DE102014003783B4 - Safety device for a motor vehicle and associated operating method - Google Patents

Abstract

Safety device (7) for a motor vehicle (3), having at least one sensor for monitoring at least one vital function of a driver (5), an evaluation unit (6) for evaluating sensor data and for detecting an impairment of the driver (5), wherein the safety device ( 7) is adapted to transfer the motor vehicle (3) in a recognized impairment of the driver (5) in the form of a diagnosed stroke in a safe state, characterized in that the safety device (7) is adapted to, in an existing stroke suspected the Ask driver (5) by issuing a voice message to smile and make an evaluation of the captured image data.

Description

The invention relates to a safety device for a motor vehicle, comprising at least one sensor for monitoring at least one vital function of a driver, an evaluation unit for evaluating sensor data and for detecting an impairment of the driver, wherein the safety device is adapted to the motor vehicle in a detected impairment in one to transfer safe state, with the features of the preamble of claim 1.

Again and again, serious traffic accidents occur when a driver suffers a sudden health condition that prevents him from placing the vehicle in a safe condition, such as braking and stopping. Such a sudden health disorder prevents the driver from reacting appropriately to a traffic situation, thereby increasing the risk of an accident, which can also injure other road users.

Various proposals have already been made to identify situations in which the driver is unable to control the vehicle. For example, it has been proposed to provide sensors in the steering wheel, whereby it can be detected whether the driver holds the steering wheel or not, for example because he has fallen asleep. Similarly, it has been proposed to take a picture of the driver's face by means of a camera and then to determine by image processing whether the driver has fallen asleep.

A generic safety device is from the DE 10 2012 008 090 A1 known. There, an emergency stop assistant is described, which makes it possible to detect a driver inoperability of a motor vehicle by means of a suitable driver monitoring system and automatically bring the vehicle to a standstill in a safe manner in the presence of a driving inaccessibility without endangering the surrounding traffic. Inability to drive may, for example, be a medically-induced loss of control of the vehicle driver via the vehicle, which causes an automatic transfer of the vehicle to a standstill. The emergency stop assistant is designed to issue a warning to other road users.

In the DE 10 2012 109 624 A1 a device for judging a driver's condition is proposed. The device includes sensors that are able to detect driver characteristics. Examples of such characteristics include head posture, line of sight, pupil dilation, blink pattern, or physiological or biometric behavior characteristic of the driver. The sensor may also be configured as a camera to capture an image of the driver's head. A detected condition of the driver may be communicated to other vehicles.

From the DE 10 2004 009 975 A1 For example, a medical monitoring system for a driver of a vehicle is known. The system includes electrodes, sensors, motion detectors, etc., for B. potentials, potential differences, frequencies or frequency changes of brain waves, the relaxation waves or their intensity, etc. In the case of a detected impairment of the driver, a signal can be triggered, switched on a hazard warning lights and / or emergency braking of the vehicle are triggered.

Similarly, also in the DE 101 26 224 A1 proposed to detect physiological state variables of the driver, which are used to characterize the state of the driver of a motor vehicle. Depending on the result can be acted on control units of the motor vehicle to maintain a safe state.

However, a health impairment can also be that a driver suddenly suffers a stroke.

The invention is therefore based on the object to provide a safety device for a motor vehicle, are prevented by based on a stroke accidents.

To solve this problem, a safety device according to the invention with the features of claim 1 is provided.

The invention is based on the recognition that in order to prevent traffic accidents caused by a stroke, it is necessary to diagnose them by means of a safety device. If a stroke has been diagnosed, the safety device can transfer the motor vehicle to a safe state, for example, to decelerate to a standstill, so that an accident and a risk to other road users are avoided.

In the case of the safety device according to the invention, it is preferred that the at least one sensor has a camera for detecting the driver's face and / or a heart rate monitor (pulse monitor), wherein the evaluation unit is designed for evaluating image data recorded by the camera and / or a stroke due to an evaluation of pulse data acquired by the heart rate monitor diagnose. In this way, vital signs, namely the heart rate and an image of the face are automatically detected. If a health impairment, in particular a stroke, has taken place, this can be recorded by an evaluation. For this, the image data of the driver's face created by the camera can be evaluated. A health impairment such as a stroke leads to paralysis of a part of the facial muscles, which can be detected by the image data analysis. A stroke also leads to a change in the pulse data acquired by the heart rate monitor, so that a diagnosis of a stroke is also possible by the evaluation of the pulse data.

