Fully autonomous vehicle insurance pricing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10089693-B1
Application number	US-201514713271-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 15, 2015
Priority date	May 20, 2014
Publication date	Oct 2, 2018
Grant date	Oct 2, 2018

Abstract

Methods and systems for determining risk associated with operation of fully autonomous vehicles are provided. According to certain aspects, autonomous operation features associated with a vehicle may be determined, including types and version of sensors, control systems, and software. This information may be used to determine a risk profile reflecting risk levels for a plurality of features, which may be based upon test data regarding the features or actual loss data. Expected use levels may further be determined and used with the risk profile to determine a total risk level associated with operation of the vehicle by the autonomous operation features. The expected use levels may indicate expected vehicle use, as well as traffic, weather, or other conditions in which the vehicle is likely to operate. The total risk level may be used to determine or adjust aspects of an insurance policy associated with the vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for evaluating effectiveness of one or more autonomous operation features in controlling a vehicle, comprising:
generating, by one or more test units configured to simultaneously test a plurality of autonomous operation features, test results for the plurality of autonomous operation features including a plurality of versions of computer-readable instructions of at least one of the one or more autonomous operation features of the vehicle, wherein the test units generate the test results as control commands generated by the one or more autonomous operation features of the test units in response to test sensor data that simulates sensor data for an autonomous vehicle operating under a plurality of operating conditions within a virtual test environment;
receiving, at one or more processors, information regarding the one or more autonomous operation features of the vehicle under the plurality of operating conditions, the information identifying the one or more autonomous operation features of the vehicle, including an indication of a type and a current version of the plurality of versions of the at least one of the one or more autonomous operation features and an indication of a type and a version of an additional autonomous operation feature of the one or more autonomous operation features;
determining, by one or more processors, a risk profile associated with autonomous operation of the vehicle based upon the information regarding the one or more autonomous operation features and the test results generated by the one or more test units, wherein the risk profile includes a plurality of risk levels associated with autonomous operation of the vehicle under the plurality of operating conditions by the one or more autonomous operation features, including a plurality of risk levels associated with the plurality of versions of the at least one of the one or more autonomous operation features, wherein each of the plurality of risk levels is determined based upon an effectiveness of a respective version of the plurality of versions of the at least one of the one or more autonomous operation features in controlling an aspect of operation of the vehicle under a respective operating condition of the plurality of operating conditions, and wherein each of the plurality of risk levels is also associated with the additional autonomous operation feature;
determining, by one or more processors, a plurality of expected use levels of the vehicle, wherein the expected use levels are associated with the plurality of operating conditions and the current version of the plurality of versions of the at least one of the one or more autonomous operation features;
determining, by one or more processors, a total risk level associated with autonomous operation of the vehicle by the current version of the plurality of versions of the at least one of the one or more autonomous operation features and the additional autonomous operation feature based at least in part upon the determined risk profile and the determined plurality of expected use levels; and
causing, by one or more processors, one or more of the following actions to be performed based upon the determined total risk level: adjusting an insurance policy associated with the vehicle, determining a coverage level associated with the insurance policy, presenting information regarding the determined total risk level to a reviewer via a display of a reviewer computing device to verify the determined total risk level, or presenting the determination to a customer via a display of a customer computing device for review of an adjustment to the insurance policy associated with the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the total risk level is determined without reference to factors relating to risks associated with a vehicle operator.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the test results include responses of the test units to test inputs corresponding to test scenarios.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information regarding the one or more autonomous operation features of the vehicle is based upon (i) the test results for the one or more test units, each of the one or more test units corresponding to the one or more autonomous operation features, which test results include responses of the test units to test inputs corresponding to test scenarios, and (ii) actual losses associated with insurance policies covering a plurality of other vehicles having at least one of the one or more autonomous operation features.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the expected use levels include one or more of (i) expected autonomous operation levels of the vehicle, (ii) expected operation of the vehicle by a vehicle operator, or (iii) expected settings associated with the one or more autonomous operation features.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, at one or more processors, a request for a quote of a premium associated with a vehicle insurance policy;
determining, by one or more processors, a premium associated with the vehicle insurance policy based upon the total risk level; and
presenting, by one or more processors, an option to purchase the vehicle insurance policy to a customer associated with the vehicle.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information regarding the one or more autonomous operation features includes one or more of the following with respect to each of the one or more autonomous operation features: a type and version of the autonomous operation feature, an operation of the autonomous operation feature, a type and version of autonomous operation feature control software, or settings of the autonomous operation feature.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
receiving information regarding the one or more autonomous operation features of the vehicle further comprises:
receiving, at one or more processors, information regarding the vehicle;
determining, by one or more processors, types of the one or more autonomous operation features and types of one or more sensors installed in the vehicle based upon the information regarding the vehicle; and
determining, by one or more processors, the plurality of risk levels associated with autonomous operation of the vehicle, at least in part, based upon the sensors installed in the vehicle.

9. A computer system for evaluating effectiveness of one or more autonomous operation features in controlling a vehicle, comprising:
one or more processors;
one or more communication modules adapted to communicate data;
one or more test units configured to simultaneously test a plurality of autonomous operation features and to generate test results for the plurality of autonomous operation features including a plurality of versions of computer-readable instructions of at least one of the one or more autonomous operation features of the vehicle, wherein the test units generate the test results as control commands generated by the one or more autonomous operation features of the test units in response to test sensor data that simulates sensor data for an autonomous vehicle operating under a plurality of operating conditions within a virtual test environment, and wherein the test data is communicated to the one or more processors via the one or more communication modules; and
a program memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing executable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the computer system to:
receive information regarding the one or more autonomous operation features of the vehicle under the plurality of operating conditions, the information identifying the one or more autonomous operation features of the vehicle, including an indication of a type and a curr

Assignees

• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co

Inventors

• Konrardy Blake
• Christensen Scott T
• Hayward Gregory
• Farris Scott

Classifications

• G06F30/20

  Design optimisation, verification or simulation (optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30) · CPC title

• G08G1/096725

  where the received information generates an automatic action on the vehicle control · CPC title

• G07C5/08

  Registering or indicating performance data other than driving, working, idle, or waiting time, with or without registering driving, working, idle or waiting time · CPC title

• G06Q10/0635

  Risk analysis of enterprise or organisation activities · CPC title

• G08G1/165

  for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees · CPC title