Aberrant driver classification and reporting

• US 10,358,143 B2
• Filed: 09/01/2015
• Issued: 07/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Jain, Jinesh J, Levine, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): Bousono, Orlando
• Application Number:
  US14/842,666
• Publication Number:
  US 20170057521A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,421 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/65 Data transmitted between vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 Machine learning

Abstract

Methods, devices and apparatuses pertaining to aberrant driver classification and reporting are described. A method may involve receiving a message from a user of a first vehicle, the message indicating an instance of aberrant driving of a second vehicle. The method may also involve determining that the instance has occurred using one or more classifiers. The method may further involve collecting information of the second vehicle and generating a warning message based on the information.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by one or more processors, a message from a user of a first vehicle, the message indicating an instance of aberrant driving of a second vehicle;

determining, by the one or more processors, that the instance has occurred using one or more classifiers;

receiving, by the one or more processors from one or more sensors of the first vehicle, information of the second vehicle obtained by the one or more sensors; and

generating, by the one or more processors, a warning message that identifies the second vehicle based on the information received from the one or more sensors,

wherein the determining that the instance has occurred using the one or more classifiers comprises;

determining a risk parameter using the one or more classifiers, the risk parameter indicating a possibility that the instance of aberrant driving occurs within a predetermined window of time after receiving the message;

determining that the instance occurs in an event that the risk parameter is greater than a predetermined value; and

incrementally decreasing a value of the risk parameter over a period of time such that, after passage of a predetermined amount of time, the value of the risk parameter is zero.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more classifiers comprise one or more classifiers trained using either or both of a simulation driving scenarios and real-world experiments.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more classifiers comprise one or more template motion plans, one or more actions associated with one or more aberrant driving features, one or more aberrant driving profiles, or a combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more aberrant driving features are associated with driving behaviors comprising at least one of failure to signal a turn, failure to stop at an appropriate signal, proceeding without right of way, crossing a solid lane boundary, driving into oncoming traffic, or exceeding a speed limit.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more aberrant driving profiles comprise at least one of swerving, skidding, oscillating laterally, deviation from a lane center for more than a threshold period of time, lane changing without proper clearance, erratic speed control, erratic braking, or off-nominal confluence with a traffic flow.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the warning message to at least a third vehicle that satisfies a user-defined metric with respect to the first vehicle.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an additional warning message indicating an additional instance of aberrant driving of the second vehicle, the additional instance occurring prior to the instance;

calculating the risk parameter of the second vehicle based on the additional warning message and the warning message; and

generating a report regarding the aberrant driving of the second vehicle.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

transmitting the report to an authority.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the additional warning message comprises the information of the second vehicle and one or more warning messages regarding the second vehicle.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the warning message comprises an encoded license plate number of the second vehicle, a description of the second vehicle, or a combination thereof.