Determining and assessing post-accident vehicle damage

• US 10,540,833 B1
• Filed: 07/25/2019
• Issued: 01/21/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Original Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Inventors: Gingrich, Jess W., Chavez, Carlos J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen, Shelley
• Application Number:
  US16/522,057
• Time in Patent Office: 180 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3407 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/0258 Structural degradation, e.g. fatigue of composites, ageing of oils
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/0289 Internal structure, e.g. defects, grain size, texture
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/044 Internal reflections (echoes), e.g. on walls or defects
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/069 Defect imaging, localisation and sizing using, e.g. time of flight diffraction [TOFD], synthetic aperture focusing technique [SAFT], Amplituden-Laufzeit-Ortskurven [ALOK] technique
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/12 by measuring frequency or resonance of acoustic waves measuring frequency or resonant frequency of mechanical vibrations or acoustic waves in general G01H1/06, G01H3/04, G01H13/00; acoustic resonators G10K11/04; vibration or shock testing of structures G01M7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/265 by moving the sensor relative to a stationary material
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/4427 with stored values, e.g. threshold values
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/4436 with a reference signal amplitude comparison G01N29/48
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/4445 Classification of defects
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005

Abstract

The present disclosure provides systems, machine-readable media, and methods for detecting and assessing damage to a vehicle. One or more embodiments include determining an amount of damage to a component based on reflected acoustic energy by comparing baseline data before damage is sustained to response data collected after damage is sustained.

Claims

1. A system for detecting damage, comprising:

a sensor to detect damage to a vehicle;

a network interface communicative with a data store, wherein the data store includes baseline acoustic response information associated with components of the vehicle;

a processor operatively connected to the network interface and the sensor, and communicative connected with a memory having instructions recorded thereon that, when read by the processor, cause the system to;

cause issuance of acoustic energy toward a component of the vehicle subsequent to damage;

receive reflected acoustic energy using the sensor;

determine acoustic response data describing the vehicle component based on the reflected acoustic energy; and

compare the acoustic response data to the baseline acoustic response information associated with the component to determine an amount of damage to the vehicle component.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions when read by the processor further cause the system to:

cause issuance of acoustic energy toward a subsequent component of the vehicle;

receive subsequent reflected acoustic energy using the sensor;

determine subsequent acoustic response data describing the subsequent component based on the subsequent reflected acoustic energy; and

compare the subsequent acoustic response data to the baseline acoustic response information associated with the subsequent component to determine an amount of damage to the subsequent component.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the instructions when read by the processor further cause the system to:

determine a total amount of damage to the vehicle by summing the amount of damage to the one of the components and the subsequent component.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the instructions when read by the processor further cause the system to:

weight an amount of damage to the one of the components before determining the total amount of damage.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions when read by the processor further cause the system to:

transmit information about the one of the components to cause generation of an undamaged copy of the one of the components.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions when read by the processor further cause the system to:

transmit the amount of damage to process an insurance claim.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions when read by the processor further cause the system to:

perform frequency analysis on the received reflected acoustic energy.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor to:

cause issuance of acoustic energy toward a vehicle component of a vehicle subsequent to damage;

receive reflected acoustic energy using a sensor;

determine acoustic response data describing the vehicle component based on the reflected acoustic energy; and

compare the acoustic response data to baseline acoustic response information associated with the component to determine an amount of damage to the vehicle component.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, the instructions executable by a processor to:

cause issuance of acoustic energy toward a subsequent vehicle component of the vehicle;

receive subsequent reflected acoustic energy using the sensor;

determine subsequent acoustic response data describing the subsequent vehicle component based on the subsequent reflected acoustic energy; and

compare the subsequent acoustic response data to the baseline acoustic response information associated with the subsequent component to determine an amount of damage to the subsequent component.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, the instructions executable by a processor to:

determine a total amount of damage to the vehicle vehicle by summing the amount of damage to the vehicle component and the subsequent vehicle component.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, the instructions executable by a processor to:

weight an amount of damage to the vehicle component before determining the total amount of damage.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, the instructions executable by a processor to:

transmit information about the vehicle component to cause generation of an undamaged copy of the vehicle component.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, the instructions executable by a processor to:

transmit the amount of damage to process an insurance claim.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, the instructions executable by a processor to:

perform frequency analysis on the received reflected acoustic energy.

15. A method of dispositioning a vehicle, comprising:

causing issuance of acoustic energy toward a vehicle component of a vehicle subsequent to damage;

receiving reflected acoustic energy using a sensor;

determining acoustic response data describing the vehicle component based on the reflected acoustic energy; and

comparing the acoustic response data to baseline acoustic response information associated with the component to determine an amount of damage to the vehicle component.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

causing issuance of acoustic energy toward a subsequent component of the vehicle;

receiving subsequent reflected acoustic energy using the sensor;

determining subsequent acoustic response data describing the subsequent component based on the subsequent reflected acoustic energy; and

comparing the subsequent acoustic response data to the baseline acoustic response information associated with the subsequent component to determine an amount of damage to the subsequent component.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining a total amount of damage to the vehicle by summing the amount of damage to the vehicle component and the subsequent component.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

weighting an amount of damage to the vehicle component before determining the total amount of damage.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

transmit information about the vehicle component to cause generation of an undamaged copy of the vehicle component.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

transmit the amount of damage to process an insurance claim.