Patent Issued for Insurance underwriting and re-underwriting implementing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS) (USPTO 11334953): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2022 JUN 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 11334953, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Baumann, Nathan W. (Bloomington, IL, US), Grant, Rosemarie Geier (Ellsworth, IL, US), Harvey, Brian N. (Bloomington, IL, US), Jacob, Michael Shawn (Le Roy, IL, US), Lillie, Joshua David (Bloomington, IL, US), Lyons, Roxane (Chenoa, IL, US), Ryan, Timothy W. (Hudson, IL, US), Tofte, Nathan L. (Downs, IL, US).

This patent was filed on April 2, 2020 and was published online on May 17, 2022.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “Conventionally, performing insurance-related actions such as insurance policy adjustments, insurance quote calculations, and/or underwriting involve an arduous and time-consuming manual process that requires a large component of human intervention.

“The present embodiments may overcome these and/or other deficiencies.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “Methods, systems, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media are described that leverage the use of one or more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or “drones”) to facilitate one or more insurance-related tasks. In various embodiments, one or more UAVs may actively survey an insured or potentially insured asset (also referred to herein as “the asset”), such as a home. Upon arrival at an area surrounding the insured or potentially insured asset, the one or more UAVs may collect drone data for the asset, such as images of the asset and/or images of objects in close proximity to the asset, soil samples for soil surrounding the asset, soil and wood samples for trees surrounding the asset, thermal signatures for the asset including temperature data, video, chemical data, weather conditions, audio, etc.

“The one or more UAVs may transmit the drone data to a remote server, which may be associated with an insurance provider and/or utilized by an insurance provider, and may analyze the drone data to perform insurance underwriting and/or re-underwriting for the insured asset. Moreover, the drone data may also be analyzed to mitigate risk to the insurance provider. For example, the external computing device may increase insurance premiums for assets which have declined in condition since the initial underwriting. In another example, the owner of the asset may be contacted to discuss a policy adjustment and/or to alert the owner of dangerous conditions discovered by the UAVs and/or the external computing device. In yet another example, the policyholder may have to comply with additional requirements to maintain the policy.

“In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of directing an unmanned aerial vehicle for inspecting a property may be provided. The method may include (1) receiving (via one or more processors, and/or wired or wireless communication and/or data transmission) a location for an inspection of a property to be conducted by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); (2) displaying (via a user interface) one or more images depicting a view of the location; (3) determining (via the one or more processors) a geofence boundary based on an area corresponding to a property boundary, wherein the geofence boundary represents a geospatial boundary in which to limit flight of the UAV; (4) determining (via the one or more processors) a navigation route corresponding to the geofence boundary for inspection of the property by the UAV, the navigation route having waypoints, each waypoint indicating a location for the UAV to obtain drone data; and/or (5) directing (via the one or more processors) the UAV around the property using the determined navigation route. The method may include additional, fewer, or alternative actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, a system of directing an unmanned aerial vehicle for inspecting a property may be provided. The system may include one or more processors, a communication network, and/or a non-transitory, tangible computer-readable memory coupled to the one or more processors and the communication network and storing machine readable instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors, may cause the system to perform various tasks. For example, the instructions may cause the system to: (1) receive, via the communication network, a location for an inspection of a property to be conducted by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); (2) display, via a user interface, one or more images depicting a view of the location; (3) determine a geofence boundary based on an area corresponding to a property boundary, wherein the geofence boundary represents a geospatial boundary in which to limit flight of the UAV; (4) determine a navigation route corresponding to the geofence boundary for inspection of the property by the UAV, the navigation route having waypoints, each waypoint indicating a location for the UAV to obtain drone data; and/or (5) direct the UAV around the property using the determined navigation route. The system may include additional, fewer, or alternate components and/or 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 of directing an unmanned aerial vehicle for inspecting a property, the method comprising: receiving, by one or more processors, a location for an inspection of a property to be conducted by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); displaying, via a user interface, one or more images depicting a view of the location; determining, by the one or more processors, a geofence boundary based on an area corresponding to a property boundary, wherein the geofence boundary represents a geospatial boundary in which to limit flight of the UAV; determining, by the one or more processors, a navigation route corresponding to the geofence boundary for inspection of the property by the UAV, including: selecting, by the one or more processors, a path for traversing the geofence boundary having waypoints, each waypoint indicating a location for the UAV to obtain drone data; directing, by the one or more processors, the UAV around the property using the waypoints of the determined navigation route; and in response to the UAV reaching each of the waypoints, sending a control signal, by the one or more processors to the UAV, to direct the UAV to capture the drone data at the waypoint.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the one or more processors, the drone data captured by one or more sensors communicatively coupled to the UAV at each waypoint on the navigating route, wherein the drone data corresponds to the property.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising: analyzing, by the one or more processors, the drone data corresponding to the property to identify one or more risk elements associated with the property; and determining, by the one or more processors, an amount of risk associated with each of the one or more risk elements.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the drone data further corresponds to an area which surrounds the property, and further comprising: combining, by the one or more processors, a first amount of risk associated with each of the one or more risk elements corresponding to the property with a second amount of risk associated with each of the one or more risk elements corresponding to the area which surrounds the property; and determining, by the one or more processors, a total amount of risk associated with the property based upon the combined amounts of risk.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the drone data is current drone data and analyzing the drone data to determine one or more risk elements includes: obtaining, at the one or more processors, previous drone data corresponding to the property and which was captured before the current drone data; and comparing, by the one or more processors, the previous drone data to the current drone data to determine whether the amount of risk associated with the property has increased or decreased from a time in which the previous drone data was captured.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the property is a home, the drone data includes a thermal signature for the home, and when the thermal signature exceeds a predetermined threshold temperature based upon an analysis of the thermal signature, the method further comprises: providing, by the one or more processors, an alert to emergency personnel that the home is at an increased risk of fire.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the property is a home, the drone data includes a soil sample of soil surrounding the home, and when soil moisture content exceeds a predetermined threshold moisture content level based upon an analysis of the soil sample, the method further comprises: determining, by the one or more processors, a risk of sewer or drain backup associated with the home based upon the soil moisture content; and identifying, by the one or more processors, a sump pump above a predetermined threshold size, type, capacity, or redundancy recommended for the house to mitigate the risk of sewer or drain backup based upon the soil moisture content.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the property is a home, the drone data includes a wood and a soil sample of a tree surrounding the home and the method further comprises: analyzing, by the UAV, the wood and soil sample to determine a number and size of dead sections of the tree, a degree of root damage, a number of dead branches, or an age of the tree; receiving, at the one or more processors, the analysis of the wood and soil sample; and determining, by the one or more processors, a risk of the tree falling based upon the received analysis.