It is also within the scope of the invention that the evaluation unit of the safety device is designed to diagnose a stroke by comparing the acquired image data and / or the pulse data with reference data. Reference data is collected as part of a permanent or fixed-time observation of the driver to produce a record that is consistent with a healthy state of health. These data of the healthy state serve as reference data, by comparing the reference data with the data collected at the time of an existing suspicion of stroke deviations can be detected, so that a stroke can be diagnosed.

In order to increase the reliability in diagnosing the stroke, it is provided that the safety device is designed to prompt the driver to smile in the event of an existing stroke suspicion by outputting a voice message and to carry out an evaluation of the image data recorded thereby. In the case of a stroke, in the vast majority of cases, characteristic side symptoms of paralysis appear on the face, which prevent the driver from completing the request to smile. By evaluating the image data acquired in the meantime, the evaluation unit can decide whether the driver is able to smile or not. If the driver does not smile or "asymmetrically", a stroke of the driver is diagnosed.

Alternatively or additionally, it may be provided in the safety device according to the invention that it is designed to prompt the driver in an existing stroke suspicion by outputting a voice message to repeat a set sentence and make an evaluation of a case recorded by a microphone voice recording. In a stroke, very often an area responsible for speech capacity in the brain is compromised, making it impossible for the driver to comply with the request. If this answer of the driver is missing, this is interpreted by the evaluation unit so that the driver has suffered a stroke.

If the driver has responded to the request to repeat the set sentence, this voice recording is compared with reference data, which may indicate the presence of a stroke.

To increase safety, it is preferred in the safety device according to the invention that it is designed to convert the motor vehicle in a verified stroke suspected by a secured Nothaltmanöver in the safe state. A confirmed suspicion of a stroke exists if the driver has failed to comply with the request to smile and / or if the driver has not or has not complied with the specified sentence in sufficient quality. In this case, an emergency stop maneuver is performed. For this purpose, the safety device takes over the further control of the motor vehicle and drives this automatically. In the simplest case, the vehicle is braked and brought to a suitable location, for example on a hard shoulder or a parking lot, brought to a standstill. In addition, it can be provided that an emergency call is made to a rescue coordination center, for example via an emergency call system permanently installed in the vehicle or via a mobile radio connection. Preferably, the current position of the motor vehicle is transmitted in order to accelerate the localization.

In addition, the invention relates to a method for operating a safety device for a motor vehicle, with the method steps according to claim 7.

In the subclaims further embodiments of the method according to the invention are described.

The invention will be explained below with reference to an embodiment with reference to the drawings. The drawings are schematic representations and show:

1 a flowchart with the essential steps of the method according to the invention; and

2 a safety device according to the invention installed in a motor vehicle.

1 is a flowchart of the method for the operation of a safety device. After the start 1 the procedure becomes an algorithm 2 started to monitor vital signs of the driver. Referring to 2 includes a motor vehicle 3 one as a camera 4 trained sensor, which is arranged in the area of the instrument cluster so that it is the face of the driver 5 can capture. In other embodiments, the camera can also be arranged in the rearview mirror or in the region of the sun visor. The camera 4 creates image captures in an evaluation unit 6 be evaluated, which is part of a safety device 7 is. In addition, the steering wheel points 8th Sensors that with a heart rate monitor shown schematically 9 connected by the pulse data of the driver 5 can be detected. The heart rate monitor may also be located in the seat. The evaluation unit 6 is permanently in operation and evaluates from the camera 4 created image data and from the heart rate monitor 9 recorded pulse data. In the evaluation unit 6 are stored reference data, which were previously detected during normal, trouble-free operation.

A stroke usually results in paralysis on the face caused by the evaluation of the camera 4 generated image data and can be detected by comparison with the reference data. Similarly, a stroke causes a characteristic change in the pulse data. However, a deviation of the current data from reference data may also have another cause. Therefore, a stroke suspicion must be verified.

In step 10 It is first checked whether an audio signal is currently being output, for example by the radio, an announcement of the navigation system or by playing an audio file. If an audio signal is output, the audio output in step 11 interrupted.

In step 12 is through the safety device 7 a voice message over a loudspeaker 13 issued in the vehicle, which prompts the driver to smile. Since a stroke leads to a paralysis of the face on one or two sides, failure to comply with this request can be taken as an indication that a stroke has occurred. A stroke can also be recognized by the fact that the request is followed, but the smile due to the hemiplegic paralysis is asymmetric or asymmetrical, which can be detected by a comparison with the first feature set.

