6816results about "Analogue computers for traffic" patented technology

An expert system manages a power grid wherein charging stations are connected to the power grid, with electric vehicles connected to the charging stations, whereby the expert system selectively backfills power from connected electric vehicles to the power grid through a grid tie inverter (if present) within the charging stations. In more traditional usage, the expert system allows for electric vehicle charging, coupled with user preferences as to charge time, charge cost, and charging station capabilities, without exceeding the power grid capacity at any point. A robust yet accurate state of charge (SOC) calculation method is also presented, whereby initially an open circuit voltage (OCV) based on sampled battery voltages and currents is calculated, and then the SOC is obtained based on a mapping between a previously measured reference OCV (ROCV) and SOC. The OCV-SOC calculation method accommodates likely any battery type with any current profile.

An on-board intelligent vehicle system includes a sensor assembly to collect data and a processor to process the data to determine the occurrence of at least one event. The data may be collected from existing standard equipment such as the vehicle communication bus or add-on sensors. The data may be indicative of conditions relating to the vehicle, roadway infrastructure, and roadway utilization, such as vehicle performance, roadway design, roadway conditions, and traffic levels. The detection of an event may signify abnormal, substandard, or unacceptable conditions prevailing in the roadway, vehicle, or traffic. The vehicle transmits an event indicator and correlated vehicle location data to a central facility for further management of the information. The central facility sends communications reflecting event occurrence to various relevant or interested users. The user population can include other vehicle subscribers (e.g., to provide rerouting data based on location-relevant roadway or traffic events), roadway maintenance crews, vehicle manufacturers, and governmental agencies (e.g., transportation authorities, law enforcement, and legislative bodies).

Means are provided for recording, storing, calculating, communicating and reviewing one or more operational aspects of a machine. Insurance costs are based, in part, on activities of the machine operator. A discount may be provided in exchange for recording the operational aspects and providing the recorded information to the insurer. The party may review information and decide whether to provide it to the insurer. The means for reviewing may present comparative information. Information that causes insurance costs to vary may be highlighted. Provided data may be used to verify insurance application information, generate actuarial information or determine insurance rates. Operating data may be reviewed on a computer, a Web site or other display medium so a party can observe how his operating behavior compares to that of other operators of similar machines and may be manipulated so a party can understand how changes in operating behavior can affect his insurance rates.

System and methods for determining and disseminating current traffic information and / or route information are presented. For example, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, traffic condition information is collected from mobile units that provide their location or position information. The traffic condition may be determined, for example, based on the difference between the velocity of each mobile unit and the speed limit corresponding to their location. Furthermore, the fastest routes between two locations may be determined and provided based on historical and / or current conditions and provided to a mobile unit. In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, route information may be utilized to determine whether a mobile unit (e.g., associated with a vehicle) is allowed or prohibited from traveling along a certain route.

A system of mobile units are installed in multiple vehicles in traffic. These mobile units include both wireless communications devices and apparatus that determines the location of each vehicle. Monitoring a vehicle's position as a function of time also reveals the velocity of the vehicle. Position and speed information is periodically broadcast by the vehicles to a central monitoring station and to neighboring vehicles. At the central monitoring station, the collective input of a set of vehicles is processed to provide an instant chart of traffic conditions in the area. Warnings of delays or updates on traffic conditions on the road ahead are then automatically returned to subscribers of the information or are used as part of an Intelligent Vehicle Highway System (IVHS). Neighboring vehicles within a region communicating with one another form a network in which the broadcast information is processed locally on the respective vehicles to estimate possible problems ahead and consider computing an alternate road and / or checking with the central monitoring station for more information. If out of range of the central monitoring station, the vehicles in the network form a local area network for the exchange and update of information, and when any vehicle in the network is within range of the central monitoring station, the local area network data is uploaded to help update the overall traffic information.

A system for instantaneously monitoring traffic congestion including a plurality of monitoring electronic devices located in motor vehicles traveling on roadways in a selected region. Each monitoring electronic device is coupled to a GPS receiver that provides physical location to a wireless modem capable of connecting to a wireless communication network. The system also includes a central computer connected to a wide area network that is able of continuously downloading physical location information from a plurality of monitoring electronic devices also connected to the wide area network. The central computer uses a traffic monitoring software program and a mapping database containing roadway information for a region and the movement information from the monitoring electronic devices to create a continuously updated traffic congestion database. Authorized users of the system are able to log onto the central computer to a portion of the database that contains specific traffic flow and congestion information. Using the system, users are also able to obtain estimated times of arrival for a specific trip, and recommendations on alternative route information. The system can also take into consideration current or anticipated events that may affect traffic congestion.

