JP2007326489A - Vehicular recognition device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular recognition device capable of performing certification of a driver without giving a sense of troublesomeness to the driver. <P>SOLUTION: The vehicular recognition device 100 for certificating the driver has a vein pattern detection means 202 for detecting a vein pattern of the sole of the driver provided on an operation pedal 201; a vein pattern memory means 103 for previously memorizing the vein pattern of the driver; and a determination processing part 102 for determining whether or not the vein pattern detected by the vein pattern detection means is coincident with the vein pattern of the vein pattern memory means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle recognition device that authenticates a driver of a vehicle, and more particularly, to a vehicle recognition device that authenticates a driver using biometric information.

Key enhancements such as immobilizers and smart key systems that improve vehicle security are being promoted, but in the case of security using only keys, engine startup is permitted if there is a key, so if the key itself is stolen May also steal vehicles. Accordingly, driver authentication using biometric authentication information such as fingerprints has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the authentication method described in Patent Document 1, a remote controller equipped with a reading sensor for reading the driver's fingerprint information is mounted on the vehicle, and engine start is permitted when the driver's fingerprint information read matches the pre-registered fingerprint information. Is done.
JP 2002-215740 A

  However, when fingerprint information is read by a vehicle-mounted reading sensor as in Patent Document 1, the driver needs to move his hand closer to the reading sensor, which makes the driver feel bothersome. is there. In addition, since it is necessary to install the reading sensor within the reach of the driver, there is a disadvantage that the layout of other in-vehicle devices is restricted and the design of the passenger compartment may be lowered.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular authentication device capable of authenticating a driver without making the driver feel bothersome.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention is a vehicular recognition device for authenticating a driver, and a vein pattern detecting means (for example, a vein sensor 202) for detecting a vein pattern on the sole of a driver provided on an operation pedal. Whether or not the vein pattern storage means (for example, the personal DB 103) that stores the driver's vein pattern in advance matches the vein pattern detected by the vein pattern detection means and the vein pattern storage means And a determination processing unit for determining whether or not. Further, since the vein pattern detecting means is provided on the operation pedal, the design of the passenger compartment is not impaired.

  According to the present invention, since the vein pattern detecting means is provided on the operation pedal, the driver can be authenticated without requiring an operation for authentication.

  Further, in one form of the vehicle recognition device of the present invention, it has operation detection means (for example, a stop lamp switch) for detecting that the driver's foot is operating the operation pedal, and the vein pattern detection means includes: The operation detecting means detects the vein pattern when the driver's foot is operating the operation pedal.

  According to the present invention, since the operation of the operation pedal is detected, the vein pattern can be detected in a state where the driver's feet are surely on the operation pedal, and the driver can be accurately authenticated.

  It is possible to provide a vehicular authentication device capable of authenticating a driver without making the driver feel bothersome.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a vehicle recognition apparatus according to the present embodiment. The vehicle recognition apparatus 100 in FIG. 1 includes a sensor for detecting biometric information on the brake pedal, so that the driver can start driving after getting on without having to perform a special operation for authentication. The driver can be authenticated during

  The vehicle recognition apparatus 100 includes a personal authentication determination unit 101 and a vein sensor 202 provided in the brake pedal 201. Note that a stop lamp switch 401 for detecting the operation of the brake pedal 201 is disposed on the back surface of the brake pedal 201.

  The personal authentication determination unit 101 is connected to an engine ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 301 via an in-vehicle LAN such as a CAN (Controller Area Network), and permits the engine ECU 301 to start the engine when the driver is authenticated. The personal authentication determination unit 101 also stores a determination processing unit 102 that determines whether or not vein patterns match and a driver's vein pattern (hereinafter referred to as a collation pattern) that is stored in advance in association with an identification ID or the like. (Data Base) 103.

  The personal authentication determination unit 101 inputs a CPU that executes a program, a ROM that stores the program, a RAM that temporarily stores data and programs, a non-volatile RAM (NV-RAM) that stores vein patterns, and the like. And the input / output device which outputs is comprised as a computer connected via the bus | bath. When the CPU executes the program, the function of the determination processing unit 102 described later is realized.

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of the vein sensor 202. The vein sensor 202 reads a vein pattern by a known method, and includes an LED (light emitting diode) 10 that irradiates near infrared rays and an imaging unit 20. A plurality of LEDs 10 are arranged in a plane so as to irradiate the soles of the driver from the depression surface of the brake pedal 201. The photographing means 20 is disposed substantially at the center of the depression surface of the brake pedal 201. The photographing unit 20 includes, for example, an imaging element such as a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) or a charge coupled device (CCD).

