Crash detection and severity classification system implementing emergency assistance

• US 9,449,495 B1
• Filed: 05/15/2015
• Issued: 09/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Carter, Gregory D., Bennett, Shawn C., Call, Shawn M., Jacob, Michael, Christensen, Scott T., Jordan, Jackie O. II
• Primary Examiner(s): Wang, Jack K
• Application Number:
  US14/713,330
• Time in Patent Office: 494 Days
• Field of Search: 340/436
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0446 worn on the body to detect changes of posture, e.g. a fall, inclination, acceleration, gait
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/08 using communication transmission lines G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/10 using wireless transmission systems G08B25/009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

A crash detection system is disclosed that utilizes a mobile computing device to detect a vehicular accident via one or more sensors integrated into the mobile computing device. The system monitors the sensor metrics measured by one or more sensors and generates an event sensor profile that may include the plurality of sensor metrics and additional status data, such as an indication of whether the mobile computing device was located within a vehicle when the event occurred. By comparing the plurality of sensor metrics to other crash sensor metrics, a determination may be made whether the event requires emergency assistance, which may be confirmed by determining whether the data included in the event sensor profile meets one or more exception conditions. If the event requires emergency assistance and an exception condition is not met, the mobile computing device may place a call to the appropriate emergency response personnel.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method in a portable computing device for placing an emergency call when an event requiring emergency services is detected, comprising:

monitoring, by one or more processors of the portable computing device, a plurality of sensor metrics to determine an occurrence of an event;

generating, by one or more processors of the portable computing device, status data indicative of whether the portable computing device is located within a vehicle during the occurrence of the event;

determining, by one or more processors of the portable computing device, whether the portable computing device is located in the vehicle based upon an analysis of the status data;

selectively determining, by one or more processors of the portable computing device, that the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance at a location associated with the vehicle when (i) the plurality of sensor metrics associated with the occurrence of the event indicate that the event matches one that corresponds to a potential occurrence of a vehicle crash, and (ii) the status data indicates that the portable computing device is located within the vehicle when the event occurred to confirm that the event corresponds to a vehicle crash; and

initiating, by one or more processors of the portable computing device, a call from the portable computing device to an emergency response service when it is determined that the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensor metrics indicate that the event matches one that corresponds to a potential occurrence of a vehicle crash when each of the plurality of sensor metrics exceeds each of a plurality of respective crash sensor metrics.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

classifying, by one or more processors, the event into one of a plurality of severity levels based upon an amount in which each of the plurality of sensor metrics exceeds each of the plurality of respective crash sensor metrics; and

wherein the act of determining that the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance is further conditioned upon the severity level of the event exceeding a threshold severity level.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of determining that the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance is further conditioned upon:

the plurality of sensor metrics matching respective exception sensor metrics within a threshold tolerance, and

wherein the exception sensor metrics indicate that the occurrence of the event does not correspond to a vehicle crash.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of initiating the call comprises:

initiating the call from the portable computing device when the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance unless an input is received at the portable computing device within a period of time, the input being indicative of an indication to cancel the call.

6. The method of claim 1,

wherein the status data indicates

one or more of the following:

whether the portable computing device was communicating with the vehicle when the event occurred;

whether the portable computing device was moving in excess of a threshold speed that was maintained for a threshold time period; and

whether the location of the portable computing device was within a geofence corresponding to an exception location when the event occurred.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating, by one or more processors of the portable computing device, a portable computing device speed during the occurrence of the event based upon changes in the location of the portable computing device over a time period prior to the occurrence of the event, the changes in the location of the portable computing device being included as part of the status data, and

wherein the status data indicating that the portable computing device is located within the vehicle when the event occurred is based upon whether the portable computing device speed, during the occurrence of the event, exceeded a threshold speed that was maintained for a threshold time period.

8. A non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium storing machine readable instructions in portable computing device, that when executed by a processor of the portable computing device, causes the processor to:

monitor a plurality of sensor metrics to determine an occurrence of an event;

generate status data indicative of whether the portable computing device is located within a vehicle during the occurrence of the event;

determine whether the portable computing device is located in the vehicle based upon an analysis of the status data;

selectively determine that the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance at a location associated with the vehicle when (i) the plurality of sensor metrics associated with the occurrence of the event indicate that the event matches one that corresponds to a potential occurrence of a vehicle crash, and (ii) the status data indicates that the portable computing device is located within the vehicle when the event occurred to confirm that the event corresponds to a vehicle crash; and

initiate a call from the portable computing device to an emergency response service when it is determined that the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance.

9. The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the

plurality of sensor metrics indicate that the event matches one that corresponds to a potential occurrence of a vehicle crash when each of the plurality of sensor metrics exceed each of a plurality of respective crash sensor metrics.

10. The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9, further including instructions, that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

classify the event into one of a plurality of severity levels based upon an amount in which each of the plurality of sensor metrics exceeds each of the plurality of respective crash sensor metrics, and

wherein the instructions to determine whether the event requires emergency assistance further include instructions, that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to further condition the determination that the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance based upon the severity level of the event exceeding a threshold severity level.

11. The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions to determine whether the event requires emergency assistance further include instructions, that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

further condition the determination that the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance based upon the plurality of sensor metrics matching respective exception sensor metrics within a threshold tolerance, and

wherein the exception sensor metrics indicate that the event does not correspond to a vehicle crash.

12. The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions to initiate the call from the portable computing device further include instructions, that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

initiate the call from the portable computing device when the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance unless an input is received at the portable computing device within a period of time, the input being indicative of an indication to cancel the call.

13. The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the status data indicates one or more of the following:

whether the portable computing device was communicating with the vehicle when the event occurred;

whether the portable computing device was moving in excess of a threshold speed that was maintained for a threshold time period; and

whether the location of the portable computing device was within a geofence corresponding to an exception location when the event occurred.

14. The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions to determine whether the event requires emergency assistance further include instructions, that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

calculate a portable computing device speed during the occurrence of the event based upon changes in the location of the portable computing device over a time period prior to the occurrence of the event, the changes in the location of the portable computing device being included as part of the status data, and

wherein the status data indicating that the portable computing device is located within the vehicle when the event occurred is based upon whether the portable computing device speed, during the occurrence of the event, exceeded a threshold speed that was maintained for a threshold time period.

15. A portable computing device configured to initiate a call to an emergency response service when an event requiring emergency assistance is detected, comprising:

a processor configured to;

monitor a plurality of sensor metrics to determine an occurrence of an event;

generate, without user intervention, status data indicative of whether the portable computing device is located within a vehicle during the occurrence of the event;

determine whether the portable computing device is located in the vehicle based upon an analysis of the status data; and

selectively determine that the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance at a location associated with the vehicle when (i) the plurality of sensor metrics associated with the occurrence of the event indicate that the event matches one that corresponds to a potential occurrence of a vehicle crash, and (ii) the status data indicates that the portable computing device is located within the vehicle when the event occurred to confirm that the event corresponds to a vehicle crash; and

a communication unit configured to initiate a call from the portable computing device to an emergency response service when it is determined that the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance.

16. The portable computing device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to determine when the plurality of sensor metrics indicate that the event matches one that corresponds to a potential occurrence of a vehicle crash based upon whether each of the plurality of sensor metrics exceeds each of a plurality of respective crash sensor metrics.

17. The portable computing device of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to:

classify the event into one of a plurality of severity levels based upon an amount in which each of the plurality of sensor metrics exceeds the plurality of respective crash sensor metrics; and

condition the determination that the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance based further upon the severity level of the event exceeding a threshold severity level.

18. The portable computing device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:

condition the determination that the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance based further upon the plurality of sensor metrics matching respective exception sensor metrics within a threshold tolerance, and

wherein the exception sensor metrics indicate that the event does not correspond to a vehicle crash.

19. The portable computing device of claim 15, wherein the communication unit is further configured to:

initiate the call from the portable computing device when the occurrence of the event requires emergency assistance unless an input is received at the portable computing device within a period of time, the input being indicative of an indication to cancel the call.

20. The portable computing device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to determine that the portable computing device is located within the vehicle when the event occurred based upon whether the portable computing device was communicating with the vehicle when the event occurred.

21. The portable computing device of claim 15,

wherein the processor is further configured to (i) calculate a portable computing device speed during the occurrence of the event based upon changes in the location of the portable computing device over a time period prior to the occurrence of the event, the changes in the location of the portable computing device being included as part of the status data, and (ii) to determine when the status data indicates that the portable computing device is located within the vehicle when the event occurred based upon whether the portable computing device speed, during the occurrence of the event, exceeded a threshold speed that was maintained for a threshold time period.

22. The portable computing device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether the portable computing device is located within the vehicle when the event occurred based upon whether the location of the portable computing device was within a geofence corresponding to an exception location during the occurrence of the event.