System and method for identifying heading of a moving vehicle using accelerometer data

• US 9,285,223 B1
• Filed: 05/18/2015
• Issued: 03/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Menon, Sunish Shreenarayan, Dosher, David James, Christensen, Scott Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Butler, Rodney
• Application Number:
  US14/714,387
• Time in Patent Office: 302 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/024 Other means for determination of steering angle without directly measuring it, e.g. deriving from wheel speeds on different sides of the car
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 1/00 Measuring angles
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/12 executed aboard the object being navigated; Dead reckoning
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/185 for gravity
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 25/005 initial alignment, calibration or starting-up of inertial devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• 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

Abstract

A method for determining a yaw angle estimate or vehicle heading direction is presented. A potential range of yaw angles is generated based on a plurality of primary telematics data. One or more yaw angle estimates are generated from the potential range of yaw angles. A driving pattern is determined based on at least one of the yaw angle estimates. The primary telematics data is a plurality of telematics data originated from a client computing device. The effects of gravity have been removed from the plurality of telematics data in a first primary movement window.

Claims

1. A computer device for determining a range of yaw angle estimates, the device comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors;

wherein the one or more memories include non-transitory computer executable instructions stored therein that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

determine a potential range of yaw angles from a plurality of primary telematics data, wherein the primary telematics data comprises a plurality of telematics data originated from a client computing device, the effects of gravity having been removed from the plurality of telematics data in a first primary movement window;

generate one or more yaw angle estimates;

plot the one or more yaw angle estimates from the first primary movement window;

apply an arc length of a static region on a unit circle to the one or more yaw angle estimates from the first primary movement window; and

determine a driving pattern based on at least one of the yaw angle estimates.

2. The computer device of claim 1, wherein the non-transitory computer executable instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

determine;

a first region corresponding to the static region;

a first number of data points in the first region;

a second region corresponding to the static region; and

a second number of data points in the second region;

compare the number of data points in the first region with the number of data points in the second region;

determine a static region with the greatest number of data points;

generate a final yaw angle from the static region with the greatest number of data points; and

determine a driving pattern using at least the final yaw angle.

3. The computer device of claim 2, wherein the non-transitory computer executable instructions cause the one or more processors to:

rotate the static region from the first region to the second region.

4. A computer device for determining a range of yaw angle estimates, the device comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors;

wherein the one or more memories include non-transitory computer executable instructions stored therein that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

determine a potential range of yaw angles from a plurality of primary telematics data, wherein the primary telematics data comprises a plurality of telematics data originated from a client computing device, the effects of gravity having been removed from the plurality of telematics data in a first primary movement window;

generate one or more yaw angle estimates;

correlate the plurality of telematics data with a second plurality of telematics data; and

determine a driving pattern based on at least one of the yaw angle estimates.

5. A computer device for determining a range of yaw angle estimates, the device comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors;

wherein the one or more memories include non-transitory computer executable instructions stored therein that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

determine a potential range of yaw angles from a plurality of primary telematics data, wherein the primary telematics data comprises a plurality of telematics data originated from a client computing device, the effects of gravity having been removed from the plurality of telematics data in a first primary movement window;

generate one or more yaw angle estimates;

create a function that outputs four possible heading directions of the telematics data from the first primary movement window; and

determine a driving pattern based on at least one of the yaw angle estimates.

6. A computer readable storage medium comprising non-transitory computer readable instructions stored thereon for determining a range of yaw angle estimates, the instructions when executed on one or more processors cause the one or more processors to:

determine a potential range of yaw angles from a plurality of primary telematics data, wherein the primary telematics data comprises a plurality of telematics data summarized at a specified sample rate and originated from a client computing device, the effects of gravity having been removed from the plurality of telematics data;

generate one or more yaw angles from the potential range of yaw angles;

apply an arc length of a static region on a unit circle to the one or more yaw angles estimates from the first primary movement window; and

determine a driving pattern based on at least one of the yaw angles.

7. The computer readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the instructions when executed on the one or more processors further cause the one or more processors to:

determine;

a first region corresponding to the static region;

a first number of data points in the first region;

a second region corresponding to the static region; and

a second number of data points in the second region;

compare the number of data points in the first region with the number of data points in the second region;

determine a static region with the greatest number of data points;

generate a final yaw angle from the static region with the greatest number of data points; and

determine a driving pattern using at least the final yaw angle.

8. A computer readable storage medium comprising non-transitory computer readable instructions stored thereon for determining a range of yaw angle estimates, the instructions when executed on one or more processors cause the one or more processors to:

determine a potential range of yaw angles from a plurality of primary telematics data, wherein the primary telematics data comprises a plurality of telematics data summarized at a specified sample rate and originated from a client computing device, the effects of gravity having been removed from the plurality of telematics data;

generate one or more yaw angles from the potential range of yaw angles;

correlate the plurality of telematics data with a second plurality of telematics data; and

determine a driving pattern using at least the final yaw angle.

9. A computer readable storage medium comprising non-transitory computer readable instructions stored thereon for determining a range of yaw angle estimates, the instructions when executed on one or more processors cause the one or more processors to:

determine a potential range of yaw angles from a plurality of primary telematics data, wherein the primary telematics data comprises a plurality of telematics data summarized at a specified sample rate and originated from a client computing device, the effects of gravity having been removed from the plurality of telematics data;

generate one or more yaw angles from the potential range of yaw angles;

create a function that outputs four possible heading directions of the telematics data from the first primary movement window; and

determine a driving pattern using at least the final yaw angle.