Voice control system with dialect recognition

• US 9,697,824 B1
• Filed: 07/22/2016
• Issued: 07/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thunder Power New Energy Vehicle Development Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Thunder Power New Energy Vehicle Development Company Limited
• Inventors: Chen, Yong-Syuan
• Primary Examiner(s): Yen, Eric
• Application Number:
  US15/217,092
• Publication Number:
  US 20170193986A1
• Time in Patent Office: 347 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0373 Voice control in general G10L
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3608 using speech input, e.g. using speech recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/005 Language recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/065 Adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/07 to the speaker
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/22 Interactive procedures; Man-machine interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command

Abstract

Voice command recognition with dialect translation is disclosed. User voice input can be translated to a standard voice pattern using a dialect translation unit. A control command can then be generated based on the translated user voice input. In certain embodiments, the voice command recognition system with dialect translation can be implemented in a driving apparatus. In those embodiments, various control commands to control the driving apparatus can be generated by a user with a dialect input. The generated voice control commands for the driving apparatus can include starting the driving apparatus, turning on/off A/C unit, controlling the A/C unit, turning on/off entertainment system, controlling the entertainment system, turning on/off certain safety features, turning on/off certain driving features, adjusting seat, adjusting steering wheel, taking a picture of surroundings and/or any other control commands that can control various functions of the driving apparatus.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating a user to control a driving apparatus through a voice command, the method comprising:

receiving, by a processor, a user voice input;

determining, by the processor, a language dialect the user voice input is associated with a language dialect;

translating, by the processor, the voice input to a standard voice pattern based on the language dialect associated with the user voice input;

based on the standard voice pattern, determining, by the processor, a control command corresponding to the user voice input for maneuvering the driving apparatus; and

effectuating, by the processor, execution of the control command to control the driving apparatus.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the user voice input includes information indicating a translational and/or a rotational maneuver of the driving apparatus.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the user voice input includes information indicating a control of a component within the driving apparatus.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising storing preset characteristics of the language dialect, and wherein determining the language dialect the user voice input is associated with comprises determining dialect characteristics of the voice input and comparing the dialect characteristics of the voice input with the preset characteristics of the language dialect.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the user voice input is associated with the language dialect includes:

retrieving one or more reference patterns representing predetermined voice inputs in the language dialect;

obtaining characteristic vectors for the reference patterns;

obtaining a characteristic vector for the user voice input;

for each characteristic vector for the reference patterns, determining a similarity between the characteristic vector for the reference pattern and the characteristic vector for the user voice input; and

determining the reference pattern having a highest similarity to the user voice input as the matching reference pattern.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising automatically determining a user identification based on the user voice input received.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising converting the user voice input to a sequence of digital values representing a vector indicating characteristics of the voice input and wherein the determining the user voice input is associated with a language dialect is based on the vector.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising presenting a user interface enabling the user to select a locale to be associated with the user.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising automatically loading a dialect translation unit into memory for processing the user voice input based on the determined language dialect.

10. A system for facilitating a user to control a driving apparatus through a voice command, the system comprising one or more processors configured by machine-readable instructions to perform:

receiving a user voice input;

determining the user voice input is associated with a language dialect;

translating the voice input to a standard voice pattern based on the language dialect associated with the user voice input;

based on the standard voice pattern, determining a control command corresponding to the user voice input for maneuvering the driving apparatus; and

effectuating execution of the control command to control the driving apparatus.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the user voice input includes information indicating a translational and/or a rotational maneuver of the driving apparatus.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the user voice input includes information indicating a control of a component within the driving apparatus.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the processors are further configured to perform storing preset characteristics of the language dialect, and wherein determining the language dialect the user voice input is associated with comprises extracting dialect characteristics from the voice input and comparing the extracted dialect characteristics with the preset characteristics of the language dialect.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein determining the user voice input is associated with the dialect includes:

retrieving one or more reference patterns representing predetermined voice inputs in the language dialect;

obtaining characteristic vectors for the reference patterns;

obtaining a characteristic vector for the user voice input;

for each characteristic vector for the reference patterns, determining a similarity between the characteristic vector for the reference pattern and the characteristic vector for the user voice input; and

determining the reference pattern having a highest similarity to the user voice input as the matching reference pattern.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the processors are further configured to perform automatically determining a user identification based on the user voice input received.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the processors are further configured to convert the user voice input to a sequence of digital values representing a vector indicating characteristics of the voice input and wherein the determining the user voice input is associated with a language dialect is based on the vector.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the processors are further configured to present a user interface enabling the user to select a language to be associated with the user.

18. The system of claim 10, the processors are further configured to automatically load a dialect translation unit into memory for processing the user voice input based on the determined language dialect.