Vehicle systems and methods for identifying a driver

摘要

A vehicle system for a vehicle with an occupant is provided. The system includes a seat assembly; a sensor group associated with the seat assembly and configured to collect data about physical characteristics of the occupant of the seat assembly; and a control module coupled to the sensor group and configured to identify the occupant based on the collected data about the physical characteristics of the occupant.

主权项

1. A vehicle system for a vehicle with an occupant, comprising:
a driver seat assembly; a sensor group comprising an array of pressure sensors incorporated into the driver seat assembly and configured to collect data about physical characteristics of the occupant of the driver seat assembly, wherein the array of pressure sensors is formed by a first number of pressure sensors; and a control module coupled to the sensor group and storing a plurality of driver profiles, each associated with a stored driver identifier and driver preferences, wherein the control module is further configured to generate a pressure map of the physical characteristics of the occupant based on the data, determine a prospective driver identifier of the occupant based on the pressure map, wherein the control module is configured to determine the prospective driver identifier by statistically transforming the pressure map into a second number of principle component vectors defined by respective deviations of the pressure map relative to a control population mean, wherein the second number is at least an order of magnitude less than the first number, wherein the prospective driver identifier is virtually unique to the occupant as an individual and independent of occupant seat position on the driver seat assembly, compare the prospective driver identifier to the stored driver identifiers of the plurality of driver profiles, and select one of the driver profiles upon matching the prospective driver identifier to the stored driver identifier associated with the one driver profile.