Patent Issued for Dynamic limiting of vehicle operation based on interior configurations (USPTO 11840243): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2024 JAN 03 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States) has been issued patent number 11840243, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Christensen, Scott T. (Salem, OR, US), Fields, Brian M. (Normal, IL, US), Prevatt, Stephen R. (Normal, IL, US), Roberson, Steve (Normal, IL, US).

This patent was filed on October 16, 2020 and was published online on December 12, 2023.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “The interior configuration and layout of a vehicle has changed only incrementally since the invention of automobiles over a century ago. Conventional interior vehicle configurations were adapted so that a human could effectively and safely, and manually, operate a vehicle. Accordingly, existing interior vehicle configurations are confined to certain layouts to accommodate these requirements. For instance, space in the vehicle must be devoted to the steering wheel, brake, accelerator, and gear shifter, and the driver must be positioned to accessibly operate this equipment while having a clear view of the road and traffic in all directions. Additionally, user interface control panels must also be arranged to conform to this layout. In existing vehicles, a vehicle operator has no way to adjust his/her physical position without abandoning the vehicle controls, thereby increasing the likelihood of an accident. Therefore, a driver and/or passenger is seemingly limited to a certain position regardless of driving conditions and/or the vehicle’s actions, which in turn can place detrimental force and strain on the vehicle driver and/or passenger’s body.

“Existing vehicle safety technology has been limited in form and/or function in order to also conform to existing configurations. Each year millions of individuals are injured as a result of vehicular accidents emanating from operator error, inattention, inexperience, misuse, or distraction; inclement weather conditions; treacherous road conditions; and other driving environment conditions. While existing vehicle safety technologies have improved vehicle driver and passenger safety, many of these technologies, such as airbags, do not deploy until after a vehicle has already been involved in a collision. Similarly, other existing vehicle safety technologies, such as seatbelts, can only perform a single function and provide limited or no benefit in certain situations. In some instances, the existing safety technology installed in a vehicle can cause more harm than it prevents because of the specific type of accident and/or the physical attributes of the vehicle’s passenger. A passenger’s specific body position during a collision can affect how his/her body is impacted by the collision, and just a few inches or degrees of difference in body positioning can be the difference between a passenger walking away from a collision alive and unscathed, as opposed to life-altering injuries or death. However, given the near-instantaneous nature of most accidents, it is almost impossible for a driver or passenger to brace for impact or make changes to his/her position to reduce a risk of injury. Even if a passenger was somehow able to foresee an impending accident, his/her physical movement would be limited due to the existing and confined standard interior vehicle configurations. Additionally, it would often be impossible for a human passenger to determine, especially in an instant, what precise movements needed to be made to avoid/reduce injury, make such movements, and/or verify such movements had been accurately taken.

“Additionally, these configurations limit which type of safety devices are used in current vehicles. In current vehicles, for examples, seatbelts are only provided for specific designated locations and orientations within the vehicle. This requires that passengers sit in a specific physical configuration in order to maximize safety. Consequently, this limits what actions a passenger can undertake while traveling in a vehicle, and in some cases prevents a passenger from using time spent in a vehicle more productively. For example, long, cross-country trips must be spent sitting in tight, uncomfortable conditions. Meanwhile, to sleep more comfortably while traveling in a car, for example, a passenger must often adjust his/her body to a position that compromises safety, by being in a position that is not adequately covered by an airbag and/or in which a seatbelt is less effective. Further, in the event an accident does occur, current vehicle safety devices (e.g., airbags) can only deploy in one predetermined manner, often only marginally reducing the risk of injury to a passenger, or in some instances even injuring the passenger because of the manner in which the airbag was deployed.

