Method and apparatus for determining workload of motor vehicle driver
AssigneeNissan Technical Center North America, Inc.
InventorErwin R. Boer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A steering angle sensor monitors the steering angle of a vehicle as the vehicle is driven. The steering angle signal is input to a processing device which generates steering angle prediction errors based on the received steering angle. The processing device then generates a distribution of steering angle prediction errors. The distribution of prediction errors is compared to the distribution of steering angle prediction errors representing load-free driving. The comparison represents the driver's workload.
Claims37
A method for determining driver workload comprising:
- monitoring a steering angle of a vehicle over time;
- estimating a predicted steering angle of the vehicle over time based on the monitored steering angle;
- generating steering angle prediction errors based on the predicted steering angle and the monitored steering angle at predetermined points in time;
- and
- generating a workload value based on the steering angle prediction errors.
A system for generating a workload value representing a driver's workload comprising:
- an input device configured to receive a steering angle signal representing the angle of a vehicle's steering wheel;
- and
- a workload monitoring device coupled to the input device and configured to:
- receive the steering angle signal;
- generate a predicted steering angle at predetermined times based on the received steering angle signal;
- compare the predicted steering angle at the predetermined times to the steering angle signal to generate predicted steering angle errors;
- and
- generate the workload value based on said errors.
A system for generating a workload value representing a driver's workload comprising:
- an input device configured to receive a steering angle signal representing the angle of a vehicle's steering wheel;
- and
- a workload monitoring device coupled to the input device and configured to:
- receive the steering angle signal,
- generate a predicted steering angle at predetermined times,
- compare the predicted steering angle to the steering angle signal to generate predicted steering anile errors at the predetermined times,
- generate a distribution of the predicted steering angle errors, and
- generate the workload value based on said distribution.
A system for generating a workload value representing a driver's workload comprising:
- an input device configured to receive a steering angle signal representing the angle of a vehicle's steering wheel;
- and
- a workload monitoring device coupled to the input device and configured to:
- receive the steering angle signal,
- perform a Taylor series expansion of the received steering angle signal at predetermined times to generate predicted steering angles at the predetermined times, and
- generate a workload value based on the received steering angle signal.
A method for determining driver workload comprising:
- monitoring a steering angle of a vehicle over a period of time;
- estimating a predicted steering angle of the vehicle at least at predetermined intervals of time;
- generating steering angle prediction errors based on the predicted steering angle and the monitored steering angle at the predetermined intervals of time;
- generating a distribution of the steering angle prediction errors;
- generating a first entropy value based on the distribution of the steering angle prediction errors;
- comparing the first entropy value to a second entropy value based on steering angle prediction errors obtained under load-free driving conditions;
- and
- generating a workload index based on the result of the comparing step.
A method for determining driver workload comprising:
- monitoring a control variable of a vehicle over time;
- estimating a predicted control variable of the vehicle over time based on the monitored control variable;
- generating prediction errors, at predetermined intervals of time, based on the monitored control variable and the predicted control variable;
- and
- generating a value representative of the driver workload based on the prediction errors.
A method for determining driver workload comprising:
- monitoring the steering angle of the vehicle over time;
- estimating a predicted steering angle of the vehicle over time;
- generating steering angle prediction errors based on the predicted steering angle and the monitored steering angle at predetermined points in time;
- and
- generating a workload value in response to the steering angle prediction errors.
A system for generating a workload value representing a driver's workload comprising:
- an input device configured to generate a steering angle signal representing the angle of a vehicle's steering wheel;
- and
- a workload monitoring device coupled to the input device and configured to:
- receive the steering angle signal;
- generate a predicted steering angle at predetermined intervals,
- compare the predicted steering angle at the predetermined intervals to the steering angle signal to determine predicted steering angle errors, and
- generate the workload value based on the predicted steering angle errors.
A method for determining driver workload comprising:
- monitoring a control variable on a vehicle;
- estimating predictions of the control variable of the vehicle at intervals of time;
- generating prediction errors at the intervals of time based on the predictions of the control variable and the monitored control variable;
- and
- generating a value representative of the driver workload based on the prediction errors.
A system for generating a workload value representing a driver's workload comprising:
- an input device configured to monitor a control variable on a vehicle and generate a signal in response to the monitored control variable;
- and
- a workload monitoring device coupled to the input device and configured to:
- receive the control variable signal;
- generate predictions of the control variable of the vehicle at intervals of time;
- generate prediction errors at the intervals of time based on the predictions of the control variable and the control variable signal;
- and
- generate a value representative of the driver workload based on the prediction errors.
A method for determining driver workload comprising:
- monitoring a parameter of a state of the vehicle, over time;
- estimating a predicted variable related to steering of the vehicle, over time, based on the monitored parameter;
- generating prediction errors based on the predicted variable at intervals of time and actual values of a variable related to the steering of the vehicle;
- and
- generating a value representative of the driver workload based on the prediction errors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.