SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CLOSED-LOOP DRIVER ATTENTION MANAGEMENT

• US 20130131905A1
• Filed: 11/16/2012
• Published: 05/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: TSIMHONI, Omer, GREEN, Charles A., SALINGER, Jeremy A., RAPHAEL, Eric L.
• Granted Patent: US 9,235,987 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/23
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 28/066 actuating a signalling device B60K28/063 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/22 Psychological state; Stress level or workload
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0055 with safety arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/00 Traffic control systems for road vehicles arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00 ; automatic vehicle control B62D

Abstract

A method and system may manage the driver'"'"'s attention while driving. The driver may be driving using an autonomous driving system or limited-ability autonomous driving system. A method may detect, by a sensor, characteristics of a driver; determine, based on the detected characteristics of the driver, whether the driver exercises sufficient supervisory control of the vehicle; and provide a series of one or more prompts, wherein each prompt'"'"'s intrusiveness is related to the determination of whether the driver exercises sufficient supervisory control of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A method of driver attention management comprising:

detecting, by a sensor, characteristics of a driver;

determining, based on the detected characteristics of the driver, whether the driver exercises sufficient supervisory control of the vehicle; and

providing a series of one or more prompts, wherein each prompt'"'"'s intrusiveness is related to the determination of whether the driver exercises sufficient supervisory control of the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing a series of one or more prompts comprises:

providing a first prompt with a low level of intrusiveness;

determining whether the driver responds to the prompt, thereby indicating whether the driver exercises sufficient supervisory control of the vehicle; and

if the driver fails to adequately respond to the prompt, providing subsequent prompts with increasing levels of intrusiveness until the driver responds to the prompt.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the driver responds to the prompt is based on whether the driver responds to the prompt within a predetermined time period.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the driver responds to the prompt is based on whether the driver'"'"'s head or eye gaze turns toward the prompt in a predetermined time interval.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the driver responds to the prompt is based on whether the driver'"'"'s head or eye gaze moves through a certain pattern or signature in a predetermined time interval.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the series of one or more prompts includes at least one of:

a pattern of visual signals, a pattern of audio signals, a pattern of haptic cues, or messages to be read by the driver.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein sufficient supervisory control is based on at least one of:

the vehicle'"'"'s external environment, upcoming driving decisions, and a level of autonomy employed by an autonomous driving system.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting characteristics of a driver includes detecting behavioral and biological characteristics of the driver.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein behavioral characteristics includes at least one of:

head movement, eye movement, verbal actions, body movement, and interactions with the vehicle.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein biological characteristics includes at least one of:

heart rate, breathing rate, and temperature.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the series of prompts includes messages containing information on items of interest to the driver.

12. A driver attention management system comprising:

a sensor to detect characteristics of a driver;

a processor to determine, based on the detected characteristics of the driver, whether the driver exercises sufficient supervisory control of the vehicle;

a prompter to provide a series of one or more prompts, wherein each prompt'"'"'s intrusiveness is related to the determination of whether the driver exercises sufficient supervisory control of the vehicle.

13. The driver attention management system of claim 12, wherein:

the prompter is further to provide a first prompt with a low level of intrusiveness;

the processor is to determine whether the driver responds to the prompt, thereby indicating whether the driver exercises sufficient supervisory control of the vehicle; and

if the driver fails to adequately respond to the prompt, the prompter is to provide subsequent prompts with increasing levels of intrusiveness until the driver responds to the prompt.

14. The driver attention management system of claim 13, wherein the processor is to determine whether the driver responds to the prompt based whether the driver responds to the prompt within a predetermined time period.

15. The driver attention management system of claim 12, wherein the prompter is to provide at least one of:

a pattern of visual signals, a pattern of audio signals, or a pattern of haptic cues.

16. The driver attention management system of claim 12, wherein the processor is to determine sufficient supervisory control based on at least one of:

the vehicle'"'"'s external environment, upcoming driving decisions, and a level of autonomy employed by an autonomous driving system.

17. The driver attention management system of claim 12, wherein the sensor is to detect at least one of:

head movement, eye movement, verbal actions, body movement, and interactions with the vehicle.

18. A driver attention management apparatus, comprising:

an autonomous driving system to assist a driver in controlling a vehicle;

a prompting system to prompt the driver;

a sensing system to detect the driver'"'"'s responses to the prompting system;

a processor to determine whether the driver is exercising sufficient supervisory control of the vehicle, according to the level of autonomy employed by the autonomous driving system.

19. The driver attention management apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is to determine whether the driver is exercising sufficient supervisory control of the vehicle based on the detected responses to the prompting system.

20. The driver attention management apparatus of claim 18, wherein the prompting system is to prompt the driver with increasing intrusiveness if the driver fails to exercise sufficient supervisory control of the vehicle.