NL1022842C2 - Equipment and method are for determination of vehicle data and include a position determining unit fixed to or in vehicle for determination at successive time intervals of momentary position data of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The equipment and method are for the determination of vehicle data (V) and include a position determining unit (1) fixed to or in a vehicle for determination at successive time intervals of the momentary position data of the vehicle. A gravity sensor determines the forces of gravity experienced by the vehicle and the corresponding data is stored in a memory (3). The position data, the gravity force data are processed in a central processor unit (2) to provide representative data to the vehicle indicating momentary acceleration and retardation. The successive time intervals used for determination purposes are at most 3 seconds long.

Description

t *

DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING VEHICLE DATA

The present invention relates to a device and a method for determining vehicle data.

Vehicle data is herein understood to be data representative of the use of the vehicle. The vehicle data is intended to provide insight into the causes of (in) efficiency of the use of the vehicle.

Various techniques are known to estimate the efficiency of using a vehicle. For example, if one is interested in the fuel consumption of a passenger car, the information from various sensors in the car, such as the odometer (odometer) and the I speedometer, is used to calculate the current consumption or the I consumption over a certain period of time. Some I 15 systems also obtain current information from the I fuel injection system. However, these systems require integration with the various sensors of the vehicle. A drawback of this is that the information comes from different sources and is difficult to interpret unambiguously.

Furthermore, connections between such a system and all individual vehicle sensors must be provided, which makes the system not only expensive, but also susceptible to malfunctions. Furthermore, the H information obtained with the known systems does not provide a good insight into the causes of the (in) H efficiency of the use of the vehicle.

H Furthermore, it is known to provide vehicles with an I 1022842

If J

positioning system. Such a system is connected to a storage medium on which floor plans of a certain area are stored. The purpose of such systems is to provide route information to the driver based on the position of the vehicle. However, the known position determining systems are unsuitable for determining vehicle data representing the efficiency of the vehicle or for storing the position data for later analysis thereof. Examples of such position determining systems are known from US 5 862 511 and US 6 088 650.

The processing means often comprise a programmable processor which is programmed such that it retrieves the relevant time and position data and calculates the distances between the different positions therefrom.

The European document EP 1 251 333 A1 describes a system for monitoring the movement of a vehicle. The system comprises a volatile (RAM) memory in which position data and time data are stored. The position data comes from a GPS position-determining system, while speed data is determined on the basis of this position data or on the basis of an odometer in the vehicle. The data stored in the memory is sent directly to a central server. When there is a period in which driving is not allowed and the system detects a displacement of the vehicle, the server generates an alarm. If there is a period during which the vehicle may be driven, the server checks whether the maximum speed is exceeded. However, the known system does not provide insight into vehicle use or vehicle efficiency, such as fuel consumption or vehicle wear.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method with which the efficiency of the vehicle behavior representing vehicle behavior can be generated and in which, moreover, the aforementioned drawbacks are associated with it. to the state of the art.

According to a first aspect of the invention, this object I is achieved in an apparatus for determining vehicle data I which is representative of the use of the vehicle, comprising: I a position-determining unit attachable to or in the vehicle for determining successively times of the current position data of the I vehicle; - storage means for storing the position data provided by the position-determining unit and the associated time data / - a gravitational sensor for determining the gravitational forces experienced by the vehicle, the H storage means being arranged for storing the determined by the H-20 gravitational sensor gravitational force data; H - processing means for processing the time data and position data up to vehicle data representative of the use of the vehicle, including the distance traveled by the vehicle between the times and the processing of the measured gravitational force data into vehicle data representative of the use of the vehicle, including the current acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle; and in that H - the time intervals between successive time points 30 is at most 3 seconds.

By each time a position is determined, the distance I 1022842-

If 4 4 can be determined to a previous position, then the trajectory traveled by the vehicle can be followed fairly accurately. The gravitational sensor furthermore measures continuously or in a discrete manner (with a relatively high sampling frequency that is preferably higher than that of the position-determining unit, for example a sampling frequency of 5 Hz or more) the gravitational forces experienced by the vehicle. From the measured gravitational forces, the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle can be calculated by the processing means in a simple and accurate manner. The acceleration and deceleration can hereby be determined more accurately than when they are derived from the position data provided by the position determining unit. In addition, fewer processing steps are required.

