CN110766182A

CN110766182A - Safety protection for passengers

Info

Publication number: CN110766182A
Application number: CN201811519878.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 俞帅帅
Original assignee: Beijing Didi Infinity Technology and Development Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Didi Infinity Technology and Development Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-12-12
Filing date: 2018-12-12
Publication date: 2020-02-07

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a solution for safety protection of passengers is provided. In a computer-implemented method, information relating to an external environment in which a vehicle in which a passenger is seated is located is obtained. Based on the acquired information, a hazard level of the external environment is determined, the hazard level indicating a likelihood of a hazardous event occurring in the external environment that is expected to jeopardize the safety of the passenger. Responsive to determining that the hazard level exceeds the threshold level, a protective action for the safety of the occupant is triggered. In this way, the safety of passengers riding in the vehicle can be improved.

Description

Safety protection for passengers

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of transportation and, more particularly, to solutions for safety protection for passengers.

Background

With the popularization of mobile internet and smart devices, a travel mode that is popular at present is made by reserving travel vehicles (such as taxis, special cars, express cars, windmills and the like) by using a car booking application installed on a terminal device (for example, a mobile phone) with the characteristics of convenience, rapidness and the like. However, during the journey of the passenger on the vehicle, situations may occur in which personal and property safety is compromised, such as traffic accidents, personal injuries to the passenger from drivers or other malicious persons, and the like.

In order to protect the travel safety of passengers, the car booking platform provides safety protection functions such as a journey sharing function and a one-key alarm. However, these functions are limited in that the passenger is required to judge the timing of activation by himself or herself and to manually share it. In some situations, passengers may be unable to determine whether a trip is potentially dangerous or restricted due to stress or a coma or sleep state. These reasons may make it difficult for passengers to find the approach of danger in time and fail to activate the safety protection function accurately in time.

Disclosure of Invention

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a solution for protecting the safety of passengers on a vehicle is provided.

In a first aspect of the disclosure, a computer-implemented method is provided. The method includes obtaining information relating to an external environment in which a vehicle in which a passenger is seated is located; determining a hazard level for the external environment based on the obtained information, the hazard level indicating a likelihood of a hazardous event occurring in the external environment that is expected to jeopardize safety of the passenger; and in response to determining that the hazard level exceeds a threshold level, triggering a protective action for the safety of the occupant.

In a second aspect of the disclosure, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing computer program instructions, the at least one memory and the computer program instructions configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: acquiring information related to an external environment in which a vehicle in which a passenger is seated is located; determining a hazard level for the external environment based on the obtained information, the hazard level indicating a likelihood of a hazardous event occurring in the external environment that is expected to jeopardize safety of the passenger; and in response to determining that the hazard level exceeds a threshold level, triggering a protective action for the safety of the occupant.

In a third aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising machine executable instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to perform the steps of the method according to the first aspect of the disclosure.

It should be understood that the statements herein reciting aspects are not intended to limit the critical or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The above and other features, advantages and aspects of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent by referring to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like or similar reference characters designate like or similar elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of a process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a user interface displayed on a terminal device for indicating alert information, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a computing device capable of implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While certain embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it is to be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but rather are provided for a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the disclosure are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

In describing embodiments of the present disclosure, the terms "include" and its derivatives should be interpreted as being inclusive, i.e., "including but not limited to. The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on". The term "one embodiment" or "the embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The terms "first," "second," and the like may refer to different or the same object. Other explicit and implicit definitions are also possible below.

As mentioned above, conventional taxi appointment platforms require passengers to determine themselves whether a safety hazard exists for a journey and to manually initiate safety protection measures. This requires the passenger to be informed and to be able to perform the required actions, which may lead to personal and property damage in many cases, since the passenger cannot activate the safety measures accurately and in time.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for protecting the safety of passengers. In this solution, the possibility of occurrence of a dangerous event in the current external environment that is expected to jeopardize the safety of a passenger is automatically determined by monitoring information about the external environment in which the vehicle is located during the passenger's ride in the vehicle. If the possibility of dangerous events occurring in the current external environment is high, the safety protection action aiming at passengers is triggered, so that the dangerous events are avoided or reduced, and the safety of the passengers is improved. Some embodiments of the disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example system 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown, the example system 100 includes a vehicle 110, and the vehicle 110 may be traveling on a road or track, or may be at a stop. In this context, a vehicle refers to any type of vehicle that is capable of carrying people and/or objects and that is mobile. In the example of FIG. 1, the vehicle 110 is illustrated as a vehicle. Examples of vehicles include, but are not limited to, cars, sedans, trucks, buses, electric vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, and the like. However, it should be understood that a vehicle is merely one example of a vehicle. Embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other vehicles other than vehicles, such as boats, trains, airplanes, and the like.

