METHOD AND DEVICES FOR MONITORING PHYSICAL QUANTITIES OF A GEOGRAPHICAL ZONE

Abstract

A method for generating data of interest relating to a geographical zone, by an item of computing equipment, on the basis of a datum and of a geographical position originating from a transmission (Tr1) by a transmission unit (122), includes making a vehicle (104) travel around a predetermined path (T1) of the geographical zone at a temporal frequency, the transmission unit being embedded on board the vehicle transmitting to the item of computing equipment the datum and a geographical position, the geographical position corresponding to the geographical position of a sensor (106) embedded on board the vehicle, while the vehicle is travelling around the path, at the moment of a generation of a value (108) of a physical quantity in a monitoring zone (112) outside the vehicle, the datum being generated by a processing, by a processing unit (114) embedded on board the vehicle, of the value.

Claims

1. A method (100) for generating data of interest (200) relating to a geographical area (102), by an item of computing equipment (202), from a first datum (116) and from a first geographical position (120) originating from a transmission (Tr1) by a first transmission unit (122), the method comprising causing a first vehicle (104) to travel on a first predetermined path (T1) of the geographical area at a first temporal frequency, said first transmission unit being embedded in said first vehicle and being arranged for transmitting the first datum and a first geographical position to said first item of computing equipment, said first geographical position corresponding to the geographical position of a first sensor (106) embedded in said first vehicle, during the travel of said first vehicle on the first path, at the time of generating a first value (108), determined by said first sensor, of a first physical quantity in a first monitoring area (112) outside said first vehicle, said first datum being generated by a processing, by a first processing unit (114) embedded in said first vehicle, of said first value.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting the first datum and/or the first geographical position is performed in real time during the travel of the first vehicle on the first path.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of generating the first datum and of generating the first geographical datum is iterated during the travel of the first vehicle on the first path.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising comparing the first datum with a predetermined threshold.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a processing of the data of interest and a transmission of the processed data of interest (206) to a second item of computing equipment (212).

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the processing of the data of interest generates a mapping, said mapping having value levels of the first physical quantity represented in different places of the geographical area.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data of interest are further generated from a second datum (316) and a second geographical position (320) originating from a second transmission (Tr2) by a second transmission unit of the first item of computing equipment, comprising causing a second vehicle (304) to travel on a second predetermined path (T2) of the geographical area at a second temporal frequency, said second transmission unit being embedded in said second vehicle and being arranged for transmitting the second datum and the second geographical position to said first item of computing equipment, said second geographical position corresponding to the geographical position of a second sensor embedded in said second vehicle, during the travel of said second vehicle on the second path, at the time of generating a second value, determined by said second sensor, of a second physical quantity in a second monitoring area outside said second vehicle, said second datum being generated by a processing, by a second processing unit embedded in said second vehicle, of said second value.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first datum of interest, the first geographical position, the second datum of interest and the second geographical position are recorded in the same database.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising a longitudinal analysis of the first and second data of interest by the first item of computing equipment.

10. A vehicle (104), comprising: a first sensor (106) embedded in said vehicle configured for determining a first value (108) of a first physical quantity in a first monitoring area (112) outside the vehicle, during a travel of said vehicle on a first path, a first processing unit (114) embedded in said vehicle and configured for generating a first datum (116) from said first value, a first unit for determining geographical position (118) configured for generating a first geographical position (120) corresponding to the geographical position of said first sensor at the time of determining said first value, and a first transmission unit (122) arranged for transmitting said first datum and said first geographical position to a first item of computing equipment (200).

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the first sensor and/or the first processing unit and/or the first unit for determining geographical position and/or the first transmission unit are removably attached to the vehicle.

12. The vehicle as claimed in claim 10, wherein the first sensor and/or the first processing unit and/or the first unit for determining geographical position and/or the first transmission unit are originally installed on the vehicle.

13. The vehicle as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a second sensor arranged embedded in said vehicle configured for determining a second value of a second physical quantity in a second monitoring area outside the vehicle, during the travel of said vehicle on the first path.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the first physical quantity and second physical quantity are different.

15. The vehicle as claimed in claim 10, comprising an electrical power supply unit dimensioned to provide for the electrical power supply of the first sensor, of the first processing unit and of the first transmission unit, during the travel of said vehicle in the geographical area on the first predetermined path.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the electrical power supply unit is dimensioned to further provide for causing said vehicle to travel from a place of departure to a place of arrival on the first predetermined path.

17. The vehicle as claimed in claim 10, not comprising electrical connection means to an external electrical power supply to the device arranged for powering the vehicle when it moves on the first predetermined path.

18. A system for generating data of interest relating to a geographical area comprising an item of computing equipment and a vehicle according to claim 10, wherein the first item of computing equipment, to which are transmitted the first datum and the first geographical position is the item of computing equipment of the system, said item of computing equipment being arranged for processing the first datum and for generating the data of interest.

19. The system as claimed in claim 18, further comprising a transmission unit configured for transmitting the data of interest to a second item of computing equipment.

