Smart Home Risk Mitigation Using Aggregated Sensor Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems fail to effectively aggregate and analyze data from smart appliances to manage and reduce risks associated with insurance-related events, such as home and personal property damage, leading to inadequate prevention and mitigation of potential hazards.
Innovation Solution
A smart home controller integrates with various smart devices to monitor conditions, detect potential insurance-related events, and autonomously take corrective actions to prevent or mitigate damage, leveraging communication networks and data analysis to manage insurance-related risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If smart appliances communicate data via mesh networks, then data availability for risk detection improves, but the ability to aggregate and analyze this data effectively remains insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a central hub or cloud-based platform as an intermediary that receives data from multiple smart appliances via mesh networks, aggregates the information, and performs comprehensive risk analysis. This mediator bridges the gap between distributed data sources and effective risk detection, enabling centralized processing while maintaining the benefits of distributed communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a universal data aggregation platform that can handle multiple types of sensor data from various appliances (temperature, humidity, motion, smoke, etc.) through a single analysis engine. This multi-functional approach allows the system to detect different types of risks (fire, water damage, intrusion) using the same infrastructure, improving both data aggregation and detection efficiency.
2Measurement precision
If the system continuously monitors all conditions, then detection accuracy improves, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic monitoring with varying intensities - routine low-power checks at regular intervals, with automatic escalation to high-precision continuous monitoring only when anomalies are detected. This periodic approach maintains detection accuracy for critical hazards while significantly reducing overall energy consumption during normal operating conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary low-power screening of conditions using basic sensors, and only activates high-precision monitoring and alert systems when preliminary indicators suggest potential hazards. This staged approach ensures accurate detection of real threats while avoiding the energy cost of continuous high-precision monitoring.
3Reliability
If the system takes autonomous corrective actions, then damage mitigation improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-configures corrective actions for detected hazards (e.g., pre-programmed responses for smoke detection, water leak detection, temperature extremes) and executes them automatically without requiring complex real-time decision-making algorithms. This approach improves damage prevention reliability while keeping system complexity manageable through rule-based automation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates self-service capabilities where smart appliances can autonomously correct minor issues without human intervention or complex system coordination (e.g., smart thermostats adjusting temperature, smart lights adjusting brightness). This distributed self-service approach improves overall system reliability while avoiding the complexity of centralized control for routine operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for automatically mitigating risks of insurance-related events to a property are provided. According to certain aspects, a smart home controller or insurance provider remote processor may analyze data received from a plurality of smart devices disposed on, within, or proximate to a property, as well as data received from an insurance provider. If it is determined that an actual or potential risk of property damage exists, the smart home controller or insurance provider remote processor may automatically issue commands to one or more smart devices to take actions that mitigate the risk. The smart home controller may also transmit information about the actual or potential risks and any mitigative actions to an insurance provider. The insurance provider remote processor may interpret the transmitted data to perform insurance activities, such as providing a discount and/or adjusting an insurance premium or policy associated with the property.