Autonomous driving system and method for same
First Claim
1. An activation system for a vehicle semi-autonomous or autonomous steering control system, the activation system comprising:
- at least one imager having a field of view encompassing at least a portion of a driver operable steering device, wherein the at least one imager collects a first image data set representing a raw image within said field of view; and
a control module comprising one or more processors configured to receive the first image data set and to process said first image data set to determine whether a driver is currently operating said driver operable steering device or not;
wherein, in response to determining that the driver is not currently operating said driver operable steering device, the activation system activates the semi-autonomous or autonomous steering control system;
wherein processing the first image data set comprises;
comparing the first image data set with a background image data set;
creating a first modified data set in dependence upon said first image data set and in dependence upon said background image data set;
creating a second modified data set in dependence upon a brightness characteristic associated with data elements of the first modified data set;
creating a third modified data set by identifying and blending incongruous pixels represented by data elements in the second modified data set with the pixels around them;
determining whether turning whether the third modified data set comprises data elements relating to two areas corresponding to both hands of the driver within the field of view of the at least one imager; and
identifying shapes of the two areas and comparing the identified shapes of the two areas to one or more reference shapes to identify a shape in an expected region of the driver'"'"'s fingers indicating that the fingers are gripping the steering device or are not gripping the steering device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to an activation system for a vehicle comprising a steering wheel (20) and a semi-autonomous or an autonomous control system. The activation system comprises at least one imaging means (12), such as a camera, having a field of view encompassing at least a substantial portion of the steering wheel arranged to collect, in use, a first image data set representing a raw image of a subject within said field of view. A control module is also provided for processing said first image data and for making a determination as to whether a driver currently has both of their hands on the steering wheel or not. In response to making said determination, the activation system is configured and/or arranged to trigger a semi-autonomous or an autonomous control system.
21 Citations
15 Claims
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1. An activation system for a vehicle semi-autonomous or autonomous steering control system, the activation system comprising:
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at least one imager having a field of view encompassing at least a portion of a driver operable steering device, wherein the at least one imager collects a first image data set representing a raw image within said field of view; and a control module comprising one or more processors configured to receive the first image data set and to process said first image data set to determine whether a driver is currently operating said driver operable steering device or not; wherein, in response to determining that the driver is not currently operating said driver operable steering device, the activation system activates the semi-autonomous or autonomous steering control system; wherein processing the first image data set comprises; comparing the first image data set with a background image data set; creating a first modified data set in dependence upon said first image data set and in dependence upon said background image data set; creating a second modified data set in dependence upon a brightness characteristic associated with data elements of the first modified data set; creating a third modified data set by identifying and blending incongruous pixels represented by data elements in the second modified data set with the pixels around them; determining whether turning whether the third modified data set comprises data elements relating to two areas corresponding to both hands of the driver within the field of view of the at least one imager; and identifying shapes of the two areas and comparing the identified shapes of the two areas to one or more reference shapes to identify a shape in an expected region of the driver'"'"'s fingers indicating that the fingers are gripping the steering device or are not gripping the steering device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of activating a semi-autonomous or autonomous control system by recognizing whether a person'"'"'s hands are present within an image, the method comprising:
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receiving a first image data set representing a raw image within a field of view encompassing at least a portion of a driver operable steering device; and processing said first image data set to determine whether a driver is currently operating the driver operable steering device or not; wherein, in response to determining that the driver is not currently operating said driver operable steering device, activating the semi-autonomous or autonomous steering control system; the processing of said first image data comprising; comparing the first image data set with a background image data set; creating a first modified data set in dependence upon said first image data set and in dependence upon said background image data set; creating a second modified data set in dependence upon a brightness characteristic associated with data elements of the first modified data set; creating a third modified data set by identifying and blending incongruous pixels represented by data elements in the second modified data set with the pixels around them; determining whether the third modified data set comprises data elements relating to two areas corresponding to both hands of the driver within the field of view; and identifying shapes of the two areas and comparing the identified shapes of the two areas to one or more reference shapes to identify a shape in an expected region of the driver'"'"'s fingers indicating that the fingers are gripping the steering device or are not gripping the steering device. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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Specification