“While some activities, such as reading or working on a computer, can be safely performed while traveling in a vehicle, engaging in such behavior can still be difficult or undesirable, especially for long periods of time, as a result of vehicle operation conditions such as the speed at which the vehicle is traveling, traffic conditions (e.g., “stop and go” traffic), road conditions (e.g., uneven surfaces, pot holes, etc.), terrain conditions (e.g., steep roads, winding roads, etc.) and/or other driving conditions. Further, passengers who attempt to eat and/or drink while riding in a vehicle risk choking if certain sudden/unexpected maneuvers are attempted, as well as the less serious consequence of spilling their food/drinks. Thus, traveling by way of current vehicles can be tremendously time consuming, stressful, dangerous, and/or inefficient as a result of the physical configuration. In turn, this can increase the cost of travel both monetarily and in opportunity cost. Vehicle operators and passengers may need to take breaks to rest, sleep, eat, and/or use the restroom, and a passenger is very limited in terms of the activities that can be performed while the vehicle is operating.

“The physical configuration of current vehicles also effects how cargo is transported. Most current vehicles merely provide large, open areas, such as trunk space, for individuals to store articles in while traveling. This requires that an individual take safety precautions to prevent an article from moving around, spilling, cracking, spoiling, or breaking while being transported. For example, an individual may need to protect a fragile glass object in multiple layers of bubble wrap, and/or “wedge” the glass object into a constrained space, to prevent the glass object from shattering while being transported. Conversely, when transporting perishable goods, such as groceries, an individual must take precautions, like taking the groceries home immediately instead of running other errands, to prevent the groceries from spoiling/melting/etc. However, even when such precautions are taken, transportable articles still may be damaged during transport because of unforeseen circumstances and conditions. Ultimately, this can cause difficulties, inconveniences, and/or inefficiencies in regards to transporting articles.

“It is also noted that the increase in autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles has decreased the need for vehicles to be operated by humans. Autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles augment vehicle operators’ information or replace vehicle operators’ actions to operate the vehicle, in whole or part, with computer systems based upon information collected by equipment within, or attached to, the vehicle. Consequently, there is a decreased need for vehicles to be confined to features and configurations (e.g., the interior layout) that are specifically designed to accommodate human operation.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present application disclosure provides a system and method for controlling operation of a vehicle.

“In one embodiment, a system for controlling operation of a vehicle includes one or more data collection components and one or more processors. The one or more data collection components are configured to collect data representative of a physical configuration of an interior vehicle component. The one or more processors are configured to access the collected data, determine, by processing the collected data, the physical configuration of the interior vehicle component, select a manner of operation based upon the determined physical configuration of the interior vehicle component, and cause the vehicle to operate according to the manner of operation.

“In one embodiment, a method for controlling operation of a vehicle includes: accessing, by one or more processors, data that is representative of a physical configuration of an interior vehicle component of a vehicle; determining, by processing the data using the one or more processors, the physical configuration of the interior vehicle component; selecting, by the one or more processors, a manner of operation for the vehicle based upon the determined physical configuration of the interior vehicle component; and causing the vehicle to operate according to the selected manner of operation.

“In one embodiment, a system for controlling operation of a vehicle includes one or more data collection components and one or more processors. The one or more data collection components are configured to collect data representative of a physical configuration of an interior vehicle component. The one or more processors are configured to access the collected data, determine, by processing the collected data, the physical configuration of the interior vehicle component, and in response to detecting the physical configuration, restrict the vehicle from taking a specific action.

“In one embodiment, a system for controlling operation of a vehicle includes an interior data collection component and a vehicle operation controller. The system also includes one or more processors configured to receive interior vehicle configuration data. The interior vehicle configuration data includes, or is derived from data that includes, the data collected by the interior data collection component. The one or more processors are also configured to determine, by processing the interior vehicle configuration data, an interior vehicle configuration of the vehicle, and cause the vehicle operation controller to cause the vehicle to take a specific action based on the interior vehicle configuration.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system for controlling operation of a vehicle, the system comprising: one or more data collection components configured to collect data representative of a physical configuration of an interior vehicle component; and one or more processors configured to access the collected data, determine, by processing the collected data, the physical configuration of the interior vehicle component relative to an interior space of the vehicle, change a manner of operation of a vehicle in response to the one or more processors determining the physical configuration of the interior vehicle component relative to the interior space of the vehicle, and cause the vehicle to operate according to the manner of operation.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the physical configuration of the interior vehicle component is relative to an interior space of the vehicle.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the interior vehicle component is a seating apparatus or a sleeping apparatus.

