# US 12,118,665 B2 · Systems and methods for controlling a fleet of drones for data collection > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,118,665 B2 - Document ID: US12118665B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/896,032 - Filed: 2022-08-25 - Published: 2022-12-22 - Granted: 2024-10-15 - Earliest claimed: 2017-06-27 - Assignees: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company - Applicants: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company - Inventors: Matthew L. Floyd - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12118665B2 ## CPC - G06T 17/05: Geographic models - B64C 39/024: {of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV} - B64U 10/13: Flying platforms - G05D 1/0094: {involving pointing a payload, e.g. camera, weapon, sensor, towards a fixed or moving target} - G05D 1/104: {involving a plurality of aircrafts, e.g. formation flying (traffic control systems for aircraft G08G5/00)} - G05D 1/695: for maintaining a fixed relative position of the vehicles, e.g. for convoy travelling or formation flight - G06Q 40/08: Insurance - G06Q 50/163: Real estate management - B64U 10/00: Type of UAV - B64U 2101/20: for use as communications relays, e.g. high-altitude platforms - B64U 2101/26: for manufacturing, inspections or repairs - B64U 2101/30: for imaging, photography or videography - B64U 2201/10: autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS] - B64U 2201/102: adapted for flying in formations - B64U 2201/20: Remote controls - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - B64C: AEROPLANES; HELICOPTERS - B64U: UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES [UAV]; EQUIPMENT THEREFOR - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR ## Abstract A damage identification (DI) system for identifying property damage may include a drone fleet including several autonomous or semi-autonomous drones communicatively coupled together and a DI computing device. Each drone may collect drone-collected damage data, including image data. The DI computing may assign a geographical region to the drone fleet. The drone fleet may automatically navigate to, and then within, the geographical region to detect potential damage to properties. The DI computing device may further receive drone-collected damage data associated with a property within the geographical region from the drone fleet when the drone fleet determines the property is actually or potentially damaged, generate aggregated damage data associated with the property based at least partially upon the drone-collected damage data, and/or store the aggregated damage data in a blockchain structure associated with the property for damage assessment of the property. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A damage identification (DI) system for identifying property damage, the DI system comprising: a drone fleet comprising a plurality of drones communicatively coupled together, wherein each of the plurality of drones comprises one or more sensors, and wherein the drone fleet is configured to: in response to determining that a first property within a geographical region is damaged, collect, using the one or more sensors, damage data associated with the first property; and a DI computing device comprising at least one processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the DI computing device in communication with at least one of the plurality of drones, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: assign the geographical region to the drone fleet, wherein the drone fleet is configured to automatically navigate within the geographical region to detect damage to properties using the one or more sensors; receive the drone-collected damage data associated with the first property from the drone fleet; generate aggregated damage data associated with the first property based at least partially upon the drone-collected damage data; and notify an external device that the first property is damaged. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The DI system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: store the aggregated damage data in a blockchain structure associated with the first property as part of a historical record of the first property. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The DI system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive geolocation data associated with the first property from a first drone of the plurality of drones; and transmit the geolocation data to the plurality of drones, wherein the plurality of drones automatically navigate to the first property based upon the geolocation data. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The DI system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit a list of insured properties within an assigned subarea to each drone of the plurality of drones, wherein the list of insured properties indicates a location of each property identified in the list of insured properties. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The DI system of claim 1, wherein the drone-collected damage data includes sensor data including a plurality of images associated with the first property. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The DI system of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to generate a three dimensional (3D) model of the first property using the plurality of images. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The DI system of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: estimate an amount of damage to the first property; and process an insurance claim associated with the first property based upon the plurality of images and the estimated amount of damage. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The DI system of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: estimate at least one of a repair and replacement cost for an estimated amount of damage to the first property; and automatically initiate processing of an insurance claim associated with the first property based upon the plurality of images and the estimated cost of the estimated amount of damage. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The DI system of claim 1, wherein the external device is associated with one of an insurance policyholder of the first property and insurance provider associated with an insurance policy of the first property. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The DI system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive external damage data associated with the first property from an external computing device; and generate the aggregated damage data based at least partially upon the received external damage data. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The DI system of claim 1, wherein the drone fleet is further configured to: evaluate the drone-collected damage data of the first property to establish a damage consensus; and transmit the drone-collected damage data to the DI computing device when the damage consensus indicates damage to the first property. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The DI system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the drone fleet or the DI computing device is configured to determine the first property is damaged. ### Claim 13 A computer-implemented method for identifying property damage, the method comprising: assigning, by a damage identification (DI) computing device, a geographical region to a drone fleet including a plurality of drones communicatively coupled together, wherein each of the plurality of drones includes one or more sensors; automatically navigating the drone fleet within the geographical region to detect damage to properties using the one or more sensors; in response to determining that a first property within the geographical region is damaged, collecting, using the drone fleet and the one or more sensors, damage data associated with the first property; receiving, by the DI computing device, the drone-collected damage data associated with the first property from the drone fleet; generating, by the DI computing device, aggregated damage data associated with the first property based at least partially upon the drone-collected damage data; and notifying, by the DI computing device, an external device that the first property is damaged. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The computer-implemented method of claim 13 further comprising: storing the aggregated damage data in a blockchain structure associated with the first property as part of a historical record of the first property. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The computer-implemented method of claim 13 further comprising: receiving geolocation data associated with the first property from a first drone of the plurality of drones; and transmitting the geolocation data to the plurality of drones, wherein the plurality of drones automatically navigate to the first property based upon the geolocation data. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The computer-implemented method of claim 13 further comprising transmitting a list of insured properties within an assigned subarea to each drone of the plurality of drones, wherein the list of insured properties indicates a location of each property identified in the list of insured properties. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The computer-implemented method of claim 13 further comprising generating a three dimensional (3D) model of the first property using a plurality of images included in sensor data, wherein the drone-collected damage data includes the sensor data. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The computer-implemented method of claim 13 further comprising: receiving external damage data associated with the first property from an external computing device; and generating the aggregated damage data based at least partially upon the received external damage data. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The computer-implemented method of claim 13 further comprising: evaluating the drone-collected damage data of the first property to establish a damage consensus; and transmitting the drone-collected damage data to the DI computing device when the damage consensus indicates damage to the first property. ### Claim 20 At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein when executed by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the at least one processor to: assign a geographical region to a drone fleet comprising a plurality of drones communicatively coupled together, wherein each of the plurality of drones comprises one or more sensors, and wherein the drone fleet is configured to automatically navigate within the geographical region to detect damage to properties using the one or more sensors; in response to determining that a first property within the geographical region is damaged, instruct the drone fleet to collect damage data associated with the first property using the one or more sensors; receive drone-collected damage data associated with the first property within from the drone fleet; generate aggregated damage data associated with the first property based at least partially upon the drone-collected damage data; and notify an external device that the first property is damaged.