Patent Issued for Electrical data processing system for determining a navigation route based on the location of a vehicle and generating a recommendation for a vehicle maneuver (USPTO 11348451): Allstate Insurance Company

2022 JUN 17 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Gibson, Timothy W. (Barrington, IL, US), Hayes, Howard (Glencoe, IL, US), Kumar, Surender (Palatine, IL, US), Madigan, Regina (Mountain View, CA, US), filed on August 7, 2019, was published online on May 31, 2022.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11348451 is Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Traffic accidents and other unsafe conditions on or affecting roads is surprisingly common. Drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and other parties often rely on their own abilities to avoid accidents and unsafe conditions. However, conditions for these individuals may be made even safer using certain traffic infrastructure, vehicle capabilities, and mobile device capabilities, many of which currently are not being utilized.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents 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 a system comprising a traffic device having a traffic device computer, one or more traffic signals, and/or a transceiver. The system may comprise first memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the traffic device computer, cause the traffic device to transmit, via the transceiver and to a vehicle and infrastructure computing device, information indicative of a status of the one or more traffic signals. The vehicle and infrastructure computing device may comprise a vehicle and infrastructure control computer and/or second memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the vehicle and infrastructure control computer, cause the vehicle and infrastructure computing device to receive, from the traffic device, the information indicative of the status of the one or more traffic signals. The computing device may determine that the information indicative of the status of the one or more traffic signals indicates that the one or more traffic signals of the traffic device switched from a red light to a green light and a time that the one or more traffic signals of the traffic device switched from the red light to the green light. In response to determining that the one or more traffic signals of the traffic device switched from the red light to the green light, the computing device may determine an amount of time between the time that the one or more traffic signals of the traffic device switched from the red light to the green light and a time that a vehicle at a location of the traffic device moved. In response to determining that the amount of time exceeds a threshold amount of time, the computing device may determine that a driver of the vehicle is distracted.

“In some aspects, the system may comprise a traffic camera. The vehicle and infrastructure computing device may receive, from the traffic camera, one or more images of the vehicle captured by the traffic camera. Based on the one or more images of the vehicle captured by the traffic camera, the computing device may determine the time that the vehicle at the location of the traffic device moved. Additionally or alternatively, the system may comprise a mobile device having one or more of a position sensor, speed sensor, or acceleration sensor. The computing device may receive, from the mobile device or the vehicle, data indicative of one or more of a position, speed, or acceleration of the vehicle. Based on the data indicative of one or more of the position, speed, or acceleration of the vehicle, the computing device may determine the time that the vehicle at the location of the traffic device moved.

“In some aspects, the vehicle and infrastructure computing device may determine that the vehicle is at the location of the traffic device and that the one or more traffic signals of the traffic device is not red. In response to determining that the vehicle is at the location of the traffic device and that the one or more traffic signals of the traffic device is not red, the computing device may send an instruction to one or more mobile device of the driver to prevent driver interaction with the mobile device while the one or more traffic signals of the traffic device is not red. The instruction may be configured to disable one or more applications of the mobile device, such as a messaging application.

“In some aspects, the vehicle and infrastructure computing device may determine that the vehicle is at the location of the traffic device and that the one or more traffic signals of the traffic device is red. In response to determining that the vehicle is at the location of the traffic device and that the one or more traffic signals of the traffic device is red, the computing device may send an instruction to one or more mobile device of the driver to enable use of the mobile device while the one or more traffic signals of the traffic device is red. The vehicle and infrastructure computing device may determine that the one or more traffic signals of the traffic device switched from red to green. In response to determining that the one or more traffic signals of the traffic device switched from red to green, the computing device may send an instruction to the one or more mobile device of the driver to prevent driver interaction with the mobile device while the one or more traffic signals of the traffic device is green.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method comprising: determining, by a computing device and for a vehicle, a navigation route comprising one or more intersections; determining, by the computing device, a plurality of potential maneuvers at an intersection of the one or more intersections of the navigation route of the vehicle; determining, by the computing device and based on a level of autonomy of the vehicle, a navigation score for each of the plurality of potential maneuvers at the intersection; selecting, by the computing device and based on the navigation score for each of the plurality of potential maneuvers at the intersection, a maneuver; and sending, via one or more wireless communications and to the vehicle, the maneuver.

“2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending, to the vehicle, an instruction to modify one or more operating conditions of the vehicle based on the navigation score.

