Patent Issued for Driving Trip And Pattern Analysis (USPTO 10,553,042)

2020 FEB 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 Brinkmann, Margaret A. (Palo Alto, CA); Kraft, Daniel (Libertyville, IL); Bryer, Nathan M. (Arlington Heights, IL); Huls, Eric (Chicago, IL); Warden, Thomas Michael (Belmont, CA), filed on November 16, 2018, was published online on February 17, 2020.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 10,553,042, is Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Telematics includes the use of technology to communicate information from one location to another. Telematics has been used for various applications, including for the exchange of information with electronic sensors. As telematics technology has progressed, various communication methodologies have been incorporated into automobiles and other types of vehicles.

“Telematics systems such as on-board diagnostics (OBD) systems may be used in automobiles and other vehicles. OBD systems may provide information from the vehicle’s on-board computers and sensors, allowing users to monitor a wide variety of information relating to the vehicle systems, such as engine RPM, emissions control, coolant temperature, vehicle speed, timing advance, throttle position, and oxygen sensing, and many other types of data. Vehicles may also include global positioning system (GPS) devices installed within or operating at the vehicle, configured to collect vehicle location and time data. Telematics devices installed within vehicles may be configured to access the vehicle computers, sensor data, and GPS device data and transmit the data to a display within the vehicle, a personal computer or mobile device, or to a centralized data processing system. Data obtained from OBD systems has been used for a variety of purposes, including vehicle maintenance, diagnosis, and analysis, and data obtained from GPS devices has been used for navigation applications and other purposes.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. The summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. It is neither intended to identify key or critical elements of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of the disclosure. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the description below.

“Aspects of the disclosure relate to methods, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for receiving and analyzing vehicle location data and vehicle driving data, and calculating or adjusting a driver score based on the analyzed data. One or more computing devices within a vehicle, for example, GPS devices or telematics devices, may be configured to collect vehicle location data and/or vehicle operational data, and transmit the data to a vehicle operation computer system or a driving analysis server. Based on the vehicle location and operational data, a driving analysis server may be configured to identify one or more driving trips by the vehicle, and determine risk assessment values corresponding to the driving trips. For example, the driving analysis server may be configured to identify destination locations for the vehicle’s driving trips, and perform risk analyses for driving trips to the destinations, return trips from the destination, and parking at the destination location, at the times corresponding to the vehicle’s driving trips. A specific driving trip type or purpose also may be identified, along with specific businesses, activities, or property usages associated with the destination locations of the driving trips. Driving scores may be calculated based on risk assessment values and/or vehicle driving usage data determined during the analysis of the vehicle driving trips.

“In accordance with further aspects of the present disclosure, driving trip patterns may be identified among driving trips having similar characteristics, such as similar driving trip source and destination locations, and the similar starting and ending times. A driving analysis server may receive and analyze driving trip data and determine that the driving trip data corresponds to an existing driving trip pattern. Risk assessment data associated with a driving trip pattern may be retrieved and used for analyzing the risk of a current driving trip matching the pattern. Driving behavior variations also may be identified and analyzed based on differences between a current driving trip data and corresponding driving trip pattern data.

“Other features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the additional description provided herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“The invention claimed is:

“1. A driving analysis server comprising: a processing unit comprising a processor; and a memory unit storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the processing unit, cause the driving analysis server to: receive, in real-time, vehicle data from a plurality of sensors arranged on a first vehicle, the vehicle data corresponding to at least a first driving trip by the first vehicle; perform, in real-time, an analysis of the received vehicle data and determine one or more risk assessment values corresponding to the first driving trip, determining the one or more risk assessment values including: determining whether the received vehicle data associated with the first driving trip corresponds to a driving pattern of a plurality of stored driving patterns associated with the first vehicle, determining whether the received vehicle data corresponds to the driving pattern including: comparing the received vehicle data to data from a plurality of previous driving trips of the first vehicle; determining whether the received vehicle data matches data from one or more previous driving trips of the first vehicle; responsive to determining that the vehicle data matches data from one previous driving trip, determining that the received vehicle data does not correspond to the driving pattern; and responsive to determining that the received vehicle data matches data from more than one previous driving trips of the first vehicle, determining that the received vehicle data corresponds to the driving pattern; responsive to determining that the received vehicle data does not correspond to the driving pattern, retrieve information associated with a destination of the first driving trip from a location database; responsive to determining that the received vehicle data associated with the first driving trip corresponds to the driving pattern of the stored plurality of driving patterns, retrieve a set of previously stored driving trip characteristics, risk factors, and risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern; and calculate a driver score for the first vehicle or a first driver of the first vehicle, based on at least one of: the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip and the retrieved information associated with the destination of the first driving trip.

