Teleproctor reports use of a vehicle and restricts functions of drivers phone
First Claim
1. A system for use in a vehicle to reduce traffic accidents, comprising:
- (a) a camera adapted for installation in a vehicle aimed at a typical location of a driver;
(b) coupled to the camera, an image processor circuit that identifies human eyes, records a usual appearance of eyes of a driver in an eyes-on-the-road position, and determines when the eyes are diverted to a position other than the eyes-on-the-road position;
(c) coupled to the image processor circuit, a radio communications circuit with an antenna adapted for communications to a wide area radio network;
(d) coupled to the radio communications circuit, a speed determining circuit that determines speed of movement of the vehicle; and
(e) means for the components to report to a server across the wide area radio network data regarding incidents of eyes-off-the-road by the driver while the vehicle is moving faster than a threshold.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A device in an automobile includes a camera that takes images of drivers while they are driving. It detects and reports when eyes are not on the road for longer than a glance with automated image processing. It also reports how much the car is driven, by whom, when, where, carrying what load, at what speed compared to the speed limit, with what pattern of hard breaking or hard cornering, whether the driver looked into the blind spot before changing lanes, and whether the driver allowed their phone to enter a restricted state while driving. The device may be built in or retrofit. The retrofit device can detect if it is depowered or removed from the vehicle and report this to the insurance company, rental company, parents, and employers.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system for use in a vehicle to reduce traffic accidents, comprising:
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(a) a camera adapted for installation in a vehicle aimed at a typical location of a driver; (b) coupled to the camera, an image processor circuit that identifies human eyes, records a usual appearance of eyes of a driver in an eyes-on-the-road position, and determines when the eyes are diverted to a position other than the eyes-on-the-road position; (c) coupled to the image processor circuit, a radio communications circuit with an antenna adapted for communications to a wide area radio network; (d) coupled to the radio communications circuit, a speed determining circuit that determines speed of movement of the vehicle; and (e) means for the components to report to a server across the wide area radio network data regarding incidents of eyes-off-the-road by the driver while the vehicle is moving faster than a threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for determining when a driver in a driver'"'"'s seat in a vehicle is not sufficiently keeping the driver'"'"'s eyes on the road, comprising:
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a. having a camera mounted in front of the driver'"'"'s seat and aimed at where a driver'"'"'s face is positioned while driving, coupled to an image processor and a speed determining circuit, the method comprising; b. receiving images from the camera and processing the images in the image processor to identify a pupil object as a boundary between a set of pixels that are relatively dark compared to surrounding pixels where the boundary is a complete ellipse having an ellipticity less than a maximum and a length both greater than a minimum and less than a maximum; c. computing and saving a set of ellipticity values over time for the pupil object, and, for each ellipticity value, obtaining a speed value from the speed determining circuit and associating the values; d. selecting ellipticity values that are associated with a speed value above a threshold, classifying selected ellipticity values that are within a range close together in value and constitute a majority of the values as eyes-on-the-road ellipticity values, and classifying selected ellipticity values that are outside the range as eyes-not-on-the-road values.
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16. A system for use in a vehicle to determine the identity of a driver, comprising:
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(a) a camera adapted for installation in a vehicle aimed at a typical location of a driver; (b) coupled to the camera, an image processor circuit that identifies human faces and compares each identified face to data records of previously identified faces to find a match or not; (c) coupled to the image processor circuit, a radio communications circuit with an antenna adapted for communications to a wide area radio network; and (d) means for the components to report to a server across the wide area radio network data regarding identity of the driver.
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17. A method for determining identity of a driver in a driver'"'"'s seat in a vehicle, comprising:
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a. having a camera mounted in front of the driver'"'"'s seat and aimed at where a driver'"'"'s face is positioned while driving, coupled to an image processor circuit, the method comprising; b. receiving images from the camera and processing the images in the image processor to identify a pupil object as a boundary between a set of pixels that are relatively dark compared to surrounding pixels where the boundary is a complete ellipse having an ellipticity less than a maximum and a length both greater than a minimum and less than a maximum; c. computing and saving a set of ellipticity values over time for the pupil object, and, for each ellipticity value, obtaining a speed value from the speed determining circuit and associating the values; d. selecting ellipticity values that are associated with a speed value above a threshold, classifying selected ellipticity values that are within a range close together in value and constitute a majority of the values as eyes-on-the-road ellipticity values, and classifying selected ellipticity values that are outside the range as eyes-not-on-the-road values.
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18. Inventions 16 or 17 plus:
- identity determines whether their phone enters restricted mode and reporting to central system.
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19. Inventions 16 or 17 plus:
- infra-red light shines from the teleproctor to enhance image analysis capability.
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20. Head turning detection with camera, reporting of no head turn before lane change.
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21. Vehicle installed teleproctors (reporting type) include authentication circuits.
Specification