Malfunction detection of shared vehicles

A method, a device and a computer program product for managing a shared vehicle are proposed. In the method, first information about a user is obtained. The first information indicates a speed of at least one shared vehicle used by the user. A target vehicle is determined from the at least one shared vehicle based on the first information. Second information about the target vehicle is determined. The second information indicates respective speeds of the target vehicle moving at a plurality of time intervals. An abnormal state of the target vehicle is detected based on the second information. The abnormal state indicates that a malfunction occurs in the target vehicle.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The present invention relates to managing a shared vehicle, and more specifically, to a method, device and computer program product for shared vehicle malfunction detection.

Related Art

Shared vehicles, such as bicycles, scooters, cars, or the like, are used by service providers to provide vehicle-sharing services on a variety of locations, such on campuses, subway stations, bus stations, residential areas, commercial areas, public service areas, etc. Such vehicle-sharing service is a new type of environment friendly sharing economy, which can maximize the utilization of the public transportation. However, the damage rate of the vehicles remains high. Thus, detecting malfunctions occur in the vehicles becomes a challenge.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of managing a shared vehicle. In the method, first information about a user is obtained. The first information indicates a speed of at least one shared vehicle used by the user. A target vehicle is determined from the at least one shared vehicle based on the first information. Second information about the target vehicle is determined. The second information indicates respective speeds of the target vehicle moving at a plurality of time intervals. An abnormal state of the target vehicle is detected based on the second information. The abnormal state indicates that a malfunction occurs in the target vehicle.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a device for managing a shared vehicle. The device comprises a processing unit and a memory coupled to the processing unit and storing instructions thereon. The instructions, when executed by the processing unit, performing acts including: obtaining first information about a user, the first information indicating a speed of at least one shared vehicle used by the user; determining a target vehicle from the at least one shared vehicle based on the first information; determining second information about the target vehicle, the second information indicating respective speeds of the target vehicle moving at a plurality of time intervals; and detecting an abnormal state of the target vehicle based on the second information, the abnormal state indicating that a malfunction occurs in the target vehicle.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product being tangibly stored on a non-transient machine-readable medium and comprising machine-executable instructions. The instructions, when executed on a device, causing the device to perform acts including: obtaining first information about a user, the first information indicating a speed of at least one shared vehicle used by the user; determining a target vehicle from the at least one shared vehicle based on the first information; determining second information about the target vehicle, the second information indicating respective speeds of the target vehicle moving at a plurality of time intervals; and detecting an abnormal state of the target vehicle based on the second information, the abnormal state indicating that a malfunction occurs in the target vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used herein, the term “includes” and its variants are to be read as open ended terms that mean “includes, but is not limited to.” The term “based on” is to be read as “based at least in part on.” The term “one embodiment” and “an embodiment” are to be read as “at least one embodiment.” The term “another embodiment” is to be read as “at least one other embodiment.” Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below.

Characteristics are as follows:

Service Models are as follows:

Deployment Models are as follows:

Computer system/server12may include a dedicated portable electronic device (e.g., device54A inFIG. 2) that can be employed to identify vehicles that are in need of repair or maintenance. Such a device may be employed to identify vehicles in accordance with the present embodiments, while a user is in the field. Using sensors, bike data (times, speeds and distances recorded by the bike or the lender/proprietor of the bike or vehicle) or global positioning systems mounted on the vehicles, the vehicles can be monitored, and once a determination is made that a vehicle is acting abnormally, the vehicles can be located and removed from service by employing the portable device54A). In one embodiment, the device54A can determine the abnormal state and generate an alert for a particular vehicle. Then, the vehicle can be located using global positioning or a homing signal using the portable device54A to identify where the vehicle is while in the field.

It should be noted that the processing of managing a shared vehicle or achieved by a device for managing a shared vehicle according to embodiments of this disclosure could be implemented by computer system/server12ofFIG. 1.

As described above, the damage rate of the vehicles remains high. The damaged vehicle can cause a variety of problems. For example, the damaged vehicle can significantly reduce the user experiences and the safety in using the vehicle. Additionally, it is hard for the sharing vehicle service providers to locate the damaged vehicle, and to repair the damaged vehicle in an appropriate time, thus increasing the maintenance costs.

To detect the damaged vehicle, one traditional approach is to install various sensors on the vehicle, but the costs and power consumption of these sensors are rather high. Another traditional approach is that the user who uses or attempts to use the vehicle can report the damage of the vehicle to the sharing vehicle service providers. However, the sharing vehicle service providers cannot control the behavior of the user, for example, the user may report a false damage, or may not report the damage.

