Apparatuses, systems and methods for compressing image data that is representative of a series of digital images

• US 10,013,620 B1
• Filed: 01/13/2016
• Issued: 07/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Sanchez, Kenneth Jason, Chan, Aaron Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Koziol, Stephen R
• Assistant Examiner(s): Azima, Shaghayegh
• Application Number:
  US14/994,310
• Time in Patent Office: 902 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01542 detecting passenger motion
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01552 detecting position of specific human body parts, e.g. face, eyes or hands
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/30 characterised by the type of image processing
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/8006 for monitoring and displaying scenes of vehicle interior, e.g. for monitoring passengers or cargo
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2040/0872 Driver physiology
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0095 Automatic control mode change
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/54 Audio sensitive means, e.g. ultrasound
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/22 Psychological state; Stress level or workload
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/223 Posture, e.g. hand, foot, or seat position, turned or inclined
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/225 Direction of gaze
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/229 Attention level, e.g. attentive to driving, reading or sleeping
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/26 Incapacity
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/08 related to drivers or passengers
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/09 Driving style or behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/08 Interaction between the driver and the control system
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0053 from vehicle to occupant
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0059 Estimation of the risk associated with autonomous or manual driving, e.g. situation too complex, sensor failure or driver incapacity
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2400/30 Sensors
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2400/3015 : Optical cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2400/3017 : Radars
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 : Determining position
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0061 : for transition from automatic pilot to manual pilot and vice versa
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/51 : Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/22 : Matching criteria, e.g. proximity measures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/24 : Classification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/2413 : based on distances to training or reference patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/005 : General purpose rendering architectures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30196 : Human being; Person
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30268 : Vehicle interior
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/337 : involving reference images or patches
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 : Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/73 : using feature-based methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/59 : inside of a vehicle, e.g. relating to seat occupancy, driver state or inner lighting conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/593 : Recognising seat occupancy
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/597 : Recognising the driver's state or behaviour, e.g. attention or drowsiness
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/64 : Three-dimensional objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/10 : Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/11 : Hand-related biometrics; Hand pose recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/17 : the unit being an image region, e.g. an object
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/423 : characterised by memory arrangements H04N19/433 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/45 : for generating image signals from two or more image sensors being of different type or operating in different modes, e.g. with a CMOS sensor for moving images in combination with a charge-coupled device [CCD] for still images

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to apparatuses, systems and methods for automatically compressing digital image data. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to apparatuses, systems and methods for automatically compressing digital image data that is representative of a series of digital images.

Claims

1. A vehicle in-cabin imaging device for compressing image data that is representative of at least one skeletal diagram of at least one occupant within an associated vehicle, the vehicle in-cabin imaging device comprising:

a processor and a memory, wherein image data is stored on the memory, wherein the image data is representative of a series of time-stamped digital images;

a vehicle interior device data module stored on the memory that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to receive at least one of;

location data or orientation data from at least one vehicle in-cabin imaging device sensor, wherein the location data is indicative of a location of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device relative to the vehicle occupant within the series of time-stamped digital images and the orientation data is indicative of an orientation of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device relative to the vehicle occupant within the series of time-stamped digital images, and wherein the processor determines at least one of;

a location of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device based on the location data irrespective of a current location of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device within the vehicle interior or an orientation of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device based on the orientation data irrespective of a current orientation of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device within the vehicle interior;

an image comparison module stored on the memory that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to compare at least two sequential images, of the series of time-stamped digital images, to determine if a threshold change has occurred from a first image to a next image; and

an image data compression module stored on the memory that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to compress the image data, when the processor determines that the threshold change has not occurred from the first image to the next image, by deleting either first image data associated with the first image, or next image data associated with the next image, from the image data.

2. The vehicle in-cabin imaging device as in claim 1, wherein, when the processor determines that the threshold change has not occurred from the first image to the next image, a time range is associated with first image data or the next image data that is not deleted.

3. The vehicle in-cabin imaging device as in claim 2, wherein the time range is based on a first image time stamp.

4. The vehicle in-cabin imaging device as in claim 2, wherein the time range is based on a next image time stamp.

5. The vehicle in-cabin imaging device as in claim 1, wherein the image data is representative of a three-dimensional location of at least a portion of at least one occupant within the vehicle interior and an orientation of the portion of the at least one vehicle occupant.

6. The vehicle in-cabin imaging device as in claim 1, wherein the image data is representative of at least one of:

a vehicle occupant head location/orientation, a vehicle occupant hand location/orientation, a vehicle occupant arm location/orientation, a vehicle occupant elbow location/orientation, a vehicle occupant torso location/orientation, a seat belt location, a cellular telephone location, a vehicle occupant eye location/orientation, or a vehicle seat location/orientation.