Techniques are described for automatically detecting anomalous road traffic conditions and for providing information about the detected anomalies, such as for use in facilitating travel on roads of interest. Anomalous road traffic conditions may be identified using target traffic conditions for a particular road segment at a particular selected time, such as target traffic conditions that reflect actual traffic conditions for a current or past selected time, and / or target traffic conditions that reflect predicted future traffic conditions for a future selected time. Target traffic conditions may be compared to distinct expected road traffic conditions for a road segment at a selected time, with the expected conditions reflecting road traffic conditions that are typical or normal for the road segment at the selected time. Anomalous conditions may be identified based on sufficiently large differences from the expected conditions, and information about the anomalous conditions may be provided in various ways.

An expert system manages a power grid wherein charging stations are connected to the power grid, with electric vehicles connected to the charging stations, whereby the expert system selectively backfills power from connected electric vehicles to the power grid through a grid tie inverter (if present) within the charging stations. In more traditional usage, the expert system allows for electric vehicle charging, coupled with user preferences as to charge time, charge cost, and charging station capabilities, without exceeding the power grid capacity at any point. A robust yet accurate state of charge (SOC) calculation method is also presented, whereby initially an open circuit voltage (OCV) based on sampled battery voltages and currents is calculated, and then the SOC is obtained based on a mapping between a previously measured reference OCV (ROCV) and SOC. The OCV-SOC calculation method accommodates likely any battery type with any current profile.

Method and system for preventing accidents between first and second vehicles includes a positioning system arranged in each vehicle for determining the absolute position thereof, a memory unit arranged in the first vehicle for storing data about travel lanes, a communication system for transmitting the position of the second vehicle to the first vehicle, a receiver system arranged in the first vehicle for receiving position information from the second vehicle, a processor coupled to the positioning system, the receiver system and the memory unit in the first vehicle for predicting a collision between the vehicles based on the position of the vehicles and travel lane data, and a reactive component arranged in the first vehicle and coupled to the processor. The reactive component is arranged to initiate an action or change its operation when a collision is predicted by the processor, e.g., sound or indicate an alarm.

An on-board intelligent vehicle system includes a sensor assembly to collect data and a processor to process the data to determine the occurrence of at least one event. The data may be collected from existing standard equipment such as the vehicle communication bus or add-on sensors. The data may be indicative of conditions relating to the vehicle, roadway infrastructure, and roadway utilization, such as vehicle performance, roadway design, roadway conditions, and traffic levels. The detection of an event may signify abnormal, substandard, or unacceptable conditions prevailing in the roadway, vehicle, or traffic. The vehicle transmits an event indicator and correlated vehicle location data to a central facility for further management of the information. The central facility sends communications reflecting event occurrence to various relevant or interested users. The user population can include other vehicle subscribers (e.g., to provide rerouting data based on location-relevant roadway or traffic events), roadway maintenance crews, vehicle manufacturers, and governmental agencies (e.g., transportation authorities, law enforcement, and legislative bodies).

A vehicle information recording system 100 includes a picture acquiring unit 101a placed in a vehicle that takes a picture of surroundings and generates picture data showing the picture, a vehicle data receiving unit 107 placed in the vehicle that receives other vehicle data concerning another vehicle shown in the picture acquired by the picture acquiring unit 101a, an acquired information sending unit 103 placed in the vehicle that sends data including the picture data and the other vehicle data outside of the vehicle, a receiving unit 104 placed outside of the vehicle that receives the data sent by the acquired information sending unit 103, an encoding unit 105 placed outside of the vehicle that encodes the other vehicle data among the data received by the receiving unit 104 and adds the encoded data to the picture data as related data, and a recording unit 106 placed outside of the vehicle that records the picture data to which the other vehicle data is added by the encoding unit 105.

Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed for altering permitted settings of a vehicle according to a driver identified through short range wireless communication. The vehicle captures a unique identifier from a wireless communication device of the driver of the vehicle. This unique identifier is used to reference a database to determine the identity of the driver as well as settings for the driver created by a controlling authority. The controlling authority may be, for instance, a parent or employer of the driver. The settings may limit certain devices within the vehicle and / or the vehicle itself. Speed control settings, radio settings, wireless communication device settings, and various other settings are all possible to limit distractions to the driver. Further, the settings may be influenced by the number or identities of passengers within the vehicle.

