REAL-TIME DRIVER OBSERVATION AND PROGRESS MONITORING

• US 20170132951A1
• Filed: 01/19/2017
• Published: 05/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Fields, Brian Mark, Roberson, Steve, Harish, Abhishek, Lim, Hyunji, Waughtel, Matthew James, Plummer, Bryan Allen, Brown, Parker Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 9,959,780 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/11 Instrument graphical user interfaces or menu aspects
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/143 Touch sensitive instrument input devices
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/16 Type of output information
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/334 Projection means
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/589 Wireless data transfers
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/10 Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/28 characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/85 Arrangements for transferring vehicle- or driver-related data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/10 Historical data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• 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: G09B 19/167 Control of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/00 Electrically-operated educational appliances working with questions and answers G09B7/00; simulators G09B9/00; advertising or displaying in general G09F
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/16 Use of wireless transmission of display information
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2380/10 Automotive applications
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/003 Details of a display terminal, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto specific for a CRT G09G1/165; for a flat panel G09G3/2092

Abstract

In an embodiment, movement-data is gathered with one or more sensors (e.g., accelerometers, GPS receivers, etc.) during a driver'"'"'s driving session. A score may be calculated for the driving session, and the driver'"'"'s progress is evaluated by a driver-evaluation system. A driving session report or graphical user-interface (GUI) is generated with a computer processor and displayed at a display device. The displayed report or GUI includes a graphic representing the driver'"'"'s progress relative to historical data.

Claims

1. A driver evaluation system for evaluating progress of a driver'"'"'s skill level, the driver evaluation system comprising:

(A) a driving-monitor system including;

(i) a GPS unit or an accelerometer that generates movement-data based on a detected movement of a vehicle;

(ii) a processor that;

(a) generates, based on the generated movement-data, a driving skill score for a driving session; and

(ii) generates a binary or ternary progress score for the driving session based on a comparison between the generated driving skill score and one or more past driving skill scores; and

(iii) a communication interface that transmits data representing a graphic indication of the generated binary or ternary progress score;

(B) a display device, communicatively connected to the driving-monitor system, that;

(i) receives the data representing the graphic indication, and (ii) displays the graphic indication to visually indicate a trend, represented by the progress score, from the past one or more driving skill scores to the generated driving skill score.

2. The driver evaluation system of claim 1, further comprising a first housing for the display device and a second housing for the driving-monitor system.

3. The driver evaluation system of claim 2, wherein the display device and the driving-monitor system are communicatively connected via a wireless link.

4. The driver evaluation system of claim 2, wherein

the first housing is installed in the dash of the vehicle, the first housing configured to house the display device so that the visual output of the display device is observable from within the cabin of the vehicle;

wherein the display device is (i) communicatively connected to a multimedia system installed in the vehicle and (ii) configured to receive a display input signal from the multimedia system; and

wherein the multimedia system receives, from the driving-monitor system, the data representing the graphic indication and transmits, to the display device, the data representing the graphic indication.

5. The driver evaluation system of claim 1, wherein the display device and the driving-monitor system share a housing, the display device disposed within or on the housing so that the visual output of the display device is observable from outside of the housing

6. The driver evaluation system of claim 1, wherein the one of the GPS unit or the accelerometer included in the driving-monitor system shares a housing with the driving-monitor system.

7. The driver evaluation system of claim 1, wherein the display device is a touch display, and wherein the display device displays the graphic indication in response to touch input.

8. A computer-implemented method for evaluation progress of a driver'"'"'s skill level, the method comprising:

receiving, at a driving-monitor computer system, movement-data detected by a GPS unit or by an accelerometer, the movement-data representing detected movement of a vehicle during a driving session;

generating, by the driving-monitor computer system and based on the received movement-data, a driving skill score for the driving session;

generating, by the driving-monitor computer system, a binary or ternary progress score for the driving session based on a comparison between the generated driving skill score and one or more past driving skill scores;

transmitting, by the driving-monitor computer system, data representing a graphic indication of the generated binary or ternary progress score;

receiving, at a display device, the data representing the graphic indication; and

displaying, by the display device, the graphic indication to visually indicate a trend, represented by the progress score, from the past one or more driving skill scores to the generated driving skill score.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more past driving skill scores includes a plurality of driving skill scores for a plurality of driving sessions during which the driving was driving the vehicle.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more past driving skill scores includes a plurality of driving skills scores for a plurality of driving sessions for a plurality of different drivers.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein displaying the graphic indication comprises displaying a binary indication indicating an improvement or a regression.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein displaying the graphic indication comprises displaying an upward arrow to indicate the improvement or displaying a downward arrow to indicate the regression.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein displaying the graphic indication comprises displaying a percentage indicating a percent improvement or a percent regression.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein displaying the graphic indication comprises displaying a first color when the progress score indicates an improvement and displaying a second color when the progress score indicates a regression.

15. A driver evaluation system, the driver evaluation system comprising:

a means for generating movement-data, the movement-data representing detected movement of a vehicle during a driving session;

a means for generating, based on the movement-data, a driving skill score for the driving session;

a means for generating a binary or ternary progress score for the driving session based on a comparison between the generated driving skill score and one or more past driving skill scores; and

a means for displaying the graphic indication to visually indicate a trend, represented by the progress score, from the past one or more driving skill scores to the generated driving skill score.

16. The driver evaluation system of claim 15, wherein the graphic indication is a bar including a first marker and a second marker,

wherein the first marker is a graphic indication of the generated driving skill score and the second marker is a graphic indication of the past one or more driving skill scores;

wherein the distance between the first marker and the second marker represents the trend from the past one or more driving skill scores to the generated driving skill score.

17. The driver evaluation system of claim 15, further including:

a means to receive user input;

a means to identify a particular driver based on the user input;

a means for retrieving the one or more past driving skill scores, wherein each of the one or more past driving skill scores are scores for past driving sessions during which the identified particular driver was driving.

18. The driver evaluation system of claim 15, further including:

a means to receive user input;

wherein the means for displaying the graphic indication is configured to display the graphic indication in response to the user input.

19. The driver evaluation system of claim 15, wherein the means for displaying the graphic indication comprises a projector.

20. The driver evaluation system of claim 15, wherein the means for displaying the graphic indication comprises a heads-up display for the vehicle.