GB2555079A

GB2555079A - System for vehicle operation

Info

Publication number: GB2555079A
Application number: GB1613527.9A
Authority: GB
Inventors: William Casey Stuart
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2016-08-05
Filing date: 2016-08-05
Publication date: 2018-04-25

Abstract

A system for vehicle operation requiring biometric identification of a driver in order to modify performance characteristics such as power output and maximum speed. The system comprises a biometric reader and a controller for implementing the identification process and adjusting performance of the car. Biometric information may include fingerprint scanning or facial recognition. The performance change may be to switch to exclusive user of the electric motor mode in a hybrid (HEV). The intended purpose of the system is to reduce performance in line with insurance group parameters so that a single vehicle can be used by all members of the family with a driver's license at an affordable premium.

Description

(71) Applicant(s):

Stuart William Casey

Lower Manor Road, MILFORD, Surrey, GU8 5JH, United Kingdom (72) Inventor(s):

Stuart William Casey (56) Documents Cited:

WO 2007/094988 A2 US 20080223646 A1

US 20150025727 A1 US 20070158128 A1 (58) Field of Search:

INT CL B60K, B60R, B60W

Other: WPI, EPODOC, Patents Fulltext (74) Agent and/or Address for Service:

Stuart William Casey

Lower Manor Road, MILFORD, Surrey, GU8 5JH, United Kingdom (54) Title of the Invention: System for vehicle operation

Abstract Title: Vehicle controlled according to identification of person (57) A system for vehicle operation requiring biometric identification of a driver in order to modify performance characteristics such as power output and maximum speed. The system comprises a biometric reader and a controller for implementing the identification process and adjusting performance of the car. Biometric information may include fingerprint scanning or facial recognition. The performance change may be to switch to exclusive user of the electric motor mode in a hybrid (HEV). The intended purpose of the system is to reduce performance in line with insurance group parameters so that a single vehicle can be used by all members of the family with a driver's license at an affordable premium.

System for Vehicle Operation

The present invention relates to a system for vehicle operation, particularly a system that is capable of determining the identity of a driver in order to potentially implement restrictions on operation of the vehicle.

Background to the Invention

In the UK, the earliest age it is possible to obtain a driver's licence is seventeen. It is well understood that the youngest drivers are statistically more dangerous, due to the lack of experience, which is naturally accounted for by insurance company premiums.

Therefore, in order for the insurance premium to be affordable, buying or operating a car at that young age generally involves finding a vehicle that is in insurance group 1 or 2 which tends to be lower powered (e.g. one litre engine) and very basic. Vehicles in higher insurance groups will be more powerful and premiums become proportionally more expensive to the point of being impractical for young drivers.

The challenge for a modern family is that a low powered vehicle is not something that a parent will want to drive, often resulting in the need for an additional vehicle being bought for the young driver. If a compromise is made in order to only maintain a single vehicle, usually both parties, the parent/adult and young driver, do not enjoy use of that vehicle.

There are a number of options to reduce an insurance premium for a younger driver including limited mileage, driving classic cars or fitting a telematics box that measures how the car is driven. Safer driving habits result in lower insurance premiums over time. Typically, the boxes are placed inside a dashboard and are able to monitor parameters such as speed, acceleration and braking, as well as the time of day that the car is on the road.

Some vehicle manufacturers offer a system that allows an entry/ignition key to be programmed with settings particular to the driver/custodian of the key. Settings may restrict top speed, audio volume and seatbelt warnings, designed to encourage more responsible driving. However, this does not address the insurance challenge/multiple car issue, not does it prevent younger drivers from borrowing the adult's/parent's key.

The present invention seeks to provide a system for vehicle operation where the vehicle can be configured for use based on an identified driver, primarily for the purpose of reducing insurance premiums and improving overall safety for inexperienced drivers.

A broad aspect of the invention is outlined by claim 1. This involves using a biometric reader in a recognition system allowing a vehicle to automatically differentiate between drivers, particularly adult and young drivers. This may be byway of fingerprint recognition associated with ignition, or facial recognition, e.g. by utilising a smart phone application wirelessly connected to the vehicle, and matching the identification with a user profile.

In any event, the recognition system is required to identify an individual driver using available technology which overcomes the problem of storing information in a keythatcan be misused. Identification is likely to be by association with a stored profile (and only stored/authorised users may operate the vehicle at all), but it is conceivable that the system could more generally identify an age and/or gender of a user and implement performance restrictions based on the determination.

Identification of the driver results in certain settings of the vehicle being activated or deactivated, i.e. in the case of a young driver identity, modifying the performance of the vehicle in some way such as lowering the output power. This could be achievable by switching to exclusive use of an electric motor in a hybrid vehicle and/or limiting the rate of acceleration and/or top speed.

Further options may be possible such as ensuring stability aids/traction control/airbags are permanently activated and limiting speed based on location on a map, e.g. in residential areas where the driver cannot accelerate beyond the speed limit.

If a suitable smart phone application is installed, then it would be possible to transmit data in real-time to an insurance company keeping record of the driver's performance and safety record.

By uniquely identifying the driver as a young driver and reducing performance characteristics of the vehicle (e.g. speed and acceleration) to that of a typical Insurance Group 1 or 2 (or equivalent, dependent on the country) vehicle, it is then possible for a parent to allow the young driver to use the family vehicle without having to buy an additional car or trade down in engine size, power and the like.

Claims

Claims:

1. A system for vehicle operation comprising:

a biometric reader;

a controller configured to identify a person from biometric information collected by the biometric reader and modify performance characteristics of a vehicle.

2. The system for vehicle operation of claim 1 wherein the performance characteristics relate to one of more of the following: power output, top speed, acceleration, switchability of traction control/stability control.

3. The system for vehicle operation of claim 2, wherein the power output setting of the vehicle involves switching to exclusive use of an electric motor.

4. The system for vehicle operation of any proceeding claim wherein the controller is able to access stored biometric identity information, in order to implement a performance characteristic setting associated with the identified person

5. The system for vehicle operation of any proceeding claim wherein the performance characteristics are determined by parameters defined by insurance group.

Intellectual

Property

Office

Application No: GB1613527.9 Examiner: Mr Christopher Robertson Claims searched: 1-5 Date of search: 24 January 2018