In step 14 is through the camera 4 an image data set of the face of the driver 5 This is compared with the reference data recorded earlier. From the evaluation unit 6 can be decided by comparing the two records whether the driver is currently able to smile or not. The result of this comparison is in step 15 stored as the first feature set.

Subsequently, by the safety device 7 a voice message is issued, which prompts the driver to speak a set sentence. The voice message 16 is over the speaker 13 in the motor vehicle 3 output. Subsequently, in the step 17 an analysis of the recorded voice message and a comparison with reference data, it is checked whether the driver has complied with the request to repeat the set sentence. Through the evaluation unit 6 A qualitative assessment can also be made, that is, it can be recorded how exactly the driver has retraced the set sentence. A poor quality of the postulated sentence may be an indication that the driver is impaired by a stroke health. The result of the analysis of the voice recording becomes the second feature set in the step 18 saved.

In the next step 19 be the two in the steps 15 and 18 Characteristic sets generated are analyzed and evaluated, on this basis the evaluation unit meets 6 the decision as to whether a stroke is present or not. If a stroke has been diagnosed for sure, it will step in 20 another function algorithm started, namely an emergency stop method. In step 21 an emergency service is automatically alerted, with the current position of the motor vehicle 3 is transmitted. This completes the procedure (step 22 ).

Claims (12)

Safety device ( 7 ) for a motor vehicle ( 3 ), with at least one sensor for monitoring at least one vital function of a driver ( 5 ), an evaluation unit ( 6 ) for evaluating sensor data and for recognizing impairment of the driver ( 5 ), the safety device ( 7 ) is adapted to the motor vehicle ( 3 ) in the event of an identified impairment of the driver ( 5 ) in the form of a diagnosed stroke in a safe state, characterized in that the safety device ( 7 ) is adapted, in the case of an existing stroke suspicion, the driver ( 5 ) by issuing a voice message to smile and make an evaluation of the captured image data. Safety device according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one Sensor a camera ( 4 ) for detecting the face of the driver ( 5 ) and / or a heart rate monitor ( 9 ), wherein the evaluation unit ( 6 ) is adapted, by an evaluation of the camera ( 4 ) recorded image data and / or by an evaluation of the heart rate monitor ( 9 ) pulse data to diagnose a stroke. Safety device according to claim 2, characterized in that the evaluation unit ( 6 ) is configured to diagnose a stroke by comparing the acquired image data and / or the pulse data with reference data. Safety device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is designed, in the case of an existing stroke suspicion, the driver ( 5 ) by issuing a voice message, nachzusprochen a set sentence and make an evaluation of a case recorded by a microphone voice recording. Safety device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is designed to verify the existing stroke suspicion by comparing the evaluated image data and / or the evaluated voice recording with reference data. Safety device according to claim 5, characterized in that it is designed to protect the motor vehicle ( 3 ) in a verified stroke suspicion by a secured emergency maneuver in the safe state to convict. Method for operating a safety device for a motor vehicle, comprising the following steps: monitoring at least one vital function of a driver by means of at least one sensor; - Evaluating sensor data by an evaluation unit for detecting an impairment of the driver in the form of a diagnosed stroke; - Transfer of the motor vehicle in a safe state in a detected impairment of the driver; characterized in that the safety device prompts the driver to smile in an existing stroke suspected by issuing a voice message and carries out an evaluation of the captured image data. A method according to claim 7, characterized in that the at least one sensor comprises a camera for detecting the driver's face and / or a heart rate monitor and that the evaluation unit evaluates image data recorded by the camera and / or pulse data acquired by the heart rate monitor in order to cause a stroke diagnose. A method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the evaluation unit diagnoses a stroke by comparing the acquired image data and / or pulse data with reference data. Method according to one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the safety device prompts the driver in an existing stroke suspicion by issuing a voice message to repeat a set sentence and performs an evaluation of a recorded thereby using a microphone voice recording. Method according to one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that the safety device verifies the existing stroke suspicion by comparing the evaluated image data and / or the evaluated voice recording with reference data. A method according to claim 11, characterized in that the safety device transfers the motor vehicle in a verified stroke suspicion by a secured Nothaltmanöver in the safe state.

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