Method and apparatus for 3-D accelerometer based slope determination, real-time vehicle mass determination, and vehicle efficiency analysis

A system for using accelerometer data from a vehicle to determine a slope the vehicle is traveling over, comprising:

• (a) at least one vehicle data generating component, the at least one vehicle data generating component being configured to generate 3-D accelerometer data during operation of the vehicle data;
• and
• (b) at least one processor, the at least one processor being configured to implement the functions of:
• (i) determining a horizontal ground speed of the vehicle at a specific point in time based on the 3-D accelerometer data;
• and
• (ii) determining the slope the vehicle is traveling over at a specific point in time, based on the horizontal ground speed and Z axis 3-D accelerometer data at that point in time.

A geographical position system for use in a vehicle, the geographical position system comprising:

• (a) a component for collecting 3-D accelerometer data during operation of the vehicle, the 3-D accelerometer data being time indexed;
• (b) at least one data port for receiving vehicle data from the vehicle during operation of the vehicle, the vehicle data comprising:
• (i) vehicle speed data;
• (ii) torque data;
• and
• (iii) engine speed data;
• and
• (c) a processor configured to implement the functions of:
• (i) determining a slope the vehicle is traveling over at a specific point in time based on the 3-D accelerometer data;
• and
• (ii) determining a mass of the vehicle at a specific point in time, based on the slope the vehicle is traveling over at that point in time, the vehicle speed data at that point in time, the torque data at that point in time, and the engine speed data at that point in time.

A data collecting system for use in a vehicle, the system comprising:

• (a) a component for collecting 3-D accelerometer data from the vehicle during vehicle operation, the 3-D accelerometer data being time indexed;
• (b) at least one data port for receiving vehicle data from the vehicle during operation of the vehicle, the vehicle data comprising:
• (i) velocity data;
• (ii) torque data;
• and
• (iii) engine speed data;
• and
• (c) a processor for combining the vehicle data and the 3-D accelerometer data together to produce slope corrected mass encoded data;
• and
• (d) a data link for conveying the slope corrected mass encoded data to a remote computing device.