Detection of mobile device location within vehicle using vehicle based data and mobile device based data

• US 10,219,116 B2
• Filed: 03/10/2016
• Issued: 02/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Arity International Limited (Allstate Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Inventors: Lundsgaard, Soren K., Ferguson, Dana, Snyder, Jared S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gao, Jing
• Application Number:
  US15/066,406
• Publication Number:
  US 20170265044A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,083 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/10 by using measurements of speed or acceleration G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/05 providing aiding data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/14 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/48 for in-vehicle communication

Abstract

One or more location analysis computing devices and methods are disclosed herein for determining the position of a mobile device (smartphone, tablet computer) within an interior of a vehicle. The position of the mobile device may be calculated by detecting changes in accelerometer data. The accelerometer data may first need to be translated to determine corresponding axes, since the device may not be right side up (e.g., in a pocket). The vehicle may travel over road discontinuities such as bumps, and calculating the position of the mobile device may be based on the different magnitude and angle resulting from a first tire and a second tire hitting the bump. Data from vehicle sensors or other mobile device sensors may also be used in the calculating. Once the position is determined, commands may be sent to the mobile device to deactivate certain functionality, or to a remote server for further processing.

Claims

1. A location analysis computing device comprising:

a processing unit comprising at least one processor; and

a memory unit storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the processing unit, cause the location analysis computing device to;

receive first mobile device sensor data collected by mobile device accelerometers of a mobile device located within a vehicle, the first mobile device sensor data including first-axis accelerometer data, second-axis accelerometer data, and third-axis accelerometer data;

translate the first mobile device sensor data into X-axis accelerometer data, Y-axis accelerometer data, and Z-axis accelerometer data, resulting in translated first mobile device sensor data;

detect a first occurrence of an event in the translated first mobile device sensor data, wherein detecting the first occurrence of the event comprises determining that a first change in magnitude of the Z-axis accelerometer data exceeds a first predetermined threshold;

calculate a first occurrence vector comprising a first occurrence magnitude and a first occurrence angle based on the detected first occurrence of the event;

detect a second occurrence of the event in the translated first mobile device sensor data;

calculate, based on the detected second occurrence of the event, a second occurrence vector comprising a second occurrence magnitude and a second occurrence angle;

compare the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector; and

determine, based on the comparison, a position of the mobile device within the vehicle.

2. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein comparing the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector comprises determining a difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector, wherein the difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector comprises a difference in the first occurrence magnitude and the first occurrence angle and the second occurrence magnitude and the second occurrence angle, respectively.

3. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein the vehicle includes a first tire and a second tire,

wherein the first occurrence of the event comprises the first tire hitting a bump in a road, and

wherein the second occurrence of the event comprises the second tire hitting a same bump in the road.

4. The location analysis computing device of claim 3, wherein the memory unit stores further computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the processing unit, cause the location analysis computing device to:

determine the second tire hits the same bump, based on a determination that the detected second occurrence of the event occurs within a predetermined time period of the detected first occurrence of the event and that a difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector meets a third predetermined threshold.

5. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein determining the position of the mobile device within the vehicle further comprises determining a duration between the first occurrence of the event and the second occurrence of the event.

6. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein translating the first mobile device sensor data into X-axis accelerometer data, Y-axis accelerometer data, and Z-axis accelerometer data comprises determining an increase in a speed of the vehicle corresponds to an acceleration in at least one of an X-axis, a Y-axis, and a Z-axis in a reference frame of the mobile device.

7. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein the memory unit stores further computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the processing unit, cause the location analysis computing device to:

transmit, to a computing device other than the mobile device, an indication of the position of the mobile device.

8. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein the memory unit stores further computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the processing unit, cause the location analysis computing device to:

transmit, to the mobile device, a command configured device configured to deactivate a functionality of the mobile device.

9. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein calculating the first occurrence angle of the first occurrence vector comprises:

performing a dot product of the translated first mobile device sensor data across a plurality of axes.

10. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein detecting the second occurrence of the event comprises determining that a second change in the magnitude of the Z-axis accelerometer data exceeds a second predetermined threshold and occurs within a predetermined time period of the detected first occurrence of the event.

11. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein determining, based on the comparison, the position of the mobile device within the vehicle comprises:

determining, based on the comparison, an occurrence vector of the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector comprising a greater magnitude or a larger angle; and

determining, based on the determined occurrence vector comprising the greater magnitude or the larger angle, the position of the mobile device within the vehicle.

22. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein the first occurrence angle is distributed across a plurality of axes of the translated first mobile device sensor data.

12. A method comprising:

receiving first mobile device sensor data collected by mobile device accelerometers of a mobile device located within a vehicle, the first mobile device sensor data including first-axis accelerometer data, second-axis accelerometer data, and third-axis accelerometer data;

translating the first mobile device sensor data into X-axis accelerometer data, Y-axis accelerometer data, and Z-axis accelerometer data, resulting in translated first mobile device sensor data;

detecting a first occurrence of an event in the translated first mobile device sensor data, wherein detecting the first occurrence of the event comprises determining that a first change in magnitude of the Z-axis accelerometer data exceeds a first predetermined threshold;

calculating a first occurrence vector comprising a first occurrence magnitude and a first occurrence angle based on the detected first occurrence of the event;

detecting a second occurrence of the event in the translated first mobile device sensor data;

calculating, based on the detected second occurrence of the event, a second occurrence vector comprising a second occurrence magnitude and a second occurrence angle;

comparing the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector, and

determining, based on the comparison, a position of the mobile device within the vehicle.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein comparing the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector comprises determining a difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector, wherein the difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector comprises a difference in the first occurrence magnitude and the first occurrence angle and the second occurrence magnitude and the second occurrence angle, respectively.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the vehicle comprises a first tire and a second tire,

wherein the first occurrence of the event comprises the first tire hitting a bump in a road, and

wherein the second occurrence of the event comprises the second tire hitting a same bump in the road.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining the second tire hits the same bump, based on a determination that the detected second occurrence of the event occurs within a predetermined time period of the detected first occurrence of the event and that a difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector meets a third predetermined threshold.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the position of the mobile device within the vehicle further comprises determining a duration between the first occurrence of the event and the second occurrence of the event.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein translating the first mobile device sensor data into X-axis accelerometer data, Y-axis accelerometer data, and Z-axis accelerometer data comprises determining an increase in a speed of the vehicle corresponds to an acceleration in at least one of an X-axis, a Y-axis, and a Z-axis in a reference frame of the mobile device.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

transmitting, to a computing device other than the mobile device, an indication of the position of the mobile device.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the computing device other than the mobile device comprises a device operated by an insurance provider.

20. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

transmitting, to the mobile device, a command configured to deactivate a functionality of the mobile device.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the functionality comprises a text messaging application.

23. The method of claim 12, wherein detecting the second occurrence of the event comprises determining that a second change in the magnitude of the Z-axis accelerometer data exceeds a second predetermined threshold and occurs within a predetermined time period of the detected first occurrence of the event.

24. The method of claim 12, wherein determining, based on the comparison, the position of the mobile device within the vehicle comprises:

determining, based on the comparison, an occurrence vector of the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector comprising a greater magnitude or a larger angle; and

determining, based on the determined occurrence vector comprising the greater magnitude or the larger angle, the position of the mobile device within the vehicle.