Patent Issued for Emergency Incident Detection, Response, And Mitigation Using Autonomous Drones (USPTO 10,777,051)

2020 SEP 28 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Kumar, Surender (Palatine, IL); Slusar, Mark V. (Chicago, IL); Hayes, Howard (Glencoe, IL), filed on February 27, 2018, was published online on September 28, 2020, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 10,777,051 is assigned to Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Aspects of the disclosure relate to detecting and responding to emergency conditions that occur in buildings, homes, warehouses, manufacturing plants, retail stores, and other premises. Existing systems for responding to emergency conditions often rely on human detection of an emergency condition and/or human communication of details regarding the emergency condition to first responders (e.g., police or fire departments, medical, or any other emergency response provider). This manual detection and communication process may introduce errors and delay an effective response. Additionally, existing systems for responding to emergency conditions often rely on waiting for emergency responders to arrive, during which time an emergency condition may worsen. Such delays can lead to significant property damage, endanger safety and lives of people, and increase repair and insurance costs.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “Aspects of the disclosure provide effective and efficient technical solutions that help to more accurately detect emergency conditions, relay information about the emergency conditions to reviewers and/or responders for analysis, determine a response plan, and execute the response plan to mitigate the emergency condition both before and after first responders arrive.

“In accordance with one or more embodiments, a computing platform may be configured to detect an emergency condition at a premises; dispatch one or more autonomous drones to a location associated with the emergency condition; receive, from the one or more autonomous drones, sensor data associated with the emergency condition; plan, based on the sensor data, an evacuation route for safely evacuating the premises; and transmit an instruction that causes the one or more autonomous drones to indicate, to one or more persons in a vicinity of the emergency condition, the evacuation route.

“In some aspects, the computing platform may further be configured to detect, based on the sensor data, one or more safe areas in the premises, wherein the evacuation route passes through at least one of the one or more safe areas. In some cases, the emergency condition is a fire, and the computing platform may detect the one or more safe areas based on one or more of temperature data captured by a temperature sensor onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones, smoke data captured by a smoke detector onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones, and image data captured by a camera onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones. In some cases, the emergency condition comprises a hazardous material, and the computing platform may detect the one or more safe areas based on data captured by a hazardous material sensor onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones.

“In some cases, the evacuation route passes through a locked door, and the computing platform may be configured to transmit an instruction to a premises automation system that causes the locked door to unlock.

“In some embodiments, the computing platform may be configured to determine a location of one or more first responders; determine a location of a person in need of assistance; plan a route from the one or more first responders to the person in need of assistance; and transmit an instruction that causes the one or more autonomous drones to indicate, to the one or more first responders, the route to the person in need of assistance.

“In some embodiments, the computing platform may be configured to detect the emergency condition by receiving second sensor data from one or more sensors at the premises; transmit the second sensor data to a reviewer; and receive an indication of the emergency condition from the reviewer.

“In some embodiments, the second sensor data may be captured by one or more of a security system and the one or more autonomous drones. In some embodiments, the computing platform may be configured to determine the location associated with the emergency condition based on the second sensor data and a map of the premises. The computing platform may be configured to, prior to the detecting of the emergency condition, receive, from the one or more autonomous drones, third sensor data; and generate, based on the third sensor data, the map of the premises.

“These features, along with many others, are discussed in greater detail below.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“What is claimed is:

“1. A method comprising: at a computing platform comprising at least one processor, at least one memory, and at least one communication interface: detecting, by the at least one processor, an emergency condition at a premises; upon detecting the emergency condition, dispatching, by the at least one processor, one or more autonomous drones to a location associated with the emergency condition; receiving, by the at least one processor, via the at least one communication interface, from the one or more autonomous drones, sensor data associated with the emergency condition; generating, by the at least one processor, based on the sensor data, a plan identifying an evacuation route for safely evacuating the premises where the emergency condition is present; and transmitting, by the at least one processor, via the at least one communication interface, an instruction that causes the one or more autonomous drones to indicate, to one or more persons in a vicinity of the emergency condition, the evacuation route.

“2. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting, by the at least one processor, based on the sensor data, one or more safe areas in the premises, wherein the evacuation route passes through at least one of the one or more safe areas.

“3. The method of claim 2, wherein the emergency condition is a fire, wherein the detecting of the one or more safe areas is based on one or more of temperature data captured by a temperature sensor onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones, smoke data captured by a smoke detector onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones, and image data captured by a camera onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones.

“4. The method of claim 2, wherein the emergency condition comprises a hazardous material, wherein the detecting of the one or more safe areas is based on data captured by a hazardous material sensor onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones.

