Visual Door-Opening Intent Detection from Position and Orientation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing door lock systems face challenges in determining intent to open, particularly with wireless interfaces like RFID, BLE, and UWB, which can lead to unauthorized access and inefficient energy use in automatic doors.
Innovation Solution
A method using an intent determiner that analyzes images of the area near the door with an image machine learning model to determine the position and orientation of a person, creating a stick figure representation, and infers intent based on a data structure, sending a signal to open the door when intent is confirmed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If RFID is used for wireless interface, then close proximity authentication is achieved, but large antenna size and high energy consumption are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces RFID's electromagnetic field-based authentication with a visual-based authentication system using cameras and image processing. The mechanical/optical system (camera capturing visual images) substitutes the electromagnetic system (RFID antenna), achieving authentication without requiring large antennas or high energy consumption while maintaining reliability through visual verification of the user's intent and presence.
2Adaptability or versatility
If BLE or UWB is used for longer range communication, then remote system management is enabled, but intent determination becomes difficult leading to unauthorized access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary visual verification system between the user and the door lock. Instead of directly trusting BLE or UWB signals for intent determination, the system uses camera-based image processing as an intermediary to verify the user's actual intent by analyzing their orientation and position relative to the door. This intermediary layer prevents unauthorized access while maintaining the benefits of longer-range wireless communication for system management.
3Ease of operation
If automatic door opening is enabled for unlocked doors, then user convenience is improved, but energy consumption increases due to unnecessary door openings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism using visual information from cameras to determine whether the user actually intends to enter. The system continuously monitors the user's orientation and position, and only triggers door opening when the visual feedback confirms the user is facing the door and intends to enter. This feedback loop prevents unnecessary door openings and energy consumption while maintaining convenience for legitimate users.
Data Source
AI summary
It is provided a method for determining intent to open a door. The method is performed by an intent determiner. The method comprises: obtaining an image of a physical space near the door; determining a position and orientation of a person in the image by providing the image to an image machine learning model, wherein the image machine learning model is configured to determine position and orientation of a person in the image, wherein the image machine learning model is configured to determine a stick figure of the person based on the image; adding a data item, comprising an indicator of the position and an indicator of the orientation, to a data structure; determining based on the data structure, whether there is intent of the person to open the door; and repeating the method until an exit condition is true.