  The LED 10 may be a light source that emits near infrared light such as a halogen lamp. Further, instead of the plurality of LEDs 10 arranged on a plane, an elongated light source or a planar light source may be used.

  When the LED 10 irradiates near-infrared light while the sole of the driver is on the brake pedal 201 or above the brake pedal 201, the near-infrared light passes through the driver's footwear and then reflects on the sole of the driver. 20 is incident. In this case, the vein flowing in the sole of the driver has a large amount of red blood cells that have lost oxygen, and thus absorbs near-infrared light. Thereby, there is little reflection only in the part with the vein, and it becomes a vein pattern of the sole projected in the dark, and the near infrared is reflected.

  The imaging unit 20 photoelectrically converts incident near-infrared light according to its intensity, reads the accumulated charge as a voltage, further amplifies and A / D-converts, and then performs a predetermined luminance gradation (for example, 256). (Tone) digital image (hereinafter simply referred to as a sole image) is output.

  By the way, the position where the driver puts the sole on the brake pedal 201 is not greatly different, but is different every time the image is taken. Therefore, in this state, it takes time to compare the vein pattern of the sole image with the verification pattern, and the authentication accuracy is lowered. Therefore, the position of the sole is determined from the sole image before collation. Since the appearance of the sole such as the toe is photographed in the sole image, the approximate position of the vein pattern is determined by cutting out the exterior portion of the sole in accordance with the position of the finger from the sole image. Note that since the vein pattern only needs to be captured in the recognition process, even if the cut out appearance part is slightly shifted, there is no influence on the authentication.

  The determination processing unit 102 executes image processing for extracting a vein pattern from the cut out sole image. As described above, the vein pattern shows a darker luminance value than the surrounding area without blood vessels. That is, in the luminance value profile of the cross section perpendicular to the running direction of the blood vessel, a valley or a depression having the peak at the center of the blood vessel is seen. Therefore, in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction of the sole image, the luminance value valley or the center of the depression is found. The center line of the vein can be obtained by differentiating the luminance value in the horizontal and vertical directions and connecting the points where the change in luminance shows a minimum value. Then, the luminance value at that position is increased so that only that point is emphasized. Then, the center of the dark line of the entire image is emphasized, and a vein pattern is extracted. By this process, even when the dark line is thin, when there is a close dark line, or when the light quantity varies, the dark line can be emphasized stably and clearly. Further, since the center of the blood vessel is extracted, it is possible to perform authentication without being affected by the fluctuation of the blood vessel width with respect to the expansion and contraction of the blood vessel due to a change in temperature or a change in physical condition.

  The determination processing unit 102 compares the vein pattern obtained by the image processing with the collation pattern stored in advance in the personal DB 103 and determines whether or not the same driver. FIG. 3A shows a vein pattern and FIG. 3B shows an image of a collation pattern.

  As the comparison method, for example, a pattern matching method or a method of dividing a vein pattern into a plurality of small regions is used. In pattern matching, the correlation pattern is used as a standard template, and a vein pattern is shifted pixel by pixel with respect to the standard template to detect luminance correlation. If the correlation value at the position where the luminance correlation is highest is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, it is determined that the vein pattern and the matching pattern match.

  In the method of dividing the vein pattern into a plurality of small regions, the vein pattern and the verification pattern are each divided into two or more m small regions.

  Each small area is matched with the other image. Here, the number of pixels whose luminance values match is simply counted. The position with the largest number of matched pixels is taken as the matched position. At this time, the moving range is limited so as not to accidentally match a portion that cannot be clearly matched in position.

  Then, information on the position where the small area is most matched is obtained. That is, the movement vector indicating how much the position is shifted from the initial position in each small area is held.

  When the matching is completed for all the small regions, the movement vectors of the m matching positions are plotted on one plane. For example, if the planes on which the movement vectors of each small region are plotted are superimposed and the movement vectors are dense, there is a large correlation between the vein pattern and the matching pattern, and there is almost no correlation when the movement vectors are dispersed. Is determined.

  The determination processing unit 102 calculates a correlation value by quantifying the density of movement vectors by, for example, a circumscribed rectangle area or a ratio to a small region, and authenticates the driver if the correlation value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

  With the configuration as described above, a procedure of processing in which the vehicle recognition apparatus 100 authenticates the driver with the sole vein pattern will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The process of FIG. 4 starts when the door is unlocked and the driver's seat door is closed, for example.

