Apparatus detecting driving incapability state of driver

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10503987-B2
Application number	US-201515320945-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 8, 2015
Priority date	Jun 23, 2014
Publication date	Dec 10, 2019
Grant date	Dec 10, 2019

Abstract

An apparatus detecting driving incapability state of a driver includes: an inclination detection portion that detects inclination of a head of a driver with respect to a trunk of the driver lower than a neck, based on an image of a driver seat captured by an imaging device mounted on a vehicle; and a posture collapse detection portion that detects the driver is incapable of driving when the inclination of the head detected by the inclination detection portion is greater than a relative inclination threshold during travel of the vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus detecting driving incapability state of a driver, the apparatus comprising:
an imaging device that is mounted on a vehicle and is configured to capture a driver's seat;
a memory storing an inclination detection portion and a posture collapse detection portion;
a processor executing the inclination detection portion and the posture collapse detection portion stored in the memory;
the inclination detection portion detects inclination of a head of a driver with respect to a trunk of the driver lower than a neck, based on an image of the driver's seat captured by the imaging device; and
the posture collapse detection portion detects the driver is incapable of driving when the inclination of the head with respect to the trunk detected by the inclination detection portion is greater than a relative inclination threshold during travel of the vehicle, causing the vehicle to be safely stopped in a case where it is determined that the driver is incapable of driving.

2. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 1 , wherein:
the inclination detection portion detects center axes of the head and the trunk from the image, and considers inclination of a center axis of the head with respect to a center axis of the trunk as the inclination of the head.

3. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 1 , wherein:
the inclination detection portion detects the head and a seat belt of the driver seat from the image, and detects the inclination of the head from a positional relation between the seat belt and the head.

4. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 1 , wherein:
the posture collapse detection portion detects the driver is incapable of driving on condition that a face included in the head does not face in a forward direction of the vehicle for a time longer than a posture collapse determination time.

5. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 1 , wherein:
the posture collapse detection portion detects the driver is incapable of driving on condition that the inclination of the head is greater than the relative inclination threshold for a time longer than a posture collapse determination time.

6. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 5 , wherein:
the posture collapse detection portion detects the driver is incapable of driving on condition that a position of the head and a position of the trunk are within an unmoving determination range for a time longer than the posture collapse determination time.

7. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 5 , further comprising:
a learning portion, stored on the memory and executed by the processor, that learns the inclination of the head detected by the inclination detection portion when the driver is not incapable of driving,
wherein:
the posture collapse detection portion detects the driver is incapable of driving on condition that the inclination of the head detected by the inclination detection portion is greater than an inclination determination value by exceeding the inclination of the head learned by the learning portion.

8. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 5 , wherein:
the posture collapse detection portion detects the driver is incapable of driving on condition that a steering wheel of the vehicle is not operated for a time longer than an operation determination time.

9. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 5 , further comprising:
a shake detection portion, stored on the memory and executed by the processor, that detects the driver is incapable of driving when an amplitude of a shake of the head is smaller than a first amplitude or larger than a second amplitude, which is larger than the first amplitude, by a time a shake determination time elapses after external force has been applied to the vehicle, in a case where the posture collapse detection portion does not detect the driver is incapable of driving.

10. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 5 , further comprising:
a spasm detection portion, stored on the memory and executed by the processor, that detects spasm of the driver,
wherein:
the relative inclination threshold decreases when the spasm is detected by the spasm detection portion.

11. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 5 , wherein:
as a vehicle speed of the vehicle is high, the posture collapse determination time is shortened.

12. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 5 , wherein:
as a time to collision is short, the time being obtained by dividing a vehicle distance from a preceding vehicle by a speed relative to the preceding vehicle, the posture collapse determination time is shortened.

13. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 5 , further comprising:
a storage portion in which personal information on the driver, including medical history and age, is registered,
wherein:
the posture collapse determination time is set based on the personal information registered in the storage portion.

14. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 5 , wherein:
the posture collapse determination time is prolonged when a drive assist control is executed in the vehicle.

15. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a posture notification portion that notifies the driver of a degree of posture collapse of the driver based on the inclination of the head detected by the inclination detection portion.

16. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 1 , wherein:
the driving incapability state includes a state in which the driver has a sudden illness.

17. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a face direction detection portion, stored on the memory and executed by the processor, that detects a direction of the face of the driver with respect to a forward direction of the vehicle based on the image of the driver seat captured by the imaging device mounted on the vehicle; and
a direction collapse detection portion, stored on the memory and executed by the processor, that detects the driver is incapable of driving when the direction of the face detected by the face direction detection portion is greater than a face direction threshold for a time longer than a direction collapse determination time, during travel of the vehicle in a case where the posture collapse detection portion does not detect the driver is incapable of driving.

18. The apparatus detecting driving incapability state of the driver according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a face direction detection portion, stored on the memory and executed by the processor, that detects a direction of the face of the driver with respect to a forward direction of the vehicle based on the image of the driver seat captured by the imaging device mounted on the vehicle; and
a direction collapse detection portion, stored on the memory and executed by the processor, that detects the driver is incapable of driving when the direction of the face detected by the face

Assignees

• Denso Corp

Inventors

• Banno Hiroto
• Munaoka Yutaka
• Omi Takuhiro
• Enya Takeshi

Classifications

• G16H30/40

  for processing medical images, e.g. editing · CPC title

• B60W2540/223

  Posture, e.g. hand, foot, or seat position, turned or inclined · CPC title

• B60W2540/225

  Direction of gaze · CPC title

• A61B5/1103

  Detecting muscular movement of the eye, e.g. eyelid movement · CPC title

• A61B2503/22

  Motor vehicles operators, e.g. drivers, pilots, captains · CPC title