“2. The driving analysis server of claim 1, wherein the retrieved risk assessment values are based on previous driving trips different from the first driving trip.

“3. The driving analysis server of claim 2, wherein the driver score is calculated based on the retrieved risk assessment values of the previous driving trips different from the first driving trip.

“4. The driving analysis server of claim 1, wherein determining whether the received vehicle data associated with the first driving trip corresponds to the driving pattern of the plurality of stored driving patterns further includes: identifying a source location of the first driving trip, the destination of the first driving trip, and a time of the first driving trip; and determining whether at least one of the source location of the first driving trip and the destination of the first driving trip are within a predefined location threshold of a source location and a destination of the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip.

“5. The driving analysis server of claim 1, wherein determining whether the received vehicle data associated with the first driving trip corresponds to the driving pattern of the plurality of stored driving patterns further includes: identifying a source location of the first driving trip, the destination of the first driving trip, and a time of the first driving trip; and determining whether the time of the first driving trip is within a predefined time threshold of time of the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip.

“6. The driving analysis server of claim 1, wherein calculating the driver score for the first vehicle or the first driver of the first vehicle, based on the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip further includes: receiving current weather data or current traffic data associated with a route of the driving pattern; calculating a risk assessment value associated with the current weather data or the current traffic data; and calculating the driver score based on the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip and the calculated risk assessment values for the current weather data or the current traffic data.

“7. The driving analysis server of claim 1, wherein calculating the driver score for the first vehicle or the first driver of the first vehicle, based on the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip further includes: using the vehicle data corresponding to the first driving trip, determining a first parking time corresponding to the first vehicle being parked at the destination of the first driving trip; calculating a risk assessment value associated with parking the first vehicle at the destination at the first parking time; and calculating the driver score based on the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip and the calculated risk assessment value for the first vehicle being parked at the destination of the first driving trip.

“8. The driving analysis server of claim 1, further including instructions that, when executed, cause the driving analysis server to: responsive to determining that the received vehicle data associated with the first driving trip corresponds to the driving pattern of the stored plurality of driving patterns and after calculating the driver score for the first vehicle or the first driver of the first vehicle, receive additional current driving trip data; identify, based on the received additional current driving trip data, one or more driving behavior variations between current driving trip data and the corresponding driving pattern; and adjust the calculated driver score for the first vehicle or the first driver of the first vehicle based on the one or more driving behavior variations.

“9. A driving analysis server comprising: a processing unit comprising a processor; and a memory unit storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the processing unit, cause the driving analysis server to: receive, in real-time, vehicle data from a plurality of sensors arranged on a first vehicle, the vehicle data corresponding to at least a first driving trip by the first vehicle; perform, in real-time, an analysis of the received vehicle data and determine one or more risk assessment values corresponding to the first driving trip, determining the one or more risk assessment values including: determining a source location of the first driving trip; determining a destination of the first driving trip, the destination being the destination to which the first vehicle travelled from the determined source location; determining whether the source location and the destination correspond to a driving pattern of a plurality of driving patterns associated with the first vehicle, determining whether the source location and the destination correspond to the driving pattern including: comparing the source location and the destination to data from a plurality of previous driving trips; determining whether the source location and the destination match data from one or more previous driving trips of the first vehicle; responsive to determining that the source location and the destination match data from one previous driving trip, determining that the source location and the destination do not correspond to the driving pattern; responsive to determining that the source location and the destination match data from more than one previous driving trips of the first vehicle, determining that the source location and the destination correspond to the driving pattern; responsive to determining that the source location and the destination do not correspond to the driving pattern, retrieve information associated with the destination of the first driving trip from a location database; responsive to determining that the source location and the destination correspond to the driving pattern of the plurality of driving patterns, retrieving a set of previously stored driving trip characteristics, risk factors, and risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern; and calculate a driver score for the first vehicle or a first driver of the first vehicle, based on at least one of: the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip and the retrieved information associated with the destination of the first driving trip.

“10. The driving analysis server of claim 9, wherein the retrieved risk assessment values are based on previous driving trips different from the first driving trip.

“11. The driving analysis server of claim 10, wherein the driver score is calculated based on the retrieved risk assessment values of the previous driving trips different from the first driving trip.

“12. The driving analysis server of claim 9, wherein determining whether the source location of the first driving trip and the destination of the first driving trip correspond to the driving pattern of the plurality of stored driving patterns further includes: determining whether at least one of the source location of the first driving trip and the destination of the first driving trip are within a predefined location threshold of a source location and destination of the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip.

“13. The driving analysis server of claim 9, wherein determining whether the source location of the first driving trip and the destination of the first driving trip correspond to the driving pattern of the plurality of stored driving patterns further includes: receiving time data for the first driving trip, the time data being received in the received vehicle data; and determining whether the time data for the first driving trip is within a predefined time threshold of time of the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip.