As shown, a driver 130 and a passenger 140 of the vehicle 110 are on the vehicle 110, with their respective associated

terminal devices

135 and 140. It should be understood that the particular number of vehicles 110, drivers 130, passengers 140,

terminal devices

135 and 145 in fig. 1 is shown for purposes of example only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In other embodiments, any suitable number of drivers, passengers, and terminal devices may be present in the vehicle 110. For example, the driver 130 and/or the passenger 140 may not have respective terminal devices, or have more than one terminal device. Embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited in this respect.

The

terminal devices

135 and 140 may be any device having wired or wireless communication capabilities, including but not limited to, a cell phone, a computer, a personal digital assistant, a game console, a wearable device, an in-vehicle communication device, a virtual reality device, or a reality augmentation device, etc. For example, the

terminal devices

135 and 140 may provide, for example, microphones for capturing speech from the driver 130 and the passenger 140. Furthermore, the

terminal devices

135 and 140 may also be equipped with positioning means to determine their own position, which positioning means may for example be based on any of the following techniques: global Positioning System (GPS) technology, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) technology, beidou navigation system technology, Galileo positioning system (Galileo) technology, quasi-zenith satellite system (QAZZ) technology, base station positioning technology, Wi-Fi positioning technology, and the like.

As further shown,

terminal devices

135 and 145 can be communicatively coupled with electronic device 120 via network 150 to send data or requests to electronic device 120 or receive data or requests from electronic device 120. In some embodiments, the network 150 that enables communication between the electronic device 120 and the

terminal devices

135 and 145 may include a wired network, a wireless network, or a combination of wired and wireless networks. For example, network 150 may include, but is not limited to, the Internet, a wide area network, a metropolitan area network, a local area network, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) network, a wireless communication network, and so forth.

In addition to terminal devices introduced into the vehicle 110 by the driver 130 and/or the passenger 140, the vehicle 110 may integrate and/or be equipped with onboard auxiliary devices, such as onboard positioning devices, communication devices, onboard recorders, various types of sensors, and the like. These in-vehicle accessories may be communicatively coupled with electronic device 120 via network 150 to send data or requests to electronic device 120 or receive data or requests from electronic device 120.

The electronic device 120 may include, but is not limited to, any physical computer, virtual machine, or large computing device provided by various service providers, and the like. In the example system 100 shown in fig. 1, the electronic device 120 may be a server that provides different functionality. For example, the

terminal devices

135 and 145 may have applications or software for the car-booking platform installed thereon, and the electronic device 120 may include a server providing a car-booking application service for the

terminal devices

135 and 145. In other examples, electronic device 120 may also be any other computing device independent of such a server. Although only one electronic device is shown in fig. 1, it should be understood that this is for purposes of example only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the functionality of the electronic device 120 described herein may be distributed across multiple physical devices and/or implemented virtually.

Taking a car-booking service scenario as an example, the electronic device 120 may be, for example, an electronic device for managing all vehicles (including the vehicle 110) joined in a car-booking platform (also referred to as "network entry"). For example, information for each networked vehicle may be pre-registered with electronic device 120, including, but not limited to, identification information for the vehicle (e.g., license plate number, vehicle make, color, model number, etc.), driver information for the vehicle (e.g., driver's name, gender, age, phone number, photo, credential number, etc.), and other similar information. The terminal device 135 of the driver 130 and/or the terminal device 145 of the passenger 140 may also be installed with a client application of the car appointment platform and may be registered on the car appointment platform for platform management. The registration information may include personal information of the driver 130 and/or the passenger 140, such as name, gender, age, phone number, photo, certificate number, and the like.

When vehicle 110 is used to service passenger 140, electronic device 120 may associate vehicle 110, terminal device 135 of driver 130, and terminal device 145 of passenger 140. In an actual service process, the terminal device 135 of the driver 130 and/or the terminal device 145 of the passenger 140 may determine their own location using their positioning means and upload information about the location (e.g., longitude and latitude) to the electronic device 120 via a client application installed in the

terminal devices

135 and 145, such as a driver-side application or a passenger-side application, to enable the electronic device 120 to determine a real-time location of the vehicle 110 during the service process. Such a positioning device may also provide positioning information to the electronic device 120 if the vehicle 110 is equipped with such a positioning device.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the electronic device 120 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the solutions described in the present disclosure for protecting passengers. The electronic device 120 is configured to determine whether the vehicle 110 is traveling to an external environment where hazardous times may occur and, based thereon, automatically take protective action against the occupant 140 to ensure ride safety of the occupant 140.

