SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING DRIVER FEEDBACK USING A HANDHELD MOBILE DEVICE

1 . A system for collecting and evaluating driving related data, comprising:

a handheld mobile device, including;

one or more sensors associated with the handheld mobile device and configured to automatically collect driving data during a data collection session;

a processor;

a non-transitory storage medium;

a display device; and

a set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium and when executed by the processor configured to:

calculate, based at least on the collected driving data, one or more metrics related to the driver's driving behavior; and

display on the display device the one or more calculated metrics related to the driver's driving behavior.

2 . A system for collecting and evaluating driving related data as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium, when executed by the processor, are configured to:

automatically collect the driving data during multiple separate data collection sessions, each corresponding to a separate driving session;

calculate, based on driving data collected during an individual data collection session corresponding to an individual driving session, at least one metric related to the driver's driving behavior during the individual driving session; and

display on the display device the at least one calculated metric related to the driver's driving behavior during the individual driving session.

3 . A system for collecting and evaluating driving related data as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium, when executed by the processor, are configured to:

collect the driving data during multiple separate data collection sessions, each corresponding to a separate driving session;

combine the driving data collected during the multiple data collection sessions; and

calculate, based on the combined driving data collected during the multiple data collection sessions corresponding to multiple driving sessions, at least one metric related to the driver's driving behavior during the multiple driving sessions.

4 . A system for collecting and evaluating driving related data as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium, when executed by the processor, are configured to:

calculate, based on the combined driving data collected during the multiple data collection sessions corresponding to multiple driving sessions, an averaged value of a particular metric for the multiple driving sessions; and

display the averaged value of the particular metric for the multiple driving sessions.

5 . A system for collecting and evaluating driving related data as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors associated with a handheld mobile device comprises an accelerometer, and wherein the set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium, when executed by the processor, are configured to:

calculate one or more metrics related to the driver's driving behavior, the metrics being at least one of:

an acceleration metric indicative of the vehicle acceleration;

a braking metric indicative of the vehicle braking; and

a cornering metric indicative of the vehicle cornering.

6 . A system for collecting and evaluating driving related data as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium, when executed by the processor, are configured to:

collect the driving data during multiple separate data collection sessions corresponding to multiple separate driving sessions;

for each driving session, calculate a particular metric related to the driver's driving behavior;

display on the display device the calculated particular metric for each of the multiple driving sessions.

7 . A system for collecting and evaluating driving related data as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium, when executed by the processor, are configured to:

calculate multiple individual metrics related to the driver's driving behavior;

calculate an overall score based on the multiple different metrics;

display on the display device (a) the multiple calculated individual metrics and (b) the calculated overall score.

8 . A system for collecting and evaluating driving related data as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium, when executed by the processor, are configured to:

collect the driving data during multiple separate data collection sessions corresponding to multiple separate driving sessions;

for each driving session:

calculate, based at least on the driving data collected during that driving session, multiple different metrics related to the driver's driving behavior during that driving session; and

calculate an overall score for that driving session based on the multiple different metrics calculated for that driving session; and

display on the display device the calculated overall score for each of the multiple driving sessions.

9 . A system for collecting and evaluating driving related data as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium, when executed by the processor, are configured to automatically notify the driver to set or adjust the physical orientation of the handheld mobile device before or during collection of the driving data.

10 . A system for collecting and evaluating driving related data as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium, when executed by the processor, are configured to analyze the collected driving data to identify notable driving events occurring during the data collection session.

11 . A system for collecting and evaluating driving related data as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium, when executed by the processor, are configured to:

calculate multiple different metrics related to the driver's driving behavior during the data collection session; and

calculate an overall score for the data collection session based on (a) the multiple different metrics calculated for that driving session and (b) notable driving events identified for the data collection session.

12 . A system for collecting and evaluating driving related data as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium, when executed by the processor, are configured to analyze the collected driving data to identify notable driving events occurring during the data collection session by:

comparing driving data collected during particular events within the data collection session with one or more predefined thresholds; and

identifying the presence of notable driving events based on the comparisons.

