SHOCK TESTING APPLICATION FOR A MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICE

1 . A method for estimating shock performance of a vehicle using a mobile communication device, the method comprising:

receiving acceleration data from one or more motion sensors of the mobile communication device over a period of time while the mobile communication device is placed on a portion of the vehicle and forced vibration is given to a suspension of the vehicle;

processing the received acceleration data to estimate a performance of the shock; and

displaying the estimated performance of the shock on a display of the mobile communication device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating performance of the shock comprises estimating a damping performance of the shock;

wherein said processing the received acceleration data comprises:

calculating a damping coefficient using the received acceleration data; and

estimating the damping performance based on the calculated damping coefficient.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein said estimating the damping performance comprises:

comparing the calculated damping coefficient to a table relating damping coefficients to estimated damping performance.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein said calculating the damping coefficient comprises:

recording acceleration changes using the received acceleration data;

filtering the recorded acceleration changes;

converting the filtered acceleration changes to displacement data; and

calculating the damping coefficient using the displacement data.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein said calculating the damping coefficient using the displacement data comprises:

calculating a logarithmic decrement using peaks in the displacement data; and

calculating the damping coefficient using the calculated logarithmic decrement.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein said converting the filtered acceleration changes to displacement data comprises:

integrating the filtered acceleration changes to provide velocity data;

additional filtering the velocity data; and

integrating the additionally filtered velocity data to provide the displacement data.

7 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

further filtering the displacement data before said calculating the damping coefficient using the displacement data.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

displaying a prompt of the display of the mobile communication device for prompting a user to begin vibrating the vehicle suspension.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the prompt comprises:

a picture of a vehicle;

an indicator indicating the portion of the vehicle; and

an icon that is selectable by the user to begin vibrating the vehicle suspension.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the prompt further comprises a sequence of displayed messages in response to selection of the icon.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating performance of the shock comprises:

estimating a damping performance of the shock; and

estimating a shock mileage performance based on an estimated shock mileage.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein said estimated shock mileage is received from an input.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein said estimating a shock mileage performance comprises:

comparing the estimated shock mileage to a table relating estimated shock mileage to estimated shock mileage performance.

14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

combining the estimated damping performance and the estimated shock mileage performance to determine an overall shock performance prediction.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising;

displaying at least one of the estimated damping performance, the estimated shock mileage performance, or the overall shock performance prediction on the display of the mobile communication device.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

determining at least one recommendation based on the estimated damping performance, the estimated shock mileage performance, or the overall shock performance prediction on the display of the mobile communication device; and

further displaying said determined at least one recommendation.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more motion sensors comprise one or more accelerometers.

18 . An apparatus for estimating shock performance of a vehicle using a mobile communication device, the apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

executed instructions stored on a non-transitory medium that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:

receive acceleration data from one or more motion sensors of the mobile communication device over a period of time while the mobile communication device is placed on a portion of the vehicle and forced vibration is given to a suspension of the vehicle;

process the received acceleration data to estimate a performance of the shock; and

display the estimated performance of the shock on a display of the mobile communication device.

19 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein estimating performance of the shock comprises:

estimating a damping performance of the shock; and

estimating a shock mileage performance based on an estimated shock mileage.

20 . A mobile communication device comprising the apparatus of claim 18 ;

wherein the mobile communication device further comprises:

the one or more motion sensors; and

the display.

21 . An apparatus for estimating shock performance of a vehicle using a mobile communication device, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a damping performance determination module configured for causing the processor to receive acceleration data from one or more motion sensors of the mobile communication device over a period of time while the mobile communication device is placed on a portion of the vehicle and forced vibration is given to a suspension of the vehicle;

a shock mileage determination module configured for causing the processor to estimate a shock mileage performance based on an estimated shock mileage;

a prediction determination module configured for causing the processor to combine the estimated damping performance and the estimated shock mileage performance to determine an overall shock performance prediction;

a user prompt module configured for causing the processor to prompt a user to begin oscillating the vehicle; and

a results display module configured for causing the processor to display one or more of the estimated damping performance, the estimated shock mileage performance, or the overall shock performance prediction on the display of the mobile communication device.

22 . The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the one or more motion sensors comprises one or more accelerometers.