Method and apparatus for in-vehicle impairment detection with driver verification
AssigneeValeo Comfort and Driving Assistance
InventorsStephane Vanhelle, Mithran Menon
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for enabling driver operation of a motor vehicle includes receiving an electrical signal representing a property sensed by touching a region of skin of an occupant in the motor vehicle, and determining whether the occupant's ability to drive the motor vehicle is impaired based on the electrical signal. The method further includes performing an image based verification to determine whether the occupant from whom the property was sensed is in a driving position of the motor vehicle, and providing a control signal to enable operation of the motor vehicle based on a result of the determining and a result of the image based verification.
Claims19
A method for enabling driver operation of a motor vehicle, comprising:
- receiving, by processing circuitry and via a biosensor, an electrical signal of a region of skin of an occupant in the motor vehicle, the region of skin of the occupant being in contact with the biosensor and the electrical signal indicating whether the occupant's ability to drive the motor vehicle is impaired;
- determining, by the processing circuitry, whether the occupant's ability to drive the motor vehicle is impaired based on the received electrical signal;
- performing, by the processing circuitry and when it is determined that the occupant's ability to drive the motor vehicle is not impaired, an image based verification to determine whether the occupant is in a driving position of the motor vehicle;
- and
- generating, by the processing circuitry and based on the performed image based verification, a control signal controlling operation of the motor vehicle.
An apparatus comprising:
- a biosensor disposed at a predetermined location in a cabin of a motor vehicle and configured to
- detect an impairing substance during contact between the biosensor and an occupant in the motor vehicle seated within the cabin of the motor vehicle;
- an interlock device configured to control a drive train of the motor vehicle;
- an image capturing device configured to acquire an image of the cabin of the motor vehicle;
- and
- a processor configured to
- compare a value of the detected impairing substance to a threshold,
- determine, based on the acquired image of the motor vehicle and when the value of the detected impairing substance satisfies the threshold, whether the occupant in contact with the biosensor is seated in a driving position of the motor vehicle, and
- control, based on the determination of whether the human occupant in contact with the biosensor is seated in the driving position of the motor vehicle, the interlock device to enable or disable engagement of the drive train.
A device for enabling vehicle operation, comprising:
- a controller including a processor and a memory which stores a software routine executable by the processor to:
- determine, based on an electrical signal received from a biosensor in contact with a region of skin of an occupant in a motor vehicle, whether the occupant's ability to drive the motor vehicle is impaired;
- perform, when it is determined the occupant's ability to drive the motor vehicle is not impaired, an image based verification to determine whether the occupant is in a driving position of the motor vehicle;
- and
- generate, based on the image based verification, a control signal controlling operation of the motor vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.