Apparatus and method for gear detection

1. A method of determining an available gear of a geared vehicle, comprising:

receiving a plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios of the vehicle, each based on a speed of the vehicle and a corresponding speed of a drive unit of the vehicle;

evaluating a consistency measure indicative of a variation in the plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios over time;

determining that the plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios correspond to an available gear when the consistency measure is less than a predetermined threshold; and

upon determining that the plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios correspond to an available gear, performing a corresponding update of a gear table, the gear table configured to be used for determining current gears of a geared vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising, when the plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios are determined to correspond to an available gear, performing the corresponding update of the gear table by adding an entry to a gear table for the available gear based on the plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios, said gear table comprising a plurality of entries, each entry associating an available gear of the geared vehicle with a speed-rpm ratio.

3. The method of claim 1 , comprising, when the plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios are determined to correspond to an available gear, performing the corresponding update of the gear table by adjusting an existing entry in a gear table for the available gear based on the plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios, said gear table comprising a plurality of entries, each entry associating an available gear of the geared vehicle with a speed-rpm ratio.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a speed of the drive unit of the vehicle when the vehicle is standing still;

storing the received speed of the drive unit as a no-load rpm; and

subsequently ignoring at least one of the received speed-rpm ratios of the vehicle if the speed of the drive unit of the vehicle on which at least one speed-rpm ratio is based is within a predetermined threshold of the no-load rpm.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination of an available gear of the geared vehicle is additionally based on an indication of an acceleration state of the vehicle.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the indication of the acceleration state of the vehicle is given by an acceleration signal or a plurality of successive speed signals.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the determination of an available gear of the geared vehicle includes a determination of a reverse gear based on an acceleration signal indicative of reverse acceleration following at least one speed signal indicative of the vehicle speed being zero.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the speed of the vehicle and the corresponding speed of a drive unit of the vehicle is obtained from an on-board diagnostics (OBD) port of the vehicle.

9. A method of determining a current gear of a geared vehicle, comprising:

receiving a speed-rpm ratio of the vehicle, based on a speed of the vehicle and a corresponding speed of a drive unit of the vehicle;

evaluating a difference between the speed-rpm ratio and a speed-rpm ratio from an entry in a gear table, said gear table comprising a plurality of entries, each entry associating an available gear of the geared vehicle with a speed-rpm ratio, and said gear table having been determined in accordance with the method of claim 1 ; and

determining that the current gear of the vehicle is the available gear of the entry in the gear table when the difference is within a predetermined threshold.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

comparing the speed of the drive unit of the vehicle to a stored no-load rpm, said no-load rpm being the speed of the drive unit when the vehicle is standing still; and

determining the geared vehicle is not in a gear when the comparison indicates the speed of the drive unit is within a predetermined threshold of the stored no-load rpm.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the determination of the current gear of the geared vehicle is additionally based on an indication of an acceleration state of the vehicle.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the indication of the acceleration state of the vehicle is given by an acceleration signal or a plurality of successive speed signals.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the determination of the current gear of the geared vehicle includes a determination of a reverse gear based on an acceleration signal indicative of reverse acceleration following at least one speed signal indicative of the vehicle speed being zero.

14. The method of claim 9 , comprising wired and/or wirelessly transmitting information regarding the current gear of the geared vehicle to a remote device.

15. An apparatus for determining an available gear of a geared vehicle comprising: one or more processors; and a memory comprising instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:

receive a plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios of the vehicle, each based on a speed of the vehicle and a corresponding speed of a drive unit of the vehicle;

evaluate a consistency measure indicative of a variation in the plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios over time;

determine that the plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios correspond to an available gear when the consistency measure is less than a predetermined threshold; and

upon determining that the plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios correspond to an available gear, performing a corresponding update of a gear table, the gear table configured to be used for determining current gears of a geared vehicle.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising a connector for connecting the apparatus to a vehicle on-board diagnostics (OBD) port to receive the speed of the vehicle and the corresponding speed of a drive unit of the vehicle.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to:

evaluate a difference between a received speed-rpm ratio and a speed-rpm ratio from an entry in a gear table, said gear table comprising a plurality of entries, each entry associating an available gear of the geared vehicle with a speed-rpm ratio; and

determine that a current gear of the vehicle is the available gear of the entry in the gear table when the difference is within a predetermined threshold.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , further comprising a wired transmitter and/or a wireless transmitter for transmitting information regarding the current gear of the geared vehicle to a remote device.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform a method of determining an available gear of a geared vehicle, comprising:

receiving a plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios of the vehicle, each based on a speed of the vehicle and a corresponding speed of a drive unit of the vehicle;

evaluating a consistency measure indicative of a variation in the plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios over time;

determining that the plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios correspond to an available gear when the consistency measure is less than a predetermined threshold; and

upon determining that the plurality of successive speed-rpm ratios correspond to an available gear, performing a corresponding update of a gear table, the gear table configured to be used for determining current gears of a geared vehicle.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the computer readable instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to:

evaluate a difference between a received speed-rpm ratio and a speed-rpm ratio from an entry in a gear table, said gear table comprising a plurality of entries, each entry associating an available gear of the geared vehicle with a speed-rpm ratio; and

determine that the current gear of the vehicle is the available gear of the entry in the gear table when the difference is within a predetermined threshold.