Patents by Inventor Brian M. Fields

Brian M. Fields has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20210155185
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for improving safety of one or more vehicle occupants. An example method for improving safety of one or more vehicle occupants includes accessing interior vehicle configuration data that is generated by, or derived from data generated by an interior data collection component, the data representing an interior space of a vehicle; determining, by processing the interior vehicle configuration data, location and orientation of one or more vehicle occupants; selecting a plurality of vehicle safety components to be active based on the location and orientation of the one or more vehicle occupants, and setting the plurality of vehicle safety components to an active state in which the plurality of vehicle safety components are deployed, when an emergency condition is detected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 5, 2021
    Publication date: May 27, 2021
    Inventors: Scott T. Christensen, Brian M. Fields, Stephen R. Prevatt, Steve Roberson
  • Patent number: 10953830
    Abstract: A system and method are provided for improving safety of one or more vehicle occupants. The system may include an interior data collection component configured to collected interior configuration data representing a physical configuration of the interior space of the vehicle, a plurality of vehicle safety components configured to protect the one or more vehicle occupants when deployed and one or more processors configured to determine, by processing the interior vehicle configuration data, a location and orientation of the one or more vehicle occupants; select a subset of the plurality of vehicle safety components to be active based on the location and orientation of the one or more vehicle occupants; and set the selected subset of the plurality of vehicle safety components to an active state in which the selected subset of the plurality of vehicle safety components is deployed when an emergency condition is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Scott T. Christensen, Brian M. Fields, Stephen R. Prevatt, Steve Roberson
  • Publication number: 20210061296
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for dynamically protecting transportable articles in vehicles. A system for dynamically protecting a transportable article in a vehicle may include one or more processors and non-volatile memory storing instructions. The instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to access sensed data representative of at least one of a characteristic or a trait of a transportable article in a vehicle, determine based on the data the at least one of the characteristic or the trait of the transportable article, select one or more article protection components based on the determined at least one of the characteristic or the trait of the transportable article, and deploy the selected one or more article protection components to protect the transportable article.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 11, 2020
    Publication date: March 4, 2021
    Inventors: Scott T. Christensen, Brian M. Fields, Stephen R. Prevatt, Steve Roberson
  • Publication number: 20210031790
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for controlling operation of a vehicle. An example system for controlling operation of a vehicle includes one or more data collection components and one or more processors. The one or more data collection components are configured to collect data representative of a physical configuration of an interior vehicle component. The one or more processors are configured to access the collected data, determine, by processing the collected data, the physical configuration of the interior vehicle component, select a manner of operation based upon the determined physical configuration of the interior vehicle component, and cause the vehicle to operate according to the manner of operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2020
    Publication date: February 4, 2021
    Inventors: Scott T. Christensen, Brian M. Fields, Stephen R. Prevatt, Steve Roberson
  • Patent number: 10858011
    Abstract: A system and method are provided for dynamically protecting one or more transportable articles in a vehicle. The system may include an interior data collection component configured to collect transportable article data representing one or more transportable articles in the vehicle, a plurality of article protections components configured to protect the one or more transportable articles when deployed, and one or more processors configured to determine, by processing the transportable data, one or more characteristic(s) and/or trait(s) of the one or more transportable articles; select a subset of the plurality of article protection components to deploy based on the one or more characteristic(s) and/or trait(s) of the one or more transportable articles; and deploy the selected subset of the plurality of article protection components to protect the one or more transportable articles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Scott T. Christensen, Brian M. Fields, Stephen R. Prevatt, Steve Roberson
  • Patent number: 10836401
    Abstract: A system and method are provided for controlling operation of a vehicle. The system may include an interior data collection component configured to collected interior configuration data representing an interior space of the vehicle, a vehicle operation control configured to control actions of the vehicle, and one or more processors configured to determine, by processing the interior vehicle configuration data, an interior vehicle configuration of the vehicle, and cause the vehicle operation controller to cause the vehicle to take a specific action based on the interior vehicle configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Scott T. Christensen, Brian M. Fields, Stephen R. Prevatt, Steve Roberson
  • Patent number: 10689003
    Abstract: A system and method for measuring a driver's actual driving behaviors (e.g., acceleration, deceleration) in a manual driving mode to determine their preferred driving style, and then causing an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle to operate itself, within limits, in accordance with the drivers' driving style when operating in a self-driving mode, thereby providing a more familiar and comfortable driving experience for the driver. Data is collected on the actual driving behavior, any pre-existing data is accessed on the actual driving behavior, and the collected data and the pre-existing data are combined. A custom control is then created based upon the combined data, and the custom control is applied to manage the self-driving behavior of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle in a self-driving mode. Additional data continues to be collected on the actual driving behavior, and the custom control is adjusted based upon the collected additional data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
