Patent Issued for Autonomous vehicle operating status assessment (USPTO 11494175): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2022 NOV 25 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Bennett, Shawn C (Le Roy, IL, US), Binion, Todd (Bloomington, IL, US), Bryant, Ronny S (Bloomington, IL, US), Chan, Aaron Scott (Lisle, IL, US), Cielocha, Steven (Bloomington, IL, US), Csanda, Carol Marie (Normal, IL, US), Fields, Brian Mark (Normal, IL, US), Gorsuch, Stacey (Bloomington, IL, US), Huang, Chien Che (Normal, IL, US), Kohaus, Stephen (Normal, IL, US), Main, Craig M (Hagerstown, MD, US), Novak, Richard A (Bloomington, IL, US), Quakenbush, Terry (Bloomington, IL, US), Wazeer, Mohamed A (Normal, IL, US), Wollenschlager, Torri (Bloomington, IL, US), Wu, Weixin (Aurora, IL, US), filed on October 21, 2020, was published online on November 8, 2022, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11494175 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: “Vehicles are typically operated by a human vehicle operator who controls both steering and motive controls. Operator error, inattention, inexperience, misuse, or distraction leads to many vehicle accidents each year, resulting in injury and damage. Autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles augment vehicle operators’ information or replace vehicle operators’ control commands to operate the vehicle in whole or part with computer systems based upon information from sensors within the vehicle.

“Vehicle or automobile insurance exists to provide financial protection against physical damage and/or bodily injury resulting from traffic accidents and against liability that could arise therefrom. Typically, a customer purchases a vehicle insurance policy for a policy rate having a specified term. In exchange for payments from the insured customer, the insurer pays for damages to the insured which are caused by covered perils, acts, or events as specified by the language of the insurance policy. The payments from the insured are generally referred to as “premiums,” and typically are paid on behalf of the insured over time at periodic intervals. An insurance policy may remain “in-force” while premium payments are made during the term or length of coverage of the policy as indicated in the policy. An insurance policy may “lapse” (or have a status or state of “lapsed”), for example, when premium payments are not being paid or if the insured or the insurer cancels the policy.

“Premiums may be typically determined based upon a selected level of insurance coverage, location of vehicle operation, vehicle model, and characteristics or demographics of the vehicle operator. The characteristics of a vehicle operator that affect premiums may include age, years operating vehicles of the same class, prior incidents involving vehicle operation, and losses reported by the vehicle operator to the insurer or a previous insurer. Past and current premium determination methods do not, however, account for use of autonomous vehicle operating features. The present embodiments may, inter alia, alleviate this and/or other drawbacks associated with conventional techniques.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present embodiments may be related to autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle functionality, including driverless operation, accident avoidance, or collision warning systems. These autonomous vehicle operation features may either assist the vehicle operator to more safely or efficiently operate a vehicle or may take full control of vehicle operation under some or all circumstances. The present embodiments may also facilitate risk assessment and premium determination for vehicle insurance policies covering vehicles with autonomous operation features. For instance, a consumer may opt-in to a rewards program that rewards them, such as in the form of insurance discounts, for affirmatively sharing data related to their vehicles and/or autonomous features with an insurance provider.

