Patent Issued for Autonomous vehicle operator identification (USPTO 11748085): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
2023 SEP 26 (NewsRx) -- By a
Patent number 11748085 is assigned to
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 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 identifying a vehicle operator in an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle. A computer (such as an on-board computer, mobile device, or server communicatively connected to the vehicle) associated with the vehicle may (1) receive a request to identify the vehicle operator; (2) receive identifying information regarding the vehicle operator; and/or (3) determine the identity of the vehicle operator. The identifying information may be received from one or more of the following: a sensor disposed within the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, which may be a physiological sensor, and/or a mobile computing device associated with the vehicle operator. In some embodiments, the request to identify the vehicle operator may be generated automatically upon an attempt to start the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle. In further embodiments, the computer may further (4) determine whether the vehicle operator is authorized to operate the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle based upon the determined identity of the vehicle operator. If the vehicle operator is determined not to be authorized to operate the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, (5) an alert may be generated. The alert may be presented to the vehicle operator, vehicle owner, and/or insurance customer. Additionally, or alternatively, (6) the vehicle may not operate when the vehicle operator is determined not to be authorized to operate the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle. In the alternative, (7) the vehicle may engage one or more autonomous operation features to operate the vehicle when the vehicle operator is determined not to be authorized to operate the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle.
“In some embodiments, the computer may proceed to monitor information regarding operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle based upon operating data, which may include data from one or more sensors disposed within the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle. The monitored information regarding operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle may be recorded locally and/or remotely. Such recorded information may include one or more of the following: manual operation commands by the vehicle operator, autonomous feature settings, autonomous feature configuration, and/or autonomous operation feature operating status. The computer may further determine one or more risk levels associated with the vehicle operator based upon the recorded information regarding operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle. Additionally, or alternatively, the computer may determine a vehicle operator profile based upon the determined identity of the vehicle operator, which vehicle operator profile may in some embodiments be adjusted based upon the recorded information regarding operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle. The vehicle operator profile may include one or more risk levels associated with the vehicle operator.
“In further embodiments, with the customer’s permission, the computer may determine an insurance policy associated with the vehicle operator based upon the determined identity of the vehicle operator. In some cases, the insurance policy may cover a plurality of vehicle operators. The insurance policy may be adjusted based upon the identity of the vehicle operator and/or the one or more risk levels associated with the vehicle operator. The insurance policy may be adjusted based upon recorded information regarding operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle. The insurance policy may also be adjusted based upon a determination of one or more functionalities to cause and/or prevent vehicle operation if the vehicle operator has been determined not to be authorized to operate the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle. Additionally, or alternatively, the computer may determine an insurance policy associated with the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle. In some cases a plurality of insurance policies may be associated with the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle. If the insurance policy is associated with the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, with the customer’s permission, it may be adjusted based upon the identity of the vehicle operator and/or the one or more risk levels associated with the vehicle operator. In other embodiments, adjusting the insurance policy may include determining one or more costs associated with operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle based upon (i) operation by the vehicle operator and/or (ii) operation by one or more autonomous operation features disposed within the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle. In such instances, the one or more costs may be based at least in part upon one or more of the following: duration of vehicle operation and/or distance of vehicle operation.
“In each of the embodiments or aspects described above, the methods may be provided in corresponding computer systems including at least one or more processors and a non-transitory program memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing executable instructions. The computer systems may further include or be communicatively connected to one or more sensors, communication components or devices, or other equipment as described herein. In yet another aspect, a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions corresponding to each of the embodiments or aspects described above may be provided. Each of the methods or executable instructions of the computer systems or computer-readable media may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.”
