Vehicle Head Orientation Monitoring for Autonomous Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing autonomous vehicle systems lack effective methods for ensuring driver attention during autonomous or piloted driving, leading to potential safety issues due to the reliance on small display devices for monitoring, which can be difficult to read, especially in bright conditions.
Innovation Solution
A method using a mobile operating device with camera capabilities to record and analyze the driver's head orientation and line of sight, automatically interrupting the vehicle's autonomous movement if the driver is not adequately attending to the vehicle, utilizing image processing and wireless communication for real-time data exchange.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a small display device in a mobile remote control is used to show images of the surrounding area, then the driver assistance device can be implemented with portable components, but the displayed images and information become difficult to recognize, especially in bright ambient light
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a 2D small mobile display to a 3D head-mounted display system that overlays information directly in the driver's field of view. This dimensional change allows the driver to see both the road and the displayed images simultaneously without switching between devices, solving the recognizability problem while maintaining portability through the lightweight head-mounted design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a camera system as an intermediary to capture the surrounding area and transmit it to the driver via the head-mounted display. This intermediary allows the driver to see images of the surrounding area without needing to look at a separate mobile device screen, as the images are projected directly into their visual field through the head-mounted display apparatus.
2Extent of automation
If the driver must observe a small display device to monitor the autonomous parking process, then the system can maintain autonomous operation, but the driver cannot effectively detect dangerous situations in the surrounding area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the autonomous parking control system with a visual monitoring system in the head-mounted display. The driver sees both the road environment and the images from the vehicle's cameras simultaneously through the head-mounted display, allowing continuous awareness of both the autonomous operation status and the surrounding area without needing to shift attention between separate devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides real-time visual feedback to the driver through the head-mounted display, showing images of the surrounding area captured by the vehicle's cameras. This feedback loop allows the driver to continuously monitor the autonomous parking process and the environment, enabling immediate detection of dangerous situations while maintaining autonomous operation.
3Device complexity
If images are displayed on a mobile remote control, then the system can communicate with the driver wirelessly, but the display size is limited and reduces visibility of details
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves the display from a 2D mobile device screen to a 3D spatial overlay through the head-mounted display. This allows the display area to effectively expand to cover a large portion of the driver's field of view without increasing the physical size of the device, maintaining wireless portability while providing large, detailed images of the surrounding area.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention comprises a method for operating a vehicle, wherein the vehicle performs autonomously controlled movement.The method is characterized in that the current position of the vehicle is recorded in temporal sequence (S2), images are recorded in temporal sequence by means of a first camera device of a mobile control device held by an operator located outside the vehicle (S3), an evaluation device determines the current head orientation and/or direction of view of the operator based on the recorded images (S4), and in the event that the current head orientation and/or direction of view of the operator cannot be determined (S5), or the head orientation and/or direction of view of the operator deviates from the current position of the vehicle for longer than a predefinable period of time and/or by more than a predefinable angle (S6, S7), the autonomously controlled movement of the vehicle is automatically interrupted or aborted (S8).The present invention also includes a corresponding system for operating a vehicle.