Drowsiness detection system and method
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring an eye of a person and detecting drowsiness of the person, the system comprising:
- a video imaging camera oriented to generate images of an eye of a person; and
a processor for processing the images generated by the video imaging camera, said processor monitoring the images of the eye and determining whether the eye is in one of an open position and a closed position, wherein the processor determines that the eye is in the closed position when at least one of a sclera and an iris of an eye is not visible in the image, said processor determining a time proportion of eye closure as a number of video image frames that the eye is determined to be in the closed position as compared to the total number of video frames within a time interval and further determining a drowsiness condition when the time proportion of eye closure exceeds a threshold value.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A low-cost system for detecting a drowsy condition of a driver of a vehicle includes a video imaging camera located in the vehicle and oriented to generate images of a driver of the vehicle. The system also includes a processor for processing the images acquired by the video imaging camera. The processor monitors an eye and determines whether the eye is in an open position or a closed state. The processor further determines a time proportion of eye closure as the proportion of a time interval that the eye is in the closed position, and determines a driver drowsiness condition when the time proportion of eye closure exceeds a threshold value.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring an eye of a person and detecting drowsiness of the person, the system comprising:
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a video imaging camera oriented to generate images of an eye of a person; and a processor for processing the images generated by the video imaging camera, said processor monitoring the images of the eye and determining whether the eye is in one of an open position and a closed position, wherein the processor determines that the eye is in the closed position when at least one of a sclera and an iris of an eye is not visible in the image, said processor determining a time proportion of eye closure as a number of video image frames that the eye is determined to be in the closed position as compared to the total number of video frames within a time interval and further determining a drowsiness condition when the time proportion of eye closure exceeds a threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A system for detecting driver drowsiness in a vehicle, said system comprising:
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a video imaging camera located in the vehicle and oriented to generate a sequence of video image frames showing images of an eye of a driver of the vehicle; and a processor for processing the images generated by the video imaging camera, said processor monitoring images of the eye and determining whether the eye is in one of an open position and a closed position, wherein the processor determines that the eye is in the closed position when at least one of a sclera and an iris of an eye is not visible in the image, said processor determining a time proportion of eye closure as the proportion of a number of video image frames that the eye is determined to be in the closed position as compared to the total number of video frames within a time interval, and further determining a driver drowsiness condition when the time proportion of eye closure exceeds a threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for monitoring an eye of a person and detecting a drowsiness condition of the person, said method comprising the steps of:
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generating a sequence of video image frames showing images of an eye of a person with a video imaging camera; processing the images of the eye; determining whether the eye is one of an open position and a closed position for each image, wherein the processor determines that the eye is in the closed position when at least one of a sclera and an iris of an eye is not visible in the image; determining a time proportion of eye closure as a number of video image frames that the eye is determined to be in the closed position as compared to the total number of video frames within a time interval; and determining a drowsiness condition of the person when the time proportion of eye closure exceeds a threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for detecting driver drowsiness in a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:
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capturing a sequence of video image frames with a video imaging camera, each frame showing an image of a driver of the vehicle; processing the images acquired to monitor an eye of the driver; determining whether the monitored eye is in one of an open position and a closed position, wherein the processor determines that the eye is in the closed position when at least one of a sclera and an iris of an eye is not visible in the image; determining a time proportion of eye closure as a number of video image frames that the eye is determined to be in the closed position as compared to the total number of video frames within a time interval; and determining a driver drowsiness condition when the time proportion of eye closure exceeds a threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification