Method and system of using spatial sensors on vehicle frame to determine crash information

• US 10,332,318 B1
• Filed: 04/26/2016
• Issued: 06/25/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Leise, William J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheung, Calvin
• Application Number:
  US15/138,387
• Time in Patent Office: 1,155 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/021 Means for detecting failure or malfunction
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0205 Diagnosing or detecting failures; Failure detection models
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 21/00 Measuring arrangements or details thereof, where the measuring technique is not covered by the other groups of this subclass, unspecified or not relevant
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/00 Testing of vehicles testing fluid tightness G01M3/00; testing elastic properties of bodies or chassis, e.g. torsion-testing, G01M5/00; testing alignment of vehicle headlight devices G01M11/06; testing of engines G01M15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/06 Position of source determined by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by path-difference measurements G01S5/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0275 Fault isolation and identification, e.g. classify fault; estimate cause or root of failure
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08355 Routing methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0185 Product, service or business identity fraud
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0625 Directed, with specific intent or strategy
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0639 Item locations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/00 Registering or indicating the working of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0825 using optical means
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0841 : Registering performance data recording measured values G01D; information storage G11B
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

To determine the extent of the damage to a vehicle after a crash, a vehicle treatment system may determine a change in position of a vehicle part based on one or more spatial sensors attached to the vehicle part. The change in position of the vehicle part may be compared to previous change in position data for the same or similar type of vehicle part, to determine the extent of the damage to the vehicle part. Additionally, the vehicle treatment system may determine the extent of the damage for all vehicle parts to determine an overall extent of the damage to the vehicle after the crash.

Claims

1. A system for determining crash information for a vehicle using spatial sensors, the system comprising:

a communication network;

an on-board computing device within a vehicle communicatively coupled to a spatial sensor attached to a vehicle part within the vehicle and communicatively coupled to one or more accelerometers, the on-board computing device including one or more communication devices disposed within the on-board computing device, wherein the on-board computing device is configured to;

periodically measure a position of the spatial sensor based on one or more signals transmitted by the spatial sensor and received at the one or more communication devices, wherein the one or more signals are indicative of the position of the spatial sensor; and

transmit, via the communication network, change in position data for the spatial sensor to a server computing device when the spatial sensor moves from a reference point to another position after a crash to facilitate treatment of the vehicle based on the change in position data for the vehicle part, wherein the server computing device determines an extent of damage to the vehicle part based on the change in position data for the vehicle part.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein to periodically measure a position of the spatial sensor based on one or more signals transmitted by the spatial sensor, the on-board computing device is configured to:

determine a distance or angle between the spatial sensor and each of the one or more communication devices disposed within the on-board computing device; and

determine the position of the spatial sensor based on the distances or angles between the spatial sensor and each of the one or more communication devices using trilateration or triangulation.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the distance or angle between the spatial sensor and one of the one or more communication devices is determined based on a received signal strength (RSS) of one of the one or more signals transmitted by the spatial sensor.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the on-board computing device is further configured to store a known position of each of the one or more communication devices disposed within the on-board computing device, and the on-board computing device determines the position of the spatial sensor based on the distances or angles between the spatial sensor and each of the one or more communication devices and based on the known position of each of the one or more communication devices.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the on-board computing device is further configured to store identification information, a reference point, and a corresponding vehicle part for each of a plurality of spatial sensors disposed within the vehicle.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more signals transmitted by the spatial sensor includes identification information for the spatial sensor, and the on-board computing device is further configured to:

compare the identification information to stored identification information for the plurality of spatial sensors; and

when there is a match, identify the reference point and the corresponding vehicle part attached to the spatial sensor.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the on-board computing device is configured to detect a crash and transmit change in position data for the spatial sensor to the server computing device when the spatial sensor moves more than a predetermined threshold distance from the reference point, and wherein the change in position data includes at least one of:

(i) a distance in which the spatial sensor moves from the reference point or (ii) a direction in which the spatial sensor moves from the reference point.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the server computing device determines a cost estimate for repairing or replacing the vehicle part based on the determined extent of the damage to the vehicle part by generating a repair code from a set of repair codes for the vehicle part, wherein the repair code corresponds to the cost estimate for repairing or replacing the vehicle part.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the spatial sensor is a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) sensor or wireless beacon;

and

wherein the one or more communication devices are RFID readers or wireless radios.

10. A method for determining crash information for a vehicle using spatial sensors, the method executed by one or more processors programmed to perform the method, the method comprising:

periodically measuring, by an on-board computing device within a vehicle communicatively coupled to one or more accelerometers, a position of a spatial sensor attached to a vehicle part within the vehicle, based on one or more signals transmitted by the spatial sensor and received at one or more communication devices disposed within the on-board computing device, wherein the one or more signals are indicative of the position of the spatial sensor; and

transmitting, by the on-board computing device, change in position data for the spatial sensor to a server computing device when the spatial sensor moves more than a predetermined threshold distance from a reference point to another position after a crash to facilitate treatment of the vehicle based on the change in position data for the vehicle part, wherein the change in position data includes at least one of;

(i) a distance in which the spatial sensor moves from the reference point or (ii) a direction in which the spatial sensor moves from the reference point.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein periodically measuring a position of the spatial sensor based on one or more signals transmitted by the spatial sensor includes:

determining, by the on-board computing device, a distance or angle between the spatial sensor and each of the one or more communication devices disposed within the on-board computing device; and

determining, by the on-board computing device, the position of the spatial sensor based on the distances or angles between the spatial sensor and each of the one or more communication devices using trilateration or triangulation.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the distance or angle between the spatial sensor and one of the one or more communication devices is determined based on a received signal strength (RSS) of one of the one or more signals transmitted by the spatial sensor.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

storing, by the on-board computing device, a known position of each of the one or more communication devices disposed within the on-board computing device;

wherein the position of the spatial sensor is determined based on the distances or angles between the spatial sensor and each of the one or more communication devices and based on the known position of each of the one or more communication devices.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising storing, by the on-board computing device, identification information, a reference point, and a corresponding vehicle part for each of a plurality of spatial sensors disposed within the vehicle.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the one or more signals transmitted by the spatial sensor includes identification information for the spatial sensor, and the method further comprises:

comparing, by the on-board computing device, the identification information to stored identification information for the plurality of spatial sensors; and

when there is a match, identifying, by the on-board computing device, the reference point and the corresponding vehicle part attached to the spatial sensor.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the server computing device determines an extent of damage to the vehicle part based on the change in position data for the vehicle part.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the server computing device determines a cost estimate for repairing or replacing the vehicle part based on the determined extent of the damage to the vehicle part by generating a repair code from a set of repair codes for the vehicle part, wherein the repair code corresponds to the cost estimate for repairing or replacing the vehicle part.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the spatial sensor is a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) sensor or wireless beacon;

and wherein the one or more communication devices are RFID readers or wireless radios.