An agricultural robot system and method of harvesting, pruning, culling, weeding, measuring and managing of agricultural crops. Uses autonomous and semi-autonomous robot(s) comprising machine-vision using cameras that identify and locate the fruit on each tree, points on a vine to prune, etc., or may be utilized in measuring agricultural parameters or aid in managing agricultural resources. The cameras may be coupled with an arm or other implement to allow views from inside the plant when performing the desired agricultural function. A robot moves through a field first to “map” the plant locations, number and size of fruit and approximate positions of fruit or map the cordons and canes of grape vines. Once the map is complete, a robot or server can create an action plan that a robot may implement. An action plan may comprise operations and data specifying the agricultural function to perform.

A method and system for traffic monitoring and prediction of traffic intensity. The method comprises the steps of determining at least twice, within a specified time interval, geographical positions of a plurality of mobile devices in a mobile telecommunications network. This is done by means of measuring at least one property of signals transmitted between the mobile devices and base stations in the mobile telecommunications network. At least a subset of the geographical positions are compared with a route of a road provided in a route database in order to identify mobile devices having routes corresponding to at least a part of the road route. A velocity for the identified mobile devices based on the at least two positions, and the calculated velocity of at least one identified mobile device is compared with a reference velocity of the road in order to predict traffic intensity on the road. A system for short range monitoring is also provided.

System and method for identifying speeding violations, comprising determining a current speed and a current location of a vehicle, determining a posted speed limit for the current location from a speed-by-street database, comparing the current speed of the vehicle to the posted speed limit, and evaluating whether the current speed exceeds the posted speed limit. Errors are identified in the speed-by-street database by storing a plurality of speeding violation records, wherein the speeding violation records each include a speeding event location; analyzing the speeding violation records to identify one or more speeding event locations having multiple speeding violations; comparing a posted speed limit at the one or more speeding event locations having multiple speeding violations to corresponding speed limit data in the speed-by-street database; and identifying one or more speed limit entries in the speed-by-street database that do not match the posted speed limit.

A mobile navigation system implemented as an embedded system in a vehicle is easy to use, does not detract the driver's attention from the road, and limits the number of choices presented to the user of the navigation system according to a predetermined set of preferences or personalized information. Choices are filtered according to a set of driver preferences, according to the vehicle's geographic position, direction of motion, and the driver's intended itinerary. The itinerary, including intermediate stops, is calculated on an external computing system. The information is downloaded from the computing system to a memory device such as, for example, a smart card. The information is then transferred from the smart card to the embedded vehicle navigation system. In one application of the invention, a kiosk located at a car rental agency may be used to create and store personalized navigation information onto a smart card which the customer then inserts into the vehicle navigation system that is installed in the rental car.

A GIS-based system that determines evacuation routes for specific areas requiring evacuation. Evacuation and safe areas are determined, and evacuation routes plotted, based on emergency-specific information as well as road flow and estimated time of travel for each section of road between the evacuation area and safe area. Routes, evacuation areas, and safe areas are dynamically calculated and recalculated based on additional data, either real-time, historical, or other data added to the system, to compute optimal initial routes and redirect evacuees if changes in the emergency situation occur.

A data collection and distribution system for monitoring aircraft in flight, on the ground and at the gate or terminal for monitoring critical and catastrophic events, managing the emergency during such an event, and for investigating the event. The system generates, transmits and collects critical data generated by monitoring equipment onboard an aircraft or other commercial transport and selectively displays the data on a cockpit display console as well as for downloading, transmitting and displaying data at external monitoring and response stations, including fixed ground stations, roving ground stations and chase aircraft or vehicles. Digital surveillance information is collected, processed, dispatched, and log via remote control and access. The system includes a variety of system appliances such as surveillance cameras, sensors, detectors, and panic buttons and accommodates legacy equipment. Within the commercial transport, the system maybe hardwired or may use wireless transmission and receiving systems.

The present invention relates generally to the field of improvement in the driving risk assessment arts. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the present invention generally relates to a method of rating the driving risks of individuals based on that driver's actual driving record as obtained from his or her fellow drivers.

