RELATED APPLICATIONS

Benefit is claimed to Indian Provisional Application No. 3061/CHE/2009, titled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MONITORING FUEL-WASTAGE IN A VEHICLE" by Logica Pvt. Ltd., filed on December 11, 2009, which is herein incorporated in its entirety by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to vehicles and more particularly relates to computing a driver rating based on a driving behavior of a driver of a vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fuel economy is an important consideration in designing a vehicle. Engineers attempt to design control systems such as automatic transmissions, valve timing systems, throttle control systems, etc., to achieve optimum fuel efficiency relative to the performance of the vehicle. Improper vehicle utilization and imprudent driving behaviour may, however, adversely affect fuel efficiency of the vehicle.

Various systems that monitor driving behaviour of a driver are well known in the art. These systems analyze the driving behaviour over a period of time and compute driver rating based on the analyzed driver behaviour. The driver rating computed based on driving behaviour are used to compute discount or surcharge in a vehicle insurance premium, fuel, can be redeemed towards vehicle accessories, and so on to motivate the driver to alter vehicle utilization and driving habits to realize the designed fuel efficiency of the vehicle.

However, current systems compute the driver rating based on parameters such as fuel wastage, acceleration, deceleration, frequent braking, and the like without taking into account environment or terrain conditions in which the vehicle is driven. For example, the vehicle may require more fuel when driven in hilly roads or congested areas compared to a highway. Therefore, the driver rating calculated based on the fuel wastage may fail to correctly analyze the driving behaviour. Also, the current systems for computing the driver rating are remotely located from the vehicle due to the incapability of onboard diagnostics device mounted inside the vehicle for computing fuel wastage and analyzing driving behaviour. This may significantly affect the performance of such systems, thereby lowering the efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and system for computing a driver rating based on driving behavior. In one aspect, a system for determining a driving behavior of a driver of a vehicle includes a sensor for measuring oxygen content in an exhaust gas emissions of the vehicle and providing an output value based on the measured oxygen content. The system also includes an onboard device for determining amount unburnt fuel in the exhaust gas emissions based on the output value and for determining one or more environmental conditions in which the vehicle is driven. Moreover, the system includes a remote server for computing a driver rating indicating driver behavior based on the amount of unburnt fuel and the one or more environmental conditions.

In another aspect, a method of assigning a driver rating based on a driving habit of a driver of a vehicle includes measuring oxygen content in an exhaust gas emissions of the vehicle and providing an output value based on the measured oxygen content. The method further includes determining amount unburnt fuel in the exhaust gas emissions based on the output value, and determining one or more environmental conditions in which the vehicle is driven, and computing a driver rating by analyzing driving habits of the driver based on the amount of unburnt fuel and the one or more environmental conditions.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, that when executed by a computing device, result ion execution of the method described above.

Other features of the embodiments will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING

Figure 1 illustrates a high level system diagram of a driver rating computation system for computing a driver rating based on fuel wastage and environmental conditions, according to one embodiment.

Figure 2 is a detailed view of components of a driver rating computation system such as those shown in Figure 1, according to one embodiment.

Figure 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process of computing a driver rating by analyzing driver behavior based on fuel wastage and environmental conditions, according to one embodiment.

The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and system for computing a driver rating based on driving behavior. In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims. The terms 'driving habits' and 'driving behaviour' are interchangeably used throughout the document.

Figure 1 illustrates a high level system diagram of a driver rating computation system 100 for computing a driver rating based on fuel wastage and environmental conditions, according to one embodiment. In Figure 1, the driver rating computation system 100 includes an oxygen sensor 104 fitted in an exhaust line of a vehicle 102, an on board device 106 mounted in a cabin of the vehicle 102, and a remote server 116 remotely located from the vehicle 102. The on board device 106 includes a processor 108 and memory 110 coupled to the processor 108. The memory 110 includes an unburnt fuel computation module 112, and an environmental engine 114. The remote server 116 includes a driver rating module 118.

In an exemplary operation, the oxygen sensor 104 measures oxygen content in exhaust gas emissions of the vehicle 102 in real time. The oxygen content is measured through measuring stoichiometric ratio or air-fuel ratio associated with the exhaust gas emissions. Then, the oxygen sensor 104 provides a voltage value corresponding to the measured oxygen content to the on board device 106. Accordingly, the unburnt fuel consumption module 112 determines amount of unburnt or partially burnt fuel in the exhaust gas emissions based on the voltage value. Substantially simultaneously, the environmental engine 114 determines one or more environmental conditions associated with a location in which the vehicle 102 is driven.

In one embodiment, the environmental engine 114 determines the one or more environmental conditions such as congested roads, relatively congested roads, traffic light area, city, highway, hilly roads and the like based on speed related parameters and a geographical location obtained from a cell identifier. The on board device 110 then periodically transmits the amount of unburnt fuel information, and environmental conditions information to the remote server 116. Accordingly, the driver rating module 118 computes a driver rating which indicates driving behaviour of the driver of the vehicle 102 using the unburnt fuel information and the one or more environmental conditions information. By considering the one or more environmental conditions, driving behaviour of the driver of the vehicle can be correctly analyzed and driver rating can be accurately computed.

