Sensor Drone Inspection With Electronic Fingerprinting for Peril Assessment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current drone technologies lack the capability to effectively assess and quantify risks for insurance applications, particularly in inspecting infrastructure and property damage, as they are not equipped with advanced sensors and data collection methods that can provide comprehensive and accurate feedback for peril computation.
Innovation Solution
The integration of various sensors such as digital cameras, thermal cameras, heat sensors, ambient environment sensors, sound sensors, air quality sensors, and ultrasound sensors on drones, along with a method involving landing gear, thumping structures, and piezoelectric transducers to gather data and create electronic fingerprints of objects, enabling the computation of perils and risk assessment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If drones are equipped with multiple advanced sensors and data collection methods, then measurement precision and data comprehensiveness improve, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sensor types (digital cameras, thermal cameras, heat sensors, ambient environment sensors, sound sensors, air quality sensors, and ultrasound sensors) into a single integrated drone system. This merging approach allows the drone to collect comprehensive data for risk assessment while managing the complexity through unified system architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The drone is designed as a multi-functional platform that performs various inspection tasks using different sensors. The same drone body and flight system support multiple sensor types, allowing it to assess different aspects of infrastructure and property damage with a single device rather than requiring separate specialized systems.
2Loss of information
If drones use landing gear and thumping structures to contact objects, then data collection capability improves, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The drone automatically performs landing and thumping operations without requiring manual intervention. The system autonomously contacts the object with the thumping structure, collects the resulting feedback data through sensors, and processes the information to create electronic fingerprints, making the operation self-service rather than requiring continuous human control.
Solution Approach 2:
The drone is pre-equipped with landing gear and thumping structures that are prepared in advance for contact operations. The electronic fingerprinting capability is pre-configured in the system, allowing the drone to immediately begin data collection upon landing without requiring setup or calibration during the inspection process.
3Productivity
If electronic fingerprinting and automated peril computation are implemented, then productivity increases, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual inspection processes with automated electronic fingerprinting and computer-based peril computation. Instead of human inspectors physically examining objects and manually assessing risks, the system uses sensors to capture data, creates electronic fingerprints, and automatically computes perils through software algorithms, substituting mechanical and human processes with automated computational systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates electronic copies (fingerprints) of the physical objects being inspected. These digital representations capture the essential characteristics of the objects and can be stored, analyzed, and compared without requiring repeated physical inspections, significantly improving productivity while the computational complexity is managed through software rather than hardware.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables drones to collect and analyze data for comprehensive risk assessment and peril computation, facilitating more accurate insurance evaluations and reducing the need for manual inspections, thereby improving the efficiency and accuracy of insurance assessments.
Implementation Method 1
a piezoelectric transducer for emanating ultrasound waves directed toward an object of interest
Implementation Method 2
a thumping structure coupled to the insulator structure
Data Source
AI summary
Drones are engineered with sensors for use in insurance applications. After locating an object of interest, a drone performs an investigation by probing the object of interest. Sensors receive feedback from the object of interest. An electronic fingerprint of the drone is produced. Afterward, perils are computed based on the feedback and the fingerprint of the drone is used in insuring the object of interest. The act of probing includes thumping, drumming, or radiating ultrasound waves against the object of interest. The sensors can be turned off when they are within a geographic zone of prohibited operations.