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Motor vehicle operating data collection and analysisRelated Patent Categories: Data Processing: Vehicles, Navigation, And Relative Location, Vehicle Control, Guidance, Operation, Or IndicationMotor vehicle operating data collection and analysis description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060111817, Motor vehicle operating data collection and analysis. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/467,845 entitled "Motor Vehicle Operating Data Gathering Methodology and Analysis for Eventual Use with Underwriter Statistic Metrics" and filed May 6, 2003. This application is a divisional application of Ser. No. 11/060,458 filed Feb. 17, 2005, which is a continuation application of application Ser. No. 10/832,521 filed Apr. 27, 2004. BACKGROUND OF INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of Use The invention pertains to a method and apparatus for evaluating recorded data of a driver's operation of a motor vehicle. The invention utilizes time marked data that can be correlated with information from separate databases, particularly data that is also time marked. The recorded data may facilitate the vehicle owner monitoring the use of the vehicle by others, e.g., employees, automobile renters or family members, e.g., teenage drivers. The recorded data may also provide an objective behavioral data collection system for third parties, e.g., life and health insurance companies, lending institutions, potential employers, to evaluate an individual's behavioral characteristics in a real life and commonly experienced situation, i.e., driving a motor vehicle. [0003] 2. Prior Art [0004] Several commercial mechanisms are available on the market that provide means to monitor vehicle use. One example is the Alltrackusa product that relies on a global positioning satellite (GPS) system to track vehicle operation. Such systems employ a calculating methodology to determine speed and acceleration by using the position differential implied by the GPS. Conversely, Davis Technologies markets the CarChip product which is a passive OBDII data recorder for hobbyists and car enthusiasts who want to record their engine performance. The shortcomings of the Alltrackusa "GPS only" application is that actual speed information is not available during intermittent losses of the GPS signal, which are frequent. This limits the product's usefulness for creating a complete dataset suitable for developing useful and objective driver safety ratings. The shortcoming of the CarChip product is that the unit does not provide GPS capability and the target market is for car enthusiasts who want to monitor engine diagnostics. Both existing technology developments have the inherent shortcoming of local data storage and reporting. This feature limits the usefulness of the data and does not allow for the development of an independent rating system. [0005] U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,970, assigned to Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, discloses a method and system for determining the cost of automobile insurance based upon monitoring, recording and communicating data representative of operator and vehicle driving characteristics. The system includes use of a wireless up-link to a central control station to communicate "triggering events". [0006] U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,970 defines a methodology for private insurance quotes based on endogenous driver variables that are acquired from the customer or collected by the insurance company. U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,970 does not teach an apparatus and business process that allows customers to voluntarily create datasets that are then objectively interpreted by a third party and converted to objective safety ratings, much as credit payments or delinquencies are converted to an objective credit rating, or company debt histories converted to a bond rating. This distinction is vital in order to promote the adoption of driver monitoring technology and guarantee that it is utilized in a manner that promotes the most societal good, rather than simply being the exclusive purview of one company's insurance premium pricing structure. [0007] The existing systems and devices also ignore the profound behavioral characteristics exhibited by drivers in operating motor vehicles, e.g., aggressiveness or patience, caution or recklessness, compliance with laws etc. These characteristics are relevant to each individual's behavior in other situations including performance of job duties, behavior in stress, and meeting obligations owed to others. These behaviors cannot be ascertained unless the information is uploaded to a central server to create a comprehensive database for comparison and development of useful profiles. Existing technology applications do not centrally store the data and interpret it in context to provide a useful service to society. SUMMARY OF INVENTION [0008] The invention teaches a method of evaluating an individual comprising evaluating a database of time marked data recorded at regular intervals of vehicle operation and at least one other data point. An evaluation of at least one individual also comprising evaluating a database of time marked data recorded at regular intervals of vehicle operation and at least one other data point. [0009] The present invention teaches the uploading, evaluation and storing of recorded date and time stamped operating data ("time marked data") from a motor vehicle component and the subsequent upload to a CPU or central web-server for objective analysis. The data may also be location marked and thereby allow the vehicle data to be correlated with separate time or location specific databases. The recording of the data to a separate device can be in such a manner as to insure a complete dataset, minimize fraudulent use, and thus insure the accuracy and usefulness of said data to third parties. Utilization of the data may be subject to terms of agreements among the vehicle operator, the vehicle owner, insurance companies and underwriters (health, life or auto, etc.), research professionals, marketing and advertising firms, legal representatives, governmental authorities or other institutions. [0010] Since the data may be time marked with an accurate atomic clock signal, the data can be cross-correlated to another information database that is also time or location specific. This data could include weather events, construction schedules, sporting events, traffic databases, and other time or location dependent information that puts the driver operating data in context and makes it objectively useful. The data manipulation-analysis includes assessing the driver's driving behavior by putting the data in context with the applicable local speed laws, signage, traffic signals, weather, and other geographic dependencies. [0011] The invention can utilize a variety of currently monitored vehicle information from vehicle systems such as an OBDII (on-board diagnostic) or CAN (car area network) data-port. This time marked data may include vehicle speed, throttle position, oxygen sensor data, etc. This information is sequentially recorded at regular intervals from vehicle onboard diagnostic systems, thereby creating a time marked data set of individual data points. The data set of time marked sequential data points may include the vehicle's corresponding GPS (global positioning satellite) position. [0012] The basic intent of the new application is to insure data integrity. Having multiple sources of vehicle data will insure data accuracy. For example, speed can either be inferred from the GPS position and time stamped data by calculating the distance between recorded locations and dividing by the time increment, or by accessing speed values directly from the OBDII port. Similarly, the vehicle's odometer reading can be gathered three different ways: first, it can be accessed through the OBDII extended dataset if the car manufacturer grants permission, secondly, it can be calculated from the GPS location and time stamped data, third it can be calculated from the speed data logged directly from the OBDII port, then multiplied by the time increment to get distance. Having multiple sources of data insures data integrity by crosschecking. Time and location stamping the data allows for crosschecking against other information databases such as weather, traffic, etc. [0013] This collected data is transferred to a CPU and may be uploaded to a central web-server for evaluation and storage. The invention utilizes data obtained from individual vehicle monitoring and instrumentation devices already built into motor vehicles since 1996. The invention can also utilize information from supplemental instrumentation such as GPS devices installed on motor vehicles. [0014] The invention teaches transfer of the time marked information from the collection system within the vehicle to a separate CPU and the flexible, multi stage evaluation of the collected data for variable factors or criteria. The invention permits a weighted profile to be created that can correlate both frequency and severity or significance of behavior. This weighted profile is useful because the data integrity has been insured by multiple sources. [0015] The invention also teaches a business subscription service that can be used in conjunction with the recording/analysis apparatus. The method allows analytic comparison within groups using collected data from separate units. This analysis can allow assessment and comparison of a variety of life style/health factors. The analysis, based upon historical and accurate data, can be used in conjunction with other demographically relevant information. BRIEF SUMMARY OF DRAWINGS [0016] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention. These drawings, together with the general description of the invention given above and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. [0017] FIG. 1 illustrates a matrix of time marked vehicle data that can be evaluated by the invention. [0018] FIG. 2 illustrates an overview or summary of logic steps of one embodiment of the invention. [0019] FIG. 3 illustrates starting steps of an embodiment of logic flow steps that can be incorporated into the evaluation method of the present invention. [0020] FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of logic steps that may be taken by the user for properly logging into the system taught by the invention. Continue reading about Motor vehicle operating data collection and analysis... 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