In order to at least partially solve one or more of the above problems and other potential problems, example embodiments of the present disclosure propose a solution for managing a shared vehicle. In the solution, first information about a user is obtained. The first information indicates a speed of at least one vehicle used by the user. Additionally, or alternatively, the first information may indicate other proper factors, such as a health condition, remaining life or the like of at least one vehicle used by the user.

A target vehicle is determined from the at least one vehicle based on the first information. Second information about the target vehicle is determined. The second information indicates respective speeds of the target vehicle moving at a plurality of time intervals. An abnormal state of the target vehicle is detected based on the second information. The abnormal state indicates that a malfunction occurs in the target vehicle.

As such, a potentially problematic vehicle can be automatically identified. In this way, the costs for detecting the problematic vehicle is reduced, and the accuracy and efficiency detecting the problematic vehicle is improved, thus improving the user experience of the shared vehicle service.

Reference is now made toFIG. 4, which depicts a schematic diagram of an example vehicle management environment400according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 4, a vehicle410participates in the vehicle management environment400. The vehicle410can be any vehicle, e.g., a bicycle, a balance car, a scooter or any appropriate vehicle that can facilitate the movement of the user.

The vehicle410can collect information associated with use of the vehicle410by the user at a time interval and provide the collected information to the computer system/server12. The information may include, but not limited to, a moving distance420, a length of the time interval430, a road condition440and a weather condition450. For example, the information may also include a speed of the vehicle410used by the user. The moving distance420indicates the distance that the vehicle410used by the user moves.

The length of the time interval430indicates the length of the time interval when the vehicle410is used by the user. In some embodiments, the time interval may be the entire time when the vehicle410is used by the user. Additionally, or alternatively, the time interval may exclude the invalid time. The invalid time indicates the time that the vehicle410is not moving, for example, the time when the user using the vehicle410waits for the traffic light, the time when the user using the vehicle410stops and engages in other activities, such as making a call.

The road condition indicates the condition of the road on which the vehicle410used by the user moves. In some embodiments, the road condition may indicate a degree of congestion of the road, for example, a road having a serious traffic jam may have a high degree of congestion. Additionally, or alternatively, the road condition may indicate a type of road, for example, a mountain road, a waterlogged road, a muddy road, a flat road in the city or the like.

The weather condition indicates the condition of the weather when the vehicle410is used by the user. In some embodiments, the weather condition may indicate a type of weather, such as sunny, rainy, snowy or the like. Additionally, or alternatively, the weather condition may indicate the season, for example, the spring, summer, autumn or winter. Furthermore, the weather condition may indicate the temperature.

In some embodiments, the route that the vehicle410used by the user moves can be divided into a plurality of segments. For example, the route may be divided into a plurality of segments based on the time, the distance or any other appropriate manner. As a specific example, the route between two traffic lights may be defined as a segment. In this case, the moving distance420, the length of the time interval430, the road condition440and the weather condition450may relate to a certain segment.

The computer system/server12may determine first information about the user based on the information obtained from the vehicle410. The first information indicates a speed of at least one vehicle used by the user. In some embodiments, the speed of the vehicle410may be determined simply based on the moving distance420and the length of the time interval430. For example, the speed of the vehicle410may be calculated by dividing the moving distance420by the length of the time interval430. Alternatively, when the vehicle410provides its speed to the computer system/server12directly, the computer system/server12may determine the speed of the vehicle410directly.

In some embodiments, the speed of the vehicle410may also be determined based on the other factors, such as the road condition440and the weather condition450. For example, the computer system/server12may assign different weight to different road conditions and weather conditions and multiply the actual speed by the weight so as to determine an adjusted speed which accounts for the road condition440and the weather condition450.

For example, assume that the weight for the road condition indicating a flat road in the city is 1, and the actual speed is 15 km/h, in this case, the adjusted speed is 1*15=15 km/h. In contrast, assume that the weight for the road condition indicating a mountain road is set to 1.3, and the actual speed is 11 km/h, the adjusted speed is 1.3*11=14.3 km/h. As such, the effects caused by the other factors can be eliminated in detecting the abnormal state of the vehicle410.

Movement of the vehicle can be monitored using one or more methods. For example, the user's cellular phone can be employed, the vehicle can have a sensor(s), transmitters, GPS signaling or other mechanisms to monitor the speed, position, etc.

