Patent Issued for Reward system related to a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system (USPTO 11551309): Allstate Insurance Company

2023 FEB 01 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States) has been issued patent number 11551309, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Slusar, Mark V. (Chicago, IL, US).

This patent was filed on August 10, 2020 and was published online on January 10, 2023.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “Many vehicles include sensors and internal computer systems designed to monitor and control vehicle operations, driving conditions, and driving functions. Advanced vehicles systems can perform such tasks as monitoring fuel consumption and optimizing engine operation to achieve higher fuel efficiency, detecting and correcting a loss of traction on an icy road, and detecting a collision and automatically contacting emergency services. Various vehicle-based communication systems allow vehicles to communicate with other devices inside or outside of the vehicle. For example, a Bluetooth system may enable communication between the vehicle and the driver’s mobile phone. Telematics systems may be configured to access vehicle computers and sensor data, including on-board diagnostics systems (OBD), and transmit the data to a display within the vehicle, a personal computer or mobile device, or to a centralized data processing system. Data obtained from vehicle sensors and OBD systems has been used for a variety of purposes, including maintenance, diagnosis, and analysis. Additionally, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication systems can be used to provide drivers with safety warnings and collision alerts based on data received from other nearby vehicles. Additionally, vehicles can include autonomous driving systems that assume all or part of real-time driving functions to operate the vehicle without real-time input from a human operator.

“When out on the road, vehicles and drivers may engage in many different types of driving behaviors, including various “social interactions” with other vehicles and drivers. An example social interaction can include vehicle drafting where one vehicle follows another vehicle to reduce the overall effect of drag and improve fuel efficiency. Another example social interaction can include autonomous vehicle droning where a vehicle engages in at least partial autonomous driving based on the driving of a lead or pilot vehicle.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters 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 methods and computer devices for receiving and transmitting driving data, analyzing driving data, and determining whether a first vehicle is engaged in a drafting relationship with at least a second vehicle and allocating a drafting reward based on the drafting relationship. A drafting characteristic of the drafting relationship can be determined using vehicle operational data. Example drafting characteristics can include a vehicle spacing, vehicle speed, and/or vehicle type. A drafting property associated with the first or second vehicle can be determined using the drafting characteristic. Example drafting properties can include a drafting fuel savings rate, a drafting savings amount, and/or a percentage increase in miles-per-gallon. Example drafting rewards can include a cash payment, a carbon credit, a fuel credit, a tax credit, a rebate, and at least a portion of a drafting fuel savings amount associated with the first vehicle driving analysis computer.

“In accordance with further aspects of the present disclosure, a property of an insurance policy may be determined by receiving and analyzing driving data from vehicles engaged in an autonomous droning relationship where a vehicle engages in at least partial autonomous driving based on information from another vehicle. A characteristic of the autonomous droning relationship can be determined from, for example, the received driving data. Example characteristics of an autonomous droning relationship include identification of a lead vehicle and a drone vehicle, an amount of time a vehicle is the lead or drone vehicle, and the amount of driving distance a vehicle is the lead or drone vehicle. Example properties of an insurance policy can include a premium for the first insurance policy, a deductible of the first insurance policy, and a coverage amount of the first insurance policy. Aspects of the disclosure also include determining an autonomous droning insurance factor using vehicle operational data and/or a characteristic of the autonomous droning relationship. The autonomous droning insurance factor can be used to determine the property of the first insurance policy using the autonomous droning insurance factor.

“Aspects of the present disclosure provide incentives for beneficial social interactions between vehicles and drivers. Other features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the additional description provided herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A driving analysis system comprising: a vehicle operational data collector, wherein the vehicle operational data collector is configured to collect vehicle operational data from at least one of vehicle sensors, vehicle on board diagnostic systems, and vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems associated with at least one of a first vehicle and a second vehicle; and a driving analysis computing device comprising: a processing unit comprising a processor; and a memory unit; and an electronic receiver, wherein the driving analysis computing device is configured to: receive, via the electronic receiver, the vehicle operational data; determine, by the processor, a drafting characteristic of a drafting relationship using the vehicle operational data, wherein the drafting characteristic comprises one or more of a vehicle spacing between the first vehicle and the second vehicle, vehicle speed, and vehicle type, wherein the drafting relationship indicates that the first vehicle and the second vehicle move in alignment to reduce an effect of drag by using a slipstream of the second vehicle; determine, by the processor, a drafting property associated with the first vehicle using the drafting characteristic; and allocate, by the processor, to the second vehicle a drafting reward based on the drafting property associated with the first vehicle.

“2. The driving analysis system of claim 1, wherein the drafting reward comprises at least one of a cash payment, a carbon credit, a fuel credit, a tax credit, a rebate, and at least a portion of a drafting fuel savings amount associated with the first vehicle.

“3. The driving analysis system of claim 1, wherein the drafting characteristic comprises the vehicle spacing between the first vehicle and the second vehicle and a first vehicle speed, and the drafting property comprises at least one of (1) a drafting fuel savings rate, and (2) a percentage increase in miles-per-gallon of the first vehicle.