“3. The method of claim 1, wherein the navigation score is determined based on a segment of a road associated with each maneuver of the plurality of potential maneuvers.

“4. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle has a plurality of autonomous features activated, the method further comprising: receiving, by the computing device and from one or more of the vehicle or mobile device, data indicating that the vehicle is approaching the intersection; and in response to receiving the data indicating that the vehicle is approaching the intersection, sending, to the vehicle, an instruction to deactivate one or more of the plurality of autonomous features.

“5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the computing device, whether the vehicle is autonomous, wherein the selecting the maneuver comprises selecting a first maneuver if the vehicle is autonomous and selecting a second maneuver if the vehicle is not autonomous.

“6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of potential maneuvers at the intersection comprises at least two of a right turn at the intersection, a left turn at the intersection, a U turn at the intersection, and proceeding straight through the intersection.

“7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the computing device, an intersection score for the intersection based on one or more of a complexity of the intersection, a number of accidents at the intersection, weather, or traffic congestion.

“8. An apparatus comprising: a processor; and memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to: determine, for a vehicle, a navigation route comprising one or more intersections; determine a plurality of potential maneuvers at an intersection of the one or more intersections of the navigation route of the vehicle; determine, based on a level of autonomy of the vehicle, a navigation score for each of the plurality of potential maneuvers at the intersection; select, based on the navigation score for each of the plurality of potential maneuvers at the intersection, a maneuver; and transmit, via one or more wireless communications and to the vehicle, the maneuver.

“9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the apparatus is at a location remote from a location of the vehicle, and wherein the memory stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to: send, to the vehicle, an instruction to modify one or more operating conditions of the vehicle.

“10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the apparatus to determine the navigation score based on a segment of a road associated with each maneuver of the plurality of potential maneuvers.

“11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the vehicle has a plurality of autonomous features activated, and wherein the memory stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to: receive, from one or more of the vehicle or mobile device, data indicating that the vehicle is approaching the intersection; and in response to receiving the data indicating that the vehicle is approaching the intersection, send, to the vehicle, an instruction to deactivate one or more of the plurality of autonomous features.

“12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the plurality of potential maneuvers at the intersection comprises at least two of a right turn at the intersection, a left turn at the intersection, a U turn at the intersection, and proceeding straight through the intersection.

“13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the apparatus to determine the navigation score based on one or more of an intersection preference, a maneuver preference, a speed preference, or a road-style preference.

“14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the memory stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to: determine an intersection score for the intersection based on one or more of a complexity of the intersection, a number of accidents at the intersection, weather, or traffic congestion.

“15. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when read by a computing device, cause the computing device to: determine, for a vehicle, a navigation route comprising one or more intersections; determine a plurality of potential maneuvers at an intersection of the one or more intersections of the navigation route of the vehicle; determine, based on a level of autonomy of the vehicle, a navigation score for each of the plurality of potential maneuvers at the intersection; select, based on the navigation score for each of the plurality of potential maneuvers at the intersection, a maneuver; and send, via one or more wireless communications and to the vehicle, the maneuver.

“16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium stores instructions that, when read by the computing device, cause the computing device to: send, to the vehicle, an instruction to modify one or more operating conditions of the vehicle.

“17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the computing device to determine the navigation score based on a segment of a road associated with each maneuver of the plurality of potential maneuvers.

“18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the vehicle has a plurality of autonomous features activated, wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium stores instructions that, when read by the computing device, cause the computing device to: receive, from one or more of the vehicle or mobile device, data indicating that the vehicle is approaching the intersection; and in response to receiving the data indicating that the vehicle is approaching the intersection, send, to the vehicle, an instruction to deactivate one or more of the plurality of autonomous features.

“19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the plurality of potential maneuvers at the intersection comprises at least two of a right turn at the intersection, a left turn at the intersection, a U turn at the intersection, and proceeding straight through the intersection.

“20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the computing device to determine the navigation score based on one or more of an intersection preference, a maneuver preference, a speed preference, or a road-style preference.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Gibson, Timothy W. Electrical data processing system for determining a navigation route based on the location of a vehicle and generating a recommendation for a vehicle maneuver. U.S. Patent Number 11348451, filed August 7, 2019, and published online on May 31, 2022. 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=11348451.PN.&OS=PN/11348451RS=PN/11348451

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