Onboard vehicle notification system

Abstract

Described herein is an onboard vehicle system configured to capture vehicle information and notify an operator of the onboard vehicle system of potentially dangerous vehicles. In some embodiments, the onboard vehicle system may capture image information related to its surroundings. The image information may be processed to identify one or more vehicle identifiers associated with vehicles in the vicinity of the onboard system. The onboard system may provide vehicle identifiers to a service provider computer, which may subsequently query one or more driver behavior databases for anomalous behavior related to the vehicle identifiers. Upon detecting anomalous behavior for a target vehicle, the service provider computer may generate one or more notifications to be presented to the operator of the onboard system with regard to the target vehicle. In some embodiments, the onboard system may present the notification to the operator in an audio and/or visual format.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An onboard vehicle apparatus installed in a vehicle, comprising:
 one or more camera devices;   an antenna device; and   a processor device configured to:
 receive image input from the one or more camera devices, the image input related to a target vehicle; 
 determine, based at least in part on a driving pattern of the target vehicle within the image input that deviates from current traffic regulations, that the target vehicle is engaging in an anomalous behavior; 
 identify, from the image input, a vehicle identifier associated with the target vehicle; and 
 provide, via the antenna device, an indication of the anomalous behavior, a location of the onboard vehicle apparatus, and the vehicle identifier to a service provider computer, such that the service provider is caused to:
 identify at least one second onboard vehicle apparatus potentially impacted by the anomalous behavior; 
 generate a recommendation based on the anomalous behavior, wherein the recommendation is generated to mitigate a risk to a vehicle in which the second onboard vehicle apparatus is installed; and 
 provide the recommendation to the vehicle in which the second onboard vehicle apparatus is installed. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The onboard vehicle apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle identifier is a license plate number identified from the input received from the one or more camera devices. 
     
     
         3 . The onboard vehicle apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising an output device, wherein the processor device is further configured to:
 receive, from the service provider, a second recommendation generated to mitigate a second risk to a vehicle in which the onboard vehicle apparatus is installed based on an anomalous behavior reported by a third onboard vehicle apparatus; and   output the recommendation via the output device.   
     
     
         4 . The onboard vehicle apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the output device includes an audio speaker. 
     
     
         5 . The onboard vehicle apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the output device includes a display device. 
     
     
         6 . The onboard vehicle apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the antenna is configured to enable communication between the onboard vehicle apparatus and the service provider computer via a cellular network. 
     
     
         7 . The onboard vehicle apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the anomalous behavior comprises at least one of swerving, driving erratically, driving too fast, driving too slow, or driving outside of the bounds of a road. 
     
     
         8 . The onboard vehicle apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein receiving input from the one or more camera devices comprises capturing images of vehicles around the onboard vehicle apparatus, the target vehicle being one of the vehicles around the onboard vehicle apparatus. 
     
     
         9 . A method of notifying an operator of a first vehicle of potential risks comprising:
 receiving, at a service provider computer from one or more camera devices installed on a second vehicle, image input related to a target vehicle, the target vehicle being a separate entity from the second vehicle;   determining, by the service provider computer based at least in part on the input related to the target vehicle, that the target vehicle is engaged in anomalous behavior;   identifying, by the service provider computer from the image input, an identifier for the target vehicle;   determining, by the service provider computer based at least in part on a position of the first vehicle and a position of the second vehicle, that the first vehicle may be impacted by the anomalous behavior;   determining, by the service provider computer, a risk information associated with the target vehicle based at least in part on the anomalous behavior;   generate, by the service provider computer, a notification regarding the risk information that includes a recommendation specific to the target vehicle, wherein the recommendation includes an action to be performed by an operator of the first vehicle based on the risk information; and   provide, by the service provider computer, instructions to an onboard vehicle system installed in the first vehicle to cause the onboard vehicle system to relay to the operator the notification regarding the risk information.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the identifier for the target vehicle is determined using one or more image processing techniques. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the anomalous behavior associated with the target vehicle comprises at least one of swerving, driving erratically, driving too fast, driving too slow, or driving outside of the bounds of a road. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the notification includes an action to be taken to mitigate a risk associated with the anomalous behavior. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein determining that the first vehicle may be impacted by the anomalous behavior comprises calculating a direction and speed of the target vehicle with respect to a position of the second vehicle. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the first vehicle is determined to be impacted by the anomalous behavior if the first vehicle is determined to be in the path of the target vehicle based on the direction and speed of the target vehicle. 
     
     
         15 . A remote server, comprising:
 a processor device; and   a memory including instructions that, when executed with the processor device, cause the system to, at least:
 receive an indication of a first location associated with at least a first onboard system and a second location associate with a second onboard system, with which the remote server is in wireless communication; 
 identify, based at least in part on information received from the first onboard system, at least one target vehicle within a vicinity of the first onboard system and one or more anomalous behaviors exhibited by the at least one target vehicle; 
 determine, based at least in part on the one or more anomalous behaviors associated with the target vehicle, a risk type associated with the target vehicle; 
 determine, based on the first location and the second location, that the one or more anomalous behaviors is predicted to impact a vehicle in which the second onboard system is installed; 
 generate, based at least in part on the risk type associated with the target vehicle, a recommendation including instructions to an operator of the second onboard system to mitigate the risk type associated with the target vehicle, the one or more actions determined to prevent danger to the operator based on the one or more anomalous behaviors; and 
 provide a notification that includes the generated recommendation to the second onboard system. 
   
     
     
         16 . The vehicle system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one target vehicle is determined to be within the vicinity of the first onboard system based on the at least one target vehicle being within a predetermined distance. 
     
     
         17 . The vehicle system of  claim 15 , wherein the second onboard system is installed in a law enforcement vehicle. 
     
     
         18 . The vehicle system of  claim 15 , wherein the second onboard system is configured to present the generated notification to an operator of the second onboard system. 
     
     
         19 . The vehicle system of  claim 15 , wherein the notification includes an indication that the target vehicle is approaching the vehicle in which the second onboard system is installed. 
     
     
         20 . The vehicle system of  claim 15 , wherein the first location and the second location are each sets of GPS coordinates.