Occupant detection apparatus

An occupant detection apparatus comprising:

• a first camera arranged in a passenger compartment of a vehicle to capture images within a first field of view in the passenger compartment;
• a second camera arranged at a different position in the passenger compartment from the first camera to capture images within a second field of view in the passenger compartment, the second field of view being different from the first field of view;
• an image recognizer provided to recognize the images captured by the first and second cameras;
• a state detector provided to detect, based on results of image recognition by the image recognized, an internal state of the passenger compartment;
• and
• a controller provided to control operation of the occupant detection apparatus,
• wherein
• the first camera is arranged within the second field of view which is a field of view of the second camera,
• the second camera is arranged within the first field of view which is a field of view of the first camera, and
• the state detector is configured to:
• detect an obstruction, which obstructs the field of view of one of the first and second cameras, based on the results of the image recognition by the image recognizer of the images captured by the other of the first and second cameras;
• and
• request, when the obstruction is not caused by an occupant in the passenger compartment, the controller to perform a self-diagnosis process of the occupant detection apparatus of an abnormality handling process.