User recognition system and methods for autonomous vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10395457-B2
Application number	US-201715674105-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 10, 2017
Priority date	Aug 10, 2017
Publication date	Aug 27, 2019
Grant date	Aug 27, 2019

Abstract

Methods and a system are disclosed for providing autonomous driving system functions. The system includes a controller providing functions for automated user recognition in the autonomous vehicle, at least one environmental sensor configured to scan an environment of the autonomous vehicle and to transmit scan data of the environment to a biometric recognition module of the autonomous vehicle, and a biometric recognition module configured to analyze the scan data of the environment based on a gesture recognition algorithm by using a processor. The gesture recognition algorithm analyzes the scan data of the environment based on at least one biometric feature by using the processor. The at least one biometric feature comprises at least a flagging down gesture and the controller is configured to stop the autonomous vehicle at a position relative to the user and to configure the autonomous vehicle to offer to the user the use of the autonomous vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A user recognition system for automated user recognition in an autonomous vehicle, comprising:
a controller with at least one processor providing functions for automated user recognition in the autonomous vehicle;
at least one environmental sensor configured to scan an environment of the autonomous vehicle and to transmit scan data of the environment;
at least one recognition module configured to, by the at least one processor, analyze the scan data of the environment based on a gesture recognition algorithm, a first facial recognition algorithm, and a second facial recognition algorithm to identify a final user of the vehicle;
wherein the recognition module is configured to first analyze the scan data of the environment based on the gesture recognition algorithm and at least one biometric feature, wherein the at least one biometric feature comprises at least a flagging down gesture;
wherein the recognition module is further configured to analyze the scan data of the environment based on the first facial recognition algorithm and a first subset of facial data when multiple users are identified by the gesture recognition algorithm, wherein the first subset of facial data is obtained based on the scan data;
wherein the recognition module is further configured to analyze the scan data of the environment based on the second facial recognition algorithm and a second subset of facial data when multiple users are identified by the first facial recognition algorithm, wherein the second subset of facial data is larger than the first subset of facial data, and wherein the second subset of facial data is based on user data selected from a database;
wherein, the controller is configured to stop the autonomous vehicle at a position relative to the final user and to configure the autonomous vehicle to offer to the final user the use of the autonomous vehicle.

2. The user recognition system of claim 1 ,
wherein the controller is configured to focus at least one sensor of the autonomous vehicle on the user when the gesture recognition algorithm recognizes a user showing a flagging down gesture in the scan data of the environment according to the at least one biometric feature.

3. The user recognition system of claim 1 ,
wherein the recognition module is further configured to analyze the scan data based on a gait analyzing algorithm that analyzes current scan data of the environment while the user approaches the vehicle.

4. The user recognition system of claim 3 ,
wherein the user recognition system comprises a server and a communication module; and
wherein the controller is configured to transmit results of the gait analyzing algorithm and/or results of the gesture recognition algorithm to the server via the communication module; and
wherein the server is configured to search for data related to results of the gesture recognition algorithm and/or results of the gait analyzing algorithm in a database and to transmit the data related to the results of the gesture recognition algorithm and/or the results of the gait analyzing algorithm as the first subset of data to the controller by using the communication module.

5. The user recognition system of claim 4 ,
wherein data transmitted from the server to the controller comprise at least data of a profile of the user, expected facial data of the user, and a voice map of the user.

6. The user recognition system of claim 4 ,
wherein the controller is configured to exclude the user from using the autonomous vehicle if the server does not find data related to the results of the gesture recognition algorithm and/or the results of the gait analyzing algorithm in the database.

7. The user recognition system of claim 1 ,
wherein the at least one recognition module analyzes the scan data based on at least one voice recognition algorithm and a third subset of data, wherein the third subset of data includes voice map data transmitted from a server; and
wherein the controller is configured to confirm the final user when the scan data matches with the voice map transmitted from the server.

8. The user recognition system of claim 7 ,
wherein the scan data is obtained from a dialog comprising at least a question concerning a destination of the user.

9. The user recognition system of claim 8 ,
wherein the controller is configured to determine the route to the destination of the user by transmitting information about the destination of the user extracted from the voice data provided by the voice recognition sensor to a server; and
wherein the server is configured to generate a route to the destination of the user based on the voice data and to transmit the route to the controller by using a communication module.

10. The user recognition system of claim 7 ,
wherein the voice recognition algorithm is configured to extract information about an emotional state of the user from voice data provided by a voice recognition sensor; and
wherein the controller is configured to modify a driving behavior based on the current emotional state of the user.

11. The user recognition system of claim 1 ,
wherein the recognition module is configured to extract user related data from the scan data of the environment by matching the scan data of the environment with data of the environment provided by at least one additional environmental sensor of the autonomous vehicle, such that only data that are related to the user are used by the recognition module to recognize the flagging down gesture and data related to a particular background are subtracted.

12. The user recognition system of claim 11 ,
wherein the at least one additional environmental sensor is at least one or a combination of: LIDAR-sensor, camera-sensors in multiple angles and microphone-sensor.

13. The user recognition system of claim 1 ,
wherein the gesture recognition algorithm is based on a tracking algorithm of the autonomous vehicle to track road participants.

14. The user recognition system of claim 1 ,
wherein, if the gesture recognition algorithm recognizes a user showing a flagging down gesture according to the at least one biometric feature in the scan data of the environment, the controller is configured to stop the autonomous vehicle at the position relative to the user and to offer the user the rental of the autonomous vehicle and to pay for the rent by identifying the user based on biometric data of the user captured by at least one sensor of the autonomous vehicle.

15. A method providing functions for automated user recognition in an autonomous vehicle, comprising the steps:
scanning an environment of the autonomous vehicle by using at least one environment sensor of the autonomous vehicle and transmitting scan data of the environment to a recognition module;
analyzing, by the recognition module, the scan data of the environment based on a gesture recognition algorithm and at least one biometric feature;
analyzing, by the recognition module, the scan data of the environment based on a first facial recognition algorithm and a first subset of facial data when multiple users are identified by the gesture recognition algorithm, wherein the first subset of facial data is obtained based on the scan data;
analyzing, by the recognition module, the scan data of the environment based on a second facial recognition algorithm and a second subset of facial data when multiple users are identified by the first facial recognition algorithm, wherein the second subset of facial data is larger than the first subset of facial data, and wherein the second subset of facial data is based on user data selected f

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Cooley Robert B

Classifications

• G07C9/37 Primary

  using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voice recognition · CPC title

• G06F21/32 Primary

  using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints · CPC title

• G07C9/00571

  operated by interacting with a central unit · CPC title

• B60R25/25

  using biometry · CPC title

• G06F16/784

  the detected or recognised objects being people · CPC title