The various components and respective functions included in the example system 100 are described above for exemplary purposes only. It is to be understood that embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented in other environments having different components and/or respective functions. Some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in further detail below in connection with an example system 100 as shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 2 shows a flow diagram of a process 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process 200 may be implemented by the electronic device 120 of fig. 1, for example, may be implemented by a processor or processing unit of the electronic device 120. In other embodiments, some or all of process 200 may also be implemented by other devices independent of electronic device 120, such as terminal device 135 of driver 130 or terminal device 145 of passenger 140. For ease of discussion, process 200 will be described in conjunction with FIG. 1, taking as an example that electronic device 120 performs process 200. It should be understood that process 200 may also include acts not shown and/or may omit acts shown. The scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

At 210, electronic device 120 obtains information related to the external environment in which vehicle 110, in which passenger 140 is seated, is located. The vehicle 110 may be driven into different external environments. Through research such as analysis of past cases, it can be found that dangerous events related to personal and property safety and the like usually occur in a more remote environment which is not easy to attract attention of other people or cannot be monitored in the process of a vehicle. Thus, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, automatic timely and even early taking of protective action for the safety of the passengers 140 is achieved by monitoring the external environment of the vehicle 110.

Specifically, at 220, the electronic device 120 determines a hazard level of the external environment based on the acquired information. Herein, the hazard level indicates the likelihood of a hazardous event occurring in the external environment that is expected to jeopardize the safety of the passengers. A dangerous event may be any event that would threaten the personal and property safety of a passenger. The higher the hazard level, the higher the likelihood of a hazardous event occurring in this external environment.

The risk level may be pre-divided and different information related to the external environment may be mapped to different risk levels. In some embodiments, two risk levels may be divided: the first risk level indicates a safe external environment in which the risk of occurrence of the expected hazardous event is less likely to occur without threatening the safety of the passengers, while the second risk level indicates a dangerous external environment in which the risk of occurrence of the expected hazardous event is more likely to occur, and measures are required or recommended to ensure the safety of the passengers. In some embodiments, the hazard levels may be divided at a finer granularity, respectively indicating different likelihoods of expected occurrence of a hazardous event.

Some examples of how the information related to the external environment is utilized and how the hazard level of the external environment of the vehicle 110 is determined based on the described information will be described in detail below. In some embodiments, the electronic device 120 can determine whether the vehicle 110 is in a hazardous environment, how dangerous, etc., based on the physical conditions of the road on which the vehicle 110 is located. The vehicle 110 moves or travels on a road. In acquiring the information related to the external environment, the electronic device 120 may acquire road information indicating a physical condition of the road. In some cases, the external environment in which a dangerous event may occur may be remote, wherein the physical condition of the road is often poor, resulting in a poor driving experience. For example, a road may have a rough road surface, a winding road surface, cliff on both sides of the road, and so on. The worse the physical condition of the road, the more dangerous the overall external environment may be indicated. Thus, by monitoring the physical conditions of the road on which the vehicle 110 is located, it can be determined whether the vehicle 110 is in a hazardous environment, in which there is a likelihood of a hazardous event.

In some embodiments, the physical condition of the road may include whether the vehicle 110, e.g., a vehicle, is jogging, particularly a persistent jogging, while moving/traveling on the road. To measure the level of sustained pitch of travel, the electronic device 120 may obtain measurement information indicating the magnitude of the shock as the vehicle 110 moves over the road. Such measurement information may be provided, for example, by a gyroscope that moves in association with vehicle 110, as the gyroscope vibrates with the vibration of an object to which it is mechanically connected, and the magnitude of the vibration of the gyroscope may be indicative of the magnitude of the vibration of the connected object.

In some embodiments, the measurement information indicative of the magnitude of the vibration of the vehicle 110 may be provided by a gyroscope that moves with the vehicle 110. Such a gyroscope may be, for example, a gyroscope integrated in the terminal device 145 of the passenger 140 and/or the terminal device 135 of the driver 130. Alternatively or additionally, the aforementioned measurement information may also be provided by a gyroscope separately mounted or integrated on the vehicle 110. Electronic device 120 may request permission to obtain measurement information for the gyroscopes of terminal devices 145 and/or 135 and obtain the measurement information for the gyroscopes from the corresponding

terminal devices

145, 135 and/or vehicle 110 after permission by passenger 140 and/or driver 130.

Alternatively or additionally, the physical condition of the road associated with the hazard level of the external environment may include a degree of bumpiness of the road on which the vehicle 110 is traveling, e.g., a number of curves on the road. In consideration of such road conditions, the electronic device 120 may acquire steering information of the vehicle 110, which indicates a steering operation of the vehicle 110 on the road. The steering information may indicate the operation of the vehicle 110 to turn left, turn right, the degree of steering, and the like while traveling. Such steering information may be obtained from a control system of the vehicle 110, in particular a steering control system. By means of the steering information, it can be analyzed whether there are more consecutive turning sections on the road where the vehicle 110 is located.

