Vehicle personalization via biometric identification

• US 20030204290A1
• Filed: 04/10/2003
• Published: 10/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Visteon Global Technologies Incorporated (Visteon Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Visteon Global Technologies Incorporated (Visteon Corporation)
• Inventors: Madau, Adrian, Templeton, Ryan L., Gioia, Thomas A., Heussner, Eric M., Chi, David D., Sadler, John G.
• Granted Patent: US 6,810,309 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/04 operating on the propulsion system, e.g. engine or drive motor
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/2081 combined with personal settings of other vehicle devices, e.g. mirrors, seats, steering wheels
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/252 Fingerprint recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/10 Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00563 using personal physical data of the operator, e.g. finger prints, retinal images, voicepatterns

Abstract

A system and method for detecting an identity of an occupant of a vehicle is disclosed. The system includes a sensor module mounted in a vehicle. The sensor module having an occupant sensor for acquiring an image of a member of the vehicle occupant to identify the vehicle occupant. The method includes activating a vehicle occupant identification system, acquiring an image of a member of the vehicle occupant, comparing the acquired image of the member with at least one stored image of a member, determining whether the acquired image of the member matches the at least one stored image, and assessing whether the vehicle occupant has been identified.

Claims

1. A method for detecting an identity of an occupant of a vehicle, the method comprising:

activating a vehicle occupant identification system;

acquiring an image of a member of the vehicle occupant;

comparing the acquired image of the member with at least one stored image of a member;

determining whether the acquired image of the member matches the at least one stored image; and

assessing whether the vehicle occupant has been identified.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein activating a vehicle occupant identification system further comprises determining whether an occupant identification sensor has been activated.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein activating a vehicle occupant identification system further comprises activating the system using a controller area network.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein acquiring an image of a member further comprises entering an active mode of the vehicle occupant identification system.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising entering a sleep mode of the vehicle occupant identification system after the vehicle occupant has been identified.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising prompting the vehicle occupant to remove the member of the vehicle occupant from occupant identification sensor.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the member of the vehicle occupant is a finger of the vehicle occupant.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein acquiring an image further comprises determining whether an engine of the vehicle is running.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising enrolling a vehicle occupant as a user of the vehicle identification system by creating an image template indicative of the identity of the user.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising storing an image template indicative of the identity of the user.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein enrolling a vehicle occupant further comprises receiving an administrator code to identify the vehicle occupant.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein enrolling a vehicle occupant further comprises selecting a primary finger to enroll.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein enrolling a vehicle occupant further comprises determining whether the occupant identification sensor has been activated.

14. The method of claim 9 wherein enrolling a vehicle occupant further comprises determining whether an image of the vehicle occupant'"'"'s finger has a predetermined level of quality.

15. The method of claim 9 wherein enrolling a vehicle occupant further comprises assigning an identification number to an image template.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising erasing a user of the vehicle occupant identification system.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein erasing a user further comprises determining whether an administrator code is correct.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein erasing a user further comprises erasing a image template indicative of an identity of a user.

19. A system for detecting an identity of an occupant of a vehicle, the system comprising:

a module mounted in the vehicle, wherein the module includes;

a biometric sensor mounted in the module for acquiring an image of a member of the vehicle occupant; and

a first tactile switch in communication with the a biometric sensor for sensing the presence of the member of the vehicle occupant on the biometric sensor; and

a processor in communication with the module for analyzing the image of the member of the vehicle occupant to determine the identity of the occupant.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the module further comprising light emitting diodes for illuminating an area around the biometric sensor.

21. The system of claim 19 further comprising a second tactile switch for deactivating the system.

22. The system of claim 19 further comprising a cover for enclosing the module wherein the cover has a wall for guiding the member of the occupant towards the biometric sensor.