vehicle for service during this time (e.g., mobile service for door-to-door service for the vehicle). Thus, maintenance can be performed at night while the user is sleeping. In one example, the user calendar device may include a smart device, such as a smartphone, tablet, personal computer, desktop, or the like. Thus, the user schedule device may be configured to maintain data describing a schedule of a user of the vehicle 102 (e.g., a driver and/or owner of the vehicle 102 and/or fleet manager). The schedule may include a log or calendar or the like (e.g., an electronic diary or calendar). In examples where the user calendaring device is a smartphone or tablet carried by the driver or vehicle owner about his or her person, the controller 104 may be configured to wirelessly connect to the user calendaring device when the driver or vehicle owner enters the vehicle 102. Additionally or alternatively, controller 104 may be configured to connect to a user scheduling device when the user scheduling device is remote from vehicle 102 and/or controller 104. The vehicle 102 may include a user scheduling device.
The data may be entered into the user scheduling device by the owner, user or manager/administrator of the vehicle. Such data may relate to past, current, and future use of the vehicle and may include duration of use, destination of use, and the like.
The controller is configured to predict at least one down time of the vehicle based on an analysis of the data from the user scheduling device performed in step 204. The downtime may include a duration of time (e.g., overnight or an afternoon or a shorter period of time such as 30 minutes or an hour, etc.) during which the vehicle 102 is not intended for use, and may also include the location of the vehicle 102 at that time.
The controller 104 is configured to determine the position of the vehicle 102. The location may be a current location of the vehicle 102, and thus the controller 104 may be configured to determine the current location of the vehicle 102. The controller 104 may include a positioning device, such as a GPS. Alternatively, the controller 104 may be configured to communicate with a positioning device (e.g., GPS). The controller 104 may be configured to determine the current location of the vehicle 102 in the event of a predicted shutdown with relatively short notice, for example, due to a change in plan or situation. Alternatively, the controller 104 may predict the future position of the vehicle 102 based on driving habits or destinations programmed into the route guidance system.
For example, if it is known that the driver of the vehicle 102 will be delivering goods to a destination and will not be driving the vehicle for a period of time thereafter, for example, in order to comply with a limit on the number of hours the driver is allowed to operate the vehicle, the controller may predict that the downtime of the vehicle 102 is to begin shortly after the scheduled delivery of the goods. The controller 104 in this example may also determine the vehicle location as the vehicle approaches the destination for the delivery of the cargo.
In another example, if it is not possible to know to continue traveling outside of a location formed by a location that has been determined by the controller 104, for example, due to heavy traffic congestion or the last ferry of the day having left, the controller 104 may predict a downtime that coincides with an estimated arrival time for the location in combination with the above factors. Thus, in some examples, the controller 104 may be configured to receive data indicative of predicted downtime, such as schedule data regarding ferries departures, road closures, and the like.
The controller 104 is configured to determine whether there are any vehicle service centers within a threshold proximity of the vehicle location. The threshold proximity may be related to a distance threshold, such as a maximum travel distance to the service center, alternatively the threshold proximity may be related to a time threshold, such as a maximum driving duration for the vehicle 102 to reach the service center. In the former example, the threshold proximity distance may relate to a maximum travel distance indicated by the vehicle based on available fuel, such as 50 miles. In the latter example, the threshold temporal proximity may relate to a maximum time of vehicle operation that may be reasonably expected in view of the determined fault (constituting a maintenance event), e.g., 30 minutes. In examples where the service center is a mobile and/or autonomous unit, these threshold proximities may relate to a common driving schedule. This will be further described below in relation to fig. 3 and 4.
The controller is configured to receive data from at least one service center within a threshold proximity of a vehicle location. The data may describe at least one time indicating available reservations for the at least one service center. The data may be received in response to a request for data regarding available reservations. For example, the controller 104 may be configured to send a request to a service center (e.g., a service center within a threshold proximity). For example, the controller 104 may be configured to send requests to all service centers within a threshold proximity.
The controller compares the data received from the at least one service center to the predicted down time of the vehicle 102. In this manner, the controller 104 can determine that the time of the available reservations of one of the at least one service center matches the predicted downtime of the vehicle 102.
The controller 104 may be further configured to consult a look-up table to determine a reservation duration that may be required based on the determined vehicle maintenance event. For example, the lookup table may include a list of known maintenance events and an estimated duration of known service appointments to process the maintenance events. By consulting the lookup table, the controller 104 may retrieve a stored entry that includes an estimated reservation duration corresponding to a maintenance event that matches the detected maintenance event.
The controller 104 is configured to select a service center having available reservations that match the predicted downtime of the vehicle 102. This choice may be determined based on a variety of factors. For example, if multiple service centers have available time slots, the controller may be configured to select the service center closest to the vehicle location. Alternatively, the service center may be selected based on the most recent time (e.g., the length of time required to travel to and from the service center). Alternatively, for example, in a more urgent vehicle maintenance event, the controller may be configured to select the service center having the available reserved time closest to the time of the determined vehicle maintenance event or the current time.