Figure 2 is a detailed view 200 of components of a driver rating computation system 100 such as those shown in Figure 1, according to one embodiment. In Figure 2, the driver rating computation system 100 additionally includes an oxygen sensor interface 202, an analog to digital converter 204, a lamda processing module 206, an on board diagnostic (ODD) II interface 208, an OBD II monitor 210, a data storage 212, a geographical location module 214, a speed information module 216, and a communication interface 218A, all of which reside internal or external to the on board device 110 in the vehicle 102. Moreover, the driver rating computation system 100 includes a communication interface 218B, a back-end data storage 220, and a reporting module 222 residing in the remote server 116.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the oxygen sensor 104 senses oxygen content in exhaust gas emissions of the vehicle 102 and transmits a voltage value corresponding to the measured oxygen content to the analog to digital converter 204 via the oxygen sensor interface 202. The A/D converter 204 digitizes the voltage value and forwards the digitized oxygen value to the lambda value computation module 206. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the lamda value computation module 206 receives the voltage value corresponding to the oxygen content from the OBD II interface 208 via the OBD II monitor 210.

The lambda value computation module 206 derives a lamda value from the voltage value using a look up table. The lamda value corresponds to stoichiometric ratio or air-fuel ratio in the exhaust gas emissions. The lambda value computation module 206 then fonwards the derived lamda value to the unburnt fuel computation module 112 which then determines amount of unburnt or partially burnt fuel in the exhaust gas emissions based on the lamda value. When lambda value is less than 1, the fuel is completely burnt. When the lambda value is less than 1, then more fuel is pumped to the engine of the vehicle 102 and the fuel is partially burnt. For example, when the lambda value is 0.9, 10% of the fuel which is pumped into the engine is not burnt completely. The unburnt fuel computation module 112 stores the unburnt fuel information in the data storage 212.

The geographical location information module 214 determines a geographic location or terrain associated with the vehicle 102 based on cell identifier information obtained from a cellular tower. The geographical location information module 214 forwards the geographic location information to the environmental engine 114. Substantially simultaneously, the speed information module 216 collects and provides speed information associated with the vehicle 102 to the environmental engine 114. The speed information includes instantaneous speed, average speed, number of times brakes are applied, and time for which a particular speed is maintained by the driver.

Accordingly, the environmental engine 114 determines one or more environmental conditions associated with the vehicle 102 based on the speed information and the geographic location information. Then, the environmental engine 114 stores the environmental conditions information in the data storage 212.

Further, the communication interface 218A transmits the unburnt fuel information and the environmental conditions to the driver rating module 118 via the communication interface 218B. The driver rating module 118 analyzes driving behaviour of the driver of the vehicle 102 based on the unburnt fuel information and the environmental conditions information and computes a driver rating based on the driving behaviour. The driver rating module 118 stores the driver rating and the driver behaviour information in the back-end storage 220 for future use. Additionally, the reporting module 222 generates and sends a report indicating a summary of the driving behaviour, driver rating, unburnt fuel information, environmental conditions, speed information and geographical location information to a concerned person associated with the vehicle 102.

Figure 3 is a flow diagram 300 illustrating an exemplary process of computing a driver rating by analyzing driver behavior based on fuel wastage and environmental conditions, according to one embodiment. At step 302, the oxygen sensor 104 measures oxygen content in exhaust gas emissions of the vehicle 102 and sends a voltage value corresponding to the measured oxygen content to the lambda value computation module 206 using the oxygen sensor interface 202. At step 304, the lambda value computation module 206 derives a lamda value from the voltage value. At step 306, the lambda value computation module 206 forwards the derived lamda value to the unburnt fuel computation module 112. At step 308, the unburnt fuel computation module 112 determines amount of unburnt or partially burnt fuel in the exhaust gas emissions based on the lamda value.

At step 310, the unburnt fuel computation module 112 forwards the unburnt fuel information to the driver rating module over the communication interface 218A. At step 312, the geographical location information module 214 determines a geographic location associated with the vehicle 102 using a cell identifier and forwards the geographic location information to the environmental engine 114. Substantially simultaneously, at step 314, the speed information module 216 collects and provides speed information associated with the vehicle 102 to the environmental engine 114. Accordingly, at step 316, the environmental engine 114 determines one or more environmental conditions associated with the vehicle 102 based on the speed information and the geographic location information. Then, at step 318, the environmental engine 114 sends the environmental conditions information to the driver rating module 118.

At step 320, the driver rating module 118 analyzes driving behaviour of the driver based on the unburnt fuel information and the environmental conditions information and computes a driver rating based on the driving behaviour. Further, the driver rating module 118 generates a report based on the analyzed driving behaviour. Moreover, in one exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for computing a driver rating based on driving behaviour has instructions, that when executed by the driver rating computation system 100, result in performing the one or more methods described in Figure 3.

