KR19990084391A - Drowsiness driving prevention device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

end. The technical field to which the invention described in the claims belongs:

Drowsy driving prevention technology

I. The technical problem the invention is trying to solve:

In the drowsy driving prevention technology, there is provided an apparatus and method for more effectively awakening a drowsy driver, and awakening a drowsy driver in a relatively natural manner without surprise.

All. The gist of the solution of the invention:

A method of preventing drowsy driving, the method comprising: recognizing and determining a driver's drowsiness; initiating a conversation of audible sounds preset according to the driver's drowsiness; receiving and recognizing a driver's voice; And outputting a corresponding preset response as an audible sound, and repeatedly performing the voice recognition process and the voice output process according to the drowsiness state of the driver.

la. Important uses of the invention:

Used to prevent drowsy driving.

Description

Drowsiness driving prevention device and method

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technology for preventing drowsy driving of a vehicle, and more particularly, to a drowsiness awakening device and method for alerting a driver when a driver's drowsiness is recognized.

Recently, many occupant protection systems are mounted and embedded in vehicles, and these protection systems are rapidly being improved and developed. Among them, the comfortable driving conditions create a simple and free driving situation for the driver, which causes the driver's drowsiness, increasing the risk of accidents caused by the driver's drowsiness. Therefore, in order to reduce the risk of such an accident, a drowsy driving prevention device has been developed to recognize a driver's drowsy state and awaken the driver in a drowsy state to promote safe driving.

The drowsy driving prevention device is generally researched and developed into a drowsiness recognition device for recognizing a drowsy state of a driver and a drowsy awakening device for arousing a driver. The drowsiness awakening device is a device for converting the driver's consciousness from the drowsy state to the normal state, and various types have been developed by Japanese automobile makers NISSAN, TOYOTA, MAZDA and others. For example, NISSAN uses alerts and aromas to awaken the driver who is drowsy, while TOYOTA uses a method to awaken the driver by vibrating the seat. U.S. Patent No. 5,516,192, invented by "Masahiro Fukuoka" and registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, illustrates and describes in detail a device for a vibrating sheet for awakening a driver in sleepiness.

However, such a drowsy awakening device has a weak effect so far to return the driver's drowsy state to a normal state. In addition, drowsiness awakening devices using alarms or vibrations may scare the driver and cause a dangerous situation when driving the vehicle.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for preventing drowsy driving for more effectively awakening a drowsy driver.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a drowsy driving prevention device and method for awakening a drowsy driver in a relatively natural manner without surprising the driver.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for preventing drowsy driving, comprising: determining a driver's drowsiness state, starting a conversation of audible sound preset according to the driver's drowsiness, and inputting a driver's voice Receiving and recognizing, outputting a predetermined response corresponding to the recognized voice as an audible sound, and repeating the voice recognition process and the voice output process according to the drowsiness of the driver.

1 is a schematic overall configuration diagram of an apparatus for preventing drowsy driving according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the conversation controller in the drowsiness awakening unit illustrated in FIG. 1.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, specific details such as specific components are shown, which are provided to help a more general understanding of the present invention, and it is understood that these specific details may be changed or changed within the scope of the present invention. It is self-evident to those of ordinary knowledge in Esau.

1 is a schematic overall configuration diagram of a drowsy driving prevention device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the drowsiness driving prevention device includes a drowsiness recognition unit 20 for recognizing a drowsiness state of the driver 10 and a drowsiness awakening unit 30 for awakening the driver 10. The drowsiness recognition unit 20 may be configured in various ways to determine a driver's drowsiness. For example, it was invented by Yoshinaka, Kawakami, Japan, and filed with Mitsubishi Motor Industry Co., Ltd. at the Korean Intellectual Property Office. No. 94-18270) According to the vehicle drowsiness warning device and the alarm method, the driver's heart rate and steering angle information of the vehicle are configured to determine whether the driver is dozing and to alarm. That is, the driver's reference heart rate and the steering angle standard value are calculated in advance in the awake state, and the steering angle information and the steering angle standard value of the vehicle checked in that state are compared with the heart rate detected during driving and the reference heart rate. The comparison is made based on the result of the comparison to determine whether the driver is dozing.

Meanwhile, in one embodiment of the present invention, the drowsiness recognition unit 20 includes a CCD camera 22 and a drowsiness determining unit 24, as shown in FIG. This configuration is a configuration for realizing a conventional drowsiness recognition method for determining the drowsiness state of the driver by taking a picture of the driver 10 and analyzing the captured image. For example, Patent Application No. 96-44152 (Title: Drowsy Driving Prevention Device), filed by the applicant of the present application, photographs a driver using such a camera, detects flicker of the driver's eyelid in the captured image, and blinks. The technique which judges that a driver is drowsy when this dullness is disclosed is disclosed. Drowsiness recognition unit 20 of the present invention can be made in the same configuration. That is, the CCD camera 22 photographs the driver 10, and the drowsiness determination unit 24 analyzes the image photographed by the CCD camera 22 to detect the blinking of the driver's eyelid. If this flicker becomes dull, the driver determines that he is currently sleepy. The signal for the determination result is provided to the drowsiness awakening unit 30.

