Patent Application Titled “Advanced Collision Detection And Enhanced Automotive Crash Notification” Published Online (USPTO 20190071043)

2019 MAR 21 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Defense & Aerospace Daily -- According to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx journalists, a patent application by the inventor Singh, Satpreet (Fayetteville, Ga), filed on September 5, 2018, was made available online on March 7, 2019.

The assignee for this patent application is Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America (Peachtree City, Georgia, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Current automotive crash notification programs provide information on the location of the vehicle and provide internal information on the number of passengers, seat belt status and some other information about vehicle internals. This information is not sufficient for root causing a crash, especially in the case of hit and run, insurance frauds, and the case where the occupant of the vehicle dies in the crash.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent application: “The present invention may improve crash detection as well as automotive crash notification data by providing additional information that has not conventionally been provided. The information may be about video images of a scene surrounding the vehicle, and vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and vehicle to everything (V2X) communication data.

“Accident prevention algorithms taking into account the velocity and acceleration of surrounding objects can easily determine if an accident is imminent. In response to this situation, the available cameras around the vehicles may begin recording video information that may help authorities to determine the cause of the crash. Also, if supported by the vehicle, vehicle to vehicle communication and vehicle to everything communication may also begin to record information. When the automotive crash notification is received, the videos and V2V and V2X information may also be sent to the authorities along with the current GPS coordinates, vehicle internal data, and a recorded audio emergency call from the vehicle, if such is supported by the vehicle.

“In one embodiment, the invention comprises a crash notification arrangement for a motor vehicle, including a plurality of sensors detecting a plurality of conditions associated with operation of the motor vehicle. The sensors produce sensor signals indicative of the detected conditions. An electronic processor is communicatively coupled to the sensors and receives the sensor signals. The electronic processor determines, based upon the sensor signals, that the motor vehicle will be involved in a collision in the near future. In response to the determining of the near future collision, sensor data based on the sensor signals is stored in memory. The electronic processor ascertains, based upon the sensor signals, that the motor vehicle has been involved in a collision. In response to the ascertaining that a collision has occurred, the stored sensor data is transmitted to an entity that is disposed at a location that is remote from the motor vehicle.

“In another embodiment, the invention comprises a method for reporting a collision of a motor vehicle, including detecting a plurality of conditions associated with operation of the motor vehicle. Sensor signals indicative of the detected conditions are produced. It is determined, based upon the sensor signals, that the motor vehicle will be involved in a collision in the near future. In response to the determining of the near future collision, sensor data is stored in a memory device. The sensor data is based on the sensor signals. It is ascertained, based upon the sensor signals, that the motor vehicle has been involved in a collision. In response to the ascertaining that a collision has occurred, the stored sensor data is transmitted to an entity that is disposed at a location that is remote from the motor vehicle.

“In yet another embodiment, the invention comprises a motor vehicle including a plurality of sensors detecting a plurality of conditions associated with operation of the motor vehicle, and producing sensor signals indicative of the detected conditions. An electronic processor is communicatively coupled to the sensors and to a memory device that is disposed within the motor vehicle. The electronic processor receives the sensor signals, and stores sensor data in the memory device. The sensor data is based on the sensor signals. The electronic processor ascertains, based upon the sensor signals, that the motor vehicle has been involved in a collision, and, in response, transmits the stored sensor data to an entity that is disposed at a location that is remote from the motor vehicle.

“An advantage of the present invention is that, if a vehicle is in a collision or accident, evidence regarding the root cause for the accident is available. The invention may also help determine the root cause in hit and run cases, insurance fraud cases, and in cases where the occupant of the vehicle dies in the crash.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A crash notification arrangement fur a motor vehicle, the arrangement comprising: a plurality of sensors configured to: detect a plurality of conditions associated with operation of the motor vehicle; and produce sensor signals indicative of the detected conditions; and an electronic processor communicatively coupled to the sensors and configured to: receive the sensor signals; determine, based upon the sensor signals, that the motor vehicle will be involved in a collision in the near future; in response to the determining of the near future collision, store sensor data in a memory device, the sensor data being based on the sensor signals; ascertain, based upon the sensor signals, that the motor vehicle has been involved in a collision; and in response to the ascertaining that a collision has occurred, transmit the stored sensor data to an entity that is disposed at a location that is remote from the motor vehicle.

