Vehicle mirror adjustment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9296338-B2
Application number	US-201414188133-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 24, 2014
Priority date	Feb 24, 2014
Publication date	Mar 29, 2016
Grant date	Mar 29, 2016

Abstract

Technologies for mirror adjustment include an in-vehicle computing system of a vehicle to determine a position of a feature of a face of a driver of the vehicle in an image captured by a camera of the vehicle. The in-vehicle computing system determines a position of the feature of the face of the driver relative to a mirror of the vehicle based on configuration data of the vehicle and the captured image. The in-vehicle computing system further determines an angle between the feature of the face of the driver, the mirror, and an ideal normal of the mirror. The configuration data identifies a location of the camera relative to the mirror, and the ideal normal is an imaginary line normal to the mirror and extending therefrom when the mirror is positioned in a reference position. The in-vehicle computing system adjusts an orientation of the mirror based on the determined angle.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An in-vehicle computing system of a vehicle for mirror adjustment, the in-vehicle computing system comprising:
an image analysis module to determine a position of a feature of a face of a driver of the vehicle in an image captured by a camera of the vehicle; and
a mirror adjustment module to (i) determine a position of the feature of the face of the driver relative to a mirror of the vehicle based on the captured image and configuration data that identifies a location of the camera relative to the mirror, (ii) determine an angle between the feature of the face of the driver, the mirror, and an ideal normal of the mirror, and (iii) adjust, by one or more signals supplied to a movement device of the mirror, an orientation of the mirror by an angle equal to half the determined angle;
wherein the ideal normal of the mirror is an imaginary line normal to the mirror and extending therefrom when the mirror is positioned in a reference position.

2. The in-vehicle computing system of claim 1 , wherein to determine the position of the feature of the face of the driver comprises to determine a position of eyes of the driver.

3. The in-vehicle computing system of claim 2 , wherein to determine the position of the eyes of the driver comprises to determine a midpoint between the eyes of the driver in the captured image.

4. The in-vehicle computing system of claim 2 , wherein to determine the position of the eyes of the driver relative to the mirror comprises to determine a distance between the camera and the eyes of the driver.

5. The in-vehicle computing system of claim 2 , wherein to determine the angle between the eyes of the driver, the mirror, and the ideal normal of the mirror comprises to:
determine a distance between the eyes of the driver and the mirror;
determine an angle between the camera, the eyes of the driver, and the mirror based on the determined distance between the eyes of the driver and the mirror; and
determine an angle between the eyes of the driver, the mirror, and the ideal normal based on the determined angle between the camera, the eyes of the driver, and the mirror.

6. The in-vehicle computing system of claim 5 , wherein to determine the distance between the eyes of the driver and the mirror comprises to determine a distance, D, according to D =√{square root over (C 2 +E 2 −2CE cos(θ e +θ c ))}, wherein:
D is the distance between the eyes of the driver and the mirror;
C is a distance between the camera and the mirror;
E is a distance between the eyes of the driver and the camera;
θ e is an angle between a hypothetical normal extending from the eyes of the driver toward a direction of the camera, the eyes of the driver, and the camera; and
θ c is an angle between a hypothetical normal extending from the camera toward a direction of the eyes of the driver, the camera, and the mirror.

7. The in-vehicle computing system of claim 6 , wherein to determine the angle between the camera, the eyes of the driver, and the mirror comprises to determine an angle, θ d , according to

θ
d

=

cos

-
1

⁡

(

E
2

+

D
2

-

C
2

2
⁢

⁢
ED

)

,

wherein:
θ d is the angle between the camera, the eyes of the driver, and the mirror;
D is a distance between the eyes of the driver and the mirror;
C is a distance between the camera and the mirror;
E is a distance between the eyes of the driver and the camera; and
cos −1 ( )is an inverse cosine function.

8. The in-vehicle computing system of claim 7 , wherein to determine the angle between the eyes of the driver, the mirror, and the ideal normal comprises to determine an angle, θ 0 , according to θ 0 =θ e +θ d , wherein:
θ 0 is the angle between the eyes of the driver, the minor, and the ideal normal;
θ e is an angle between a hypothetical normal extending from the eyes of the driver toward a direction of the camera, the eyes of the driver, and the camera; and
θ d is an angle between the camera, the eyes of the driver, and the mirror.

9. The in-vehicle computing system of claim 1 , wherein the configuration data further identifies a position of the driver's seat of the vehicle relative to at least one of the camera or the mirror.

10. The in-vehicle computing system of claim 1 , wherein to adjust the orientation of the mirror comprises to rotate the mirror along a horizontal plane defined by the mirror.

11. The in-vehicle computing system of claim 10 , wherein the mirror adjustment module is further to tilt the mirror along a plane perpendicular to the horizontal plane.

12. The in-vehicle computing system of claim 1 , wherein the imaginary line is parallel to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

13. One or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media comprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to:
determine a position of a feature of a face of a driver of a vehicle in an image captured by a camera of the vehicle;
determine a position of the feature of the face of the driver relative to a mirror of the vehicle based on configuration data of the vehicle and the captured image, wherein the configuration data identifies a location of the camera relative to the mirror;
determine an angle between the feature of the face of the driver, the mirror, and an ideal normal of the mirror, wherein the ideal normal is an imaginary line normal to the mirror and extending therefrom when the mirror is positioned in a reference position; and
adjust an orientation of the mirror by an angle equal to half the determined angle.

14. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 13 , wherein to determine the position of the feature of the face of the driver comprises to determine a position of eyes of the driver.

15. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 14 , wherein to determine the angle between the eyes of the driver, the mirror, and the ideal normal of the mirror comprises to:
determine a distance between the eyes of the driver and the mirror;
determine an angle between the camera, the eyes of the driver, and the mirror based on the determined distance between the eyes of the driver and the mirror; and
determine an angle between the eyes of the driver, the mirror, and the ideal normal based on the determined angle between the camera, the eyes of the driver, and the mirror.

Assignees

• Kaplan David
• Rider Tomer
• Ron Aviv
• Taite Shahar
• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Kaplan David
• Rider Tomer
• Ron Aviv
• Taite Shahar

Classifications

• G06T2207/30268

  Vehicle interior · CPC title

• G06T7/70

  Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras (camera calibration G06T7/80) · CPC title

• G06T2207/30041

  Eye; Retina; Ophthalmic · CPC title

• B60R1/006 Primary

  Side-view mirrors, e.g. V-shaped mirrors located at the front or rear part of the vehicle (combined with rear-view mirrors B60R1/08; side-view periscopes B60R1/10) · CPC title

• B60R1/025 Primary

  comprising special mechanical means for correcting the field of view in relation to particular driving conditions, e.g. change of lane; scanning mirrors · CPC title