“In accordance with the described embodiments, the disclosure herein generally addresses systems and methods for determining the status of autonomous operation features of an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, which may include one or more sensors. A computer associated with the vehicle (such as an on-board computer, mobile device, or server communicatively connected to the vehicle) may (1) receive a signal indicating a request to determine an operating status of one or more autonomous operation features of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle; (2) determine a configuration of the one or more autonomous operation features; (3) present or send a test signal to the one or more autonomous operation features; (4) receive one or more response signals from the one or more autonomous operation features (or associated processors); (5) determine the operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features based upon the received one or more response signals; (6) generate an operating status report or electronic message indicating the operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features, which may include a certification of the operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features; (7) store the operating status report in memory for subsequent use; and/or (8) present the operating status report to an insured or vehicle operator/owner. In some embodiments, the computer may further (9) transmit the generated operating status report to a server, such as via wireless communication or data transmission, whereupon the server may further receive one or more indications of maintenance performed on the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, determine an adjustment to one or more risk levels associated with operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, determine an adjustment to a cost associated with an insurance policy associated with the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle based upon the determined adjustment to the one or more risk levels and/or based upon the received one or more indications of maintenance, and/or cause the adjustment to the cost associated with the insurance policy to be implemented. The cost associated with the insurance policy may include one or more of the following: a premium, a discount, a surcharge, a rate level, a cost based upon a distance traveled, a cost based upon a vehicle trip, and/or a cost based upon a duration of vehicle operation.

“In some embodiments, the signal indicating the request to determine the operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features may be automatically generated upon the occurrence of an event, including one or more of the following: receipt of a command to start the vehicle, receipt of a command to shut off the vehicle, receipt of an indication of a collision involving the vehicle, or receipt of an indication of damage to the vehicle. The signal may be received from a mobile device or from a special-purpose computing device communicatively connected to the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle.

“In further embodiments, the computer may attempt to diagnose and/or correct problems with autonomous operation features. When the operation of one or more sensors disposed within the vehicle are determined to be impaired by environmental factors (including snow, ice, rain, dirt, mud, or condensation), a remediation module may generate a remediation signal, which may be presented to one or more remediation components disposed within the vehicle. The remediation components may be configured to remediate impairments of the one or more sensors by environmental factors. A system status module may likewise diagnose one or more errors with at least one autonomous operation feature based upon the received one or more response signals from the one or more autonomous operation features, in order to correct the diagnosed one or more errors with the at least one autonomous operation feature. Correcting the diagnosed one or more errors with the at least one autonomous operation feature may include calibrating at least one sensor disposed within the vehicle based upon the received one or more response signals from the one or more autonomous operation features.

“In accordance with the described embodiments, the disclosure herein further generally addresses systems and methods for real-time (or near real-time) determination of the status of autonomous operation features of an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, which may include one or more sensors. A computer (such as an on-board computer, mobile device, or server communicatively connected to the vehicle) associated with the vehicle may (1) monitor the operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle to obtain operating data from one or more autonomous operation features; (2) determine an operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle based upon the operating data; (3) determine a change in the operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features based upon the determined operating status; (4) generate a report containing information regarding the change in the operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features; (5) store the operating status report in memory for subsequent use, such as the uses discussed herein, as well as directly below, and/or (6) present the operating status report or information based upon the operating status report to an insured or vehicle operator/owner.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method for determination of an impairment of operation of one or more autonomous operation features of an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, comprising: determining, by one or more processors, the impairment of operation of the one or more autonomous operation features; determining, by the one or more processors, a risk level associated with operation of the one or more autonomous operation features based upon the impairment; when the risk level exceeds a threshold, implementing, by the one or more processors, an action to reduce a risk associated with operation of the vehicle; determining, by the one or more processors, an adjustment to a cost associated with an insurance policy associated with the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle based upon the determined change in the operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features; and causing, by the one or more processors, the adjustment to the cost associated with the insurance policy to be implemented.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the adjustment to the cost associated with the insurance policy includes determining, by the one or more processors, an adjustment to a risk associated with operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle based upon the determined change in the operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the cost associated, with the insurance policy includes at least one of the following: a premium or a discount.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the cost associated with the insurance policy includes at least one of the following: a cost based upon a distance traveled, a cost based upon a vehicle trip, or a cost based upon a duration of vehicle operation.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the one or more processors, that a change in operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features causes an operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features to pass an alert threshold.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the threshold is the alert threshold, and wherein implementing the action to reduce the risk associated with operation of the vehicle includes: generating, by the one or more processors, an alert indicating the impairment of the operation of the one or more autonomous operation features; and causing, by the one or more processors, the alert to be presented to a person associated with the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein implementing the action to reduce the risk associated with operation of the vehicle includes: causing, by the one or more processors, control of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle to be transferred to a vehicle operator.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the one or more processors, that control of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle cannot safely be transferred to a vehicle operator; and wherein implementing the action to reduce the risk associated with operation of the vehicle includes: causing, by one or more processors, the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle to stop and discontinue operation.

