System for controlling at least one function of a set of functions of a vehicle interior, associated method and computer program

Abstract

A system, associated method and computer program for controlling at least one function of a set of functions inside a vehicle. The control system includes a display screen, at least one image sensor, and a physical element mechanically connected to the display screen and movable by a user between at least two different positions, the physical element being not electrically connected to the display screen, the at least one image sensor is configured to capture an image of the physical element and at least a portion of the display screen. The system includes an electronic control unit configured to: assign a function to the physical element, detect a position of the physical element after manipulation by the user in at least one image captured by the sensor, determine an action associated with the function, and determine a position of the physical element after manipulation by the user. The action can vary according to the position of the physical element, and the implementation of the action corresponding to the position of the physical element is controlled.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a system for controlling at least one function of a group of functions in a vehicle interior.

[0002] The invention also relates to a method for controlling at least one function of a group of functions in an associated vehicle interior, and to an associated computer program.

[0003] The present invention relates to the field of human-machine interfaces for vehicles, and in particular for motor vehicles. Background Art

[0004] Various vehicles, and in particular automotive vehicles, include an onboard computing system that is configured to control a plurality of onboard devices and to control actions associated with various functions.

[0005] In order to control the actions associated with the various functions (in particular comfort functions, such as regulating the temperature, lighting, ventilation volume, etc. in the vehicle cabin), dedicated human-machine interfaces are usually present. A large number of interfaces to be installed in the passenger compartment (typically at the front of the vehicle at the level of the dashboard) requires a lot of space. In addition, each interface must be connected to a device and / or an electronic control unit, which results in complex connectivity.

[0006] In order to reduce this space requirement, it has been proposed to use controls based on gestures made by the user of the vehicle (e.g. by the driver), the vehicle being equipped with a camera to detect the gaze direction of the driver and / or passengers. However, this is not a satisfactory solution, since a large number of gestures must be learned in order to control many interfaces. Moreover, such commands are unnatural and not understood by the user. Furthermore, this type of control also increases the psychological burden on the driver, which poses a safety risk. Summary of the invention

[0007] It is an object of the present invention to provide a human-machine interface which is simplified with regard to space requirements and electrical wiring and which is at the same time easy to use for a vehicle user, such as the driver.

[0008] To this end, the present invention relates to a system for controlling at least one function of a set of functions in a vehicle interior, the system comprising a display screen and at least one image sensor. Such a system comprises a physical element mechanically connected to the display screen and movable by a user between at least two different positions, the physical element not being electrically connected to the screen, the at least one image sensor being configured to capture an image of the physical element and at least a portion of the display screen, the system further comprising an electronic control unit connected to the image sensor, the electronic control unit being configured to:

[0009] - assigning functions to said physical elements,

[0010] - detecting, in at least one image captured by said sensor, a position of said physical element after being manipulated by the user,

[0011] - determining an action associated with said function, said action being variable according to the position of the physical element, and

[0012] - Control the implementation of an action corresponding to the position of the physical element.

[0013] Advantageously, using a physical element that simply connects mechanically to the display screen without being electrically connected minimizes the number of interface elements and electrical connections required while being simple and intuitive to use for a user of the vehicle.

[0014] According to further advantageous aspects of the invention, the control system comprises one or more of the following characteristic structures considered alone or in any technically feasible combination.

[0015] The physical element is a knob, the position of which is changed by turning the knob.

[0016] The physical element is a cursor, and the change of the position of the cursor is achieved by translating the cursor.

[0017] The system is configured to display a menu on the display screen relating to the functions assigned to the physical element, the menu comprising parts arranged such that a selected position of the physical element indicates one of the parts.

[0018] The system is configured to display a main menu of functions of the functional group on the display screen.

[0019] The system further comprises means for tracking a gaze direction of one of the users of the vehicle and assigning functions to the physical element according to the detected gaze direction, wherein a main menu function pointed to by the gaze direction is assigned to the physical element.

[0020] Functional assignment to the physical element is achieved by enabling manipulation of the physical element to indicate a function displayed in the main menu and detecting a position of the physical element in an image captured by the sensor.

[0021] The system further comprises a voice recognition module, and the function assignment to the physical element is performed through voice commands.