Another advantage of applying a gravitational sensor is that certain gravitational forces, for example the centrifugal forces occurring in bends, can be measured with this, which forces are practically not measurable with the aid of the position-determining unit itself.

Further vehicle data can be derived by the above-mentioned coupling of the acceleration / deceleration data to the position data.

Because acceleration or deceleration have been determined on the vehicle, it is possible in a further preferred embodiment to generate vehicle data which are representative of the wear of the vehicle, and in particular the wear of the tires of the vehicle. In this embodiment the processing means are arranged for: - determining from the position and time data in which time periods the vehicle makes a turn; - determining gravitational forces occurring during said time periods; - determining vehicle data representative of vehicle wear during a turn on the basis of the determined gravitational forces.

The positioning unit preferably comprises a satellite receiver with which information can be received from one or more satellites. The position determining unit is herein part of a satellite positioning system, such as, for example, the GPS system, the WAAS system, Galileo system or GLONASS system, or operates on the basis of other technology, such as INS or technologies to be developed for positioning.

The positioning unit sets the position of the vehicle at least once every 3 seconds and preferably more than 1

Ikatie per second, fixed, whereby the position of the vehicle can be calculated with an accuracy of 15 meters or higher for more than 95 percent of the time.

The storage means and the processing means are preferably arranged in or on the relevant vehicle and are directly coupled to the position-determining unit. This is the simplest version of the device, in which the data collection and all processing takes place in the vehicle itself.

In another preferred embodiment, communication means are provided for transferring position and time data from the vehicle to processing means arranged remotely from the vehicle. The position-determining unit and storage means are herein arranged in or on the vehicle, while the processing means are provided at a distance H (centrally). An intermediate form of both embodiments is also possible, wherein processing means are provided in or on the vehicle for performing a specific pre-processing on the position and / or time data, while further processing means are placed remotely for further processing of the pre-processed data. By in particular allowing the information collection to take place in the vehicle and having a central computer take care of the (post-processing) processing, an H overview of the vehicle data of various vehicles H can be provided in a simple manner.

H The communication connection between the vehicle and the H processing means can be permanent or can be established every now and then. The connection can be a direct physical, for example electrical, connection or, preferably, a wireless connection via the ether, for example in the form of a radiographic or optical connection.

The position determining unit provides position data in the form of longitude and latitude data. On the basis of the longitude and latitude data at different times, the distance traveled between the times can thus be determined. In a further preferred embodiment, the height of the vehicle relative to a calibration point on the earth's surface is also determined. If the altitude information is known, I is included as a correction in the distance calculation.

The time interval of this correction is determined in accordance with the required accuracy of the height information.

In further preferred embodiments, other vehicle data can also be determined on the basis of the determined distance data, such as the speed and acceleration, including a negative acceleration or deceleration. This vehicle data can then be used later to derive further vehicle data with which the efficiency of the use of the vehicle can be further analyzed.

In a further preferred embodiment, the device comprises input means for inputting the amount of fuel introduced into the vehicle fuel tank, the processing means being adapted to determine the distance traveled with the fuel amount and to determine the amount traveled and the amount traveled. of the consumption data of the vehicle. With this, the actual consumption of the vehicle can be accurately determined. It also offers the possibility of comparing the consumption data thus determined with theoretical consumption values of the vehicle stored in advance on the storage means. These theoretical consumption values come, for example, from the vehicle manufacturer. According to another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for determining vehicle data which is representative of the use of the vehicle, comprising: - determining the current positional data at successive times with a position-determining unit that can be attached to or in the vehicle of the vehicle; - storing the position data provided by the position determining unit and the associated time data; - determining the gravitational forces experienced by the vehicle with a gravitational sensor; - storing the * 022842- determined by the gravitation sensor

Igravitational force data; - processing the time data and position data into vehicle data representative of the use of the vehicle, including the distance traveled by the vehicle between the points in time and processing the measured gravitational force data into vehicle data representative of the use of the vehicle, including the current acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle; wherein the time intervals between successive 10 time points is at most 3 seconds.

