Patent Issued for Systems and methods for managing and processing vehicle operator accounts based on vehicle operation data (USPTO 11301890): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2022 APR 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Baker, Nicholas R. (Normal, IL, US), Balbach, Steve J. (Bloomington, IL, US), Binion, Todd (Bloomington, IL, US), Clauss, Mark E. (Bloomington, IL, US), Cote, Kerry (Mesa, AZ, US), Fields, Brian Mark (Phoenix, AZ, US), Pott, Kyle (Bloomington, IL, US), Rhoades, Andrea Lee (Kenney, IL, US), filed on September 30, 2020, was published online on April 12, 2022.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11301890 is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “There are numerous opportunities and circumstances in which individuals may operate vehicles, either rented vehicles or vehicles that the individuals may own. With the proliferation of the “sharing economy,” these opportunities and circumstances are increasing. For example, individuals have increasing access to rental vehicles offered by rental car companies as well as to shared vehicles offered by car sharing companies. For further example, ride sharing services or transportation network companies enable individuals to use their own vehicles to transport other individuals who request rides.

“Currently, there exist no systems to process an individual’s driving performance when operating a vehicle either for vehicle rental, vehicle sharing, or ride sharing purposes. As a result, there are no safe driving incentives for individuals who operate vehicles in these circumstances, and individuals are not rewarded for their safe driving. Of course, any unsafe driving behaviors are generally priced into costs associated with the services, including vehicle repair and maintenance costs, as well as vehicle insurance. Further, passengers in ride sharing services are not able to gauge a performance of the drivers available in the ride sharing services.

“Accordingly, there is an opportunity to effectively and accurately assess vehicle operator performance, as well as incentive/reward certain performance and avail relevant performance data associated with vehicle operators.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “According to one embodiment, a computer-implemented method of processing driver accounts associated with detected driver events in a vehicle is provided. The method includes associating a driver of the vehicle with an electronic device located within the vehicle, tracking operation of the vehicle by the driver, the tracking facilitated by a set of sensors associated with at least one of the electronic device and the vehicle and resulting in a set of vehicle operation data, and detecting a conclusion of the operation of the vehicle by the driver. The method further includes: responsive to detecting the conclusion, analyzing the set of vehicle operation data to calculate a quantitative driving score for the driver, determining, based on the quantitative driving score, that the driver is eligible for an incentive or reward, and applying the incentive or reward to an account associated with the driver.

“In another embodiment, a computer-implemented method of processing driver accounts associated with detected driver events in a vehicle is provided. The method includes associating a driver of the vehicle with an electronic device located within the vehicle, detecting an initiation of a trip associated with the vehicle, the trip being facilitated by the driver, and tracking operation of the vehicle during the trip, the tracking facilitated by a set of sensors associated with at least one of the electronic device and the vehicle and resulting in a set of vehicle operation data. The method further includes detecting a conclusion of the trip, responsive to detecting the conclusion, analyzing the set of vehicle operation data to calculate a quantitative driving score for the driver, and adjusting a driver rating of the driver based on the quantitative driving score.

“In a further embodiment, an electronic device associated with a vehicle for processing driver accounts associated with detected driver events in the vehicle is provided. The electronic device includes a communication interface configured to collect data, a memory adapted to store non-transitory computer executable instructions included in an application, and a particularly programmed processor adapted to interface with the communication interface. The processor is configured to execute the application to cause the processor to: associate a driver of the vehicle with the electronic device located within the vehicle, track, via the communication interface, operation of the vehicle by the driver, the tracking facilitated by a set of sensors associated with at least one of the electronic device and the vehicle and resulting in a set of vehicle operation data, detect a conclusion of the operation of the vehicle by the driver, responsive to detecting the conclusion, analyze the set of vehicle operation data to calculate a quantitative driving score for the driver, determine, based on the quantitative driving score, that the driver is eligible for an incentive or reward, and apply the incentive or reward to an account associated with the driver.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system to assess vehicle operator performance, comprising: one or more sensors configured to track operation of a vehicle by a driver, wherein the driver has a cumulative driver rating reflective of at least one prior performance by the driver during at least one prior temporary association with the vehicle; one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more sensors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: collect, from the one or more sensors, vehicle operational data having a temporary association with the vehicle; identify, from the vehicle operational data, a driving event; calculate, based on the vehicle operational data and the driving event, a quantitative driving score for a trip; adjust the cumulative driver rating for the driver to reflect the quantitative driving score; and determine that the driver qualifies for a reward when the cumulative driver rating has maintained at least a threshold rating over a course of the temporary association and the at least one prior temporary association.