In addition to the measurement information related to the magnitude of the vibration and the steering information related to the steering operation, the electronic device 120 may additionally or alternatively obtain image information of the road. The image information visually presents the condition about the road. Such image information may come, for example, from an image recording device installed on the vehicle 110, such as a tachograph or other camera-mounted device. By analyzing the image information, the electronic device 120 may also determine the physical conditions of the road on which the vehicle 110 is located, such as the degree of bumpiness of the road, etc., and if necessary, whether the road has other dangerous factors, such as a cliff on the road side, a steep wall on the road side, a narrow road surface, etc.

The above describes available road information for assessing the risk level of the external environment. In some embodiments, electronic device 120 may determine the hazard level of the external environment based on one or more types of road information available, such as one or more aspects indicative of a degree of a jolt of the road (e.g., whether there is a sustained jolt), a degree of a jolt of the road (e.g., whether there is a continuous turn section), a cliff of the road side, a degree of a stenosis of the road surface.

Specifically, in terms of the degree of the road pitch, if the electronic device 120 detects from the measurement information that the difference in the fore-and-aft vibration amplitudes of the gyroscope is large (for example, exceeds a threshold amplitude difference, such as an amplitude difference of 50% or more), this means that the vibration amplitude of the vehicle 110 is also large, that is, the travel of the vehicle 110 encounters the pitch. In addition, the vehicle 110 may exhibit a continuous bump characteristic when moving on a poorly conditioned road. The degree of sustained pitch of the vehicle 110 may be determined by the number of pitches over a period of time. If the electronic device 120 detects from the measurement information from the gyroscope that the vehicle 110 has encountered multiple bumps over a period of time, for example, a greater number of times (e.g., more than 3 or more) that the difference in the pitch amplitude of the gyroscope exceeds the threshold amplitude difference over a one minute period, it may be determined that the sustained bumps encountered while the vehicle 110 is traveling are greater. It should be understood that the values given above are examples only, and that other threshold amplitude differences, time to bump to measure persistence, etc. may be determined as practical.

In some embodiments, in classifying the risk level, different degrees of road jerkiness (as indicated by the number of jounces) or different degrees of continuous jounces (as indicated by continuous jounces over a short period of time, for example) may be mapped to different risk levels of the external environment. A higher degree of road or sustained pitch means that the worse the road condition, the higher the likelihood of a dangerous event being expected in such an environment. Thus, in operation, the electronic device 120 can determine the current hazard level of the external environment based on the degree of jolt of the road on which the vehicle 110 is located.

In considering the degree of roughness of the road, the electronic device 120 may determine the number of times of steering operations of the vehicle 110 over a period of time to determine the degree of roughness of the road. If the number of steering operations of the vehicle 110 is greater than a threshold number of turns (e.g., 5, 10, etc.) over a period of time (e.g., 5 or 10 minutes), it may be determined that the road roughness is dangerous, such as exceeding a threshold roughness. It should be understood that the numerical values given above are merely examples, and other numerical values may be determined according to actual circumstances. In the classification of the hazard level, different bumpiness of the road may additionally or alternatively be mapped to different hazard levels of the external environment. The higher the bumpiness of the road means that the worse the road condition, the higher the likelihood that a dangerous event is expected to occur in such an external environment, and thus the higher the danger level. In operation, the electronic device 120 may determine a current hazard level of the external environment based on the ruggedness of the road on which the vehicle 110 is located.

In terms of cliffs at the roadside, and/or the degree of narrowness of the road surface, etc., the electronic device 120 may monitor the presence of road segments where cliffs, and/or narrow road surfaces (e.g., roads of a width that allows only a single vehicle to pass) exist, as well as the length of such road segments. If these risk factors occur more often or if the length of the road segment that persists is longer (e.g., greater than a threshold length), it may be determined that the more dangerous the external environment, the more likely a dangerous event is expected to occur, and thus the higher the risk rating. In operation, the electronic device 120 can determine a hazard level of the environment external to the vehicle 110 based on whether one or more of the hazard factors are present on the road on which the vehicle 110 is located.

In some embodiments, different hazard levels may correspond to multiple aspects of road information. For example, different hazard levels may correspond to different degrees of constant jerk and different degrees of jerk, i.e., different numbers of jerks in a minute and different numbers of steering operations over a period of time. The different risk classes may also correspond to the presence of dangerous factors such as cliffs, cliffs etc. on the road. In some embodiments, if two or more aspects of danger are detected (e.g., the degree of sustained jerk is above a threshold, the degree of bumpiness is above a threshold, and there is a cliff, etc.), then the danger level will be set higher.

