A
system for determining when an occupant in a motor vehicle seat and restrained by a
seat belt restraint
system has an incorrect
body posture, the
system comprising: a seatbelt buckle sensor for detecting the presence of a seatbelt buckle
locking plate in the seatbelt buckle to determine whether the seatbelt is fastened; a
seat belt dispensing sensor for detecting a first
seat belt dispensing length and for detecting a second seat belt dispensing length; an occupant posture sensor for capturing an image of an occupant on the vehicle seat; a control module in communication with the seat belt buckle sensor, the seat belt release sensor, and the occupant posture sensor, the control module having
executable code to: Determine the presence of the seat belt
locking plate in the seat belt buckle; Determining whether the difference between the first seat belt output length when the seat belt buckle is present in the seat belt buckle and the second seat belt output length is greater than a seat belt output
length change threshold; Comparing the image of the occupant captured by the occupant posture sensor with at least one stored image and posture zone if the difference between the first seatbelt output length and the second seatbelt output length is greater than the seatbelt output
length change threshold; and Determine whether the occupant has an incorrect posture by comparing the captured image of the occupant with at least one of the stored images and the posture zone. wherein the occupant posture sensor is an
ultrasonic sensor, wherein the stored image is at least one of a reference posture image and an actual initial posture image, wherein the posture zone is at least one of a reference posture zone and an actual initial posture zone, where the actual initial posture zone is determined from an actual initial posture image, wherein the control module further comprises
executable code for storing the first seatbelt output length within at least a first time window and a second time window, wherein the reference posture image is selected based on the image of the occupant detected by the occupant posture sensor, wherein the reference posture zone is selected from a plurality of stored reference posture images based on a shape of the occupant determined from the captured image of the occupant, wherein the control module further comprises
executable code for comparing the image of the occupant captured by the occupant posture sensor with a stored image, further comprising executable code for capturing an image of an occupant on the vehicle seat within at least a first time window or a second time window and storing the image as the stored image, wherein the control module further comprises executable code to determine whether the occupant has an incorrect posture based on the comparison of the captured image of the occupant and the stored image and / or the posture zone, and the posture zone further comprises executable code to determine whether a head, a
torso, or a leg of the occupant exceeds a posture threshold.