Vehicle configured to check number of passengers and method of controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12054158-B2
Application number	US-202117487831-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 28, 2021
Priority date	Dec 7, 2020
Publication date	Aug 6, 2024
Grant date	Aug 6, 2024

Abstract

A vehicle, in a temporary stop state during driving, is configured to identify a passenger failing to re-board after alighting, and communicate with the passenger to guide the passenger to re-board the vehicle. A method of controlling the vehicle includes primarily checking a number of passengers inside the vehicle through analysis of a first image obtained by photographing an interior of the vehicle when the vehicle enters a stop state during driving; in response to the vehicle being restarted after the stop, secondly checking the number of the passengers inside the vehicle through analysis of a second image obtained by photographing the interior of the vehicle; and in response to the secondly checked number of the passengers being less than the primarily checked number of the passengers, identifying that the passenger failing to re-board after alighting from the vehicle exists.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of controlling a vehicle, the method comprising:
primarily checking a number of passengers inside the vehicle through analysis of a first image obtained by photographing an interior of the vehicle when the vehicle enters a stop state;
in response to a door signal of the vehicle being generated, secondly checking the number of the passengers inside the vehicle through analysis of a second image obtained by photographing the interior of the vehicle;
in response to the secondly checked number of the passengers being less than the primarily checked number of the passengers, displaying that a passenger to re-board after alighting exists through a display device of the vehicle;
re-stopping to pick up the passenger to re-board after alighting;
in response to a door signal of the vehicle being generated again, thirdly checking the number of the passengers inside the vehicle through analysis of a third image obtained by photographing the interior of the vehicle; and
in response to the thirdly checked number of the passengers being less than the firstly checked number of the passengers, identifying that the passenger to re-board after alighting exists.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, upon identifying that the passenger to re-board after alighting exists, checking a point adjacent to the vehicle at which stop is performable to pick up the passenger to re-board after alighting, and
searching for a stoppable point when the stop is not performable in the point.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising notifying a current location of the vehicle to the passenger to re-board after alighting while moving the vehicle to the stoppable point.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the display device is an artificial intelligence (AI) agent provided to represent a facial expression and a gesture and output a speech message.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, when a destination of the vehicle is set in a navigation system of the vehicle, and the vehicle is stopped before the vehicle reaches the destination, identifying whether a passenger to re-board after alighting from the vehicle exists.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
Obtaining face identifications (IDs) of the passengers through analysis of images obtained by photographing the passengers in the vehicle; and
in response to identifying that a passenger to re-board after alighting exists, classifying the passenger to re-board after alighting through the face ID and notifying a current location of the vehicle only to the passenger to re-board after alighting.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing a re-board history regarding re-board of passengers after alighting, while the vehicle is operating; and
whenever the re-board of the passenger after alighting is performed pursuant to a stop of the vehicle, identifying whether the passenger to re-board after alighting exists in a place where the vehicle is stopped, based on the stored re-board history regarding re-board of the passengers after alighting.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising, when a driver of the vehicle repeats a positive answer to an inquiry output through the display device to inquire about the presence of a passenger re-boarding at a current location by a preset number of times or more, identifying the current location of the vehicle as a place that satisfies a preset re-boarding condition, and omitting a driver acknowledgement check and performing a passenger comparison.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising, when a current location of the vehicle is a place that is set in advance as a place where re-boarding is expected after alighting,
identifying the current location of the vehicle as a place that satisfies a preset re-boarding condition, and
omitting a driver acknowledgement check and performing a passenger comparison.

10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising, when a current location of the vehicle is a place that is set in advance as a place where re-boarding is not expected after alighting,
identifying the current location of the vehicle as a place that does not satisfies a preset re-boarding condition, and
omitting a driver acknowledgement check and a passenger comparison.

11. A vehicle comprising:
a camera configured to photograph an interior of a vehicle; and
a controller configured to,
primarily check a number of passengers inside the vehicle through analysis of a first image obtained by photographing an interior of the vehicle when the vehicle enters a stop state;
in response to a door signal of the vehicle being generated, secondly checking the number of the passengers inside the vehicle through analysis of a second image obtained by photographing the interior of the vehicle;
in response to the secondly checked number of the passengers being less than the primarily checked number of the passengers, display that a passenger to re-board after alighting exists through a display device of the vehicle;
re-stop the vehicle to pick up the passenger to re-board after alighting;
in response to a door signal of the vehicle being generated again, thirdly check the number of the passengers inside the vehicle through analysis of a third image obtained by photographing the interior of the vehicle; and
in response to the thirdly checked number of the passengers being less than the firstly checked number of the passengers, identify that the passenger to re-board after alighting exists.

12. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to, upon identifying that the passenger to re-board after alighting exists, check a point adjacent to the vehicle at which stop is performable to pick up the passenger to re-board after alighting, and search for a stoppable point when the stop is not performable in the point.

13. The vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to notify a current location of the vehicle to the passenger to re-board after alighting while moving the vehicle to the stoppable point.

14. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the display device is an artificial intelligence (AI) agent provided to represent a facial expression and a gesture and output a speech message.

15. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein when a destination of the vehicle is set in a navigation system of the vehicle, and the vehicle is stopped before the vehicle reaches the destination, it is identified whether the passenger to re-board after alighting from the vehicle exists.

16. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to:
obtain face identifications (IDs) of the passengers through analysis of images obtained by photographing the passengers in the vehicle; and
in response to identifying that a passenger to re-board after alighting exists, classify the passenger to re-board after alighting through the face ID and notify a current location of the vehicle only to the passenger to re-board after alighting.

17. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to:
store a re-board history regarding re-board of passengers after alighting, while the vehicle is operating; and
whenever the re-board of the passenger after alighting is performed pursuant to a stop of the vehicle, identify whether the passenger to re-board after alighting exists in a place where the vehicle is stopped, based on the stored re-board history regarding re-board of passengers after alighting.

18. The vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the controller is configured to, when a driver of the vehicle repeats a positive answer

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Corp

Inventors

• Park Sungchan

Classifications

• B60W2420/403

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

• G06V2201/07

  Target detection · CPC title

• G06V40/174

  Facial expression recognition · CPC title

• B60W2040/0881

  Seat occupation; Driver or passenger presence · CPC title

• B60W2050/146

  Display means · CPC title