Further advantages, features and details of the present invention will be elucidated on the basis of the description of some preferred embodiments thereof. Reference is made in the description to the figures, in which: Figure 1 shows a schematic view of a vehicle provided with a first preferred embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic view of a vehicle provided with a second preferred embodiment of the invention;

Figure 3 shows a sketch which clarifies the calculations of the distance between two positions and the determination of the direction in which a vehicle is moving;

Figure 4 shows a State Transition Diagram showing how the position data from the position sensor is processed;

Figure 5 shows a State Transition Diagram that shows how to correct for the position of a odometer;

Figure 6 shows a sketch explaining the working time check;

Figure 7 a State Transition Diagram of determining the consumption of the vehicle; Figure 8 a sketch explaining the determination of the speed of the vehicle; inooQ A-9

Figure 9 shows a sketch of how the acceleration from a stationary state can be calculated;

Figures 10 and 11 show respectively views of the first and second embodiments of the invention, wherein a gravitational sensor is additionally arranged;

Figure 12 shows a State Transition Diagram, in which the determination of the tire wear is explained.

Figure 1 shows a first preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention. The device is mentioned in the following vehicle follower. The figure shows a vehicle in the form of a passenger car. However, a vehicle can be more than a passenger car. Think of lorries, buses, trains, planes, helicopters, boats, bicycles, horses, people and any other means of transport.

In the passenger car v, a position sensor 1 is arranged, which is connected to a central processing unit (CPU) 2 and

A storage medium 3. The storage medium consists of an electronic memory of the RAM type, possibly in combination with a fixed data storage such as a hard disk or a memory of the FLASH or EEPROM type. The collection of data, as well as the storage and processing thereof takes place in this vehicle in the vehicle itself. This embodiment is relatively simple and mounting in the vehicle requires little effort.

Figure 2 shows a second preferred embodiment, in which only the position sensor 1, the storage medium 3 and a relatively simple processing unit 4 are arranged in or on the vehicle. The processing unit 4 only has the function of collecting the data from the position sensor 1 and possibly carrying out a short preprocessing on the data. The data is then sent via a data connection d to 1022842 - a central computer system 7 arranged remotely from the vehicle. An H central processing unit 8 is provided in the computer system 7 which further processes the received H vehicle data.

H 5 The data connection can be temporary in nature, for example H when the connection is a direct, physical H electrical connection. At intervals the vehicle v H is connected to the computer system 7 which reads the vehicle data stored on the H storage medium 3. However, it is preferable for H 10 to transfer the data to H via the ether, for example via a radio link H or an optical link. For this purpose, a transmitter 5 is provided in the vehicle v and a receiver 6 is provided in the computer system, which enables one-way communication from the vehicle to the computer system. However, two-way communication from and I to the vehicle v also belongs to the I possibilities. In such a situation, the vehicle follower I can be controlled remotely from the computer system 7.

The second embodiment makes it possible to follow two or more H 20 vehicles. An overview of the efficient use of a large number of vehicles can therefore be supplied.

I Hereby also a comparison can be made between various vehicles.

I The position sensor 1 detects the current position of the vehicle I at least once a second with a precision better than 15 I 25 m for 95% of the time. Examples of this type I position sensor are GPS, WAAS, Galileo, GLONASS, and other future systems that can deliver this data.

The position sensor not only makes the current positional data of the vehicle available at least once per second, but also the corresponding time data. This will usually be the I absolute time - the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or 11

Universal Mean Time (UMT) - at which the vehicle was at that position and the time zone in which the vehicle is located are. However, it is equally possible to make the local time available through the position sensor or have it processed by the processing unit from the absolute time and the time zone.

On the basis of the position data and the resulting vehicle data, the causes of vehicle efficiency or possible inefficiency can subsequently be determined. The method involves collecting the position data over time and analyzing it by means of, among other things, one or more of the examples described below. Subsequently, this data is presented in such a way that the manufacturer or manager of the vehicle can draw conclusions from this and take possible initiatives to improve efficiency.

The vehicle data that can be used to analyze the use of the vehicle can be determined from the position and time data in the following manner.

