SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING A VEHICLE OPERATOR AND FOR MONITORING AN OPERATING ENVIRONMENT WITHIN THE VEHICLE

摘要

The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for monitoring a vehicle operator and for monitoring the environment of a vehicle operator. In particularly, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for determining a physical position of an operator within a vehicle and for determining environmental conditions surrounding the vehicle operator. The systems may include at least one of: an image sensor, an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a microphone or a combination or sub-combination thereof. The methods may determine a position and/or an orientation of a vehicle operator's head, arms, hands, legs, feet, etc., a combination thereof or a sub-combination thereof. The methods may generate a warning when a position of the vehicle operator is inappropriate, such as when the vehicle operator has not looked in front of the vehicle for an extended period of time when the vehicle is travelling forward, when the vehicle operator is looking at a cellular telephone, when the vehicle operator has been looking downward for an extended period of time, etc.

主权项

1. A computer implemented method for generating data representative of a position of at least a portion of a vehicle driver within an interior of a vehicle and data representative of an operating environment within the vehicle, the method comprising :
acquiring, from one or more data sources, model data, wherein the model data is representative of a model of at least a portion of the interior of the vehicle including at least a portion of a model vehicle operator, acquiring, from one or more position sensors, vehicle driver position data, wherein the vehicle driver position data is representative of a position of at least a portion of a vehicle driver within the interior of the vehicle; comparing, using one or more processors, the vehicle driver position data with the model data; acquiring audio data from a microphone, wherein the audio data is representative of sound within the interior of the vehicle; and determining, using one or more processors, a difference between the vehicle driver position data and the model data based on the comparison of the vehicle driver position data with the model data, wherein the difference between the vehicle driver position data and the model data are indicative of a deviation of a position of at least a portion of the vehicle driver from a position of at least a portion of the model vehicle operator and, combined with the audio data, are indicative of an operating environment within the vehicle.