Inspection facility

• US 9,684,934 B1
• Filed: 09/21/2016
• Issued: 06/20/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Inventors: Ihm, Stephen Lawrence, Wilson, II, Thomas Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Khattar, Rajesh
• Application Number:
  US15/271,908
• Time in Patent Office: 272 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/751 Comparing pixel values or logical combinations thereof, or feature values having positional relevance, e.g. template matching
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/00 Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof

Abstract

An enhanced claims settlement apparatus may process insurance claims rapidly and accurately. The apparatus may first receive a notification of loss associated with an insured item (e.g., car, boat, truck, home, etc.). The apparatus may then apply various algorithms for using sensors to identify, analyze, and estimate the cost of damage associated with the insured item. The sensors that are a part of the enhanced claims settlement server may include cameras, tactile sensors, electromagnetic sensors, etc. that may communicate data to a processor associated with the server. Once the data has been generated and analyzed by the sensors, a claim settlement file may be transmitted to a claimant.

Claims

1. An inspection system comprising:

an analysis facility having an analysis location at which a vehicle is positionable wherein the analysis facility comprises a plurality of sensors aimed at the analysis location wherein the plurality of sensors are configured to generate sensor data characterizing one or more conditions of the vehicle when the vehicle is positioned at the analysis location,

wherein the plurality of sensors include at least one of a camera, a laser, a mechanical device, a tactile sensor, a fluid sensor, an infrared sensor and combinations thereof; and

a computing device communicatively connected with the plurality of sensors and comprising a memory having instructions that, when executed, cause the computing device to;

initiate execution of an inspection algorithm that automatically carries out an inspection of the vehicle in response to receiving the vehicle at the analysis location wherein the computing device, during execution of the inspection algorithm, automatically controls operation of at least one of the plurality of sensors,

receive from the plurality of sensors, the sensor data characterizing the one or more conditions of the vehicle,

execute an assessment algorithm that causes the computing device to automatically analyze the sensor data and automatically identify damage to the vehicle based on the sensor data, and

execute an estimation algorithm that causes the computing device to automatically estimate a cost to repair the vehicle based, at least in part, on the damage identified.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a card reader communicatively connected with the computing device and configured to provide notification of an insurance claim related to the vehicle, the notification responsive to a swipe of an insurance card or a credit card through the card reader.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory further causes the computing device to receive, from a device configured to automatically detect vehicle accidents, a first notice of loss related to the vehicle in response to detecting, by the device, an accident involving the vehicle.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the first notice of loss comprises telematics information collected by the device during operation of the vehicle.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the telematics information comprises one or more speed measurements, one or more braking measurements, and one or more acceleration measurements of the vehicle either before, after, or before and after a time the accident occurred.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the telematics information comprises one or more of vehicle parameters collected via an on-board diagnostic (OBD) system associated with the vehicle.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more vehicle parameters comprise one or more of a vehicle mileage measurement, a coolant temperature measurement, an engine speed measurement, a timing advance measurement, a throttle position measurement, and one or more readings from an oxygen sensor in the vehicle.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to provide an interface that presents a plurality of questions to an individual and receive a plurality of answers to the plurality of questions, the plurality of questions comprising a first question about prior damage to the vehicle, a second question about liability for the prior damage, and a third question about an accident involving the vehicle.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to execute a fraud detection algorithm that performs a comparison between the plurality of answers and the sensor data, and determine whether an insurance claim related to the vehicle is fraudulent based on the comparison.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to notify a claims adjuster upon detection of discrepancies between the plurality of answers and the sensor data for manual processing of the insurance claim.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to obtain, from a weather condition database, weather information describing a weather condition during an accident involving the vehicle, obtain, from a law enforcement database, a police report of the accident, and obtain, from a medical records database, medical information associated with one or more individuals involved in the accident.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors include a plurality of cameras.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors include a plurality of lasers.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program instructions stored thereon that when executed by a processor, cause a computing device to:

(i) initiate execution of an inspection algorithm that automatically carries out an inspection of a vehicle in response to receiving the vehicle at an analysis location within an analysis facility,

wherein the analysis facility comprises a plurality of cameras aimed at the analysis location,

wherein the plurality of cameras are configured to generate data characterizing one or more conditions of the vehicle when the vehicle is positioned at the analysis location, and

wherein the plurality of cameras are communicatively coupled with the computing device, and the computing device, during execution of the inspection algorithm, automatically controls operation of at least one of the plurality of cameras;

(ii) receive, from the plurality of cameras, the data characterizing the one or more conditions of the vehicle;

(iii) execute an assessment algorithm that causes the computing device to automatically analyze the data and automatically identify damage to the vehicle based on the data; and

(iv) execute an estimation algorithm that causes the computing device to automatically estimate a cost to repair the vehicle based, at least in part, on the damage identified.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein executing the assessment algorithm comprises executing one or more object recognition algorithms that compare one or more images of the vehicle with one or more images of an undamaged vehicle of similar make and model.

16. A method of inspecting a vehicle comprising:

receiving the vehicle at an analysis location of an analysis facility wherein the analysis facility comprises a plurality of cameras aimed at the analysis location wherein the plurality of cameras are configured to generate data characterizing one or more conditions of the vehicle when the vehicle is positioned at the analysis location,

wherein the plurality of cameras are communicatively connected with a computing device comprising memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the computing device to automatically carry out an inspection of the vehicle by executing an inspection algorithm, and

receiving, at the computing device from the plurality of cameras, the data characterizing the one or more conditions of the vehicle;

executing, by the computing device, an assessment algorithm that causes the computing device to automatically analyze the data and identify damage to the vehicle based on the data; and

executing, by the computing device, an estimation algorithm that causes the computing device to automatically estimate a cost to repair the vehicle based, at least in part, on the damage identified.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving, from a device configured to automatically detect vehicle accidents, a first notice of loss related to the vehicle in response to detecting, by the device, an accident involving the vehicle.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first notice of loss comprises telematics information collected by the device during operation of the vehicle.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the telematics information comprises one or more speed measurements, one or more braking measurements, and one or more acceleration measurements of the vehicle either before, after, or before and after a time the accident occurred.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the analysis facility further comprises a plurality of lasers.