Light-based occupant detection for airbag deployment

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising processor-executable instructions for controlling an airbag of a vehicle, wherein the instructions include:

• receiving data from a set of sensors, wherein:
• the set of sensors includes a set of cameras,
• the data includes image information, acquired by the set of cameras, of a sensor detection area, and
• a portion of the sensor detection area includes a deployment zone of the airbag,
• based on the data, determining whether an occluding object occludes the portion of the sensor detection area, wherein determining whether the occluding object occludes the portion of the sensor detection area includes determining whether a flexible covering is currently present in the deployment zone of the airbag, and
• in response to a determination that the occluding object occludes the portion of the sensor detection area:
• selecting a set of previous occupancy states acquired since a time threshold, wherein the set of previous occupancy states is associated with the deployment zone of the airbag, and
• in response to a determination that the set of previous occupancy states does not include at least one previous occupancy state with a first occupancy value, deactivating the airbag, wherein the first occupancy value indicates that the deployment zone of the airbag is occupied by an adult.

A method for controlling an airbag of a vehicle, the method comprising:

• receiving data from a set of sensors, wherein:
• the set of sensors includes a set of cameras,
• the data includes image information, acquired by the set of cameras, of a sensor detection area, and
• a portion of the sensor detection area includes a deployment zone of the airbag,
• based on the data, determining whether an occluding object occludes the portion of the sensor detection area, wherein determining whether the occluding object occludes the portion of the sensor detection area includes determining whether a flexible covering is currently present in the deployment zone of the airbag, and
• in response to a determination that the occluding object occludes the portion of the sensor detection area:
• selecting a set of previous occupancy states acquired since a time threshold, wherein the set of previous occupancy states is associated with the deployment zone of the airbag, and
• in response to a determination that the set of previous occupancy states does not include at least one previous occupancy state with a first occupancy value, deactivating the airbag, wherein the first occupancy value indicates that the deployment zone of the airbag is occupied by an adult.