DRIVING SKILL RECOGNITION BASED ON STRAIGHT-LINE DRIVING BEHAVIOR

• US 20100209882A1
• Filed: 02/18/2009
• Published: 08/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations Incorporated (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Huang, Jihua, Lin, William C., Chin, Yuen-kwok
• Application Number:
  US12/388,198
• Publication Number:
  US 20100209882A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/65
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/167 Control of land vehicles

Abstract

A method for determining a driver'"'"'s driving skill of a vehicle based on straight-line driving behavior. The method can classify driver skill based on three straight-line approaches, namely, a lane-position approach, a steering characteristic approach and a traffic-environment reaction approach.

Claims

1. A method for determining a driver'"'"'s driving skill of a vehicle based on straight-line driving behavior, said method comprising:

determining a lane position of the vehicle on a road;

determining a lane center deviation of the vehicle on the road;

determining a road lane width of the road;

determining a road type;

determining a drivers lane deviation in frequency components;

determining a dynamic part of a driver performance from a weighted sum of the frequency components;

determining a static part of the driver performance from a weighted sum of the frequency components;

determining a driver performance index based on the dynamic part and the static part of the driver performance; and

classifying the driver'"'"'s driving skill based on the driver performance index.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein determining the lane position of the vehicle includes determining the lane position of the vehicle using a forward-looking imaging device.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein determining the lane position of the vehicle includes detecting lane marks of the road.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein determining the drivers lane deviation in frequency components includes using power spectrum analysis and discrete Fourier transform.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein determining the dynamic part of the driver performance includes using the equation:

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein determining a static part of driver performance includes determining a time-average lane center deviation at each corresponding section of the road where the road type and the lane width are the same.

7. The method according to claim 6 wherein determining the static part of the driver performance includes using the equation:

SI_S(i)=K_R(i)Cd_—

0(i)

where SI_S is the static part of driver performance, K_R is a weighting factor and Cd is the lane center deviation.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein classifying the driving skill includes classifying the driving skill into three categories as a low-skill driver, an average skill driver and a high-skill driver.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein classifying the driver includes classifying the driver'"'"'s skill for different road types and lane widths.

10. The method according to claim 1 wherein classifying the driving skill includes discarding driver performance indexes that fall below a predetermined threshold.

11. A method for determining a driver'"'"'s driving skill of a vehicle, said method comprising:

determining a steering wheel position of a steering wheel of the vehicle;

determining a turning rate of the steering wheel of the vehicle;

determining frequency components of the turning rate of the steering wheel;

determining a driving skill index based on the steering wheel position using a weighted sum of the frequency components;

determining a driving skill index based on the steering wheel turning rate;

determining a driving skill index based on steering characteristics that includes both the driving skill index based on the steering wheel turning rate and the driving skill index based on the steering wheel position; and

classifying the driver'"'"'s driving skill based on the driving skill index based on the steering characteristics.

12. The method according to claim 11 wherein determining the frequency components of the turning rate includes using power spectrum analysis and a discrete Fourier transform.

13. The method according to claim 12 wherein determining the driving skill index based on the steering wheel position includes using the equation:

14. The method according to claim 11 wherein determining the driving skill index based on the turning rate includes using the equation:

15. The method according to claim 11 wherein determining the driving skill index based on steering characteristics includes using the equation:

SI_ST=Kd*SI_SW+Ks*SI_SR

where K_d and K_s are predetermined weighting factors, SI_ST is the driving skill index based on steering characteristics, SI_SW is the driving skill index based on the steering wheel position and SI_SR is the driving skill index based on the steering wheel turning rate.

16. The method according to claim 11 wherein classifying the driver driving skill includes classifying the driver'"'"'s driving skill as high-skill, average skill or low-skill.

17. A method for determining a driver'"'"'s driving skill of a vehicle, said method comprising:

detecting one or more objects at a side of the vehicle;

determining steering wheel turning rate information of a steering wheel of the vehicle;

determining lane center information of whether the vehicle is traveling along a center of a vehicle lane;

determining established average lane center deviation information;

determining an index for a traffic environment reaction based on the steering wheel turning rate information and the lane center deviation information;

determining whether a magnitude of the traffic environment reaction exceeds a predetermined threshold; and

classifying driver driving skill based on the traffic environment reaction if the traffic environment reaction index exceeds the threshold.

18. The method according to claim 17 wherein generating the index free traffic environment reaction includes using the equation:

I_TER(t)=K_SRRSr(t)+K_CdRΔ

Cd(t)

where I_TER is the traffic environment reaction index, K_SRR and K_CdR are weighting factors, Sr is the turning rate information and Cd is the lane center deviation information.

19. The method according to claim 17 wherein determining the location of objects at the side of the vehicle includes using radar sensors.

20. The method according to claim 17 wherein classifying the driver driving skill includes classifying the driver driving skill includes classifying the driver driving skill as high-skill, average skill or low-skill.