Broadcasting information related to hazards impacting vehicle travel

• US 10,366,605 B1
• Filed: 06/19/2018
• Issued: 07/30/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Hayward, Gregory L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Yuen
• Application Number:
  US16/011,827
• Time in Patent Office: 406 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 5/006 indicating risk of collision between vehicles or with pedestrians
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/10 related to vehicle motion
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/005 with correlation of navigation data from several sources, e.g. map or contour matching G01C21/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3415 Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3492 employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/36 Input/output arrangements for on-board computers
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3655 Timing of guidance instructions
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3667 Display of a road map G01C21/3614 takes precedence; guidance using 3D or perspective road maps G01C21/3635
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/367 Details, e.g. road map scale, orientation, zooming, illumination, level of detail, scrolling of road map or positioning of current position marker
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3691 Retrieval, searching and output of information related to real-time traffic, weather, or environmental conditions arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions G08G1/09
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/13 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/47 the supplementary measurement being an inertial measurement, e.g. tightly coupled inertial
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/50 whereby the position solution is constrained to lie upon a particular curve or surface, e.g. for locomotives on railway tracks
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/51 Relative positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0285 using signals transmitted via a public communication network, e.g. GSM network
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/225 : operated by off-board computers
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/229 : Command input data, e.g. waypoints
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/24 : Arrangements for determining position or orientation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/047 : Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 : Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 : communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/02 : Registering or indicating driving, working, idle, or waiting time only apparatus forming part of taximeters G07B13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 : from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/012 : from other sources than vehicle or roadside beacons, e.g. mobile networks
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0125 : Traffic data processing
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0133 : for classifying traffic situation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0141 : for traffic information dissemination
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/052 : with provision for determining speed or overspeed speed measuring in general G01P
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/091 : Traffic information broadcasting broadcasting communication H04H
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/093 : Data selection, e.g. prioritizing information, managing message queues, selecting the information to be output
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0965 : responding to signals from another vehicle, e.g. emergency vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096725 : where the received information generates an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096783 : where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 : where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096844 : where the complete route is dynamically recomputed based on new data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096855 : where the output is provided in a suitable form to the driver details on I/O arrangements for onboard navigation computers G01C21/36
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096883 : where input information is obtained using a mobile device, e.g. a mobile phone, a PDA
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/127 : to a central station ; Indicators in a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/16 : Anti-collision systems road vehicle drive control systems for predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision otherwise than by control of a particular sub-unit B60W30/08
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/162 : event-triggered
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 : for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 7/02 : Anti-collision systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 : for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 : specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/40 : using a wireless architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 : Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 : using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 : Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 : for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]

Abstract

A system of broadcasting information related to hazards impacting vehicle travel may include a mobile device configured to: (1) mount within a vehicle dashboard cradle so that the mobile device is positioned to take images forward of a vehicle; (2) collect telematics data, with customer permission or affirmative consent, when the vehicle is moving, including GPS location, speed, heading, lane, braking, cornering, acceleration, and/or route data of the vehicle; (3) generate an alert based upon the telematics data and the images, and/or broadcast data including the images and the telematics data; and/or (4) broadcast the alert and/or the data collected to (a) a nearby vehicle(s) and/or (b) a smart infrastructure component(s) to facilitate warning of hazards upon the nearby vehicle(s) and/or the smart infrastructure component(s) receiving and processing the alert and/or the broadcasted data. Insurance discounts may be generated based upon the risk mitigation or prevention functionality.

Claims

1. A system of broadcasting information related to vehicle travel conditions, the system comprising:

a mobile computing device configured to;

mount within a vehicle dashboard cradle;

collect telematics data of a vehicle when the mobile computing device is mounted within the vehicle dashboard cradle, the telematics data including location data, braking data, cornering data, and at least one of acceleration data or deceleration data of the vehicle;

generate at least one of (1) an alert based upon the telematics data and images taken forward of the vehicle by the mobile computing device, or (2) broadcasting data including the images and the telematics data;

broadcast, when one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel correspond to at least one location within a threshold distance of at least one of (1) at least one nearby vehicle, or (2) at least one smart infrastructure component, the at least one of the alert or the broadcasting data to the at least one of the at least one nearby vehicle or the at least one smart infrastructure component via wireless communication or data transmission to cause, upon the at least one of the at least one nearby vehicle or the at least one smart infrastructure component receiving and processing the at least one of the alert or the broadcasting data, at least one computing device associated with the at least one nearby vehicle to provide a respective graphical user interface (GUI) including a respective display of;