Although the present embodiments have been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the various embodiments. Furthermore, the various devices, modules, analyzers, generators, and the like described herein may be enabled and operated using hardware circuitry, for example, complementary metal oxide semiconductor based logic circuitry, firmware, software and/or any combination of hardware, firmware, and/or software embodied in a machine readable medium. For example, the various electrical structure and methods may be embodied using transistors, logic gates, and electrical circuits, such as application specific integrated circuit.
We Claim:

1. A system for determining a driving behavior of a driver of a vehicle, comprising:

a sensor for measuring oxygen content in an exhaust gas emissions of the vehicle and providing an output value based on the measured oxygen content;

an onboard device for determining amount unburnt fuel in the exhaust gas emissions based on the output value and for determining one or more environmental conditions in which the vehicle is driven; and

a remote server for computing a driver rating indicating driver behavior based on the amount of unburnt fuel and the one or more environmental conditions.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the output value is a voltage value.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the onboard device comprises:

an analog to digital converter for digitizing the voltage value corresponding to the oxygen content;

a processor coupled to the analog to digital converter; and memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises:

a lambda value computation module for deriving a lamda value from corresponding digitized voltage value using a lookup table, wherein value indicates stoichiometric ratio;

an unburnt fuel computation module for determining the amount unburnt fuel using the lamda value;

a geographic location module for providing geographic location information associated with a geographic location of the vehicle;

a speed information module for collecting and providing speed information associated with the vehicle; and

an environmental engine for determining one or more environmental conditions based on the geographic location information and the speed information.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the geographic location information comprises cell identifier information indicating the geographic location.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the speed information is selected from the group consisting of instantaneous speed, average speed, number of times brakes are applied, and time for which a particular speed is maintained.
6. The system of claim 3, wherein the one or more environmental conditions comprises whether the vehicle is driven in city, in congested roads, in relatively congested roads, on highways, on hilly roads.

7. A method of assigning a driver rating based on a driving habit of a driver of a vehicle, comprising:

measuring oxygen content in an exhaust gas emissions of the vehicle and providing an output value based on the measured oxygen content;

determining amount unburnt fuel in the exhaust gas emissions based on the output value;

determining one or more environmental conditions in which the vehicle is driven; and

computing a driver rating by analyzing driving habits of the driver based on the amount of unburnt fuel and the one or more environmental conditions.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the output value is a voltage value.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the amount unburnt fuel in the exhaust gas emissions based on the output value comprises:

digitizing the voltage value corresponding to the oxygen content;

deriving a lamda value corresponding to the digitized voltage value using a lookup table, wherein value indicates stoichiometric ratio; and

determining the amount of unburnt fuel using the lamda value.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the amount unburnt fuel in the exhaust gas emissions based on the output value comprises:

providing geographic location information associated with a geographic location of the vehicle;

collecting and providing speed information associated with the vehicle;

and determining one or more environmental conditions based on the geographic location information and the speed information.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the geographic location information comprises cell identifier information indicating the geographic location of the vehicle.

12.The method of claim 10, wherein the speed information is selected from the group consisting of instantaneous speed, average speed, number of times brakes are applied, and time for which a particular speed is maintained.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more environmental conditions comprises whether the vehicle is driven in city, in congested roads, in relatively congested roads, on highways, and on hilly roads.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, that when executed by a computing device, result ion execution of a method comprising:

measuring oxygen content in an exhaust gas emissions of the vehicle and providing an output value based on the measured oxygen content;

determining amount unburnt fuel in the exhaust gas emissions based on the output value;

determining one or more environmental conditions in which the vehicle is driven; and

computing driver rating by determining driving habits of the driver based on the amount of unburnt fuel and the one or more environmental conditions.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium claim 14, wherein the output value is a voltage value.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein determining the amount unburnt fuel in the exhaust gas emissions based on the output value comprises:

digitizing the voltage value corresponding to the oxygen content;

deriving a lamda value corresponding to the digitized voltage value using a lookup table, wherein value indicates stoichiometric ratio; and

determining the amount of unburnt fuel using the lamda value.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein determining the amount unburnt fuel in the exhaust gas emissions based on the output value comprises:

providing geographic location information associated with a geographic location of the vehicle;

collecting and providing speed information associated with the vehicle;

and determining one or more environmental conditions based on the geographic location information and the speed information.

18. An on board device for determining amount unburnt fuel in exhaust gas emissions and for determining one or more environmental conditions in which the vehicle is driven as described in one or more of the above claims.

19. A server for computing a driver rating indicating driver behavior based on amount of unburnt fuel and one or more environmental conditions as described in one or more of the above claims.

20. Method and system of assigning a driver rating based on a driving habit of a driver of a vehicle as described and explained with reference to the drawings.