Patent Issued for Disaster detection system (USPTO 11735023): United Services Automobile Association

2023 SEP 13 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, a patent by the inventors Alonzo, III, Edward Manuel (San Antonio, TX, US), Wheeler, James A. (San Antonio, TX, US), filed on November 30, 2020, was published online on August 22, 2023.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 11735023, is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “There are programs for detecting natural disasters, such as earthquakes. These programs include stationary seismic monitoring systems. They are not interactive with individuals in terms of providing information and assistance tailored to individuals or groups of individuals affected by such natural disasters. The information of where and when earthquakes occur is available, but it is not readily provided to the public with any particular context or guidance as to what those in the public who are affected by the disasters should do to best endure the event.

“There are also systems that have been developed to detect criminal activity, such as an active shooter in a civilian locality. Such systems may include sensors deployed on official vehicles, such as police helicopters. However, the information collected and determined by such systems is not readily provided to the public.

“There is a need in the art for a system and method that addresses the shortcomings discussed above. In particular, there is a need in the art for disaster and crime detection systems that are more readily accessible to and interactive with the public.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present disclosure is directed to a system and methods for detecting events. The disclosed system may collect data from personal electronic devices, such as mobile phones, to detect the occurrence of natural disasters and/or criminal activity. Upon a determination that a natural disaster or criminal act has occurred, the system may send information, instructions, commands, or other communications to the personal electronic devices affected by the events, including the personal electronic devices from which the data was collected. The system may also send commands to third parties. Also, in some embodiments, the system may send commands to affect the operation of one or more control systems proximate to the location of the detected event.

“In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a disaster detection system. The system may include a device processor; and a non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions executable by the device processor to perform the following steps: receiving data from a plurality of geographically distributed personal electronic devices; determining, based on the data received from the personal electronic devices, that a disaster has occurred; and sending information pertaining to the disaster to one or more of the personal electronic devices.

“In another aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a disaster detection system, comprising: a device processor; and a non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions executable by the device processor to perform the following steps: receiving data from a plurality of geographically distributed personal electronic devices; determining, based on the data received from the personal electronic devices, that a natural disaster has occurred; and sending one or more commands pertaining to the natural disaster to one or more third parties.

“In another aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a disaster detection system, comprising: a device processor; and a non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions executable by the device processor to perform the following steps: receiving data from a plurality of geographically distributed personal electronic devices; determining, based on the data received from the personal electronic devices, that a natural disaster has occurred; and sending one or more commands pertaining to the natural disaster to regulate operation of one or more control systems in a geographic area affected by the natural disaster.

“In another aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a criminal act detection system, comprising: a device processor; and a non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions executable by the device processor to perform the following steps: receiving data from a plurality of geographically distributed personal electronic devices; determining, based on the data received from the personal electronic devices, that conduct consistent with a criminal act has occurred; and sending information pertaining to the conduct consistent with a criminal act to one or more of the personal electronic devices.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A disaster detection system, comprising: a device processor; and a non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions executable by the device processor to perform the following steps: receiving data from a plurality of geographically distributed personal electronic devices; automatically determining, based on the data received from the personal electronic devices, that a disaster has occurred; and sending one or more commands pertaining to the disaster to one or more third parties; wherein the one or more commands pertaining to the disaster include one or more alerts to one or more organizations that provide support for disasters.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the data received from the plurality of personal electronic devices includes gyroscope data.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the data received from the plurality of personal electronic devices includes accelerometer data.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more commands pertaining to the disaster include one or more orders of disaster recovery supplies.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more third parties include an organization of first responders.

“6. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more commands pertaining to the disaster include instructions to dispatch first responders to a location affected by the disaster.

“7. A disaster detection system, comprising: a device processor; and a non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions executable by the device processor to perform the following steps: receiving data from a plurality of geographically distributed personal electronic devices; automatically determining, based on the data received from the personal electronic devices, that a disaster has occurred; and sending one or more commands pertaining to the disaster to one or more third parties; wherein the one or more commands pertaining to the disaster include instructions to dispatch first responders to a location affected by the disaster.

“8. The system of claim 7, wherein the data received from the plurality of personal electronic devices includes gyroscope data.

“9. The system of claim 7, wherein the data received from the plurality of personal electronic devices includes accelerometer data.

“10. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more commands pertaining to the disaster include one or more orders of disaster recovery supplies.

“11. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more commands pertaining to the disaster include instructions for regulating operation of one or more transportation systems.

“12. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more transportation systems include at least one of traffic lights, roadway management, public transportation, and air traffic control.

“13. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more commands pertaining to the disaster include instructions for regulating operation of one or more public utilities.

“14. The system of claim 7, wherein the data received from the plurality of personal electronic devices includes global positioning system (GPS) data; and wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium further includes instructions for determining location information of the disaster based on the GPS data.

“15. The system of claim 14, wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium further includes instructions for sending different commands pertaining to the disaster to different control systems, based on the location information of the disaster, depending on the location of each control system with respect to the disaster.

“16. A disaster detection system, comprising: a device processor; and a non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions executable by the device processor to perform the following steps: receiving data from a plurality of geographically distributed personal electronic devices; automatically determining, based on the data received from the personal electronic devices, that a disaster has occurred; and sending one or more commands pertaining to the disaster to one or more third parties; wherein the one or more commands pertaining to the disaster include one or more orders of disaster recovery supplies.

“17. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more commands pertaining to the disaster include one or more alerts to one or more organizations that provide support for disasters.

“18. The system of claim 16, wherein the disaster is an earthquake and the location information includes the location of the epicenter of the earthquake.

“19. The system of claim 16, wherein the data received from the plurality of personal electronic devices includes global positioning system (GPS) data; and wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium further includes instructions for determining location information of the disaster based on the GPS data.

“20. The system of claim 19, wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium further includes instructions for sending different commands pertaining to the disaster to different control systems, based on the location information of the disaster, depending on the location of each control system with respect to the disaster.”

For more information, see this patent: Alonzo, III, Edward Manuel. Disaster detection system. U.S. Patent Number 11735023, filed November 30, 2020, and published online on August 22, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11735023)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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