Researchers Submit Patent Application, “Vehicle Telematics Of Vehicle Crashes”, for Approval (USPTO 20200017048)

2020 JAN 31 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Transportation Daily News -- From Washington, D.C., NewsRx journalists report that a patent application by the inventors Shea, Kimberly (ON, CA); Mirano, Geronimo (Cambridge, MA); Park, Jun-geun (Cambridge, MA); Bradley, William (Arlington, MA), filed on March 1, 2019, was made available online on January 16, 2020.

The patent’s assignee is Cambridge Mobile Telematics Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “This description relates to vehicle telematics of vehicle crashes.

“Automotive safety organizations and insurance claim adjustors have a great interest in understanding the events surrounding a vehicle crash. Typically, experts have attempted to reconstruct a crash using measurements taken at the crash site after the crash. Reconstructing and understanding the details of a crash after the fact is difficult, time-consuming, and often inaccurate. Advances in vehicle telematics make it possible to collect vehicle motion data before, during, and after a crash.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent application, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “In general, in an aspect, a documentation of the crash involving a vehicle is generated automatically. Telematics data is received that has been produced by one or more sensors associated with a telematics device at the vehicle. Based on the telematics data, a vehicle crash period is determined that begins at a start time and ends at an end time of the vehicle crash. Based on the telematics data, one or more metrics are determined associated with the vehicle during the vehicle crash period. Based on one or more metrics, a human-readable documentation of the vehicle crash is generated automatically.

“Implementations may include one or a combination of two or more of the following features. Using a crash detection component and based on a crash detection model, a probability is calculated that the telematics data is associated with a vehicle crash. The human-readable documentation includes a description of the vehicle crash including a narrative of the one or more metrics. The human-readable documentation of the vehicle crash is displayed. Using a crash metrics component and based on the telematics data, a first rate of altitude change and a second rate of altitude change are calculated. Using the crash metrics component, a difference is calculated between the first rate of altitude change and the second rate of altitude change. Using the crash metrics component, is determined that an airbag associated with the vehicle was deployed based on the difference satisfying a predetermined threshold. Using a crash metrics component and based on the telematics data, one or more peak acceleration values are calculated for at least one axis associated with the telematics device. Using the crash metrics component and based on the one or more peak acceleration values, an acceleration event is calculated that includes no more than one peak acceleration value for each of the at least one axis associated with the telematics device. Using the crash metrics component and based on the acceleration event, a qualitative measure of acceleration is determined for each of the at least one axis associated with the telematics device. Based on the acceleration event, a direction of a vehicle impact of the vehicle is calculated. Based on the acceleration event, a maneuver of the vehicle before a vehicle impact is calculated. The based on the one or more metrics, a severity score of the vehicle crash is calculated. Based on the telematics data, a human gait occurring after the start time of the vehicle crash period is identified. The automatic generation of the human-readable documentation includes deriving features of the crash from the telematics data. The features of the crash include an event prior to a first impact of the crash. The features of the crash include an event after a final impact of the crash. The features of the crash include vehicle speed. The features of the crash include an event after a first impact of the crash and before a final impact of the crash. The features of the crash include events determined with respect to a largest impact of the crash. The features of the crash include features associated with a position or orientation of the vehicle during the crash. The human-readable documentation includes a crash narrative. The generation of the human-readable documentation includes assembling predetermined prose phrases corresponding to the features of the crash. The prose phrases identify times. The prose phrases identify locations or orientations. The prose phrases identify speeds.

“In general, in aspect, a vehicle telematics system automatically generates a documentation of a vehicle crash. The system includes a processor and storage for instructions executable by the processor to perform the following activities: obtain telematics data from one or more sensors associated with a telematics device; calculate, based on the telematics data, a vehicle crash period that begins at a start time and ends at an end time of the vehicle crash; determine, based on the telematics data, one or more metrics associated with a vehicle during the vehicle crash period; and automatically provide, based on the one or more metrics, a human-readable documentation of the vehicle crash.

“Implementations may include one or a combination of two or more of the following features. The one or more sensors include at least one of an accelerometer, a speedometer, a barometer, a gyroscope, a compass, and a position sensor. The system includes a user interface for displaying the human-readable documentation of the vehicle crash. The human-readable documentation of the vehicle crash includes a description of the vehicle crash including a narrative of the one or more metrics. The one or more metrics include at least one of a crash duration, a number of impacts, a mean acceleration, a yaw during the vehicle crash, a direction of vehicle impact, an indication of airbag deployment, an indication of vehicle rollover, an indication of a vehicle maneuver, an indication of whether the vehicle was driven post-crash, and an indication of environmental conditions during the vehicle crash. The system includes communications circuitry to communicate one or more of the telematics data, the vehicle crash period, the one or more metrics, and the human-readable documentation of the vehicle crash to a remote server. The remote server is associated with at least one of an automotive safety organization, an insurance company, an emergency service, a user of the telematics device, or a user of the vehicle. The telematics device includes a mobile device. Additional instructions are executable by the processor to: calculate, by a crash detection component and based on a crash detection model, a probability that the telematics data is associated with a vehicle crash. Additional instructions are executable by the processor to: identify, based on the telematics data, a human gait occurring after the start time of the vehicle crash period.