“9. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the drone data includes at least one of: (i) temperature data indicative of a current temperature associated with the property; (ii) chemical and biological data; (ii) image data; (iii) audio data; (iv) location data; or (v) size data and material characteristics for the property.

“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the one or more risk elements include at least one of: (i) a risk based upon a current condition of a component of the property; (ii) a natural disaster risk associated with the property; (iii) a risk of pests associated with the property; (iv) a risk based upon a hazardous object or activity associated with the property; or (v) a risk based upon a current condition of vegetation or other organic matter at or around the property.

“11. A system of directing an unmanned aerial vehicle for inspecting a property, the system comprising: one or more processors; a communication network; a non-transitory computer-readable memory coupled to the one or more processors, and the communication network, and storing thereon instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to: receive, via the communication network, a location for an inspection of a property to be conducted by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); display, via a user interface, one or more images depicting a view of the location; determine a geofence boundary based on an area corresponding to a property boundary, wherein the geofence boundary represents a geospatial boundary in which to limit flight of the UAV; determine a navigation route corresponding to the geofence boundary for inspection of the property by the UAV, including: select a path for traversing the geofence boundary having waypoints, each waypoint indicating a location for the UAV to obtain drone data; direct, via the communication network, the UAV around the property using the waypoints of the determined navigation route; and in response to the UAV reaching each of the waypoints, sending a control signal to the UAV to direct the UAV to capture the drone data at the waypoint.

“12. The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the system to: receive, via the communication network, the drone data captured by one or more sensors communicatively coupled to the UAV at each waypoint on the navigating route, wherein the drone data corresponds to the property.

“13. The system of claim 12, wherein the instructions further cause the system to: analyze the drone data corresponding to the property to identify one or more risk elements associated with the property; and determine an amount of risk associated with each of the one or more risk elements.

“14. The system of claim 13, wherein the drone data further corresponds to an area which surrounds the property, and the instructions further cause the system to: combine a first amount of risk associated with each of the one or more risk elements corresponding to the property with a second amount of risk associated with each of the one or more risk elements corresponding to the area which surrounds property; and determine a total amount of risk associated with the property based upon the combined amounts of risk.

“15. The system of claim 13, wherein the drone data is current drone data and to analyze the drone data to determine one or more risk elements, the instructions cause the system to: obtain previous drone data corresponding to the property and which was captured before the current drone data; and compare the previous drone data to the current drone data to determine whether the amount of risk associated with the property has increased or decreased from a time in which the previous drone data was captured.

“16. The system of claim 12, wherein the property is a home, the drone data includes a thermal signature for the home, and when the thermal signature exceeds a predetermined threshold temperature based upon an analysis of the thermal signature, the instructions further cause the system to: provide, via the communication network, an alert to emergency personnel that the home is at an increased risk of fire.

“17. The system of claim 12, wherein the property is a home, the drone data includes a soil sample of soil surrounding the home, and when soil moisture content exceeds a predetermined threshold moisture content level based upon the analysis of the soil sample, the instructions further cause the system to: determine a risk of sewer or drain backup associated with the home based upon the soil moisture content; and determine a sump pump above a predetermined threshold size, type, capacity, or redundancy recommended for the house to mitigate the risk of sewer or drain backup based upon the soil moisture content.

“18. The system of claim 12, wherein the property is a home, the drone data includes a wood and a soil sample of a tree surrounding the home and the instructions further cause the system to: receive, via the communication network, an analysis of the wood and soil sample by the UAV, wherein the analysis includes a number and size of dead sections of the tree, a degree of root damage, a number of dead branches, or an age of the tree; and determine a risk of the tree falling based upon the received analysis.”

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

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Baumann, Nathan W. Insurance underwriting and re-underwriting implementing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS). U.S. Patent Number 11334953, filed April 2, 2020, and published online on May 17, 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=11334953.PN.&OS=PN/11334953RS=PN/11334953

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