20. A non-transitory computer program product, directly loadable into the internal memory of a computing unit, comprising instructions which, when they are executed by the computing unit, implement the steps of the method as claimed in claim 1.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0070] Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent on reading the detailed description of implementation and embodiment in no way restrictive, with respect to the appended FIGURE in which:

[0071] FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of a method 100 according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0072] Since this embodiment is in no way restrictive, variants of the invention may notably be produced comprising only a selection of features subsequently described, as described or generalized, isolated from the other features described, if this selection of features is sufficient to impart a technical advantage or to differentiate the invention from the prior art.

[0073] FIG. 1 represents an embodiment of a method 100 for generating data of interest relating to a geographical area 102 according to the invention.

[0074] The method 100 comprises causing a first vehicle 104 to travel, on a first predetermined path T1 of the geographical area 102. In the example represented, the first vehicle 104 is a waste collection truck.

[0075] According to the embodiment of the method 100, the first vehicle 104 travels at a first temporal frequency f1 greater than a predetermined temporal frequency fp. In the example represented, the temporal frequency f1 is once per working day while the predetermined temporal frequency fp is once per week.

[0076] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the first vehicle 104 comprises: [0077] a first sensor 106 embedded in the first vehicle 104 configured for determining a first value 108 of a first physical quantityhere the temperaturein a first monitoring area 112 outside the first vehicle 104, [0078] a first processing unit 114 embedded in the first vehicle 104 and configured for generating a first datum 116 from the first value 108, [0079] a first unit for determining geographical position 118 configured for generating a first geographical position 120 corresponding to the geographical position of said first sensor 106 at the time of determining the first value 108, [0080] a first transmission unit 122 arranged for transmitting said first datum 116 and said first geographical position 120 to a first item of computing equipment 202, remote from the first vehicle 104.

[0081] The dotted arrow connecting the first sensor 106 and the first unit for determining geographical position 118 illustrates the temporal synchronization of the determination of the first value 108 and the first geographical position 120.

[0082] The method 100 comprises generating data of interest 200, by the first item of computing equipment 202, by means of a data processing unit 208, from the first datum 116 and the first geographical position 120 originating from a transmission Tr1 by the first transmission unit 122.

[0083] In the embodiment of the method 100, the step of transmitting the first datum 116 and the first geographical position 120 is performed in real time during the travel of the first vehicle 104 on the first path T1.

[0084] In the embodiment of the method 100, the step of generating the first datum 116 and the first geographical position 120 is iterated during the travel of the first vehicle on the first path T1.

[0085] Furthermore, in the embodiment of the method 100, the transmission of the first datum 116 and of the first geographical position 120 by the first transmission unit 122 of the first vehicle 104 is iterated during the travel of the first vehicle 104 on the first path T1. Thus real-time information may be received without waiting for the return of the first vehicle 104 to a base provided with means of retrieving this information.

[0086] The method 100 further comprises a processing of the data of interest 200, by means of a data processing unit 210, and a transmission of the processed data of interest 206 by means of a transmitter 204, to a second item of computing equipment 212.

[0087] The data processing units 208 and 210 may be distinct or only form a single data processing unit.

[0088] The method 100 comprises comparing the first datum 116 to a predetermined threshold. This comparison may be performed by the processing unit 208. In the event of the predetermined threshold being exceeded, the comparison may generate an alarm, as a datum of interest 200.

[0089] In the embodiment of the method 100, the processing of the data of interest generates a mapping (not illustrated), said mapping having value levels of the first physical quantity represented in different places of the geographical area.

[0090] FIG. 1 further illustrates that the data of interest 200 are further generated from a second datum 316 and a second geographical position 320 originating from a second transmission Tr2 by a second remote transmission unit (not represented) of the item of computing equipment 202.

[0091] The method 100 comprises causing a second vehicle 304 to travel on a second predetermined path T2 of the geographical area 102 at a second temporal frequency greater than the predetermined temporal frequency f2.

[0092] In the example represented, the second vehicle 304 is a waste collection truck. In the example represented, the temporal frequency f2 is one per working day.

[0093] The second transmission unit is embedded in the second vehicle 304 and is arranged for transmitting the second datum 316 and the second geographical position 320 to the first item of computing equipment 202.

[0094] As previously, the second geographical position corresponds to the geographical position of a second sensor embedded in the second vehicle 304, during the travel of the second vehicle 304 on the second path, at the time of generating a second value, determined by the second sensor, of a second physical quantityhere the temperaturein a second monitoring area outside the second vehicle 304, the second datum being generated by a processing, by a second processing unit embedded in the second vehicle 304, of the second value.

[0095] By data processing unit, the present description refers to any digital computing means for processing data, e.g. a microprocessor.

[0096] Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples which have just been described and numerous adjustments may be made to these examples without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, the various features, forms, variants and embodiments of the invention may be combined with each other in various combinations insofar as they are not incompatible or mutually exclusive of each other.