Vehicle data can for instance comprise the distance traveled by the vehicle 20 and the direction followed by the vehicle. A position consists of at least the latitude (latitude) and the longitude (longitude) (Figure 3). The position is preferably also defined by the height at which the vehicle is located. In addition to the absolute distance between two points, the direction in which the vehicle moves is important. The direction is determined with respect to the North and is called fHoek in the figure below.

The distance traveled by a vehicle is determined on the basis of two position determinations. For short distances, the fast, simplified distance and direction calculation between two locations can be used. This method uses basically the 1022842 “H theorem of Pythagoras with a longitude correction factor, for example as indicated below.

I DEG_RAD = 180 / PI; I 5 DIST = 111194.9267 temp = cos ((PI / 360) * (dB width to + dB width from)); dx = DIST * (d Length to d length from) * temp; dy = DIST * (dB width to dB width from); * fDist = ((dx * dx) + (dy * dy)) w; * f Angle = fmod (360 + DEG_RAD * atan2 (dx, dy), 360); As stated, the foregoing formula can only be applied to small distances. The formula below shows a full I large circle calculation as we use to determine the distance between two locations.

15 DEG-RAD = 180 / PI; dB width = dB width From / DEG_RAD; I dLength = dLength From / -DEG_RAD; I dB width To = dB width To / DEG_RAD; I dLength To = dLength To / -DEG_RAD; I 20 I d »2.0 * asin ((pow (sin ((dBwidthFrom -DDwidth) / 2)", 2.0) + I cos (dBwidthFrom) * cos (dBwidthFrom) * pow (sin ((dLengthFrom-dLength To) / 2) (I 2.0))}; I * fDef = d * 6371000.0; (where 6371000.0 = earth radius) if (sin (dLength To-dLength From) <0) {tcl = acos ((sin (dBwidth To) -sin (dBwidthFrom) * cos (d)) / (sin (d) * cos (dBwidthFrom)); I} other {I tcl “TWOPI acos ((sin (dBwidthTo)) - I sin (dBwidthFrom) * cos (d)) / (sin (d) * cos (dBwidthFrom))); I 30> * f Angle = count * DEG_RAD; I If altitude data are known, these are included as I correction in the distance calculation. I of this correction.

I 1022842-> <13

Vehicle data may furthermore comprise the distance traveled by a vehicle in a specific period. The distance traveled can be determined by summing up all distances between two successive positions.

Vehicle data may further comprise the speed of the vehicle. Position determinations together with the time determinations make it possible to determine the average speed between two positions. These positions can be consecutive position determinations, but that is not necessary. The situation is outlined in Figure 4. The average speed v between the two positions can be determined by differentiating the distance traveled by time: speed (gem) = (distance (from-to)) / (time (from to)) 15

In Figure 8 a further example is given on the basis of a State Transition Diagram (STD) of how position data of the position sensor 1 is preferably processed. Certain I calculations such as distance, speed and direction determination are performed immediately and then stored for later further processing. Further processing can be done by the I vehicle follower himself, but this is not necessary.

Step 1: The driver b starts the vehicle 10 and thereby also starts the vehicle follower.

Step 2: The system waits until the position sensor has found a 'fix' I.

Step 3: When the sensor transmits a position, this is first stored 12 in the (working) memory.

I Step 4: The positional data (latitude, longitude, altitude, and time) are used to determine distance, direction, and speed 13.

Step 5: The data is stored 14 on the storage medium 2.

H Step 6: The control goes back 14 to step 2.

H 5 As previously explained, the path (distance) traveled by the vehicle can be determined on the basis of the data H of the position sensor. Vehicles that themselves have an H odometer (odometer) already have H this information. Odometer counters are not always as accurate in all cases. The measurement depends on the tire pressure and the load (weight) that the vehicle carries. Nevertheless, the information from the vehicle's odometer often determines various factors. Consider, for example, the determination of the residual value of a vehicle (in which the total distance traveled plays a major role), the loads imposed based on the distance traveled, and so on. To keep the distance traveled calculated by the vehicle follower in accordance with the vehicle's odometer data, it is possible to correct the calculated data. To this end, the driver or manager of the vehicle should only read the odometer and enter the position in the vehicle follower. This then recalculates the distance I traveled.