The claims supplied by the inventors are:
“1. A computer-implemented method for identifying a vehicle operator in an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, comprising: determining, by one or more processors, the identity of the vehicle operator; limiting, by the one or more processors, operation of the vehicle, including limiting one or more autonomous operation features, based on the identity of the operator; determining, by the one or more processors, a vehicle operator profile based upon the determined identity of the vehicle operator, wherein the vehicle operator profile includes one or more risk levels associated with the vehicle operator and one or more autonomous operation features used by the vehicle operator; identifying, by the one or more processors, an insurance policy associated with the vehicle; monitoring, by the one or more processors, information regarding operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, including autonomous operation features selected by the vehicle operator, based upon operating data, including data from one or more sensors disposed within the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle; determining, by the one or more processors, one or more risk levels associated with the vehicle operator based upon the information regarding operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle after identifying the insurance policy; and adjusting, by one or more processors, the vehicle operator profile based upon the monitored information regarding operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle after identifying the insurance policy; adjusting, by the one or more processors, the insurance policy based upon the adjusted operator profile; and repeating, at least one time during operation of the vehicle by the vehicle operator, the steps of adjusting the vehicle operator profile and adjusting the insurance policy based upon the adjusted operator profile.
“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein limiting operation of the vehicle includes causing, by the one or more processors, the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle not to operate.
“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein limiting operation of the vehicle includes causing, by the one or more processors, the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle to engage one or more autonomous operation features to operate the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle.
“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the identity of the vehicle operator is determined either to be a known vehicle operator or an unknown vehicle operator; and wherein limiting, by the one or more processors, operation of the vehicle is performed when the vehicle operator is an unknown vehicle operator.
“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising, by the one or more processors, determining that the vehicle operator is not authorized to operate the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, wherein limiting, by the one or more processors, operation of the vehicle is performed when the vehicle operator is determined not to be authorized to operate the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle.
“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: recording, by the one or more processors, the information regarding operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, including at least one of the following: manual operation commands by the vehicle operator, autonomous feature settings, autonomous feature configuration, or autonomous operation feature operating status.
“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the one or more processors, an authorization signal indicating at least a limited authorization of the vehicle operator to operate the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle; and enabling, by one or more processors, additional operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle by the vehicle operator in response to the authorization signal.
“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the insurance policy further includes determining a cost associated with operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle based upon (i) operation by the vehicle operator and (ii) operation by one or more autonomous operation features disposed within the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, wherein the cost is based at least in part upon one or more of the following: duration of vehicle operation or distance of vehicle operation.
“9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein a request to identify the vehicle operator is generated automatically upon an attempt to start the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle.
“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein identifying information regarding the vehicle operator includes characteristic data associated with following: height, weight, age, sex, eye color, hair color, voice, finger print, or physiological identifying information.
“11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: adjusting, by the one or more processors, one or more of a plurality of insurance policies associated with the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle based upon the identity of the vehicle operator and the one or more risk levels associated with the vehicle operator, wherein the one or more of a plurality of insurance policies are further associated with the vehicle operator.
“12. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions for identifying a vehicle operator in 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 identity of the vehicle operator; limit operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, including limiting one or more autonomous operation features, based on the identity of the vehicle operator; determine a vehicle operator profile based upon the determined identity of the vehicle operator, wherein the vehicle operator profile includes one or more risk levels associated with the vehicle operator and one or more autonomous operation features used by the vehicle operator; identify an insurance policy associated with the vehicle; monitor information regarding operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, including autonomous operation features selected by the vehicle operator based upon operating data, including data from one or more sensors disposed within the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle; determine one or more risk levels associated with the vehicle operator based upon the information regarding operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle after identifying the insurance policy; and adjust the vehicle operator profile based upon the monitored information regarding operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle after identifying the insurance policy; adjust the insurance policy based upon the adjusted vehicle operator profile; and repeat, at least one time during operation of the vehicle by the vehicle operator, the steps of adjusting the vehicle operator profile and adjusting the insurance policy based upon the adjusted vehicle operator profile.
“13. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the executable instructions that cause the computer system to limit operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle cause the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle to perform one of the following functions: (i) not to operate or (ii) engage one or more autonomous operation features to operate the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle.
“14. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, further including executable instructions that cause the computer system to: record the information regarding operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, including at least one of the following: manual operation commands by the vehicle operator, autonomous feature settings, autonomous feature configuration, or autonomous operation feature operating status; and adjust the insurance policy based upon the recorded information regarding operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, wherein the insurance policy is adjusted based upon (i) operation by the vehicle operator and (ii) operation by one or more autonomous operation features disposed within the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle.”
There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.
URL and more information on this patent, see: Bennett, Shawn C. Autonomous vehicle operator identification.
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