Vehicle recognizing user gesture and method for controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2015131857-A1
Application number	US-201414535829-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 7, 2014
Priority date	Nov 8, 2013
Publication date	May 14, 2015
Grant date	—

Abstract

A vehicle is provided that is capable of preventing malfunction or inappropriate operation of the vehicle due to a passenger error by distinguishing a gesture of a driver from that of the passenger when a gesture of a user is recognized, and a method for controlling the same is provided. The vehicle includes an image capturing unit mounted inside the vehicle and configured to capture a gesture image of a gesture area including a gesture of a driver or a passenger. A controller is configured to detect an object of interest in the gesture image captured by the image capturing unit and determine whether the object of interest belongs to the driver. In addition, the controller is configured to recognize a gesture expressed by the object of interest and generate a control signal that corresponds to the gesture when the object of interest belongs to the driver.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A vehicle, comprising:
an image capturing unit mounted inside the vehicle and configured to capture a gesture image of a gesture area including a driver gesture or a passenger gesture; and a controller configured to:
detect an object of interest in the gesture image captured by the image capturing unit;
determine whether the object of interest belongs to the driver;
recognize a gesture expressed by the object of interest; and
generate a control signal that corresponds to the gesture when the object of interest belongs to the driver.

2 . The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to extract a pattern of interest with respect to the object of interest and determine whether the pattern of interest has a predefined feature.

3 . The vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to determine that the object of interest belongs to the driver when the pattern of interest has the predefined feature.

4 . The vehicle according to claim 3 , wherein the object of interest is an arm or a hand of a person.

5 . The vehicle according to claim 4 , wherein the pattern of interest includes a wrist connection pattern formed by connecting an end of the arm and a wrist which is a connection part between the arm and the hand.

6 . The vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein the predefined feature includes a feature in which the wrist connection pattern starts from a left or right side of the gesture area.

7 . The vehicle according to claim 6 , wherein, when the vehicle is a left hand drive (LHD) vehicle, the controller is configured to determine that the object of interest belongs to the driver when the wrist connection pattern starts from the left side of the gesture area.

8 . The vehicle according to claim 6 , wherein, when the vehicle is a right hand drive (RHD) vehicle, the controller is configured to determine that the object of interest belongs to the driver when the wrist connection pattern starts from the right side of the gesture area.

9 . The vehicle according to claim 4 , wherein the pattern of interest includes:
a first finger pattern formed by connecting a wrist which is a connection part between the arm and the hand, and a thumb end of the hand; and a second finger pattern formed by connecting the wrist and another finger end of the hand.

10 . The vehicle according to claim 9 , wherein the predefined feature includes a feature in which the first finger pattern is located at a left or right side of the second finger pattern.

11 . The vehicle according to claim 10 , wherein, when the vehicle is an LHD vehicle, the controller is configured to determine that the object of interest belongs to the driver when the first finger pattern is located at the left side of the second finger pattern.

12 . The vehicle according to claim 10 , wherein, when the vehicle is an RHD vehicle, the controller is configured to determine that the object of interest belongs to the driver when the first finger pattern is located at the right side of the second finger pattern.

13 . The vehicle according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a memory configured to store specific gestures and specific operations in a mapping mode.

14 . The vehicle according to claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to search the memory for a specific gesture that corresponds to the gesture expressed by the object of interest, and generate a control signal to execute a specific operation mapped to a found specific gesture.

15 . The vehicle according to claim 14 , wherein the memory is configured to store a specific gesture and an operation to change gesture recognition authority in a mapping mode.

16 . The vehicle according to claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to generate a control signal to change the gesture recognition authority when the gesture expressed by the object of interest corresponds to the specific gesture.

17 . The vehicle according to claim 16 , wherein the changing of the gesture recognition authority comprises:
extending, by the controller, a holder of the gesture recognition authority to the passenger; and restricting, by the controller, the holder of the gesture recognition authority to the driver.

18 . A method for controlling a vehicle, the method comprising:
capturing, by an imaging device, a gesture image of a gesture area comprising a gesture of a driver or a passenger; detecting, by a controller, an object of interest in the captured gesture image of the gesture area; determining, by the controller, whether the object of interest belongs to the driver; and recognizing, by the controller, a gesture expressed by the object of interest and generating a control signal that corresponds to the gesture when the object of interest belongs to the driver.

19 . The method according to claim 18 , further comprising:
extracting, by the controller, a pattern of interest with respect to the object of interest; and determining, by the controller, that the object of interest belongs to the driver when the pattern of interest has a predefined feature.

20 . The method according to claim 19 , wherein the object of interest is an arm or a hand of a person, and wherein the pattern of interest includes a wrist connection pattern formed by connecting an end of the arm and a wrist which is a connection part between the arm and the hand.

21 . The method according to claim 20 , wherein the predefined feature includes a feature in which the wrist connection pattern starts from a left or right side of the gesture area.

22 . The method according to claim 19 , wherein the object of interest is an arm or a hand of a person, and wherein the pattern of interest includes:
a first finger pattern formed by connecting a wrist which is a connection part between the arm and the hand, and a thumb end of the hand; and a second finger pattern formed by connecting the wrist and another finger end of the hand.

23 . The method according to claim 22 , wherein the predefined feature includes a feature in which the first finger pattern is located at a left or right side of the second finger pattern.

24 . A non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions executed by a processor or controller, the computer readable medium comprising:
program instructions that control an imaging device to capture a gesture image of a gesture area comprising a gesture of a driver or a passenger; program instructions that detect an object of interest in the captured gesture image of the gesture area; program instructions that determine whether the object of interest belongs to the driver; and program instructions that recognize a gesture expressed by the object of interest and generating a control signal that corresponds to the gesture when the object of interest belongs to the driver.

25 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24 , further comprising:
program instructions that extract a pattern of interest with respect to the object of interest; and program instructions that determine that the object of interest belongs to the driver when the pattern of interest has a predefined feature.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corpoation

Inventors

• Han Jae Sun
• Kim Ju Hyun

Classifications

• G06K9/00389 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• B60R16/02 Primary

  electric {constitutive elements} · CPC title

• G06V40/117

  Biometrics derived from hands · CPC title

• B60R16/023

  for transmission of signals between vehicle parts or subsystems · CPC title

• G06V20/597

  Recognising the driver's state or behaviour, e.g. attention or drowsiness · CPC title