“2. The system of claim 1 wherein: the temporary association is created by enabling the driver to log into an application executing on the one or more processors.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are included in a computing device, and wherein the computing device comprises one of a smartphone or an onboard telematics platform of the vehicle.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors is further configured to display a discount based on the quantitative driving score for the trip.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein: the temporary association is created by detecting the driver via biometrics.

“6. A method to assess vehicle operator performance, comprising: collecting, by one or more processors and from one or more sensors, vehicle operational data having a temporary association with a vehicle, tracking, by the one or more processors and from the vehicle operational data, operation of the vehicle by a driver, wherein the driver has a cumulative driver rating reflective of at least one prior performance by the driver during at least one prior temporary association with the vehicle; identifying, by the one or more processors and from the vehicle operational data, a driving event; calculating, by the one or more processors and based on the vehicle operational data and the driving event, a quantitative driving score for a trip; adjusting, by the one or more processors, the cumulative driver rating for the driver to reflect the quantitative driving score; and determining, by the one or more processors, that the driver qualifies for a reward when the cumulative driver rating has maintained at least a threshold rating over a course of the temporary association and the at least one prior temporary association.

“7. The method of claim 6, wherein: the method further comprises creating the temporary association by enabling the driver to log into an application executing on the one or more processors.

“8. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are included in a computing device, and wherein the computing device comprises one of a smartphone or an onboard telematics platform of the vehicle.

“9. The method of claim 6, further comprising displaying the quantitative driving score for the trip.

“10. The method of claim 6, wherein: the method further comprises creating the temporary association by detecting the driver via biometrics.

“11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: receive, from one or more sensors, vehicle operational data having a temporary association with a vehicle; track, from the vehicle operational data, operation of the vehicle by a driver, wherein the driver has a cumulative driver rating reflective of at least one prior performance by the driver during at least one prior temporary association with the vehicle; identify a driving event from the vehicle operational data; calculate a quantitative driving score for a trip based on the vehicle operational data and the driving event; adjust the cumulative driver rating for the driver to reflect the quantitative driving score; and determine that the driver qualifies for a reward when the cumulative driver rating has maintained at least a threshold rating over a course of the temporary association and the at least one prior temporary association.

“12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein: the temporary association is created by enabling the driver to log into an application executing on the one or more processors.

“13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are included in a computing device, and wherein the computing device comprises one of a smartphone or an onboard telematics platform of the vehicle.

“14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to display a discount based on the quantitative driving score for the trip.

“15. The system of claim 1, wherein the driving event includes at least one of a hard brake, acceleration, a hard turn, a swerve, speeding, a hard acceleration, or contact with another vehicle.

“16. The method of claim 6, wherein the driving event includes at least one of a hard brake, acceleration, a hard turn, a swerve, speeding, a hard acceleration, or contact with another vehicle.

“17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the driving event includes at least one of a hard brake, acceleration, a hard turn, a swerve, speeding, a hard acceleration, or contact with another vehicle.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Baker, Nicholas R. Systems and methods for managing and processing vehicle operator accounts based on vehicle operation data. U.S. Patent Number 11301890, filed September 30, 2020, and published online on April 12, 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=11301890.PN.&OS=PN/11301890RS=PN/11301890

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