Patent Issued for Systems and methods for managing and processing vehicle operator accounts based on vehicle operation data (USPTO 11810139): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2023 NOV 24 (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 11810139, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Baker, Nicholas R. (Normal, IL, US), Balbach, Steven 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).

This patent was filed on March 10, 2022 and was published online on November 7, 2023.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “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.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “According to one embodiment, a system to assess vehicle operator performance is provided. The system includes one or more sensors configured to track operation of a vehicle by a driver during at least one temporary association with the vehicle. The system includes one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more sensors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: (a) collect, from the one or more sensors, vehicle operational data during the at least one temporary association with the vehicle, (b) calculate, based on the vehicle operational data, a driving score, and © determine whether the driver qualifies for a reward based on whether the driving score has maintained at least a threshold rating over a course of the at least one temporary association.

“In another embodiment, a computer-implemented method to assess vehicle operator performance is provided. The method includes collecting, by one or more processors and from one or more sensors, vehicle operational data during at least one temporary association with a vehicle, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to track operation of the vehicle by a driver during the at least one prior temporary association with the vehicle. The method also includes calculating, by the one or more processors and based on the vehicle operational data, a driving score. The method also includes determining, by the one or more processors, whether the driver qualifies for a reward based on whether the driving score has maintained at least a threshold rating over a course of the at least one temporary association.

“In a further embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions to assess vehicle operator performance is provided. The instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to (a) receive, from one or more sensors, vehicle operational data during at least one temporary association with a vehicle, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to track operation of the vehicle by a driver during the at least one prior temporary association with the vehicle, (b) calculate a driving score based on the vehicle operational data, and © determine whether the driver qualifies for a reward based on whether the driving score has maintained at least a threshold rating over a course of the at least one temporary association.”

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 during at least one temporary association with the vehicle; and 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 during the at least one temporary association with the vehicle; determine, from the vehicle operational data collected from the one or more sensors, a set of driving events experienced during the at least one temporary association with the vehicle, wherein the set of driving events comprises a set of negative driving events and a set of positive driving events; calculate, based on an amount of the set of negative driving events and not on the set of positive driving events of the set of driving events, a driving score; and determine whether the driver qualifies for a reward based on whether the driving score has maintained at least a threshold rating over a course of the at least one temporary association.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein: the threshold rating is a first threshold rating, the reward is a first reward, the one or more processors are configured to determine that the driver qualifies for the first reward when the driving score has maintained at least the first threshold rating, and the one or more processors are configured to determine that the driver qualifies for a second reward when the driving score has maintained at least a second threshold rating over the course of the at least one temporary association.

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

“4. The system of claim 1, 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, and the one or more processors are further configured to adjust the cumulative driver rating for the driver to reflect the driving score and determine that the driver qualifies for the reward when the adjusted cumulative driver rating has maintained at least the threshold rating.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to display a discount based on the driving score.

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

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein the driving score is a quantitative driving score or a qualitative driving score.

“8. A method to assess vehicle operator performance, comprising: collecting, by one or more processors and from one or more sensors, vehicle operational data during at least one temporary association with a vehicle, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to track operation of the vehicle by a driver during the at least one temporary association with the vehicle; determining, by the one or more processors from the vehicle operational data collected from the one or more sensors, a set of driving events experienced during the at least one temporary association with the vehicle, wherein the set of driving events comprises a set of negative driving events and a set of positive driving events; calculating, by the one or more processors and based on an amount of the set of negative driving events and not on the set of positive driving events of the set of driving events, a driving score; and determining, by the one or more processors, whether the driver qualifies for a reward based on whether the driving score has maintained at least a threshold rating over a course of the at least one temporary association.

“9. The method of claim 8, wherein: the threshold rating is a first threshold rating, the reward is a first reward, the determining includes determining that the driver qualifies for the first reward when the driving score has maintained at least the first threshold rating, the method further comprising determining that the driver qualifies for a second reward when the driving score has maintained at least a second threshold rating over the course of the at least one temporary association.

“10. The method of claim 8, wherein: the method further comprises creating the at least one temporary association by enabling the driver to log into an application executing on the one or more processors.

“11. The method of claim 8, 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, and the method further comprising adjusting the cumulative driver rating for the driver to reflect the driving score and determining that the driver qualifies for the reward when the adjusted cumulative driver rating has maintained at least the threshold rating.

“12. The method of claim 8, wherein: the method further comprises creating the at least one temporary association by detecting the driver via biometrics.

“13. 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 during at least one temporary association with a vehicle, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to track operation of the vehicle by a driver during the at least one prior temporary association with the vehicle; determine, from the vehicle operational data collected from the one or more sensors, a set of driving events experienced during the at least one temporary association with the vehicle, wherein the set of driving events comprises a set of negative driving events and a set of positive driving events; calculate a driving score based on an amount of the set of negative driving events and not on the set of positive driving events of the set of driving events; and determine whether the driver qualifies for a reward based on whether the driving score has maintained at least a threshold rating over a course of the at least one temporary association.

“14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein: the threshold rating is a first threshold rating, the reward is a first reward, the one or more processors are configured to determine that the driver qualifies for the first reward when the driving score has maintained at least the first threshold rating, and the one or more processors are configured to determine that the driver qualifies for a second reward when the driving score has maintained at least a second threshold rating over the course of the at least one temporary association.

“15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein: the at least one temporary association is created by enabling the driver to log into an application executing on the one or more processors.

“16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, 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, and the one or more processors are further configured to adjust the cumulative driver rating for the driver to reflect the driving score and determine that the driver qualifies for the reward when the adjusted cumulative driver rating has maintained at least the threshold rating.

“17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to display a discount based on the driving score.

“18. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprises an accelerometer and a location module.

“19. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more sensors comprises an accelerometer and a location module.

“20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the one or more sensors comprises an accelerometer and a location module.”

For the URL and 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 11810139, filed March 10, 2022, and published online on November 7, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11810139)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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