  First, the key carried by the driver (smart key) or the key inserted into the key cylinder is authenticated by the immobilizer authentication procedure (S1). For example, a verification ECU that controls key authentication generates an electromagnetic field, requests a key ID built in the key's transponder chip, the key generates power from the electromagnetic field, and stores the key stored in the transponder chip in advance. The transponder radio wave including the ID is transmitted to the verification ECU. When the transmitted key ID matches the key ID managed by the verification ECU, the verification ECU permits the determination processing unit 102 to perform driver authentication processing.

  Further, in order to detect that the sole of the driver is placed on the upper side of the brake pedal 201, it is determined whether or not a stop lamp switch (hereinafter referred to as STPSW) is turned on (S2). Since the driver depresses the brake pedal 201 when starting the engine, this is detected by turning on the STPSW. The fact that the driver's sole is placed on the upper side of the brake pedal 201 may be detected by a brake stroke sensor, a master cylinder pressure, or the like. If the STPSW does not turn on (No in S2), it is unknown where the driver's sole is, so it waits until the STPSW is turned on.

  When STPSW is turned on (Yes in S2), the determination processing unit 102 captures a sole image (S3). That is, near-infrared rays are emitted from the LED 10 and a sole image is taken by the photographing means 20.

  The determination processing unit 102 determines whether or not the captured vein pattern matches the collation pattern (S4). Even when a plurality of drivers (matching patterns) are registered in the personal DB 103, since there is only one matching matching pattern, it is possible to correctly authenticate the rider.

  If they match (Yes in S4), the determination processing unit 102 allows the engine ECU 301 to start the engine (S5). If they do not match (No in S4), the determination processing unit 102 outputs a message indicating that the authentication cannot be performed to a voice or a display device, and notifies the driver that the authentication has not been performed (S6). In this case, it is possible to prevent the registered driver from being authenticated by photographing the sole image again and performing a vein pattern matching determination. Further, when the predetermined upper limit number of times is not authenticated, it is determined that the person is not a registered driver, and a process of prohibiting driving of the vehicle such as sounding an alarm sound is performed.

  According to the vehicular authentication device of the present embodiment, the driver is authenticated by the biometric information, and therefore the third party who has acquired the key cannot drive the vehicle. The driver is authenticated during operations normally performed when getting into the vehicle, so the driver can be authenticated without making the driver feel bothersome, and the driver may forget the authentication operation. Absent. Since the vein sensor 202 is installed in the brake pedal 201, the aesthetic appearance in the passenger compartment is not impaired, and the influence on the layout of other in-vehicle devices can be minimized.

  By the way, although the collation pattern is stored in the personal DB 103 of the vehicle in FIG. 1, the collation pattern may be stored in, for example, a smart key or a mechanical key carried by the driver. When the driver carries the verification pattern instead of the vehicle, there is no risk that the verification pattern will be extracted while the vehicle is parked. Since they do not match, theft of the vehicle can be prevented. When the collation pattern is stored in a smart key or the like, the collation pattern can be prevented from being extracted by using it for an IC chip similar to an IC card having excellent tamper resistance. Also in this case, since the driver is authenticated only by inserting the key into the cylinder or carrying the smart key, the driver does not feel bothered.

  In addition, if the collation pattern is stored in an object that is not directly necessary for driving but is always carried, such as a wristwatch or a mobile phone carried by the driver, the key and the collation pattern are stored separately. Security is improved.

It is a schematic block diagram of the vehicle recognition apparatus. It is a block diagram of a vein sensor. It is a figure which shows the image of a vein pattern. It is a flowchart figure which shows the procedure of the process which authenticates a driver | operator by the vein pattern of a sole.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Vehicle recognition apparatus 101 Personal authentication determination part 102 Judgment processing part 103 Personal DB
201 Brake pedal 202 Vein sensor 301 Engine ECU

Claims (2)

A vehicle recognition device for authenticating a driver,
A vein pattern detection means for detecting a vein pattern of the sole of the driver provided on the operation pedal;
Vein pattern storage means for storing the driver's vein pattern in advance;
A determination processing unit for determining whether or not the vein pattern detected by the vein pattern detection unit matches the vein pattern of the vein pattern storage unit;
A vehicle recognition device characterized by comprising: Operation detecting means for detecting that the driver's foot is operating the operation pedal;
The vein pattern detection means detects the vein pattern when the operation detection means detects that the driver's foot is operating the operation pedal.
The vehicle recognition device according to claim 1.

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