Method and system for detecting an incident , accident and/or scam of a vehicle

• US 10,710,537 B2
• Filed: 08/16/2018
• Issued: 07/14/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation (AB Volvo)
• Original Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation (AB Volvo)
• Inventors: Muddukrishna, Aloka, Nolhage, Jesper, Nilsson, Julia, Wennberg, Magnus, Brannstrom, Mattias, Landfors, Per, Lindgren, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Ma, Kam Wan
• Application Number:
  US15/998,773
• Publication Number:
  US 20190054880A1
• Time in Patent Office: 698 Days
• Field of Search: 340436
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/01013 Means for detecting collision, impending collision or roll-over
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0132 responsive to vehicle motion parameters , e.g. to vehicle longitudinal or transversal deceleration or speed value
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0136 responsive to actual contact with an obstacle , e.g. to vehicle deformation, bumper displacement or bumper velocity relative to the vehicle monitoring crash strength in combination with passenger seat detection B60R21/01558
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/31 of human presence inside or outside the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/32 of vehicle dynamic parameters, e.g. speed or acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/34 of conditions of vehicle components, e.g. of windows, door locks or gear selectors
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/88 Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications electromagnetic prospecting or detecting of objects, e.g. near-field detection, G01V3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/88 Sonar systems specially adapted for specific applications seismic or acoustic prospecting or detecting G01V1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/88 Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0866 the electronic data carrier being a digital video recorder in combination with video camera
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0891 Video recorder in combination with video camera
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19647 Systems specially adapted for intrusion detection in or around a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19669 Event triggers storage or change of storage policy

Abstract

A method for collecting and storing vehicle sensor data of at least one sensing system of a vehicle in order to detect an incident, accident and/or scam, said method comprising the steps of: (1) continuously collecting and storing a first set of vehicle sensor data for a preceding first pre-definable time period at least when the vehicle is in motion and/or when a door or trunk of the vehicle is open, (2) collecting and storing a second set of vehicle sensor data for a coming second pre-definable time period when at least one of the following occurs: the vehicle is brought to standstill, the door or trunk of the vehicle is being closed, or the vehicle drives away from standstill after being parked. Furthermore, the present disclosure relates to a corresponding system, computer product and a computer-readable storage medium storing a program which causes a computer to execute the method.

Claims

1. A method for collecting and storing vehicle sensor data by at least one sensing system of a vehicle in order to detect an incident, accident and/or scam, wherein the at least one sensing system comprises a camera sensing system comprising a camera or a plurality of cameras of the vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:

1) continuously collecting and storing a first set of vehicle sensor data for a preceding first pre-definable time period responsive to a first triggering event comprising at least when the vehicle is in motion and/or when a door or trunk of the vehicle is open,

2) collecting and storing a second set of vehicle sensor data for a coming second pre-definable time period responsive to a second triggering event comprising when at least one of the following occurs;

the vehicle is brought to standstill,

the door or trunk of the vehicle is being closed, or

the vehicle drives away from standstill after being parked,

wherein the first pre-definable time period is immediately prior to the second pre-definable time period, and

wherein, for collecting and storing both the first set of vehicle sensor data and the second set of vehicle sensor data, the camera or the plurality of cameras is/are activated when it is detected that an object or another vehicle is approaching the vehicle.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the step of:

3) storing jointly as an event the stored second set of vehicle sensor data with the preceding first set of vehicle sensor data.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of subsequent events are stored.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

continuously collecting and storing a first set of vehicle sensor data for a preceding first pre-definable time period also when the vehicle is standing still.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is an electrical vehicle, such as a pure electrical or a plug-in hybrid vehicle, wherein the method further comprises:

continuously collecting and storing a first set of vehicle sensor data for a preceding first pre-definable time period also when the vehicle is connected to a charging station.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle sensor data is collected by the at least one sensing system that is adapted to detect an incident or an accident of the vehicle, or which is adapted to detect a presence of an object or another vehicle in the vicinity of the vehicle, the at least one sensing system comprising one or more of:

a 360 degrees sensor system of the vehicle,

an ultrasonic sensing system of the vehicle,

a radar sensing system of the vehicle,

a motion sensing system of the vehicle,

an optical sensing system of the vehicle,

an acoustic sensing system of the vehicle, or

a LIDAR sensing system of the vehicle.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program which causes a computer to execute a method according to claim 1.

8. A system for collecting and storing vehicle sensor data of a vehicle in order to detect an incident, accident and/or scam, the system comprising:

at least one sensing system, wherein the at least one sensing system comprises a camera sensing system comprising a camera or a plurality of cameras of the vehicle,

at least one processing unit and memory unit for continuously collecting and storing a first set of vehicle sensor data from the at least one sensing system for a preceding first pre-definable time period responsive to a first triggering event comprising at least when the vehicle is in motion and/or when a door or trunk of the vehicle is open, and

at least one processing unit and memory unit for collecting and storing a second set of vehicle sensor data from the at least one sensing system for a coming second pre-definable time period responsive to a second triggering event comprising when at least one of the following occurs;

the vehicle is brought to standstill,

the door or trunk of the vehicle is being closed, or

the vehicle drives away from standstill after being parked,

wherein the first pre-definable time period is immediately prior to the second pre-definable time period, and

wherein, for collecting and storing both the first set of vehicle sensor data and the second set of vehicle sensor data, the camera or the plurality of cameras is/are configured to be activated when it is detected that an object or another vehicle is approaching the vehicle.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the system further comprises a storage medium for storing jointly a set of sensor data as an event comprising the stored second set of vehicle sensor data with the preceding first set of vehicle sensor data.

10. The system according to claim 9, comprising,

a display for displaying the event to a driver/owner of the vehicle.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the display is any one of a display of the vehicle or a display of a mobile device, such as a mobile telephone.

12. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer program means for collecting and storing vehicle sensor data of a sensing system of a vehicle in order to detect an incident, an accident and/or a scam, wherein the sensing system comprises a camera sensing system comprising a camera or a plurality of cameras of the vehicle, wherein the computer program product comprises:

code for continuously collecting and storing a first set of vehicle sensor data from the sensing system for a preceding first pre-definable time period responsive to a first triggering event comprising at least when the vehicle is in motion and/or when a door or trunk of the vehicle is open, and

code for collecting and storing a second set of vehicle sensor data from the sensing system for a coming second pre-definable time period responsive to a second triggering event comprising when at least one of the following occurs;

the vehicle is brought to standstill,

the door or trunk of the vehicle is being closed, or

the vehicle drives away from standstill after being parked, wherein the computer program product further comprises,

code for activating the camera or the plurality of cameras, for collecting and storing both the first set of vehicle sensor data and the second set of vehicle sensor data, when it is detected that an object or another vehicle is approaching the vehicle,

wherein the first pre-definable time period is immediately prior to the second pre-definable time period.