[0022] The invention also relates to a method for controlling at least one function of a set of functions in a vehicle interior, the method being implemented by a system as briefly described above. The system comprises the following steps:

[0023] - assigning functions to said physical elements,

[0024] - detecting, in at least one image captured by said sensor, a position of said physical element after being manipulated by the user,

[0025] - determining an action associated with said function, said action being variable according to the position of the physical element, and

[0026] - Control the implementation of an action corresponding to the position of the physical element.

[0027] The invention also relates to a computer program comprising software instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement a method of controlling at least one function of a set of functions in a vehicle interior as defined above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] The invention will become more apparent on reading the following description, given by way of non-limiting example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0029] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a portion of a vehicle interior in which a control system is installed;

[0030] Figure 2 For an overview of a control system according to one embodiment,

[0031] Figure 3 is a block diagram of the main steps of a control method according to one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Figure 1 A passenger compartment 2 of a motor vehicle 5 is shown schematically.

[0033] The invention is more generally applicable to any other type of vehicle.

[0034] The passenger compartment 2 is the front part of the vehicle and includes a windshield 4 and an instrument panel 6 .

[0035] For example, the display screen 8 is inserted into the dashboard 6 .

[0036] Advantageously, a physical element 10 , represented by a knob capable of rotating between at least two different positions, is mechanically attached to the display screen 8 .

[0037] Advantageously, the physical element 10 is not electrically connected to the display screen 8 .

[0038] Furthermore, the vehicle interior 2 comprises an image sensor 12 , which in the example shown is a camera 12 , which is positioned within its field of view so as to capture images of said display screen and said physical element.

[0039] The physical element 10 is manipulable by a user, in particular by movements of the user's hand 14. The user is typically a user of the vehicle 5, such as the driver or the front passenger.

[0040] In the example shown, the knob 10 is turnable by a user in a first direction (eg, left) and in a second direction (eg, right).

[0041] On the display screen 8, a menu 16 is shown, which comprises several parts 18. 1 , 18 2 , 18 3 , 18 4 .

[0042] In one embodiment, functions are pre-assigned to the physical element 10 and each portion 18 of the displayed menu 16 is i Associated with an action that is related to the assigned function.

[0043] Manipulating the physical element 10 (ie, rotating the knob to indicate one of the sections) allows the user to position the knob to indicate the section by the position of the knob 10 .

[0044] Preferably, the knob is provided with markings, such as coloured markings, which point in the direction selected by the user.

[0045] The functions associated with the knob are, for example, the control of the ventilation fan speed or the adjustment of the cabin temperature.

[0046] Advantageously, it is proposed to detect a modification of the position of the physical element 10 by the user in the image captured by the image sensor 12 and to determine an action associated with a function assigned to the physical element, this action being variable as a function of the position of the physical element 10 .

[0047] Alternatively or additionally, the menu 16 is a main menu, and each section 18 displayed i The functions are represented, wherein all the parts 18 correspond to a group of functions. Then, the user manipulates the physical element 10 so as to select one of the functions and thus to assign one of the functions of the group of functions provided to the physical element 10.

[0048] In the example shown, section 18 of menu 16 i Shown as a small icon. Alternatively, any form of menu portion may be used as long as manipulation of the physical element 10 indicates the portion selected by the user. For example, for a knob, portions of any shape are positioned so as to be angularly distributed around the knob.

[0049] In one variant, the physical element is a slider movable in translation, and the menu parts are distributed linearly along a path provided for the slider.

[0050] Figure 2 A system 20 for controlling at least one of a range of functions within a vehicle is schematically shown.

[0051] The system 20 comprises a display screen 8, a physical element 10, and at least one image sensor 12, the physical element being mechanically connected to the display screen and being manipulable by a user in at least one degree of freedom.

[0052] The physical element 10 is advantageously movable between at least two different positions, preferably gradually and almost continuously between two stop positions.

[0053] The system 20 also includes an electronic control unit (ECU) 22 connected to the image sensor 12 and the display screen 8 via a communication bus.

[0054] The electronic control unit 22 forms a programmable electronic device comprising a computing processor 23 , an electronic storage unit 24 and a communication interface unit 25 connected by an internal communication bus 26 .

[0055] The electronic control unit 22 is configured to control actions for implementing various functions through the vehicle-mounted device 28. The vehicle-mounted device 28 is various, such as a cabin thermal control module, a seat control module, an infotainment system, and the like.

[0056] Furthermore, the electronic control unit 22 is configured to communicate with the image sensor 12 .

