Component damage and salvage assessment

Abstract

Methods and systems for assessing, detecting, and responding to malfunctions involving components of autonomous vehicle and/or smart homes are described herein. Autonomous operation features and related components can be assessed using direct or indirect data regarding operation. Such assessment may be performed to determine the condition of components for salvage following a collision or other loss-event. To this end, the information regarding a plurality of components may be received. A component of the plurality of components may be identified for assessment. Assessment may including causing test signals to be sent to the identified component. In response to the test signal, one or more responses may be received. The received response may be compared to an expected response to determine whether the identified component is salvageable.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A computer-implemented method of assessing salvage potential for a smart home following damage to the smart home, comprising:
 receiving, at one or more processors, information regarding a plurality of components associated with autonomous operation features of the smart home;   determining, by one or more processors, that the information regarding the plurality of components indicates a loss-event involving the smart home;   receiving, at one or more processors, operating data associated with operation of the smart home at a time associated with the identified loss event;   identifying, by one or more processors, one or more components of the plurality of components to assess based upon the operating data, wherein the one or more components include one or more sensors;   causing, by one or more processors, one or more test signals to be sent to the identified one or more components;   receiving, at one or more processors, one or more responses from the one or more components in response to the one or more test signals;   determining, by one or more processors, one or more expected responses from the one or more components based upon the received information; and   determining, by one or more processors, whether each of the one or more components is salvageable based upon the received responses and the expected responses.   
     
     
         22 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein determining whether a component of the one or more components is salvageable includes:
 comparing, by one or more processors, a received response from the one or more responses that is associated with the component against an expected response from the one or more responses that is associated with the component, and   determining, by one or more processors, the component is salvageable if the response is within a range including the expected response and indicative of proper functioning of the component.   
     
     
         23 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein determining whether a component of the one or more components is salvageable includes determining whether the component is damaged. 
     
     
         24 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein:
 at least one of the responses from the one or more components is an implied response based upon an absence of a signal from at least one of the one or more components;
 the at least one of the one or more components is determined to be damaged based upon the implied response; and 
 the at least one of the one or more components is determined not to be salvageable based upon the determination that the at least one of the one or more components is damaged. 
   
     
     
         25 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the one or more processors are disposed within a computing device communicatively connected to a smart home controller of the smart home. 
     
     
         26 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 25 , wherein the computing device is a special-purpose computing device and is communicatively connected to the smart home controller via a communication port. 
     
     
         27 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 25 , wherein the computing device is a mobile computing device and is communicatively connected to the smart home controller via a wireless connection. 
     
     
         28 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the one or more processors are disposed within a smart home controller configured to operate the smart home. 
     
     
         29 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 28 , wherein the smart home controller is controlled to assess the salvage potential by a special-purpose computing device communicatively connected to the smai1 home controller via a data port of the smart home controller. 
     
     
         30 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising: determining, by one or more processors, a preliminary assessment of the salvage potential for the smart home based upon the received operating data, wherein the one or more components of the plurality of components are identified based upon the determined preliminary assessment. 
     
     
         31 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 determining, by one or more processors, an estimated level of damage associated with one or more additional components based upon the received responses and the expected responses from the one or more components, wherein the one or more additional components are components of the smart home that are not sensors or autonomous operation features; and   determining, by one or more processors, whether each of the one or more additional components is salvageable based upon the estimated level of damage associated with the one or more additional components.   
     
     
         32 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 31 , wherein determining the estimated level of damage associated with the one or more additional components includes determining a damaged area of the smart home. 
     
     
         33 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 determining, by one or more processors, whether the smart home is a total loss based upon the determination regarding whether each of the one or more components is salvageable.   
     
     
         34 . A computer system configured to assess salvage potential for smart home following damage to the smart home, comprising:
 one or more processors;   a communication module adapted to communicate with a plurality of components associated with autonomous operation features of the smart home; and   a non-transitory program memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to:
 receive information regarding the plurality of components associated with autonomous operation features of the smart home; 
 determine that the information regarding the plurality of components indicates a loss-event involving the smart home; 
 receive operating data associated with operation of the smart home at a time associated with the identified loss event; identify one or more components of the plurality of components to assess based upon the operating data, wherein the one or more components include one or more sensors; 
 cause one or more test signals to be sent to the identified one or more components; 
 receive one or more responses from the one or more components in response to the one or more test signals; 
 determine one or more expected responses from the one or more components based upon the received information; and 
 determine whether each of the one or more components is salvageable based upon the received responses and the expected responses. 
   
     
     
         35 . The computer system of  claim 34 , wherein to determine whether a component of the one or more components is salvageable, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the computer system to:
 compare a received response from the one or more responses that is associated with the component against an expected response from the one or more responses that is associated with the component, and   determine the component is salvageable if the response is within a range including the expected response and indicative of proper functioning of the component.   
     
     
         36 . The computer system of  claim 34 , wherein:
 at least one of the responses from the one or more components is an implied response based upon an absence of a signal from at least one of the one or more components;   the at least one of the one or more components is determined to be damaged based upon the implied response; and   the at least one of the one or more components is determined not to be salvageable based upon the determination that the at least one of the one or more components is damaged.   
     
     
         37 . The computer system of  claim 34 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the computer system to:
 determine an estimated level of damage associated with one or more additional components based upon the received responses and the expected responses from the one or more components, wherein the one or more additional components are components of the autonomous vehicle that are not sensors or autonomous operation features; and   determine whether each of the one or more additional components is salvageable based upon the estimated level of damage associated with the one or more additional components.   
     
     
         38 . The computer system of  claim 37 , wherein to determine the estimated level of damage associated with the one or more additional components, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the computer system to:
 determine a damaged area of the smart home.   
     
     
         39 . The computer system of  claim 34 , the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the computer system to:
 determine whether the smart home is a total loss based upon the determination regarding whether each of the one or more components is salvageable.   
     
     
         40 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions, that when executed cause one or more processors to:
 receive information regarding a plurality of components associated with autonomous operation features of a smart home;   determine that the information regarding the plurality of components indicates a loss-event involving the smart home;   receive operating data associated with operation of the smart home at a time associated with the identified loss event; identify one or more components of the plurality of components to assess based upon the operating data, wherein the one or more components include one or more sensors;   cause one or more test signals to be sent to the identified one or more components;   receive one or more responses from the one or more components in response to the one or more test signals;   determine one or more expected responses from the one or more components based upon the received information; and   determine whether each of the one or more components is salvageable based upon the received responses and the expected responses.