Vehicle interior monitoring apparatus, vehicle interior monitoring method, and non-transitory computer-readable medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12387590-B2
Application number	US-202118565593-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 4, 2021
Priority date	Jun 4, 2021
Publication date	Aug 12, 2025
Grant date	Aug 12, 2025

Abstract

A vehicle interior monitoring apparatus (10) includes an acquisition unit (110), a detection unit (120), and a notification processing unit (130). The acquisition unit (110) repeatedly acquires, after a power source of a vehicle is turned off and a door of the vehicle is opened and closed at least once, sensor data indicating a result of detection by a sensor of which a detection range is an interior of the vehicle. The detection unit (120) performs, by using the sensor data, detection processing of a living body existing in the interior, each time the acquisition unit (110) acquires the sensor data. The notification processing unit (130) performs monitoring on an environment of the interior when a living body existing in the interior is detected, and performs notification for a pre-registered terminal (40) when the environment meets a first criterion.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle interior monitoring apparatus comprising:
at least one memory storing instructions; and
at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to perform operations comprising:
acquiring, in a case where a power source of a vehicle is turned off and a door of the vehicle is opened and closed at least once, sensor data generated by a sensor monitoring an interior of the vehicle;
performing, by using the sensor data, detection processing of a living body existing in the interior, each time the sensor data is acquired;
notifying a terminal based on a result of the detection processing; and
stopping, in a case where the living body is detected, the detection processing until the door is opened again.

2. The vehicle interior monitoring apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the sensor includes an imaging apparatus.

3. The vehicle interior monitoring apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein
the sensor further includes at least one of a millimetric wave sensor, an infrared sensor, a temperature sensor, and a vibration sensor.

4. The vehicle interior monitoring apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the operations further comprise:
performing, by using the sensor data, monitoring an environment of the interior; and
notifying the terminal in a case where the environment after the living body is detected meets a first criterion.

5. The vehicle interior monitoring apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein
the environment includes temperature.

6. The vehicle interior monitoring apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein
the operations further comprise:
performing the notification in a case where the environment exceeds the first criterion.

7. The vehicle interior monitoring apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
causing an output apparatus installed in the vehicle to perform output based on the result of the detection processing.

8. The vehicle interior monitoring apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the living body includes at least one of a person and an animal.

9. The vehicle interior monitoring apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise
estimating an age of a person in a case where the living body is the person, and
performing the notification in a case where the age meets a second criterion.

10. The vehicle interior monitoring apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the operations further comprise:
acquiring the sensor data in a case where a power source of a vehicle is turned off and a door of the vehicle is opened and closed at least once, and the door is locked.

11. The vehicle interior monitoring apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the operations further comprise:
notifying a first terminal;
receiving a reply from the first terminal; and
notifying a second terminal in a case where no reply is received from the first terminal within a predetermined time.

12. A vehicle interior monitoring method executed performed by a computer and comprising:
acquiring, in a case where a power source of a vehicle is turned off and a door of the vehicle is opened and closed at least once, sensor data generated by a sensor monitoring an interior of the vehicle;
performing, by using the sensor data, detection of a living body existing in the interior, each time the sensor data is acquired;
notifying a terminal based on a result of the detection processing; and
stopping, in a case where the living body is detected, the detection processing until the door is opened again.

13. The vehicle interior monitoring method according to claim 12 , wherein
the sensor includes an imaging apparatus.

14. The vehicle interior monitoring method according to claim 13 , wherein
the sensor further includes at least one of a millimetric wave sensor, an infrared sensor, a temperature sensor, and a vibration sensor.

15. The vehicle interior monitoring method according to claim 12 , further comprising:
performing, by using the sensor data, monitoring an environment of the interior; and
notifying the terminal in a case where the environment after the living body is detected meets a first criterion.

16. The vehicle interior monitoring method according to claim 15 , wherein
the environment includes temperature.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program executable by a computer to perform operations comprising:
acquiring, in a case where a power source of a vehicle is turned off and a door of the vehicle is opened and closed at least once, sensor data generated by a sensor monitoring an interior of the vehicle;
performing, by using the sensor data, detection processing of a living body existing in the interior, each time the sensor data is acquired;
notifying a terminal based on a result of the detection processing; and
stopping, in a case where the living body is detected, the detection processing until the door is opened again.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 17 , wherein
the sensor includes an imaging apparatus.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 18 , wherein
the sensor further includes at least one of a millimetric wave sensor, an infrared sensor, a temperature sensor, and a vibration sensor.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 17 , wherein
the operations further comprise:
performing, by using the sensor data, monitoring an environment of the interior; and
notifying the terminal in a case where the environment after the living body is detected meets a first criterion.

Assignees

• Nec Corp

Inventors

• Kawamura Toshiaki
• Watanabe Yoshihiro
• Suzuki Yuichi

Classifications

• G08B21/24

  Reminder alarms, e.g. anti-loss alarms · CPC title

• G08B21/182

  Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold · CPC title

• G06V40/178

  estimating age from face image; using age information for improving recognition · CPC title

• G06V20/59

  inside of a vehicle, e.g. relating to seat occupancy, driver state or inner lighting conditions · CPC title

• G08B25/005

  Alarm destination chosen according to a hierarchy of available destinations, e.g. if hospital does not answer send to police station · CPC title