System and method for in-vehicle operator training

Abstract

An on-vehicle system for assessing an operator's efficiency of a vehicle, include sensors, an audiovisual display device, a processor and a data storage. The sensors measure or detect conditions of components of the vehicle, and convert the detected conditions into analog or digital information. The data storage stores program instructions, the analog or digital information from the sensors, and other data. The program instructions, when executed by the processor, control the on-vehicle system to determine a state of the vehicle within a vehicle's environment based on the analog or digital information from the sensors, determine whether one or more of a predetermined set of behaviors has occurred based on the determined state of a vehicle, assess performance of the determined one or more of the predetermined set of behaviors, and present the operator, via the audiovisual display device, a feedback based on the assessment.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for providing, via an in-vehicle system comprising sensors, adaptive operator assessment and coaching for an operator of a vehicle, the method comprising:
 determining operational efficiency of the vehicle based on information from the sensors in a time frame;   determining that one or more of predetermined behavior categories has occurred or is occurring;   assessing an operator's performance based on the operational efficiency of the vehicle in the time frame;   incrementally changing an operator feedback threshold based upon incremental modification of a plurality of corresponding parameters; and   providing output based on the determined one or more of predetermined behavior categories, the assessment, and the operator feedback threshold.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining operational efficiency of the vehicle based on information from the sensors in first and second time frames within a series of timeframes;   determining a first desired operator behavior for the first time frame based on vehicle information, sortie information and the information from the sensors;   determining a second desired operator behavior for the second time frame based on vehicle information, sortie information and the information from the sensors, wherein the first desired operator behavior differs from the second desired operator behavior; and   assessing an operator's performance based on the operational efficiency of the vehicle in the first time frame and in the second time frame.   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the determination whether one or more of predetermined behavior categories has occurred or is occurring is real-time. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined behavior categories include at least of one of high-idle, excessive idle, progressive shifting, speeding, hard-braking, hard-acceleration and unsafe maneuver. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising: 
       comparing the operator's performance with historical operator's performance. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the feedback provided to the operator includes operator cueing. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein:
 the operator cueing is ignored by the operator; and   an alert is generated and sent to a remote location.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 5 , further comprising:
 modifying the operator feedback threshold based on the result of the comparison; and   providing the feedback to the operator at least partly based on the modified feedback threshold.   
     
     
         9 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having program instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause an in-vehicle system, comprising sensors, to perform operations comprising:
 determining operational efficiency of the vehicle based on information from the sensors in a time frame;   determining that one or more of predetermined behavior categories has occurred or is occurring;   assessing an operator's performance based on the operational efficiency of the vehicle in the time frame;   incrementally changing an operator feedback threshold based upon incremental modification of a plurality of corresponding parameters; and   providing output based on the determined one or more of predetermined behavior categories, the assessment, and the operator feedback threshold.   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 9 , further comprising:
 determining operational efficiency of the vehicle based on information from the sensors in first and second time frames within a series of timeframes;   determining a first desired operator behavior for the first time frame based on vehicle information, sortie information and the information from the sensors;   determining a second desired operator behavior for the second time frame based on vehicle information, sortie information and the information from the sensors, wherein the first desired operator behavior differs from the second desired operator behavior; and   assessing an operator's performance based on the operational efficiency of the vehicle in the first time frame and in the second time frame.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 9 , wherein the determination whether one or more of predetermined behavior categories has occurred or is occurring is real-time. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 9 , wherein the predetermined behavior categories include at least of one of high-idle, excessive idle, progressive shifting, speeding, hard-braking, hard-acceleration and unsafe maneuver. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 9 , further comprising:
 comparing the operator's performance with historical operator's performance.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 9 , wherein the feedback provided to the operator includes operator cueing. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 14 , wherein:
 the operator cueing is ignored by the operator; and   an alert is generated and sent to a remote location.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 modifying the_operator feedback threshold based on the result of the comparison, and providing the feedback to the operator at least partly based on the modified feedback threshold.   
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the incremental changes to the operator feedback threshold are predetermined. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the incremental changes to the operator feedback threshold are based on a predetermined training regime. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the incremental changes to the operator feedback threshold dynamically based on the operator assessment. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 9 , wherein the incremental changes to the operator feedback threshold are predetermined. 
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 9 , wherein the incremental changes to the operator feedback threshold are based on a predetermined training regime. 
     
     
         22 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 9 , wherein the incremental changes to the operator feedback threshold are dynamically based on the operator assessment.