Some embodiments of determining a hazard level based on information related to physical conditions of a road have been described above. It should be understood that the above-described road information is only an example. In other embodiments, the hazard level of the external environment may also be determined based on other types of road information, alternatively or additionally. For example, location information of the vehicle 110 may be obtained and, based on the location information, the physical condition of the road on which the vehicle 110 is located may be determined in combination with map information about covering the respective geographical location. In such an implementation, the physical conditions of the different roads may be pre-labeled in the mapping system.

In addition to indicating whether the environment is dangerous based on the road information, or alternatively, the electronic device 120 may acquire information related to a reference object present in the external environment in which the vehicle 110 is located, as the information related to the external environment. The number of such reference objects is related to the risk level of the external environment. In some embodiments, the number of reference objects considered is inversely related to the hazard level, meaning that such objects are present or present in greater numbers in a safe environment and absent or present in lesser numbers in a hazardous environment. In other embodiments, the number of reference objects considered may be positively correlated with the hazard level, meaning that such objects are absent or fewer in the safe environment and present or greater in the hazardous environment. Thus, the external environmental safety or hazard, and thus the hazard level, may be determined by identifying the number of reference objects.

As an example, the reference object may be one or more types of objects in buildings, other vehicles, and people. The number of such reference objects is inversely related to the risk level of the external environment. The reason is that in a relatively busy area, such as a downtown, town street, etc. where the number of buildings, other vehicles and people is typically high, such an area is also typically not a preferred area for criminals to choose to perform criminal action. On the other hand, other vehicles, such as highways or other busy roads, including various types of motor vehicles and/or non-motor vehicles, are generally more secure and safer. However, in more remote, hazardous external environments, the number of buildings, other vehicles, and people, etc. may be small.

In some embodiments, a reference object that positively correlates to the risk level of the external environment may also be used to gauge the risk level of the external environment. Such reference objects may be, for example, mountains, trees, riprap, deserts, etc., which are often present in hazardous environments and not often present in safe environments.

In counting the number of reference objects, reference objects that are present within a certain range around the vehicle 110 may be considered. The identification of the reference object can be achieved in a number of ways. In some embodiments, upon obtaining information related to the reference object, the electronic device 120 can determine a geographic area in which the vehicle 110 is located and obtain map information corresponding to the geographic area. Typically, many map systems have labeled buildings in a particular geographic area. Some map systems are also capable of monitoring and labeling the location and number of vehicles on roads in real time in order to provide services regarding traffic congestion levels, route recommendations, and the like. In some embodiments, the identification about the person may for example also be provided by the map system (if the map system has recorded information in this respect). Other types of objects in different geographic areas may also be labeled in the map system, such as mountains, trees, riprap, deserts, and so forth.

Thus, such map information can be obtained from an existing mapping system, indicating the reference objects that have been tagged in the geographic region in which the vehicle 110 is located. With the aid of such map information, the number of reference objects in the geographical area can be determined. In addition to map information, the number of reference objects within a particular geographic area may be identified by other means, such as a public monitoring system, an on-board recorder, etc., for the geographic area in which the vehicle 110 is located.

The geographic region in which the vehicle 110 is located can be determined by the real-time location reported by the location device associated with the vehicle 110. The locating device may be an onboard locating device installed on vehicle 110, a locating device in terminal equipment 135 and/or terminal equipment 140, or other suitable locating device. The geographic area may be, for example, a geographic area within a certain range with the location of the vehicle 110 as a reference point. Different types of reference objects may consider the same or different ranges of geographic areas. In some embodiments in which buildings are considered, a geographic area may be identified in which the current location of the vehicle 110 is a range of a certain radius (e.g., 50 meters, 100 meters, etc.) from the center, and the number of buildings within the geographic area determined. In some embodiments in which vehicles are considered, the number of other vehicles present in the road before and after the current location of the vehicle 110 may be identified, for example, the average number of other vehicles present in a road segment of a predetermined length of the vehicle 110 over a unit of time may be identified. The unit time may be one minute, ten minutes, half an hour, or any other length of time, and the road segment length may be 100 meters, 200 meters, or any other distance. In some embodiments where people are considered, an average number of people within a geographic area within a range where the localized position of the vehicle 110 is the reference point may also be identified.

In some embodiments, the electronic device 120 can determine a hazard level of the external environment in which the vehicle 110 is located based on the number of reference objects. In embodiments that consider reference objects, different hazard levels may be mapped or correspond to a particular number range of reference objects. For example, a high risk level may map or correspond to a smaller range of numbers of reference objects that are negatively correlated with the risk level and/or a larger range of numbers of reference objects that are positively correlated with the risk level, and so on. In some embodiments, different reference objects that are negatively correlated with a hazard level or different reference objects that are positively correlated with a hazard level may be summed to a total number. Alternatively, different types of reference objects may be mapped to a certain risk level, respectively.