[0057] The electronic control unit 22 is also configured to control the display on the display screen 8 .

[0058] The computing processor 23 of the electronic control unit 22 is configured to execute a module 30 for assigning functions to the physical element 10, a module 32 for detecting the position of the physical element 10 in the image captured by the image sensor 12 after the user manipulates the physical element, a module 34 for determining an action associated with the position of the physical element 10, and a module 36 for controlling the implementation of the action corresponding to the position of the physical element.

[0059] Optionally, the system 20 further includes a speech recognition module 38 , which is separate and connected to the electronic control unit 22 , or integrated into the electronic control unit 22 .

[0060] The speech recognition module 38 is configured to recognize a speech command to assign a function to a physical element. The speech command is formulated, for example, by the driver of the vehicle or another user.

[0061] Optionally, the system also comprises a module 40 for detecting the gaze direction of one of the vehicle users, for example the driver, which module 40 is independent and connected to the electronic control unit 22, or integrated into the image sensor 12. The module 40 for detecting the gaze direction integrates, for example, an image sensor wisely positioned in the passenger compartment of the vehicle and a computing processor making it possible to detect the gaze direction of the driver, for example by a 3D vector in a given spatial reference system. Such modules for detecting the gaze direction of the driver are known, for example, in the field of driver monitoring systems or DMS.

[0062] The module 40 is configured to detect a gaze direction of, for example, a vehicle driver, and to communicate this direction to the electronic control unit 22 which is configured to assign a functionality to the physical element 10 depending on the detected gaze direction.

[0063] Each of the speech recognition module 38 and the gaze direction detection module 40 is connected to the control electronics unit 22 .

[0064] Advantageously, the physical element 10 is not electrically connected to the display screen.

[0065] More generally, in an embodiment, physical element 10 has no electrical connection cables, and therefore it is not electrically connected to any other element of system 20 .

[0066] In one embodiment, the modules 30, 32, 34, 36 and optionally the modules 38, 40 are made in the form of software instructions forming a computer program which, when executed by a computer, implements the control method according to the invention.

[0067] The computer program including the software instructions can also be recorded on a non-transitory computer readable medium. For example, a computer readable medium is a medium capable of storing electronic instructions and coupled to a bus of a computer system. For example, the readable medium is an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM memory, a RAM memory, any type of non-volatile memory (e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, FLASH, NVRAM), a magnetic card, or an optical card.

[0068] In a variant not shown, modules 30, 32, 34, 36 and optionally modules 38, 40 are all made in the form of programmable logic components, such as FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), microprocessors, GPGPU components (general purpose graphics processing units) or dedicated integrated circuits, such as ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits).

[0069] Figure 3 A flow chart showing the main steps of a method for controlling at least one function of a group of functions according to one embodiment.

[0070] The method is implemented by the control system 20 as described above.

[0071] The method comprises a step 50 for assigning a function from a plurality of functions to the physical element 10 .

[0072] Preferably, the functionality is assigned through interaction with the user.

[0073] There are several ways of doing this step.

[0074] For example, step 50 is implemented by voice recognition, wherein the function is selected by the user and spoken aloud. Then the voice recognition module 38 is implemented.

[0075] According to a variant, in step 50 , a so-called main menu comprising a plurality of suggested functions is displayed (step 52 ) on the display screen.

[0076] For example, after detecting the gaze direction of a selected user (such as a driver), a function is assigned, the assigned function being the function to which the detected gaze direction points among displayed functions.

[0077] According to another variant, the display screen is a touch screen and the user selects a portion of the display screen containing the display of the function by pressing on the screen, for example with a finger.

[0078] According to another variant, after displaying the main menu, which comprises several sections each containing a display of a function, the selection of the user is carried out by manipulating a physical element so as to indicate the selected function by the position of the physical element.

[0079] Two or more of the above-mentioned variants may be combined, which makes it possible to improve the ergonomics for the user and to make the functional allocation of the physical elements more robust.

[0080] After assigning a function to a physical element, the method comprises the optional step of displaying a menu related to the assigned function, the menu comprising sections, each section being associated with an action related to the function assigned to the physical element.

