Programmable automotive computer method and apparatus with accelerometer input

An electronic portable device for calculating a point at which a vehicle has traveled a selected distance from a standing start point, wherein the distance calculation corrects for errors in velocity data available from a vehicle's onboard diagnostics system, comprising:

• an input/output port for coupling said device to said diagnostic port for accessing the onboard diagnostic system to obtain said vehicle velocity data;
• a detector for detecting vehicle movement and the start time of said vehicle travel, wherein said detector is independent of the onboard diagnostics system;
• a microcontroller operative for generating a first set of velocity values and a corresponding time stamp for each velocity value of said first set based on data acquired by said detector, for receiving a second set of velocity values generated by said onboard diagnostic system via said input/output port and for generating a time stamp for each of said velocity values of said second set, for generating corrected velocity values as a function of said first set and said second set of velocity values, said time stamps, and said detected start time, and for integrating said corrected velocity values to calculate the point at which the vehicle has traveled the selected distance from said standing start point;
• and
• a memory for providing storage in said device for said first set of velocity values, for said second set of values based on the vehicle velocity data received from said onboard diagnostic system, and for said time stamps.

A method for calculating a point at which a vehicle has traveled a selected distance from a standing start point, wherein the distance calculation corrects for errors in the velocity data available from a vehicle's onboard diagnostics system, comprising

• accessing the onboard diagnostic system to obtain said vehicle velocity data;
• detecting the start time of said vehicle travel and the vehicle's acceleration using an accelerometer, wherein said accelerometer is independent of said onboard diagnostic system;
• in a first time interval from the start time to the time taken to reach the first velocity value received from said onboard diagnostic system, generating corrected velocity values based on data acquired from said accelerometer;
• thereafter, generating corrected velocity values based on velocity data from said onboard diagnostics system if said velocity data does not significantly vary from said velocity values generated based on data acquired from said accelerometer, otherwise, generating corrected velocity values based on data acquired from said accelerometer;
• and
• integrating said corrected velocity values to calculate the point at which the vehicle has traveled the selected distance from said standing start point.