With continued reference to FIG. 2, at 230, the electronic device 120 determines whether the risk level of the current external environment exceeds a threshold level. The threshold level indicates a tolerable limit for the risk level. If it is determined that the risk level does not exceed the threshold level, this means that the current external environment is safe or acceptable. If it is determined that the hazard level exceeds the threshold level, the electronic device 120 triggers a protective action for the safety of the occupant 140 at 240.

The selection of the threshold level is related to the specific division of the risk level. For example, if the hazard levels are divided into only a first hazard level indicative of a safe external environment and a second hazard level indicative of a hazardous external environment, the threshold level may be set to the first hazard level such that a protective action is triggered if the external environment in which the vehicle 110 is located is determined to be the second hazard level. In such a hazard classification, if it is determined that the vehicle 110 is located on a road with a high degree of bumps, is continuously bumpy, or has other risk factors, the external environment will be determined as a second hazard level, and a protective action may be triggered. In implementations where more risk levels are divided, the threshold level may be set to some of a plurality of risk levels.

It will be appreciated that the selection of the threshold level or the division of the second risk level (which also affects the selection of the threshold level) is related to specific factors that measure the risk level, such as to road information and/or reference objects. In some embodiments, the degree of risk for different road conditions, such as the degree of bumps, ruggedness of the road, and/or the presence of other risk factors, may be considered in determining the threshold level. Alternatively or additionally, the average number of reference objects present within a reference time period in a reference geographic area may also be considered in determining the threshold level. The reference geographic area may be larger than the geographic area considered in measuring the risk level of the environment external to the vehicle 110, and the reference time period may be longer than the time considered in measuring the risk level.

For example, for buildings, the number of buildings in a reference geographic area may be monitored, such as the total number of buildings in the geographic area of the city, province, or country in which the vehicle 110 is located. Monitoring of the total number of buildings may be determined based on new map information over a period of time in the past, for example over a week or a month, since the update rate of buildings is typically slow. The average number of buildings within a unit geographic area may then be determined based on the total number of buildings and the size of the reference geographic area under consideration. The unit geographic area herein may be a geographic area considered in determining the risk level (e.g., a geographic area within a 100 meter radius) to facilitate comparison in the same unit.

In further examples, a total number of vehicles present within a reference time period in a reference geographic area may be monitored, such as a total number of vehicles traveling over a time of day, two days, or one week on roads of a geographic range of a city, province, or country. The average number of vehicles per geographic area and time unit may then be determined based on the total number of vehicles, the reference time period considered, and the reference geographic range. The unit geographic area and the unit time here may be a geographic area (a road segment length of 100 meters) and a unit time (e.g., one minute) considered with respect to the vehicle 110 in determining the hazard level. In embodiments where people or other reference objects are considered, the average number of reference objects present per unit geographic area and per unit time may also be determined in a similar manner.

The threshold level may correspond to a risk level within a reference geographic area to which a certain proportion of the average number over a reference time period may be classified. For example, a value for the average number 1/5, 1/10, etc. may be determined, and a determination may be made as to which risk level the reference object for that value is to be classified, and then the risk level may be determined as the threshold level. Such a ratio may be determined based on the limit number of reference objects that can be tolerated in a particular environment. If different types of reference objects are used to measure the risk level at the same time, the average number of these types of reference objects may be weighted, and then the risk level corresponding to a certain proportional value of the weighting result is determined as the threshold level. Reference objects having a positive or negative correlation may be considered separately. In some embodiments, the threshold level may also be set by the user.

In some embodiments, in determining whether to trigger a protective action, the electronic device 120 may accumulate a length of time for which the hazard level exceeds a threshold level. If the accumulated length of time exceeds a threshold length of time, a protective action is triggered. The threshold time period may be set to any reasonable time period to prevent false positives due to transient errors or transient special external circumstances. For example, if the road is only bumpy for a short period of time, or passes through an area where the reference object is small for a short period of time, a protective action may not be triggered. In some embodiments, the threshold length of time may also be set by the user.

It was mentioned above that a protective action will be triggered to protect the safety of the passenger 140 when the hazard level exceeds a threshold level. In embodiments of the present disclosure, the electronic device 120 may provide protection to the passenger 140 in a variety of ways. As one example, the electronic device may send alert information to terminal device 145 of passenger 140. The alert message may be used to alert the passenger 140 that the current external environment is potentially dangerous. The alert information may be the determined risk level.

In some embodiments, the alert information may be indicated to passenger 140 in a visual form, such as a text message that the alert information may send to terminal device 145 or may be an indication such as a screen flash or light flash of terminal device 145. The text information may be an instant message such as received or automatically popped up on an application installed on terminal device 145 for providing the current itinerary service, or may be a message received in another application sent to terminal device 145, such as a Short Message Service (SMS) application.

