Patent Issued for Systems and methods for controlling vehicle systems based on driver assessment (USPTO 11427207): United Services Automobile Association

2022 SEP 20 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, a patent by the inventors Ethington, Seth E. (McKinney, TX, US), Farmer, William Daniel (Carrollton, TX, US), Krishnaswamy, Pooja (Cedar Park, TX, US), Shiveley, Timothy (Farmers Branch, TX, US), Thomas, Anto Chirayil (Coppell, TX, US), Veibell, Daniel Scott (Plano, TX, US), filed on August 27, 2020, was published online on August 30, 2022.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 11427207, is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The present disclosure relates generally to controlling a vehicle system used to operate a vehicle based on an assessment performed on a potential driver. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to assessing various properties associated with the driver and controlling access to drive the vehicle based on the various properties.

“As vehicle driving systems become more capable of receiving and analyzing data from various data sources, the vehicle driving systems may use the acquired and analyzed data to control certain vehicle operations. Indeed, the increased vehicle operation controls may ensure that the vehicles that are operating on roadways are operating in such a manner that reduces the likelihood of accidents.

“This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to help provide the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it is understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below.

“In one embodiment, a system may include one or more sensors that may acquire health data related to an individual. The system may also include a processor that may receive trip data associated with a current location of the individual and a destination location for the individual, traffic condition data associated with one or more routes between the current location and the destination location, and weather related data associated with the one or more routes. The processor may also receive the health data from the one or more sensors and determine whether the individual is associated with a driver assessment score above a threshold based on the trip data, the traffic condition data, the weather data, the health data, or any combination thereof. The processor may then send an activation signal to a vehicle control system in response to the driver assessment score being above the threshold, such that the activation signal may enable the vehicle control system to control one or more operations of a vehicle.

“In yet another embodiment, a method may include receiving, via a processor, trip data associated with a current location of the individual and a destination location for the individual, receiving traffic condition data associated with one or more routes between the current location and the destination location, and receiving weather data associated with the one or more routes, and receiving health data from one or more sensors disposed in a computing device. The method may then involve determining a driver assessment score based on the trip data, the traffic condition data, the weather data, the health data, or any combination thereof and sending a request to a ride share system in response to the driver assessment score being below a threshold.

“In another embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, are configured to cause the processor to perform operations that may include receiving trip data associated with a current location of the individual and a destination location for the individual. The operations may also include receiving traffic condition data associated with one or more routes between the current location and the destination location, receiving weather data associated with the one or more routes, and receiving health data from one or more sensors disposed in a computing device. After receiving the data, the operations may include determining a driver assessment score based on the trip data, the traffic condition data, the weather data, and the health data. The operations may then involve sending a command to a vehicle control system to allow access to one or more operations of a vehicle in response to the driver assessment score being above a threshold.

“Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in relation to various aspects of the present disclosure. Further features may also be incorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements and additional features may exist individually or in any combination. For instance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more of the illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of the above-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in any combination. The brief summary presented above is intended only to familiarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of embodiments of the present disclosure without limitation to the claimed subject matter.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system, comprising: one or more sensors configured to be worn by or attached to an individual and configured to acquire health data related to the individual, wherein the health data comprises a concentration of a substance in blood; and a processor configured to: receive trip data associated with a current location of the individual and a destination location for the individual; receive traffic condition data associated with one or more routes between the current location and the destination location; receive weather data associated with the one or more routes; receive the health data from the one or more sensors; assign one or more weights to the traffic condition data, the weather data, the health data, or any combination thereof based on the trip data; determine a driver assessment score based on the trip data, the traffic condition data, the weather data, the health data, and the one or more weights; determine whether the driver assessment score is above a threshold; and send an activation signal to a vehicle control system in response to the driver assessment score being above the threshold, wherein the activation signal is configured to enable the vehicle control system to allow access to control one or more operations of a vehicle.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to send a request for a ride to a ride share system in response to the driver assessment score being below the threshold, wherein the request comprises at least a portion of the trip data.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the traffic condition data is acquired via an electronic news source, a social media site, or any combination thereof.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the health data comprises pressure data or tension data.

“5. The system of claim 4, wherein the one or more sensors are disposed in a computing device.

“6. The system of claim 5, wherein the computing device comprises a mobile phone.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein the health data comprises one or more reaction times to visual stimuli.

“8. A method, comprising: receiving, via a processor, trip data associated with a current location of an individual and a destination location for the individual; receiving, via the processor, traffic condition data associated with one or more routes between the current location and the destination location; receiving, via the processor, weather data associated with the one or more routes; receiving, via the processor, health data from one or more sensors disposed in a computing device; assigning, via the processor, one or more weights to the traffic condition data, the weather data, the health data, or any combination thereof based on the trip data; determining, via the processor, a driver assessment score based on the trip data, the traffic condition data, the weather data, the health data, and the one or more weights; and sending, via the processor, a request to a ride share system in response to the driver assessment score being below a threshold.

“9. The method of claim 8, comprising sending an activation signal to a vehicle control system in response to the driver assessment score being above the threshold, wherein the activation signal is configured to enable the vehicle control system to allow access to control one or more operations of a vehicle.

“10. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the health data comprises receiving an indication of a force against the one or more sensors.

“11. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the health data comprises: displaying at least one visual stimulus via an electronic display; tracking a movement of an eye in response to the at least one visual stimulus; and determining an amount of time associated with the movement of the eye.

“12. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more sensors comprise an image sensor configured to track the movement of the eye.

“13. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the trip data comprises mining one or more data sources for the trip data.

“14. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more data sources comprises one or more emails, social media data, or both.

“15. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the health data comprises receiving an indication of an amount of activity associated with the individual.

“16. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more sensors comprise a wearable device configured to detect the amount of activity.

“17. The method of claim 16, wherein the amount of activity comprises a number of steps, a heartrate, a number of calories, or any combination thereof.

“18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, are configured to cause the processor to perform operations comprising: receiving trip data associated with a current location of an individual and a destination location for the individual; receiving traffic condition data associated with one or more routes between the current location and the destination location; receiving weather data associated with the one or more routes; receiving health data from one or more sensors disposed in a computing device; assigning one or more weights to the traffic condition data, the weather data, the health data, or any combination thereof based on the trip data; determining a driver assessment score based on the trip data, the traffic condition data, the weather data, the health data, and the one or more weights; and sending a command to a vehicle control system to allow access to one or more operations of a vehicle in response to the driver assessment score being above a threshold.

“19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the computer-executable instructions are configured to cause the processor to perform the operations comprising sending a notification to the computing device in response to the driver assessment score being below the threshold, wherein the notification is indicative of access being denied to the vehicle.

“20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the computer-executable instructions are configured to cause the processor to perform the operations comprising sending a notification to the computing device in response to the driver assessment score being below the threshold, wherein the notification is indicative of a ride being requested by a ride share system.”

For more information, see this patent: Ethington, Seth E. Systems and methods for controlling vehicle systems based on driver assessment. U.S. Patent Number 11427207, filed August 27, 2020, and published online on August 30, 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=11427207.PN.&OS=PN/11427207RS=PN/11427207

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