Method for estimating the weight of a vehicle

Abstract

A method estimating weight of a motor vehicle including front and rear wheel assemblies using a smart communication device after loading the vehicle, including: (i) identifying the vehicle in the smart communication device; (ii) using a camera of the smart communication device, capturing and processing a photograph of at least one vehicle wheel after loading to determine displacement of a corresponding wheel assembly; (iii) using at least one accelerometer or inclinometer of the smart communication device, measuring at least one tilt angle of the vehicle after loading to determine displacement of the opposite wheel assembly and the corresponding wheel assembly; (iv) using a calculation unit of the smart communication device, calculating load values on the corresponding and opposite wheel assemblies based on respective displacements of the wheel assemblies, to determine a total load vehicle value; and (v) indicating by the smart communication device a vehicle load state to the user.

1 - 12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . A method for estimating weight of a motor vehicle including a front wheel assembly and a rear wheel assembly, using a smart communication device, after loading of the vehicle, the method comprising:
 (i) identifying the vehicle in the smart communication device;   (ii) using a camera of the smart communication device to capture and process a photograph of at least one wheel of the vehicle after loading to determine clearance of the wheel assembly of the photographed wheel as a function of the identified vehicle;   (iii) determining clearance of the wheel assembly opposite the wheel photographed in (ii), either by measuring an angle of inclination of the vehicle after loading, using at least one accelerometer or inclinometer of the smart communication device, or by capturing and processing a photograph of at least one wheel of the wheel assembly opposite the wheel assembly of the wheel photographed in (ii), using the camera of the smart communication device;   (iv) using a calculation unit of the smart communication device to calculate a load value on the wheel assembly of the photographed wheel and a load value on the opposite wheel assembly as a function of respective clearances of the wheel assemblies, to determine a total load value of the vehicle;   (v) using the smart communication device to inform a user of a load state of the vehicle.   
     
     
         14 . The method for estimating the weight of a vehicle as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein the vehicle includes a load space arranged at a rear of the vehicle, the photographed wheel is a rear wheel of the vehicle, enabling clearance of the rear wheel assembly to be determined, and the opposite wheel assembly is the front wheel assembly. 
     
     
         15 . The method for estimating the weight of a vehicle as claimed in  claim 14 , wherein a photograph of each rear wheel of the vehicle is taken and processed, and clearance of the rear wheel assembly is determined from an average clearance for each rear wheel photographed. 
     
     
         16 . The method for estimating the weight of a vehicle as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein (v) informing the user is executed by an illuminated and/or audible indicator at three levels, a first level corresponding to information that the vehicle is overloaded relative to the permitted maximum, a second level corresponding to information that there is a risk of overloading the vehicle relative to the permitted maximum, and a third level corresponding to information that the load is below the permitted maximum. 
     
     
         17 . The method for estimating the weight of a vehicle as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein (ii) taking a photograph of a wheel is dependent on vertical positioning of the smart communication device, detected by an accelerometer. 
     
     
         18 . The method for estimating the weight of a vehicle as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein (i) identifying the vehicle comprises:
 (i1) determining, before loading, a distance between a wheel center and a center of the wheel housing of the wheel to be photographed in (ii);   (i2) determining the angle of inclination of the vehicle before loading;   (i3) determining a total permissible load of the identified vehicle.   
     
     
         19 . The method for estimating the weight of a vehicle as claimed in  claim 18 , wherein (ii) capturing and processing the image comprises:
 (ii0) taking a photograph of a wheel of the vehicle;   (ii1) converting the taken photograph of the wheel to a grayscale image;   (ii2) using a first filter of fuzzy Gaussian type to improve sharpness of the image;   (ii3) using a second filter of Sobel type to obtain contours of the image;   (ii4) breaking down the image into two parts, a first part relating to the wheel and a second part relating to the wheel housing;   (ii5) calculating a center and radius of the wheel housing by least squares method;   (ii6) calculating values of the minimum and maximum radii of the wheel as a function of the radius of the wheel housing and of the identified vehicle;   (ii7) using a third filter of Mexican hat wavelet type to improve concentration of points near the center of the wheel;   (ii8) calculating the center of the wheel on the basis of accumulation of points in the wheel center, and calculating the distance after loading between the wheel center and the center of the wheel housing;   (ii9) calculating the clearance of the wheel assembly of the photographed wheel, using the difference in distance between the wheel center and the center of the wheel housing after and before loading.   
     
     
         20 . The method for estimating the weight of a vehicle as claimed in  claim 18 , wherein (iii) determining the clearance of the opposite wheel assembly is based on a measurement of the difference in the angle of inclination before and after loading, the angle of inclination being chosen as the angle between a terrestrial reference frame and a vehicle reference frame along the axis of the vehicle. 
     
     
         21 . The method for estimating the weight of a vehicle as claimed in  claim 20 , wherein, during (iii) measuring the angle of inclination, any detection of an acceleration beyond a certain predetermined threshold is considered to indicate that the smart communication device has been dropped, and (iii) must be repeated. 
     
     
         22 . The method for estimating the weight of a vehicle as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein (iv) calculating the load value on the front and rear wheel assemblies is executed by interpolation in a load/clearance map. 
     
     
         23 . A smart communication device for execution of the method as claimed in  claim 13 , the smart communication device comprising:
 an application programmed to activate a method for estimating the weight of a vehicle;   a human-machine interface for starting the application for estimating the weight of a vehicle;   means for identifying the vehicle;   a camera for taking a photograph of at least one wheel of the vehicle;   at least one accelerometer and/or inclinometer for measuring an angle of inclination between the terrestrial reference frame and the vehicle reference frame;   a calculation unit programmed to execute image processing and calculation of clearance values and load values, and   at least one graphic and/or audio interface to alert the user to the load state of the vehicle.   
     
     
         24 . An application for a smart communication device as claimed in  claim 23 , comprising from a viewpoint of a user of the application:
 a) identifying the user's vehicle;   b) taking a photograph of at least one wheel indicated by the application;   c) placing the smart communication device in a docking station of the vehicle and validation after the placing placement;   d) informing the user of the load state of the vehicle.