Occupant alertness-based navigation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9937792-B2
Application number	US-201615209344-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 13, 2016
Priority date	Jul 13, 2016
Publication date	Apr 10, 2018
Grant date	Apr 10, 2018

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for occupant alertness-based navigation. An example vehicle includes a camera and an occupant monitor. The example camera is affixed to a rear-view mirror of the vehicle to detect drowsiness events associated with a driver. The example occupant monitor is to, in response to detecting, with the camera, a first drowsiness event, provide feedback to a driver. Additionally, the example occupant monitor is to, in response to detecting a second drowsiness event after the first, select an accommodation in the geographic vicinity of the vehicle, and set a navigation system to navigate to the selected accommodation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
a camera affixed to a rear-view mirror to detect drowsiness events; and
an occupant monitor to:
in response to detecting, with the camera, a first drowsiness event, provide feedback to a driver; and
in response to detecting a second drowsiness event after the first:
select an accommodation in a geographic vicinity of the vehicle; and
automatically set a navigation system to navigate to the selected accommodation.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the occupant monitor is to, in response to detecting the second drowsiness event after the first, prompt the driver, via an infotainment head unit, to reserve a room at the selected accommodation.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the occupant monitor is to select the accommodation based on at least one of a distance between a location of the vehicle and a location of the accommodation, preferences specified by the driver during a registration process, availability of rooms at the accommodation, or a price of the rooms at the accommodation.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the occupant monitor is to, in response to detecting a third drowsiness event after the second, automatically reserve a room at the selected accommodation.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the feedback is at least one of an audio, visual, or haptic alert.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the camera includes integrated facial-feature recognition with infrared thermal imaging.

7. A method of mitigating drowsiness of a driver of a vehicle comprising:
monitoring, with a camera affixed to a rear-view mirror, the driver to detect drowsiness events; and
in response to detecting a first drowsiness event, providing, via a processor, feedback to the driver; and
in response to detecting a second drowsiness event after the first during:
selecting an accommodation in a geographic vicinity of the vehicle; and
automatically setting a navigation system to navigate to the selected accommodation.

8. The method of claim 7 , including in response to detecting the second drowsiness event after the first, prompting the driver, via an infotainment head unit, to reserve a room at the selected accommodation.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein selecting the accommodation is based on at least one of a distance between a location of the vehicle and a location of the accommodation, preferences specified by the driver during a registration process, availability of rooms at the accommodation, or a price of the rooms at the accommodation.

10. The method of claim 7 , including in response to detecting a third drowsiness event after the second, automatically reserving, with the processor, a room at the selected accommodation.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the feedback is at least one of an audio, visual, or haptic alert.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the camera includes integrated facial-feature recognition with infrared thermal imaging.

13. A tangible computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a vehicle to:
monitor, with a camera affixed to a rear-view mirror, a driver to detect drowsiness events; and
in response to detecting a first drowsiness event, provide feedback to the driver; and
in response to detecting a second drowsiness event after the first:
select an accommodation in a geographic vicinity of the vehicle; and
automatically set a navigation system to navigate to the selected accommodation.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the vehicle to, in response to detecting the second drowsiness event after the first, prompt the driver, via an infotainment head unit, to reserve a room at the selected accommodation.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the accommodation is selected based on at least one of a distance between a location of the vehicle and a location of the accommodation, preferences specified by the driver during a registration process, availability of rooms at the accommodation, or a price of the rooms at the accommodation.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the vehicle to, in response to detecting a third drowsiness event after the second, automatically reserve a room at the selected accommodation.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the feedback is at least one of an audio, visual, or haptic alert.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the camera includes integrated facial-feature recognition with infrared thermal imaging.

19. The vehicle of claim 4 , including after automatically reserve a room at the selected accommodation, provide the feedback to the driver until the vehicle reaches the selected accommodation, the feedback being at least one of an audio, visual, or haptic alert.

20. The vehicle of claim 19 , including increasing an intensity of the feedback after automatically reserve the room at the selected accommodation.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Nania Adrian

Classifications

• G08B21/06 Primary

  indicating a condition of sleep, e.g. anti-dozing alarms · CPC title

• B60Q5/005

  automatically actuated · CPC title

• G08B21/0476

  Cameras to detect unsafe condition, e.g. video cameras · CPC title

• G06Q10/02

  Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events · CPC title

• B60R1/00

  Optical viewing arrangements; Real-time viewing arrangements for drivers or passengers using optical image capturing systems, e.g. cameras or video systems specially adapted for use in or on vehicles · CPC title