Figure 5 gives an example of the above based on a State Transition Diagram 25 (STD):

Step 1: The data, whether or not pre-processed, is imported 15.

Step 2: Further data is calculated including the distance traveled by the vehicle 16. The calculated distance traveled may deviate from the distance traveled as indicated on 1022842 “15 the odometer of the vehicle.

Step 3: The driver or manager of the vehicle can read the odometer and enter this information 17.

Step 4: The vehicle follower waits for the data of the odometer 18 and performs a correction based on the odometer readings 19.

Step 5: The data is saved 20.

Step 6: The vehicle follower returns 21 to step 1.

Another application of the vehicle follower concerns the working time check. By converting the absolute time to local time, the local time of the position determination is given. With the help of the aforementioned distance calculation, we can see if the vehicle is moving

I was between this time and the position that the sensor returned just before. In this way it becomes possible to get a picture of the moments on the day when the vehicle was moving (either in local time or in absolute time). If we compare these moments with the local time, this also gives us a picture of the working times of the employee (s) who drive the vehicle.

Because the sensor does not have infinite accuracy, we make the requirement that a vehicle is only moving if it has been in motion during the last (definable number of) position determinations (Figure 6). For example, the algorithm 25 can take the last 10 position determinations (ie approximately the last 10 seconds) into account. Instead of using "distance> 0", "speed> 0" can also be used if this is more convenient for certain (for example data storage technical) reasons. Because speed follows from distance, these are identical.

H A further application relates to the H fuel consumption of the vehicle. For the vast majority of H types of vehicles, fuel consumption plays a major role. Based on the distance traveled and the time it is possible to determine the H 5 fuel consumption of the vehicle. For an H vehicle, the expected average consumption can be specified as well as the maximum fuel stock. The vehicle must regularly top up the fuel: these fuel moments provide information about the actual consumption of the vehicle.

10 By comparing actual consumption with expected consumption, important efficiency information can be determined.

For further processing, a number of basic data are required regarding the vehicle. Firstly, the expected consumption and capacity of the fuel tank. On the basis of this data, and with the data previously acquired, it is possible to determine other efficiency data as discussed in this document.

I To compare the actual consumption of the vehicle with the expected consumption, it is necessary for the user to fill in the I tank moments. A link can also be realized with an administrative file of, for example, I fuel cards or leasing company; so active completion I can be left behind.

Figure 7 shows an example of the generation of vehicle data on the basis of a State Transition Diagram I (STD).

Step 1: First of all basic data of the vehicle I must be made known to the system 25. This is the theoretical consumption of the vehicle provided by, for example, the vehicle manufacturer. The consumption is often made available in the form of 17 the number of liters per a certain distance or the distance that can be covered per unit volume of the fuel. The consumption data are often available as a function of the speed of the vehicle. The tank capacity of the vehicle can also be entered. However, this is not necessary.

Step 2: The data, whether or not pre-processed, is imported 26.

Step 3: Further data is calculated 27 such as maximum 10 speed control, working time control, constant speed control, acceleration, deceleration, and the expected consumption.

Step 4: In order to be able to carry out further processing, the user must first enter the fuel moments 28. So when and with what amount the fuel has been replenished.

Step 5: The vehicle follower waits for the tank data 29 and determines the actual consumption 30 based on the tank moments.

Step 6: The data is saved 31.

20 Step 7: The vehicle follower returns 32 to step 2.

Speeds provide important efficiency information. When fuel consumption plays a role, it is usually cheaper to maintain a constant speed. An I maximum speed may also be set for the vehicle to increase road safety and prevent fines. The data provided by the position sensor are used, for example, for checking a possible exceeding of the maximum permissible speed. A statistic can be kept H of the number of violations of the maximum speed set for the vehicle I 30, and it can be determined with I 1022842-I how much this maximum was exceeded. Here again there are several options: for example, we can determine the average exceedance, the maximum exceedance, etc.

By calculating the speeds for a series of 5 position determinations it can be checked how often the vehicle maintains a constant speed (and therefore uses fuel more efficiently and efficiently). Constant speed is defined as a period of at least one position position to be set in which the vehicle maintains a speed that does not deviate more than a certain percentage from the speed at the start of that period.

