Patent Issued for Systems and methods for model-based analysis of damage to a vehicle (USPTO 11159715): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2021 NOV 16 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Andrus, Jennifer Malia (Champaign, IL, US), Bokshi-Drotar, Marigona (McKinney, TX, US), Green, Daniel J. (Bloomington, IL, US), Lambert, Holly (Roswell, GA, US), Lawless, Derek (Bloomington, IL, US), Sanderson, Holly Kay (Bloomington, IL, US), Sliz, Bradley A. (Deerfield, IL, US), Tomlinson, Shane (Bloomington, IL, US), Yang, He (The Colony, TX, US), filed on July 28, 2020, was published online on October 26, 2021, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11159715 is assigned to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “In most cases of damage, such as to a vehicle, the damage may be reviewed by an individual, such as an appraiser, to determine a cost to repair the damage. This may require either the owner of the vehicle to transport the vehicle to the appraiser, or the appraiser to travel to the vehicle. Depending on the amount of damage to the vehicle, it may not be worthwhile to require the owner or the appraiser to travel. Furthermore, the damage appraisal process takes time, which may delay the owner receiving the money to have the repairs performed. Conventional techniques may have other drawbacks, inefficiencies, and/or inconveniences as well.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present embodiments may relate to systems and methods for model-based analysis of damage to a vehicle, and estimating a cost to repair the vehicle. The system may include a damage analysis (DA) computer system, one or more insurance network computer devices, one or more user devices associated with at least one camera, and/or one or more repair facility computer devices. The DA computer system may be associated with an insurance network, or may be merely in communication with an insurance network.

“The DA computer system may be configured to: (i) receive, from a user, a request for an estimate to repair an object, which may be a vehicle; (ii) receive a plurality of images of the object to repair, including at least one image of damage to the object; (iii) determine whether the plurality of images properly display the object and the damage by comparing the plurality of images to one or more models; (iv) determine one or more additional images needed if the determination is that the plurality of images do not properly display at least one of the object and the damage; (v) transmit an image request to the user for the one or more additional images, where the image request further includes an angle of, and/or a distance from, the object for each of the one or more additional images; (vi) analyze the plurality of images in comparison to a plurality of models; (vii) determine an amount of damage to the object based upon the analysis; (viii) determine a time to repair the object based upon the amount of damage; (ix) determine whether the time to repair exceeds a first threshold; (x) calculate a cost to repair the object if the time to repair does not exceed the first threshold; (xi) categorize the damage as light damage (or low, minor, not severe or substantial damage) if the time to repair does not exceed the first threshold; (xii) determine whether the time to repair exceeds a second threshold if the time to repair exceeds the first threshold; (xiii) categorize the damage as medium damage if the time to repair does not exceed the second threshold; (xiv) categorize the damage as heavy damage if the time to repair exceeds the second threshold; (xv) instruct the user to take the object to a repair facility for an estimate if the damage is medium damage or heavy damage; (xvi) determine whether the user desires to repair the object if the damage is light damage; (xvii) transfer the cost to repair the object to an account associated with the user if the determination is that the user does not desire to repair the object; (xviii) determine a repair facility to repair the object if the determination is that the user desires to repair the object; (xix) transfer the cost to repair the object to an account associated with the repair facility; (xx) schedule an appointment to repair the object with the repair facility; and/or (xxi) transfer the plurality of images to the repair facility. The computer system may include additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“In one aspect, a computer system for model-based analysis of damage to an object may be provided. The computer system may include at least one processor (and/or associated transceiver) in communication with at least one memory device. The at least one processor (and/or associated transceiver) may be configured or programmed to: (1) receive, from a user, a request for an estimate to repair an object; (2) receive a plurality of images of the object to repair, including at least one image of damage to the object; (3) analyze the plurality of images in comparison to a plurality of models; (4) determine an amount of damage to the object based upon the analysis; and/or (5) determine a time to repair the object based upon the amount of damage to facilitate quickly and accurately estimating damage to the object. The computer system may have additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, a computer-implemented method for model-based analysis of damage to an object may be provided. The method may be implemented on a damage analysis (“DA”) computer system including at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device. The method may include: (1) receiving, from a user, a request for an estimate to repair an object; (2) receiving, from the user, a plurality of images of the object to repair, including at least one image of damage to the object; (3) analyzing, by the processor, the plurality of images in comparison to a plurality of models; (4) determining, by the processor, an amount of damage to the object based upon the analysis; and/or (5) determining, by the processor a time to repair the object based upon the amount of damage to facilitate quickly and accurately estimating damage to the object. The method may have additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“In at least one further aspect, at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon may be provided. When executed by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions may cause the processor to: (1) receive, from a user, a request for an estimate to repair an object; (2) receive a plurality of images of the object to repair, including at least one image of damage to the object; (3) analyze the plurality of images in comparison to a plurality of models; (4) determine an amount of damage to the object based upon the analysis; and/or (5) determine a time to repair the object based upon the amount of damage to facilitate quickly and accurately estimating damage to the object. The computer-executable instructions may have additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer system for capturing images of damage to an object, the computer system including at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, the at least one processor is programmed to: store an orientation model associated with an object; receive, from a user, a request to analyze damage to the object; determine a plurality of views of the object for analyzing the object and the damage based upon the orientation model; determine a first view of the plurality of views based upon the damage and the orientation model; determine a first position for a camera based upon the first view; and instruct the user to position the camera at the first position relative to the object; and receive an image of the object from the camera.

