Patent Issued for Detecting transportation company trips in a vehicle based upon on-board audio signals (USPTO 11443388): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
2022 OCT 05 (NewsRx) -- By a
Patent number 11443388 is assigned to
The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “With the rise in popularity of ridesharing, transportation network companies (TNC), such as
“With these new transportation services in the marketplace, drivers are exposed to new risks. Additionally, personal auto policies may not extend coverage to the use of personal cars as taxis or livery vehicles, including their use in TNC services.”
In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present embodiments disclose systems and methods that may generally relate to detecting transportation network company (TNC) trips taken by a vehicle, and particularly, inter alia, to detecting TNC trips taken by a vehicle based upon on-board audio signals, and assessing risk associated with transportation network company trips.
“In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for detecting use of a vehicle for transportation network company (TNC) trips may be provided. The method may transmit a plurality of locationing pulse requests from a mobile device in a vehicle to an audio system of the vehicle during a period of operation of the vehicle. The audio system may have an array of speakers disposed inside the vehicle, and the locationing pulse requests may include a request to emit a locationing pulse from at least one of the array of speakers. The method may further receive the locationing pulse at a microphone of the mobile device, and determine, based upon the receiving operation, that the vehicle was in service of a TNC company, or otherwise operating as a TNC vehicle, during the period of operation based at least in part on passengers entering and leaving the vehicle during the period of operation.
“The method may not only detect a plurality of TNC passengers (e.g., based upon geolocating their mobile devices, driving pattern of the vehicle, etc.), each of the plurality of TNC passengers having entered and left the vehicle over a period of operation of the vehicle, but may also detect physical objects occupying a seat of the vehicle. In some embodiments, the method may determine an identity of a driver of the vehicle, where the driver is a party to an insurance agreement insuring the vehicle. The identity may be determined based upon an application executing on the mobile device, the application having the identity of the driver associated therewith. The insurance agreement may have terms regarding TNC usage of the vehicle. The method may verify whether or not the vehicle and/or driver are covered or insured for TNC operation. If the method may transmit a notice to the driver that TNC usage is not covered by a current insurance agreement, such as when vehicle operation indicates the presence of a TNC passenger inside the vehicle, and/or generate/transmit an offer for a TNC endorsement and/or an insurance quote for TNC operation. As a result, policyholders may be notified to extend coverage of their personal auto policies to include the use of their personal cars in TNC trips, or may be notified in other ways to mitigate risks associated with TNC driving. The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.
“In another aspect, a computer system for detecting use of a vehicle for a transportation network company (TNC) may be provided. The computer system may include one or more processors and transceivers. The computer system may include one or more memory units configured to store non-transitory computer executable instructions, and a processor configured to interface with the one or more memory units. The processor may be configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the processor to (i) determine that a vehicle is in a period of use, the vehicle having an audio system; (ii) transmit a plurality of requests to the vehicle to emit a locationing pulse from the audio system; (iii) receive a plurality of sets of locationing data from one or more mobile devices inside the vehicle, the plurality of sets of locationing data including, or indicating, the presence of passengers in the vehicle; and/or (iv) determine whether the period of use of the vehicle includes one or more TNC trips or TNC vehicle operation. The audio system may include an array of speakers and an ultrasonic beacon. The plurality of requests to the vehicle to emit a locationing pulse may be received by one of the one or more mobile devices inside the vehicle. In some embodiments, the processor may be further configured to recognize route patterns of the vehicle that are indicative of TNC trips based upon the plurality of sets of locationing data. The locationing data may include a geographical location of at least one of the one or more mobile devices inside the vehicle.
“The processor may be further configured to determine whether the vehicle is operated manually or autonomously while the vehicle is in use. In some embodiments, the processor may be further configured to receive mobile device information, which may include Bluetooth connection information of the one or more mobile devices inside the vehicle. If the vehicle and/or driver are currently not insured for TNC operation, the processor may present an offer for a TNC endorsement or other offer for insurance covering TNC operation to the driver. The computer system may include additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.”