The way in which a vehicle accelerates is an important (driving) characteristic. From this it can be determined how a driver behaves in traffic. Of course, the acceleration also depends on the capabilities of the vehicle, but comparisons with other vehicles of the same class can give a good picture of how the driver is handling the vehicle. Calm acceleration also limits fuel consumption, which is reflected in the consumption figure.

20 Acceleration is defined as the derivative of speed to time. According to this definition, acceleration could therefore also be negative, which is therefore delay. Here we use "acceleration" for a vehicle that accelerates and "deceleration" for a vehicle that decelerates.

25 Regarding acceleration, several key figures that may be of interest include:

Average acceleration; This is the average of all acceleration moments of the vehicle.

Acceleration from a standstill; Acceleration calculated over the 30 period from standstill until the moment that the vehicle either 19 assumes a constant speed or slows down.

Intermediate gear; This concerns the manner in which the moving vehicle accelerates from a constant speed to either another (higher) constant speed, or a subsequent deceleration.

Figure 9 shows schematically how the acceleration from standstill can be calculated. First, the device determines at what time the vehicle is stationary. For this purpose, just as long as positions are read in until it can be judged that the vehicle 10 is indeed stationary. From there a search is made for a moment when the vehicle moves (so it is no longer stationary).

The acceleration is determined and the following position data is retrieved. If the vehicle is still accelerating, it will be recalculated. This process is repeated until the vehicle either slows down or assumes a constant speed, or, in other words, until the vehicle stops accelerating. In this case, the average acceleration is determined and the vehicle is stopped again.

As already indicated, delay, like acceleration, is a derivative of the speed to time. The speed in turn is the derivative of the place to time. The acceleration / deceleration can therefore be deduced from the

Position sensor provided position data.

The method of delay is important as a method of the traffic behavior of the driver. A short, hard delay may indicate late braking, which can be dangerous for road safety. It is also fuel-efficient to brake late. In the case of cars, for example, hard braking also results in increased wear to, for example, 30 tires, brake discs, etc. In other words: 1022842-H maintenance-wise, it is also inefficient to brake hard (so having a high deceleration).

It goes without saying that similar techniques can be used as with the acceleration calculation.

5 Functionally, the following numbers can be considered: 1. Average delay. Average of all delay moments.

2. Delay to standstill.

3. Delay from a constant speed or from acceleration until the moment that the vehicle is completely stationary.

4. "Intermediate delay". Delay to from a constant speed or previous acceleration moment to a (lower) H constant speed or next acceleration moment.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the vehicle follower also comprises a gravitation sensor 10. In the foregoing we have indicated how data such as acceleration and deceleration can be derived from the position data.

I 20 This data can also be determined with the aid of a so-called I 'gravitation sensor' which measures the gravitational forces (G-I forces). Figure 10 shows a preferred embodiment of such a vehicle follower. In this embodiment, the I vehicle follower is arranged in its entirety in the vehicle itself.

Figure 11 shows the vehicle follower in an embodiment in which it is divided between vehicle and an external computer system 7.

The acceleration and deceleration with the gravitational sensor is determined as follows. The gravitational sensor 10 gives a continuous or discrete series that displays the gravitational forces on the vehicle. Acceleration and deceleration can thus be determined very accurately. The system links the acceleration and deceleration data to the position data and stores this for further processing and / or reporting.

The way in which the vehicle is steered when cornering is often of great importance for vehicle efficiency. For example, vehicles with tires have increased tire wear when cornering at high speeds (many G-forces).

In other words, it can be disadvantageous for the maintenance costs of the vehicle to have many G-forces in turns. The gravitation sensor or the position sensor with the processing unit or a combination thereof provides the system of information to determine the G-forces. From the I position sensor we can derive various data, including the direction, among other things. A change in direction indicates a bend.

I Together with the speed, this gives a good picture of how the I driver handles the vehicle when cornering. If the I gravitation sensor is present, this calculation can be performed with even more precision.

Figure 20 is based on a State Transition

Diagram (STD) given an example of determining the gravitational forces exerted on a vehicle.

