US 12,705,898 B2Granted

Apparatus and method for detecting worker using thermal imaging based on artificial intelligence

AssigneesHyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology

InventorsJu Heon Hwang, Deog Hyeon Kim, Jinwoo Park, Seungryul Baek, Junuk Cha, Jihyeon Kim

Life of this patent

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Abstract

In an embodiment, an apparatus may include an image receiver configured to receive a thermal image from a thermal imaging camera, a worker detector configured to detect a worker from the received thermal image by using an artificial intelligence model, a hazard detector configured to detect a hazard based on whether the detected worker has entered a preset hazardous area in the thermal image, and a hazard controller configured to, in response to the hazard being detected, send a hazard notification and stop operation of a work machine in the hazardous area, where a position of the detected worker can be estimated in pixel units.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors;
and
one or more memory devices storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, enable the one or more processors to:
receive a thermal image from a thermal imaging camera;
detect a human being from the received thermal image by using an artificial intelligence model, wherein a position of the detected human being is estimated in pixel units, including to generate a temperature map from the thermal image through an equation of
T
⁡
(
x
,
y
)
=
(
I
⁡
(
x
,
y
)
⁢
T
p
4
I
p
)
1
4
-
273.15
wherein Tp is 310.35K, Ip is an average pixel value of a worker area in the thermal image, I(x, y) is a pixel value at a pixel position (x, y) in the thermal image, and T(x, y) is a temperature value calculated at a pixel position (x, y);
detect a hazard based on whether the detected human being has entered a preset hazardous area in the thermal image;
and
based on the hazard being detected, send a hazard notification and stop operation of a work machine in the hazardous area.

33 more elements

A method for detecting a human being using thermal imaging, the method comprising:

receiving a thermal image from a thermal imaging camera;
detecting the human being from the received thermal image by using an artificial intelligence model;
estimating in pixel units the detected human being in the thermal image;
detecting a hazard based on whether the human being has entered a preset hazardous area in the thermal image;
sending a hazard notification and stopping operation of a work machine in the hazardous area based on the hazard being detected,
wherein the detecting the human being further comprises:
in case the thermal image includes a temperature in pixel units, identifying an area whose average temperature is 28° C. to 38° C. and selecting the identified area as a worker area, and
in case the thermal image does not include the temperature in pixel units, generating a temperature map through an equation of
T
⁡
(
x
,
y
)
=
(
I
⁡
(
x
,
y
)
⁢
T
p
4
I
p
)
1
4
-
273.15
,
identifying an area having a temperature range of top 40% among temperature ranges in the temperature map, and selecting the identified area as the worker area,
wherein Tp is 310.35K, Ip is an average pixel value of the worker area in the thermal image, (x, y) is a pixel value at a pixel position (x, y) in the thermal image, and T(x, y) is a temperature value calculated at a pixel position (x, y);
and
generating a temperature mask in the area selected as the worker area.

37 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 18/498,862Filed 31 Oct 2023
Priority: KR 10-2023-01002431 Aug 2023
Published: US 2025/0046086 A16 Feb 2025
Granted: 11 Aug 2026
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification15 codes

G06V 20/52
Context or environment of the image: surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects
G05B 19/406
Numerical control [NC], i.e. automatically operating machines, in particular machine tools, e.g. in a manufacturing environment, so as to…
G06T 7/10
Image analysis: segmentation; Edge detection
G06V 10/7715
Processing image or video features in feature spaces; using data integration or data reduction, e.g. principal component analysis [PCA] or…:…