Recording trustworthy information for incident forensic analysis

Abstract

System (1) for recording trustworthy information for incident forensic analysis comprising: a sensory system (2) configured to acquire data relative to one or more quantities related to the vehicle, to information coming from advanced driver assistance systems of the vehicle, the road conditions and the status of the driver and generate a corresponding output; electronic computing resources (3) in communication with the sensory system (2) and configured to receive and process the output generated by the sensory system (2) to generate a record relative to the current condition of the vehicle, the driver and the road conditions, the record being stored in a local data storage (4) in communication with the electronic computing resources, the record comprising a timestamp indicative of a time instant associated with relative conditions of the vehicle, the driver and the road conditions determined based on the output generated by the sensory system and being associated with a related unique signature identifying the same record; and third-party resources (5) in communication with the electronic computing resources (3) and configured to receive the record and the associated unique signature and store them in a remote data storage (6) in communication with the third-party resources (5).

Description

[0001] RECORDING TRUSTWORTHY INFORMATION FOR INCIDENT FORENSIC ANALYSIS"

[0002] Cross-Reference To Related Applications

[0003] This patent application claims priority from European patent application no. 24161926.1 filed on March 7, 2024, and from Italian patent application no. 102025000004683 filed on March 6, 2025, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0004] Technical Field of the Invention

[0005] The present invention generally relates to incident forensic analysis, in particular to a distributed system or infrastructure for recording trustworthy information for incident forensic analysis and a related computer program product or software.

[0006] Background of the Invention

[0007] As is known, understanding the behavior of a driver just before an impact or accident is not easy; on this regard, most modem cars can record data on impact severity, airbag function, seat belt use, pre-impact speed and driver actions (e.g. actions on the steering wheel and the pedals of the vehicle). The combination of the abovementioned data allows the description of the trajectory and the dynamic of the vehicle before an accident.

[0008] Various known solutions have been provided.

[0009] In particular, an event data recorder (EDR), also referred to as automotive black box (in particular by analogy with the common nickname for flight recorders), is a device installed in most vehicle, either cars, trucks or the like, to record information related to traffic collisions. Event data recorders are triggered by electronically sensed problems in the engine ( / '.<?. faults) or a sudden changes in the speed of the vehicle where said event data recorders are installed to. It is noted that one or more of these conditions may occur because of an accident. Furthermore, it is also noted that information from these devices can be collected after a crash and analyzed to help determine what the vehicle was doing before, during and after the crash or event.

[0010] The primary purpose of an event data recorder is to improve driver safety by knowing the status of the vehicle in real-time. However, evidence derived from an event data recorder has been used increasingly over the years in disputes relating to traffic- related accidents and incidents, providing very useful data for accident reconstruction. This is even more true when combining the event data recorders with Video Event Data Recorders (VEDRs), the latter being devices that record video in a vehicle to create a record of accidents and for evaluating driver and vehicle performance. Indeed, video event data recorders are a logical extension that complements the event data recorder; in fact, video event data recorders can drastically minimize fraudulent accidents, encourage early settlements and save insurance companies costs relating to litigation and investigation.

[0011] Ob ject and Summary of the Invention

[0012] The Applicant notes that, even though solutions are provided for incident forensic analysis, currently there is no information available on the health status of the driver; in fact, both a cognitive loss, due to fatigue and an acute damage (for example a stroke or a heart attack) could be the main cause of an accident. In fact, in the case of a detailed incident forensic analysis, some very important pieces of information are currently missing, namely the health status of the driver and a trustworthy time stamp and signature of the event, the latter being important for avoiding any modification by an end user that might affect the general evaluation of an incident or the like.

[0013] An object of the present invention is thus providing systems and methods that allow to overcome at least in part the disadvantages of the known prior art.

[0014] According to the present invention, a distributed system or infrastructure for recording trustworthy information for incident forensic analysis and a related computer program product or software are provided, as claimed in the appended set of claims.

[0015] Brief Description of the Drawings

[0016] Figure 1 schematically shows distributed system or infrastructure for recording trustworthy information for incident forensic analysis according to the present invention.

[0017] Description of Preferred Embodiments of the Invention

[0018] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in order to allow a skilled person to implement it and use it. Various modifications to the described embodiments will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art and the general principles described may be applied to other embodiments and applications without however departing from the protective scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. Therefore, the present invention should not be regarded as limited to the embodiments described and illustrated herein but should be allowed the broadest protection scope consistent with the features described and claimed herein.

[0019] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention belongs. In case of conflict, the present specification, including the definitions provided, will control. Furthermore, the examples are provided for illustrative purposes only and as such should not be considered limiting.

[0020] In particular, the block diagrams included in the attached figures and described below are not to be understood as a representation of the structural features, i.e. constructional limitations, but must be understood as a representation of functional features, i.e. intrinsic properties of the devices defined by the effects obtained, that is to say functional restrictions, which can be implemented in different ways, so as to protect the functionalities thereof (operational capability).

