GB2591816A

GB2591816A - A method and system for vehicle maintenance

Info

Publication number: GB2591816A
Application number: GB2001786.9A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Nicholas Murray James; Moffatt Ben; Craven Richard
Original assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
Current assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
Priority date: 2020-02-10
Filing date: 2020-02-10
Publication date: 2021-08-11
Also published as: GB202001786D0; DE102021101605A1; CN113246880A

Abstract

A method for vehicle maintenance scheduling which determines the location of a vehicle 208; determines a vehicle maintenance event 202; receives and analyses vehicle user schedule 204; predicts a downtime of a vehicle 206; determines whether there are any service centres within a threshold proximity of the vehicle location 210; receives data from a service centre describing an appointment time 212; compares the appointment data to the predicted downtime 214; determines whether there is an available appointment at a time that matches the downtime 216; selects the service centre associated with the appointment time 218; and transmits a vehicle maintenance event signal to the service centre 220. Also provided is a controller which carries out the method. The controller may also be arranged to instruct the vehicle to drive to the service centre under autonomous control. The method/controller enables easy and convenient vehicle maintenance which may reduce the issues of loss of earnings (for people whose livelihoods depend on their vehicle) and reduces administration time and therefore cost of scheduling vehicle maintenance. Due to the automatic nature of the invention, it may also result in earlier maintenance than would otherwise have been carried out.

Description

A method and system for vehicle maintenance The present disclosure relates to a controller and method for maintaining a vehicle and particularly, although not exclusively, relates to a controller being configured to select and communicate with a service centre for maintaining the vehicle.

Background

Vehicles can require regular maintenance and servicing in order to maintain roadworthiness. Sometimes, for vehicle maintenance to take place, a vehicle must be taken off the road, for example often during standard working hours. For owners of some vehicles, for example commercial vehicles, taking their vehicle off the road may lead to a loss of earnings and therefore it can be cumbersome and costly to schedule servicing of a vehicle such as a commercial vehicle.

Statements of Invention

Examples herein relate to a controller and a method that are capable of analysing an availability of a vehicle and scheduling an appointment so that a fault may be serviced in a predicted downtime of the vehicle.

Herein by "maintenance event" it is meant particularly, although not exclusively, to an identified fault in a vehicle, the fault in the vehicle being in need of maintenance, and the maintenance event thereby indicating that a component of the vehicle is in need of maintenance. Herein, by "predicted downtime" it is meant particularly, although not exclusively, to a time in which the vehicle is predicted not to be in use. For example, if the vehicle is a delivery vehicle the predicted downtime may be a time at which it is predicted that the vehicle will not be in use performing deliveries, or if the vehicle is used as a commercial vehicle primarily in the day the predicted downtime may be a time overnight during which no user is using the vehicle.

According to an example there is provided a controller for a vehicle, the controller being configured to determine a location of the vehicle, determine a vehicle maintenance event, receive and analyse data from a user scheduling device, the data describing a schedule of a user of the vehicle, predict a downtime of the vehicle based on the analysis of data received from the user scheduling device, determine whether there are any vehicle service centres within a threshold proximity of the current determined location of the vehicle, receive data from at least one service centre, the data describing at least one time indicative of an available appointment at the at least one service centre, compare the received data from the at least one service centre to the predicted downtime of the vehicle, determine whether there is an available appointment at one of the at least one service centres at a time that matches the predicted downtime, select a service centre having an available appointment that matches the predicted downtime, and transmit a signal comprising data describing the vehicle maintenance event to the selected service centre.

In one example, the threshold proximity is a distance (e.g. 10 miles). In one example, the threshold proximity is temporal (e.g. 30 minutes away if driving at 50 mph).

If more than one service centre has an available time slot, the controller may be configured to select the service centre with closest distance proximity. For example, if three service centres are within a predetermined threshold radius (e.g. 10 miles) then the controller may be configured to select the closest service centre to the vehicle's location.