13 . A system for collecting and evaluating driving related data as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium, when executed by the processor, are configured to:

display a map indicating a path traveled during the data collection session; and

indicate the location of one or more identified notable driving events along the displayed travel path on the displayed map.

14 . A method for collecting and evaluating driving related data, comprising:

using one or more sensors associated with a handheld mobile device to automatically collect driving data during a data collection session;

using one or more processors to execute computer readable instructions stored in non-transitory memory to:

calculate, based at least on the collected driving data, one or more metrics related to the driver's driving behavior; and

display on a display device the one or more calculated metrics related to the driver's driving behavior.

15 . A method according to claim 14 , further comprising:

automatically collecting the driving data during multiple separate data collection sessions, each corresponding to a separate driving session;

calculating, based on driving data collected during an individual data collection session corresponding to an individual driving session, at least one metric related to the driver's driving behavior during the individual driving session; and

displaying on the display device the at least one calculated metric related to the driver's driving behavior during the individual driving session.

16 . A method according to claim 14 , further comprising:

collecting the driving data during multiple separate data collection sessions, each corresponding to a separate driving session;

combining the driving data collected during the multiple data collection sessions; and

calculating, based on the combined driving data collected during the multiple data collection sessions corresponding to multiple driving sessions, at least one metric related to the driver's driving behavior during the multiple driving sessions.

17 . A method according to claim 16 , comprising:

calculating, based on the combined driving data collected during the multiple data collection sessions corresponding to multiple driving sessions, an averaged value of a particular metric for the multiple driving sessions; and

displaying the averaged value of the particular metric for the multiple driving sessions.

18 . A method according to claim 14 , wherein:

the one or more sensors associated with a handheld mobile device include an accelerometer; and

calculating one or more metrics related to the driver's driving behavior includes calculating at least one of:

an acceleration metric indicative of the vehicle acceleration;

a braking metric indicative of the vehicle braking; and

a cornering metric indicative of the vehicle cornering.

19 . A method according to claim 14 , comprising:

collecting the driving data during multiple separate data collection sessions corresponding to multiple separate driving sessions;

for each driving session, calculating a particular metric related to the driver's driving behavior;

displaying on the display device the calculated particular metric for each of the multiple driving sessions.

20 . A method according to claim 14 , comprising:

calculating multiple individual metrics related to the driver's driving behavior;

calculating an overall score based on the multiple different metrics;

displaying on the display device (a) the multiple calculated individual metrics and (b) the calculated overall score.

21 . A method according to claim 14 , comprising:

collecting the driving data during multiple separate data collection sessions corresponding to multiple separate driving sessions;

for each driving session:

calculating, based at least on the driving data collected during that driving session, multiple different metrics related to the driver's driving behavior during that driving session; and

calculating an overall score for that driving session based on the multiple different metrics calculated for that driving session; and

displaying on the display device the calculated overall score for each of the multiple driving sessions.

22 . A method according to claim 14 , further comprising the handheld mobile device automatically notifying the driver to set or adjust the physical orientation of the handheld mobile device before or during collection of the driving data.

23 . A method according to claim 14 , further comprising:

analyzing the collected driving data to identify notable driving events occurring during the data collection session.

24 . A method according to claim 23 , further comprising:

calculating multiple different metrics related to the driver's driving behavior during the data collection session; and

calculating an overall score for the data collection session based on (a) the multiple different metrics calculated for that driving session and (b) notable driving events identified for the data collection session.

25 . A method according to claim 23 , wherein identifying notable driving events includes:

comparing driving data collected during particular events within the data collection session with one or more predefined thresholds; and

identifying the presence of notable driving events based on the comparisons.

26 . A method according to claim 23 , further comprising:

displaying a map indicating a path traveled during the data collection session;

indicating the location of one or more identified notable driving events along the displayed travel path.

27 . A non-transitory computer readable medium containing a set of computer readable instructions executable by a processor to:

receive driving data collected by one or more sensors associated with a handheld mobile device during a data collection session;

calculate, based at least on the collected driving data, one or more metrics related to the driver's driving behavior; and

display on a display device the one or more calculated metrics related to the driver's driving behavior.