Systems and methods for roadside assistance

• US 10,560,823 B1
• Filed: 10/05/2018
• Issued: 02/11/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Inventors: Chen, Tao, Rao, Manjunath, Uppada, Umamaheshwar R., Ballesteros, Rodolfo Roberto, Newell, Stephen Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): McCormack, Thomas S
• Application Number:
  US16/152,739
• Time in Patent Office: 494 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0816 Indicating performance data, e.g. occurrence of a malfunction
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/127 to a central station ; Indicators in a central station
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3805 with built-in auxiliary receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3822 specially adapted for use in vehicles H04B1/3827 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]

Abstract

Systems and methods in accordance with embodiments of the invention can proactively determine if an individual is likely in need of roadside assistance. Information can be collected from the individual'"'"'s phone, including the person'"'"'s location, the type of road, and/or ambient noise. If it is determined that the individual likely needs roadside assistance, the system can proactively contact the individual to see if roadside assistance is desired, and if so, initiates roadside assistance. The system also can provide helpful information, such as safety information, and/or automatically contact other individuals to alert them of the roadside event and the location of the individual.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

obtaining vehicle state data describing an operational state of a vehicle using a mobile device, where the mobile device comprises a processor and a memory in communication with the processor;

determining vehicle location data using the mobile device, where the vehicle location data describes the location of the vehicle;

obtaining vehicle status data using the mobile device, wherein;

the mobile device comprises a microphone; and

the vehicle status data comprises audio data captured using the microphone and indicating a hazard signal within the vehicle having been activated;

generating a vehicle event based on the vehicle state data, the vehicle location data, and the vehicle status data;

obtaining notification data using the mobile device; and

displaying the notification data using the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle state data further comprises accelerometer data obtained using an accelerometer in the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle location data determined using a global positioning system (GPS) receiver in the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the vehicle status data further comprises processing the vehicle status data to determine if the vehicle is located in an environment with moving traffic.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying one or more feature vectors within the audio data using machine learning; and

identifying one or more characteristics in the audio data utilizing the feature vectors.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a vehicle event further comprises utilizing a risk map and the vehicle location data to determine if the vehicle is stopped in a dangerous area.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtain user input based on the displayed notification data using the mobile device; and

initiating a request for roadside assistance based on the obtained user input.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining user input based on the displayed notification data using the mobile device;

obtaining a selection of a contact using the mobile device; and

providing a notification related to the vehicle event to the selected contact using the mobile device.

9. A system, comprising:

a microphone;

a processor; and

a memory in communication with the processor, the memory including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

obtain vehicle state data describing an operational state of a vehicle;

determine vehicle location data describing the location of the vehicle;

obtain vehicle status data, wherein the vehicle status data comprises audio data captured using the microphone and indicating a hazard signal within the vehicle having been activated;

generate a vehicle event based on the vehicle state data, the vehicle location data, and the vehicle status data;

obtain notification data; and

display the notification data.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the system further comprises an accelerometer; and

the vehicle state data further comprises accelerometer data obtained using the accelerometer.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the system further comprises a global positioning system (GPS) receiver; and

the vehicle location data further comprises GPS data determined using the GPS receiver.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the obtaining the vehicle status data includes processing the vehicle status data to determine if the vehicle is located in an environment with moving traffic.

13. The system of claim 9, further including instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

identify one or more feature vectors within the audio data using machine learning; and

identify one or more characteristics within the audio data based on the feature vectors.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein generating the vehicle event is further based on a risk map and the vehicle location data to determine if the vehicle is stopped in a dangerous area.

15. The system of claim 9, further including instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

obtain user input based on the displayed notification; and

initiate a request for roadside assistance based on the obtained user input.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for controlling a processor, the instructions causing the processor to perform steps comprising:

obtaining vehicle state data describing an operational state of a vehicle,

determining vehicle location data, where the vehicle location data describes the location of the vehicle;

obtaining vehicle status data, wherein the vehicle status data comprises audio data captured using a microphone and indicating a hazard signal within the vehicle having been activated;

generating a vehicle event based on the vehicle state data, the vehicle location data, and the vehicle status data;

obtaining notification data; and

displaying the notification data.