Detecting visibility of a vehicle to driver of other vehicles
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- detecting, by a computer in a primary vehicle, a secondary vehicle ahead of the primary vehicle;
receiving an image of the secondary vehicle from a camera mounted to the primary vehicle, the camera being forward facing;
identifying, by the computer, an image of a side-view mirror in the received image;
analyzing, by the computer, a reflected image within the image of the side-view mirror to determine a head position of a secondary vehicle driver by applying a facial recognition algorithm to determine if the face of the secondary vehicle driver is visible in the reflected image; and
determining, by the computer, whether the driver can see the primary vehicle based on the head position of the driver.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Example blind spot detection systems and methods are described. In one implementation, a primary vehicle detects a secondary vehicle ahead of the primary vehicle in an adjacent lane of traffic. A method determines dimensions of the secondary vehicle and estimates a vehicle class associated with the secondary vehicle based on the dimensions of the secondary vehicle. The method also identifies a side-view mirror location on the secondary vehicle and determines a blind spot associated with the secondary vehicle based on the vehicle class and the side-view mirror location.
8 Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
detecting, by a computer in a primary vehicle, a secondary vehicle ahead of the primary vehicle; receiving an image of the secondary vehicle from a camera mounted to the primary vehicle, the camera being forward facing; identifying, by the computer, an image of a side-view mirror in the received image; analyzing, by the computer, a reflected image within the image of the side-view mirror to determine a head position of a secondary vehicle driver by applying a facial recognition algorithm to determine if the face of the secondary vehicle driver is visible in the reflected image; and determining, by the computer, whether the driver can see the primary vehicle based on the head position of the driver. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A method comprising:
-
detecting, by a blind spot detection system in a primary vehicle, a secondary vehicle ahead of the primary vehicle in an adjacent lane of traffic; receiving an image of the secondary vehicle from a camera mounted to the primary vehicle, the camera being forward facing; identifying an image of a side-view mirror in the received image; analyzing a reflected image within the image of the side-view mirror to determine whether a face of a driver of the secondary vehicle is visible within the side-view mirror by applying a facial recognition algorithm to the reflected image to determine whether the face of the driver of the secondary vehicle driver is visible within the side-view mirror; determining that the driver of the secondary vehicle is not likely to see the primary vehicle based on the head position of the driver of the secondary vehicle in the reflected image; and alerting a driver of the primary vehicle responsive to determining that the secondary vehicle driver cannot see the primary vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. An apparatus comprising:
-
an image processing module configured to detect a secondary vehicle ahead of a primary vehicle, the image processing module further configured to receive an image of the secondary vehicle from a camera mounted to the primary vehicle; a vehicle mirror detector configured to identify an image of a side-view mirror in the received image; and a facial analysis module configured to analyze a reflected image within the image of the side-view mirror to determine a head position of a driver of the secondary vehicle, the facial analysis module further configured to determine whether the driver of the secondary vehicle can see the primary vehicle based on the head position of the driver. - View Dependent Claims (18)
-
Specification