“9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein implementing the action to reduce the risk associated with operation of the vehicle includes: preventing, by the one or more processors, the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle from beginning operation of at least one of the one or more autonomous operation features.

“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more autonomous operation features comprise one or more sensors disposed within the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle.

“11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more autonomous operation features of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle perform at least one of the following functions: steering; accelerating; braking; monitoring blind spots; presenting a collision warning; adaptive cruise control; parking; driver alertness monitoring; driver responsiveness monitoring; artificial intelligence; a back-up system; a navigation system; a positioning system; a security system; a theft prevention system; or remote vehicle location determination.

“12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more autonomous operation features of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle perform at least one of the following functions: artificial intelligence; or an anti-hacking measure.

“13. A computer system for determination of an impairment of operation of one or more autonomous operation features of an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, comprising: one or more processors; one or more sensors communicatively connected to the one or more processors; and a program memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing executable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the computer system to: determine the impairment of operation of the one or more autonomous operation features; determine a risk level associated with operation of the one or more autonomous operation features based upon the impairment; when the risk level exceeds a threshold, implement an action to reduce a risk associated with operation of the vehicle; determine an adjustment to a cost associated with an insurance policy associated with the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle based upon the determined change in the operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features; and cause the adjustment to the cost associated with the insurance policy to be implemented.

“14. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the cost associated with the insurance policy includes at least one of the following: a cost based upon a distance traveled, a cost based upon a vehicle trip, or a cost based upon a duration of vehicle operation.

“15. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the instructions that cause the computer system to determine the adjustment to the cost associated with the insurance policy include instructions that cause the computer system to determine an adjustment to a risk associated with operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle based upon the determined change in the operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features.

“16. The computer system of claim 13, wherein: the program memory further stores instructions that cause the computer system to implement the action to reduce the risk associated with operation of the vehicle further cause the computer system to cause control of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle to be transferred to a vehicle operator.

“17. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the program memory further stores instructions that cause the computer system to: determine that control of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle cannot safely be transferred to a vehicle operator; and the executable instructions that cause the computer system to implement the action to reduce the risk associated with operation of the vehicle further cause the computer system to cause the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle to stop and discontinue operation.

“18. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for determination of an impairment of operation of one or more autonomous operation features of an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle that, when executed by at least one processor of a computer system, cause the computer system to: determine the impairment of operation of the one or more autonomous operation features; determine a risk level associated with operation of the one or more autonomous operation features based upon the impairment; when the risk level exceeds a threshold, implement an action to reduce a risk associated with operation of the vehicle; determine an adjustment to a cost associated with an insurance policy associated with the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle based upon the determined change in the operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features; and cause the adjustment to the cost associated with the insurance policy to be implemented.

“19. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions that cause the computer system to determine the adjustment to the cost associated with the insurance policy include instructions that cause the computer system to determine an adjustment to a risk associated with operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle based upon the determined change in the operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features.

“20. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, further storing instructions that cause the computer system to: determine that a change in operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features causes an operating status of the one or more autonomous operation features to pass a critical threshold; wherein the threshold is the critical threshold; and wherein the instructions that cause the computer system to implement the action to reduce the risk associated with operation of the vehicle further cause the computer system to cause control of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle to be transferred to a vehicle operator.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Bennett, Shawn C. Autonomous vehicle operating status assessment. U.S. Patent Number 11494175, filed October 21, 2020, and published online on November 8, 2022.

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