If more than one service centre has an available time slot, the controller may be configured to select the service centre with the closest temporal proximity. For example, if three service centres are within a predetermined threshold time away (e.g. within a 1 hr walk away) then the controller may be configured to select the service centre that is closest for the vehicle to drive to. For example, two service centres may be at a comparable physical distance away but, due to one service centre being only accessibly by busy residential streets and another service centre being accessible by a freeway. In this case, the service centre accessible via the freeway may be the "closest" in terms of the time needing to be taken to drive there and hence may be selected even though the service centre accessible via residential streets may be the closer of the two in terms of physical distance.

If more than one service centre has an available time slot, the controller may be configured to select the service centre with the available appointment nearest a time of the determination of the vehicle maintenance event.

In some examples the controller is configured to programme a location of the selected service centre into a route guidance device.

In some examples the controller is configured to instruct the vehicle to drive to the selected service centre under autonomous control.

In some examples, in order to determine the vehicle maintenance event, the controller is configured to receive a signal from a part of the vehicle requiring maintenance and, upon receipt of a signal from a part of a vehicle requiring maintenance, consult a look-up table stored in a memory to determine whether a stored event has a signature that corresponds to the received signal, the stored event comprising metadata describing the nature of a fault to the vehicle, and comprising transmitting the metadata of the stored event to the service centre.

The controller may be configured to consult a look-up table to determine a likely required appointment duration according to the vehicle maintenance event determined. Selection of the service centre may then be based on whether an available appointment is of the threshold duration (e.g. whether an available appointment is at least as long as the determined appointment duration). The controller may therefore be configured to determine whether an available appointment of a service centre is at least as long as the determined duration and, if so, select that service centre.

The controller may be configured to receive a user schedule from a user scheduling device, the user schedule comprising an entry comprising a date component, a time component, and an activity component, and to identify an entry with no associated activity component as downtime of the vehicle.

The controller may be configured to receive a service centre schedule from the at least one service centre, the service schedule comprising an entry comprising a date component, a time component and an appointment component, and identifying an entry for which there is no associated appointment component as an available appointment.

To match an appointment with predicted downtime, the controller may be configured to compare the time and date components for respective entries to which there are no associated appointment component and activity components, to determine whether the time and date components are the same. In this way the controller is effectively determining whether there is a common slot in a user's calendar and a service centre's calendar to schedule an appointment in that common slot.

Predicting a downtime may comprise identifying a downtime. For example, downtime may be identified based on the analysis of a user's schedule (which may comprise a diary and/or calendar).

The controller may comprise the user scheduling device. The vehicle may comprise the controller.

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 a smart device of the user. In this example, the user's smart device may hold data describing the user's schedule. Therefore, the controller may be configured to access a 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 analysing data from a user scheduling device, the data describing a schedule of a user of the vehicle, predicting a downtime of the vehicle based on the analysis of data received from the user scheduling device, determining whether there are any vehicle service centres within a threshold proximity of the current determined location of the vehicle, receiving data from at least one service centre, the data describing at least one time indicative of an available appointment at the at least one service centre, comparing the received data from the at least one service centre to the predicted downtime of the vehicle, determining whether there is an available appointment at one of the at least one service centres at a time that matches the predicted downtime, selecting one of the at least one service centres having the available appointment that matches the predicted downtime, transmitting a signal comprising data describing the vehicle maintenance event to the selected service centre. At least some of the steps of the method may be performed by a processor and/or by a controller for a vehicle (e.g. the controller may comprise a processor for performing the method).

Transmitting a signal may comprise actively scheduling an appointment (e.g. transmitting a signal comprising instructions, that when executed at the service centre, instruct the service centre to schedule an appointment). Transmitting a signal may comprise instructing a mobile service centre to visit the vehicle at its location.

The transmission of the signal describing the maintenance event may occur prior to selection of the service centre.

The method may comprise determining an appointment duration, for example an appointment specific to the vehicle maintenance event, and which may be based on stored values, e.g. in a look-up table. The method may therefore comprise accessing stored values (e.g. accessing a look-up table) and fetching an appointment duration corresponding to the type of maintenance event (e.g. to fix a particular fault a service appointment duration of 1 hr may be recommended). The method may then select a service centre based on whether an available appointment is of the threshold duration (e.g. whether an available appointment is at least as long as the determined appointment duration). In other words, the method may comprise determining whether an available appointment of a service centre is at least as long as the determined duration and, if so, selecting that service centre.

