System and Method for Indicating Whether a Vehicle Crash Has Occurred

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for generating an indication of whether a vehicle crash has occurred is presented. It may be determined whether data output by a base sensor(s) of a mobile computing device indicates that a vehicle crash condition has occurred. An additional sensor(s) of the mobile computing device may begin outputting additional sensor data when the data output by the base sensor(s) indicates that the vehicle crash condition has occurred. The additional sensor(s) may be caused to output the additional sensor data for an amount of time after the additional sensor(s) begins outputting the additional sensor data. An indication of whether a crash of a vehicle has occurred may be generated based on the additional sensor data output by the additional sensor(s) for the amount of time after the additional sensor(s) begins outputting the additional sensor data.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for determining whether a vehicle crash has occurred, the method comprising:
 outputting base sensor data by a sensor of a mobile computing device;   determining, using one or more processors, that the base sensor data output by the sensor indicates that a condition corresponding to a crash of a vehicle has occurred;   after determining that the base sensor data indicates that the condition corresponding to the crash of the vehicle has occurred, causing an additional sensor to begin outputting additional sensor data; and   generating, using the one or more processors based on the additional sensor data and a location of the mobile computing device, an indication of whether the crash of the vehicle has occurred.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein generating the indication of whether the crash of the vehicle has occurred comprises:
 generating, using the one or more processors based on the additional sensor data, the location of the mobile computing device, and the base sensor data, the indication of whether the crash of the vehicle has occurred.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor of the mobile computing device is an accelerometer and the additional sensor is one of a pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, a gyroscope, or a sound monitoring component. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 collating the additional sensor data with the location of mobile computing device at a time at which the additional sensor data was output.   
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating, by a location module of the mobile computing device, the location of the mobile computing device.   
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining, using the one or more processors, whether the vehicle is stopped; and   causing, using the one or more processors, when it is determined that the vehicle is stopped and when the indication of whether the crash of the vehicle has occurred indicates that the crash of the vehicle has occurred, at least one of a notification of the crash of the vehicle or a prompt associated with the crash of the vehicle to be provided via a user interface of the mobile computing device.   
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the additional sensor is included in an additional mobile computing device. 
     
     
         8 . A mobile computing device for determining whether a vehicle crash has occurred, the computing system comprising:
 a sensor;   a memory storing computer-executable instructions; and   a processor interfaced with the sensor and the memory, and configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to cause the processor to:
 cause the sensor to output base sensor data, 
 determine that the base sensor data output by the sensor indicates that a condition corresponding to a crash of a vehicle has occurred, 
 after determining that the base sensor data indicates that the condition corresponding to the crash of the vehicle has occurred, cause an additional sensor to begin outputting additional sensor data, and 
 generate, based on the additional sensor data and a location of the mobile computing device, an indication of whether the crash of the vehicle has occurred. 
   
     
     
         9 . The mobile computing device of  claim 8 , wherein to generate the indication of whether the crash of the vehicle has occurred, the processor is configured to:
 generate, based on the additional sensor data, the location of the mobile computing device, and the base sensor data, the indication of whether the crash of the vehicle has occurred.   
     
     
         10 . The mobile computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the sensor of the mobile computing device is an accelerometer and the additional sensor is one of a pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, a gyroscope, or a sound monitoring component. 
     
     
         11 . The mobile computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to further cause the processor to:
 collate the additional sensor data with the location of mobile computing device at a time at which the additional sensor data was output.   
     
     
         12 . The mobile computing device of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 a location module configured to generate the location of the mobile computing device.   
     
     
         13 . The mobile computing device of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 a user interface;   wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to further cause the processor to:
 determine, using the one or more processors, whether the vehicle is stopped, and 
 cause, when it is determined that the vehicle is stopped and when the indication of whether the crash of the vehicle has occurred indicates that the crash of the vehicle has occurred, at least one of a notification of the crash of the vehicle or a prompt associated with the crash of the vehicle to be provided via the user interface. 
   
     
     
         14 . The mobile computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the additional sensor is included in an additional mobile computing device. 
     
     
         15 . A computer-readable storage medium comprising non-transitory computer readable instructions stored thereon for determining whether a vehicle crash has occurred, wherein the instructions when executed on one or more processors cause the one or more processors to:
 cause a sensor of a mobile computing device to output base sensor data;   determine that the base sensor data output by the sensor indicates that a condition corresponding to a crash of a vehicle has occurred;   after determining that the base sensor data indicates that the condition corresponding to the crash of the vehicle has occurred, cause an additional sensor to begin outputting additional sensor data; and   generate, based on the additional sensor data and a location of the mobile computing device, an indication of whether the crash of the vehicle has occurred.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the indication of whether the crash of the vehicle has occurred is further generated based on the base sensor data. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the sensor of the mobile computing device is an accelerometer and the additional sensor is one of a pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, a gyroscope, or a sound monitoring component. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , further comprising non-transitory computer readable instructions stored thereon that when executed cause the one or more processors to:
 collate the additional sensor data with the location of mobile computing device at a time at which the additional sensor data was output.   
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , further comprising non-transitory computer readable instructions stored thereon that when executed cause the one or more processors to:
 cause a location module of the mobile computing device to generate the location of the mobile computing device.   
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , further comprising non-transitory computer readable instructions stored thereon that when executed cause the one or more processors to:
 determine whether the vehicle is stopped; and   cause, when it is determined that the vehicle is stopped and when the indication of whether the crash of the vehicle has occurred indicates that the crash of the vehicle has occurred, at least one of a notification of the crash of the vehicle or a prompt associated with the crash of the vehicle to be provided via a user interface of the mobile computing device.