GB2345136A

GB2345136A - Vehicle locating aparatus and method

Info

Publication number: GB2345136A
Application number: GB9930092A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Crinson
Original assignee: TRACKER NETWORK
Current assignee: TRACKER NETWORK
Priority date: 1998-12-23
Filing date: 1999-12-20
Publication date: 2000-06-28
Also published as: GB9930092D0; GB9828561D0

Abstract

Vehicle locating apparatus for locating the geographical position of a vehicle has aps locating means (3) for determining the geographical position of a vehicle (2). The position is relayed to a base station (7). Control means (9) at the base station (7) receives instructions issued remotely by a user to the base station (7). The control means (9) has a speech synthesiser for providing a speech message in response to the instructions based at least in part on said relayed position.

Description

VEHICLE LOCATING APPARATUS AND METHOD The present invention relates to a vehicle locating apparatus and to a method of locating the geographical position of a vehicle.

In the applicant's own vehicle tracking system, which is available in the United Kingdom and other countries, the geographical position of a vehicle can be monitored and relayed to a central base station. A user, who will normally be the owner of the vehicle, can telephone a human operator at the base station to find out where the vehicle is presently located. This can help the user to recover the vehicle if the vehicle has been stolen, for example.

It can also help the user locate the vehicle if the user has forgotten where the vehicle is parked, for example.

Understandably, some users can feel embarrassed when speaking to a human operator at the base station in order to determine the location of the user's vehicle where the vehicle has been stolen or otherwise misplaced. In addition, some users do not like the lack of privacy which can be obtained when speaking to a human operator. In any event, some users would find it more convenient not to have to talk to a human operator in order to find the present location of or other information relating to a particular vehicle.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided vehicle locating apparatus for locating the geographical position of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising: locating means for determining the geographical position of a vehicle; relay means for relaying that position to a base station; and, control means at the base station for receiving instructions issued remotely by a user to the base station, the control means including a speech synthesiser for providing a speech message in response to said instructions based at least in part on said relayed position.

The present invention allows a user to avoid having to speak to a human operator when ascertaining the location of a vehicle associated with the user. Instead, the user can receive an audible speech message, provided by a speech synthesiser, which for example informs the user of the location of the vehicle. The use of the speech synthesiser can be complementary to use of a human operator such that, for example, a user can have the option of speaking to a human operator or receiving synthesised speech messages.

It will be understood that the speech synthesiser can synthesise the speech message in any suitable way, such as from pre-recorded (fragments of) speech stored on tape or stored digitally on disk or other hardware or by fully synthesising the speech using appropriate software and hardware.

The control means preferably include means for providing an audible menu of options for a user in response to which a user can issue instructions to said control means. In this embodiment, the user can be provided with synthesised spoken messages giving various different pieces of information about the vehicle, the information provided being determined by the instructions given by the user.

The control means may be arranged so that a user can determine in advance which menu options are provided so that the user can"tailor"the apparatus to operate in the way desired by the user. For example, the user can arrange that menu options not normally of interest to the user are omitted.

The control means is most preferably arranged such that a speech message provided by the speech synthesiser includes information relating to the geographical position of a vehicle identified by a user instructions. Such information may include a map reference for the present location of the vehicle, the nearest postal address to the present location of the vehicle, etc. In the case of a map reference, this can be given in significant detail. For example, the message may refer the enquirer to a particular map book (a number of which may be provided by the operator of the apparatus) and then the appropriate page and page reference in that map book; such a message may take the form of"Go to London A-Z, page 58, row h, column 5". This is particularly helpful for drivers who are lost in an unfamiliar area.

The control means preferably comprises transmission means for transmitting said speech message to a user. The transmission means may include a connection to a telephone system, for example.

For convenience and accuracy of location, the locating means may comprise a Global Positioning System ("GPS") receiver mounted in a vehicle.

The relay means may comprises a transmitter for wireless transmission of said position. In a preferred embodiment, the relay means is located in the user's vehicle. The relay means may use a cellular telephone system, such as for example GSM (Group Special Mobile).

