# US 10,308,257 B2 · Monitoring respiration of a vehicle operator > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,308,257 B2 - Document ID: US10308257B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/582,809 - Filed: 2017-05-01 - Published: 2018-11-01 - Granted: 2019-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2017-05-01 - Assignees: Hitachi, Ltd. - Applicants: Hitachi, Ltd. - Inventors: Subrata Kumar Kundu - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10308257B2 ## CPC - B60W 40/08: related to drivers or passengers - A61B 5/0004: {characterised by the type of physiological signal transmitted} - A61B 5/053: Measuring electrical impedance or conductance of a portion of the body - A61B 5/0803: {Recording apparatus specially adapted therefor} - A61B 5/0816: {Measuring devices for examining respiratory frequency (measuring frequency of electric signals G01R23/00)} - A61B 5/086: {by impedance pneumography} - A61B 5/1135: {by monitoring thoracic expansion} - A61B 5/6893: {Cars} - A61B 5/7278: {Artificial waveform generation or derivation, e.g. synthesizing signals from measured signals} - A61B 5/7282: {Event detection, e.g. detecting unique waveforms indicative of a medical condition (cough events A61B5/0823; seizures A61B5/4094; sleep apnoea A61B5/4818)} - B60W 30/06: Automatic manoeuvring for parking - B60W 60/0051: {from occupants to vehicle} - B62D 1/046: {Adaptations on rotatable parts of the steering wheel for accommodation of switches} - G05D 1/00: Control of position, course, altitude or attitude of land, water, air or space vehicles, e.g. using automatic pilots (drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles B60W60/00) - G05D 1/0055: {with safety arrangements} - A61B 2503/22: Motor vehicles operators, e.g. drivers, pilots, captains - A61B 2562/0214: Capacitive electrodes - B60W 2040/0872: {Driver physiology} - B60W 2540/221: Physiology, e.g. weight, heartbeat, health or special needs - B60W 2540/26: Incapacity - B60Y 2302/05: Leading to automatic stopping of the vehicle - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - B62D: MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS (steering, or guiding on a desired track, of agricultural machines or implements A01B69/00; wheels, castors, axles, increasing wheel adhesion B60B; vehicle tyres, tyre inflation or tyre changing B60C; connections between vehicles of a train or the like B60D; vehicles for use on rail and road, amphibious or convertible vehicles B60F; suspension arrangements B60G; heating, cooling, ventilating or other air treating devices B60H; windows, windscreens, non-fixed roofs, doors or similar devices, protective coverings for vehicles not in use B60J; propulsion plant arrangements, auxiliary drives, transmissions, controls, instrumentation or dashboards B60K; electric equipment or propulsion of electrically-propelled vehicles B60L; power supply for electrically-propelled vehicles B60M; passenger accommodation not otherwise provided for B60N; adaptations for load transportation or to carry special loads or objects B60P; arrangement of signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor, for vehicles in general B60Q; vehicles, vehicle fittings or vehicle parts not otherwise provided for B60R; servicing, cleaning, repairing, supporting, lifting, or manoeuvring, not otherwise provided for, B60S; brake arrangements, brake control systems or parts thereof B60T; air-cushion vehicles B60V; motor-cycles, accessories therefor B62J, B62K; testing of vehicles G01M) - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES - B60Y: INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO ASPECTS CROSS-CUTTING VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ## Abstract In some examples, a system may generate an alternating current signal to one of a first sensor electrode or a second sensor electrode. For instance, the first sensor electrode may be associated with a seatbelt and located adjacent to a torso of a vehicle operator of a vehicle. Further, the second sensor electrode may be positioned to be contacted by or otherwise proximate to another body part of the vehicle operator, such as at least one of an arm, hand, leg, or foot of the vehicle operator. The system may receive from the other one of the first sensor electrode or the second sensor electrode, a signal indicative of a capacitance, and may determine a respiration rate of the vehicle operator based at least partially on the signal indicative of the capacitance. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system comprising: a first sensor electrode associated with a seatbelt of a vehicle, wherein the first sensor electrode is positioned adjacent to a torso of a vehicle operator; a second sensor electrode positioned within the vehicle to be proximate to a body part of the vehicle operator during operation of the vehicle; a capacitance-to-voltage converter that converts a capacitance signal received from one of the first sensor electrode or the second sensor electrode to a voltage signal; one or more processors; and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media maintaining executable instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: receiving the voltage signal from the capacitance-to-voltage converter; and determining a respiration rate of the vehicle operator based at least partially on measuring an amplitude and period of the voltage signal. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the second sensor electrode is located on at least one of: a steering wheel of the vehicle; an armrest of the vehicle; a shift lever of the vehicle; a foot pedal of the vehicle; or an upper surface of a bottom seat cushion of the vehicle. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the second sensor electrode is located on a steering wheel of the vehicle, and further comprises at least one electrode embedded in a portion of a rim of the steering wheel and covered by an insulating material. