Rider Gaze Tracking for Two-Wheel Motion Path Prediction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current autonomous vehicle systems face challenges in accurately predicting the motion paths of vulnerable road users, such as motorcyclists and bicyclists, due to their dynamic and quick maneuvers, which traditional sensing methods struggle to capture effectively.
Innovation Solution
The system uses image processing to determine the orientation and direction of gaze of a rider's head-worn protective equipment, combined with vehicle characteristic data, to predict the motion path of two-wheel vehicles and control autonomous driving operations accordingly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional sensing methods are used to detect vulnerable road users, then the system can identify their presence, but it fails to accurately predict their motion paths due to their dynamic and quick maneuvers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces head-worn protective equipment (helmet/goggles) as an intermediary carrier of visual attention information. By detecting the orientation and gaze direction of the rider's head through these equipment, the system indirectly obtains the rider's intended motion path without requiring direct detection of the rider's body movements, thus resolving the contradiction between detecting presence and predicting motion accurately
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary detection of the rider's gaze direction and head orientation before the rider actually executes the maneuver. By analyzing the visual attention direction in advance, the system predicts the intended motion path earlier than traditional methods that rely on detecting actual body movement, improving both accuracy and reliability for dynamic maneuvers
2Measurement precision
If the system uses image processing to determine head orientation and gaze direction, then it can predict motion paths more accurately, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the critical visual attention information (head orientation and gaze direction) from the rider using image processing, rather than attempting to analyze all aspects of the rider's behavior. This selective extraction approach maintains high prediction accuracy while limiting the complexity of the image processing system to only the necessary functions
Solution Approach 2:
The head-worn protective equipment serves multiple functions: it provides safety protection for the rider and simultaneously acts as a carrier for visual attention detection. By utilizing this existing equipment for dual purposes, the system avoids adding separate detection devices, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining measurement precision
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and autonomous vehicles may obtain one or more images associated with an environment surrounding an autonomous vehicle; determine, based on the one or more images, an orientation of a head worn item of protective equipment of an operator of a vehicle; determine, based on the orientation of the head worn item of protective equipment, a direction of a gaze of the operator and a time period associated with the direction of the gaze of the operator; determine, based on the direction of the gaze of the operator and the time period associated with the direction of the gaze of the operator, a predicted motion path of the vehicle; and control, based on the predicted motion path of the vehicle, at least one autonomous driving operation of the autonomous vehicle.