In-Cabin Environment Control via Vision-Based Passenger Sleep Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies for autonomous vehicles lack the ability to automatically determine a passenger's sleeping or drowsy state and adjust the in-cabin environment accordingly, requiring manual user intervention to achieve a comfortable sleep mode.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize a video sensor to monitor a passenger's state, detect determination target objects, crop images, and determine the passenger's state through feature vectors, allowing for automatic adjustment of in-cabin features such as seat, air conditioning, lighting, sound, window tinting, and sunroof to a sleep mode.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual adjustment of in-cabin environment is required, then user control precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically detects passenger state through video sensors and autonomously adjusts in-cabin environmental settings (lighting, temperature, seat position) without requiring manual user input. The processor analyzes facial features and body posture to determine sleep or wake states, then self-adjusts the environment accordingly.
Solution Approach 2:
Manual mechanical adjustment of environmental controls is replaced by an automated vision-based detection system. Video sensors capture images, processors analyze facial and body features to detect sleep states, and electronic systems automatically adjust lighting, temperature, and seat positions based on detection results.
2Ease of operation
If video sensor-based automatic detection is implemented, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The video sensor system serves multiple functions: it captures passenger images for state detection, provides visual monitoring of the cabin environment, and enables various detection algorithms (facial feature analysis, body posture detection) within a single integrated system, reducing the need for separate sensors for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The processor acts as an intermediary that receives raw video data from sensors, processes images through algorithms analyzing facial and body features, determines passenger state, and translates this information into control signals for environmental systems. This intermediary processing layer simplifies the overall system architecture.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple sensors and systems are integrated, then functionality is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple environmental control functions (lighting control, temperature regulation, seat position adjustment, window tinting) are merged into a single integrated system controlled by one processor that receives input from video sensors. This unified approach coordinates all environmental adjustments based on a single passenger state assessment, simplifying control logic.
4Productivity
If automatic state determination is implemented, then productivity is improved, but measurement precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The state detection process is segmented into distinct analytical stages: initial image capture, facial feature extraction (eye closure, mouth position), body posture analysis (head position, body orientation), and 종합 state determination. This segmentation allows each stage to be optimized independently for both speed and accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors passenger state through ongoing video analysis and adjusts environmental settings in real-time. If the passenger transitions from sleep to wake state or vice versa, the system detects these changes through continuous facial and body feature analysis and automatically adjusts the environment accordingly, providing continuous feedback-based control.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for automatically controlling an in-cabin environment for a passenger in an autonomous vehicle includes monitoring a state of the passenger via a video sensor; determining whether the state of the passenger corresponds to one of preset states of a predetermined number; and adjusting, when the state corresponds to the one of the preset states, any one or any combination of any two or more of a seat, an air conditioning system, a lighting system, a sound system, a variable window tinting, and a variable sunroof of the autonomous vehicle based on the state. The determining of the state of the passenger includes detecting a plurality of determination target objects from a video of the video sensor, cropping an image of each of the plurality of determination target objects, and determining whether the state of the passenger corresponds to the one of the preset states.