Vehicle health check via noise and vibration level

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10055903-B2
Application number	US-201615177705-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 9, 2016
Priority date	Jun 9, 2016
Publication date	Aug 21, 2018
Grant date	Aug 21, 2018

Abstract

Technical solutions are described for autonomously monitoring health of a vehicle, such as a car, a truck and so on. An example computer-implemented method includes receiving sensor data of the vehicle. For example, the sensor data includes vibration data and microphone data. The vibration data measures vibration experienced by an occupant of the vehicle. The microphone data measures noises experienced by the occupant, including noises emanated by the vehicle. The method further includes accessing a predetermined performance data of the vehicle and determining a difference in the received sensor data and the predetermined performance data. The method further includes transmitting a notification of condition of the vehicle in response to the difference surpassing a predetermined threshold.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for autonomously monitoring the health of a vehicle, the computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving vehicle sensor data comprising at least one from among vibration data of the vehicle and noise data of the vehicle, wherein the vibration data comprises measurements of vibration experienced by one or more components of the vehicle and the noise data comprises measurements of sound pressure levels associated with the vehicle, the vehicle sensor data received from a first set of sensors in the vehicle;
accessing vehicle performance data comprising at least one from among predetermined vibration performance data of the vehicle and predetermined noise performance data of the vehicle, the vehicle performance data collected over a predetermined period of time;
determining a difference in the received vehicle sensor data and the predetermined vehicle performance data;
in response to the difference being indicative of a performance degradation:
autonomously diagnosing the health of the vehicle by comparing component sensor data associated with one or more components to determine a cause of the difference based on a pattern of the received vehicle sensor data, the autonomous diagnosing comprising:
requesting and receiving component sensor data from a second set of sensors that is associated with a specific component; and
determining a performance degradation of the specific component by comparing the component sensor data with predetermined component performance data; and
transmitting a notification to an autonomous vehicle controller associated with the vehicle to navigate the vehicle in response to a diagnosis of the performance degradation of the specific component.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the vibration data comprises measurements from a vibration sensor mounted in communication with a seat track of the vehicle.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the vibration data comprises measurements from a vibration sensor mounted in communication with one of steering wheel and a steering column of the vehicle.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising detecting a tire condition based on the determined difference, wherein the predetermined vibration performance data comprises validated vibration data.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising detecting a powertrain condition based on the determined difference, wherein the predetermined vibration performance data comprises validated powertrain vibration data.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein accessing the predetermined vibration performance data comprises:
determining a type of the vehicle; and
accessing the predetermined vibration performance data associated with the determined type of the vehicle.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the type of the vehicle is determined based on a vehicle identifier associated with the vehicle.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the notification commands the autonomous vehicle controller to navigate the vehicle to a service facility.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the noise data comprises measurements from a microphone mounted in communication with a seat track of the vehicle.

10. An apparatus for autonomously monitoring the health of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
a memory;
a communication interface; and
a processor communicably coupled with the memory and the communication interface, wherein the processor is further configured to:
receive vibration data of the vehicle, wherein the vibration data comprises measurement of vibration of one or more components of the vehicle, the vibration data received from a first set of sensors in the vehicle;
access a predetermined vibration performance data of the vehicle;
determine a difference in the received vibration data and the predetermined vibration performance data;
in response to the difference being indicative of a performance degradation:
autonomously diagnosing the health of the vehicle by comparing component sensor data associated with one or more components to determine a cause of the difference based on a pattern of the received vibration data, wherein for the autonomous diagnosis the processor is configured to:
request and receive component vibration data from a second set of sensors that is associated with a specific component; and
determine a performance degradation of the specific component by comparing the component vibration data with predetermined component vibration performance data; and

transmit a notification to an autonomous vehicle controller associated with the vehicle to navigate the vehicle in response to a diagnosis of the performance degradation of the specific component.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the vibration data comprises measurements from a vibration sensor mounted in communication with a seat track of the vehicle.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the vibration data comprises measurements from a vibration sensor mounted in communication with a suspension of the vehicle.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to detect a driveline malfunction based on the determined difference, wherein the predetermined vibration performance data comprises validated driveline vibration data.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the predetermined vibration performance data is accessed based on a type of the vehicle.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the difference is a first difference, and the processor is further configured to:
receive noise data of the vehicle, wherein the noise data comprises measurements of noise experienced by an occupant of the vehicle;
access a predetermined noise performance data of the vehicle;
determine a second difference in the received noise data and the predetermined noise performance data; and
transmit the notification in response to the first difference being indicative of the performance degradation, and the second difference being indicative of the performance degradation.

16. A computer-program product for autonomously monitoring the health of a vehicle, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the computer readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions, wherein the computer readable storage medium comprises instructions to:
receive vibration data of the vehicle, wherein the vibration data comprises measurement of vibration experienced by an occupant of the vehicle;
access a predetermined vibration performance data of the vehicle;
determine a difference in the received vibration data and the predetermined vibration performance data;
in response to the difference being indicative of a performance
degradation:
autonomously diagnose the health of the vehicle by comparing component sensor data associated with one or more components to determine a cause of the difference based on a pattern of the received vibration data, the autonomous diagnosing comprising instructions to:
request and receive component vibration data from a second set of sensors that is associated with specific component; and
determine a performance degradation of the specific component by comparing the component vibration data with predetermined component vibration performance data; and

transmit a notification to an autonomous vehicle controller associated with the vehicle to navigate the vehicle in response to a diagnosis of the performance de

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Koons Douglas R
• Auden Joshua R

Classifications

• B60W30/00

  Purposes of road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub-unit, e.g. of systems using conjoint control of vehicle sub-units · CPC title

• G07C5/08 Primary

  Registering or indicating performance data other than driving, working, idle, or waiting time, with or without registering driving, working, idle or waiting time · CPC title

• G01M17/007 Primary

  Wheeled or endless-tracked vehicles (G01M17/08 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01H1/00

  Measuring {characteristics of} vibrations in solids by using direct conduction to the detector (G01H9/00, G01H11/00 take precedence) · CPC title

• G05D1/0088

  characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours (using knowledge based models G06N5/00) · CPC title