The drowsiness awakening unit 30 according to the characteristics of the present invention allows the driver to get out of the drowsiness by performing a conversation with the driver through a voice message and a question prepared in advance. Detailed configuration of the drowsiness awakening portion 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The drowsiness awakening unit 30 has a microphone 32 for receiving a user's voice, a voice input unit 34 for digital conversion and signal processing of the voice input from the microphone 32, and a voice recognition stored in the memory unit 37 by receiving a signal output from the voice input unit 34. The voice recognition unit 36 which recognizes the driver's voice with reference to the data required by the user, and the response message by referring to the data stored in the memory unit 37 to output a preset response voice message according to the voice recognized by the voice recognition unit 36. The dialogue controller 38 outputs the data, and the speech controller 33 outputs an audible sound through the speaker 31 by analog converting and amplifying the data output from the dialogue controller 38.

In the above configuration, a signal of the driver's drowsy state output from the drowsiness determining unit 24 in the drowsiness recognition unit 20 is input to the conversation control unit 38 in the drowsiness awakening unit 30, and the conversation controller 38 receives the signal and the driver is presently present. When the user is drowsy, the corresponding operation for the drowsiness awakening is performed.

Hereinafter, the operation of the drowsiness awakening unit 30 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the conversation controller 38 in the drowsiness awakening unit 30 shown in FIG. 1. First, the dialogue controller 38 checks whether an operation signal for recognizing a driver's drowsiness is input in step 40. The operation signal is a signal applied by the drowsiness recognition unit 20 and indicates that the driver 10 is currently sleepy. Upon application of such a signal, the conversation controller 38 outputs an initial voice message preset in step 42. The initial voice message is stored in advance in the memory 37. Thereafter, in step 44, the driver asks a question or recognizes the driver's voice and performs a corresponding response operation. That is, referring to FIG. 1, the voice recognition unit 36 that recognizes the user's voice performs a function of recognizing the user's voice as, for example, a specific set of words, and the conversation controller 38 analyzes the set of words to be used by the driver. Understand what it means to speak. Thereafter, the dialogue controller 38 determines an appropriate response message, and outputs the response message with reference to the data stored in the memory 37.

The operation of the conversation controller 38 may be a process for executing a conventional conversation program that simply receives a sentence of a message, analyzes it, and outputs an appropriate response message.

The operation in step 44 is continued until the operation stop signal is input. If there is an input of the operation stop signal, the operation is checked in step 46 and then proceeds to step 48. The operation stop signal may be input from the drowsiness recognition unit 20. That is, when the driver 10 recognizes that the driver 10 is not in the drowsy state, the drowsiness recognition unit 20 may output the signal corresponding to the drowsiness control unit 38 as the operation stop signal. After receiving the operation stop signal, the conversation controller 38 outputs a preset end message in step 48 and ends the operation according to the feature of the present invention.

The drowsiness awakening portion 30 according to the features of the present invention can be made by the configuration and operation as described above.

Meanwhile, in the above description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Particularly, in the embodiment of the present invention, the output signal of the drowsiness recognition unit 20 is used to operate the drowsiness awakening unit 30. In addition, it may be configured to simply use a key input signal of a specific key. That is, a key for instructing the operation of the drowsy awakening part 30 is provided in advance on the driver's control panel, so that the driver inputs the key when the driver determines that he is currently drowsy or simply free of charge while driving the vehicle. You can do that. The drowsiness awakening unit 30 may perform an operation according to the input of the key. Doing so can also prevent the driver's drowsiness in advance. In addition, if the drowsy state of the driver continues even though the interactive drowsiness awakening operation according to the feature of the present invention is performed for a predetermined time, the output of a warning sound or various conventional drowsiness awakening methods may be performed. In addition, various modifications and changes may be made.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be defined by the described embodiments, but by the equivalents of the claims and claims.

As described above, the present invention provides a method for preventing drowsy driving, wherein a process of recognizing a driver's drowsiness is determined, a process of starting a conversation of a preset audible sound according to the driver's drowsiness, and receiving and recognizing a driver's voice. And a process of repeatedly outputting a predetermined response corresponding to the recognized voice as an audible sound, and repeating the voice recognition process and the voice output process according to the drowsiness state of the driver. Awakening can be awakened to the drowsy driver in a relatively natural manner without surprise.

Claims (5)

In the method for preventing the driver drowsy driving of the vehicle, A drowsiness determination process of recognizing and determining the drowsiness state of the driver; A conversation start process of starting a conversation of a preset audible sound according to the drowsiness state of the driver; A voice recognition process of receiving and recognizing the voice of the driver; A voice output process of outputting a predetermined response corresponding to the recognized voice as an audible sound; And a repeating process of repeatedly performing the voice recognition process and the voice output process according to the drowsiness state of the driver. The method of claim 1, further comprising a warning sound output process of outputting a warning sound when the drowsiness state of the driver continues for a predetermined time or more during the execution of the repetition process. An apparatus for preventing driver drowsy driving of a vehicle, A drowsiness recognition unit for recognizing the drowsiness state of the driver and outputting a drowsiness recognition signal; Generates a preset voice message or question voice in response to the output of the drowsiness recognition signal, and processes the voice signal from the driver to recognize the voice signal, and generates a voice message suitable for the recognized voice as the voice signal. Drowsiness driving prevention device, characterized in that the drowsiness wake-up part to awaken the driver. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the drowsiness awakening unit comprises a memory unit for storing data required for voice recognition and voice output, a voice input unit for receiving a driver's voice, digitally converting and outputting the signal, and outputting the voice input unit. A voice recognition unit for receiving the voice data and recognizing the driver's voice with reference to the memory unit, and outputting the corresponding data with reference to the memory unit to output a preset response message according to the voice recognized by the voice recognition unit. And a sound output unit for converting the data output from the control unit to output audible sound. The apparatus for preventing drowsiness driving according to claim 3, further comprising a key for indicating whether to perform the operation of the drowsy awakening unit according to the driver's input.