(i) a respective indication of at least one description of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel, the respective indication of the at least one description of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel including at least one of a respective text indication of the at least one description, or a respective graphical indication of the at least one description, and

(ii) a respective indication of the at least one location corresponding to the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel, the respective indication of the at least one location corresponding to the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel including at least one of a respective text indication of the at least one location, a respective graphical indication of the at least one location;

or a respective map indicating the at least one location.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the telematics data further includes at least one of speed, direction, heading, route, lane, gyroscope, left turn, right turn, or telephone usage data associated with the vehicle.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel include at least one of (1) that at least one of a train or an emergency response system (EMS) vehicle is within the threshold distance of at least one of the at least one nearby vehicle, (2) that the at least one of the train or the EMS vehicle will be within the threshold distance of a current route of at least one of the at least one nearby vehicle, (3) one or more hazardous conditions on a current route of at least one of the at least one nearby vehicle, or (4) one or more accidents on a current route of at least one of the at least one nearby vehicle.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile computing device is configured to:

analyze the telematics data and the images using at least one of computer analysis or object recognition techniques so as to determine the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel; and

generate the alert based upon the analysis of the telematics data and the images.

5. The system of claim 1, the system further comprising the at least one nearby vehicle, wherein the at least one nearby vehicle is configured to generate at least one local alert indicative of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel in response to receiving the at least one of the alert or the broadcasting data from the vehicle.

6. The system of claim 1, the system further comprising the at least one smart infrastructure component, wherein the at least one smart infrastructure component is configured to generate at least one local alert indicative of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel in response to receiving the at least one of the alert or the broadcasting data from the vehicle.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising the insurance provider remote server, wherein the insurance provider remote server is configured to at least one of adjust or generate the insurance discount for the vehicle.

8. A mobile computing device for facilitating safer vehicle travel, the mobile computing device comprising:

a controller configured to;

determine whether the mobile computing device is mounted in a vehicle;

collect, when it is determined that the mobile computing device is mounted in the vehicle, (1) telematics data associated with the vehicle, the telematics data including location data, braking data, cornering data, and at least one of acceleration data or deceleration data of the vehicle, and (2) digital data including at least one of digital image, digital audio, or digital video data associated with at least one of an interior or exterior of the vehicle; and

analyze the telematics data and the digital data to determine whether one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel correspond to at least one location within a threshold distance of at least one of (1) a second vehicle, or (2) a smart infrastructure component; and

at least one of a communication unit or a transceiver configured to;

broadcast an indication of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel to at least one of a second mobile computing device located within the second vehicle or the smart infrastructure component when the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel correspond to the at least one location within the threshold distance of the at least one of the second vehicle or the smart infrastructure component, so as to cause the second mobile computing device to provide a graphical user interface (GLI) including a display of;

(1) an indication of at least one description of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel, the indication of the at least one description of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel including at least one of a text indication of the at least one description or a graphical indication of the at least one description, and

(2) an indication of the at least one location corresponding to the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel, the indication of the at least one location corresponding to the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel including at least one of a text indication of the at least one location, a graphical indication of the at least one location, or a map indicating the at least one location.

9. The mobile computing device of claim 8, wherein the at least one of the communication unit or the transceiver is configured to broadcast the indication of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel to the at least one of the second mobile computing device or the smart infrastructure component so as to cause at least one of (1) the second mobile computing device to issue an alert notifying a driver of the second vehicle of at least one of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel, or (2) the smart infrastructure component to transmit at least one of (a) an alert, or (b) the indication of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel to at least one of the second vehicle or at least one other vehicle within the threshold distance of at least one of the at least one location corresponding to the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel.

10. The mobile computing device of claim 8, wherein the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel include at least one of (1) that at least one of a train or an emergency response system (EMS) vehicle is within the threshold distance of the second vehicle, (2) that the at least one of the train or the EMS vehicle will be within the threshold distance of a current route of the second vehicle, (3) one or more hazardous conditions on a current route of the second vehicle, or (4) one or more accidents on a current route of the second vehicle.