Alternatively or additionally, the alert information may also be indicated to passenger 140 in audible form, e.g. terminal device 145 may be instructed to sound a particular ring tone, and/or the alert information may also be indicated to passenger 140 in tactile form, e.g. terminal device 145 may be instructed to vibrate continuously. With the aid of warning information in the form of visual, audible and/or tactile information, the passenger 140 may be alerted that the current trip is potentially dangerous, thereby causing the passenger 140 to be alert. In addition, the audible and/or tactile form of the alert message is particularly useful for alerting the passenger 140 of a sleeping or inattentive condition. The form of supply of the warning information may be default or set by the passenger 140.

In some embodiments, the alert message may also indicate to the passenger 140 how to address the current situation, e.g., the passenger 140 may be prompted to enable a corresponding safety function to further safeguard safety. The security functions may be automatically presented in the user interface of terminal device 145 to facilitate quick selection by passenger 140. The activatable security functions may include security contacts and/or alerts that share the trip information of the passenger 140 to the passenger 140. As used herein, a security contact may refer generally to any person or organization capable of providing security protection to passenger 140, including but not limited to emergency contacts preset by passenger 140, police stations, security teams of car-booking platforms, and the like. The trip information provided to the safety contact may include identification information of the vehicle 110, driver 130 information, the current location of the vehicle 110, etc., so that the safety contact may provide protection or assistance to the passenger 140 based on the trip information. The activation of the alarm function will be documented at the alarm centre as specified by the current police department seeking police assistance. At this time, information requested by the police will be provided to the alarm center, which may include, for example, trip information of the passenger 140.

Fig. 3 shows an example of a user interface 300 displayed on the terminal device 145 for indicating alert information. The user interface 300 is presented at the interface of the installed application for providing the current trip service, and a text message box 310 is automatically popped up, in which the content "remind of currently driving at a dangerous road segment" is contained. It is recommended to choose the following operations to secure ". The user interface 300 also provides two options, namely a "trip sharing" option 320 and a "one-touch alert" option 322. If the passenger 140 selects the "travel sharing" option 320, current travel information may be provided to the passenger 140 with preset security contacts. If passenger 140 selects "one-click alarm" option 322 to enable the alarm function.

In embodiments involving alert information, the alert information may help alert the passenger 140 of the existence of a potential hazard, and the passenger 140 may decide to take a next action. Alternatively or additionally, the electronic device 120 may automatically provide the travel information of the passenger 140 to the security contacts of the passenger 140. This can avoid a delay in the activation of the safety function caused when the passenger 140 is in a state of restricted action.

In some embodiments, the electronic device 120 may also trigger different protective actions based on the current hazard level. For example, if the current risk level, while exceeding a first threshold level (i.e., triggering a protective action), has not yet exceeded a second, higher threshold level, the electronic device 120 may provide an alert message in text form to the terminal device 145. If the risk level exceeds the second threshold level, electronic device 120 may provide alert information, such as in the form of a ring, continuous vibration, etc., to terminal device 145 to draw sufficient attention and alertness to occupant 140. Alternatively or additionally, if the electronic device 120 determines that the risk level exceeds a third, higher threshold level, the travel information for the passenger 140 may be automatically provided to the safety contacts of the passenger 140.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, passengers are protected by monitoring the external environment in which the vehicle is located and taking protective action when a high likelihood of a dangerous event occurring in the external environment is detected. This can significantly improve the safety of the passenger, and avoid the limitation that the passenger cannot effectively take protective action when the judgment ability and/or action ability of the passenger is limited. In some embodiments, information relating to the external environment in which the vehicle is located may be periodically or continuously obtained, and/or it may be periodically or continuously determined whether a hazard level of the external environment exceeds a threshold level. In some embodiments, if it is determined that the threshold level has not been exceeded, the protection action may not be triggered, but rather continue to wait for the next arbitration opportunity.

It should be understood that although the determination of the danger level of the external environment based on the road information and the reference object-related information is discussed in the above-described embodiments, these aspects are merely examples. In other embodiments, information of other aspects of the external environment in which the vehicle 110 is located may also be considered for determining the hazard level of the external environment, such as the current time, weather conditions, image information of the external environment, and so forth. Embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited in this respect.

It should also be understood that while in the embodiments herein, a driver is shown within the vehicle 110, in other instances, the vehicle 110 may have an autonomous driving function, for example, and thus no driver is required. In such a case, the vehicle 110 may be caused to travel into a hazardous environment with a high probability of the occurrence of a hazardous event that is expected to jeopardize the safety of the occupant due to various reasons, such as failure of the autopilot control, intrusion of a hacker into the control system, etc. Embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to such a vehicle 110 with autopilot capability to improve the safety protection of passengers.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic block diagram of an example device 400 that may be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 400 may be used to implement electronic device 120 of fig. 1. As shown, device 400 includes a computing unit 401 that may perform various appropriate actions and processes in accordance with computer program instructions stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM)402 or loaded from a storage unit 408 into a Random Access Memory (RAM) 403. In the RAM 403, various programs and data required for the operation of the device 400 can also be stored. The computing unit 401, ROM 402, and RAM 403 are connected to each other via a bus 404. An input/output (I/O) interface 405 is also connected to bus 404.

