Driving Cues and Coaching

• US 20180050698A1
• Filed: 08/17/2016
• Published: 02/22/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Inventors: Polisson, William, Madigan, Regina, Gibson, Timothy W., Kumar, Surender, Slusar, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 10,640,117 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2040/0809 Driver authorisation; Driver identity check
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0095 Automatic control mode change
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/043 Identity of occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/225 Direction of gaze
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/229 Attention level, e.g. attentive to driving, reading or sleeping
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/30 Driving style
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/05 Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4046 Behavior, e.g. aggressive or erratic
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/20 Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/10 Historical data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/65 Data transmitted between vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/182 Selecting between different operative modes, e.g. comfort and performance modes
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/00 Drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0015 specially adapted for safety
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/00182 in response to weather conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0051 from occupants to vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0053 from vehicle to occupant
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0059 : Estimation of the risk associated with autonomous or manual driving, e.g. situation too complex, sensor failure or driver incapacity
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/007 : Emergency override Handing over between remote control and on-board control or handing over between remote control arrangements G05D1/227
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0061 : for transition from automatic pilot to manual pilot and vice versa
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 : Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 : Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 : Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083

Abstract

A method, medium, and apparatus for educating and reducing risk to inexperienced drivers using vehicles with autonomous navigation systems. Data regarding a driver'"'"'s past experience with vehicles and operating environments may be used to proactively warn the driver about a potential danger detected or predicted by the vehicle. An autonomous vehicle may prevent the driver from operating the vehicle under unfamiliar circumstances or from causing a collision. Data regarding a driver'"'"'s past experience with vehicles and the safety features thereof may be used to mitigate risk of injury or property damage by selectively activating safety features in a new vehicle which the driver has not previously driven. Data regarding a driver'"'"'s past experience with vehicles and safety features thereof may be used to determine a decreased or increased rental rate for a particular vehicle.

Claims

1. An autonomous vehicle, comprising:

a steering wheel;

a brake pedal;

an acceleration pedal;

a data store storing driver experience parameters;

an autonomous control system configured to navigate the autonomous vehicle by controlling a speed and direction of the autonomous vehicle; and

a driving mode switching component configured to switch between a manual driving mode, wherein the autonomous vehicle is controlled by the steering wheel, brake pedal, and acceleration pedal, and an autonomous driving mode, wherein the autonomous control system engages in autonomous navigation, and wherein the autonomous vehicle performs steps comprising;

determining, by the autonomous vehicle, an identity of a driver of the autonomous vehicle;

receiving, by the autonomous vehicle and from the data store, a plurality of driver experience parameters associated with the driver;

detecting, by one or more sensors of the autonomous vehicle, a driving condition presenting a risk of personal or property damage; and

switching, by the driving mode switching component, from the manual driving mode to the autonomous driving mode based at least in part on the plurality of driver experience parameters and the driving condition.

2. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1, wherein the autonomous vehicle further performs steps comprising:

detecting, by one or more sensors of the autonomous vehicle, that the driving condition has ended; and

switching, by the driving mode switching component, from the autonomous driving mode to the manual driving mode.

3. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1, wherein the autonomous vehicle further performs steps comprising:

detecting, by one or more sensors of the autonomous vehicle, that the autonomous vehicle has arrived at a predetermined destination; and

switching, by the driving mode switching component, from the autonomous driving mode to the manual driving mode.

4. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors of the autonomous vehicle comprise an external camera, and the driving condition is one of precipitation or inappropriate light level.

5. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors of the autonomous vehicle comprise an internal camera, and the driving condition is inattention of the driver.

6. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors of the autonomous vehicle comprise a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system, and the driving condition is an increased risk represented by behavior or experience of another driver.

7. A method, comprising:

determining, by an autonomous vehicle, the identity of a driver of the autonomous vehicle;

receiving, by the autonomous vehicle and from a data store, a plurality of driver experience parameters associated with the driver;

detecting, by one or more sensors of the autonomous vehicle, a driving condition presenting a risk of personal or property damage; and

based at least in part on the plurality of driver experience parameters and the driving condition, engaging autonomous navigation of the autonomous vehicle and ending control by the driver over the autonomous vehicle.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

detecting that the driving condition has ended; and

deactivating the autonomous navigation and returning control over the autonomous vehicle to the driver.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the driving condition is one of precipitation or light level outside the autonomous vehicle.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the driving condition is the autonomous vehicle traveling on one of a highway or a road in an urban area.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the driving condition is inattention of the driver.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

updating one or more of the plurality of driver experience parameters; and

transmitting the one or more of the plurality of driver experience parameters to the data store.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising informing the driver of a reason for engaging autonomous navigation of the autonomous vehicle after a determination is made to engage autonomous navigation.

14. A non-transitory medium comprising instructions that, when performed by a processor of an autonomous vehicle, cause the autonomous vehicle to:

determine the identity of a driver of an autonomous vehicle;

receive, from a data store, a plurality of driver experience parameters associated with the driver;

detect, using sensor data received from one or more sensors of the autonomous vehicle, a driving condition presenting a risk of personal or property damage; and

based at least in part on the plurality of driver experience parameters and the driving condition, engage autonomous navigation of the autonomous vehicle and end control by the driver over the autonomous vehicle.

15. The non-transitory medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions, when performed, further cause the autonomous vehicle to:

detect that the driving condition has ended; and

deactivate the autonomous navigation and return control over the autonomous vehicle to the driver.

16. The non-transitory medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions, when performed, further cause the autonomous vehicle to:

update one or more of the plurality of driver experience parameters; and

transmit the one or more of the plurality of driver experience parameters to the data store.

17. The non-transitory medium of claim 14, wherein the driving condition is precipitation outside the autonomous vehicle.

18. The non-transitory medium of claim 14, wherein the driving condition is the autonomous vehicle traveling on one of a highway and a road in an urban area.

19. The non-transitory medium of claim 14, wherein the driving condition is inattention of the driver.

20. The non-transitory medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions, when performed, further cause the autonomous vehicle to inform the driver of a reason for engaging autonomous navigation of the autonomous vehicle after a determination is made to engage autonomous navigation.