The method may further comprise determining if a user of the vehicle is within a threshold distance of the vehicle and, if it is determined that the user is within a threshold distance of the vehicle, automatically accessing a smart device of the user to retrieve data from the smart device. For example, a user's smart device may comprise user scheduling data and accessing the smart device may cause the data describing the user's schedule to be retrieved 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: determine a current location of the vehicle, determine a vehicle maintenance event, receive and analyse data from a user scheduling device, the data describing a schedule of a user of the vehicle, predict a downtime of the vehicle based on the analysis of data received from the user scheduling device, determine whether there are any vehicle service centres within a threshold proximity of the current determined location of the vehicle, receive data from at least one service centre, the data describing at least one time indicative of an available appointment at the at least one service centre, compare the received data from the at least one service centre to the predicted downtime of the vehicle, determine whether there is an available appointment at one of the at least one service centres at a time that matches the predicted downtime, select one of the at least one service centres having the available appointment that matches the predicted downtime, transmit a signal comprising data describing the vehicle maintenance event to the selected service centre.

The instructions may cause the processor to instruct the service centre to schedule an appointment and/or instruct a mobile service centre to visit the vehicle at its location.

The instructions may cause the processor to determine an appointment duration. For example, the instructions may cause the processor access stored values (e.g. access a look-up table) and to retrieve an appointment duration corresponding to a maintenance event. The instructions may cause the processor to select a service centre based on whether an available appointment is of the threshold duration (e.g. whether an available appointment is at least as long as the determined appointment duration).

The instructions may cause the processor to determine if a user of the vehicle is within a threshold distance of the vehicle and to automatically access a smart device of the user to retrieve data from the smart device.

To avoid unnecessary duplication of effort and repetition of text in the specification, certain features are described in relation to only one or several aspects or embodiments of the invention. However, it is to be understood that, where it is technically possible, 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.

Brief Description of 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: Figure 1 schematically shows an example controller; Figure 2 is a flow chart of an example method; Figures 3 and 4 are schematic diagram of service centres being within a proximity threshold of a vehicle, the proximity being distance (Figure 3) and time (Figure 4); and Figure 5 is a schematic of an example medium in association with a processor.

Detailed Description

The present application relates to a controller for a vehicle, such as a motor vehicle (e.g. a car, van, truck, motorcycle, etc.), industrial vehicle (e.g. tractor, forklift, bulldozer, excavator etc.), marine vessel, aircraft, or any other type of vehicle.

Figure 1 shows a controller 104 for a vehicle 102. The vehicle 102 is depicted in Figure 1 as a van, for example a van that may be used for commercial purposes. However, it will be 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 (e.g. a car, van, truck, motorcycle, etc.) or may comprise an industrial vehicle (e.g. tractor, forklift, bulldozer, excavator etc.), or a marine vessel, aircraft, or any other type of vehicle.

The controller 104 is configured to determine a vehicle maintenance event, receive and analyse data from a user scheduling device, the data describing a schedule of a user of the vehicle, predict a downtime of the vehicle based on the analysis of data received from the user scheduling device, determine whether there are any vehicle service centres within a threshold proximity of the current determined location of the vehicle, receive data from at least one service centre, the data describing at least one time indicative of an available appointment at the at least one service centre, compare the received data from the at least one service centre to the predicted downtime of the vehicle, determine whether there is an available appointment at one of the at least one service centres at a time that matches the predicted downtime, select one of the at least a service centre having an available appointment that matches the predicted downtime; and transmit a signal comprising data describing the vehicle maintenance event to the selected service centre.