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the first sensor electrode is at least one of: connected to or integral with a lap belt portion of the seatbelt; connected to or integral with a shoulder belt portion of the seatbelt; or connected to both the lap belt portion and the shoulder belt portion of the seatbelt, and spanning an area there between. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system as recited in claim 1, further comprising a signal generator for generating an alternating current signal to one of the first sensor electrode or the second sensor electrode. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system as recited in claim 1, the operations further comprising: determining a respiration pattern based on the respiration rate; determining that the respiration pattern is abnormal; and sending at least one of a control signal or a communication based at least partially on determining that the respiration pattern is abnormal. ### Claim 7 A method comprising: generating an alternating current signal to one of a first sensor electrode or a second sensor electrode, wherein the first sensor electrode is associated with a seatbelt and located adjacent to a torso of a vehicle operator of a vehicle, and the second sensor electrode is positioned to be proximate to at least one of an arm, hand, leg, or foot, of the vehicle operator; receiving from the other one of the first sensor electrode or the second sensor electrode, a signal indicative of a capacitance; and determining, by a processor, a respiration rate based at least partially on the signal indicative of the capacitance, wherein there are multiple second sensor electrodes, the method further comprising: determining that the vehicle operator is contacting a certain one of the second sensor electrodes; determining that the vehicle operator has contacted the certain second sensor electrode for a threshold time; and receiving the signal indicative of the capacitance from the certain second sensor electrode. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising: determining a respiration pattern based on the respiration rate; determining that the respiration pattern is abnormal; and performing at least one action based at least partially on determining that the respiration pattern is abnormal. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method as recited in claim 8, wherein performing at least one action based at least partially on determining that the respiration pattern is abnormal comprises sending a control signal to cause the vehicle to at least one of park the vehicle, or drive the vehicle autonomously or semi-autonomously. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The method as recited in claim 7, wherein performing at least one action based at least partially on determining that the respiration pattern is abnormal comprises sending a communication to a service computing device over a network. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising: converting the signal indicative of the capacitance into a voltage signal; and measuring an amplitude and period of the voltage signal to determine at least partially the respiration rate. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising: storing the respiration rate as respiration data; and sending the respiration data over a network to a computing device. ### Claim 13 An apparatus comprising: a first sensor electrode associated with a seatbelt for restraining a vehicle operator of a vehicle; a second sensor electrode positioned within the vehicle to be proximate to a body part of the vehicle operator; a signal generator that generates a signal to one of the first sensor electrode or the second sensor electrode; a capacitance-to-voltage converter that converts a capacitance signal received from the other one of the first sensor electrode or the second sensor electrode to a voltage signal; and a voltage measurement circuit that determines, at least in part, a respiration rate based on an amplitude and period of the voltage signal received from the capacitance-to-voltage converter. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The apparatus as recited in claim 13, further comprising a processor, wherein the voltage measurement circuit is included in or is associated with the processor, the processor configured by executable instructions to determine, at least in part, the respiration rate, and to further determine, at least in part, a respiration pattern based on the respiration rate. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The apparatus as recited in claim 13, further comprising a memory and a transceiver, wherein the respiration rate is stored in the memory and sent by the transceiver over a wireless network to a computing device. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The apparatus as recited in claim 13, wherein the first sensor electrode is at least one of: connected to or integral with a lap belt portion of the seatbelt; connected to or integral with a shoulder belt portion of the seatbelt; or connected to both the lap belt portion and the shoulder belt portion of the seatbelt, and spanning an area there between. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The apparatus as recited in claim 13, wherein the second sensor electrode is located on at least one of: a steering wheel of the vehicle; an armrest of the vehicle; a shift lever of the vehicle; a foot pedal of the vehicle; or an upper surface of a bottom seat cushion of the vehicle. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The apparatus as recited in claim 13, wherein the second sensor electrode is located on a steering wheel of the vehicle, and further comprises at least one electrode embedded in a portion of a rim of the steering wheel and covered by an insulating material.