Thus, said transmitter preferably comprises a cellular telephone transmitter.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of locating the geographical position of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: determining the geographical position of a vehicle; relaying that position to a base station; receiving at the base station instructions issued remotely by a user to the base station; and, providing a synthesised speech message in response to said instructions based at least in part on said relayed position.

The method preferably comprises the step of providing an audible menu of options for a user in response to which a user can issue instructions to said control means.

Most preferably, the speech message includes information relating to the geographical position of a vehicle identified by a user instructions. As stated above, the geographical position can be given in several forms, such as by reference to a latitude or longitude, the nearest postal address, or as a map reference.

The geographical position of the vehicle is conveniently determined using a Global Positioning System.

Said position may be transmitted wirelessly.

Conveniently, said position is transmitted using a cellular telephone transmitter.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of an example of apparatus according to the present invention.

Apparatus 1 for locating the geographical position of a vehicle 2 is shown in Figure 1. The vehicle 2 is fitted with a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 3 which receives signals 4 from orbiting GPS satellites 5 and operates on those signals to determine the geographical position of the vehicle 2 in a known manner. It will be understood that other means for determining the geographical position of the vehicle 2 may be used instead of GPS.

The vehicle 2 is fitted with a transmitter 6 by means of which geographical position data for the present location of the vehicle can be transmitted from the vehicle 2 to a central control or base station 7. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the transmitter 6 is a GSM (Group Special Mobile) transmitter which transmits the position data to the base station 7 via a GSM cellular telephone system 8. It will be understood that other wireless transmitters 6 can be used for transmitting the position data from the vehicle 2 to the base station 7.

At the base station 7 there are provided various different types of equipment 9 including receivers for receiving position data from the vehicle 2 (possibly via a cellular telephone system 8, as mentioned above), transmitters for transmitting signals as will be discussed further below, and various computers and computer-related equipment including particularly a speech synthesiser. The speech synthesiser can synthesise a speech message in any suitable way, such as from pre-recorded (fragments of) speech stored on tape or stored digitally on disk or other hardware or by fully synthesising the speech using appropriate software and hardware.

A user wishing to know the present location of a vehicle 2 (which will be registered with the base station 7 and which will often be a vehicle owned by the user), can telephone the base station 7, optionally using a mobile telephone 10 via a cellular telephone system 8. Subsequent steps will vary depending on the particular implementation of the invention and on whether the user has tailored the system in any way. Typically, subsequent operation might be as follows.

On receipt of a call from a user, the base station 7 provides a synthesised speech message, asking the user to enter a password or code which typically will be sufficient to identify the vehicle 2 about which the user is enquiring. The user can then be provided with the option of speaking to a human operator at or associated with the base station 7 or being connected to relevant equipment 9 within or associated with the base station 7 to obtain the required information via a set or menu of synthesised speech messages. The following description relates only to the user being connected to the equipment 9 within or otherwise associated with the base station 7 to obtain the required information via a set or menu of synthesised speech messages.

Having selected not to speak to a human operator and instead having selected the option of dealing directly with the equipment 9 associated with the base station 7, the user will then typically be given a series of options by means of audible synthesised speech messages generated by the equipment 9 and transmitted to the user's telephone 10.

The options will typically be presented as a series of numbered choices in response to which the user can press the appropriate digit key or keys 11 on the user's telephone 10. The keyed numbered instructions are transmitted from the user's telephone 10 to the base station 7. The relevant equipment 9 at or associated with the base station 7 operates on the keyed instructions received from the user's telephone 10 as required. For example, the equipment 9 at an appropriate time can interrogate a database in which is stored the most recent location of the relevant vehicle 2 which has been previously transmitted to the base station 7. A speech message is synthesised on the basis of that location data and transmitted to the user's telephone 10. The location can be given in one or more of various predetermined formats. For example, the location can be given in terms of map references from a specified one of a number of standard maps previously issued to the user. Alternatively or additionally, a postal address, such as a street address, for the vehicle 2 can be given. Other information relating to the vehicle 2, such as make and model and colour of the vehicle 2, can also be provided. Such further information may be useful for owners of several vehicles, especially those owning a fleet of company vehicles for example.