In one example, the controller 104 is configured to communicate (e.g. connect to) a smart device (for example a smart device of a user) (for example a smartphone or tablet). In one example, the controller 104 may be configured to connect or communicate wirelessly. The controller 104 may be configured to connect (e.g. to the smart device) as a user enters the vehicle 102, for example the controller 104 may be continued to connect to a user's smart device as the user enters the vehicle 102. In this example, the controller 104 is to determine the location of a 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 connect to a user's smart device (e.g. via a central server). In this example, the controller 104 may be configured to connect to a user's smart device (e.g. via the central server) when user is remote from the vehicle. In either example, the controller 104 is configured to schedule a service for the vehicle when the vehicle is not being used (as determined by the predicted downtime). The smart device may comprise the user scheduling device and so communicating with a user's smart device may give the controller 104 access to the user's schedule. As is shown (by way of example only) in Figure 1, the controller 104 may be remote from the vehicle 102. However, in some examples the vehicle 102 may comprise the controller 104.

In some examples the vehicle 102 may comprise a large number of components which may periodically require maintenance or service (for example by a mechanic or other technician) such that the vehicle 102 stays in a roadworthy condition. Accordingly, the controller 104 is to determine a vehicle maintenance event For this purpose the controller 104 may be configured to receive a signal from a component of the vehicle 102. The controller 104 may be configured to receive data from a component of the vehicle 102 that describes a fault in that component. For example, a valve of the vehicle may need replacing (due to a crack) and the controller 104 may be configured to receive a signal indicative of the fault in the valve.

The controller 104 may therefore be configured to receive a signal from a component of the vehicle 102 (e.g. a signal indicative of a property of the component) and to determine whether the signal is within an acceptable range (e.g. a predetermined range). If the signal value is outside of the acceptable range then the controller 104 may determine the existence of a vehicle maintenance event.

The controller 104 is configured to liaise with a schedule of a user to determine a predicted time when the vehicle 102 is not being used and to arrange a service to be performed on the vehicle 102. For example, analysis of the user scheduling device may determine that the vehicle may be parked overnight and hence not in use and therefore the controller 104 may attempt to arrange a service of the vehicle (e.g. a mobile service that visits the vehicle) during this time. In this way, maintenance may be performed overnight while the user sleeps. In one example, the user scheduling device may comprise a smart device, for example a smartphone, tablet, PC, desktop etc. The user scheduling device may therefore be configured to hold data describing a schedule of a user of the vehicle 102, for example a driver and/or owner and/or fleet manager of the vehicle 102. The schedule may comprise a dairy or calendar or the like (for example and electronic diary or calendar). In the example that the user scheduling device is a smartphone or tablet carried by the driver or owner about their person, the controller 104 may be configured to wirelessly connect to the user scheduling device as the driver or owner enters the vehicle 102. Additionally or alternatively, the controller 104 may be configured to connect to the user scheduling device when the user scheduling device is remote from the vehicle 102 and/or controller 104. The vehicle 102 may comprise the user scheduling device.

Data may be inputted into the user scheduling device by an owner, user or manager/administrator of the vehicle. The data may relate to past, current and future uses of the vehicle, and may include duration of usage, destination of usage etc. The controller is configured to predict at least one downtime of the vehicle based on analysis of the data from the user scheduling device performed at step 204. The downtime may include a time duration (e.g. overnight or an afternoon or shorter time periods such as 30 mins or an hour etc.) during which the vehicle 102 is not intended to be in use, and may additionally include a location of the vehicle 102 at that time.

The controller 104 is configured to determine a location of the vehicle 102. The location may be a current location of the vehicle 102 and the controller 104 may therefore be configured to determine a current location of the vehicle 102. The controller 104 may comprise a location-determining device, such as a GPS. Alternatively, the controller 104 may be configured to liaise with a location-determining device, such as a GPS. The controller 104 may be configured to determine a current location of the vehicle 102 if, for example, a downtime were to be predicted at relatively short notice, for example due to a change of plans or circumstances. Alternatively, the controller 104 may predict a future location of the vehicle 102 based on driving habits or a destination programmed into a route guidance system.

