Patent ID: 8762009
Filing Date: 2014-06-24
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method of determining vehicle impact events, comprising: continuously acquiring, via an impact sensor, vehicle acceleration data; continuously receiving, at a computing device, vehicle acceleration data acquired by the impact sensor; performing, via the computing device, statistical calculations on the continuously received vehicle acceleration data, wherein the statistical calculations comprise: setting, via the computing device, an impact threshold based on the calculated normal use operation; determining, via the impact sensor, vehicle impulses based on changes in the acquired vehicle acceleration data; identifying, via the computing device, received vehicle impulses that exceed the impact threshold, wherein vehicle impulses exceeding the impact threshold are identified as impacts; responsive to identifying impacts, characterizing, via the computing device, each impact as a normal use impact or a real impact; responsive to characterizing an impact as a real impact, recording, via the computing device, the real impact for subsequent analysis; wherein vehicle impulses less than or substantially equal to a sum of the recursive average and the recursive standard deviation are normal use impacts; and wherein vehicle impulses greater than a sum of the recursive average and the recursive standard deviation are real impacts.