Method and system for assessing damage to infrastucture

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10007992-B1
Application number	US-201715718323-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 28, 2017
Priority date	Oct 9, 2014
Publication date	Jun 26, 2018
Grant date	Jun 26, 2018

Abstract

A method and system may assess the damage to insured properties in a neighborhood using aerial images captured from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a manned aerial vehicle (MAV) or from a satellite device. Specifically, a neighborhood that has been affected by a natural or man-made disaster may be identified for assessing damage. The UAV, MAV, or satellite device may then capture aerial images within an area which surrounds the identified neighborhood. Subsequently, the aerial images may be analyzed to identify insured properties, and determine a condition and the extent and/or severity of the damage to each insured property. Furthermore, the aerial images along with indications of the extent of the damage to each insured property may be displayed on a computing device.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method for assessing damage to insured properties in a neighborhood, the method executed by one or more processors programmed to perform the method, the method comprising:
identifying, by the one or more processors, a neighborhood including a concentration of insured properties which is above a predetermined threshold concentration level, wherein the neighborhood has been affected by a natural or a man-made disaster;
receiving, at the one or more processors, a plurality of aerial images from an aerial image capturing device, wherein the plurality of aerial images display the neighborhood including the insured properties; and
for each of the insured properties in the identified neighborhood:
determining, by the one or more processors, one or more aerial images of the plurality of aerial images which display at least a portion of the insured property;
determining, by the one or more processors, a condition of the at least a portion of the insured property based on the one or more aerial images,
determining, by the one or more processors, a type of the at least a portion of the insured property;
determining, by the one or more processors, a damage severity level of the at least a portion of the insured property based on the condition and the type of the at least a portion of the insured property;
assigning, by the one or more processors, a damage severity level indicator to the at least a portion of the insured property based on the damage severity level; and
displaying, by the one or more processors, the insured property and the damage severity level indicator on a user interface;

wherein in response to identifying the neighborhood, the one or more processors cause the aerial image capturing device to capture the plurality of aerial images which display the neighborhood including the insured properties.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the condition of the at least a portion of the insured property is a present condition and determining a damage severity level includes:
determining, by the one or more processors, a past condition of the at least a portion of the insured property, wherein the past condition is based on one or more aerial images corresponding to the insured property which were captured before the neighborhood was affected by the natural or man-made disaster;
comparing, by the one or more processors, the present condition to the past condition of the at least a portion of the insured property; and
determining, by the one or more processors, the damage severity level for the at least a portion of the insured property based on the comparison between the present and the past conditions.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
directing, by the one or more processors, the aerial image capturing device to one or more locations for capturing the plurality of aerial images.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of aerial images are received via a satellite.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least a portion of the insured property includes at least one of: a window, a door, a roof, siding, an exterior wall, a garage, a backyard, a swimming pool, a lawn, a foundation, a driveway, a fence, a tree, a deck, or a patio.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a damage severity level includes:
determining, by the one or more processors, a plurality of damage severity level categories;
assigning, by the one or more processors, a different damage severity level indicator to each of the plurality of damage severity level categories;
identifying, by the one or more processors, a damage severity level indicator of the plurality of damage severity level categories for the at least a portion of the insured property that corresponds to the damage severity level category for the at least a portion of the insured property based on the damage severity level of the at least a portion of the insured property; and
overlaying, by the one or more processors, the identified damage severity level indicator on the displayed one or more aerial images that correspond to the at least a portion of the insured property on the user interface.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein a natural or man-made disaster includes at least one of: a tornado, a hurricane, an avalanche, an earthquake, a flood, a tsunami, a volcanic eruption, a hail storm, a wildfire, a thunderstorm, a nuclear incident, a war or an act of terrorism.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the one or more processors, a claim amount for the insured property based on the damage severity level of the at least a portion of the insured property before an owner of the at least one insured property files an insurance claim.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining a claim amount includes pre-filling at least one form associated with the insurance claim for the insured property.

10. A system for assessing damage to insured properties in a neighborhood, the system comprising:
one or more processors;
a user interface;
a communication network; and
a non-transitory computer-readable memory coupled to the one or more processors, the user interface, and the communication network, and storing thereon instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:
identify a neighborhood including a concentration of insured properties which is above a predetermined threshold concentration level, wherein the neighborhood has been affected by a natural or a man-made disaster;
receive a plurality of aerial images from an aerial image capturing device, wherein the plurality of aerial images display the neighborhood including the insured properties; and
for each of the insured properties in the identified neighborhood:
determine one or more aerial images of the plurality of aerial images which display at least a portion of the insured property;
determine a condition of the at least a portion of the insured property based on the one or more aerial images,
determine a type of the at least a portion of the insured property;
determine a damage severity level of the at least a portion of the insured property based on the condition and the type of the at least a portion of the insured property;
assign a damage severity level indicator to the at least a portion of the insured property based on the damage severity level; and
display the insured property and the damage severity level indicator on the user interface;

wherein in response to identifying the neighborhood, the one or more processors cause the aerial image capturing device to capture the plurality of aerial images which display the neighborhood including the insured properties.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the condition of the at least a portion of the insured property is a present condition and to determine a damage severity level, the instructions cause the system to:
determine a past condition of the at least a portion of the insured property, wherein the past condition is based on one or more aerial images corresponding to the insured property which were captured before the neighborhood was affected by the natural or man-made disaster;
compare the present condition to the past condition of the at least a portion of the insured property; and
determine the damage severity level for the at least a portion of the insured property based on the comparison between the present and the past conditions.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to:
direct the aerial image capturing device to one or more locations for capturing the plurality of aerial images.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the

Assignees

• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co

Inventors

• Harvey Brian N
• Tofte Nathan L
• Schmidgall Roger D
• Aviles Michael Jeffrey
• Pott Kyle
• Grant Rosemarie Geier
• Haefli Eric
• Jacob Michael Shawn

Classifications

• G06V20/176 Primary

  Urban or other man-made structures · CPC title

• G06T7/0004

  Industrial image inspection · CPC title

• G06F18/24

  Classification techniques · CPC title

• G06K9/4604

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06T15/005

  General purpose rendering architectures · CPC title