Vehicle and control method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11072324-B2
Application number	US-201916705707-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 6, 2019
Priority date	Jun 17, 2019
Publication date	Jul 27, 2021
Grant date	Jul 27, 2021

Abstract

A vehicle includes an internal camera configured to acquire the driver's facial data to identify the driver's gaze region; an external sensor configured to acquire object data including at least one of a relative position and a relative speed of the object existing in all directions of the vehicle; and a controller configured to generate an advance warning signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
an internal camera configured to acquire facial data of a driver to identify a driver's gaze region;
an external sensor configured to acquire object data of an object, the object data including at least one of a relative position and a relative speed of the object existing in all directions of the vehicle; and
a controller configured to
determine a possibility of collision between the vehicle and the object based on the object data,
generate a control command for performing at least one of a braking control and a steering control to avoid a collision between the vehicle and the object at a second time point,
generate a warning signal transmitted at the second time point when the object is present in the gaze region of the driver and
generate an advance warning signal transmitted at a first time point that is earlier than the second time point when the object is not present in the gaze region of the driver.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein when the object exists in the gaze region of the driver, the controller is configured to determine that the driver recognizes the object and does not generate the advance warning signal before the second time point.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein when the object does not exist in the gaze region of the driver, the controller is configured to determine that the driver does not recognize the object, and generate the advance warning signal to avoid a collision with the object through manual operation of the driver at the first time point.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein, the controller is configured to determine a center point of a viewing zone of the driver, calculate a recognition index on a basis of a driver gaze distribution function and gaze holding time based on the center point, and determine at least a portion of the viewing zone as the gaze region when the recognition index is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein, the internal camera is configured acquire the facial data including at least one of a face direction of the driver and a pupil direction of the driver, and the controller is configured to determine whether the gaze region of the driver belongs to a first area, a second area, or a third area and determine a presence of the object among the first area, the second area, and the third area, and
wherein the first area is an area including a driver's side window and a left side mirror, the second area is an area including a driving lane and a cluster of the vehicle, and the third area is an area including room mirror, a passenger side window and a right side mirror.

6. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein, the controller is configured to detect that the object exists in front of the vehicle, and generate the advance warning signal to avoid collision with the object when determining that the driver's gaze region belongs to the first area or the third area.

7. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein, the controller is configured to detect that the object exists in the left rear side of the vehicle, and generate the advance warning signal to avoid collision with the object when determining that the driver's gaze region belongs to the third area.

8. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein, the controller is configured to detect that the object exists in the right rear side of the vehicle, and generate the advance warning signal to avoid collision with the object when determining that the driver's gaze region belongs to the third area.

9. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein, when the object is not in the viewing zone of the driver, the controller is configured to calculate a gaze movement time for moving a center point of a viewing zone of the driver to the object and a avoidance control time for the driver to sense the object and avoid collision, and generate the advance warning signal at a first time point at which the gaze movement time and the avoidance control time are secured.

10. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein, the advance warning signal includes a display and a warning sound generated by an HMI (Human Machine Interface) provided in the vehicle and a vibration generated by a haptic module provided in the vehicle.

11. A method for controlling a vehicle equipped with an internal camera and an external sensor, the method comprising:
acquiring facial data of a driver to identify a driver's gaze region;
acquiring object data of an object, the object data including at least one of a relative position and a relative speed of the object existing in all directions of the vehicle; and
generating an advance warning signal based on the facial data and the object data,
wherein the generating of the advance warning signal, comprising:
determining a possibility of collision between the vehicle and the object based on the object data;
generating a control command for performing at least one of braking control and steering control to avoid a collision between the vehicle and the object at a second time point;
generating a warning signal transmitted at the second time point when the object is present in the gaze region of the driver; and
generating an advance warning signal transmitted at a first time point earlier than the second time point when the object is not present in the driver's gaze region.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein, when the object exists within the gaze region of the driver, the generating of the advance warning signal includes determining that the driver has recognized the object and not generating the advance warning signal before the second time point.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein, when the object does not exist within the gaze region of the driver, the generating of the advance warning signal includes determining that the driver does not recognize the object, and generating the advance warning signal to avoid a collision with the object through manual operation of the driver at the first time point.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein, the generating of the advance warning signal includes determining a center point of a viewing zone of the driver, calculating a recognition index on a basis of a driver gaze distribution function and gaze holding time based on the center point, and determining at least a portion of the viewing area as the gaze region when the recognition index is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein, the internal camera acquires the facial data including at least one of a face direction of the driver and a pupil direction of the driver, and
the generating of the advance warning signal includes determining whether the gaze region of the driver belongs to a first area, a second area, or a third area and determining a presence of the object among the first area, the second area, and the third area,
wherein the first area is an area including a driver's side window and a left side mirror, the second area is an area including a driving lane and a cluster of the vehicle, and the third area is an area including room mirror, a passenger side window and a right side mirror.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein, the generating of the advance warning signal includes detecting that the object exists in front of the vehicle, and generating the advance warning signal to avoid collision with the object when determining that the driver's gaze region belongs to the first area or the third area.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein, the generating of the advance warning signal includes detecting that the object exists in the left rear side of the vehicle, and generating the

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corp

Inventors

• Kim Eungseo
• Lee Tae Young
• Lee Sangmin
• Sung Donghyun
• Kwon Yongseok

Classifications

• B60Y2302/03

  Actuating a signal or alarm device · CPC title

• B60W30/08 Primary

  Active safety systems} predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision {or attempting to minimise its consequences · CPC title

• B60Y2300/08

  Predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision · CPC title

• B60W2554/4041

  Position · CPC title

• B60W2050/146

  Display means · CPC title