“14. The driving analysis server of claim 9, wherein calculating the driver score for the first vehicle or the first driver of the first vehicle, based on the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip further includes: receiving current weather data or current traffic data associated with a route of the driving pattern; calculating a risk assessment value associated with the current weather data or the current traffic data; and calculating the driver score based on the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip and the calculated risk assessment values for the current weather data or the current traffic data.

“15. The driving analysis server of claim 9, wherein calculating the driver score for the first vehicle or the first driver of the first vehicle, based on the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip further includes: using the vehicle data corresponding to the first driving trip, determining a first parking time corresponding to the first vehicle being parked at the destination of the first driving trip; calculating a risk assessment value associated with parking the first vehicle at the destination at the first parking time; and calculating the driver score based on the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip and the calculated risk assessment values for the first vehicle being parked at the destination of the first driving trip.

“16. A driving analysis system comprising a first vehicle on-board data recording system and a driving analysis server: wherein the first vehicle on-board data recording system comprises: one or more vehicle operation sensors configured to record vehicle operation data at the first vehicle; one or more global positioning system (GPS) devices configured to record location data at the first vehicle; and one or more telematics devices configured to transmit the vehicle operation data and the location data from the first vehicle to the driving analysis server, wherein the driving analysis server comprises a processor and a memory unit storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the driving analysis server to: receive, in real-time, the vehicle operation data from the one or more vehicle operation sensors; receive, in real-time, the location data from the one or more GPS devices; perform in real-time, an analysis of the received data from the one or more vehicle operation sensors and the one or more GPS devices; determine, based at least in part on the analysis, a source location of a first driving trip; determine a destination of the first driving trip, the destination being the destination to which the first vehicle travelled from the determined source location; determine whether the source location and the destination correspond to a driving pattern of a plurality of driving patterns associated with the first vehicle, determining whether the source location and the destination correspond to the driving pattern including: comparing the source location and the destination to data from a plurality of previous driving trips; determining whether the source location and the destination match data from one or more previous driving trips of the first vehicle; responsive to determining that the source location and the destination match data from one previous driving trip, determining that the source location and the destination do not correspond to the driving pattern; responsive to determining that the source location and the destination match data from more than one previous driving trips of the first vehicle, determining that the source location and the destination correspond to the driving pattern; responsive to determining that the source location and the destination do not correspond to the driving pattern, retrieve information associated with the destination of the first driving trip from a location database; responsive to determining that the source location and the destination correspond to the driving pattern of the plurality of driving patterns, retrieve a set of previously stored driving trip characteristics, risk factors, and risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern; and calculate a driver score for the first vehicle or a first driver of the first vehicle, based on at least one of: the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip and the retrieved information associated with the destination of the first driving trip.

“17. The driving analysis system of claim 16, wherein the retrieved risk assessment values are based on previous driving trips different from the first driving trip and wherein the driver score is calculated based on the retrieved risk assessment values of the previous driving trips different from the first driving trip.

“18. The driving analysis system of claim 16, wherein determining whether the source location of the first driving trip and the destination of the first driving trip correspond to the driving pattern of the plurality of stored driving patterns further includes: receiving time data for the first driving trip, the time data being received in the received vehicle data; and determining whether the time data for the first driving trip is within a predefined time threshold of time of the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip.

“19. The driving analysis system of claim 16, wherein calculating the driver score for the first vehicle or the first driver of the first vehicle, based on the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip further includes: receiving current weather data or current traffic data associated with a route of the driving pattern; calculating a risk assessment value associated with the current weather data or the current traffic data; and calculating the driver score based on the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip and the calculated risk assessment values for the current weather data or the current traffic data.

“20. The driving analysis system of claim 16, wherein calculating the driver score for the first vehicle or the first driver of the first vehicle, based on the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip further includes: using the vehicle data corresponding to the first driving trip, determining a first parking time corresponding to the first vehicle being parked at the destination of the first driving trip; calculating a risk assessment value associated with parking the first vehicle at the destination at the first parking time; and calculating the driver score based on the retrieved risk assessment values corresponding to the driving pattern corresponding to the first driving trip and the calculated risk assessment values for the first vehicle being parked at the destination of the first driving trip.”

For more information, see this patent: Brinkmann, Margaret A.; Kraft, Daniel; Bryer, Nathan M.; Huls, Eric; Warden, Thomas Michael. Driving Trip And Pattern Analysis. U.S. Patent Number 10,553,042, filed November 16, 2018, and published online on February 17, 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=10,553,042.PN.&OS=PN/10,553,042RS=PN/10,553,042

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