Granted Patent B2

US 12,259,731 · App. 18/103,689 · Granted Mar 25, 2025

Inventors: Aleksandr Likhterman (Wheeling, IL); Sunil Chintakindi (Menlo Park, CA); Harini Anand (Hawthorn Woods, IL)

Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company

G05D1/0214B60W60/0011G05D1/0221G05D1/0276G06V10/22G06V10/768

Abstract

Claims (57)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, via one or more sensors, location data and environmental data, the location data associated with a location of a vehicle and the environmental data associated with surroundings of the vehicle, the environmental data including at least one of an indication of precipitation, a type of precipitation, a volume of precipitation, a temperature, a presence of road ice, a presence of fluid on road, ambient light levels, a presence of fog, a density of fog, driver visibility, a presence of wind, or a velocity of wind;

identifying one or more driving danger areas in a vicinity around the location of the vehicle, wherein each of the one or more driving danger areas is associated with one or more driving hazards and based on historical incident data corresponding to the vicinity around the location of the vehicle;

detecting a driving hazard of the one or more driving hazards in the environmental data, the driving hazard associated with the one or more driving danger areas; and

generating a detection alert in response to detection of the driving hazard in the environmental data.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating one or more bounding assessment boxes to mark boundaries of a portion of the environmental data; and

focusing analysis of the environmental data to an area indicated by the one or more bounding assessment boxes.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein detecting the driving hazard comprises: detecting at least one of the following:

one or more unexpected objects in a scene identified in the one or more bounding assessment boxes, or

one or more objects missing from the scene identified in the one or more bounding assessment boxes.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the environmental data comprises one or more of: image data from an imaging device and sensor data from a proximity sensor.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

configuring, based on the location data indicating that the vehicle is located in the one or more driving danger areas, vehicle operation logic of a vehicle control computer of the vehicle to increase an assessment priority of the driving hazard while the vehicle is located in the one or more driving danger areas.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an expected driving route from the location of the vehicle to a destination point;

identifying the historical incident data relative to the expected driving route; and

determining the one or more driving danger areas relative to the expected driving route.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

configuring vehicle operation logic of a vehicle control computer of the vehicle to perform one or more driving actions in response to detecting the one or more driving hazards; and

responsive to detecting the one or more driving hazards, performing at least one of the one or more driving actions.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the one or more driving actions comprise: activating a brake of the vehicle, causing the vehicle to change lanes, disabling acceleration of the vehicle, reducing a speed of the vehicle, turning on headlights of the vehicle, turning on emergency lights of the vehicle, honking a horn of the vehicle, or turning on windshield wipers of the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a risk score for each of the one or more driving danger areas; and

configuring, based on an autonomous level of the vehicle and the risk score for the one or more driving danger areas, vehicle operation logic of a vehicle control computer of the vehicle to perform one or more driving actions in response to detecting the one or more driving hazards.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

calculating, based on the historical incident data, a starting insurance coverage level for a driving trip associated with the vicinity around the location of the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

periodically determining, based on a determination that the vehicle has entered the one or more driving danger areas, has exited the one or more driving danger areas, or has encountered the one or more driving hazards, whether to adjust the starting insurance coverage level for the driving trip.

12. A system comprising:

a sensor configured to collect location data of a vehicle and environmental data associated with surroundings of the vehicle, the environmental data including at least one of an indication of precipitation, a type of precipitation, a volume of precipitation, a temperature, a presence of road ice, a presence of fluid on road, ambient light levels, a presence of fog, a density of fog, driver visibility, a presence of wind, or a velocity of wind; and

a control computer in communication with a server configured to store historical incident data, the control computer configured to detect a driving hazard in the environmental data, the driving hazard associated with a driving danger area in a vicinity around the vehicle and identified based on the historical incident data, a detection alert being generated in response to detection of the driving hazard in the environmental data.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the control computer is further configured to:

generate one or more bounding assessment boxes to mark boundaries of a portion of the environmental data; and

focus analysis of the environmental data to an area indicated by the one or more bounding assessment boxes.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the control computer detects the driving hazard by detecting at least one of the following:

one or more unexpected objects that identified in the one or more bounding assessment boxes, or

one or more objects missing from the scene identified in the one or more bounding assessment boxes.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the environmental data comprises one or more of: image data from an imaging device and sensor data from a proximity sensor.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the control computer is further configured to:

configure, based on the location data indicating that the vehicle is located in the driving danger area, vehicle operation logic of to increase an assessment priority of the driving hazard while the vehicle is located in the driving danger area.

17. One or more non-transitory, computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by, cause a computing device of a vehicle to:

receive location data of the vehicle;

determine a location of the vehicle;

receive, via one or more sensors, environmental data associated with surroundings of the vehicle, the environmental data including at least one of an indication of precipitation, a type of precipitation, a volume of precipitation, a temperature, a presence of road ice, a presence of fluid on road, ambient light levels, a presence of fog, a density of fog, driver visibility, a presence of wind, or a velocity of wind;

identify one or more driving danger areas in a vicinity around the location of the vehicle, wherein each of the one or more driving danger areas is associated with one or more driving hazards and based on historical incident data corresponding to the vicinity around the location of the vehicle;

detect a driving hazard of the one or more driving hazards in the environmental data, the driving hazard associated with the one or more driving danger areas; and

generate a detection alert in response to detection of the driving hazard in the environmental data.

18. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 17 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the computing device to detect the driving hazard by:

generating one or more bounding assessment boxes to mark boundaries of a portion of the environmental data; and

focusing analysis of the environmental data to an area indicated by the one or more bounding assessment boxes,

wherein the environmental data comprises one or more of: image data from an imaging device and sensor data from a proximity sensor.

19. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 18 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the computing device to detect the driving hazard by detecting at least one of the following:

one or more unexpected objects identified in the one or more bounding assessment boxes, or

one or more objects missing from a scene identified in the one or more bounding assessment boxes.

20. The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 18 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the computing device to:

configure, based on the location data indicating that the vehicle is located in the one or more driving danger areas, vehicle operation logic of a vehicle control computer of the vehicle to increase an assessment priority of the driving hazard while the vehicle is located in the one or more driving danger areas.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (45)