Vehicle operator performance history recording, scoring and reporting systems

• US 10,339,732 B2
• Filed: 07/24/2017
• Issued: 07/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SmartDrive Systems, Inc. (Solera Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: SmartDrive Systems, Inc. (Solera Holdings Incorporated)
• Inventors: Plante, James, Kasavaraju, Ramesh, Mauro, Gregory, Nickerson, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Amin, Bhavesh V
• Application Number:
  US15/658,136
• Publication Number:
  US 20170323494A1
• Time in Patent Office: 708 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/08 related to drivers or passengers
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

A driver history report may include many factors to express performance or quality of driver service. Vehicle event recorders are coupled to systems which form an association between collected data and the vehicle operator in command of the vehicle at the event moment. Systems provide means for long-term storage of data particularly data in a structure which preserves the association between a driver and event records attributed to him. Special recall operations executed against stored data yields operator performance reporting—including a single value performance score indicative of a vehicle operator'"'"'s performance and safety history. An analyzer system operates to recall data, particularly data from a plurality of events all associated with a single operator but recorded over an extended period of time. Data is arranged such that mathematical analysis may be applied independently to various data elements or data “fields” to produce performance metrics and ratios which reflect performance.

Claims

1. A system configured to determine a vehicle operator performance measure and improve vehicle operator performance, the system comprising:

an operator identity system configured to receive operator identity information that identifies periods of time a vehicle operator operates a vehicle;

an associator configured to;

obtain the operator identity information;

receive event records that include information related to vehicle operation during vehicle events;

associate event records for vehicle events that occur while the vehicle operator operates the vehicle with the operator identity information; and

form datasets comprising the operator identity information and the associated event records; and

an analyzer configured to;

analyze the datasets to determine a vehicle operator performance measure for the vehicle operator;

generate vehicle operator performance counseling information based on the vehicle operator performance measure, wherein the vehicle operator performance counseling information includes progressive discipline information determined based on one or more of;

(i) a quantity of vehicle events during the periods of time the vehicle operator operates the vehicle,

(ii) a type of vehicle events during the periods of time the vehicle operator operates the vehicle,

(iii) a severity of vehicle events during the periods of time the vehicle operator operates the vehicle, and/or

(iv) a number of prior counseling sessions,

wherein the progressive discipline information includes an assessment of whether performance of the vehicle operator improved in response to the prior counseling sessions; and

facilitate presentation of the vehicle operator performance counseling information to the vehicle operator.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the analyzer is configured to generate the vehicle operator performance counseling information responsive to the vehicle operator performance measure breaching a vehicle operator performance measure threshold.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the associator is configured to receive event records that include information related to vehicle operation during multiple vehicle events that occur during the periods of time the vehicle operator operates the vehicle;

and

wherein the analyzer is configured to generate the vehicle operator performance counseling information based on the multiple vehicle events.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the analyzer is configured such that the vehicle operator performance counseling information changes based on one or more of a number of vehicle events that occur while the vehicle operator operates the vehicle, or a type of vehicle event that occurs while the vehicle operator operates the vehicle.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the analyzer is configured such that the generated vehicle operator performance counseling information is an alert.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the analyzer is configured to communicate the alert to an external computing system.

7. A method for determining a vehicle operator performance measure, the method comprising:

receiving operator identity information that identifies periods of time a vehicle operator operates a vehicle, the operator identity information including a vehicle operator identifier, a vehicle identifier, and time ranges that correspond to the periods of time the vehicle operator operates the vehicle;

receiving event records that include information related to vehicle operation during vehicle events from a vehicle event recorder;

associating event records for vehicle events that occur while the vehicle operator operates the vehicle with the operator identity information;

forming datasets comprising the operator identity information and the associated event records;

transmitting the datasets to a data store;

analyzing the datasets to determine a vehicle operator performance measure for the vehicle operator, the analysis of the datasets based on a mathematical algorithm determined based on one or more of the operator identity information or the associated event records;

generating vehicle operator performance counseling information based on the vehicle operator performance measure, wherein the vehicle operator performance counseling information includes progressive discipline information determined based on one or more of;

(i) a quantity of vehicle events during the periods of time the vehicle operator operates the vehicle,

(ii) a type of vehicle events during the periods of time the vehicle operator operates the vehicle,

(iii) a severity of vehicle events during the periods of time the vehicle operator operates the vehicle, and/or

(iv) a number of prior counseling sessions,

wherein the progressive discipline information includes an assessment of whether performance of the vehicle operator improved in response to the prior counseling sessions; and

facilitating presentation of the vehicle operator performance counseling information to the vehicle operator.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving entry and/or selection of the operator identity information via a tactile input device, the tactile input device housed by a first housing that is physically separate and distinct from a vehicle event recorder housing that houses the vehicle event recorder.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising selecting the mathematical algorithm from an algorithm library.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein at least one of the algorithms in the algorithm library is a machine learning algorithm.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the machine learning algorithm fits historical data for multiple vehicle operators to a vehicle operator performance measure function, the vehicle operator performance measure function including one or more of a linear regression, a logistic regression, or a neural network.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the vehicle operator performance measure indicates one or more of how well the vehicle operator minimizes exposure to a risk of being in a vehicle accident, how well the vehicle operator minimizes an amount of fuel consumed while operating the vehicle, how well the vehicle operator maximizes a usable life of mechanical components of the vehicle, how well the vehicle operator meets expectations while performing scheduled tasks, or how well the vehicle operator meets corporate compliance standards and procedures associated with the vehicle.