The gravitation sensor comprises an accelerometer which measures the accelerations (and determines the resulting forces), the signal supplied by the sensor being sampled with a sampling frequency of 100 Hz. From this the average acceleration is determined a few times per second (for example 5 to 10 times per I second).

The data from the gravitational sensor 10 is coupled to the data from the position sensor 1 so that it is known what the gravitational forces were at what time (time data from the position sensor) and at what position (position data from the position sensor). In this way acceleration and H deceleration during acceleration and deceleration can be determined, but H 5 also the gravitational forces that occur when taking a bend at (high) speed.

Step 1: The driver starts 32 the vehicle and thus H also the vehicle follower

Step 2: The vehicle follower waits 33 until the position sensor 1 has found a 'fix'.

Step 3: When the position sensor 1 transmits a position (and time) I this is first stored 34 in the (working) memory.

Step 4: The G-forces for this moment are retrieved 35 from the gravitation sensor 10.

15 Step 5: The G-forces are stored with the position data 36.

Step 6: The position data (latitude, longitude, altitude, and time) is used to determine distance, direction, and speed 37.

20 Step 7: The data is saved 38.

Step 8: The vehicle follower returns 39 to step 2.

The invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments thereof described above. The rights are determined by the following claims, within the scope of which many modifications can be envisaged.

1022842 “

Claims (45)