“4. The driving analysis system of claim 1, further comprising: a display wherein the driving analysis computing device is further configured to present at least one of the drafting property and the drafting reward on the display.

“5. The driving analysis system of claim 1, wherein the driving analysis computing device is further configured to display, in real-time, at least one of the drafting property and the drafting reward.

“6. The driving analysis system of claim 1, wherein the drafting property is a drafting fuel savings amount, and wherein the drafting fuel savings amount is determined by subtracting from a first drafting miles-per-gallon reading a first non-drafting miles-per-gallon reading to determine a first drafting miles-per-gallon savings rate and dividing a first distance traveled by the first vehicle by the first drafting miles-per-gallon savings rate.

“7. The driving analysis system of claim 1, wherein the drafting characteristic comprises the vehicle spacing between the first vehicle and the second vehicle and a first vehicle speed, the drafting property comprises a percentage increase in miles-per-gallon of the first vehicle, and wherein the drafting property is determined from a correlation of vehicle spacing versus an increase in miles-per-gallon for the first vehicle.

“8. The driving analysis system of claim 7, wherein the correlation is based at least in part on a first vehicle type, a second vehicle type, a first vehicle speed, and a first vehicle miles-per-gallon at the first vehicle speed.

“9. The driving analysis system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle operational data is received from the second vehicle, and wherein the vehicle operational data is transmitted from the first vehicle to the second vehicle using the vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems.

“10. The driving analysis system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle operational data is collected by at least one of a first vehicle data acquiring component of the first vehicle and a second vehicle data acquiring component of the second vehicle.

“11. A driving analysis computing device comprising: a processing unit comprising a processor; a memory unit; and a wireless receiver, wherein the driving analysis computing device is configured to: receive, via the wireless receiver, driving data collected by at least one vehicle data acquiring component configured to collect the driving data from at least one of vehicle sensors, vehicle on-board diagnostics (OBD) systems, and vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems; determine, by the processor and based on the driving data, a drafting property associated with a first vehicle engaged in a drafting relationship with a second vehicle, wherein the drafting property is based on a drafting characteristic of the drafting relationship, wherein the drafting relationship indicates that the first vehicle and the second vehicle move in alignment to reduce an effect of drag by using a slipstream of the second vehicle, and wherein the drafting characteristic comprises one or more of a vehicle spacing between the first vehicle and the second vehicle, vehicle speed, and vehicle type; allocate, by the processor, a drafting reward to the second vehicle based on the drafting property associated with the first vehicle.

“12. The driving analysis computing device of claim 11, wherein the drafting property comprises a drafting fuel savings amount and the drafting reward comprises a payment equal to at least a portion of the drafting fuel savings amount associated with the first vehicle.

“13. The driving analysis computing device of claim 11, wherein the driving analysis computing device is further configured to assess, to an account associated with the first vehicle, a first payment.

“14. A method comprising: receiving, by a wireless receiver of a driving analysis computing device, vehicle operational data pertaining to at least one of a first vehicle and a second vehicle and collected by a vehicle operational data collector, wherein the vehicle operational data collector is configured to collect the vehicle operational data from at least one of vehicle sensors, vehicle on board diagnostic systems, and vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems; determining, by the processing unit of the driving analysis computing device, a drafting characteristic of a drafting relationship using the vehicle operational data, wherein the drafting relationship indicates that the first vehicle and the second vehicle move in alignment to reduce an effect of drag by using a slipstream of the second vehicle, and wherein the drafting characteristic comprises one or more of a vehicle spacing between the first vehicle and the second vehicle, vehicle speed, and vehicle type; determining, by the processing unit of the driving analysis computing device, a drafting property associated with the first vehicle using the drafting characteristic; and allocating, by the processing unit of the driving analysis computing device, a drafting reward to the second vehicle based on the drafting property associated with the first vehicle.

“15. The method of claim 14, wherein the drafting reward comprises at least one of a cash payment, carbon credit, a fuel credit, a tax credit, a rebate, and at least a portion of a drafting fuel savings amount associated with the first vehicle.

“16. The method of claim 14, wherein the drafting characteristic comprises a vehicle spacing between the first vehicle and the second vehicle and a first vehicle speed, and the drafting property comprises one of (1) a drafting fuel savings rate, or (2) a percentage increase in miles-per-gallon of the first vehicle.

“17. The method of claim 14, further comprising: displaying, on a computing device associated with the first vehicle, at least one of the drafting property and the drafting reward.

“18. The method of claim 14, wherein the drafting property is determined at least in part from a correlation of vehicle spacing versus an increase in miles-per-gallon for the first vehicle.

“19. The method of claim 18, wherein the correlation is based at least in part on a first vehicle type, a second vehicle type, a first vehicle speed, and a first vehicle miles-per-gallon at the first vehicle speed.”

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Slusar, Mark V. Reward system related to a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system. U.S. Patent Number 11551309, filed August 10, 2020, and published online on January 10, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11551309)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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