For example, if it is known that a driver of the vehicle 102 is to deliver goods to a destination, and will not drive the vehicle for a duration of time thereafter, e.g. to comply with a restriction on the number of hours a driver is permitted to operate a vehicle, the controller may predict a downtime of the vehicle 102 that begins shortly after the scheduled delivery of the goods. The controller 104 in this example may also determine the vehicle location as being proximal to the destination of the goods delivery.

In another example, if it is known that onward travel beyond a certain point would not be possible, e.g. due to severe traffic congestion or the last ferry of the day having already departed, the controller 104 may, in conjunction with the above factors, predict a downtime coinciding with an estimated arrival time at that certain point, the point forming the location having already been determined by the controller 104. The controller 104 may, in some examples, therefore be configured to receive data indicative of a predicted downtime, for example scheduling data concerning ferry departures, road closures etc. The controller 104 is configured to determine whether there are any vehicle service centres within a threshold proximity of the vehicle location. The threshold proximity may relate to a distance threshold, for example a maximum travel distance to the service centre, or alternatively may relate to a temporal threshold, for example a maximum driving duration for the vehicle 102 to reach the service centre. In the former example, the threshold proximity distance may related to the maximal travel distance, as indicated by the vehicle, on the basis of the available fuel, e.g. 50 miles. In the latter example, the threshold temporal proximity may be related to a maximum amount of time for which the vehicle can reasonably be expected to be in operation having regard to the determined fault (constituting the maintenance event), e.g. 30 mins. In examples where the service centre is a mobile and/or autonomous unit, these threshold proximities may relate to a mutual travel arrangement. This will be discussed further in relation to Figures 3 and 4 to be described below.

The controller is configured to receive data from at least one service centre within the threshold proximity of the vehicle location. This data may describe at least one time indicative of an available appointment at the at least one service centre. This data may be received in response to a request for data relating to available appointments. For example, the controller 104 may be configured to transmit a request to a service centre (e.g. within a threshold proximity). For example, the controller 104 may be configured to transmit a request to all service centres within a threshold proximity.

The controller compares the data received from the at least one service centre with the predicted downtime(s) of the vehicle 102. In this way, the controller 104 is able to determine an available appointment at one of the at least one service centres at a time that matches the predicted downtime(s) of the vehicle 102.

The controller 104 may be further configured to consult a look-up table to determine a likely required appointment duration according to the vehicle maintenance event determined. For example, the look-up table may comprise a list of known maintenance events and known estimated durations of a service appointment to fix said maintenance event. By consulting the look-up table the controller 104 may retrieve the stored entry containing the estimated duration of appointment corresponding to a maintenance event that matches the detected maintenance event.

The controller 104 is configured to select a service centres that has an available appointment matching a predicted downtime of the vehicle 102. This selection may be according to a number of factors. For example, if more than one service centre has an available time slot, the controller may be configured to select the service centre with the closest distance proximity to the vehicle location. Alternatively, the service centre may be selected according to closest temporal proximity, e.g. how long it would take to travel to/from the service centre. As a further alternative, for example with more urgent vehicle maintenance events, the controller may be configured to select the service centre with the available appointment time nearest the time of the determination of the vehicle maintenance event or the current time.

The controller 104 may compare time and date metadata of the predicted downtime of the vehicle 102 from the user scheduling device with time and date metadata from the available appointment times from the at least one service centre to determine whether they coincide.

The controller is configured to transmit a signal comprising data relating to the vehicle maintenance event to the selected service centre. For example the signal may comprise metadata describing the vehicle maintenance event (e.g. faulty valve, etc.) The data may therefore relate to the nature of the vehicle maintenance event, such as when it was first determined, the location of the vehicle when it was first determined and the amount of driving done thereafter.

The controller 104 may be configured to programme the location of the selected service centre into a route guidance system of the vehicle 102. The vehicle 102 may comprise the route guidance system, for example part of an automotive navigation system, or alternatively may be comprised within a personal computing device of an owner, driver or manager/administrator of the vehicle 102.

The controller 104 may further be configured to instruct the vehicle 102 to drive to the selected service centre under autonomous control.

The signal transmitted by the controller to the selected service centre may comprise instructions to arrange for a mobile servicing vehicle to visit the vehicle to perform the service during the scheduled appointment (which, as above, matches the predicted downtime).

