Systems and methods for providing off-track drivability guidance

1. A method comprising:

capturing, using a sensor of a first vehicle and as the first vehicle is traversing an off-road track, information about a driving surface of the off-road track;

receiving, from the sensor in the first vehicle and by a remote server, the information about the driving surface of the off-road track;

receiving, from the first vehicle, information about a type of the first vehicle, wherein the information is automatically provided by the first vehicle;

obtaining, by the remote server, a weather forecast for an area encompassing at least a portion of the off-road track;

determining, by the remote server and based on an evaluation procedure that includes the information about the driving surface and the weather forecast, a drivability status of the off-road track;

receiving, from the first vehicle and by the remote server, a query about a traversability of the off-road track;

sending, by the remote server and to the first vehicle, the drivability status of the off-road track in response to the query; and

sending, by the remote server and to the first vehicle, an indication of a type of vehicle to be used for traversing the off-road track based on the weather forecast; and

presenting, via a human machine interface (HMI) of the first vehicle, the indication of the type of vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

defining a geofence around the first vehicle; and

obtaining a weather forecast for an area that includes the geofence.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

modifying the drivability status of the off-road track based on evaluating the weather forecast.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information about the driving surface of the off-road track comprises a material composition of the driving surface, a gradient of the driving surface, and/or an amount of traction provided by the driving surface.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation procedure further includes identifying a model and a make of the first vehicle, identifying a speed of the first vehicle on the off-road track, identifying a location of the first vehicle on the off-road track, identifying a current weather characteristic at the location of the first vehicle on the off-road track, identifying a model and a make of a second vehicle, and/or obtaining a weather forecast for an area encompassing at least a portion of the off-road track.

6. A method comprising:

capturing, using a sensor of a first vehicle and as the first vehicle is traversing an off-road track, a sensor signal about a driving surface of the off-road track;

receiving, by a first processor associated with a remote server, from the sensor in the first vehicle, the sensor signal about the driving surface of the off-road track;

receiving, from the first vehicle, information about a type of the first vehicle, wherein the sensor signal is automatically provided by the first vehicle;

obtaining, by the remote server, a weather forecast for an area encompassing at least a portion of the off-road track;

obtaining, by the first processor, information about a driving surface of the off-road track based on evaluating the sensor signal;

conveying, by the first processor, to a second processor associated with the first vehicle or a personal communication device, the information about the driving surface of the off-road track, the second processor configured to determine a drivability status of the off-road track based on a multifactor evaluation procedure that includes evaluating the information about the driving surface of the off-road track and the weather forecast;

receiving, from the first vehicle or the personal communication device, a query about a traversability of the off-road track;

sending, to the first vehicle or a personal communication device, the drivability status of the off-road track in response to the query;

defining a geofence around the first vehicle;

obtaining a weather forecast for an area that includes the geofence; and

evaluating, by the remote server, the weather forecast as a part of the multifactor evaluation procedure for determining the drivability status of the off-road track, wherein the multifactor evaluation procedure further includes identifying a model and a make of the first vehicle, identifying a speed of the first vehicle on the off-road track, identifying a location of the first vehicle on the off-road track, identifying a current weather characteristic at the location of the first vehicle on the off-road track, and/or obtaining a weather forecast for an area encompassing at least a portion of the off-road track; and

presenting, via a human machine interface (HMI) of the first vehicle, the indication of the type of vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the sensor signal is produced in response to a material composition of the driving surface, a gradient of the driving surface, an amount of traction provided by the driving surface of the off-road track and/or a weather condition affecting the driving surface.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first processor is included in an off-road track operations system provided in the first vehicle and the second processor is included in an off-road track drivability guidance system provided in a server computer.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the multifactor evaluation procedure for determining the drivability status of the off-road track further includes identifying a model and a make of the first vehicle, identifying a speed of the first vehicle on the off-road track, identifying a location of the first vehicle on the off-road track, and/or identifying a current weather characteristic at the location of the first vehicle on the off-road track.

10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

defining, by the first processor and/or the second processor, a geofence around the first vehicle; and

obtaining, by the second processor, a weather forecast for an area that includes the geofence.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

modifying the drivability status of the off-road track based on the weather forecast.

12. A system comprising:

a server computer comprising:

a memory that stores computer-executable instructions; and

a processor configured to access the memory and execute the computer-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:

capturing, using a sensor of a first vehicle and as the first vehicle is traversing an off-road track, information about a driving surface of the off-road track;

receiving, from the sensor in the first vehicle and by a remote server, the information about the driving surface of the off-road track;

receiving, from the first vehicle, information about a type of the first vehicle, wherein the information is automatically provided by the first vehicle;

determining, by the remote server, a drivability status of the off-road track based on a multifactor evaluation procedure that includes evaluating the information about the driving surface;

receiving, by the remote server from the vehicle, a query about a traversability of the off-road track;

providing, by the remote server, the drivability status of the off-road track in response to the query; and

sending, to the vehicle, an indication of a type of vehicle to be used for traversing the off-road track based on a weather forecast; and

presenting, via a human machine interface (HMI) of the first vehicle, the indication of the type of vehicle.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to access the memory and execute additional computer-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:

defining a geofence around a first vehicle; and

obtaining a weather forecast for an area that includes the geofence.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to access the memory and execute additional computer-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:

modifying the drivability status of the off-road track based on evaluating the weather forecast.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the multifactor evaluation procedure further includes identifying a model and a make of the first vehicle, identifying a speed of the first vehicle on the off-road track, identifying a location of the first vehicle on the off-road track, identifying a current weather characteristic at the location of the first vehicle on the off-road track, and/or obtaining a weather forecast for an area encompassing at least a portion of the off-road track.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to access the memory and execute additional computer-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:

evaluating, based on the drivability status of the off-road track, a drivability of a second type of vehicle on the off-road track; and

recommending the second type of vehicle subject to the drivability exceeding a threshold reference value.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the information about the driving surface of the off-road track comprises a material composition of the driving surface, a gradient of the driving surface, and/or an amount of traction provided by the driving surface.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to access the memory and execute additional computer-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:

obtaining a weather forecast for an area encompassing at least a portion of the off-road track;

including the weather forecast in the multifactor evaluation procedure for determining the drivability status of the off-road track; and

recommending a type of vehicle to be used for traversing the off-road track based on the weather forecast.