Autonomous smart car capable of first aid and method for operating thereof

• US 10,368,806 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2016
• Issued: 08/06/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hancom Inc., Sang Cheol Kim
• Original Assignee: Hancom Inc.
• Inventors: Kim, Sang Cheol
• Primary Examiner(s): Nolan, Peter D
• Application Number:
  US15/573,829
• Publication Number:
  US 20180256420A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,181 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6893 Cars
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7282 Event detection, e.g. detecting unique waveforms indicative of a medical condition A61B5/4094, A61B5/4818, A61B5/349, A61B5/0823 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/747 in case of emergency, i.e. alerting emergency services
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 3/001 Vehicles provided with medical equipment to perform operations or examinations
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/2611 Indicating devices mounted on the roof of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/46 for giving flashing caution signals during drive, other than signalling change of direction, e.g. flashing the headlights or hazard lights
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/507 specific to autonomous vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/543 for indicating other states or conditions of the vehicle indicating taxis' state of hire or fare G07B13/045
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/544 for indicating other states or conditions of the vehicle occupants, e.g. for indicating disabled occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2040/0872 Driver physiology
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3407 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096838 where the user preferences are taken into account or the user selects one route out of a plurality
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

An autonomous smart car includes a bio-signal sensing unit sensing a bio-condition of a person in the autonomous smart car; a communication unit supporting wireless communication between the autonomous smart car and an external of the autonomous smart car; a memory unit storing basic data of the person in the autonomous smart car, general bio-signal data, bio-signal data sensed by the bio-signal sensing unit, and hospital information data; an autonomous driving unit autonomously driving the autonomous smart car to a destination; an emergency handling unit enabling the autonomous smart car to inform that an emergency patient is in the autonomous smart car to outside when the bio-condition of the person in the autonomous smart car indicates an emergency; and a control unit analyzing a current condition of the person by comparing a bio-signal sensed by the bio-signal sensing unit with the data stored in the memory unit.

Claims

1. An autonomous smart car capable of first aid, comprising:

a bio-signal sensing unit configured to sense that a person in the autonomous smart car is in need of the first aid;

a communication unit configured to have a wireless communication with a hospital information provision server and a traffic information provision server;

a memory unit storing basic data of the person in the autonomous smart car, general bio-signal data, bio-signal data sensed by the bio-signal sensing unit, and hospital information data,

wherein the basic data includes a name, a medical treatment history of the person, and a hospital in which the person generally visits for a medical treatment,

wherein the general bio-signal data includes emergency data and normal range data on a body temperature, a heartbeat, and a pulse, and

wherein the hospital information data is at least one of emergency room information, specialty information and location information, phone number information, and communication path information to each hospital server;

an autonomous driving unit configured to drive the autonomous smart car to a hospital autonomously, the autonomous driving unit comprising;

a location information receiver configured to receive information of a current location of the autonomous smart car;

a traffic information receiver configured to receive traffic information to the hospital; and

an autonomous driving controller enabling the autonomous smart car to autonomously drive from the current location of the car received by the location information receiver to the destination; and

an emergency handling unit enabling the autonomous smart car to inform the hospital of the person in the autonomous smart car who is in need of the first aid; and

a control unit configured to determine that the person is in need of the first aid by comparing a bio-signal sensed by the bio-signal sensing unit with the data stored in the memory unit, the control unit configured to select the hospital by;

detecting the current location via the location information receiver;

searching the hospital based on the medical treatment history of the person and the hospital in which the person generally visits for the medical treatment; and

receiving the traffic information to the hospital via the traffic information receiver.

2. The autonomous smart car of claim 1, wherein the hospital information data is updated at a preset period through the communication unit.

3. The autonomous smart car of claim 1, wherein the emergency handling unit includes:

a warning light part informing that the person in need of the first aid is in the autonomous smart car when an emergency occurs;

a speaker part informing arrival of the person in need of the first aid at the hospital; and

an automatic call part automatically making a call to the hospital when the person in the autonomous smart car is in need of the first aid as a sensing result of the bio-signal sensing unit, the automatic call part automatically transmitting the sensing result sensed by the bio-signal sensing unit with at least one of a gender, the name, a car number, and information on the current location of the car.

4. The autonomous smart car of claim 3, wherein the control unit controls the warning light part to turn on a warning light and controls the automatic call part to make an automatic call to the hospital, or

when the memory unit stores communication path information to the hospital information provision server, the control unit controls the communication unit to transmit data that informs a condition of the person to the hospital information provision server.

5. The autonomous smart car of claim 1, wherein the autonomous smart car communicates through a wired and/or wireless communication network with the hospital information provision server providing at least one piece of hospital information on a location, a specialty, and working hours of the hospital and the traffic information provision server providing traffic information in real-time.

6. A method of operating an autonomous smart car capable of first aid, the method comprising:

sensing, by a bio-signal sensing unit of an autonomous smart car, that a person in the autonomous smart car is in need of the first aid;

analyzing, by a control unit of the autonomous smart car, the bio-signal sensed by the bio-signal sensing unit;

searching, by the control unit of the autonomous smart car, for a hospital to which the person in need of the first aid is transported through a memory unit storing hospital information when determining the sensed bio-signal indicates an emergency, wherein the memory unit includes a medical treatment history of the person, and a hospital in which the person generally visits for a medical treatment;

controlling, by the control unit of the autonomous smart car, an autonomous driving unit to autonomously drive the autonomous smart car to the hospital, wherein the autonomous driving unit includes a location information receiver configured to receive information of a current location of the autonomous smart car and a traffic information receiver configured to receive traffic information to the hospital;

detecting the current location via the location information receiver;

selecting the hospital based on the medical treatment history of the person and the hospital in which the person generally visits for the medical treatment; and

receiving the traffic information to the hospital via the traffic information receiver,

wherein at the analyzing, by the control unit of the autonomous smart car, of the bio-signal sensed by the bio-signal sensing unit, sensed data of the person in the autonomous smart car is analyzed by being compared with emergency data and normal range data on a body temperature, a heartbeat, and a pulse.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the searching step further includes communicating with a hospital information provision server providing hospital information through a communication unit.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the controlling step further includes:

making an automatic call to the hospital and transmitting at least one of a condition, a gender, a name, a car number of the person, and information on the current location of the car in a voice through an emergency handling unit informing that the autonomous smart car is in an emergency to outside;

or

transmitting data that informs the hospital server of the person in need of the first aid to through the communication unit when there is communication path information to the hospital information provision server.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the controlling step further includes:

turning on a warning light part attached on the autonomous smart car, the warning light part informing that the autonomous smart car is in an emergency;

outputting arrival of the person in a voice through a speaker part outputting a voice when arrival at the hospital is confirmed; and

turning off the warning light part and output of the speaker part when the emergency is ended.