“4. The system of claim 1: wherein the one or more data collection components comprise one or more first data collection components; further comprising one or more second data collection components are configured to collect vehicle occupant data corresponding to one or more vehicle occupants; and wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine, by processing the vehicle occupant data, a vehicle occupant status, and change the manner of operation based additionally on the vehicle occupant status.

“5. The system of claim 4, wherein the vehicle occupant status represents a vehicle occupant at least one of sitting, sleeping, eating, working, exercising, reading, using a bathroom, or experiencing a medical emergency.

“6. The system of claim 4, wherein the vehicle occupant data is representative of at least one of a location, an orientation, an action, a characteristic, or a trait of the one or more vehicle occupants.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to, in response to determining the physical configuration of the interior vehicle component, cause the vehicle to at least one of accelerate, decelerate, turn, brake, change lanes, merge or move in reverse.

“8. A method for controlling operation of a vehicle, the method comprising: accessing, by one or more processors, data that is representative of a physical configuration of an interior vehicle component of a vehicle; determining, by processing the data using the one or more processors, the physical configuration of the interior vehicle component relative to an interior space of the vehicle; changing, by the one or more processors, a manner of operation for the vehicle in response to the one or more processors determining the physical configuration of the interior vehicle component; and causing the vehicle to operate according to the changed manner of operation.

“9. The method of claim 8, wherein the interior vehicle component is a seating apparatus or a sleeping apparatus.

“10. The method of claim 8, further comprising: accessing, by the one or more processors, vehicle occupant data that relates to one or more vehicle occupants; detecting, by processing the vehicle occupant data by the one or more processors, a vehicle occupant status; and changing the manner of operation based additionally on the vehicle occupant status.

“11. The method of claim 10, wherein the vehicle occupant status represents a vehicle occupant at least one of sitting, sleeping, eating, working, exercising, reading, using a bathroom, or experiencing a medical emergency.

“12. The method of claim 11, wherein the vehicle occupant data is indicative of at least one of a location, an orientation, an action, a characteristic, or a trait of the one or more vehicle occupants.

“13. The method of claim 8, further comprising, in response to determining the physical configuration of the interior vehicle component, causing the vehicle to at least one of accelerate, decelerate, turn, brake, change lanes, merge or move in reverse.

“14. A system for controlling operation of a vehicle, the system comprising: one or more data collection components configured to collect data representative of a physical configuration of an interior vehicle component; and one or more processors configured to access the collected data, determine, by processing the collected data, the physical configuration of the interior vehicle component relative to an interior space of the vehicle, and in response to the one or more processors detecting the physical configuration, restrict the vehicle from taking a specific action.

“15. The system of claim 14, wherein the physical configuration of the interior vehicle component is relative to an interior space of the vehicle.

“16. The system of claim 15, wherein the interior vehicle component is a seating apparatus or a sleeping apparatus.

“17. The system of claim 14: wherein the one or more data collection components comprise one or more first data collection components; further comprising one or more second interior data collection components configured to collect vehicle occupant data corresponding to one or more vehicle occupants; and wherein the one or more processors are configured to detect, by processing the vehicle occupant data, a vehicle occupant status, and in response to detecting the vehicle occupant status and detecting the physical configuration, cause the vehicle operation controller to restrict the vehicle from taking the specific action.

“18. The system of claim 17, wherein the vehicle occupant status is a vehicle occupant at least one of sitting, sleeping, eating, working, exercising, reading, using a bathroom, or experiencing a medical emergency.

“19. The system of claim 17, wherein the vehicle occupant data is indicative of at least one of a location, an orientation, an action, a characteristic, or a trait of the one or more vehicle occupants.

“20. The system of claim 14, wherein restricting the vehicle from taking the specific action includes restricting the vehicle from accelerating more than a threshold amount, decelerating more than a threshold amount, generating more than a threshold amount of G-forces, changing lanes, exceeding a threshold speed, and/or driving on a specific road.”

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Christensen, Scott T. Dynamic limiting of vehicle operation based on interior configurations. U.S. Patent Number 11840243, filed October 16, 2020, and published online on December 12, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11840243)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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