    Inventors: Brian M. Fields, Joseph P. Harr, Jeremy Myers
  • Patent number: 10343693
    Abstract: In a computer-implemented method, data about potential vehicle operator impairment is retrieved. The data is generated by monitoring a vehicle operator, the environment ahead of the vehicle, and/or force in one or more directions. A number of impairment scores are generated by analyzing the data about potential vehicle operator impairment. A specific time period during which the vehicle operator tends to be most impaired is determined based on the impairment scores. Recommendations to reduce operator impairment of the vehicle operator are identified and communicated to the vehicle operator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
    Inventors: Bryan Allen Plummer, Parker Andrew Brown, Jibo He, Brian M. Fields, Steve Roberson, Steve Cielocha, Jufeng Peng
  • Patent number: 10343520
    Abstract: The method, system, and computer-readable medium facilitates monitoring one or more eyes of a vehicle operator during a driving session to generate a plurality of gaze location logs with gaze location values. The gaze location value may be generated by determining a location of the vehicle operator's gaze, determining which area of the vehicle is associated with the gaze location, and assigning the gaze location value based on the area of the vehicle associated with the gaze location. The gaze location logs may be analyzed to determine the duration of the vehicle operator's gaze at each area of the vehicle. Based on the duration of the vehicle operators gaze, one or more recommendations to improve vehicle operator performance may be identified and communicated to the vehicle operator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Bryan Allen Plummer, Parker Andrew Brown, Jibo He, Brian M. Fields, Steve Roberson, Steve Cielocha, Jufeng Peng
  • Patent number: 10311750
    Abstract: A method includes, during a driving session in which a student driver operates a vehicle, gathering driving skill data indicative of at least one of behavior of the student driver, acceleration of the vehicle, braking of the vehicle, or steering of the vehicle, and gathering comments from a driving instructor about the driving session. The method also includes generating a driving session report corresponding to the driving session. The driving session report includes at least one score based on the driving skill data, and the comments from the driving instructor about the driving session. Still further, the method includes causing the driving session report to be displayed on a display device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian M. Fields, Jibo He, John Adrian Nepomuceno, Steve Roberson, Bryan Allen Plummer, Kurtis C. Houdek, Neeraj Jain
  • Patent number: 10239538
    Abstract: A system and method for measuring a driver's actual driving behaviors (e.g., acceleration, deceleration) in a manual driving mode to determine their preferred driving style, and then causing an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle to operate itself, within limits, in accordance with the drivers' driving style when operating in a self-driving mode, thereby providing a more familiar and comfortable driving experience for the driver. Data is collected on the actual driving behavior, any pre-existing data is accessed on the actual driving behavior, and the collected data and the pre-existing data are combined. A custom control is then created based upon the combined data, and the custom control is applied to manage the self-driving behavior of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle in a self-driving mode. Additional data continues to be collected on the actual driving behavior, and the custom control is adjusted based upon the collected additional data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
    Inventors: Brian M. Fields, Joseph P. Harr, Jeremy Myers
  • Patent number: 10077056
    Abstract: A system and method for measuring a driver's actual driving behaviors (e.g., acceleration, deceleration) in a manual driving mode to determine their preferred driving style, and then causing an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle to operate itself, within limits, in accordance with the drivers' driving style when operating in a self-driving mode, thereby providing a more familiar and comfortable driving experience for the driver. Data is collected on the actual driving behavior, any pre-existing data is accessed on the actual driving behavior, and the collected data and the pre-existing data are combined. A custom control is then created based upon the combined data, and the custom control is applied to manage the self-driving behavior of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle in a self-driving mode. Additional data continues to be collected on the actual driving behavior, and the custom control is adjusted based upon the collected additional data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2018
    Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
    Inventors: Brian M. Fields, Joseph P. Harr, Jeremy Myers
  • Patent number: 9868352
    Abstract: The method, system, and computer-readable medium facilitates monitoring one or more eyes of a vehicle operator during a driving session to generate a plurality of gaze location logs with gaze location values. The gaze location value may be generated by determining a location of the vehicle operator's gaze, determining which area of the vehicle is associated with the gaze location, and assigning the gaze location value based on the area of the vehicle associated with the gaze location. The gaze location logs may be analyzed to determine the duration of the vehicle operator's gaze at each area of the vehicle. Based on the duration of the vehicle operators gaze, one or more recommendations to improve vehicle operator performance may be identified and communicated to the vehicle operator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Bryan Allen Plummer, Parker Andrew Brown, Jibo He, Brian M. Fields, Steve Roberson, Steve Cielocha, Jufeng Peng
  • Patent number: 9275532
