Method Of Rendering Dynamic Vehicle Telemetry On A Graphical Display

Abstract

A method of rendering data on a graphical display includes an editor and objects for creating dashboards of various styles and shapes. Objects are created and edited in a graphical user interface to produce object trees or lists and layers or containers for organization. Data values are rendered in a dashboard on a display, and objects and layers may be cached for quicker rendering. Rendering of an object may change based on the data value to be represented, and an object may be clipped when displayed.

1 . A method of rendering dynamic vehicle telemetry data on a graphical display comprising the steps of:
 preparing computer code that will generate graphical objects to display vehicle telemetry data;   accessing an editor application that may be used to create a template having an object tree;   opening a template in the editor application and creating a first layer for graphical object display;   adding graphical objects in the object tree as child objects to the first layer, and organizing the graphical objects so that certain graphical objects are children or grandchildren or other descendants of other graphical objects for the first layer in the object tree;   creating a second layer for graphical object display;   adding graphical objects in the object tree as child objects to the second layer, and organizing the graphical objects so that certain graphical objects are children or grandchildren or other descendants of other graphical objects in the object tree;   creating a predetermined number of additional layers with graphical objects in the object tree as child objects, grandchild objects, or other descendant objects;   displaying vehicle telemetry data from a predetermined data source by:
 acquiring the telemetry data from the data source; 
 traversing the object tree to apply a data value from the data source to at least one graphical object configured to represent that data value; 
 providing a first rendering of each of the first, the second and the predetermined number of additional layers, including the layer containing the at least one graphical object configured to represent the data value; 
 caching the rendering of each layer on layer by layer basis; 
 identifying whether there is a predetermined layer in which there are no graphical objects that represent a data value that has changed; 
 if there is no predetermined layer in which there are no graphical objects that represent a data value that has changed, providing a subsequent rendering of each of the first, the second and the predetermined number of additional layers; 
 if there is a predetermined layer in which there are no graphical objects that represent a data value that has changed, providing a subsequent rendering using the cache from the predetermined layer; and 
   displaying at least a portion of the graphical rendering on the graphical display.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein a predetermined graphical object and any of its child objects may be configured to have arbitrary shapes and predetermined configuring of the graphical object will transform its child objects in a predetermined way. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  in which a predetermined graphical object renders a first or a second child based on a predetermined data value. 
     
     
         4 . A method of rendering dynamic vehicle telemetry data on a graphical display in which a predetermined graphical object and children of the graphical object have arbitrary shapes and are configured to act as a dynamic indicator of telemetry data. 
     
     
         5 . A method of rendering dynamic vehicle telemetry data on a graphical display comprising the steps of:
 creating an editable dashboard of graphical objects for displaying vehicle telemetry data, the dashboard including a first container object;   adding graphical objects to the first container object;   displaying vehicle telemetry data from a predetermined data source by:
 acquiring the telemetry data from the data source; 
 applying a data value from the data source to at least one graphical object configured to represent that data value; 
 providing a first rendering of the first container object to display the data on the dashboard in conjunction with the at least one graphical object; and; 
   displaying at least a portion of the graphical rendering on the graphical display.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising the step of caching the first rendering of the first container object. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising the steps of:
 identifying whether the first container object includes a graphical object that represents a data value that has changed; 
 if there is a graphical object that represents a data value that has changed, providing a subsequent rendering of the first container object; and 
 if there is no graphical object that represents a data value that has changed, providing a subsequent rendering using the cache from the first rendering. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising the step of creating a second container object for graphical object display. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising the step of using an editor application to edit the dashboard. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the graphical objects are added by inclusion in a list. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the graphical objects are added as child objects by inclusion in an object tree. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising the step of organizing the graphical objects so that certain graphical objects are children or grandchildren or other descendants of other graphical objects for the first container object in the object tree. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising the step of creating a predetermined number of additional container objects with graphical objects in the object tree as child objects, grandchild objects, or other descendant objects. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising the step of adding graphical objects in an object tree as child objects to a second container object. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising the step of organizing the graphical objects so that certain graphical objects are children or grandchildren or other descendants of other graphical objects in the object tree. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising the step of clipping a rendering of one graphical object to the shape of another graphical object prior to displaying the rendering. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising a needle object that acts as a container to define an arbitrary shape and to transform the shape based on the data to be represented on the display. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 5  wherein a predetermined graphical object and any of its child objects may be configured to have arbitrary shapes and predetermined configuring of the graphical object will transform its child objects in a predetermined way. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 5  in which a predetermined graphical object renders based on a predetermined data value.