FIG. 5Adepicts a schematic diagram500A of example first information510A about a user (referred to as user A) according to an embodiment of the present invention. The horizontal axis represents the time interval, and the vertical axis represents the speed of the vehicle410. As shown inFIG. 5A, a point, such as the point540A, in the first information510A indicates a speed of a vehicle410used by the user A at a time interval. It is to be understood that, the user A may use different vehicles at different time intervals, in this case, the points may indicate the speeds of the same vehicle or different vehicles.

For example, at the time interval i1, the user A may use a first vehicle, in this case, the point indicates the speed of the first vehicle used by the user A at the time interval i1. At the time interval i2, the user A may use a second vehicle, in this case, the point indicates the speed of the second vehicle used by the user A at the time interval i2.

Similarly,FIG. 5Bdepicts a schematic diagram500B of example first information510B about another user (referred to as user B) according to an embodiment of the present invention. LikeFIG. 5A, the horizontal axis inFIG. 5Brepresents the time interval, and the vertical axis inFIG. 5Brepresents the speed of the vehicle410. A point in the first information510B indicates a speed of a vehicle410used by the user B at a time interval. Also, the points may indicate the speeds of the same vehicle or different vehicles.

Additionally,FIG. 5Cdepicts a schematic diagram500C of example first information510C about yet another user (referred to as user C) according to an embodiment of the present invention. LikeFIGS. 5A and 5B, the horizontal axis inFIG. 5Crepresents the time interval, and the vertical axis inFIG. 5Crepresents the speed of the vehicle410. A point in the first information510C indicates a speed of a vehicle410used by the user C at a time interval. Also, the points may indicate the speeds of the same vehicle or different vehicles. Hereinafter, the first information510A-510C may be collectively referred to the first information510.

The computer system/server12may determine a target vehicle from the at least one vehicle based on the first information510. Normally, a user has a rather fixed speed in using a vehicle410. In this case, in some embodiments, the computer system/server12may determine a user reference speed range. When a speed of a vehicle410exceeds or otherwise falls out of the user reference speed range, such vehicle410may be determined as the target vehicle.

For example, the computer system/server12may determine a user reference speed based on historical speeds of vehicles used by the user. The user reference speed may be the average value of the historical speeds of vehicles. Then, the computer system/server12may determine the user reference speed range based on the user reference speed and a predetermined value. For example, the predetermined value may be a variance of the historical speeds of vehicles. In this case, the upper limit of the user reference speed range may be calculated by adding the user reference speed and the variance, while the lower limit of the user reference speed range may be calculated by subtracting the variance from the user reference speed. Alternatively, the user reference speed and the variance can be set to be any appropriate value or predetermined by the service provider or the user.

Then, the computer system/server12may determine the target vehicle based on the user reference speed range. For example, if a speed of a vehicle410exceeds or falls out of the user reference speed range, in other words, if the difference between the user reference speed and a speed of a vehicle410exceeds a predetermined threshold difference, which can be for example the variance, the vehicle410may be determined as the target vehicle.

As shown inFIG. 5A, the upper limit of the user reference speed range is indicated by the dashed line520A, and the lower limit of the user reference speed range is indicated by the dashed line530A. Since the speed indicated by the point540A exceeds the user reference speed range, the vehicle410corresponding to the point540A is determined to be the target vehicle.

Similarly, inFIG. 5B, the upper limit of the user reference speed range is indicated by the dashed line520B, and the lower limit of the user reference speed range is indicated by the dashed line530B. Since the speed at the time interval i3indicated by the point540B exceeds the user reference speed range, the vehicle410corresponding to the point540B is determined to be the target vehicle.

Additionally, inFIG. 5C, the upper limit of the user reference speed range is indicated by the dashed line520C, and the lower limit of the user reference speed range is indicated by the dashed line530C. Since the speed at the time interval i4indicated by the point540C exceeds the user reference speed range, the vehicle410corresponding to the point540C is determined to be the target vehicle. For the sake of description, in the following text, it is assumed that the target vehicle corresponds to the points540A-540C is the same vehicle.

Returning toFIG. 4, the computer system/server12may determine second information about the target vehicle. The second information indicates respective speeds of the target vehicle moving at a plurality of time intervals. Similar to the first information510, the computer system/server12may determine the second information based on the information (also referred to as movement information) collected at the target vehicle and provided to the computer system/server12.