The controller is configured to transmit a signal containing data related to a vehicle maintenance event to a selected service center. For example, the signal may include metadata describing a vehicle maintenance event (e.g., a failed valve, etc.). Thus, the data may relate to the nature of the vehicle maintenance event, such as the time the vehicle was first determined, the location of the vehicle that was first determined, and the amount of driving thereafter.
The controller 104 may be configured to program the location of the selected service center into the route guidance system of the vehicle 102. The vehicle 102 may include a route guidance system, such as part of a vehicle navigation system, or alternatively, may be included in a personal computing device of an owner, driver, or manager/administrator of the vehicle 102.
The controller 104 may be further configured to instruct the vehicle 102 to travel to a selected service center under autonomous control.
The signal sent by the controller to the selected service center may include an indication for scheduling the mobile service vehicle to visit the vehicle for service execution during a predetermined appointment that matches the predicted down time as described above.
The controller 104 may be configured to receive a signal from a portion or component of the vehicle 102 that requires maintenance and, upon receipt of the signal, consult a look-up table stored in its memory to determine whether the stored event has a signature corresponding to the received signal. The storage event may include metadata describing the nature of the fault or component of the vehicle 102 that requires maintenance. The controller may be further configured to transmit a signal containing metadata of the storage event to the service center.
A method according to the present disclosure will now be described with reference to fig. 2.
Fig. 2 illustrates a method 200, which may be a method for servicing a vehicle. The method 200 may comprise a computer-implemented method. The method may be performed by at least one processor (e.g., a processor of a vehicle, such as controller 104 may include a processor). The vehicle may include the vehicle 102 as shown in fig. 1, and the method 200 may be a method of using the controller 104 described with reference to fig. 1. The controller 104 may also be configured to perform the method 200, as will now be described. In other words, the controller may include a processor for performing at least some of the steps of the method 200 to be described below.
Step 202 of method 200 includes determining, for example, with a processor, a vehicle maintenance event.
Step 204 of method 200 includes receiving, e.g., with a processor, and analyzing, e.g., with a processor, data from a user scheduling device, the data describing a schedule of a vehicle user.
Step 206 of method 200 includes predicting, e.g., with a processor, a downtime of the vehicle based on an analysis of data received from the user scheduling device.
Step 208 of method 200 includes determining, for example, with a processor, a location of the vehicle. Step 208 may include determining a current location of the vehicle.
Step 210 of method 200 includes determining, e.g., with a processor, whether there is a vehicle service center that is within a threshold proximity (e.g., 5 minutes in time or 5 kilometers in distance) from the vehicle location determined in step 208.
If it is determined at step 210 that there are service centers within a threshold proximity, the method 200 proceeds to step 212, where the method 200 includes receiving, e.g., with a processor, data describing times indicative of available reservations at the service centers determined at step 210.
Step 214 of method 200 includes comparing, e.g., with a processor, data received from the service center to a predicted downtime of the vehicle, and step 216 includes determining, e.g., with a processor, whether there are available reservations of the service center that match in time the predicted downtime.
If so, step 218 of method 200 includes selecting a service center having available reservations that match the predicted downtime, and step 220 includes sending a signal, such as by a processor, to the selected service center.
Although FIG. 2 shows a series of steps 202-220 in a particular order, the steps 202-220 may be rearranged such that the controller 104 may be configured to perform the steps 202-220 in any other suitable order.
For example, FIG. 2 shows step 220 comprising sending a signal to a selected service center containing data describing a vehicle maintenance event, which description is for illustrative purposes only to describe what happens after steps 202 and 218. While this may be the order in which the steps are performed, the controller may alternatively be configured to transmit the data to service centers within a threshold proximity prior to step 212, so that only service centers with the appropriate reservation duration are considered thereafter.
In another example, step 216 may include consulting a look-up table to determine a reservation duration that may be required based on the determined vehicle maintenance event. In this example, step 220 may include sending the information to a service center located within a threshold proximity. In this example, step 212 may include receiving data only from a service center having a determined available reservation duration. Optionally, the method selects only those reservations that are at least as long as the determined duration. In this example, the controller need only process data from service centers that have available reservations equal to or exceeding the required duration. Likewise, vehicle maintenance events requiring a shorter duration reservation can be more easily handled.