[0081] Displaying a menu related to a function is optional, since for some functions this is not necessary. For example, for a "temperature control" function, the convention of moving a physical element may apply: for example, in the case of a knob, a rotation in a first direction (e.g. to the left) indicates a temperature decrease, and a rotation in a second direction (to the right) indicates a temperature increase. Similarly, when the physical element is a slider, moving the slider in a first direction (e.g. to the left) indicates a temperature decrease, and moving the slider in a second direction (to the right) indicates a temperature increase. This type of operation also applies, for example, when the function is to adjust the ventilation or lighting level in the passenger compartment.

[0082] For other functions, it is useful to display several parts, such as an icon containing text or graphics, to indicate the category of action associated with the function.

[0083] The method comprises a step 54 of acquiring at least one image obtained by an image sensor, the at least one image showing the physical element and all or part of the display screen, followed by a step 56 of analyzing the captured image to determine the position of the physical element after being manipulated.

[0084] The position of a physical element is relative to a predetermined axis, such as the vertical axis of a knob, or the horizontal axis of a cursor.

[0085] The method then comprises a step 58 for determining an action associated with a function assigned to the physical element based on the position of the physical element.

[0086] For example, when a function menu is displayed, the position relative to the predetermined axis indicates (ie, points to) one of the displayed portions, and the action associated with the indicated portion is the action determined in step 58 .

[0087] More generally, the action to be controlled can vary depending on the position of the physical element.

[0088] The method further comprises a step 60 for controlling implementation of the action determined in step 58 .

[0089] The invention has been described in an embodiment in which the physical element 10 is placed on the dashboard and is mechanically connected to the dashboard.

[0090] According to a variant, several such physical elements (eg knobs and / or sliders) are installed so as to be able to easily control several functions simultaneously.

[0091] Advantageously, the electrical wiring required is greatly reduced and the number of human-machine interface elements is also reduced.

[0092] Advantageously, the connection between the physical element and the screen is a simple mechanical connection, making repair and maintenance easier.

[0093] Advantageously, any upgrade or update of functionality is performed primarily through software programming without the need to modify wiring, making it easier to update in-vehicle functionality.

Claims

1. A system (20) for controlling at least one function of a group of functions in a vehicle interior, the system comprising a display screen (8) and at least one image sensor (12), characterized in that: The system comprises a physical element (10) mechanically connected to the display screen and movable by a user between at least two different positions, the physical element (10) not being electrically connected to the display screen (8), the at least one image sensor (12) being configured to capture an image of at least a portion of the physical element (10) and the display screen (8), the system (20) further comprising an electronic control unit (22) connected to the image sensor (12), the electronic control unit being configured to: - assigning (30) functions to said physical elements, - detecting (32) in at least one image captured by the sensor (12) a position of the physical element (10) after being manipulated by the user, - determining (34) an action associated with said function, said action being variable according to said position of said physical element (10), and - controlling (36) the implementation of an action corresponding to said position of said physical element.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the physical element (10) is a knob, and the change of the position of the knob is achieved by rotating the knob.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the physical element (10) is a slider, and the modification of the position of the slider is achieved by translation of the slider.

4. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the system is configured to display a menu related to the functions assigned to the physical element on the display screen (8), the menu comprising parts (181, ..., 184), which are arranged in such a way that the selected position of the physical element (10) indicates one of the parts.

5. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the system being configured to display a main menu of functions of the functional group on the display screen (8).

6. The system according to claim 5 further comprises a module (40) for detecting the gaze direction of one of the vehicle users, and wherein the function assignment of the physical element is performed according to the detected gaze direction, and the main menu function pointed to by the gaze direction is assigned to the physical element (10).

7. A system according to claim 5, wherein the function assignment to the physical element (10) is achieved by manipulating the physical element (10) to indicate the function displayed in the main menu and detecting the position of the physical element (10) in the image captured by the sensor.

8. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising a voice recognition module (38), wherein the assignment of functions to the physical elements (10) is performed by voice commands.

9. A method for controlling at least one function of a group of functions in a vehicle interior, the method being implemented by a system according to claims 1 to 8, the method comprising the following steps: - assigning (50) functions to said physical elements, - detecting (54, 56) a position of the physical element after being manipulated by the user in at least one image captured by the sensor, - determining (58) an action associated with said function, said action being variable according to said position of said physical element, and - controlling (60) an action to be performed corresponding to said position of said physical element. 10 . A computer program comprising executable code instructions, which, when executed by a programmable electronic device, implement the control method according to claim 9 .

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