The controller 104 may be configured to receive a signal from a part or component of the vehicle 102 requiring maintenance, and upon receipt of the signal, consult a look-up table stored in its memory to determine whether a stored event has a signature that corresponds to the received signal. The stored event may comprise metadata describing the nature of the fault or component of the vehicle 102 requiring maintenance. The controller may further be configured to transmit the signal comprising the metadata of the stored event to the service centre.

A method according to the present disclosure will now be described with reference to Figure 2.

Figure 2 shows a method 200 which may be a method for maintaining 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, for example the controller 104 may comprise the processor). The vehicle may comprise the vehicle 102 as shown in Figure 1 and the method 200 may be a method of using the controller 104 as described with reference to Figure 1. The controller 104 may also be configured to perform the method 200 as will now be described. In other words, the controller may comprise a processor for performing at least some of the steps of the method 200 to be described below.

Step 202 of the method 200 comprises determining, e.g. by a processor, a vehicle maintenance event.

Step 204 of the method 200 comprises receiving, e.g. by a processor, and analysing, e.g. by a processor, data from a user scheduling device that describes a schedule of a user of the vehicle.

Step 206 of the method 200 comprises predicting, e.g. by a processor, a downtime of the vehicle based on the analysis of the data received from the user scheduling device.

Step 208 of the method 200 comprises determining, e.g. by a processor, a location of the vehicle. Step 208 may comprise determining the current location of the vehicle.

Step 210 of the method 200 comprises determining, e.g. by a processor, whether there is a vehicle service centre within a threshold proximity (either temporal, e.g. 5 mins away, or a distance, e.g. 5km away) from the location of the vehicle as determined in step 208.

If it is determined at step 210 that there is a service centre within the threshold proximity the method 200 proceeds to step 212 at which the method 200 comprises receiving, e.g. by a processor, data describing a time indicative of an available appointment at the service centre determined at step 210.

Step 214 of the method 200 comprises comparing, e.g. by a processor, the received data from the service centre to the predicted downtime of the vehicle and step 216 comprises determining, e.g. by a processor, whether there is an available appointment at the service centre at a time that matches the predicted downtime.

If there is, step 218 the method 200 comprises selecting the service centre that has an available appointment that matches the predicted downtime and step 220 comprises transmitting, e.g. by a processor, a signal to that selected service centre.

Whilst Figure 2 shows the series of steps 202 -220 in a particular order, the steps 202 - 220 may equally be reorganised such that the controller 104 may be configured to carry out steps 202 -220 in any other suitable order.

For example Figure 2 shows step 220, in which a signal comprising data describing the vehicle maintenance event is transmitted to the selected service centre, depicted for illustrative purposes only as occurring after steps 202 -218. Whilst this may be the order in which these steps are performed, alternatively the controller may instead be configured to transmit this data to the service centres within the threshold proximity prior to step 212, such that only service centres with an appropriate duration of appointment are considered thereafter.

In another example, step 216 may comprise consulting a look-up table to determine a likely required appointment duration according to the vehicle maintenance event determined. In this example, step 220 may comprise transmitting this information to the service centres within the threshold proximity.; In this example, step 212 may comprise receiving only data from service centres having available appointments of the determined duration.

Alternatively, the method may select only those appointments that are at least as long as the determined duration. In this example, the controller may only need to process data from service centres having available appointments of duration equal to or exceeding the required duration. Likewise, vehicle maintenance events which may require an appointment of lesser duration may be more readily accommodated.

The user scheduling device may comprise information relating to future destinations of the vehicle, e.g. a vehicle destination at a future time. The controller (or indeed the method) may be configure to predict a future location of the vehicle 102 based on the information contained in the user scheduling device. By way of example, if it is known that the vehicle will travel between two points (e.g. from information in the user scheduling device), the controller may be able to predict a route used to travel between the points. If the two points are separated by a large distance, such that a driver may need to take significant breaks from driving along the route, the controller may be able to determine a future location of the vehicle during those breaks, such that the vehicle 102 may be serviced whilst the vehicle 102 is not in use. As such, the method 200 may comprise determining a future location of the vehicle, e.g. based on the information in the user scheduling device. In this way, any loss of earnings incurred by an owner of the vehicle 102 due to vehicle maintenance and/or servicing may be minimised.

