Enhanced unmanned aerial vehicles for damage inspection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9505494-B1
Application number	US-201514700469-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Apr 30, 2015
Priority date	Apr 30, 2015
Publication date	Nov 29, 2016
Grant date	Nov 29, 2016

Abstract

Systems and methods for performing insurance damage inspection by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) are provided. A computing device may receive a request to inspect a vehicle, the request comprising a location of the vehicle. The computing device may identify a UAV from a plurality of UAVs that is located closest to the location of the vehicle from other UAVs in the plurality of UAVs. The computing device may instruct the UAV to travel to the location of the vehicle. The computing device may instruct the UAV to collect damage information on the vehicle using one or more onboard sensors of the UAV. The computing device may determine an amount of insurance payout to approve for repairs to the vehicle based on the damage information collected by the UAV.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
an insurance system server; and
an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in communication with the insurance system server via a network, the UAV further including:
an energy source to power the UAV;
a processor; and
memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the UAV to:
receive, from the insurance system server, an instruction to travel to a location of a real estate property corresponding to a damage incident;
receive, from the insurance system server, an instruction to collect information on at least one aspect of the real estate property;
identify one or more onboard sensors of the UAV to collect the information on at least one aspect of the real estate property;
collect the information on the at least one aspect of the real estate property using the identified one or more onboard sensors;
identify, based on the collected information on the at least one aspect of the real estate property, a type of damage incurred on the at least one aspect of the real estate property;
receive, from the insurance system server, an instruction to deliver a payment to an insurance policyholder associated with the real estate property for the identified type of damage; and
deliver the payment to the insurance policyholder.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instruction to travel to the location of the real estate property is received upon:
receiving, by the insurance system server, a claims request for the at least one aspect of the real estate property; and
determining, by the insurance system server, that the insurance policyholder is unable to submit proof identifying damage inflicted on the at least one aspect of the real estate property.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein receiving the instruction for the UAV to collect information on the at least one aspect further includes:
receiving an instruction for the UAV to identify damage to the at least one aspect of the real estate property; and
determining, by the UAV one or more onboard sensors to collect different types of data based on the identified damage.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein receiving the instruction to collect information on the at least one aspect further includes:
receiving an instruction for the UAV to identify a plurality of vantage points with respect to the at least one aspect of the real estate property; and
receiving an instruction for the UAV to collect information on the at least one aspect from each of the plurality of the identified vantage points.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the insurance system server, the information on the at least one aspect of the real estate property collected by the one or more onboard sensors of the UAV;
identifying, by the insurance system server, a type of damage incurred on the at least one aspect of the real estate property based on the information collected by the UAV; and
determining, by the insurance system server, whether the insurance policyholder has insured the real estate property for the identified type of damage.

6. The system of claim 5 , further comprising:
responsive to determining that the insurance policyholder has insured the real estate property for the identified type of damage:
identifying, by the insurance system server, insurance account history of the insurance policyholder; and
identifying, by the insurance system server, an amount of payout that the insurance policyholder is eligible to receive for the identified type of damage based on at least one of the insurance account history and extent of the identified damage from the information collected by the UAV.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying, by the insurance system server, the UAV from a plurality of UAVs, by identifying which of the plurality of UAVs is located closest to the location of the real estate property, and wherein the one or more of the plurality of UAVs is instructed to perform duties of an insurance claims adjuster.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the information collected by the UAV comprises optical image data, infrared image data, hyperspectral image data, LIDAR data, thermal sensor data, chemical sensor data, event data recorder data, and audio data.

9. A system comprising:
an insurance system server having a first processor, a communication interface and a first memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the insurance system server to:
identify a real estate property to be inspected;
identify an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from a plurality of UAV's, the identified UAV having a location within a predefined proximity of a location of the real estate property to be inspected; and
transmit, to the UAV, an instruction to collect information about a condition of the real estate property using one or more onboard sensors of a plurality of onboard sensors of the UAV; and

the UAV in communication with the insurance system server via a network, the UAV further including:
an energy source to power the UAV;
at least a second processor; and
at least a second memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the at least a second processor, cause the UAV to:
receive the instruction to collect information about the condition of the real estate property;
identify at least one onboard sensor of the plurality of onboard sensors of the UAV to collect each different type of a plurality of different types of information about the condition of the real estate property;
collect, via the identified at least one onboard sensor to collect each different type of the plurality of different types of information, the different types of information about the condition of the real estate property; and
transmit, to the insurance system server, the collected different types of information about the condition of the real estate property;

the insurance system server further including instructions that, when executed, cause the insurance system server to:
receive, from the UAV, the different types of information collected by the one or more onboard sensors;
determine an insurance underwriting decision based on the plurality of different types of information captured by the UAV; and
transmit an instruction to the UAV to deliver the insurance underwriting decision;

the UAV further including instructions that, when executed, cause the UAV to:
deliver the insurance underwriting decision.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein identifying the real estate property to be inspected further includes:
receiving, by the insurance system server, a claims request for the real estate property;
identifying, by the insurance system server, one or more available methods to inspect the real estate property; and
determining, by the insurance system server, that instructing the UAV to collect the information about the condition of the real estate property is a most cost effective method, of the one or more available methods, to inspect the real estate property.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein transmitting an instruction to the UAV to collect information about a condition of the real estate property further includes:
determining, by the insurance system server, the location of the real estate property; and
transmitting an instruction to the UAV to travel to the location of the real estate property.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein determining the insurance underwriting decision further includes:
determining, by the insurance system server, an insurance account with which the real estate property is associated;
identifying, by the insurance

Assignees

• Allstate Insurance Co

Inventors

• Marlow Clint J
• Corder Bryan Keith

Classifications

• G06Q40/08 Primary

  Insurance · CPC title

• B64U2101/30

  for imaging, photography or videography · CPC title

• B64U2201/00

  UAVs characterised by their flight controls · CPC title

• B64C2201/12

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B64C39/024 Primary

  of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV · CPC title