Methods for detecting and locating living beings in a vehicle interior and vehicle

Abstract

Method for detecting and localizing living beings in a vehicle interior, wherein at least one camera (1) and one radio sensor (2) each detect at least one section of the vehicle interior, sensor data generated by the camera (1) and the radio sensor (2) are processed by a computing unit (3), and the issuing of a warning and / or the control of a vehicle function depending on a living being detected in the vehicle interior can be initiated by the computing unit (3), wherein: - the computing unit (3) examines the sensor data generated by the radio sensor (2) for the presence of a breathing pattern and / or a heartbeat, locates a breathing pattern and / or heartbeat in the vehicle interior if one is detected, and marks the respective location as a region of interest (4.1); - the computing unit (3) in the sensor data generated by the camera (1) for the respective region of interest (4.1) determines correlating areas (5) and examines these areas (5) for the presence of an adult, a child, and an animal using image recognition methods; and- issues a warning and / or activates the vehicle function if at least one child and / or animal but no adult is detected in the vehicle interior, and suppresses the issuing of the warning and / or the activation of the vehicle function if at least one adult is detected in the vehicle interior, characterized in that- the computing unit (3) marks an installation position of the radio sensor (2) as a further region of interest (4.2) and deactivates the radio sensor (2) if the computing unit (3), by processing the sensor data generated by the camera (1), detects an object or living being in the further region of interest (4.2).