“5. The method of claim 1, wherein the evacuation route passes through a locked door, the method further comprising transmitting an instruction to a premises automation system that causes the locked door to unlock.

“6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the at least one processor, a location of one or more first responders; determining, by the at least one processor, a location of a person in need of assistance; generating, by the at least one processor, a plan identifying a route from the one or more first responders to the person in need of assistance; and transmitting, by the at least one processor, via the at least one communication interface, an instruction that causes the one or more autonomous drones to indicate, to the one or more first responders, the route to the person in need of assistance.

“7. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting of the emergency condition at the premises comprises: receiving second sensor data from one or more sensors at the premises; transmitting the second sensor data to a computing device associated with a reviewer; and receiving an indication of the emergency condition from the computing device associated with the reviewer.

“8. The method of claim 7, wherein the second sensor data is captured by one or more of a security system and the one or more autonomous drones.

“9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining, by the at least one processor, the location associated with the emergency condition based on the second sensor data and a map of the premises.

“10. The method of claim 9, further comprising, prior to the detecting of the emergency condition: receiving, by the at least one processor, from the one or more autonomous drones, third sensor data; and generating, by the at least one processor, based on the third sensor data, the map of the premises.

“11. A computing platform comprising: at least one processor; a communication interface communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; and memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing platform to: detect an emergency condition at a premises; upon detecting the emergency condition, dispatch one or more autonomous drones to a location associated with the emergency condition; receive, from the one or more autonomous drones, via the communication interface, sensor data associated with the emergency condition; generate, based on the sensor data, a plan identifying an evacuation route for safely evacuating the premises where the emergency condition is present; and transmit, via the communication interface, an instruction that causes the one or more autonomous drones to indicate, to one or more persons in a vicinity of the emergency condition, the evacuation route.

“12. The computing platform of claim 11, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the computing platform to detect, based on the sensor data, one or more safe areas in the premises, wherein the evacuation route passes through at least one of the one or more safe areas.

“13. The computing platform of claim 12, wherein the emergency condition is a fire, and wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing platform to determine the one or more safe areas based on one or more of temperature data captured by a temperature sensor onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones, smoke data captured by a smoke detector onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones, and image data captured by a camera onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones.

“14. The computing platform of claim 12, wherein the emergency condition comprises a hazardous material, and wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing platform to detect the one or more safe areas based on data captured by a hazardous material sensor onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones.

“15. The computing platform of claim 11, wherein the evacuation route passes through a locked door, and wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the computing platform to transmit an instruction to a premises automation system that causes the locked door to unlock.

“16. The computing platform of claim 11, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the computing platform to: determine a location of one or more first responders; determine a location of a person in need of assistance; generate a plan indicating a route from the one or more first responders to the person in need of assistance; and transmit, via the communication interface, an instruction that causes the one or more autonomous drones to indicate, to the one or more first responders, the route to the person in need of assistance.

“17. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by a computing platform comprising at least a processor, memory, and a communication interface, cause the computing platform to: detect an emergency condition at a premises; upon detecting the emergency condition, dispatch one or more autonomous drones to a location associated with the emergency condition; receive, from the one or more autonomous drones, via the communication interface, sensor data associated with the emergency condition; generate, based on the sensor data, a plan indicating an evacuation route for safely evacuating the premises where the emergency condition is present; and transmit, via the communication interface, an instruction that causes the one or more autonomous drones to indicate, to one or more persons in a vicinity of the emergency condition, the evacuation route.

“18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed by the computing platform, further cause the computing platform to detect, based on the sensor data, one or more safe areas in the premises, and wherein the evacuation route passes through at least one of the one or more safe areas.

“19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 18, wherein the emergency condition is a fire, and wherein the instructions, when executed by the computing platform, cause the computing platform to determine the one or more safe areas based on one or more of temperature data captured by a temperature sensor onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones, smoke data captured by a smoke detector onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones, and image data captured by a camera onboard one of the one or more autonomous drones.

“20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the evacuation route passes through a locked door, and wherein the instructions, when executed by the computing platform, further cause the computing platform to transmit an instruction to a premises automation system that causes the locked door to unlock.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Kumar, Surender; Slusar, Mark V.; Hayes, Howard. Emergency Incident Detection, Response, And Mitigation Using Autonomous Drones. U.S. Patent Number 10,777,051, filed February 27, 2018, and published online on September 28, 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=10,777,051.PN.&OS=PN/10,777,051RS=PN/10,777,051

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