A system and method for displaying traffic information in an automotive navigation system having a display, memory and a data receiver. The method includes the first step of storing in a traffic speed table in memory at least two speed threshold limits wherein each speed threshold limit represents a different traffic flow category. The receiver receives data representative of the vehicle speed on at least one road segment and compares that received vehicle speed data with the traffic speed table to determine the traffic flow category corresponding to the received speed data for the road segment. A visual indicator is then displayed on the display which corresponds to the traffic flow category for the road segment. The user is able to customize the speed threshold limits through a GUI. These speed threshold limits are further user modifiable as a function of weather, day of the week, road conditions, type of road, as well as other factors.

Systems and methods are provided for integrated control, access, and presentation of flight information within the cockpit. Cockpit instrument systems and methods are provided which include a first cockpit instrument panel which has a first display proximately located to a first bezel. The first display is operable to present navigational data, communication data, and flight information data including airspeed, attitude, and altitude. The systems and methods further include a second cockpit instrument panel located adjacent to the first cockpit instrument panel. The second cockpit instrument panel has a second display proximately located to a second bezel. The second display is operable to present navigational data, communication data, and flight information data including detailed engine parameters. When either the first or the second cockpit instrument panel fails, the remaining functional, first or second display, is adapted to provide all of the important flight information data, including airspeed, attitude, altitude, and detailed engine parameters.

The present invention includes a number of embodiments for improving vehicle situational awareness at intersections. A first embodiment may comprise a lens fitted at the top of the windshield or outside the vehicle, for refracting the light to the driver, so the driver may more easily see signals, signage and other features of an intersection, as well as other traffic. A second embodiment of the invention is used as an aid to prompt the driver that a light has changed. In a third embodiment, the light change sensor may be combined with other vehicle status information. As the car comes to a stop, the route guidance system may determine if the vehicle is at or in the vicinity of an intersection. Depending on the route guidance database, the system may also know whether or not there are traffic lights at the intersection. Using the vehicle's on board forward-looking radar sensor, the system may then determine if it is first in line at the intersection. In a fourth embodiment the system may be part of a portable after-market routing device. In a fifth embodiment the system, either portable or fixed, may be used to detect changes in the intensity of the brake lights of the vehicle ahead.

System and method for warning drivers of changing road conditions is disclosed. In one embodiment road condition information is obtained for at least a portion of a route. The road condition information is analyzed to identify one or more significant features on the portion of the route. The driver is alerted to the one or more significant features.

System and method for warning drivers of changing road conditions is disclosed. In one embodiment road condition information is obtained for at least a portion of a route. The road condition information is analyzed to identify one or more significant features on the portion of the route. The driver is alerted to the one or more significant features.

Systems, methods and apparatuses for managing ground transportation in a geographical area are disclosed. A system for managing ground transportation in a geographical area in accordance with the present invention comprises at least one airborne surveillance platform, a graphical information systems (GIS) database, receiving information from the airborne surveillance platform, the GIS database storing data that represents the geographical area, the GIS database including at least one node representing at least one geographical location within the geographic area and at least one arc representing at least one street within the geographic area, and a routing tool, coupled to the GIS database, wherein the dynamic routing tool accepts data from the GIS database and determines a transportation route for at least one vehicle within the geographical area using at least the data from the GIS database and the information from the airborne surveillance platform.

Method for avoiding collisions between a host vehicle and other vehicles in which the position of the vehicles is determined, the vehicles are equipped with a transmitter / receiver, and in the host vehicle, the possibility of a collision involving the host vehicle is assessed by receiving signals from the transmitter / receivers of each other vehicle, analyzing the received signals to extract positional information about the transmitter / receivers from each signal, and when a received signal contains additional information of interest about a possible collision involving the host vehicle, analyzing the extracted positional information to determine whether any signals contain additional information of interest about a possible collision involving the host vehicle. Additional information is extracted only from such signals and analyzed to ascertain whether a collision between the host vehicle and any other vehicles is likely to occur in order to enable action to be taken to prevent the collision, e.g., evasive action.

From a mobile communication device, road information about either a preliminarily registered point or an arbitrary point on a route from a present position to a destination is transmitted to and received in a network navigation center via a cellular phone base station and a general telephone network. Based on that road information, the network navigation center retrieves traffic information about the registered point or the arbitrary point on the route, and then transmits the retrieved traffic information to the mobile communication device via the general telephone network and the cellular phone base station. The traffic information includes traffic congestion area data about the registered point or the arbitrary point on the route, which is displayed on a display in the mobile communication device wherein the user is informed of future traffic information like traffic congestion.