Patent Issued for Evaluating operator reliance on vehicle alerts (USPTO 11842300): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2023 DEC 28 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Cope, Craig (Bloomington, IL, US), Gaudin, Kristopher Keith (Bloomington, IL, US), Harr, Joseph (Bloomington, IL, US), Williams, Aaron (Congerville, IL, US), Zeglin, Andrew Joseph (Normal, IL, US), filed on August 13, 2020, was published online on December 12, 2023, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11842300 is assigned to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “An Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) installed in a vehicle may aid the operator of the vehicle by providing alerts in response to an operator’s actions. In general; an ADAS may monitor various traffic conditions and/or the external environment surrounding the vehicle, and may take measurements of objects using radar or camera-based sensors, to assist the operator.

“An example of an ADAS is a blind spot monitoring system. A blind spot monitoring system may provide alerts to an operator if a vehicle-based sensor device detects other vehicles located to the operator’s side and/or rear, which may aid the operator when changing lanes. Another example of an ADAS is a lane departure warning system. A lane departure warning system may provide alerts to an operator if a vehicle-based sensor device detects that the vehicle is beginning to move out of its lane, which may aid the operator to stay in his or her lane. Other examples of an ADAS may include a forward collision warning system. However, driver reliance on ADAS systems may vary by individual, which may cause one or more drawbacks.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present embodiments disclose systems and methods that may generally relate to evaluating a driving activity, and particularly, inter alia, to detecting and acting upon operator reliance to vehicle alerts provided by an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) installed in the driven vehicle. Proper responsiveness or unresponsiveness to valid or invalid vehicle alerts, respectively, by risk averse drivers may be monitored.

“In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for detecting and acting upon operator reliance to vehicle alerts may be provided. The method may include: (1) receiving, by the processor, user profile data of an operator, the user profile data including a baseline of at least one driving activity aided by activation of an alert from a feature of an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS); (2) receiving, by the processor, historical ADAS alert frequency, data including a history of at least one driving activity aided by activation of the alert from the ADAS feature; (3) comparing, by the processor, the user profile data with the historical ADAS alert frequency data; (4) determining a reliance level based upon the comparing; and/or (5) setting, by the processor, at least a portion of an operator profile associated with the operator with the reliance level. As a result, proper responsiveness or unresponsiveness to vehicle alerts by risk averse drivers may be monitored and/or rewarded, such as with lower insurance premiums or increased insurance discounts. The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, a computer system for detecting and acting upon operator reliance to vehicle alerts may be provided. The system may include one or more processors, transceivers, and memory units storing instructions. When executed by the one or more processors, the instructions may cause the computer system to: (1) receive user profile data of an operator, the user profile data including a baseline of at least one driving activity aided by activation of an alert from a feature of an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS); (2) receive historical ADAS alert frequency data including a history of at least one driving activity aided by activation of the alert from the ADAS feature; (3) compare the user profile data with the historical ADAS alert frequency data; (4) determine a reliance level based upon the comparing; and/or (5) set at least a portion of an operator profile associated with the operator with the reliance level. The computer system may include additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, a non-transitory, computer-readable medium (or media) stores instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: (1) receive user profile data of an operator, the user profile data including a baseline of at least one driving activity aided by activation of an alert from a feature of an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS); (2) receive historical ADAS alert frequency data including a history of at least one driving activity aided by activation of the alert from the ADAS feature; (3) compare the user profile data with the historical ADAS alert frequency data; (4) determine a reliance level based upon the comparing; and/or (5) set at least a portion of an operator profile associated with the operator with the reliance level. The instructions may direct additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“Advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiments which have been shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, the present embodiments may be capable of other and different embodiments, and their details are capable of modification in various respects. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method, carried out by a processor, for detecting and acting upon operator reliance to vehicle alerts, the method comprising: receiving, by the processor, user profile data of an operator, the user profile data including real time vehicle data from a vehicle of the operator, a status associated with the operator, and a first number of alerts of at least one driving activity that has been activated during a predefined time period or at a GPS data of a particular location from a feature of an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) associated with the vehicle of the operator; receiving, by the processor, historical ADAS alert frequency data including a plurality of baselines associated with one or more vehicles driven by one or more other drivers with various status; determining, by the processor, a subset of the historical ADAS alert frequency data based upon the status associated with the operator and the one or more other drivers, the subset of the historical ADAS alert frequency data including a baseline number of alerts of the at least one driving activity that has been activated during the predefined time period or at the GPS data of the particular location from the feature of the ADAS associated with one or more vehicles driven by one or more other drivers who have the same status as the operator; comparing, by the processor, the user profile data with the subset of the historical ADAS alert frequency data; determining, by the processor, a reliance level based upon the comparing; setting, by the processor, at least a portion of an operator profile associated with the operator with the reliance level; adjusting, by the processor, the baseline of the operator in response to a status change in the operator profile, wherein the comparing includes comparing the user profile data including the adjusted baseline with the historical ADAS alert frequency data; and causing, by the processor, transmission of at least a portion of the operator profile to an entity that offers a benefit relating to a good or service offered by the entity, based upon at least the portion of the operator profile.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: causing, by the processor, transmission of at least the portion of the operator profile to an entity that: adjusts a price to risk model associated with the operator based upon at least the portion of the operator profile, adjusts a credit rating associated with the operator based upon at least the portion of the operator profile, adjusts an insurance rating associated with the operator based upon at least the portion of the operator profile, reviews at least the portion of the operator profile in connection with a job sought by the operator.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: adjusting, by the processor, at least one of a price to risk model, a credit rating, an insurance rating, a review, a permanent credit, and a temporary credit associated with the operator based upon at least the portion of the operator profile.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: causing, by the processor, transmission of at least the portion of the operator profile to an entity that offers a permanent or temporary credit in connection with a good or service offered by the entity, based upon at least the portion of the operator profile.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the historical ADAS alert frequency data is represented as an average number of times the alert from the ADAS feature was activated.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: selecting, by the processor, an operating parameter, wherein the comparing includes comparing the user profile data associated with the operating parameter with the historical ADAS alert frequency data associated with the operating parameter.

