GB2589618A

GB2589618A - Method of driver behaviour diagnose

Info

Publication number: GB2589618A
Application number: GB1917805.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Bogdan Ardelean Darius
Original assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH; Continental Automotive Romania SRL
Current assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH; Continental Automotive Romania SRL
Priority date: 2019-12-05
Filing date: 2019-12-05
Publication date: 2021-06-09
Also published as: GB201917805D0

Abstract

A method of identifying and recording driver behaviour within a vehicle V comprising the steps of: identifying a reckless driving behaviour by means of onboard sensors and devices 3; activating a safety critical signal 6 or warning associated with the identified reckless driving behaviour; receiving a request to record the driving behaviour of the vehicle driver; recording, by means of an interior camera 1, image data of the driver, at least as long as the safety critical signal is on; and storing the safety critical signal activation data and the recorded image data in a database. The reckless driver behaviour may be identified by gaze tracking, hand position or gesture recognition algorithms; the reckless behaviour may comprise driving erratically, speeding, or driving outside of road boundaries or lane lines; and the stored activation data and recorded image data may be transmitted to a third party; such as law enforcement authorities, an insurance company or a leasing or rental company.

Description

Method of driver behavior diagnose The present invention relates to a method of driver behavior diagnose on board of a vehicle.

U52016068143 discloses a safe driving system for alerting a distracted driver, that includes a method and a controller configured to track a driver's face with an interior camera resulting in tracked driver's face data. Moreover, the controller is configured to activate the driver assistance device if the driver is distracted and the hazard detecting device detects at least one of the second vehicle or a third vehicle in the blind spot of the driver. Nevertheless, there is no link between a vehicle status (tell-tales activation on dashboard) served by the vehicle and facts or driving context the driver is aware of. A reckless behavior of the driver or passengers can't be detected and recorded by vehicle, even though the reckless behavior may lead to a life-threatening scenario which isn't recognized, warned, tracked, measured and stored for further analysis.

This invention addresses those cases when the driver takes no corrective action when a warning/error signal is activated, although a corrective action is mandatory either for the passengers, driver and pedestrians' safety or to keep the integrity of the car.

The technical problem to be solved is to track how a driver reacts 30 to a safety critical warning signal in a situation when a corrective action is mandatory.

Therefore, the object of the invention is to solve the deficiencies of the mentioned prior art and to provide a solution able to link the vehicle driver awareness with a driving context.

This objective is achieved according to the invention by means of the technical characteristics mentioned in the independent claim, namely a method of driver behavior diagnose.

Further advantageous embodiments are the subject matter of the 10 dependent claims.

The subject-matter of the present invention is a method of driver behavior diagnose, said method comprising the steps of: -identifying a reckless driving behavior by means of onboard sensors and electronic devices; -activating a safety critical signal associated with the identified reckless driving behavior; -receiving, from at least one electronic device identifying the reckless driving behavior, via a network connection, a request to record the driver; -recording, by means of an driving behavior of the vehicle interior camera, image data of the driver, at least as long as the safety critical signal is on; -storing the safety critical signal activation data and the recorded image data in a database.

The most important advantage is that the car crash rate due to driver oversight/inadvertency and recklessness may severely 30 decrease.

Further special features and advantages of the present invention can be taken from the following description of an advantageous embodiment by way of the accompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a vehicle provided with an interior camera module able to record a reckless driver behavior.

Referring now to Fig. 1, a vehicle V is shown in a schematic view, the vehicle being equipped with an interior camera module 1 oriented toward the interior of the vehicle V and able to record image data of the vehicle driver (not shown), always being situated in the driver sight at a distance less than 40-60cm to the driver's head. The interior camera module 1 integrates a processor 2 that runs advanced algorithms of safety-relevant driver status monitoring, especially gaze tracking and gesture recognition, able to identify especially behavior unacceptable while driving, like eating, using a mobile phone or applying makeup etc., recognized by the fact that the driver's hands are not positioned on the steering wheel. The interior camera module 1 also has a memory (not referenced) able to store the recorded image data into a diagnose database. Also, the internal camera module 1 communicates with other electronic devices 3 within the vehicle (for example, electronic controller units) via an internal connection network 4 (such as CAN bus or LIN). The electronics devices 3 turn on a series of warning/error symbols, named "tell-tale" and displayed on a dashboard 5; by communicating with these electronics devices 3, the internal camera module 1 knows which tell-tale is activated at a specific moment of time, being able to receive a request to record image data of the driver, at least as long as the safety critical signal is on.

When a reckless behavior of the driver is sensed, the safety critical symbol 6 is activated. The <<reckless driving>> symbol can be display on levels with different colors depending of the scenario gravity. The activation of this symbol is treated as an event, and stored in the diagnose database, for later use, as well as the recorded image data. The recorded image data may be used as a confirmation or evidence that the driver was informed, and he took acknowledge about a potentially dangerous scenario.

An aggravated level of gravity is displayed when, for example, an alcohol sensor incorporated in the camera module 1 detects if the driver or passengers consume alcohol while vehicle is running. Yet other levels of gravity are displayed when, for example, one or more electronic control units send flags concerning drifting or the vehicle being driven erratically, too fast or outside the road boundaries etc. A law enforcement agency (police) can be triggered automatically by means of communication units of the vehicle (this being a feature for car renting companies or public transportation); also, the captured and stored image data about a permanent light on the dashboard as <<reckless driving>> maybe sent to a leasing or an assurance company and so on.

However, while certain embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which this invention relates will recognize various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

Patent claims 1. Method of driver behavior diagnose within a motor vehicle, the method including the steps: -identifying a reckless driving behavior by means of onboard sensors and electronic devices; -activating a safety critical signal associated with the identified reckless driving behavior; -receiving, from at least one electronic device identifying the reckless driving behavior, via a network connection, a request to record the driving behavior of the vehicle driver; -recording, by means of an interior camera, image data of the driver, at least as long as the safety critical signal is on; -storing the safety critical signal activation data and the recorded image data in a database.
2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the reckless driving 20 behavior is identified by gaze tracking, hands position tracking or gesture recognition algorithms.
3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the identified reckless driving behavior is one of driving erratically, driving too fast, 25 or driving outside the boundaries of a road.
4.Methodaccordingtoclaim1, wherein the stored activation data and recorded image data are sent, via wireless transmission, to a third party interested into a diagnose of the reckless behavior, such as a law enforcement agency, an insurance company or a leasing company.