Vehicle trip logger
A vehicle trip logger is disclosed for recording vehicle location and at least one field as a trip category during travel. The trip logger provides data for a report of miles traveled in categories that may be useful for tax, vehicle maintenance or other reporting. For each trip the user selects a menu item displayed on the trip logger as a trip category. The trip logger may provide fields such as account numbers or trip reasons as additional category fields used in reporting vehicle travel. The trip logger may be configured by the user to customize displays and reports shown by the logger. Vehicle location records and trip records with trip fields are saved to internal memory. A trip record is indexed to a group of location records.
1. A trip logger system comprising:
a vehicle used for travel; and
a trip logger for recording travel in the vehicle including:
a housing;
a display for showing a plurality of menu items;
a user input for selecting at least one menu item as at least one field entry from the plurality of menu items;
memory for storing program instructions and records;
a positioning system configured to provide a time value and a location coordinate of the vehicle; and
a processor, operably connected to the display, the memory and the positioning system, the processor configured to:
create a plurality of records of a first type representing points along a path of vehicle travel, each record of the first type including a time value and a location coordinate of the vehicle provided by the positioning system;
create at least one record of a second type including:
the at least one selected field entry;
a vehicle start location entry; and
a vehicle end location entry; and
index at least two of the plurality of records of the first type to one record of the second type;
where the trip logger identifies and deletes location records with redundant data.
2. The trip logger system of claim 1 where the processor is configured to randomly generate words to be displayed by the trip logger as menu items.
3. A data collection system to be used with vehicles comprising:
a trip logger including:
a positioning system for determining vehicle location;
memory for recording vehicle location data collected by the positioning system;
a display for displaying a plurality of menu items;
a user input for selecting at least one menu item from the plurality of menu items; and
a processor operatively connected to the positioning system, the memory, the user input and the display, the processor configured to create in the memory:
location records describing points on a trip path including vehicle location data from the positioning system; and
a trip record indexed to a plurality of location records, each trip record comprising:
the at least one selected menu item;
a vehicle location reference to a start point of the trip path; and
a vehicle location reference to an end point of the trip path; and
a peripheral device configured to connect to the trip logger and transfer data between the peripheral device and the trip logger;
where the trip logger identifies and deletes location records with redundant data where remaining location records adequately define the trip path.
4. The data collection system of claim 3 where the processor is configured to randomly generate words to be displayed by the trip logger as menu items.