Vehicle monitoring system

• US 8,892,451 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2012
• Issued: 11/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Progressive Casualty Insurance Company (Progressive Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Progressive Casualty Insurance Company (Progressive Corporation)
• Inventors: Everett, William Curtis, Hutchinson, Richard Ashton, Steigerwald, Wilbert John III, Say, William Andrew, O'Malley, Patrick Lawrence, Shrallow, Dane Allen, Ling, Raymond Scott, McMillan, Robert John
• Primary Examiner(s): Niquette, Robert R
• Application Number:
  US13/617,929
• Publication Number:
  US 20130013347A1
• Time in Patent Office: 795 Days
• Field of Search: 705/4
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• 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

Abstract

A data logging device tracks the operation of a vehicle or driver actions. The device includes a storage device, which may be removable or portable, having a first memory portion that may be read from and may be written to in a vehicle and a second memory portion that may be read from and may be written to in the vehicle. The second memory portion may retain data attributes associated with the data stored in the first removable storage device. A processor reads data from an automotive bus that transfers data from vehicle sensors to other automotive components. The processor writes data to the first memory portion and the second memory portion that reflect a level of risk or safety. A communication device links the storage device to a network of computers. The communication device may be accessible through software that allows a user to access files.

Claims

1. A system that determines a future cost of insurance based upon monitoring vehicle sensors, recording vehicle data, and communicating the vehicle data to a central processing system, where the cost of insurance is adjustable based on driving characteristics of a human operator controlled vehicle, comprising:

an on-board in-vehicle computer and recorder programmed to;

monitor a plurality of data elements from an in-vehicle sensor that are representative of the human operator controlled state of the vehicle or an action of an operator;

select data elements from the plurality of data elements; and

store the selected data elements in a memory device; and

a second computing system programmed to compute the future cost of insurance by assigning a level of risk to an operation of the vehicle based on an evaluation of the selected data elements retained in the memory device against data that assesses risk;

where the data that assesses risk is based on actuarial information that groups other human operators that have similar risk characteristics and represents actual driving characteristics of other monitored vehicles.

2. The system of claim 1 where the future cost of insurance comprises an insurance quote.

3. The system of claim 2 where the second computing system is programmed to transmit the future cost of insurance to the human operator of the vehicle after the selected data elements are uploaded to the second computing system that is remote from the on-board in-vehicle computer and recorder and is remote from the human operator controlled vehicle.

4. The system of claim 2 where the insurance quote comprises an estimated insurance cost based on the selected data elements retained in the memory device.

5. The system of claim 1 where the future cost of insurance comprises insurance coverage limits and insurance deductibles that establish the future cost of insurance for the human operator of the vehicle.

6. The system of claim 1 where the second computing system is programmed to transmit the insurance quote to the human operator in real-time.

7. The system of claim 1 where the insurance quote comprises an offer for insurance based on the selected data elements retained in the memory device.

8. The system of claim 1 where the second computing system is programmed to compute the future cost of insurance by adjusting an insurance premium based on the evaluation of the selected data elements.

9. The system of claim 1 where the second computing system comprises a central computing system that is programmed to determine an insurance discount that is applied against an insurance premium.

10. The system of claim 1 where the second computing system is programmed to determine an insurance discount that is to be applied against an insurance quote.

11. The system of claim 1 where the second computing system comprises a Web site that provides access to an insured or a non-insured user to review the selected data elements.

12. The system of claim 11 where the Web site is programmed to allow a user to project driving characteristics of the human operator and receive an estimated future cost of insurance based on the user'"'"'s projection.

13. The system of claim 1 where the on-board in-vehicle computer and recorder interfaces a receiver tuned to receive continuously transmitted trilateral encoded signals through a bandwidth that is separate from a mobile communication network.

14. The system of claim 1 where the on-board in-vehicle computer and recorder comprises a dynamic memory allocation processor that allocates a portion of an in-vehicle memory to retain a copy of a legacy version of firmware that comprises input or output instructions when an updated firmware is transferred to the in-vehicle memory through a mobile communication network, the dynamic memory allocation processor de-allocates the portion of the in-vehicle memory when an error-free version of the updated firmware is stored or installed in the system or when a copy of the legacy version of the firmware is restored.

15. The system of claim 1 where the on-board in-vehicle computer and recorder interfaces a wireless transceiver that is compliant with two or more multiple packet architectures that are automatically detected and one or more multiple packet architectures that are automatically selected when a series of signals that acknowledge that a communication or transfer of information may occur are received by the wireless transceiver.

16. The system of claim 1 where the on-board in-vehicle computer and recorder interfaces a wireless transceiver that is responsive to an internal event-driven request to transfer the selected vehicle data retained in the memory device to a remote server when a wireless service provider indicates an available channel capacity to transfer the selected vehicle data across a mobile communication network within a predetermined time period.

17. The system of claim 1 where the on-board in-vehicle computer and recorder interfaces a wireless transceiver that comprises a single-chip cellular baseband processor.

18. The system of claim 1 where the on-board in-vehicle computer and recorder interfaces a wireless transceiver that is responsive to a trigger event that causes a transfer of the selected vehicle data retained in the memory device to a remote server.

19. A system that determines an insurance quote based upon monitoring vehicle sensors, recording vehicle data, and communicating the vehicle data to a central processing system, where the insurance quote is adjustable based on driving characteristics of a human operator controlled vehicle, comprising:

an on-board in-vehicle computer and recorder programmed to;

monitor in-vehicle data elements transmitted from an in-vehicle sensor, the in-vehicle data elements represent the human operator'"'"'s control of the vehicle or an action of an operator; and

select data elements from the in-vehicle data elements; and

store the selected data elements in a memory device remote from the sensor and within the vehicle; and

a second computing system programmed to compute the insurance quote by assigning a level of risk to an operation of the vehicle based on an evaluation of the selected data elements retained in the memory device against data that assesses risk;

where the data that assesses risk is based on actuarial information that groups other human operators that have similar risk characteristics and represents actual driving characteristics of the other human operator driven vehicles; and

where the second computing system is remote from the on-board in-vehicle computer and recorder and is remote from the human operator controlled vehicle.

20. A method that determines an insurance quote based upon monitoring vehicle sensors, recording vehicle data, and communicating the vehicle data to a central processing system, where the insurance quote is adjustable based on driving characteristics of a human operator controlled vehicle, comprising:

monitoring a plurality of data elements from an in-vehicle sensor that are representative of the human operator controlled state of the vehicle or an action of an operator through an on-board in-vehicle computer and recorder;

selecting data elements from the plurality of data elements and storing the selected data elements in a memory device; and

computing the insurance quote by assigning a level of risk to an operation of the vehicle based on an evaluation of the selected data elements retained in the memory device against data that assesses risk through a second computing system remote from the on-board in-vehicle computer and recorder;

where the data that assesses risk is based on actuarial information that groups other human operators that have similar risk characteristics and represents actual driving characteristics of other monitored vehicles.