The vehicle location can be transmitted to the base station 7 at regular time intervals and/or when certain, predetermined events have occurred. For example, the vehicle location can be transmitted to the base station 7 whenever the vehicle speed exceeds a certain threshold (indicating perhaps theft of the vehicle or to provide company vehicle operators with some indication when a company vehicle has been driven in excess of speed limits), whenever the ignition key is turned (indicating parking or moving off of the vehicle), when a certain distance has been travelled, etc. The speech message may indicate the reason why the (last) vehicle location was transmitted to the base station 7. The base station 7 can interrogate the vehicle 2 to obtain an up-to-date location for the vehicle 2 in response to a request from a user.

As well as providing speech messages, the equipment 9 at or associated with the base station 7 can provide data by any other suitable means, such as via a pager, by fax and/or by e-mail, and in any suitable format, such as a text message or a voice-mail. The equipment 9 can be set to provide the user, at regular intervals and/or on request, with a record or history of the locations of a vehicle over a period in any desired format and by any suitable medium, such as by e-mail or by fax. Having such a history can be useful for operators of company vehicles as they can help to provide proof of delivery of goods or to show due diligence for say accounting purposes.

An embodiment of the present invention has been described with particular reference to the example illustrated. However, it will be appreciated that variations and modifications may be made to the example described within the scope of the present invention.

For example, the apparatus can be arranged so that the user can choose the language in which the speech message is delivered.

The apparatus can be arranged so that the user can record his or her own message which is then played back as at least part of the speech message delivered by the apparatus.

The apparatus can be set so that the user hears a message which is tailored to the user or class of users.

For example, a fleet of vehicles belonging to a haulage company may be registered and on enquiry, the message begins"XYZ Haulage Company, your vehicle having registration no. XXX is located at...". The vehicle location can be given as a"gazetteer"location such as, for example,"your vehicle is located at XYZ Haulage Company Head Office"or"your vehicle is located 3 miles south of XYZ Haulage Company Head Office", instead of or as well as in terms of latitude and longitude or as a map reference.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Vehicle locating apparatus for locating the geographical position of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising: locating means for determining the geographical position of a vehicle; relay means for relaying that position to a base station; and, control means at the base station for receiving instructions issued remotely by a user to the base station, the control means including a speech synthesiser for providing a speech message in response to said instructions based at least in part on said relayed position.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means includes means for providing an audible menu of options for a user in response to which a user can issue instructions to said control means.
3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the control means is arranged such that a speech message provided by the speech synthesiser includes information relating to the geographical position of a vehicle identified by a user instructions.
4. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control means comprises transmission means for transmitting said speech message to a user.
5. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the locating means comprises a Global Positioning System receiver mounted in a vehicle.
6. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the relay means comprises a transmitter for wireless transmission of said position.
7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said transmitter comprises a cellular telephone transmitter.
8. A method of locating the geographical position of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: determining the geographical position of a vehicle; relaying that position to a base station; receiving at the base station instructions issued remotely by a user to the base station; and, providing a synthesised speech message in response to said instructions based at least in part on said relayed position.
9. A method according to claim 8, comprising the step of providing an audible menu of options for a user in response to which a user can issue instructions to said control means.
10. A method according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the speech message includes information relating to the geographical position of a vehicle identified by a user instructions.
11. A method according to any of claims 8 to 10, wherein the geographical position of the vehicle is determined using a Global Positioning System.
12. A method according to any of claims 8 to 11, wherein said position is transmitted wirelessly.
13. A method according to claim 6, wherein said position is transmitted using a cellular telephone transmitter.
14. Vehicle locating apparatus substantially in accordance with the example as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
15. A method of locating the geographical position of a vehicle substantially in accordance with the example as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.