7. The vehicle in-cabin imaging device as in claim 1, wherein the image data is representative of an image feature associated with at least one of:

a vehicle occupant head location/orientation, a vehicle occupant hand location/orientation, a vehicle occupant arm location/orientation, a vehicle occupant elbow location/orientation, a vehicle occupant torso location/orientation, a seat belt location, a cellular telephone location, a vehicle occupant eye location/orientation, or a vehicle seat location/orientation.

8. A computer-implemented method for automatically compressing image data that is representative of a series of images of an interior of a vehicle, the method comprising:

receiving, at a processor and in response to the processor executing a vehicle interior device data module, at least one of;

location data or orientation data from at least one vehicle in-cabin imaging device sensor, wherein the location data is indicative of a location of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device relative to the vehicle occupant within the series of time-stamped digital images and the orientation data is indicative of an orientation of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device relative to the vehicle occupant within the series of time-stamped digital images, and wherein the processor determines at least one of;

a location of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device based on the location data irrespective of a current location of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device within the vehicle interior or an orientation of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device based on the orientation data irrespective of a current orientation of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device within the vehicle interior;

receiving, at the processor and in response to the processor executing an image data receiving module, image data, wherein the image data is representative of a series of time-stamped digital images;

comparing, at the processor and in response to the processor executing an image comparison module, at least two sequential images, of the series of time-stamped digital images, to determine if a threshold change has occurred from a first image to a next image; and

compressing, at the processor and in response to the processor executing an image data compression module, the image data, when the processor determines that the threshold change has not occurred from the first image to the next image, by deleting either first image data associated with the first image, or next image data associated with the next image, from the image data.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the image data is representative of an image feature that is associated with at least one of:

a vehicle occupant head location/orientation, a vehicle occupant hand location/orientation, a vehicle occupant arm location/orientation, a vehicle occupant elbow location/orientation, a vehicle occupant torso location/orientation, a seat belt location, a cellular telephone location, a vehicle occupant eye location/orientation, or a vehicle seat location/orientation.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the image data is representative of at least one of:

a vehicle occupant head location/orientation, a vehicle occupant hand location/orientation, a vehicle occupant arm location/orientation, a vehicle occupant elbow location/orientation, a vehicle occupant torso location/orientation, a seat belt location, a cellular telephone location, a vehicle occupant eye location/orientation, or a vehicle seat location/orientation.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the image data is representative of a three-dimensional location of at least one vehicle occupant within the vehicle interior.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the image data is representative of an orientation of at least a portion of at least one vehicle occupant within the vehicle interior.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the image data is representative of a three-dimensional location of at least a portion of at least one occupant within the vehicle interior and an orientation of the portion of the at least one vehicle occupant.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instruction that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to automatically compress image data associated with a series of images of an interior of a vehicle, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

a vehicle interior device data module that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to receive at least one of;

location data or orientation data from at least one vehicle in-cabin imaging device sensor, wherein the location data is indicative of a location of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device relative to the vehicle occupant within the series of time-stamped digital images and the orientation data is indicative of an orientation of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device relative to the vehicle occupant within the series of time-stamped digital images, and wherein the processor determines at least one of;

a location of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device based on the location data irrespective of a current location of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device within the vehicle interior or an orientation of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device based on the orientation data irrespective of a current orientation of the vehicle in-cabin imaging device within the vehicle interior;

an image data receiving module that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to receive image data, wherein the image data is representative of a series of time-stamped digital images;

an image comparison module that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to compare at least two sequential images, of the series of time-stamped digital images, to determine if a threshold change has occurred from a first image to a next image; and

an image data compression module that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to compress the image data, when the processor determines that the threshold change has not occurred from the first image to the next image, by deleting either first image data associated with the first image, or next image data associated with the next image, from the image data.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the image data is representative of a three-dimensional location of at least a portion of at least one occupant within the vehicle interior and an orientation of the portion of the at least one vehicle occupant.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the image data is representative of an orientation of at least a portion of at least one vehicle occupant within the vehicle interior.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the image data is representative of a three-dimensional location of at least one vehicle occupant within the vehicle interior.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the image data is representative of at least one of:

a vehicle occupant head location/orientation, a vehicle occupant hand location/orientation, a vehicle occupant arm location/orientation, a vehicle occupant elbow location/orientation, a vehicle occupant torso location/orientation, a seat belt location, a cellular telephone location, a vehicle occupant eye location/orientation, or a vehicle seat location/orientation.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the image data is representative of an image feature associated with at least one of:

a vehicle occupant head location/orientation, a vehicle occupant hand location/orientation, a vehicle occupant arm location/orientation, a vehicle occupant elbow location/orientation, a vehicle occupant torso location/orientation, a seat belt location, a cellular telephone location, a vehicle occupant eye location/orientation, or a vehicle seat location/orientation.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the image data is received from at least one sensor selected from:

at least one digital image sensor, at least one ultra-sonic sensor, at least one radar-sensor, at least one infrared light sensor, or at least one laser light sensor.