“2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to determine whether the received image is properly framed using the orientation model.

“3. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the processor is further programmed to instruct the user to adjust the position of the camera if the received image is not properly framed.

“4. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the processor is further programmed to instruct the user to position the camera at a second position relative to the object if the received image is properly framed.

“5. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the received image is properly framed if it captures the first view, wherein the processor is further programmed to compare the received image with the orientation model to determine if the received image captures the first view.

“6. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the received image is properly framed if it captures the first view, wherein the processor is further programmed to: determine an amount of variation between the received image and the first view; and provide feedback to the user based upon the amount of variation.

“7. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the processor is further programmed to repeatedly receive images from the camera until the received image is properly framed.

“8. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to: store a plurality of orientation models of objects; and determine an orientation model of the plurality of orientation models associated with the object based upon the request to analyze damage to the object.

“9. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: store one or more damage classification models; and determine the plurality of views of the object for analyzing the object and the damage based upon the orientation model and the one or more damage classification models.

“10. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to: provide positive feedback to the user if the received image is properly framed; and provide negative feedback to the user if the received image is not properly framed.

“11. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to: continuously receive images from the camera; and continuously provide feedback to the user about if the received image is properly framed.

“12. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of views includes at least one view of an identifier of the object, wherein the identifier includes at least one of a license plate and a vehicle identification number.

“13. A computer-implemented method for capturing images of damage to an object, the method implemented on a damage analysis (“DA”) computer system including at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, the method comprising: storing, in the memory device, an orientation model associated with an object; receiving, from a user, a request to analyze damage to the object; determining a plurality of views of the object for analyzing the object and the damage based upon the orientation model; determining a first view of the plurality of views based upon the damage and the orientation model; determining a first position for a camera based upon the first view; instructing, by the processor, the user to position the camera at the first position relative to the object; and receiving, from the camera, an image of the object.

“14. The method of claim 13 further comprising determining, by the processor, whether the received image is properly framed using the orientation model.

“15. The method of claim 14 further comprising instructing the user to adjust the position of the camera if the received image is not properly framed.

“16. The method of claim 14 further comprising instructing the user to position the camera at a second position relative to the object if the received image is properly framed.

“17. The method of claim 14, wherein the received image is properly framed if it captures the first view, wherein the method further comprises comparing the received image with the orientation model to determine if the received image captures the first view.

“18. The method of claim 14, wherein the received image is properly framed if it captures the first view, wherein the method further comprises: determining an amount of variation between the received image and the first view; and providing feedback to the user based upon the amount of variation.

“19. The method of claim 14 further comprising repeatedly receiving images from the camera until the received image is properly framed.

“20. The method of claim 13 further comprising: storing, in the memory device, a plurality of orientation models of objects; and determining an orientation model of the plurality of orientation models associated with the object based upon the request to analyze damage to the object.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Andrus, Jennifer Malia. Systems and methods for model-based analysis of damage to a vehicle. U.S. Patent Number 11159715, filed July 28, 2020, and published online on October 26, 2021. 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=11159715.PN.&OS=PN/11159715RS=PN/11159715

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