Methods and systems for combining sensor data to determine vehicle movement information

Abstract

According to some embodiments of the invention, movement measurements may be obtained from a movement sensor (e.g., an accelerometer) of a mobile device in a vehicle. In addition, location measurements may be obtained from a location sensor (e.g., a GPS) of the mobile device in the vehicle. The movement measurements and the location measurements may be cross-referenced to each other to remove erroneous measurements, such as physically impossible measurements. The remaining measurements may be used to draw conclusions about the movements or locations, such as to identify a movement event (e.g., a braking event, an acceleration event, or the like).

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for improving usability of an accelerometer of a mobile phone for detecting a driving event during a trip in a vehicle, the method comprising:
 operating a movement sensor, by the mobile phone, the accelerometer of a the mobile device disposed in a vehicle to obtain phone to generate a plurality of movement acceleration measurements, wherein the mobile phone is disposed in the vehicle during the trip such that mobile phone movements are used as a proxy for vehicle movements during the trip, and wherein the plurality of acceleration measurements includes at least one erroneous acceleration measurement; 
 operating, by the mobile phone, a location sensor global positioning system (GPS) chipset of the mobile device phone disposed in the vehicle to obtain a plurality of location measurements; 
 verifying, by a processor of the mobile device phone, a portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements using the plurality of location measurements, wherein verifying the portion of the plurality of acceleration measurements involves detecting the at least one erroneous acceleration measurement by applying a predefined set of rules to the plurality of acceleration measurements, the predefined set of rules involving using the plurality of location measurements to evaluate the plurality of acceleration measurements; 
 based on detecting the at least one erroneous acceleration measurement, removing, by the processor of the mobile phone, one or more movement measurements that are not verified from the plurality of movement measurements to providethe at least one erroneous acceleration measurement from the plurality of acceleration measurements to generate a set of remaining movementaccelerometer measurements; and 
 determining, by the processor of the mobile phone, a movement the driving event for during the trip in the vehicle using the set of remaining movement accelerometer measurements, wherein the driving event is determined more accurately by using the set of remaining accelerometer measurements than by using the plurality of acceleration measurements containing the at least one erroneous acceleration measurement; and 
 displaying, by the mobile phone, an interactive graphical interface that includes a notification of the driving event. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 using two or more approaches to verifying the portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements, wherein verifying using the plurality of location measurements is used by at least one of the approaches,; and  
 wherein removing the one or more movement measurements that are not verified from the portion of the plurality of movement measurements the at least one erroneous acceleration measurement to provide the set of remaining movement acceleration measurements comprises, for the plurality of movement acceleration measurements,: 
 independently using each of the approaches to remove the one or more movement measurements at least one erroneous acceleration measurement that are is not verified. 
 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein verifying the portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements comprises:
 determining, by the processor, a movement an acceleration measurement of a first portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements as not verified based on a comparison of an accuracy estimate of the movement acceleration measurement and a first threshold. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein verifying the portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements comprises:
 applying, by the processor, a first set of rules to two movement acceleration measurements of a second portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements to determine that the two movement acceleration measurements are not both physically possible; and 
 determining, by the processor, one of the two movement acceleration measurements determined to not be physically possible as not verified. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein verifying the portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements comprises:
 determining, by the processor, a third second portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements having duplicate values as not verified. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the duplicate values of the third second portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements are time values. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the duplicate values of the second portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements are location magnitude values. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein verifying the portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements comprises:
 applying, by the processor, a second set of rules to a fourth second portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements to determine that each movement acceleration measurement of the fourth second portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements has corresponds to location values that are clustered; and 
 determining, by the processor, the second portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements as not verified. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 grouping each of the set of remaining movement acceleration measurements into groups based on a collection time for the set of remaining movement acceleration measurements, the grouping resulting in a plurality of movement acceleration measurement groups, wherein the set of remaining movement acceleration measurements each have a speed component; 
 for a first group of the plurality of movement acceleration measurement groups, using the speed component of each movement acceleration measurement of the first group to determine a plurality of acceleration rates describing changes in the speed component; 
 applying a second threshold to the acceleration rates; and 
 removing two or more movement acceleration measurements from the first group based on the second threshold being applied to the acceleration rates associated with the two or more movement acceleration measurements. 
 