“These and other aspects, features, and implementations (a) can be expressed as methods, apparatus, systems, components, program products, methods of doing business, means or steps for performing a function, and in other ways and (b) will become apparent from the following description, including the claims.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method comprising: a processor executing instructions for receiving telematics data produced by one or more sensors at the vehicle; the processor executing instructions for identifying, based on the telematics data, a start time of the vehicle crash; the processor executing instructions for receiving data at the vehicle during the vehicle crash; the processor executing instructions for determining, based on the data, a state of a mobile device before the start time of the vehicle crash; the processor automatically generating documentation of the vehicle crash, the documentation comprising an indication of the state of the mobile device before the start time of the vehicle crash; and communicating the documentation to a user device for presentation to a user.

“2. The method of claim 1 in which the state of the mobile device comprises a call-related state.

“3. The method of claim 2 in which the call-related state comprises a call in progress.

“4. The method of claim 2 in which the call-related state comprises no call in progress.

“5. The method of claim 2 in which the call-related state comprises a hands-free state.

“6. The method of claim 1 in which the received telematics data are produced by one or more sensors in a telematics device.

“7. The method of claim 6 in which the mobile device comprises the telematics device.

“8. The method of claim 1 in which the one or more sensors include at least one of an accelerometer, a speedometer, a barometer, a gyroscope, a compass, or a position sensor.

“9. The method of claim 8 in which the one or more sensors comprise a camera or other imaging device.

“10. The method of claim 1 in which the user device is associated with at least one of an automotive safety organization, an insurance company, an emergency service, a user of the mobile device, and a user of the vehicle.

“11. The method of claim 1 in which the documentation comprises a human-readable narrative description of features of the vehicle crash.

“12. The method of claim 11 in which generating the human-readable documentation comprises assembling predetermined prose phrases corresponding to the features of the vehicle crash.

“13. The method of claim 12 in which the prose phrases identify at least one of (a) times, (b) locations or orientations, or © speeds.

“14. The method of claim 1 in which the processor is not at the vehicle.

“15. The method of claim 1, comprising: determining, based on the telematics data, a road associated with the vehicle crash; determining, based on the telematics data, a familiarity of a user of the vehicle with the road associated with the vehicle crash; and generating the human-readable prose documentation of the vehicle crash comprising the familiarity of the user with the road.

“16. The method of claim 1, comprising: determining, based on the telematics data, a yaw rate of the vehicle during the vehicle crash; and generating the human-readable prose documentation of the vehicle crash comprising a description that the vehicle was yawing during the vehicle crash based on the yaw rate exceeding a predetermined threshold.

“17. The method of claim 1, comprising: detecting, based on the telematics data, a human gait associated with a user of the vehicle, the human gait occurring after the vehicle crash; and generating the human-readable prose documentation of the vehicle crash comprising a description that the user of the vehicle was walking after the crash based on the human gait of the user.

“18. The method of claim 1, comprising: determining, based on the telematics data, a first position of the vehicle at a start of the vehicle crash and a second position of the vehicle at an end of the vehicle crash; and generating a map of the vehicle crash, the map including one or more markers indicating the first position and the second position of the vehicle during the vehicle crash.

“19. The method of claim 1, comprising: calculating, based on the telematics data, a first rate of altitude change and a second rate of altitude change; calculating a difference between the first rate of altitude change and the second rate of altitude change; and generating the human-readable prose documentation of the vehicle crash comprising a description that an airbag associated with the vehicle was deployed based on the difference satisfying a predetermined threshold.

“20. The method of claim 1, comprising: determining, based on one or more metrics, a direction of a vehicle impact of the vehicle; and generating the human-readable prose documentation of the vehicle crash comprising the direction of the vehicle impact.

“21. A system comprising: a processor; and storage for instructions executable by the processor to: receive telematics data produced by one or more sensors at the vehicle; identify, based on the telematics data, a start time of the vehicle crash; receive data at the vehicle during the vehicle crash; determine, based on the data, a state of a mobile device before the start time of the vehicle crash; automatically generate documentation of the vehicle crash, the documentation comprising an indication of the state of the mobile device before the start time of the vehicle crash; and communicate the documentation to a user device for presentation to a user.

“22. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: receiving telematics data produced by one or more sensors at the vehicle; identifying, based on the telematics data, a start time of the vehicle crash; receiving data at the vehicle during the vehicle crash; determining, based on the data, a state of a mobile device before the start time of the vehicle crash; automatically generating documentation of the vehicle crash, the documentation comprising an indication of the state of the mobile device before the start time of the vehicle crash; and communicating the documentation to a user device for presentation to a user.”

For additional information on this patent application, see: Shea, Kimberly; Mirano, Geronimo; Park, Jun-geun; Bradley, William. Vehicle Telematics Of Vehicle Crashes. Filed March 1, 2019 and posted January 16, 2020. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220200017048%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20200017048&RS=DN/20200017048

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