The user scheduling device may include information related to a future destination of the vehicle (e.g., a vehicle destination at a future time). The controller (or indeed the method) may be configured to predict the future position of the vehicle 102 from information contained in the user's calendar device. For example, if it is known, for example from information in a user's schedule device, that the vehicle will travel between two locations, the controller may predict a path for traveling between the locations. If the two locations are so far apart that the driver needs to rest for a long time during travel along the way, the controller can determine the future position of the vehicle during these rests in order to perform maintenance on the vehicle 102 when the vehicle 102 is not in use. Thus, the method 200 may include determining a future location of the vehicle, for example, based on information in the user scheduling device. In this way, any loss of revenue to the owner of the vehicle 102 from vehicle maintenance and/or service may be minimized.
As described above, in some examples, the controller 104 (and/or the method 200) may determine whether there are service centers located within a threshold distance of a certain location (e.g., the current position of the vehicle). As schematically shown in fig. 3. In fig. 3, a plurality of service centers 306, 308, 310, 312 associated with the vehicle 302 are schematically illustrated, as well as a representation of a threshold distance from the vehicle 302, schematically shown as a threshold radius r. In this example, service centers 306, 308, and 310 are within threshold radius r and service center 312 is outside of threshold radius r. Thus, only the service centers 306, 308, 310 are considered in step 212 of the method 200, and it is determined by the controller 104 whether there are any service centers within the radius r. In one example, the vehicle 302 may include the controller 104.
As described above, in some examples, the controller 104 (and/or the method 200) may determine whether there is a service center located within a threshold temporal proximity of a location (e.g., the current location of the vehicle). As schematically shown in fig. 4. In fig. 4, a plurality of service centers 406, 408, 410, 412 associated with a vehicle 402 having a controller 404 of the present disclosure and a representation of a threshold temporal proximity t to the vehicle 402 are again schematically illustrated. The threshold proximity t is the time, e.g., how long it takes for the vehicle to reach each service center, and optionally the time it takes to get to the vehicle from each service center. Thus, the representation of threshold proximity shown on the schematic diagram of FIG. 4 does not constitute a circle of constant distance radius, but rather a constant time radius. For example, each service center 406-412 represents at its boundary the amount of time to leave the vehicle at a certain speed. For example, the area defined by time t may represent all locations within a 30 minute duration when traveling at 50 miles per hour.
Fig. 5 illustrates an example non-transitory machine-readable storage medium 502 encoded with instructions 504 executable by a processor 506. When executed by the processor 506, the instructions 504 cause the processor to perform a method of the present disclosure, such as the method 200 or a transformed form thereof as described above.
The present invention may be used in conjunction with a commercial vehicle (e.g., a delivery truck) or an industrial vehicle (e.g., a forklift) used by a driver. During times when the vehicle is not in use, such as during the night when the driver is sleeping, the controller 104 may select a service center that is within a threshold proximity to the vehicle. For example, when the vehicle 102 has autonomous driving capabilities, the controller 104 may be configured to instruct the vehicle 102 to drive to the service center under autonomous control.
Alternatively, the service center itself may be a mobile unit with autonomous driving and/or maintenance capabilities, in which case selected mobile service center units may be instructed to drive to the vehicle 102. This is particularly advantageous in situations where a vehicle maintenance event means that the vehicle is no longer suitable for travel and thus driving to a service centre is not safe.
As another alternative, where the vehicle 102 and the service center are autonomous, the vehicle 102 and the service center may be arranged to "meet" at a convenient location for service and/or maintenance.
Using data obtained from the user scheduling device, which may be related to past, present, and future use of the vehicle 102, the controller 104 may be configured to predict that a component of the vehicle may require maintenance in the future. For example, if a particular component of the vehicle is known to require service or maintenance after a threshold number of kilometers, the controller 104 may combine data relating to previous vehicle usage since the component was last maintained with data relating to future planned usage of the vehicle to determine a predicted vehicle maintenance event and a time and place at which the maintenance event may be performed. In this manner, the controller 104 can predetermine future vehicle maintenance events and coordinate reservations at the service center for locations and downtime appropriate for the vehicle's future schedule based on data input to the user schedule device.
Thus, the present invention provides for automatic scheduling of vehicle service and/or vehicle maintenance without input from a user, owner or manager/administrator of the vehicle. This can reduce the time for performing the vehicle management task, thereby reducing the management cost. As such, the present systems and methods may provide for early maintenance of a vehicle when it is determined that a vehicle maintenance event has occurred and that a component of the vehicle requires maintenance.
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that although the present invention has been described by way of example with reference to one or more illustrative examples, it is not limited to the disclosed examples and that alternative examples may be constructed without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Claims (19)
1. A vehicle controller, the controller configured to:
determining a location of the vehicle;
determining a vehicle maintenance event;
receiving and analyzing data from a user schedule device, the data describing a schedule of a user of the vehicle;
predicting a downtime of the vehicle based on an analysis of the data received from the user scheduling device;
determining whether there are any vehicle service centers located within a threshold proximity of the determined location of the vehicle;
receiving data from at least one service center, the data describing a representation of at least one available reservation at the at least one service center;
comparing data received from the at least one service center to a predicted downtime of the vehicle;
determining whether there are available reservations for one of the at least one service center that match in time the predicted downtime;
selecting a service center having available reservations that match the predicted downtime; and
transmitting a signal containing data describing the vehicle maintenance event to the selected service center.