“2. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the sensors include a speedometer, a gyroscope and/or an accelerometer.

“3. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the sensors include a GPS module.

“4. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the sensors include a radar-based collision sensor.

“5. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the memory device is disposed within the motor vehicle.

“6. The arrangement of claim 1 Wherein the sensors include at least one camera and at least one microphone.

“7. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the electronic processor is configured to: determine based upon the sensor signals that the motor vehicle will be involved in a collision within a period of time of less than five seconds into the future; and ascertain based upon the sensor signals that the motor vehicle has been involved in a collision within a period of time of less than five seconds into the past.

“8. A method for reporting a collision of a motor vehicle, the method comprising: detecting a plurality of conditions associated with operation of the motor vehicle; producing sensor signals indicative of the detected conditions; determining, based upon the sensor signals, that the motor vehicle will be involved in a collision in the near future; in response to the determining of the near future collision, storing sensor data in a memory device, the sensor data being based on the sensor signals; ascertaining, based upon the sensor signals, that the motor vehicle has been involved in a collision; and in response to the ascertaining that a collision has occurred, transmitting the stored sensor data to an entity that is disposed at a location that is remote from the motor vehicle.

“9. The method of claim 8 wherein the sensor signals include a speedometer signal, a gyroscope signal and/or an accelerometer signal.

“10. The method of claim 8 wherein the sensor signals include a GPS signal.

“11. The method of claim 8 wherein the sensor signals include a radar-based collision sensor signal.

“12. The method of claim 8 wherein the memory device is disposed within the motor vehicle.

“13. The method of claim 8 wherein the sensor signals include at least one video signal and at least one audio signal.

“14. The method of claim 8 wherein the determining step includes determining, based upon the sensor signals, that the motor vehicle will be involved in a collision within a period of time of less than five seconds into the future, and the ascertaining step includes ascertaining, based upon the sensor signals, that the motor vehicle has been involved in a collision within a period of time of less than five seconds into the past.

“15. A motor vehicle, comprising; a plurality of sensors configured to: detect a plurality of conditions associated with operation of the motor vehicle; and produce sensor signals indicative of the detected conditions; a memory device; and an electronic processor communicatively coupled to the sensors and to the memory device, the electronic processor being configured to: receive the sensor signals; store sensor data in the memory device, the sensor data being based on the sensor signals; ascertain, based upon the sensor signals, that the motor vehicle has been involved in a collision; and in response to the ascertaining that a collision has occurred, transmit the stored sensor data to an entity that is disposed at a location that is remote from the motor vehicle.

“16. The motor vehicle of claim 15 wherein the sensors include a speedometer, a gyroscope and/or an accelerometer.

“17. The motor vehicle of claim 15 wherein the sensors include a vehicle to vehicle communication module.

“18. The motor vehicle of claim 15 wherein the sensors include a vehicle to infrastructure communication module.

“19. The motor vehicle of claim 15 wherein the sensors include at least one camera capturing images of a human driver of the motor vehicle.

“20. The motor vehicle of claim 15 wherein the motor vehicle comprises a first motor vehicle, the sensors including at least one camera capturing images of a second motor vehicle, the second motor vehicle being on a same road as the first motor vehicle, or on a second road that intersects a first road that the first motor vehicle is on.”

For more information, see this patent application: Singh, Satpreet. Advanced Collision Detection And Enhanced Automotive Crash Notification. Filed September 5, 2018 and posted March 7, 2019. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220190071043%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20190071043&RS=DN/20190071043

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