Physical driver condition determination for vehicle safety

1 . A computer-implemented method for determining a physical condition of a driver of a vehicle, the method comprising:

receiving at least one image taken by a vehicle camera, the image showing at least a part of the driver and a sensor to be operated by the driver to determine the physical condition; and

determining, based on the image, if the sensor is operated by the driver, including identifying the driver among multiple persons in the vehicle by:

classifying activities of the multiple persons;

assigning detected body parts to a respective one of the multiple persons; and

providing a unique identifier for the respective one of the multiple persons,

wherein the physical condition of the driver is determined based on an output of the sensor.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein determining if the sensor is operated by the driver includes:

localizing and tracking at least one hand of the driver; and

determining that the sensor is operated by a hand of the driver.

3 . The method of claim 2 wherein localizing and tracking the at least one hand of the driver includes, based on the at least one image:

tracking of bodies shown in the image;

tracking of hands shown in the image; and

assigning, based on the tracked bodies and hands, the at least one hand to the driver.

4 . The method of claim 2 wherein determining if the sensor is operated by a hand of the driver includes, based on the at least one image:

localizing the sensor; and

determining a proximity of the hand of the driver to the sensor.

5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising determining that the sensor is operated by a person other than the driver.

6 . The method of claim 5 further comprising:

generating a warning signal; and/or

triggering a control action to block or stop operation of the vehicle,

wherein the control action includes:

effecting a safe stop of the vehicle; and/or

prompting the driver to confirm current physical driving abilities.

7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, based on the at least one image, at least one of: eye states of the driver, body movements of the driver, hand operations of the driver, object detection in vicinity of the driver, or facial expressions of the driver.

8 . The method of claim 7 wherein:

the body movements of the driver include drinking movements and/or smoking movements; and

object detection in the vicinity of the driver includes detecting a vessel potentially containing liquid and/or detecting smoking products.

9 . The method of claim 7 further comprising analyzing driving behavior including at least one of: lane position, driving meandering, steering wheel dynamics, or acceleration/deceleration dynamics.

10 . The method of claim 1 wherein:

the method is performed before vehicle start; and

the method further includes blocking the vehicle from being operated until usage of the sensor by the driver has been confirmed and sensor output has confirmed that the physical condition of the driver meets given conditions to operate the vehicle.

11 . The method of claim 1 wherein:

the method is performed during operation of the vehicle; and

the method further includes, in response to determining that the sensor is operated by the driver and a sensor output indicating that the physical condition of the driver is likely ineligible for driving, outputting a warning signal.

12 . A system for controlling one or more vehicle safety measures, the system comprising:

memory hardware configured to store instructions; and

processor hardware configured to execute the instructions, wherein the instructions include:

receiving at least one image taken by a camera of a vehicle, the image showing at least a part of a driver of the vehicle and a sensor to be operated by the driver to determine a physical condition of the driver; and

determining, based on the image, if the sensor is operated by the driver, including identifying the driver among multiple persons in the vehicle by:

classifying activities of the multiple persons;

assigning detected body parts to a respective one of the multiple persons; and

providing a unique identifier for the respective one of the multiple persons,

wherein the physical condition of the driver is determined based at least on an output of the sensor.

13 . A vehicle comprising:

a camera for capturing one or more images; and

the system of claim 12 .

14 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions including:

receiving at least one image taken by a camera of a vehicle, the image showing at least a part of a driver of the vehicle and a sensor to be operated by the driver to determine a physical condition of the driver; and

determining, based on the image, if the sensor is operated by the driver, including identifying the driver among multiple persons in the vehicle by:

classifying activities of the multiple persons;

assigning detected body parts to a respective one of the multiple persons; and

providing a unique identifier for the respective one of the multiple persons,

wherein the physical condition of the driver is determined based at least on an output of the sensor.