Patent Application
20150092994
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology of determining the movement of a human being or a robot.
2. Description of the Related Art
Appropriate movements are required for operating (maneuvering) devices. For example, in the case of a vehicle, when an inappropriate movement is taken when driving (operating/maneuvering) the vehicle, an accident may happen. Therefore, a driver's license is issued in advance to a person capable of driving appropriately, and a person without a driver's license is prohibited from driving. A driver's license proves that the person is eligible to drive a vehicle.
However, at the moment when the person actually drives a vehicle, it is difficult to determine whether the person is eligible. For example, even if the person has a driver's license, the person may have drunk alcohol, or the person may be lacking sleep (in a sleepy state).
As for the case of alcohol, there is already known a system for preventing driving under the influence of alcohol, in which an alcohol detection device is provided in the vehicle.
However, when a person who has not drunk alcohol starts the engine of vehicle, and then switches places with a person who has drunk alcohol, this system cannot prevent the ineligible person from driving.
Meanwhile, for the purpose of preventing an ineligible person from performing the maneuvering, there is proposed an ineligible maneuvering prevention system, such that when the operator for performing the maneuvering is switched to another person after the driving source of the maneuvering target has been started, but the operator after the switching is not eligible for the maneuvering, the ineligible operator is prevented from performing the maneuvering (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
As described above, the conventional system detects alcohol and determines whether the person is eligible (has not drunk alcohol) or ineligible (has drunk alcohol), and determines whether an eligible person has switched with an ineligible person.
This system determines whether the person is eligible before actually driving a vehicle, but does not determine whether this person is eligible at the moment when the person actually drives the vehicle.
Therefore, the conventional system has been insufficient in terms of preventing inappropriate operations when driving a vehicle and preventing an accident before it happens.
In the above example, the driving of a vehicle is described; however, the same problem arises in operating various kinds of devices other than a vehicle. Furthermore, the target is not limited to the human being; the same applies to a robot that imitates movements of a human being.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-310454
The present invention provides an eligible operator determination device and an eligible operator determination method, in which one or more of the above-described disadvantages are eliminated.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an eligible operator determination device including a three-dimensional light measurement unit configured to measure three-dimensional coordinates of respective parts in a visual field including a posture of a monitor target operating a device; a motion recognition unit configured to recognize a predetermined ineligible motion from a measurement result obtained by the three-dimensional light measurement unit; and an ineligibility coping unit configured to execute a predetermined process according to the predetermined ineligible motion, when the predetermined ineligible motion is recognized by the motion recognition unit.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an eligible operator determination method including measuring three-dimensional coordinates of respective parts in a visual field including a posture of a monitor target operating a device; recognizing a predetermined ineligible motion from a measurement result obtained at the measuring; and executing a predetermined process according to the predetermined ineligible motion, when the predetermined ineligible motion is recognized at the recognizing.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program that causes a computer, which constitutes an eligible operator determination device, to execute a process including measuring three-dimensional coordinates of respective parts in a visual field including a posture of a monitor target operating a device; recognizing a predetermined ineligible motion from a measurement result obtained at the measuring; and executing a predetermined process according to the predetermined ineligible motion, when the predetermined ineligible motion is recognized at the recognizing.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
A description is given, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of embodiments of the present invention.
In
The three-dimensional light measurement unit 11 includes a visual field directed to a monitor target, and has a function of measuring three-dimensional coordinates of the respective parts within the visual field. As the three-dimensional light measurement unit 11, as described below, a method of calculating the three-dimensional coordinates of the respective points in an image within the visual field from a speckle pattern according to coherent light; a method of calculating the three-dimensional coordinates of the respective points in an image within the visual field according to the parallax of two images that have been taken; or a method of calculating three-dimensional coordinates of the respective points within the visual field according to the time difference between a scan light and a reflected light of the scan light, may be used.
The motion recognition unit 12 has a function of recognizing an ineligible motion from the measurement results of the three-dimensional light measurement unit 11. An ineligible motion is a predetermined motion of a monitor target (driver) that is suspected to be ineligible for operating (driving).