The claims supplied by the inventors are:
“1. A computer-implemented method of detecting use of a vehicle for transportation network company (TNC) trips, the method comprising: transmitting a plurality of locationing pulse requests from a mobile device in a vehicle to an audio system of the vehicle during vehicle operation, the audio system having an array of speakers disposed inside the vehicle, and the locationing pulse requests including a request to emit a locationing pulse from at least one of the array of speakers; receiving the locationing pulse at a microphone of the mobile device; detecting, based upon the received locationing pulse, one or more TNC passengers, each of the one or more TNC passengers having entered and left the vehicle during vehicle operation; and determining that the vehicle was in service of a TNC company during vehicle operation based at least in part upon the detected one or more TNC passengers.
“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining an identity of a driver of the vehicle, the driver being party to an insurance agreement insuring the vehicle, the insurance agreement having terms regarding TNC usage of the vehicle.
“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising: transmitting a notice to the driver that TNC usage is not covered by the insurance agreement based upon the operation that determines the presence of a TNC passenger inside the vehicle.
“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein determining the identity of the driver is based upon an application executing on the mobile device, the application having the identity of the driver associated therewith.
“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining that the vehicle was in service of a TNC company comprises detecting a physical object occupying a seat of the vehicle.
“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a presence of a TNC passenger by geolocating the mobile device.
“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a presence of a TNC passenger based upon a driving pattern of the vehicle.
“8. A computer system for detecting use of a vehicle for a transportation network company (TNC) comprising: a non-transitory memory configured to store computer executable instructions; and a processor configured to interface with the memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer executable instructions to cause the processor to: transmit a plurality of requests to a vehicle having an audio system to emit a locationing pulse from the audio system; receive a plurality of sets of locationing data from one or more mobile devices inside the vehicle, the plurality of sets of locationing data indicating presence of passengers in the vehicle; recognize route patterns of the vehicle that are indicative of TNC trips based upon the plurality of sets of locationing data; and determine whether use of the vehicle includes one or more TNC trips.
“9. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of requests to the vehicle to emit a locationing pulse are received by one of the one or more mobile devices inside the vehicle.
“10. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of sets of locationing data further includes a geographical location of at least one of the one or more mobile devices inside the vehicle.
“11. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the audio system includes an array of speakers.
“12. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the audio system includes an ultrasonic beacon.
“13. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to receive mobile device information, the mobile device information including connection information of the one or more mobile devices inside the vehicle.
“14. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether the vehicle is operated manually or autonomously while the vehicle is in use.
“15. A computer-implemented method of detecting transportation network company (TNC) trips in a vehicle, the method comprising: transmitting a first locationing request to a first mobile device inside a vehicle having audio speakers, the first locationing request including a request to emit a locationing pulse from one or more of the audio speakers; receiving first locationing data from the first mobile device, the first locationing data including first occupancy data of seats in the vehicle; transmitting a second locationing request to the first mobile device, the second locationing request including a request to emit a locationing pulse from one or more of the audio speakers; receiving second locationing data from a second mobile device inside the vehicle, the second locationing data including second occupancy data of seats in the vehicle; and determining that the vehicle is operating according to a TNC trip based upon the first occupancy data and the second occupancy data.
“16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the first occupancy data includes occupancy of one or more front seats of the vehicle, and the second occupancy data includes occupancy of one or more back seats of the vehicle.
“17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the first mobile device is associated with an operator of the vehicle, and the second mobile device is associated with a TNC passenger of the vehicle.
“18. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising: receiving a notification of an identity of an operator of the vehicle from an application executing on the first mobile device.
“19. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising: receiving a notification that the first mobile device is communicatively coupled to the vehicle and capable of controlling the one or more audio speakers.
“20. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein determining that the vehicle is operating according to a TNC trip comprises repeatedly receiving locationing data from the first mobile device, the repeatedly received locationing data including data indicative of a plurality of sets of passengers entering and leaving the vehicle during vehicle operation.”
URL and more information on this patent, see: Cope, Craig. Detecting transportation company trips in a vehicle based upon on-board audio signals.
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