Patent Issued for Autonomous Vehicle Mode Alert System For Bystanders (USPTO 10,621,859)

2020 APR 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Fields, Brian Mark (Normal, IL); Roberson, Steve (Normal, IL), filed on February 28, 2019, was published online on April 27, 2020, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 10,621,859 is assigned to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Individuals have been operating vehicles as a means of transportation for decades. Recently, more and more vehicles have incorporated autonomous (or semi-autonomous) operational features or modes, in which an on-board computer or mobile device associated with a vehicle may operate the vehicle with little to no human input. However, vehicles having autonomous operational modes may also include manual features or modes, in which a human operator controls at least some aspects of the operation of the vehicle. Such vehicles may occasionally switch from operating autonomously to operating manually, or vice versa, for various reasons.

“Autonomous vehicle operation may have some advantages over manual vehicle operation, but may also have some additional safety risks, for instance, in certain areas in which autonomous vehicle operation is less common, or in certain unpredictable conditions. Similarly, manual vehicle operation may have some advantages over autonomous vehicle operation, but may also have some additional safety risks, for instance, in certain areas in which manual vehicle operation is less common or in certain conditions in which human operators may be tired, distracted, or otherwise impaired. Accordingly, pedestrians or other bystanders who are aware of the operational mode of a nearby vehicle may proceed differently depending on whether the nearby vehicle is operating in an autonomous mode or a manual mode. However, pedestrians generally have no way of knowing the current operational mode of a nearby vehicle, let alone when the operational mode of a nearby vehicle has changed.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for alerting pedestrians of operational modes of vehicles is provided. The method may include detecting, by an electronic device associated with a vehicle having one or more autonomous features. The current operational mode of the nearby vehicle may be one of an autonomous or manual operational mode. The method may further include determining, by the electronic device, a proximity of a nearby pedestrian to the vehicle, and triggering, by the electronic device, an alert based on the current operational mode when the proximity of the nearby pedestrian to the vehicle is equal to or less than a minimum pedestrian proximity. The alert may be configured to be audible or visible to the nearby pedestrian and configured to notify the nearby pedestrian of the current operational mode of the vehicle.

“In another aspect, an electronic device configured to alert pedestrians of operational modes of nearby vehicles is provided. The electronic device may include a user interface, a transceiver configured to communicate data via at least one network connection, a memory configured to store non-transitory computer executable instructions, and a processor configured to interface with the user interface, the transceiver and the memory, and configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions. The non-transitory computer executable instructions may cause the processor to: receive an indication of a current operational mode transmitted by a nearby vehicle having one or more autonomous features, wherein the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle is one of autonomous or manual, receive, via the user interface, a minimum vehicle proximity, determine a proximity of the nearby vehicle, and trigger an alert based on the current operational mode when the proximity of the nearby vehicle is equal to or less than the minimum vehicle proximity. The alert may be configured to notify a pedestrian of the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle.

“In still another aspect, a computer-implemented method for alerting pedestrians of operational modes of nearby vehicles is provided. The method may include receiving, by an electronic device associated with a pedestrian, an indication of a current operational mode transmitted by a nearby vehicle having one or more autonomous features. The current operational mode of the nearby vehicle may be one of an autonomous or manual operational mode. The method may further include determining, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, the position of the electronic device, receiving, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, autonomous vehicle prevalence information from a database indicative of the prevalence of autonomous vehicles in an area surrounding the position of the electronic device, and triggering, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, an alert based, at least in part, on the current operational mode, and the autonomous vehicle prevalence information. The alert may be configured to notify the pedestrian of the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“What is claimed:

“1. An electronic device configured to alert pedestrians of operational modes of nearby vehicles, comprising: a user interface; a transceiver configured to communicate data via at least one network connection; a memory configured to store non-transitory computer executable instructions; and a processor configured to interface with the user interface, the transceiver and the memory, and configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the processor to: receive an indication of a current operational mode transmitted by a nearby vehicle having one or more autonomous features, wherein the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle is one of autonomous or manual; receive, via the user interface, a minimum vehicle proximity; determine a proximity of the nearby vehicle; and trigger an alert based on the current operational mode when the proximity of the nearby vehicle is equal to or less than the minimum vehicle proximity, the alert configured to notify a pedestrian of the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle.

“2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the triggered alert is one or more of a sound, vibration, light, or display of the electronic device.

