Method for detecting people and/or objects in the interior of a motor vehicle and motor vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12061250-B2
Application number	US-202117386771-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 28, 2021
Priority date	Jul 30, 2020
Publication date	Aug 13, 2024
Grant date	Aug 13, 2024

Abstract

A method for detecting people and/or objects in the interior of a transportation vehicle, wherein people and/or objects in the interior of the transportation vehicle are detected by at least two UWB antennas which are each arranged in or on different doors of the transportation vehicle and used for communication with at least one ID transmitter and/or a remote control, at least for locking and unlocking the doors, and wherein signals acquired using the at least two UWB antennas are evaluated via a control device and an evaluation result is delivered. Also disclosed is a transportation vehicle.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A transportation vehicle comprising:
at least two Ultra-WideBand (UWB) antennas each located in or on different doors of the transportation vehicle, wherein the at least two UWB antennas are used for communication with at least one ID transmitter and/or a remote control, at least for locking and unlocking the doors, and wherein the at least two UWB antennas are also used to acquire signals indicating detection of people and/or objects in an interior of the transportation vehicle; and
a control device configured to evaluate the signals acquired by the at least two UWB antennas to generate an evaluation result indicating detection of people and/or objects in the interior of the transportation vehicle,
wherein the evaluation of the signals analyzes reflections of the signals acquired by the at least two UWB antennas by merging signals acquired from the at least two UWB antennas, wherein signals detected in both an active operating mode and a passive operating mode are merged with one another and evaluated as merged signals to derive information about persons and/or objects in the transportation vehicle interior.

2. The transportation vehicle of claim 1 , wherein, in the passive operating mode, signals emitted by at least one of the at least two UWB antennas are also acquired by UWB antennas other than the at least two UWB antennas, wherein the signals acquired by each of the other UWB antennas are also evaluated by the control device to generate the evaluation result.

3. The transportation vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation comprises determining a position and/or a change of position of a detected person and/or of a detected object in the interior of the transportation vehicle based on the signals acquired by the at least two UWB antennas.

4. The transportation vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation comprises computing a three-dimensional image of the interior of the transportation vehicle from the signals acquired by the at least two UWB antennas.

5. The transportation vehicle of claim 1 , wherein, in the active operating mode of the at least two UWB antennas, at least one distance between the at least two UWB antennas is determined, wherein the at least one distance determined is compared with at least one specified distance value, and wherein the detection of people and/or objects in the interior of the transportation vehicle is started when the comparison result shows that the determined distance corresponds to the at least one specified distance value.

6. The transportation vehicle of claim 1 , wherein an identification code of a detected person and/or of a detected object is recorded or received, wherein the recorded or received identification code is linked to a determined position of the person and/or a determined position of the object in the interior of the transportation vehicle and transmitted to at least one server.

7. The transportation vehicle of claim 1 , wherein further UWB antennas other than the at least two UWB antennas are arranged in further, different doors of the transportation vehicle and are used during the detection, wherein signals acquired in an active operating mode and/or in a passive operating mode are evaluated tomographically.

8. The transportation vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation comprises determining a body posture and/or at least one physiological quantity of a detected person, and/or determining a size and/or dimensions of a detected object.

9. The transportation vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation of the signals also analyzes propagation time and/or a direction-dependent signal attenuation.

10. The transportation vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation analysis of the signals by reflections of signals also compares the signals acquired from the at least two UWB antennas with reference measurements.

11. A method for detecting people and/or objects in an interior of a transportation vehicle, the method comprising:
acquiring signals using at least two Ultra-WideBand (UWB) antennas arranged in or on different doors of the transportation vehicle, wherein the at least two UWB antennas are used for communication with at least one ID transmitter and/or a remote control for at least locking and unlocking the doors and are also used to acquire signals indicating detection of people and/or objects in an interior of the transportation vehicle; and
evaluating the signals acquired using the at least two UWB antennas using a control device to generate an evaluation result indicating detection of people and/or objects in the interior of the transportation vehicle,
wherein the evaluation of the signals analyzes reflections of the signals acquired by the at least two UWB antennas by merging signals acquired from the at least two UWB antennas, wherein signals detected in both an active operating mode and a passive operating mode are merged with one another and evaluated as merged signals to derive information about persons and/or objects in the transportation vehicle interior.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein, in the passive operating mode, signals emitted by at least one of the at least two UWB antennas are also acquired by other UWB antennas, wherein the signals acquired by each of the other UWB antennas are also evaluated.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the evaluation comprises determining a position and/or a change of position of a detected person and/or of a detected object in the interior of the transportation vehicle from the signals acquired by the at least two UWB antennas.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the evaluation comprises computing a three-dimensional image of the interior of the transportation vehicle from the signals acquired by the at least two UWB antennas.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein, in active operating mode of the at least two UWB antennas, at least one distance between the at least two UWB antennas is determined, wherein the at least one distance determined is compared with at least one specified distance value, and wherein the detection of people and/or objects in the interior of the transportation vehicle is started when the comparison result shows that the determined distance corresponds to the at least one specified distance value.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein an identification code of a detected person and/or of a detected object is recorded or received, wherein the recorded or received identification code is linked to a determined position of the person and/or a determined position of the object in the interior of the transportation vehicle and transmitted to at least one server.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein further UWB antennas arranged in further, different doors of the transportation vehicle are used during the detection, wherein signals acquired in an active operating mode and/or in a passive operating mode are evaluated tomographically.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the evaluation comprises determining a body posture and/or at least one physiological quantity of a detected person, and/or determining a size and/or dimensions of a detected object.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the evaluation of the signals also analyzes propagation time and/or a direction-dependent signal attenuation.

20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the evaluation analysis of the signals by reflections of signals also compares the signals acquired from the at least two UWB antennas with reference measurements.

Assignees

• Volkswagen Ag

Inventors

• Ette Bernd

Classifications

• G01S13/42

  Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates (indirect measurement G01S13/46) · CPC title

• G01S13/886

  for alarm systems (alarms with electrical actuation G08B13/22) · CPC title

• G01S13/56

  for presence detection {(presence detection using near field arrangements G01V3/00, e.g. G01V3/08, G01V3/12; burglar, theft or intruder alarms with electrical actuation G08B13/22 - G08B13/26)} · CPC title

• G01S11/02

  using radio waves (G01S19/00 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60R25/00

  Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles (locks for vehicles E05B77/00-E05B85/00) · CPC title