In-Cabin Gesture Control for Safer Vehicle Operation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional vehicle operating systems require direct button or screen interaction, leading to driver distraction and safety concerns when used while driving.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle operating system that uses camera devices to capture and interpret gestures from drivers and passengers, converting them into operating signals to control vehicle systems, allowing for safe and convenient operation without direct interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If direct button or screen interaction is used to control vehicle systems, then ease of operation is improved, but driver distraction increases and safety deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical button pressing and manual screen interaction with gesture-based control. Camera devices capture hand gestures, and a processing device converts these gestures into operating signals that control vehicle systems. This substitution eliminates the need for direct physical contact with controls, allowing drivers to operate vehicle functions without taking their hands off the steering wheel or eyes off the road, thereby maintaining ease of operation while significantly improving safety.
2Reliability
If gesture-based control is implemented, then driver distraction is reduced and safety is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces camera devices as intermediary components between the driver's gestures and the vehicle's control systems. These cameras capture gesture images, which are then processed by a processing device that converts the visual information into operating signals. This intermediary approach allows the system to interpret complex human gestures without requiring direct mechanical interaction, thereby improving safety while managing device complexity through modular architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a visual copy of the driver's hand gestures through camera imaging. Instead of requiring physical contact with controls, the camera captures an optical copy of the gesture, and the processing device interprets this copy to generate the appropriate control signal. This copying mechanism enables contactless operation, improving safety while the complexity is managed by utilizing existing camera and image processing technologies.
3Ease of operation
If camera devices are added for gesture capture, then ease of operation is maintained while safety is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs camera devices that can serve multiple functions: capturing gesture images for control operations, monitoring driver behavior, and potentially tracking passenger movements. By making the camera system multi-functional, the patent maintains ease of operation through gesture recognition while improving safety, and simultaneously reduces manufacturing complexity by utilizing a single component for multiple purposes rather than requiring separate systems for each function.
Data Source
AI summary
Vehicle operating systems for operating a vehicle having a driving seat for a vehicle driver and at least one passenger seat for passengers are described. The vehicle operating system may include one or more camera devices for shooting images of hand actions of the driver or images of hand actions of a passenger, and a storage device for storing operating signals corresponding to hand actions. A processing device may be configured to select the driver or the passengers as a gesture command operator, and to control the camera device to shoot hand action images of the selected gesture command operator. The command system may also be configured to convert the shot hand action images into corresponding operating signals according to hand action indicia stored in the storage device. The operating signals may be sent to execution devices, that execute the corresponding operations.