11. The mobile computing device of claim 10, wherein the one or more hazardous conditions on the current route of the second vehicle include one or more of a pedestrian, an animal, or another vehicle.

12. The mobile computing device of claim 8, wherein the indication of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel includes at least one of (1) an indication of a GPS (Global Positioning System) location of at least one of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel, or (2) a description of at least one of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel.

13. The mobile computing device of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to analyze the telematics data and the digital data to determine whether the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel correspond to the at least one location within the threshold distance of the at least one of the second vehicle or the smart infrastructure component using at least one of computer analysis or object recognition techniques.

14. The mobile computing device of claim 8, wherein the mobile computing device is configured to monitor an amount of time or mileage that the vehicle is driven with risk mitigation or prevention functionality associated with (1) analyzing the telematics data and the digital data, and (2) broadcasting the indication of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel, and wherein the at least one of the communication unit or the transceiver is configured to cause the insurance provider remote server to at least one of adjust or generate the insurance discount as a time or mileage usage-based insurance discount.

15. A computer-implemented method of broadcasting information related to vehicle travel conditions, the method comprising:

collecting images forward of a vehicle, via at least one of a camera or one or more processors of a mobile device that is mounted within a vehicle dashboard cradle;

collecting, via the one or more processors, telematics data, including location data, braking data, cornering data, and at least one of acceleration data or deceleration data of the vehicle;

generating, via the one or more processors, at least one of (1) an alert based upon the images forward of the vehicle and the telematics data, or (2) a broadcast including the images forward of the vehicle and the telematics data;

broadcasting, via at least one of the one or more processors, a communication unit, or a transceiver, when one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel correspond to at least one location within a threshold distance of at least one of (1) at least one nearby vehicle, or (2) at least one smart infrastructure component, the at least one of the alert or the broadcast via wireless communication or data transmission to the at least one of the at least one nearby vehicle or the at least one smart infrastructure component to cause at least one additional mobile device associated with the at least one nearby vehicle to provide a respective graphical user interface (GUI) including a respective display of;

(i) a respective indication of at least one description of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel, the respective indication of the at least one description of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel including at least one of a respective text indication of the at least one description or a respective graphical indication of the at least one description, and

(ii) a respective indication of the at least one location corresponding to the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel, the respective indication of the at least one location corresponding to the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel including at least one of a respective text indication of the at least one location, a respective graphical indication of the at least one location, or a respective map indicating the at least one location.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel include at least one of (1) that at least one of a train or an emergency response system (EMS) vehicle is within the threshold distance of at least one of the at least one nearby vehicle, (2) that the at least one of the train or the EMS vehicle will be within the threshold distance of a current route of at least one of the at least one nearby vehicle, (3) one or more hazardous conditions on a current route of at least one of the at least one nearby vehicle, or (4) one or more accidents on a current route of at least one of the at least one nearby vehicle.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, the method comprising broadcasting the at least one of the alert or the broadcast including the images forward of the vehicle and the telematics data to one of the at least one additional mobile device located within one of the at least one nearby vehicle so as to cause the one of the at least one additional mobile device to issue a local alert notifying a driver of the one of the at least one nearby vehicle of at least one of the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, the method comprising analyzing the telematics data and the images forward of the vehicle using at least one of computer analysis or object recognition techniques to determine the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel, wherein generating the alert is performed based upon the analysis of the telematics data and the images forward of the vehicle.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein analyzing the telematics data and the images forward of the vehicle using the at least one of the computer analysis or the object recognition techniques includes using the at least one of the computer analysis or the object recognition techniques to detect one or more of a pedestrian, an animal, vehicle congestion, or an accident on a current route of one of the at least one nearby vehicle.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, the method comprising:

monitoring an amount of time or mileage that the vehicle is driven with risk mitigation or prevention functionality associated with (1) analyzing the telematics data and the images forward of the vehicle, and (2) broadcasting the at least one of the alert or the broadcast including the images forward of the vehicle and the telematics data when the one or more conditions impacting vehicle travel correspond to the at least one location within the threshold distance of the at least one of the at least one nearby vehicle or the at least one smart infrastructure component; and

causing the insurance provider remote server to at least one of adjust or generate the insurance discount as a time or mileage usage-based insurance discount based upon the amount of time or mileage that the vehicle is driven with the risk mitigation or prevention functionality.