2. The controller of claim 1, wherein the threshold proximity is a distance.
3. The controller of claim 1, wherein the threshold proximity is time.
4. The controller of claim 2, wherein in the event that multiple service centers all have available time slots, the controller is configured to select the service center that is closest.
5. A controller according to claim 3, wherein in the event that a plurality of service centres all have available time slots, the controller is configured to select the service centre that is closest in time.
6. The controller of claim 1, wherein in the event that multiple service centers all have available time slots, the controller is configured to select the service center having an available reservation closest to the determined time of the vehicle maintenance event.
7. The controller of any preceding claim, wherein the controller is configured to program a selected location of the service center into a route guidance device.
8. The controller of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to instruct the vehicle to drive to the selected service center under autonomous control.
9. The controller of any preceding claim, wherein to determine the vehicle maintenance event, the controller is configured to receive a signal from a vehicle portion requiring maintenance and, upon receiving the signal from the vehicle portion requiring maintenance, to consult a look-up table stored in memory to determine whether a stored event has a signature corresponding to the received signal, the stored event including metadata describing the nature of a fault of the vehicle and including transmitting the metadata of the stored event to the service center.
10. The controller of any preceding claim, wherein the controller is further configured to consult a look-up table to determine a reservation duration in dependence upon the determined vehicle maintenance event.
11. The controller of any preceding claim, wherein the controller is configured to receive a user schedule from the user schedule device, the user schedule comprising entries including a date component, a time component and an activity component, and the controller is configured to identify an entry without an associated activity component as the down time of the vehicle.
12. The controller of any preceding claim, wherein the controller is configured to receive a service centre schedule from the at least one service centre, the service schedule comprising entries including a date component, a time component and an appointment component, and the controller is configured to identify entries without an associated appointment component as available appointments.
13. A controller as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein to match a reservation with a predicted downtime, the controller is configured to compare time and date components of respective entries without an associated reservation component and respective entries with an activity component to determine whether the time and date components are the same.
14. The controller of any preceding claim, wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a user of the vehicle is within a threshold distance of the vehicle and to automatically connect to the user's smart device.
15. A method for servicing a vehicle, comprising:
determining a position of the vehicle;
determining a vehicle maintenance event;
receiving and analyzing data from a user schedule device, the data describing a schedule of a user of the vehicle;
predicting a downtime of the vehicle based on an analysis of data received from the user scheduling device;
determining whether there are any vehicle service centers located within a threshold proximity of the determined location of the vehicle;
receiving data from at least one service center, the data describing a representation of at least one available reservation at the at least one service center;
comparing data received from the at least one service center to a predicted downtime of the vehicle;
determining whether there are available reservations for one of the at least one service center that match in time the predicted downtime;
selecting a service center having available reservations that match the predicted downtime; and
transmitting a signal containing data describing the vehicle maintenance event to the selected service center.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein sending a signal containing data describing the vehicle maintenance event occurs prior to selecting the service center.
17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, comprising:
determining a duration of a reservation based on the determined maintenance event;
determining whether the available reservation of the service center is at least as long as the determined duration and, if so,
the service center is selected.
18. The method of claims 14-17, further comprising:
determining whether a user of the vehicle is within a threshold distance of the vehicle, and in an instance in which the user is determined to be within the threshold distance of the vehicle, automatically accessing a smart device of the user to retrieve data from the smart device.
19. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by a processor, the machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions to cause the processor to perform the method of claims 14-16.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB2001786.9A GB2591816A (en) | 2020-02-10 | 2020-02-10 | A method and system for vehicle maintenance |
| GB2001786.9 | 2020-02-10 |
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| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CN113246880A true CN113246880A (en) | 2021-08-13 |
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| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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| CN202110172330.9A Pending CN113246880A (en) | 2020-02-10 | 2021-02-08 | Method and system for vehicle maintenance |
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| CN (1) | CN113246880A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE102021101605A1 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2591816A (en) |
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| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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| US10319157B2 (en) * | 2016-03-22 | 2019-06-11 | GM Global Technology Operations LLC | System and method for automatic maintenance |
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2021
- 2021-01-26 DE DE102021101605.3A patent/DE102021101605A1/en active Pending
- 2021-02-08 CN CN202110172330.9A patent/CN113246880A/en active Pending
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| Publication number | Publication date |
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| GB2591816A (en) | 2021-08-11 |
| DE102021101605A1 (en) | 2021-08-12 |
| GB202001786D0 (en) | 2020-03-25 |
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