“7. A computer system for detecting and acting upon operator reliance to vehicle alerts, the computer system comprising: one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: receive user profile data of an operator, the user profile data including real time vehicle data from a vehicle of the operator, a status associated with the operator, and a first number of alerts of at least one driving activity that has been activated during a predefined time period or at a GPS data of a particular location from a feature of an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) associated with the vehicle of the operator; receive historical ADAS alert frequency data including a plurality of baselines associated with one or more vehicles driven by one or more other drivers with various status; determine a subset of the historical ADAS alert frequency data based upon the status associated with the operator and the one or more other drivers, the subset of the historical ADAS alert frequency data including a baseline number of alerts of the at least one driving activity that has been activated during the predefined time period or at the GPS data of the particular location from the feature of the ADAS associated with one or more vehicles driven by one or more other drivers who have the same status as the operator; compare the user profile data with the subset of the historical ADAS alert frequency data; determine a reliance level based upon the comparing; set at least a portion of an operator profile associated with the operator with the reliance level; adjust the baseline of the operator in response to a status change in the operator profile, wherein the comparing includes comparing the user profile data including the adjusted baseline with the historical ADAS alert frequency data; and causing the computer system to transmit at least a portion of the operator profile to an entity that offers a benefit relating to a good or service offered by the entity, based upon at least the portion of the operator profile.

“8. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the instructions further cause the computer system to transmit at least the portion of the operator profile to an entity that: adjusts a price to risk model associated with the operator based upon at least the portion of the operator profile, adjusts a credit rating associated with the operator based upon at least the portion of the operator profile, adjusts an insurance rating associated with the operator based upon at least the portion of the operator profile, or reviews at least the portion of the operator profile in connection with a job sought by the operator.

“9. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the instructions further cause the computer system to adjust at least one of a price to risk model, a credit rating, an insurance rating, a review, a permanent credit, and a temporary credit associated with the operator based upon at least the portion of the operator profile.

“10. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the historical ADAS alert frequency data is represented as an average number of times the alert from the ADAS feature was activated.

“11. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the instructions further cause the computer system to: select an operating parameter, wherein the comparing includes comparing the user profile data associated with the operating parameter with the historical ADAS alert frequency data associated with the operating parameter.

“12. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the instructions further cause the computer system to: cause the computer system to transmit at least the portion of the operator profile to an entity that offers a permanent or temporary credit, in connection with a good or service offered by the entity, based upon at least the portion of the operator profile.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

URL and more information on this patent, see: Cope, Craig. Evaluating operator reliance on vehicle alerts. U.S. Patent Number 11842300, filed August 13, 2020, and published online on December 12, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11842300)&db=USPAT&type=ids

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)