     
     
       10. A device mobile phone comprising:
 an accelerometer; 
 a global positioning system (GPS) chipset; 
 a display device; 
 a memory; and 
 a processor coupled to the memory, the accelerometer, the GPS chipset, and the display device, wherein the processor is configured to perform operations including:
 operating a movement sensor the accelerometer of a the mobile device disposed in a vehicle to obtain phone to generate a plurality of movement acceleration measurements, wherein the mobile phone is positionable in a vehicle during a trip such that mobile phone movements are used as a proxy for vehicle movements during the trip, and wherein the plurality of acceleration measurements includes at least one erroneous acceleration measurement; 
 operating a location sensor the global positioning system (GPS) chipset of the mobile movement phone disposed in the vehicle to obtain a plurality of location measurements; 
 verifying a portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements using the plurality of location measurements, wherein verifying the portion of the plurality of acceleration measurements involves detecting the at least one erroneous acceleration measurement by applying a predefined set of rules to the plurality of acceleration measurements, the predefined set of rules involving using the plurality of location measurements to evaluate the plurality of acceleration measurements; 
 based on detecting the at least one erroneous acceleration measurement, removing one or more movement measurements that are not verified from the plurality of movement measurements to providethe at least one erroneous acceleration measurement from the plurality of acceleration measurements to generate a set of remaining movementaccelerometer measurements; and 
 determining a movement a driving event for during the trip in the vehicle using the set of remaining movement accelerometer measurements, wherein the driving event is determined more accurately by using the set of remaining accelerometer measurements than by using the plurality of acceleration measurements containing the at least one erroneous acceleration measurement; and 
 displaying, by the mobile phone, an interactive graphical interface that includes a notification of the driving event on the display device. 
 
 
     
     
       11. The device mobile phone of  claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 use two or more approaches to verifying the portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements, wherein verifying using the plurality of location measurements is used by at least one of the approaches,; and  
 wherein removing the one or more movement measurements that are not verified from the plurality of movement measurements the at least one erroneous acceleration measurement to provide the set of remaining movement acceleration measurements comprises, for the plurality of movement acceleration measurements,: 
 independently using each of the approaches to remove the one or more movement measurements at least one erroneous acceleration measurement that are is not verified. 
 
 
     
     
       12. The device mobile phone of  claim 10 , wherein verifying the portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements comprises:
 determining a movement an acceleration measurement of a first portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements as not verified based on a comparison of an accuracy estimate of the movement acceleration measurement and a first threshold. 
 
     
     
       13. The device mobile phone of  claim 10 , wherein verifying the portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements comprises:
 applying a first set of rules to two movement acceleration measurements of a second portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements to determine that the two movement acceleration measurements are not both physically possible; and 
 determining one of the two movement acceleration measurements determined to not be physically possible as not verified. 
 
     
     
       14. The device mobile phone of  claim 10 , wherein verifying the portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements comprises:
 determining a third second portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements having duplicate values as not verified. 
 
     
     
       15. The device mobile phone of  claim 14 , wherein the duplicate values of the third second portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements are time values. 
     
     
       16. The device mobile phone of  claim 14 , wherein the duplicate values of the third second portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements are location magnitude values. 
     
     
       17. The device mobile phone of  claim 10 , wherein verifying the portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements comprises:
 applying a second set of rules to a fourth second portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements to determine that each movement acceleration measurement of the fourth second portion of the plurality of movement acceleration measurements has corresponds to location values that are clustered; and 
 determining the fourth second portion of the plurality of movement accelation measurements as not verified. 
 
     
     
       18. The device mobile phone of  claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 group each of the set of remaining movement acceleration measurements into groups based on a collection time for the set of remaining movement acceleration measurements, the grouping resulting in a plurality of movement acceleration measurement groups, wherein the set of remaining movement acceleration measurements have a speed component; 
 for a first group of the plurality of movement acceleration measurement groups, use the speed component of each movement acceleration measurement of the first group to determine a plurality of acceleration rates describing changes in the speed component; 
 apply a second threshold to the acceleration rates; and 
 remove two or more movement acceleration measurements from the first group based on the second threshold being applied to the acceleration rates associated with the two or more movement acceleration measurements.