A number of components in device 400 are connected to I/O interface 405, including: an input unit 406 such as a keyboard, a mouse, or the like; an output unit 407 such as various types of displays, speakers, and the like; a storage unit 408 such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, or the like; and a communication unit 409 such as a network card, modem, wireless communication transceiver, etc. The communication unit 409 allows the device 400 to exchange information/data with other devices via a computer network, such as the internet, and/or various telecommunication networks.

Computing unit 401 may be a variety of general and/or special purpose processing components with processing and computing capabilities. Some examples of the computing unit 401 include, but are not limited to, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), various dedicated Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing chips, various computing units running machine learning model algorithms, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), and any suitable processor, controller, microcontroller, and so forth. Computing unit 401 may perform the various methods and processes described above, such as process 200. For example, in some embodiments, process 200 may be implemented as a computer software program tangibly embodied in a machine-readable medium, such as storage unit 408. In some embodiments, part or all of the computer program may be loaded and/or installed onto the device 400 via the ROM 402 and/or the communication unit 409. When loaded into RAM 403 and executed by computing unit 401, may perform one or more of the steps of process 200 described above. Alternatively, in other embodiments, computing unit 401 may be configured to perform process 200 in any other suitable manner (e.g., by way of firmware).

The functions described herein above may be performed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. For example, without limitation, exemplary types of hardware logic components that may be used include: a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an Application Specific Standard Product (ASSP), a system on a chip (SOC), a load programmable logic device (CPLD), and the like.

Program code for implementing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of this disclosure, a machine or computer-readable medium may be a tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. A machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a machine-readable storage medium would include an electrical connection based on one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Under certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

acquiring information related to an external environment in which a vehicle in which a passenger is seated is located;

determining a hazard level for the external environment based on the obtained information, the hazard level indicating a likelihood of a hazardous event occurring in the external environment that is expected to jeopardize safety of the passenger; and

triggering a safe protective action for the occupant in response to determining that the hazard level exceeds a threshold level.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises road information indicative of physical conditions of a road on which the vehicle is located.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the road information comprises at least one of:

measurement information indicative of a magnitude of vibration of the vehicle as it moves over the roadway,

steering information indicating a steering operation of the vehicle on the road, an

Image information of the road.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the measurement information is measured by a gyroscope integrated in at least one of a terminal device of the passenger, a terminal device of a driver of the vehicle, and the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises information relating to reference objects present in the external environment, the number of reference objects relating to a hazard level of the external environment.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the reference object comprises at least one of a building and other vehicle, the number of at least one of the building and the other vehicle being inversely related to the hazard level of the external environment.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein obtaining information related to the reference object comprises:

determining a geographic area in which the vehicle is located; and

obtaining map information corresponding to the geographic area, the map information indicating the reference object in the geographic area that has been labeled.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the threshold level is determined based on: an average number of the reference objects that occur within a reference time period in a reference geographic area.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein triggering the protection action comprises:

accumulating a length of time that the hazard level exceeds the threshold level; and

triggering the protection action in response to the accumulated length of time exceeding a threshold length of time.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein triggering the protection action comprises at least one of:

transmitting warning information to the passenger's terminal device, the warning information indicating the danger level in at least one of a visual form, an audible form, and a tactile form; and providing the passenger's travel information to the passenger's security contacts.

11. An electronic device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing computer program instructions, the at least one memory and the computer program instructions configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the information includes road information indicative of physical conditions of a road on which the vehicle is located.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the road information comprises at least one of:

Image information of the road.

14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the measurement information is measured by a gyroscope integrated in at least one of a terminal device of the passenger, a terminal device of a driver of the vehicle, and the vehicle.

15. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the information comprises information related to reference objects present in the external environment, the number of reference objects being related to a hazard level of the external environment.

16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the reference object comprises at least one of a building and other vehicle, a number of the at least one of a building and other vehicle being inversely related to a hazard level of the external environment.

17. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein obtaining information related to the reference object comprises:

determining a geographic area in which the vehicle is located; and

18. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the threshold level is determined based on: an average number of the reference objects that occur within a reference time period in a reference geographic area.

19. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program instructions are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to:

20. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program instructions are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to perform at least one of:

21. A computer readable medium comprising machine executable instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to perform the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 10.