    Abstract: The method, system, and computer-readable medium facilitates monitoring one or more eyes of a vehicle operator during a driving session to generate a plurality of gaze location logs with gaze location values and timestamps. The gaze location value may be generated by determining a focal point of the vehicle operator's gaze, determining which of a plurality of areas of the vehicle is associated with the focal point, and assigning the gaze location value based on the area of the vehicle associated with the focal point. The gaze location logs may be analyzed to determine the duration of the vehicle operator's gaze at each area of the vehicle. Based on the duration of the vehicle operators gaze, recommendations to improve vehicle operator performance may be determined and communicated to the vehicle operator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2016
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Bryan Allen Plummer, Parker Andrew Brown, Jibo He, Brian M. Fields, Steve Roberson, Steve Cielocha, Jufeng Peng
  • Patent number: 8981942
    Abstract: The method, system, and computer-readable medium facilitates monitoring a vehicle operator, the environment ahead of the vehicle, and/or forces acting on the vehicle during the course of vehicle operation to determine whether the vehicle operator is impaired (e.g., distracted, drowsy, intoxicated), alerting the vehicle operator when impairment is detected, and log data relating to vehicle operator impairment for further analysis. The method, system, and computer-readable medium may monitor the vehicle operator, the environment ahead of the vehicle, and/or forces acting on the vehicle using either or both of optical sensors or accelerometers. In particular, one optical sensor may monitor the vehicle operator to detect eye blinks, head nods, head rotations, and/or gaze fixation. Another optical sensor may monitor the road ahead of the vehicle to detect lane deviation, lane centering, and time to collision. The accelerometers may detect acceleration in the direction of vehicle travel and/or lateral acceleration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
    Inventors: Jibo He, Brian M. Fields, Steve Roberson, Steve Cielocha, Jufeng Peng, Julian Coltea
  • Patent number: 8930269
    Abstract: The method, system, and computer-readable medium facilitates monitoring a vehicle operator, the environment ahead of the vehicle, and/or forces acting on the vehicle during the course of vehicle operation to determine whether the vehicle operator is impaired (e.g., distracted, drowsy), log data relating to vehicle operator impairment for further analysis, and send the data to a server for analysis. The method, system, and computer-readable medium may monitor the vehicle operator, the environment ahead of the vehicle, and/or forces acting on the vehicle using either or both of optical sensors or accelerometers. In particular, one optical sensor may monitor the vehicle operator to detect eye blinks, head nods, head rotations, and/or gaze fixation. Another optical sensor may monitor the road ahead of the vehicle to detect lane deviation, lane centering, and time to collision. The accelerometers may detect acceleration in the direction of vehicle travel and/or lateral acceleration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
    Inventors: Jibo He, Brian M. Fields, Steve Roberson, Steve Cielocha, Jufeng Peng, Julian Coltea
  • Patent number: 8876535
    Abstract: Driving skill data is gathered with one or more accelerometers during a driving session of a first student driver, including one or more of acceleration data, braking data, or steering data and wherein the driving skill data includes one or more of a timestamp or location stamp. A driving session report is generated with a computer processor. The driving session report includes a calculation of one or more of a student driver acceleration skill score based on the acceleration data, a student driver braking skill score based on the braking data, or a student driver steering skill score based on the steering data and storing the one or more scores on a computer-readable medium. The driving session report is displayed. Driving skill data may be gathered and driving session reports may be generated for subsequent student drivers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
    Inventors: Brian M. Fields, Jibo He, John Adrian Nepomuceno, Steve Roberson, Bryan Allen Plummer, Kurtis C. Houdek, Neeraj Jain
  • Publication number: 20140272810
    Abstract: Driving skill data is gathered with one or more accelerometers during a driving session of a first student driver, including one or more of acceleration data, braking data, or steering data and wherein the driving skill data includes one or more of a timestamp or location stamp. A driving session report is generated with a computer processor. The driving session report includes a calculation of one or more of a student driver acceleration skill score based on the acceleration data, a student driver braking skill score based on the braking data, or a student driver steering skill score based on the steering data and storing the one or more scores on a computer-readable medium. The driving session report is displayed. Driving skill data may be gathered and driving session reports may be generated for subsequent student drivers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Inventors: Brian M. Fields, Jibo He, John Adrian Nepomuceno, Steve Roberson, Bryan Allen Plummer, Kurtis C. Houdek, Neeraj Jain
  • Publication number: 20140168399
    Abstract: The method, system, and computer-readable medium facilitates monitoring one or more eyes of a vehicle operator during a driving session to generate a plurality of gaze location logs with gaze location values and timestamps. The gaze location value may be generated by determining a focal point of the vehicle operator's gaze, determining which of a plurality of areas of the vehicle is associated with the focal point, and assigning the gaze location value based on the area of the vehicle associated with the focal point. The gaze location logs may be analyzed to determine the duration of the vehicle operator's gaze at each area of the vehicle. Based on the duration of the vehicle operators gaze, recommendations to improve vehicle operator performance may be determined and communicated to the vehicle operator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2013
    Publication date: June 19, 2014
    Inventors: Bryan Allen Plummer, Parker Andrew Brown, Jibo He, Brian M. Fields, Steve Roberson, Steve Cielocha, Jufeng Peng