[0021] In order to facilitate the understanding of the embodiments described herein, reference will be made to some specific embodiments and a specific language will be used to describe the same. The terminology used herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0022] To summarize, the present invention relates to an infrastructure or distributed system for recording trustworthy information to be used to analyze what happens in case of an incident that involves a vehicle using the proposed infrastructure and another vehicle, a pedestrian or any other objects. In particular, as better disclosed in the following paragraphs, the present system is able, not exclusively and without it being limiting to the present invention, to gather vehicle data, road images, facial landmark images (in particular used to identify the expressions of the driver) and vital signs of the driver. Furthermore, the aforementioned data is combined with a unique pair of identification information, namely a timestamp and a unique signature, recorded locally and in a trusted third-party. It is important to note that the trustworthiness of the stored information is guaranteed by the trusted third-party where any modifications are traced by the third- party using mechanisms that are outside the control of the end user, thereby rendering the management of said data more secure and reliable.

[0023] Figure 1 shows a system 1 for recording trustworthy information for incident forensic analysis comprising:

[0024] - a sensory system 2 configured to acquire data relative to one or more quantities related to the vehicle, to information coming from advanced driver assistance systems of the vehicle, the road conditions and the status of the driver and generate a corresponding output;

[0025] - electronic computing resources 3 in communication with the sensory system 2 and configured to receive and process the output generated by the sensory system 2 to generate a record relative to the current condition of the vehicle, the driver and the road conditions, the record being stored in a local data storage 4 in communication with the electronic computing resources 3; and

[0026] - third-party resources 5 in communication with the electronic computing resources 3 and configured to receive the record and the associated unique signature and store them in a remote data storage 6 in communication with the third-party resources 5.

[0027] In particular, the record comprising a timestamp indicative of a time instant associated with relative conditions of the vehicle, the driver and the road conditions determined based on the output generated by the sensory system 2 and being associated with a related unique signature identifying the same record.

[0028] In further detail, the sensory system 2 comprises:

[0029] - vehicle sensors 7 configured to acquire data relative to one or more quantities indicative of the dynamics of the vehicle, i.e. to the vehicle dynamic driving behaviour while the driver drives the vehicle, as well as data relative to information coming from advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) of the vehicle, e.g. Lane Keep Assist (LKA) with lane departure warning configured to detect if the driver is unintentionally drifting out of the lane lines when driving the vehicle;

[0030] - a road imaging system 8 configured to acquire frames relative to the road where the driver is driving the vehicle; - a driver imaging system 9 configured to acquire frames relative to the driver of the vehicle; and

[0031] - physiological sensors 10 configured to acquire data relative to the conditions of the driver while the latter drives the vehicle.

[0032] According to an aspect of the present invention, the data relative to one or more quantities indicative of the dynamics of the vehicle comprise data relative to the accelerator pedal position, to the brake pedal position, to the steering wheel positions, to the vehicle roll, pitch and yaw rates, to the ABS activation status, to the ADAS activation status (e.g. lane keep assist with lane departure warning), to the airbag deployment status and to the seatbelt status. In further detail, the vehicle sensors 7 are in communication with a vehicle network (not shown, e.g. a CAN network) and with the electronic computing resources 3 to provide the abovementioned data.

[0033] Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present invention, the road imaging system 8 comprises a road camera 8 (one shown in Figure 1) configured to acquire the frames relative to the road where the driver is driving the vehicle. In further detail the road camera 8 is mounted e.g. on the dashboard of the vehicle and is positioned so as to face the road; furthermore, the road camera 8 is provided with a suitable sensor / lens combination to allow capturing of frames relating to the road that is being travelled by the vehicle.

[0034] According to another aspect of the present invention, the driver imaging system 9 comprises a driver camera 9 (one shown in Figure 1) configured to acquire the frames relative to the driver of the vehicle; in particular, the driver camera 9 is mounted e.g. on the dashboard of the vehicle and is positioned so as to face the driver; furthermore, the driver camera 9 is provided with a suitable sensor / lens combination to allow capturing of frames relating to the driver in the cabin of the vehicle. Furthermore, according to an aspect of the present invention, the electronic computing resources 3 are configured to process the frames relative to the driver of the vehicle to output data relative to facial landmarks based on the frames acquired by the driver camera 9.

[0035] Furthermore, the physiological sensors 10 comprise a wearable device the driver wears (e.g. a smartwatch or the like), a set of electrodes located on the steering wheel of the vehicle and / or a contactless device (e.g., a radar located on the dashboard of the vehicle and suitably positioned to illuminate an area of the body of the driver, e.g. the diaphragm of the latter, or a camera facing the driver, in particular the head of the latter). In addition, according to a further aspect of the present invention, the data relative to the conditions of the driver while the latter drives the vehicle, acquired by the physiological sensors 10, comprise data relative to the heart rate, the respiration rate and the oxygen saturation of the driver.

