Method and apparatus for in-vehicle impairment detection with driver verification

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10894546-B2
Application number	US-201816165539-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 19, 2018
Priority date	Oct 19, 2018
Publication date	Jan 19, 2021
Grant date	Jan 19, 2021

Abstract

A method for enabling driver operation of a motor vehicle includes receiving an electrical signal representing a property sensed by touching a region of skin of an occupant in the motor vehicle, and determining whether the occupant's ability to drive the motor vehicle is impaired based on the electrical signal. The method further includes performing an image based verification to determine whether the occupant from whom the property was sensed is in a driving position of the motor vehicle, and providing a control signal to enable operation of the motor vehicle based on a result of the determining and a result of the image based verification.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for enabling driver operation of a motor vehicle, comprising:
receiving, by processing circuitry and via a biosensor, an electrical signal of a region of skin of an occupant in the motor vehicle, the region of skin of the occupant being in contact with the biosensor and the electrical signal indicating whether the occupant's ability to drive the motor vehicle is impaired;
determining, by the processing circuitry, whether the occupant's ability to drive the motor vehicle is impaired based on the received electrical signal;
performing, by the processing circuitry and when it is determined that the occupant's ability to drive the motor vehicle is not impaired, an image based verification to determine whether the occupant is in a driving position of the motor vehicle; and
generating, by the processing circuitry and based on the performed image based verification, a control signal controlling operation of the motor vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the biosensor is a transdermal alcohol detecting sensor.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the biosensor is an optical sensor, the method further comprising
detecting, by the processing circuitry, optical properties of the region of skin of the occupant based on the electrical signal received from the optical sensor.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining whether the occupant's ability to drive the motor vehicle is impaired comprises
analyzing, by the processing circuitry, the received electrical signal to estimate a concentration of at least one substance in the occupant,
comparing, by the processing circuitry, the estimated concentration to a threshold concentration, and
determining, by the processing circuitry, whether the occupant's ability to drive the motor vehicle is impaired based on the comparison.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the analyzing the received electrical signal comprises
determining, by the processing circuitry, a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of the occupant.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing the image based verification comprises
acquiring, by the processing circuitry and via a camera, image data of a scene in a cabin of the motor vehicle, and
analyzing, by the processing circuitry, the acquired image data to determine whether the region of skin of the occupant is contiguous with a body of an occupant in the motor vehicle that is in the driving position of the motor vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the camera is a near infrared (IR) camera.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the control signal comprises
generating, as the control signal, a vehicle enabling signal when the image based verification determines that the occupant is in the driving position of the motor vehicle.

9. An apparatus comprising:
a biosensor disposed at a predetermined location in a cabin of a motor vehicle and configured to
detect an impairing substance during contact between the biosensor and an occupant in the motor vehicle seated within the cabin of the motor vehicle;

an interlock device configured to control a drive train of the motor vehicle;
an image capturing device configured to acquire an image of the cabin of the motor vehicle; and
a processor configured to
compare a value of the detected impairing substance to a threshold,
determine, based on the acquired image of the motor vehicle and when the value of the detected impairing substance satisfies the threshold, whether the occupant in contact with the biosensor is seated in a driving position of the motor vehicle, and
control, based on the determination of whether the human occupant in contact with the biosensor is seated in the driving position of the motor vehicle, the interlock device to enable or disable engagement of the drive train.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the impairing substance is alcohol.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the biosensor is a transdermal alcohol detection sensor configured to detect alcohol during contact between the biosensor and a palm of the occupant.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the transdermal alcohol detection sensor is disposed on at least one of an armrest of the motor vehicle, a hand rest of the motor vehicle, and a wrist rest of the motor vehicle.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether the occupant in contact with the biosensor is seated in the driving position of the motor vehicle by
determining, based on the acquired image of the motor vehicle, whether a body part of the occupant in contact with the biosensor is a body part contiguous with an occupant seated in the driving position of the motor vehicle.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to
disable engagement of the drive train, by activating the interlock device, when the body part of the occupant in contact with the biosensor is not contiguous with the occupant seated in the driving position of the motor vehicle.

15. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the image capturing device is a three-dimensional time of flight camera that generates point cloud data of occupants in the cabin of the motor vehicle.

16. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the interlock device is mechanically-coupled to a gearshift to enable or disable engagement of the drive train.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the biosensor is disposed proximal to the gearshift such that the gearshift can be operated by the occupant while the occupant is in contact with the biosensor.

18. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the biosensor is a transdermal sensor.

19. A device for enabling vehicle operation, comprising:
a controller including a processor and a memory which stores a software routine executable by the processor to:
determine, based on an electrical signal received from a biosensor in contact with a region of skin of an occupant in a motor vehicle, whether the occupant's ability to drive the motor vehicle is impaired;
perform, when it is determined the occupant's ability to drive the motor vehicle is not impaired, an image based verification to determine whether the occupant is in a driving position of the motor vehicle; and
generate, based on the image based verification, a control signal controlling operation of the motor vehicle.

Assignees

• Valeo Comfort & Driving Assistance

Inventors

• Vanhelle Stephane
• Menon Mithran

Classifications

• B60W2540/24

  Drug level, e.g. alcohol · CPC title

• B60W2900/00

  Indexing codes relating to the purpose of, or problem solved of road vehicle drive control systems not otherwise provided for in groups B60W30/00 · CPC title

• B60K28/063 Primary

  preventing starting of vehicles · CPC title

• B60W2540/26

  Incapacity · CPC title

• B60W2420/403

  Image sensing, e.g. optical camera · CPC title