The vehicle information input unit 13 has a function of acquiring vehicle information from the vehicle main body (vehicle body), when vehicle information is used for the motion recognition by the motion recognition unit 12. The vehicle information includes vehicle speed information, acceleration information, steering wheel operation information, brake operation information, inter-vehicular distance information, and surrounding vehicle information.
The ineligibility coping unit 14 has a function of executing a predetermined process according to an ineligible motion, when the motion recognition unit 12 recognizes an ineligible motion.
In
The object recognition unit 121 has a function of recognizing objects such as the head, the hand, and the foot of a driver, and according to need, a steering wheel and a pedal, in an image including three-dimensional coordinate information in the visual field output from the three-dimensional light measurement unit 11.
The head object ineligible motion recognition unit 122 has a function of recognizing an ineligible motion of the head object recognized by the object recognition unit 121, and sending a notification indicating the recognition result to the ineligibility coping unit 14.
The hand object ineligible motion recognition unit 123 has a function of recognizing an ineligible motion of the hand object, and according to need, the steering wheel object, recognized by the object recognition unit 121, and sending a notification indicating the recognition result to the ineligibility coping unit 14.
The foot object ineligible motion recognition unit 124 has a function of recognizing an ineligible motion of the foot object, and according to need, the pedal object (brake pedal object, accelerator pedal object), recognized by the object recognition unit 121, and sending a notification indicating the recognition result to the ineligibility coping unit 14.
In
The head is bent down for more than a predetermined amount of time (sleeping).
This can be recognized when the axial line (line extending from neck toward vertex of head) of the head object is tilted for a predetermined amount of time.
The mirror is not properly confirmed.
This can recognized when the motion of the head object does not match the surrounding vehicle information and the steering wheel operation information (lane change information) of the vehicle information.
The hand is not holding the steering wheel.
This can be recognized when the hand object is not in contact with the steering wheel object.
The hand is not firmly rotating the steering wheel.
This can be recognized when the motion of the hand object is blurring excessively.
Furthermore, can be recognized when the motion of the hand does object not match the motion of the steering wheel (detect motion of steering wheel from vehicle information, or from the motion of the steering wheel).
Legs are crossed.
This can be recognized when foot object is at a position far from the floor, the brake pedal object, or the accelerator pedal object, or the foot is on the seat.
Brake is not properly stepped on.
This can be recognized when foot object repeatedly moves between the brake pedal object and the accelerator pedal object within a short period of time (hesitation occurs).
Furthermore, can be recognized when the motion of foot object stepping into the brake pedal object does not match brake information and/or vehicle speed information of the vehicle information.
The timing of stepping on the brake is not appropriate.
This can be recognized when motion of foot object stepping into the brake pedal does not match the inter-vehicular distance information (interval between present vehicle and front vehicle) of the vehicle information.
Referring back to
When an ineligible motion is recognized as a result of the motion recognition (YES in step S2), the ineligibility coping unit 14 executes a predetermined process according to the ineligible motion (step S3). Specifically, the following processes are performed.
When the vehicle is stopped, restrict the vehicle from starting to move.
When the vehicle is moving, cause the vehicle to gradually decelerate, stop, and subsequently restrict the vehicle from starting to move.
Send an alarm to the driver.
Send mails and messages to related people.
Communicate a message to the traffic lights.
Subsequently, according to need, the process is repeated from the motion recognition process (step S1).
As described above, according to the present embodiment, at the moment when the operator actually operates the device, it is determined whether the operator is eligible, and a dangerous state is prevented before happening.
The eligible operator determination device and the eligible operator determination method are not limited to the specific embodiments described herein, and variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. That is to say, the eligible operator determination device and the eligible operator determination method are not limited to the details of the specific examples and the attached drawings.
The present application is based on and claims the benefit of priority of Japanese Priority Patent Application No. 2013-200718, filed on Sep. 27, 2013, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-200718 | Sep 2013 | JP | national |