In some embodiments, the speed of the vehicle410may be determined simply based on the moving distance420and the length of the time interval430. For example, the speed of the vehicle410may be calculated by dividing the moving distance420by the length of the time interval430. Alternatively, when the vehicle410provides its speed to the computer system/server12directly, the computer system/server12may determine the speed of the vehicle410directly.

In some embodiments, the speed of the vehicle410may also be determined based on the other factors, such as the road condition440and the weather condition450. For example, the computer system/server12may assign different weight to different road conditions and weather conditions, and multiply the actual speed by the weight so as to determine an adjusted speed which accounts for the road condition440and the weather condition450.

FIG. 6depicts a schematic diagram600of example second information610about a target vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 6, a point in the second information610indicates a speed of the target vehicle used by a user at a time interval. It is to be understood that, the target vehicle may be used by different users at different time intervals. In this case, the points may indicate the speeds of the target vehicle used by the same user or different users.

For example, at the time interval i2, the target vehicle may be used by the user A as shown inFIG. 5A, in this case, the point640indicates the speed of the target vehicle used by the user A at the time interval i2. At the time interval i3, the target vehicle may be used by the user B as shown inFIG. 5B, in this case, the point650indicates the speed of the target vehicle used by the user B at the time interval i3. Additionally, at the time interval i4, the target vehicle may be used by the user C as shown inFIG. 5C, in this case, the point660indicates the speed of the target vehicle used by the user C at the time interval i4.

Then, the computer system/server12may detect an abnormal state of the target vehicle based on the second information610. The abnormal state indicates that a malfunction occurs in the target vehicle. Normally, a vehicle410has a rather fixed speed. In this case, in some embodiments, the computer system/server12may determine a normal speed range. If the speeds of the target vehicle continuously exceed the normal speed range, it may be determined that a malfunction occurs in the target vehicle.

As such, it is possible to reduce the probability that a vehicle410is determined to be malfunctioning because of a speed of the vehicle410used by a user accidentally exceeds the user reference speed, and thus improving the accuracy of the vehicle malfunction detection.

For example, the computer system/server12may determine a vehicle reference speed based on historical speeds of the target vehicle. The vehicle reference speed may be the average value of the historical speeds of the target vehicle moving at a plurality of time intervals. Additionally, the computer system/server12may determine a variance of the historical speeds of the target vehicle. In this case, the normal speed range may be determined based on the vehicle reference speed and the variance. For example, the upper limit of the normal speed range may be calculated by adding the vehicle reference speed and the variance, while the lower limit of the vehicle speed range may be calculated by subtracting the variance from the vehicle reference speed.

Alternatively, the vehicle reference speed can be set to be any appropriate value or predetermined by the service provider. For example, since it can be assumed that a new vehicle does not have any malfunction, the vehicle reference speed may be set to be the speed of the new vehicle. In addition, the variance can also be set to be any appropriate value or predetermined by the service provider, for example, the variance of the speeds of a predetermined number of new vehicles. As shown inFIG. 6, the upper limit of the normal speed range is indicated by the dashed line620, and the lower limit of the normal speed range is indicated by the dashed line630.

In some embodiments, the computer system/server12may determine a pattern of the respective speeds of the target vehicle moving at the plurality of time intervals exceed the normal speed range, and detect the abnormal state based on the pattern. For example, as shown inFIG. 6, the speeds at the time intervals i2-i4indicated by the points640-660may form a pattern. Since these speeds exceed the normal speed range, the computer system/server12may determine that abnormal state exists.

For example, since the speeds of the target vehicle at a plurality of time intervals after the time interval indicated by the point640exceed the normal speed range, the target vehicle corresponding to the point540is determined to be the target vehicle. It is to be understood that, the point540as shown inFIG. 5may correspond to the point640. That is to say, the point540and the point640are at the same time interval. Alternatively, the point540may correspond to other points at other time intervals after the time interval indicated by the point640.

Alternatively or additionally, since the speeds of the vehicles410on the same route at the same time are more or less the same, the computer system/server12may also compare the speed of the target vehicle to the speeds of the other vehicles moving on the same route at the same time interval.

For example, the target vehicle may always be used at the peak hour with a heavily traffic congestion, and the speed of the target vehicle may continuously exceed the normal speed range. The computer system/server12may determine a route reference speed which may be, for example, the average value of the speeds of all the vehicles moving on the same route at the same time interval. Then, the computer system/server12may determine whether a difference between the speed of the target vehicle and the route reference speed exceeds a predetermined threshold. If the difference exceeds the predetermined threshold, the target vehicle may be determined to be malfunctioning. In this way, the accuracy of detecting a malfunctioning vehicle can be further increased.

