VEHICLE SEAT BELT MONITORING

• US 20200298794A1
• Filed: 03/18/2019
• Published: 09/24/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2019
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pony.ai, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Pony.ai, Inc.
• Inventors: Dingli, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 10,850,702 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2022/4816 for sensing locking of buckle
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 22/48 Control systems, alarms, or interlock systems, for the correct application of the belt or harness
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3004 to perform operations on memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/59 inside of a vehicle, e.g. relating to seat occupancy, driver state or inner lighting conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/69 Control of means for changing angle of the field of view, e.g. optical zoom objectives or electronic zooming
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source

Abstract

Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media may be configured to facilitate monitoring usage of a vehicle seat belt. An image capture device may have a field of view directed at a seat belt system of a vehicle. The image capture device may be configured to capture an image of the seat belt system. The image may be defined by image information. The image information may be obtained. Whether a seat belt of the seat belt system is or is not being used by a passenger may be determined based on an analysis of the image. An alert may be generated responsive to a determination that the seat belt is not being used by the passenger.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an image capture device having a field of view directed at a seat belt system of a vehicle, the image capture device configured to capture an image of the seat belt system, the image defined by image information, wherein the image includes depiction of one or more parts of the seat belt system and excludes or obscures facial features of a passenger capable of being restrained by the seat belt system such that the passenger cannot be uniquely identified from the image;

one or more processors; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising;

obtaining the image information;

determining whether a seat belt of the seat belt system is or being used by the passenger based on an analysis of the image; and

generating an alert responsive to a determination that the seat belt is not being used by the passenger.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the field of view is narrowed such that a majority of the image includes depiction of one or more parts of the seat belt system, and wherein the narrowed field of view excludes the facial features of the passenger such that the passenger cannot be uniquely identified from the image.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein a direction of the field of view is automatically changed to keep a seat belt buckle of the seat belt system within the field of view.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the seat belt system further includes a seat belt buckle, a seat belt tongue, and a lap-belt, and wherein the analysis of the image determines whether the seat belt tongue is inserted into the seat belt buckle and whether the lap-belt extends over a lap of the passenger.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the image capture device includes an infrared camera and the seat belt system includes one or more infrared reflective materials.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein a first infrared reflective material is positioned on a seat belt buckle of the seat belt system and a second infrared reflective material is positioned on a seat belt tongue of the seat belt system, and the determination that the seat belt is not being used by the passenger is performed based on a relative position of the first infrared reflective material to the second infrared reflective material.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein a first infrared reflective material is positioned on a seat belt buckle of the seat belt system and a second infrared reflective material is positioned on at least one of a lap-belt of the seat belt system or a shoulder-belt of the seat belt system, and the determination that the seat belt is not being used by the passenger is performed based on a pattern formed by the first infrared reflective material and the second infrared reflective material.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the vehicle includes an infrared light source.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein execution of the instructions by the one or more processors further causes the system to perform:

limiting a resolution of the image capture device; and

causing the image capture device to capture the image at the limited resolution such that the facial features of the passenger are obscured and the passenger cannot be uniquely identified from the image.

9. (canceled)

10. A method implemented by a computing system including one or more processors and storage media storing machine-readable instructions, wherein the method is performed using the one or more processors, the method comprising:

obtaining image information, the image information defining an image of a seat belt system of a vehicle, the image captured by an image capture device, the image capture device having a field of view directed at the seat belt system of the vehicle, wherein the image excludes or obscures facial features of a passenger capable of being restrained by the seat belt system such that the passenger cannot be uniquely identified from the image;

determining whether a seat belt of the seat belt system is being used by the passenger based on an analysis of the image; and

generating an alert responsive to a determination that the seat belt is not being used by the passenger.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the field of view is narrowed such that a majority of the image includes depiction of one or more parts of the seat belt system, and wherein the narrowed field of view excludes the facial features of the passenger such that the passenger cannot be uniquely identified from the image.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein a direction of the field of view is automatically changed to keep a seat belt buckle of the seat belt system within the field of view.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the seat belt system further includes a seat belt buckle, a seat belt tongue, and a lap-belt, and wherein the analysis of the image determines whether the seat belt tongue is inserted into the seat belt buckle and whether the lap-belt extends over a lap of the passenger.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the image capture device includes an infrared camera and the seat belt system includes one or more infrared reflective materials.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein a first infrared reflective material is positioned on a seat belt buckle of the seat belt system and a second infrared reflective material is positioned on a seat belt tongue of the seat belt system, and the determination that the seat belt is not being used by the passenger is performed based on a relative position of the first infrared reflective material to the second infrared reflective material.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein a first infrared reflective material is positioned on a seat belt buckle of the seat belt system and a second infrared reflective material is positioned on at least one of a lap-belt or a shoulder-belt of the seat belt system, and the determination that the seat belt is not being used by the passenger is performed based on a pattern formed by the first infrared reflective material and the second infrared reflective material.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the vehicle includes an infrared light source.

22. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

limiting a resolution of the image capture device; and

causing the image capture device to capture the image at the limited resolution such that the facial features of the passenger are obscured and the passenger cannot be uniquely identified from the image.

23. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

automatically changing a direction of the narrowed field of view in response to movement of one or more components of the seat belt system to ensure that the image continues to exclude the facial features of the passenger such that the passenger cannot be uniquely identified.

18. (canceled)

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform:

obtaining image information, the image information defining an image of a seat belt system of a vehicle, the image captured by an image capture device, the image capture device having a field of view directed at the seat belt system of the vehicle, wherein the image excludes or obscures facial features of a passenger capable of being restrained by the seat belt system such that the passenger cannot be uniquely identified from the image;

determining whether a seat belt of the seat belt system is or being used by the passenger based on an analysis of the image; and

generating an alert responsive to a determination that the seat belt is not being used by the passenger.

20. (canceled)