As discussed above, in some examples the controller 104 (and/or method 200) may determine whether there are service centres within a threshold distance of a location (e.g. a current location of the vehicle). This is shown schematically in Figure 3. In Figure 3, a number of service centres 306, 308, 310, 312 are shown schematically in relation to a vehicle 302), along with an indication of a threshold distance from the vehicle 302, shown schematically as a threshold radius r. In this example, service centres 306, 308 and 310 are within the threshold radius r, and service centre 312 is outside the threshold radius r.

As such, only service centres 306, 308, 310 are considered in step 212 of the method 200, and by the controller 104 in determining whether there are any service centres within the radius r. In one example the vehicle 302 may comprise the controller 104.

As also discussed above, in some examples the controller 104 (and/or method 200) may determine whether there are service centres within a threshold temporal proximity of a location (e.g. a current location of the vehicle). This is shown schematically in Figure 4. In Figure 4, a number of service centres 406, 408, 410, 412 are again shown schematically in relation to a vehicle 402 having the controller 404 of the present disclosure, along with an indication of a threshold temporal proximity, t, to the vehicle 402. The threshold proximity, t, is a time, e.g. how long it would take the vehicle to travel to, and optionally from, each service centre. As such, the indication of the threshold proximity when shown on the schematic of Figure 4 does not form a circle of constant (distance) radius, but rather a constant (time) radius. For example, each service centre 406-412 is in an area whose boundary represents a time amount away from the vehicle at a certain speed. For example, the area defined by the time, t, may represent all locations that are 30 minutes away when travelling 50 mph.

Figure 5 shows an example non-transitory machine-readable storage medium 502 encoded with instructions 504 which are executable by processor 506. The instructions 504, when executed by the processor 506, cause the processor to perform a method of the present disclosure, for example the method 200 as described above or a permutation thereof.

The present invention may be used in conjunction with a commercial vehicle used by one driver (e.g. a delivery van), or an industrial vehicle such as a forklift. In periods of time during which the vehicle is not being used, for example overnight whilst the driver is sleeping, the controller 104 may select a service centre within a threshold proximity to the vehicle. In examples when the vehicle 102 has autonomous driving capabilities, the controller 104 may be configured to instruct the vehicle 102 to drive to the service centre under autonomous control.

Alternatively, the service centre may itself be a mobile unit with autonomous driving and/or servicing capabilities, in which case the selected mobile service centre unit may be instructed to drive to the vehicle 102. This may be particularly useful if the vehicle maintenance event means that the vehicle is no longer roadworthy and, as such, would be unsafe to drive to a service centre.

As a further alternative, in the instance that both the vehicle 102 and the service centre are autonomous, the vehicle 102 and service centre may arrange to 'meet' at a mutually convenient location such that servicing and/or maintenance may take place.

Using the data obtained from the user scheduling device, which may relate to past, present and future usage of the vehicle 102, the controller 104 may be configured to predict when components of the vehicle may require maintenance in the future. For example, if it is known that a particular component of a vehicle requires servicing or maintenance after a threshold number of miles, the controller 104 may combine data relating to previous vehicle usage since the last time that component was serviced with data relating to future planned usage of the vehicle to determine a predicted vehicle maintenance event along with a time and location at which the maintenance event will likely occur. In this way, the controller 104 may be able to pre-emptively determine a future vehicle maintenance event and co-ordinate an appointment at a service centre at a location and downtime that suits the future schedule of the vehicle according to data inputted into the user scheduling device.