[0036] According to an aspect of the present invention, the electronic computing resources 3 is a computing device, also referred to as in-vehicle recording device, located inside the cabin of the vehicle; thus, the electronic computing resources 3 are a local device. As also anticipated above, the electronic computing resources 3 are configured to:

[0037] - receive, in particular according to a certain acquiring frequency (e.g.. every second) the output of the sensory system 2;

[0038] - determine, for each received output, the facial landmarks of the driver based on the output of the driver camera 9 and a record comprising in particular a timestamp, the data outputted by the vehicle sensors 7, the road imaging system 8, the driver imaging system 9 and the physiological sensors 10;

[0039] - compute the unique signature for the record, in particular determined based on a predetermined hash function (e.g., 32-bit hash function);

[0040] - store the record and the related information, in particular the timestamp and the related unique signature in the local data storage 4, the latter in particular operating as circular buffer preserving at least e.g. the last 30 minutes of activities detected and relating to the driver, the vehicle and the road condition; and

[0041] - transmit in particular the timestamp and the unique signature to the third-party resources 5, e.g. via wireless communication, in particular by using 5G or Wi-Fi connectivity.

[0042] In further detail, the third-party resources 5 are here e.g. of the distributed type, in particular implementing the cloud computing paradigm, e.g. any cloud-based storage solution providing automatic file journaling. Thus, the remote third-party resources 5 is a cloud storage service responsible for maintaining the remote data storage 6, where each timestamp and related unique signature associated with the relative record is stored. The third-party resources 5 is configured to be accessed e.g. through suitable API that provides the service to create data repositories and commit modifications to data repositories. Each committed modification is thus traced by the third-party resources 5 through a mechanism that is not under the direct control of the end user; therefore, the modification trace is automatically managed by the third-party resources 5 and its modification history cannot be altered by the end user.

[0043] Furthermore, in this way, it is possible to establish a correlation between the local data storage 4 and remote data storage 6 by the pair of timestamp and unique signature, which are in fact unique and relate to a specific record.

[0044] From the disclosure above, the present invention has several advantages.

[0045] In particular, the present invention provides for a trustworthy system, wherein the trustworthiness of the stored information is guaranteed by the third-party resources 5 where any modifications are traced by the third-party using mechanisms that are outside the control of the end user.

[0046] Furthermore, the present invention takes into consideration also data relative to the status of the driver, which might be one of the causes of an incident or, in general, might be concurrent to it. Finally, it is clear that modifications and variations may be made to the object of the present patent application described and illustrated herein without departing from the protective scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. System (1) for recording trustworthy information for incident forensic analysis comprising:- a sensory system (2) configured to acquire data relative to one or more quantities related to the vehicle, to information coming from advanced driver assistance systems of the vehicle, the road conditions and the status of the driver and generate a corresponding output;- electronic computing resources (3) in communication with the sensory system (2) and configured to receive and process the output generated by the sensory system (2) to generate a record relative to the current condition of the vehicle, the driver and the road conditions, the record being stored in a local data storage (4) in communication with the electronic computing resources, the record comprising a timestamp indicative of a time instant associated with relative conditions of the vehicle, the driver and the road conditions determined based on the output generated by the sensory system and being associated with a related unique signature identifying the same record; and- third-party resources (5) in communication with the electronic computing resources (3) and configured to receive the record and the associated unique signature and store them in a remote data storage (6) in communication with the third-party resources (5).

2. The system (1) according to claim 1, wherein the sensory system (2) comprises:- vehicle sensors (7) configured to acquire data relative to one or more quantities indicative of the dynamics of the vehicle, as well as data relative to the information coming from the advanced driver assistance systems, ADAS, of the vehicle;- a road imaging system (8) configured to acquire frames relative to the road where a driver is driving a vehicle;- a driver imaging system (9) configured to acquire frames relative to the driver of the vehicle; and- physiological sensors (10) configured to acquire data relative to the conditions of the driver while the latter drives the vehicle.

3. The system (1) according to claim 2, wherein the data relative to one or more quantities indicative of the dynamics of the vehicle comprise data relative to the accelerator pedal position, to the brake pedal position, to the steering wheel positions, to the vehicle roll, pitch and yaw rates, to the ABS activation status, to the advanced driving assistance systems activation status, to the airbag deployment status and to the seatbelt status.

4. The system (1) according to any one of claims 2-3, wherein the road imaging system (8) comprises a road camera (8) configured to acquire the frames relative to the road where the driver is driving the vehicle.

5. The system (1) according to any one of claims 2-4, wherein the driver imaging system (9) comprises a driver camera (9) configured to acquire the frames relative to the driver of the vehicle, and wherein the electronic computing resources (3) are configured to process the frames relative to the driver of the vehicle to output data relative to facial landmarks based on the frames acquired by the driver camera (9).

6. The system (1) according to any one of claims 2-5, wherein the data relative to the conditions of the driver while the latter drives the vehicle comprise data relative to the heart rate, the respiration rate and the oxygen saturation of the driver.

7. The system (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the unique signature is determined based on a predetermined hash function.

8. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a system for recording trustworthy information for incident forensic analysis according to any one of claims 1-7, cause the system to operate according to any one of claims 1-7.

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