Device for determining vehicle data, comprising: I - a position determining unit attachable to or in the vehicle for determining the current position data of the I vehicle at successive times; Storage means for storing the position data provided by the position determining unit and the time data associated therewith; Characterized by I - a gravitational sensor for determining the gravitational forces encountered by the vehicle, the storage means being adapted to store the gravitational force data determined by the I gravitational sensor; Processing means for processing the I time data and position data up to vehicle data representative of the use of the I vehicle, including the distance traveled by the I vehicle between the times and the processing of the measured gravitational force data until the I use of the vehicle representative vehicle data I including the current acceleration or deceleration I of the vehicle; and in that I - the time intervals between successive times I is at most 3 seconds. Device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing means are adapted for: - determining from the position and time data in which time periods the vehicle makes a turn; I 1022842 'Η Η - determining H gravitational forces occurring during said time periods; H - determining vehicle data which is representative of vehicle wear during a turn on the basis of the determined gravitational forces. Device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the H processing means are adapted to provide vehicle data representative of the speed of the vehicle from the position data and times. Device as claimed in claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein the processing means are adapted to provide vehicle data I which are representative of the acceleration of the vehicle from the position data and times. 5. Device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the position-determining unit comprises a receiver for receiving position data from the vehicle via the ether. Device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the receiver I is also suitable for receiving time data via the ether. I 20 Device as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein the position-determining unit forms part of a satellite location-determining system, preferably of the GPS, WAAS, Galileo or I GLONASS type. 8. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the position data comprise longitude and latitude data, and preferably also height data. 9. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the processing means are adapted to determine the distance traveled by a vehicle in a specific time period by summing up all distances covered by the vehicle within the time period. . Device as claimed in claim 9, which comprises input means for inputting the distance determined by a kilometer counter in said time period, wherein the processing means are adapted to correct the distance covered by the processing means with the aid of the entered distance. 11. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the processing means are adapted to determine the vehicle's average speed over a certain period of time. 12. Device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the processing means are arranged for: comparing the average speeds over different time periods with maximum speeds stored in advance in the storage means; and I - providing vehicle data representative of I for exceeding the maximum speeds. 13. Device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the processing means are adapted for: - determining on the basis of the positional data the maximum allowable speed of a vehicle on a route traversed in the period of time determined in the I; Comparing the average speed of the vehicle during the said period of time with the determined maximum allowable speed; I - the provision of vehicle data representative of I exceeding the maximum permissible speed. 14. Device as claimed in claim 12 or 13, wherein the vehicle data is the number of exceedances of the maximum speed and / or the rate of speed exceeding. 15. Device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the processing means are adapted to determine the duration in which the vehicle maintains a substantially constant speed. 16. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the processing means are adapted to determine the acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle averaged over a certain time period on the basis of the position and time data, respectively. 17. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, which comprise input means for inputting the amount of fuel introduced into the vehicle fuel tank, wherein the processing means are adapted to determine the distance traveled and the distance traveled based on the input fuel quantity and the amount traveled. determining road consumption data including vehicle data from the vehicle. 18. Device as claimed in claim 17, wherein the processing means are adapted for comparing the determined consumption data with theoretical consumption values of the vehicle stored in advance on the storage means 19. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the storage means and processing means are arranged in or on the vehicle and are directly coupled to the position-determining unit. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, comprising communication means for transferring position and time data from the vehicle to processing means arranged remotely from the vehicle. Device according to claim 20, wherein the 1022842 communication means comprise a transmitter and receiver for transmitting the position and time data via the ether from the vehicle to the processing means. 22. Device as claimed in claim 20 or 21, wherein the communication means form a radiographic or optical connection. 23. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the processing means are adapted to determine the direction of the route traveled by the vehicle between said times. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the time intervals between successive times is at most 1 second 25. Device as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the vehicle in which the device is arranged is a passenger car, truck, bus, train, airplane, helicopter, I boat, bicycle, or a person. A method for determining vehicle data, comprising: 20. determining the current positional data of the vehicle with a position-determining unit attachable to or in the vehicle at successive times in time; - storing the position data provided by the position determining unit and the associated time data; Characterized by - determining with a gravitational sensor the gravitational forces experienced by the vehicle; Storing the gravitational force data determined by the gravitational sensor; - the processing of the time data and position data into H vehicle representative data for the use of the vehicle, including the distance traveled by the vehicle between the points in time and the processing of the measured gravitational force data until the use of the vehicle representative vehicle data including the current acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle; wherein the time intervals between successive times is at most 3 seconds. The method of claim 26, comprising: I - determining from the position and time data in which time periods the vehicle makes a turn; - determining gravitational forces occurring during said time periods; On the basis of the determined gravitational forces during a turn, determining vehicle data which is representative of vehicle wear. 28. Method as claimed in claim 26 or 27, comprising of determining vehicle data representative of the speed of the vehicle from the position data and times. 29. Method as claimed in claim 26, 27 or 28, comprising determining vehicle data representative of the acceleration of the vehicle from the position data and times. The method of claim 26, comprising receiving positional data from the vehicle over the air. The method of claim 30, comprising receiving time data via the ether. The method of claim 30 or 31, comprising the 1022642-t * determining the position and time data of the vehicle via a satellite positioning system, preferably of the GPS, WAAS, Galileo or GLONASS type. 33. A method according to any one of claims 26-32, comprising determining the distance traveled by a vehicle in a specific time period by summing up all distances covered by the vehicle within the time period. The method of claim 33, comprising entering the distance determined in said time period by a odometer 10 and correcting the determined distance traveled for the entered distance. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 26-34, comprising determining the average speed of the vehicle over a certain period of time. A method according to claim 35, comprising: - comparing the speeds averaged over different time periods with maximum speeds stored in advance in the storage means; and - providing vehicle data representative of exceeding the maximum speeds. A method according to claim 35, comprising: - determining the maximum permissible speed of a vehicle on a trajectory run during the determined time period on the basis of the position data; 25. comparing the average speed of the vehicle over said time period with the determined maximum allowable speed; - providing vehicle data that is representative of exceeding the maximum allowable speed. The method of claim 36 or 37, wherein the 1022842 vehicle data is the number of exceedances of the maximum speed and / or the rate of speed exceeding. The method of claim 35, comprising determining the length of time in which the vehicle maintains a substantially constant speed. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 26-39, comprising the input of the amount of fuel introduced into the vehicle fuel tank, the determination of the route traveled with the fuel quantity and the input of the entered fuel quantity and the traveled amount determine road consumption data from the vehicle. A method according to claim 40, comprising comparing the determined consumption data with theoretical consumption values of the I vehicle stored in advance on the I storage means. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 26-41, comprising transferring position and time data from the vehicle to processing means arranged remotely from the vehicle. The method of claim 42, comprising transmitting the position and time data from the vehicle to the operating means via the ether. 44. A method according to any one of claims 26-43, comprising determining the direction of the route traveled by the vehicle between said points in time. A method according to any of the preceding claims 26-44, comprising determining the position and time data at least once per second. 1022842-