Method and apparatus for controlling onboard system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11275449-B2
Application number	US-202017120641-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 14, 2020
Priority date	Feb 27, 2017
Publication date	Mar 15, 2022
Grant date	Mar 15, 2022

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for controlling an onboard system includes determining, using a sensor mounted in a steering wheel, a track of a current gesture of a driver in a process of holding, by the driver, the steering wheel; determining a type of the current gesture from preset gesture types based on the track of the current gesture; and controlling the onboard system to perform an operation corresponding to the type of the current gesture.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling an onboard system in a vehicle, comprising:
obtaining ultrasonic signals reflected from a portion of an object of a driver contacting a steering wheel of the vehicle using a plurality of ultrasonic sensors, wherein the ultrasonic signals are obtained during a period of time, wherein the plurality of ultrasonic sensors is mounted in the steering wheel, and wherein the object is a hand or a finger of the driver;
determining coordinates of a position of the object within the period of time using the ultrasonic signals;
determining, by performing function fitting on the coordinates, a track of the object as a current gesture of the driver;
determining, according to the track, a gesture type of the current gesture from preset gesture types; and
controlling the onboard system to perform an operation,
wherein the operation corresponds to the gesture type.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining contour information of the object at a first time period of the period of time using the ultrasonic signals at the first time period; and
determining whether the contour information is valid by comparing the contour information with pre-stored contour information.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining a fitted function curve as the current gesture of the driver by performing the function fitting.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining, according to the track, the gesture type of the current gesture from the preset gesture types comprises:
comparing the fitted function curve with function curves in a database;
selecting a target function curve from the function curves, wherein the target function curve has a highest matching degree with the fitted function curve; and
determining a second gesture type corresponding to the target function curve from the preset gesture types as the gesture type of the current gesture.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining directions of sound holes in a circumference of the steering wheel based on an active area of the object of the driver and coverage of the ultrasonic signals, wherein the sound holes correspond with the ultrasonic sensors.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the preset gesture types comprise at least one of the following gesture types:
sliding two fingers either inward or outward;
sliding two fingers either clockwise or anticlockwise;
sliding one finger either upward, downward, leftward or rightward;
double-clicking the steering wheel with one finger;
waving one hand;
touching and sliding one finger along an inner side of a circumference of the steering wheel; or
double-clicking the steering wheel with two fingers.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting whether the steering wheel is in a rotation state; and
obtaining the ultrasonic signals reflected from the portion of the object of the driver when the steering wheel is in a non-rotation state.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising further detecting whether the steering wheel is in the rotation state using a status of a gyroscope in the steering wheel.

9. An apparatus for controlling an onboard system in a vehicle, comprising:
a memory comprising instructions; and
a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the instructions, wherein the instructions cause the processor to:
obtain ultrasonic signals reflected from a portion of an object of a driver contacting a steering wheel of the vehicle using a plurality of ultrasonic sensors, wherein the ultrasonic signals are obtained during a period of time, wherein the plurality of ultrasonic sensors is mounted in the steering wheel, and wherein the object is a hand or a finger of the driver;
determine coordinates of a position of the object within the period of time using the ultrasonic signals;
determine, by performing function fitting on the coordinates, a track of the object as a current gesture of the driver;
determine, according to the track, a gesture type of the current gesture from preset gesture types; and
control the onboard system to perform an operation,
wherein the operation corresponds to the gesture type.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
determine contour information of the object at a first time period of the period of time using the ultrasonic signals at the first time period; and
determine the contour information is valid by comparing the contour information with pre-stored contour information.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to obtain a fitted function curve as the current gesture of the driver by performing the function fitting.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
compare the fitted function curve with function curves in a database;
select a target function curve from the function curves, wherein the target function curve has a highest matching degree with the fitted function curve; and
determine a second gesture type corresponding to the target function curve from the preset gesture types as the gesture type of the current gesture.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to determine directions of sound holes in a circumference of the steering wheel based on an active area of the hand of the driver and coverage of the ultrasonic signals, and wherein the sound holes correspond with the ultrasonic sensors.

14. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the preset gesture types comprise at least one of the following gesture types:
sliding two fingers either inward or outward;
sliding two fingers either clockwise or anticlockwise;
sliding one finger either upward, downward, leftward or rightward;
double-clicking the steering wheel with one finger;
waving one hand;
touching and sliding one finger along an inner side of a circumference of the steering wheel; or
double-clicking the steering wheel with two fingers.

15. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
detect whether the steering wheel is in a rotation state; and
obtain the ultrasonic signals reflected from the portion of the object of the driver when the steering wheel is in a non-rotation state.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to be configured to further detect whether the steering wheel is in the rotation state using a status of a gyroscope in the steering wheel.

17. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium that, when executed by a processor, cause an apparatus to:
obtain ultrasonic signals reflected from a portion of an object of a driver contacting a steering wheel of a vehicle using a plurality of ultrasonic sensors, wherein the ultrasonic signals are obtained during a period of time, wherein the plurality of ultrasonic sensors is mounted in the steering wheel, and wherein the object is a hand or a finger of the driver;
determine coordinates of a position of the object within the period of time using the ultrasonic signals;
determine, by performing function fitting on the coordinates, a track of the object as a current gesture of the driver;
determine, according to the track, a gesture type of the current gesture from preset gesture types; and
control an onboard system in the vehicle to perform an operation,
wherein the operation corresponds to the gesture type.

18.

Assignees

• Huawei Tech Co Ltd
• Huawei Technoloies Co Ltd

Inventors

• Zhao Xinyu
• Liu Chengping
• Si Heshuai
• Su Yongfang
• Zhang Zeshi

Classifications

• B60K35/50

  Instruments characterised by their means of attachment to or integration in the vehicle (B60K35/231 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60K35/60

  Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles (arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10) · CPC title

• B60K35/10

  Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor · CPC title

• B60K35/23

  Head-up displays [HUD] (optical aspects of head-up displays G02B27/01) · CPC title

• B60W2420/54

  Audio sensitive means, e.g. ultrasound · CPC title