Fleet Trigger-Based Incentives With Blockchain

Abstract

A vehicle includes a controller, programmed to responsive to detecting occurrence of a condition specified by a pre-defined trigger, generate a trigger event for the condition and send the trigger event to a blockchain network having multiple nodes; and responsive to receiving a validation from a node of the blockchain network, add a block for the trigger event to a distributed ledger stored locally.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vehicle comprising:
 a controller, programmed to
 responsive to detecting occurrence of a condition specified by a pre-defined trigger, generate a trigger event for the condition and send the trigger event to a blockchain network having multiple nodes; and 
 responsive to receiving a validation from a node of the blockchain network, add a block for the trigger event to a distributed ledger stored locally. 
   
     
     
         2 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to output an incentive result via an output device. 
     
     
         3 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to create the block incorporating the trigger event from a previous block using cryptic hash algorithm. 
     
     
         4 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to encrypt the trigger event before sending the trigger event to the blockchain network. 
     
     
         5 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the trigger includes at least one of: a trip evaluation trigger cluster, a fuel performance trigger cluster, a road safety driving habit trigger cluster, a vehicle safety feature trigger cluster, a fleet-to-fleet assist trigger cluster, a driving green trigger cluster, a driver habit upon returning vehicle trigger cluster, or a compliance trigger cluster. 
     
     
         6 . The vehicle of  claim 5 , wherein the trip evaluation trigger cluster includes at least one of: a route planned via a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) controller, a predefined fuel reimbursement value, a trigger for continuous improvements on vehicle inspections, an electronic logging device (ELD) trigger, a trip reporting trigger, or a driver maintaining good driver score trigger. 
     
     
         7 . The vehicle of  claim 5 , wherein the fuel performance trigger cluster includes at least one of: trigger for stop/start system usage, engine idle trigger, a trigger for usage of air conditioning (AC) level in comparison to outside temperature, a fuel-economy value trigger, and a tire pressure maintenance trigger. 
     
     
         8 . The vehicle of  claim 5 , wherein the road safety driving habit trigger cluster includes at least one of: a seatbelt usage pattern trigger, a lane changing turn signals usage trigger, a trigger for keeping safety distance from other vehicles, a bad weather speed reducing trigger, a break trigger, a speed limit trigger, a low visibility headlight usage trigger, or a moderate volume level trigger. 
     
     
         9 . The vehicle of  claim 5 , wherein the vehicle safety feature trigger cluster includes at least one of: a blind spot monitor usage trigger, a cruise control usage trigger, a trigger for lance keep assist sensitivity maintaining and lane warning, a cruise control usage trigger, a hands-off-wheel alert maintaining trigger, a hands-free phone call mode usage trigger, or a brake mitigation sensitivity level maintaining trigger. 
     
     
         10 . The vehicle of  claim 5 , wherein the fleet-to-fleet assist trigger cluster includes at least one of: a trigger for picking up load from another fleet vehicle out of route, a trigger for stopping to render assistance, or a trigger for vehicle repair. 
     
     
         11 . The vehicle of  claim 5 , wherein the driving green trigger cluster includes at least one of: low ethanol fuel trigger, a fleet route optimization trigger, an electric vehicle (EV) trigger, a trigger for charging EV at off-peak hours, or trigger for reporting infrastructure issues. 
     
     
         12 . The vehicle of  claim 5 , wherein the driver habit upon returning vehicle trigger cluster includes at least one of: a vehicle maintenance checklist trigger, a reverse parking trigger, or a fuel tank percentage trigger. 
     
     
         13 . The vehicle of  claim 5 , wherein the compliance trigger cluster includes at least one of: an ELD trigger, a vehicle weight trigger, an hours of operation trigger, a tire pressure trigger, a brake depth trigger, or a seatbelt status trigger. 
     
     
         14 . A method for a vehicle, comprising:
 detecting a pre-defined trigger being matched via a signal received from a vehicle sensor;   generating a trigger event based on the matching trigger;   broadcasting the trigger event to a blockchain network having multiple nodes via a telematics control unit (TCU) through a wireless connection;   receiving a validation key for the trigger event from at least one node of the blockchain network;   generating a new block incorporating the trigger event based on a previous block; and   adding the new block to a distributed ledger stored within the vehicle.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 encrypting the trigger event using a key; and   sending an encrypted trigger event to the blockchain network.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the key is associated with an identification of the vehicle. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the pre-defined trigger is among least one of: a trip evaluation trigger cluster, a fuel performance trigger cluster, a road safety driving habit trigger cluster, a vehicle safety feature trigger cluster, a fleet-to-fleet assist trigger cluster, a driving green trigger cluster, a driver habit upon returning vehicle trigger cluster, or a compliance trigger cluster. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 receiving an incentive reward from a fleet manager node of the blockchain network.   
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of a vehicle, cause the vehicle to:
 detect a pre-defined trigger being matched via a signal received from a vehicle sensor;   generate a trigger event based on the matching trigger;   encrypt the trigger event using a key to generate an encrypted trigger event;   broadcast the encrypted trigger event to a blockchain network having multiple nodes via a TCU through a wireless connection;   receive a validation key for the trigger event from at least one node of the blockchain network;   generate a new block incorporating the trigger event based on a previous block; and   add the new block to a distributed ledger stored within the vehicle.