“3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the computer executable instructions further cause the processor to: cease the triggered alert upon receiving an indication of a dismissal of the triggered alert by the pedestrian.

“4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the computer executable instructions further cause the processor to cease the triggered alert when the proximity of the nearby vehicle is greater than the minimum vehicle proximity.

“5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the computer executable instructions causing the processor to cease the triggered alert when the proximity of the nearby vehicle is greater than the minimum vehicle proximity cause the processor to: receive the current location of the nearby vehicle; determine the current location of the electronic device; determine, based on the current location of the nearby vehicle and the current location of the electronic device, that the proximity of the nearby vehicle to the electronic device is greater than the minimum vehicle proximity; and cease the triggered alert in response to the determination that the proximity of the nearby vehicle to the electronic device is greater than the minimum vehicle proximity location.

“6. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the indication of the current operational mode transmitted by the nearby vehicle is a short-range signal, and wherein the computer executable instructions causing the processor to cease the triggered alert when the proximity of the nearby vehicle is greater than the minimum vehicle proximity cause the processor to cease the triggered alert when the signal is no longer received by the electronic device.

“7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the computer executable instructions further cause the processor to receive, via the user interface, an indication of a preference to trigger the alert based on the current operational mode.

“8. A computer-implemented method for alerting pedestrians of operational modes of nearby vehicles, comprising: receiving, by an electronic device associated with a pedestrian, an indication of a current operational mode transmitted by a nearby vehicle having one or more autonomous features, wherein the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle is one of autonomous or manual; determining, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, the position of the electronic device; receiving, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, autonomous vehicle prevalence information from a database indicative of the prevalence of autonomous vehicles in an area surrounding the position of the electronic device; and triggering, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, an alert based, at least in part, on the current operational mode, and the autonomous vehicle prevalence information, the alert configured to notify the pedestrian of the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle.

“9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the triggered alert is one or more of a sound, vibration, light, or display of the electronic device.

“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising: ceasing the triggered alert upon receiving an indication of a dismissal of the triggered alert by the pedestrian.

“11. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising ceasing the triggered alert when the nearby vehicle is no longer nearby.

“12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein ceasing the triggered alert when the nearby vehicle is no longer nearby comprises: receiving, by the electronic device, a location of the nearby vehicle; determining, by the electronic device, that the location of the nearby vehicle is at least a threshold distance from a location of the electronic device; and in response to the determining, ceasing the triggered alert.

“13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the indication is a short-range signal, and wherein ceasing the triggered alert when the nearby vehicle is no longer nearby comprises: ceasing the triggered alert when the short-range signal is no longer received by the electronic device.

“14. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, an indication of a preference to trigger the alert based on the current operational mode.

“15. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising: triggering a second alert when the current operational mode of the vehicle switches to the another operational mode.

“16. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions for alerting pedestrians of operational modes of nearby vehicles, when executed by at least one processor of an electronic device associated with a pedestrian, cause the electronic device associated with the pedestrian to: receive an indication of a current operational mode transmitted by a nearby vehicle having one or more autonomous features, wherein the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle is one of autonomous or manual; determine the position of the electronic device; receive autonomous vehicle prevalence information from a database indicative of the prevalence of autonomous vehicles in an area surrounding the position of the electronic device; and trigger an alert based, at least in part, on the current operational mode and the autonomous vehicle prevalence information, the alert configured to notify the pedestrian of the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle.

“17. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising ceasing the triggered alert when the nearby vehicle is no longer nearby.

“18. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein ceasing the triggered alert when the nearby vehicle is no longer nearby comprises: receiving, by the electronic device, a location of the nearby vehicle; determining, by the electronic device, that the location of the nearby vehicle is at least a threshold distance from a location of the electronic device; and in response to the determining, ceasing the triggered alert.

“19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the indication is a short-range signal, and wherein ceasing the triggered alert when the nearby vehicle is no longer nearby comprises: ceasing the triggered alert when the short-range signal is no longer received by the electronic device.

“20. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, further comprising: receiving, by the electronic device associated with the pedestrian, an indication of a preference to trigger the alert based on the current operational mode.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Fields, Brian Mark; Roberson, Steve. Autonomous Vehicle Mode Alert System For Bystanders. U.S. Patent Number 10,621,859, filed February 28, 2019, and published online on April 27, 2020. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=10,621,859.PN.&OS=PN/10,621,859RS=PN/10,621,859

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