Sensor apparatus and method for monitoring the driving-mode-dependent state of a vehicle

A vehicle-mounted sensor system for determining the state of at least one mechanical vehicle component and/or a body structure of the vehicle, comprising:

• a sensor element configured to capture a mechanical variable,
• wherein sensor data corresponding to the mechanical variable captured by the sensor element is continuously capturable in any operating state of the vehicle,
• a communication element configured to transmit the captured sensor data to an external computer for further processing, and
• a computing unit configured to reduce data volume of the sensor data to be transmitted to the external computer.

A method for determining the state of at a mechanical vehicle component and/or a body structure of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle has a sensor element for capturing mechanical sensor data, the method comprising:

• reading out, continuously, and caching the mechanical sensor data,
• checking for the existence of an event relevant to the determination of the state of the mechanical vehicle component in the sensor data captured within a specifiable time window,
• when a specifiable threshold value is exceeded, and when a relevant event is detected, the cached sensor data of the relevant time window are transmitted to an external computer, and
• when a relevant event is not detected within the relevant time window, null data are transmitted to the external computer.