Driver state monitoring using corneal reflection detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10346697-B2
Application number	US-201615386232-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 21, 2016
Priority date	Dec 21, 2016
Publication date	Jul 9, 2019
Grant date	Jul 9, 2019

Abstract

A method includes: sensing light information reflecting from an eye of a driver of a vehicle using an optical sensor mounted in the vehicle; measuring, by a control unit equipped in the vehicle, a plurality of eye parameters based on the sensed light information; calculating, by the control unit, an endangerment score indicating a driving state of the driver according to the plurality of eye parameters; determining, by the control unit, whether the calculated endangerment score exceeds an endangerment threshold; and executing, by the control unit, a corrective action in response to determining that the calculated endangerment score exceeds the endangerment threshold.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
sensing light information reflecting from an eye of a driver of a vehicle using an optical sensor mounted in the vehicle;
measuring, by a control unit equipped in the vehicle, a plurality of eye parameters based on the sensed light information;
calculating, by the control unit, an endangerment score indicating a driving state of the driver according to the plurality of eye parameters;
determining, by the control unit, whether the calculated endangerment score exceeds an endangerment threshold; and
executing, by the control unit, a corrective action in response to determining that the calculated endangerment score exceeds the endangerment threshold,
wherein the measuring of the plurality of eye parameters comprises measuring, by the control unit, a cornea stillness indicating a stillness of a cornea of the driver during a period of time based on the sensed light information.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is mounted to a rear-view mirror of the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a light source is coupled to the optical sensor.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measuring of the plurality of eye parameters comprises:
measuring, by the control unit, a gaze alignment indicating an alignment of a gaze of the driver with a road in front of the vehicle based on the sensed light information.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the measuring of the gaze alignment comprises:
determining, by the control unit, whether the gaze of the driver deviates from the road in front of the vehicle beyond a predefined acceptable amount.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measuring of the cornea stillness comprises:
determining, by the control unit, a number of movements of the cornea of the driver during the period of time.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measuring of the plurality of eye parameters comprises:
measuring, by the control unit, an eyelid closure indicating a closure amount of an eyelid of the driver during a period of time based on the sensed light information.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the measuring of the eyelid closure comprises:
determining, by the control unit, a maximum amount of time the eyelid of the driver is closed during the period of time.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating of the endangerment score comprises:
measuring, by the control unit, a gaze alignment indicating an alignment of a gaze of the driver with a road in front of the vehicle based on the sensed light information;
measuring, by the control unit, a cornea stillness indicating a stillness of a cornea of the driver during a period of time based on the sensed light information;
measuring, by the control unit, an eyelid closure indicating a closure amount of an eyelid of the driver during a period of time based on the sensed light information; and
calculating, by the control unit, the endangerment score using the measured gaze alignment, cornea stillness, and eyelid closure.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
controlling, by the control unit, the endangerment threshold according to a desired sensitivity.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
adjusting, by the control unit, the endangerment threshold in real-time according to one or more factors selected from a group consisting of: a driving direction, a driving speed, a time of day, a driving duration, a travel origin, a travel destination, a number of passengers in the vehicle, an amount of noise in the vehicle, and a mobile device usage.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the control unit, previously set endangerment thresholds; and
setting, by the control unit, the endangerment threshold based on the previously set endangerment thresholds.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
applying, by the control unit, a filter to the sensed light information to remove noise therefrom.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measuring of the plurality of eye parameters comprises:
determining, by the control unit, a current speed of the vehicle; and
measuring, by the control unit, the plurality of eye parameters based further on the determined current speed of the vehicle.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the executing of the corrective action comprises:
providing a visual, audible, or tangible warning indicator to the driver.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the executing of the corrective action comprises:
reducing, by the control unit, a speed of the vehicle.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the executing of the corrective action comprises:
determining, by the control unit, whether the calculated endangerment score continues to exceed the endangerment threshold after reducing the speed of the vehicle; and
further reducing, by the control unit, the speed of the vehicle when the calculated endangerment score continues to exceed the endangerment threshold.

18. A system comprising:
an optical sensor mounted in a vehicle configured to sense light information reflecting from an eye of a driver of the vehicle; and
a control unit equipped in the vehicle and configured to:
measure a plurality of eye parameters based on the sensed light information;
measure a cornea stillness indicating a stillness of a cornea of the driver during a period of time based on the sensed light information, the plurality of eye parameters including the cornea stillness;
calculate an endangerment score indicating a driving state of the driver according to the plurality of eye parameters;
determine whether the calculated endangerment score exceeds an endangerment threshold; and
execute a corrective action in response to determining that the calculated endangerment score exceeds the endangerment threshold.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions executable by a control unit equipped in a vehicle, wherein the program instructions when executed cause the control unit to:
measure a plurality of eye parameters based on light information reflecting from an eye of a driver of the vehicle sensed by an optical sensor mounted in the vehicle;
measure a cornea stillness indicating a stillness of a cornea of the driver during a period of time based on the sensed light information, the plurality of eye parameters including the cornea stillness;
calculate an endangerment score indicating a driving state of the driver according to the plurality of eye parameters;
determine whether the calculated endangerment score exceeds an endangerment threshold; and
execute a corrective action in response to determining that the calculated endangerment score exceeds the endangerment threshold.

Assignees

• Hyundai America Technical Ct Inc
• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corp

Inventors

• Adibi Sasan
• Naserian Mohammad

Classifications

• B60W2040/0818

  Inactivity or incapacity of driver · CPC title

• B60W2540/26

  Incapacity · CPC title

• B60W2720/10

  Longitudinal speed · CPC title

• B60W2540/00

  Input parameters relating to occupants · CPC title

• B60W50/14

  Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention · CPC title