The present invention therefore provides for the automatic scheduling of vehicle servicing and/or vehicle maintenance without the necessity for the input of a user, owner or manager/administrator of the vehicle. This may allow for a reduction in time spent performing administration tasks for a vehicle, thus allowing a reduction in administration costs. Similarly, the present system and method may allow for earlier maintenance of a vehicle when it is determined that a vehicle maintenance event has occurred and that a component of a vehicle requires servicing.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although the invention has been described by way of example, with reference to one or more exemplary examples, it is not limited to the disclosed examples and that alternative examples could be constructed without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

Claims 1. A controller for a vehicle, the controller being configured to: determine a location of the vehicle; determine a vehicle maintenance event; receive and analyse data from a user scheduling device, the data describing a schedule of a user of the vehicle; predict a downtime of the vehicle based on the analysis of data received from the user scheduling device; determine whether there are any vehicle service centres within a threshold proximity of the determined location of the vehicle; receive data from at least one service centre, the data describing at least one time indicative of an available appointment at the at least one service centre; compare the received data from the at least one service centre to the predicted downtime of the vehicle; determine whether there is an available appointment at one of the at least one service centres at a time that matches the predicted downtime; select a service centre having an available appointment that matches the predicted downtime; and transmit a signal comprising data describing the vehicle maintenance event to the selected service centre.
2. The controller of claim 1, wherein the threshold proximity is a distance.
3. The controller of claim 1, wherein the threshold proximity is temporal.
4. The controller of claim 2, wherein if more than one service centre has an available time slot, the controller is configured to select the service centre with closest distance proximity.
5. The controller of claim 3, wherein if more than one service centre has an available time slot, the controller is configured to select the service centre with the closest temporal proximity.
6. The controller of claim 1, wherein if more than one service centre has an available time slot, the controller is configured to select the service centre with the available appointment nearest a time of the determination of the vehicle maintenance event.
7. The controller of any preceding claim, wherein the controller is configured to programme a location of the selected service centre 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 centre under autonomous control.
9. The controller of any preceding claim, wherein, in order to determine the vehicle maintenance event, the controller is configured to receive a signal from a part of the vehicle requiring maintenance and, upon receipt of a signal from a part of a vehicle requiring maintenance, consult a look-up table stored in a memory to determine whether a stored event has a signature that corresponds to the received signal, the stored event comprising metadata describing the nature of a fault to the vehicle, and comprising transmitting the metadata of the stored event to the service centre.
10. The controller of any preceding claim, wherein the controller is additionally configured to consult a look-up to determine an appointment duration according to the vehicle maintenance event determined.
11. The controller of any preceding claim, wherein the controller is configured to receive a user schedule from a user scheduling device, the user schedule comprising an entry comprising a date component, a time component, and an activity component, and to identify an entry with no associated activity component as downtime 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 an entry comprising a date component, a time component and an appointment component, and identifying an entry for which there is no associated appointment component as an available appointment.
13. The controller of any preceding claim, wherein, to match an appointment with predicted downtime, the controller is configured to compare the time and date components for respective entries to which there are no associated appointment component and activity components, 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 a smart device of the user.
15. A method for maintaining a vehicle, the method comprising: determining a location of the vehicle; determining a vehicle maintenance event; receiving and analysing data from a user scheduling device, the data describing a schedule of a user of the vehicle, predicting a downtime of the vehicle based on the analysis of data received from the user scheduling device; determining whether there are any vehicle service centres within a threshold proximity of the determined location of the vehicle; receiving data from at least one service centre, the data describing at least one time indicative of an available appointment at the at least one service centre; comparing the received data from the at least one service centre to the predicted downtime of the vehicle; determining whether there is an available appointment at one of the at least one service centres at a time that matches the predicted downtime; selecting a service centre having the available appointment that matches the predicted downtime; transmitting a signal comprising data describing the vehicle maintenance event to the selected service centre.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein transmission of the signal comprising data describing the vehicle maintenance event occurs prior to selection of the service centre.
17. The method of claim 15 or 16 comprising: determining a duration of an appointment based on the determined maintenance event; determining whether an available appointment of a service centre is at least as long as the determined duration and, if so, selecting the service centre.
18. The method of claims 14-17 further comprising: determining if a user of the vehicle is within a threshold distance of the vehicle and, if it is determined that the user is within a 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.