Driving event assessment system

• US 10,957,130 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2017
• Issued: 03/23/2021
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omnitracs LLC (Solera Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Omnitracs LLC (Solera Holdings Incorporated)
• Inventors: Mays, Wesley M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nolan, Peter D
• Assistant Examiner(s): Smith-Stewart, Demetra R
• Application Number:
  US15/425,419
• Publication Number:
  US 20180225894A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,506 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/0638 Engine speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/182 Brake pressure, e.g. of fluid or between pad and disc
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/105 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2530/20 Tyre data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/18 Steering angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4046 Behavior, e.g. aggressive or erratic
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/802 Longitudinal distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/804 Relative longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/20 Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2756/10 Involving external transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0866 the electronic data carrier being a digital video recorder in combination with video camera

Abstract

The described features of the present disclosure generally relate to one or more improved systems for analyzing driver performance with respect to a driving event that is correlated with corresponding image or video data (e.g., video captured by cameras mounted around the truck). Specifically, before the driving event is recorded against the driver'"'"'s performance assessment, the techniques of the present disclosure analyze the image or video data corresponding to external environmental conditions around the vehicle and corresponding to the driving event (e.g., abrupt application of brakes) in order to determine whether the driver was at fault or if the driver actions were in response to conditions out of the control of the driver.

Claims

1. An apparatus for generating a driver performance assessment, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory includes instructions executable by the processor to;

receive, at a network entity, a vehicle performance parameter from an electronic logging device (ELD) associated with a vehicle, wherein the vehicle performance parameter identifies a driving event detected by the ELD;

receive, at the network entity, image data captured by an image processing device on the vehicle that corresponds to the driving event;

determine, at the network entity, whether the driving event was triggered in response to external environmental conditions based on the image data captured by the image processing device on the vehicle; and

generate the driver performance assessment based on whether the driving event was triggered in response to the external environmental conditions,

wherein the instructions to generate the driver performance assessment further include instructions executable by the processor to deduct a value from a driver performance assessment score when it is determined that an action by at least one secondary vehicle did not trigger the driving event.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions to determine whether the driving event was trigged in response to the external environmental conditions are further include instructions executable by the processor to:

determine a first speed of the vehicle based on the image data;

determine a second speed of at least one secondary vehicle in proximity to the vehicle based on the image data; and

identify a distance between the vehicle and the at least one secondary vehicle based on the first speed and the second speed.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to:

determine whether an action by the at least one secondary vehicle triggered the driving event based on analyses of at least one or more of the first speed, the second speed, or the distance.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions to generate the driver performance assessment further include instructions executable by the processor to:

discard the driving event from calculation of a driver performance assessment score if it is determined that an action by at least one secondary vehicle triggered the driving event.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vehicle performance parameter that identifies the driving event detected by the ELD is based on a determination that a value associated with the vehicle performance parameter exceeds a threshold.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein instructions to receive the image data further include instructions executable by the processor to:

receive a set of still images or video captured by the image processing device.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the image data includes image data corresponding to the driving event from a predetermined time period preceding the driving event and to a predetermined time period following the driving event such that the network entity is configured to analyze the received vehicle parameters and image data to consider circumstances surrounding the driving event.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vehicle performance parameter is selected from a group consisting of:

air bag deployment, 4-way flasher on or off state, revolutions per minute (RPM), windshield wiper on or off state, fog light on or off state, steering input, wind speed, engine oil pressure, pull-down seat deployment state, seat belt pre-tensioner deployment state, forward vision system input, driver emergency button state, tire-pressure monitoring system information, and automatic traction control information.

9. A method for generating a driver performance assessment, comprising:

receiving, at a network entity, a vehicle performance parameter from an electronic logging device (ELD) associated with a vehicle, wherein the vehicle performance parameter identifies a driving event detected by the ELD;

receiving, at the network entity, image data captured by an image processing device on the vehicle that corresponds to the driving event;

determining, at the network entity, whether the driving event was triggered in response to external environmental conditions based on the image data captured by the image processing device on the vehicle; and

generating the driver performance assessment based on whether the driving event was triggered in response to the external environmental conditions,

wherein the generating the driver performance assessment comprises deducting a value from a driver performance assessment score when it is determined that an action by at least one secondary vehicle did not trigger the driving event.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether the driving event was trigged in response to the external environmental conditions comprises:

determining a first speed of the vehicle based on the image data;

determining a second speed of at least one secondary vehicle in proximity to the vehicle based on the image data; and

identifying a distance between the vehicle and the at least one secondary vehicle based on the first speed and the second speed.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining whether an action by the at least one secondary vehicle triggered the driving event based on analyses of at least one or more of the first speed, the second speed, or the distance.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein generating the driver performance assessment comprises:

discarding the driving event from calculation of a driver performance assessment score if it is determined that an action by at least one secondary vehicle triggered the driving event.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the vehicle performance parameter that identifies the driving event detected by the ELD is based on a determination that a value associated with the vehicle performance parameter exceeds a threshold.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein receiving the image data further comprises receiving a set of still images or video captured by the image processing device.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the vehicle performance parameter is selected from a group consisting of:

air bag deployment, 4-way flasher on or off state, revolutions per minute (RPM), windshield wiper on or off state, fog light on or off state, steering input, wind speed, engine oil pressure, pull-down seat deployment state, seat belt pre-tensioner deployment state, forward vision system input, driver emergency button state, tire-pressure monitoring system information, and automatic traction control information.

16. A computer readable medium for generating a driver performance assessment, comprising code for:

receiving, at a network entity, a vehicle performance parameter from an electronic logging device (ELD) associated with a vehicle, wherein the vehicle performance parameter identifies a driving event detected by the ELD;

receiving, at the network entity, image data captured by an image processing device on the vehicle that corresponds to the driving event;

determining, at the network entity, whether the driving event was triggered in response to external environmental conditions based on the image data captured by the image processing device on the vehicle; and

generating the driver performance assessment based on whether the driving event was triggered in response to the external environmental conditions,

wherein generating the driver performance assessment includes deducting a value from a driver performance assessment score when it is determined that an action by at least one secondary vehicle did not trigger the driving event.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein code for determining whether the driving event was trigged in response to the external environmental conditions further comprises code for:

determining a first speed of the vehicle based on the image data;

determining a second speed of at least one secondary vehicle in proximity to the vehicle based on the image data; and

identifying a distance between the vehicle and the at least one secondary vehicle based on the first speed and the second speed.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, further comprising code for:

determining whether an action by the at least one secondary vehicle triggered the driving event based on analyses of at least one or more of the first speed, the second speed, or the distance.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein generating the driver performance assessment comprises:

discarding the driving event from calculation of a driver performance assessment score if it is determined that an action by at least one secondary vehicle triggered the driving event.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the vehicle performance parameter is selected from a group consisting of:

air bag deployment, 4-way flasher on or off state, revolutions per minute (RPM), windshield wiper on or off state, fog light on or off state, steering input, wind speed, engine oil pressure, pull-down seat deployment state, seat belt pre-tensioner deployment state, forward vision system input, driver emergency button state, tire-pressure monitoring system information, and automatic traction control information.