Systems and methods for detecting and assessing distracted drivers

• US 10,158,977 B2
• Filed: 09/16/2016
• Issued: 12/18/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cambridge Mobile Telematics, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Truemotion, Inc.
• Inventors: Cordova, Brad, Finegold, Rafi, Shiebler, Dan, Farrell, Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): ZEWDU, MELESS NMN
• Application Number:
  US15/268,049
• Publication Number:
  US 20170105098A1
• Time in Patent Office: 823 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2040/0818 Inactivity or incapacity of driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/105 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/12 Limiting control by the driver depending on vehicle state, e.g. interlocking means for the control input for preventing unsafe operation
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/00 Satellite radio beacon positioning systems; Determining position, velocity or attitude using signals transmitted by such systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/00 Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers subscriber services or facilities provided at exchanges H04M3/00; prepayment telephone coin boxes H04M17/00; current supply arrangements H04M19/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/00 Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/026 using orientation information, e.g. compass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention meet this need and others by providing systems and methods for detecting and assessing distracted drivers. Embodiments collect vehicle and driving data using a mobile device of a user. In a particular embodiment, data collected using the mobile device is analyzed to determine when the user is engaging in distracted driving behavior.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a mobile device comprising a plurality of sensors;

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to perform operations including;

obtaining a plurality of movement measurements over a plurality of time intervals from at least one of the plurality of sensors in the mobile device of a user during a trip in a vehicle;

classifying a subset of the plurality of movement measurements as mobile device usage movements based on characteristics of the subset, wherein the mobile device usage movements are movements obtained from the at least one of the plurality of sensors, and wherein the mobile device usage movements are indicative of usage of the mobile device by the user based on the movements;

filtering the mobile device usage movements; and

outputting the filtered mobile device usage movements,

wherein the classifying the subset of the plurality of movement measurements as the mobile device usage movements comprises;

determining a time series of usage probabilities over the time intervals based on a comparison of the obtained plurality of movement measurements to known usage measurements, wherein the usage probabilities include probabilities that the user is using the mobile device over the time intervals, and

wherein the filtering the mobile device usage movements comprises;

determining that the mobile device is not in a mount in the vehicle during the trip by comparing the obtained plurality of movement measurements to known mount measurements;

determining if the mobile device is in a downward orientation or an upward orientation for the time intervals using the obtained plurality of movement measurements;

flagging the time intervals with the usage probabilities greater than a first threshold if the mobile device is in the downward orientation and the time intervals with the usage probabilities greater than a second threshold if the mobile device is in the upward orientation, wherein the first threshold is greater than the second threshold; and

consolidating the flagged time intervals within a threshold time period into continuous periods of the usage.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the usage of the mobile device by the user includes interaction with the mobile device by the user.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the classifying the subset of the plurality of movement measurements as the mobile device usage movements further comprises:

extracting the subset of the plurality of movement measurements corresponding to the time intervals in which the usage probabilities exceed one of the first and second thresholds.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the filtering the mobile device usage movements comprises:

determining that the mobile device is in the mount in the vehicle during the trip by comparing the obtained plurality of movement measurements to known mount measurements;

determining if a global positioning system (GPS) application is active on the mobile device by comparing the obtained plurality of movement measurements to known GPS active data;

flagging the time intervals with the usage probabilities greater than the first threshold if the GPS application is active and the time intervals with the usage probabilities greater than the second threshold if the GPS application is inactive or is not present on the mobile device, wherein the first threshold is greater than the second threshold; and

consolidating the flagged time intervals within the threshold time period into continuous periods of the usage.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising:

classifying the user of the mobile device as a driver of the vehicle on the trip after determining that the mobile device is in the mount.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the filtering the mobile device usage movements comprises:

extracting the mobile device usage movements that occurred while a screen of the mobile device was on.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

determining if the user of the mobile device is a driver of the vehicle on the trip by comparing the obtained plurality of movement measurements to known driver usage measurements.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating a score for at least one of the user or the trip using the filtered mobile device usage movements, wherein the outputting the filtered mobile device usage movements includes outputting the score.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device usage movements are movements of the mobile device sensed by the at least one of the plurality of sensors.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device usage movements are movements of the mobile device caused by the user.

11. A method comprising:

obtaining a plurality of movement measurements over a plurality of time intervals from at least one of a plurality of sensors in a mobile device of a user during a trip in a vehicle;

classifying a subset of the plurality of movement measurements as mobile device usage movements based on characteristics of the subset, wherein the mobile device usage movements are movements obtained from the at least one of the plurality of sensors, and wherein the mobile device usage movements are indicative of usage of the mobile device by the user based on the movements;

filtering the mobile device usage movements; and

outputting the filtered mobile device usage movements,

wherein the classifying the subset of the plurality of movement measurements as the mobile device usage movements comprises;

determining a time series of usage probabilities over the time intervals based on a comparison of the obtained plurality of movement measurements to known usage measurements, wherein the usage probabilities include probabilities that the user is using the mobile device over the time intervals, and

wherein the filtering the mobile device usage movements comprises;

determining that the mobile device is not in a mount in the vehicle during the trip by comparing the obtained plurality of movement measurements to known mount measurements;

determining if the mobile device is in a downward orientation or an upward orientation for the time intervals using the obtained plurality of movement measurements;

flagging the time intervals with the usage probabilities greater than a first threshold if the mobile device is in the downward orientation and the time intervals with usage probabilities greater than a second threshold if the mobile device is in the upward orientation, wherein the first threshold is greater than the second threshold; and

consolidating the flagged time intervals within a threshold time period into continuous periods of the usage.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the usage of the mobile device by the user includes interaction with the mobile device by the user.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the classifying the subset of the plurality of movement measurements as the mobile device usage movements further comprises:

extracting the subset of the plurality of movement measurements corresponding to the time intervals in which the usage probabilities exceed one of the first and second thresholds.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the filtering the mobile device usage movements comprises:

determining that the mobile device is in the mount in the vehicle during the trip by comparing the obtained plurality of movement measurements to known mount measurements;

determining if a global positioning system (GPS) application is active on the mobile device by comparing the obtained plurality of movement measurements to known GPS active data;

flagging the time intervals with the usage probabilities greater than the first threshold if the GPS application is active and the time intervals with the usage probabilities greater than the second threshold if the GPS application is inactive or is not present on the mobile device, wherein the first threshold is greater than the second threshold; and

consolidating the flagged time intervals within the threshold time period into continuous periods of the usage.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

classifying the user of the mobile device as a driver of the vehicle on the trip after determining that the mobile device is in the mount.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the filtering the mobile device usage movements comprises:

extracting the mobile device usage movements that occurred while a screen of the mobile device was on.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining if the user of the mobile device is a driver of the vehicle on the trip by comparing the obtained plurality of movement measurements to known driver usage measurements.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

calculating a score for at least one of the user or the trip using the filtered mobile device usage movements, wherein the outputting the filtered mobile device usage movements includes outputting the score.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the mobile device usage movements are movements of the mobile device sensed by the at least one of the plurality of sensors.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein the mobile device usage movements are movements of the mobile device caused by the user.