Driver Attentiveness Detection for Blind Spot Warning Response

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current vehicle safety systems fail to provide a robust and reliable blind spot field warning during lane changes, as drivers often neglect to look at the external rear-view mirror where the warning light is emitted, leading to potential collisions with vehicles in the blind spot field.

Innovation Solution

A vehicle safety system that includes an image sensor device to detect the driver's eye configurations and determine if they are looking within a warning area, issuing a second warning signal if the driver is about to change lanes and there is a target vehicle in the blind spot field outside the mirror's coverage, using a combination of radar and camera systems to assess the driver's attentiveness and lane change intentions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If complex calculations of gaze angles and facial features are used to detect driver attentiveness, then the precision of driver monitoring is improved, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedriver gaze detection precisionVSAvoidcalculation complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential information needed for driver attentiveness detection - the position of the eyes relative to the warning area. By focusing solely on eye configuration rather than comprehensive facial analysis, the system achieves sufficient precision while dramatically reducing computational complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the parameter being measured from complex facial feature geometry to a simpler eye position parameter. This parameter transformation maintains the ability to detect whether the driver is looking at the warning area while eliminating the need for complex gaze angle and facial feature calculations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP3493178B1Driver attentiveness detection method and device
Publication Date: 2024.03.06 MAGNA ELECTRONICS SWEDEN AB
  • EP3493178B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3493178B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3493178B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle safety system (37) comprising at least one image sensor device (17), a control unit arrangement (5, 20, 22) and at least one warning device (11, 12). The image sensor device (17) is arranged to detect eye configurations of a vehicle driver (19). When said warning device (11, 12) is initiated to emit a first warning signal, the control unit arrangement (5, 20, 22) is arranged to determine if the vehicle driver (19) at least partly is looking outside a warning area (24, 25) that at least partly encompasses said warning device (11, 12), and in that case to issue a second warning signal.