As such, an abnormal state of a vehicle can be automatically detected. In this way, it is possible to reduce the costs for detecting whether a malfunction occurs in the vehicle, and improve the accuracy and efficiency in determining the problematic vehicle.

FIG. 7depicts a flow chart of an example method700of managing a vehicle410according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method700may be at least in part implemented by the computer system/server12, or other suitable systems.

At710, the computer system/server12obtains first information510about a user. The first information510indicates a speed of at least one vehicle used by the user. In some embodiments, the computer system/server12may obtain information associated with use of the at least one vehicle by the user at a time interval. The information includes, for example, but not limited to, a moving distance420indicating the distance moved in the time interval, a length430of the time interval, a road condition440in the time interval, a weather condition450in the time interval, and/or the like. Then, the computer system/server12may determine the first information510based on the obtained information.

At720, the computer system/server12determines a target vehicle from the at least one vehicle based on the first information510. In some embodiments, the computer system/server12may determine a user reference speed based on historical speeds of vehicles410used by the user. For example, the user reference speed may be determined based on an average of the respective speeds of the vehicles used by the user at the plurality of time intervals.

Then, the computer system/server12may determine a difference between the user reference speed and a speed of a candidate vehicle. The candidate vehicle is selected from the at least one vehicle used by the user. When the difference exceeds a threshold difference, the computer system/server12may determine the candidate vehicle as the target vehicle.

At730, the computer system/server12determines second information610about the target vehicle. The second information610indicates respective speeds of the target vehicle moving at a plurality of time intervals. In some embodiments, the computer system/server12may obtain information associated with moving of the target vehicle at the plurality of time intervals. The information includes, for example, but not limited to, a moving distance of each of the plurality of time intervals420, a length of each of the plurality of time intervals430, a road condition of each of the plurality of time intervals440and a weather condition of each of the plurality of time intervals450. Then, the computer system/server12may determine the second information610based on the obtained information.

At740, the computer system/server12detects an abnormal state of the target vehicle based on the second information610. The abnormal state indicates that a malfunction occurs in the target vehicle. In some embodiments, the computer system/server12may determine a pattern of differences between the respective speeds of the target vehicle moving at the plurality of time intervals and a vehicle reference speed. For example, the computer system/server12may determine the vehicle reference speed based on an average of the respective speeds of the target vehicle moving at the plurality of time intervals. Alternatively, the computer system/server12may determine the vehicle reference speed based on the speed of the new vehicle. Then, the computer system/server12may detect the abnormal state based on the pattern.

For example, the computer system/server12may determine, based on the pattern, whether a speed of the target vehicle during a predetermined time period is out of a normal speed range. In some embodiments, the predetermined time period may include the time interval at which the difference between the user reference speed and the speed of the target vehicle exceeds the threshold difference. For example, the predetermined time period may surround that time interval.

Then, when the speed of the target vehicle is determined to be out of the normal speed range, the computer system/server12may determine that that a malfunction occurs in the target vehicle.

As such, a potentially problematic vehicle can be automatically identified. In this way, the costs for detecting the problematic vehicle are reduced, and the accuracy and efficiency detecting the problematic vehicle is improved, thus improving the user experience of the sharing vehicle.

FIG. 8depicts a flow chart of an example method800of managing/maintaining vehicles according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method800may be at least in part implemented by the computer system/server12and can include one or more dedicated devices for locating vehicles in need of repair. Computer system/server12may include the dedicated portable electronic device (e.g., device54A inFIG. 2) that can be employed while a maintenance worker is in the field. Using sensors or global positioning systems mounted on the vehicles, the vehicles can be monitored, and once a determination is made that a vehicle is acting abnormally, the vehicles can be located and removed from service by employing the portable device54A). In one embodiment, the device54A can determine the abnormal state and generate an alert for a particular vehicle. Then, the vehicle can be located using global positioning or a homing signal using the portable device54A to identify where the vehicle is while in the field.

At810, the computer system/server12obtains information about a target vehicle identified with an abnormal state.

At820, the computer system/server12activates a method to locate the vehicle, e.g., employs global positioning, a homing signal, video or other methods from the vehicle or other sources to identify a current location of the vehicle.

At830, the abnormal state indicates that a malfunction occurs in the target vehicle so once the vehicle is located, the target vehicle is repaired or removed from service. As such, a potentially problematic vehicle can be identified and fixed. In this way, the user experience of the sharing vehicle is enhanced.