Driver health and fatigue monitoring system and method

1. A vehicle, comprising:

a seat in which an occupant sits during use of the vehicle; and

a monitoring system for monitoring the occupant in said seat, said monitoring system comprising:

a plurality of sets of electric field antennas, each of said sets including at least one antenna;

a control unit connected to said sets of antennas, said control unit including selectors coupled to said antennas and controlling said selectors to obtain signals from one or more of said antennas serving as receiving antennas and one or more of said antennas serving as sending antennas, said control unit determining which combination of one or more of said antennas serving as the sending antennas and one or more of said antennas serving as the receiving antennas provides a strongest signal in at least one of an expected heartbeat range and an expected respiration range of the occupant and then monitoring this determined combination for at least one of changes and deviations from a normal range of at least one of heartbeats and respiration rate.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein said control unit periodically re-obtains signals from different combinations of one or more of said antennas serving as the sending antennas and one or more of said antennas serving as the receiving antennas to determine, each time, which combination of one or more of said antennas serving as the sending antennas and one or more of said antennas serving as the receiving antennas provides a strongest signal.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein said sets of electric field antennas are arranged in said seat, embedded in said seat or arranged as part of cover material of said seat.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein said seat is a driver's seat.

5. The vehicle of claim 4 , further comprising:

a steering wheel arranged in front of said seat; and

an additional antenna arranged on said steering wheel and connected to said control unit.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein each of said sets of electric field antennas comprises at least two antennas.

7. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising:

a ceiling or headliner arranged above said seat; and

an additional antenna arranged on said ceiling or headliner above said seat and connected to said control unit.

8. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising:

a side door arranged alongside said seat; and

an additional antenna arranged on said side door and connected to said control unit.

9. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising:

a floor arranged below said seat; and

an additional antenna arranged on said floor and connected to said control unit.

10. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising:

a seatbelt associated with said seat; and

an additional antenna arranged on or in said seatbelt and connected to said control unit.

11. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein said seat has a back portion and a bottom portion, at least one of said sets of antennas being arranged in said back portion and at least one of said sets of antennas being arranged in said bottom portion.

12. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein said seat is a passenger's seat, further comprising at least one sensor selected from a group consisting of a weight sensor, an optical sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a seat track sensor and a seatback sensor, said at least one sensor being associated with said seat and coupled to said control unit, said control unit processing data provided by said at least one sensor when monitoring the at least one of the heartbeat and respiration range of the occupant for at least one of changes and deviations from a normal range of at least one of heartbeats and respiration rate.

13. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein said seat is a driver's seat, further comprising a notification system that notifies the occupant of said seat of their inability to operate the vehicle and requires responsive action by the occupant when said control unit determines at least one of changes and deviations from the normal range of at least one of heartbeats and respiration rate.

14. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein said control unit is configured to analyze the responsive action by the occupant, if any, to the notification and control vehicle operation when the responsive action is indicative of the occupant being unable to operate the vehicle safely.

15. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein said control unit is configured to obtain normal heartbeat and respiration rates for the occupant from one or more combinations of sending and receiving antennas and compare at least one of a current heartbeat and respiration rate for the same occupant to at least one of the normal heartbeat and respiration rates to determine at least one of changes and deviations therefrom.

16. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein said seat is a driver's seat and said control unit is configured to monitor the determined combination of said antennas by analyzing oscillation of intervals between consecutive heartbeats to determine whether the occupant of said seat is becoming drowsy or falling asleep.

17. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein said seat is a driver's seat and said control unit is configured to monitor the determined combination of said antennas for at least one of changes and deviations from a normal range of at least one of heartbeats and respiration rate using pattern recognition techniques.

18. A method for monitoring an occupant of a vehicle, comprising:

arranging a plurality of antennas on a seat, each separated from one another;

selecting from a plurality of different possible combinations of the antennas, two or more of the antennas to form a sending and receiving arrangement of antennas;

generating a weak electric field via the selected antenna arrangement;

detecting information related to a current flow in the selected antenna arrangement during generation of the weak electric field; and

determining, using a processor, a health condition of the occupant based on the detected information.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising obtaining normal data about the health condition of the occupant based on the detected information at one instance, the step of determining, using the processor, the health condition of the occupant based on the detected information comprising comparing information detected at another, later instance to the normal data.

20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

notifying the occupant of a change in their health condition relating to their inability to safely operate the vehicle;

requiring the occupant to generate a response to the notification;

monitoring the occupant for the response to the notification; and then

controlling vehicular operation based on the monitoring of the occupant for the response to the notification.

21. A vehicle, comprising:

a seat in which a driver or operation of the vehicle sits during use of the vehicle; and

a monitoring system for monitoring the driver in said seat, said monitoring system comprising:

a plurality of sets of electric field antennas, each of said sets including at least one antenna;

a control unit connected to said sets of antennas, said control unit including selectors coupled to said antennas and controlling said selectors to obtain signals from one or more of said antennas serving as receiving antennas and one or more of said antennas serving as sending antennas, said control unit determining which combination of one or more of said antennas serving as the sending antennas and one or more of said antennas serving as the receiving antennas provides a strongest signal in at least one of an expected heartbeat range and an expected respiration range of the driver and then monitoring this determined combination for at least one of changes and deviations from a normal range of at least one of heartbeats and respiration rate; and

a notification system coupled to said monitoring system and that notifies the driver of their potential inability to operate the vehicle based on analysis of at least one of changes and deviations from a normal range of at least one of heartbeats and respiration rate and that is configured to require responsive action by the driver when said control unit determines at least one of changes and deviations from the normal range of at least one of heartbeats and respiration rate.

22. The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein said control unit is configured to analyze the responsive action by the driver, if any, to the notification provided by said notification system and control vehicle operation when the responsive action is indicative of the driver being unable to operate the vehicle safely.

23. The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein said control unit is configured to obtain at least one of normal heartbeat and respiration rates for the driver from one or more combinations of sending and receiving antennas, the at least one of normal heartbeat and respiration rates being stored in a memory component accessible by said control unit, and compare at least one of a current heartbeat and respiration rate for the same driver to the at least one normal heartbeat and respiration rates to determine at least one of changes and deviations therefrom.

24. The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein said control unit is configured to monitor the determined combination of said antennas by analyzing oscillation of intervals between consecutive heartbeats to determine whether the driver is becoming drowsy or falling asleep.

25. The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein said control unit is configured to monitor the determined combination of said antennas for at least one of changes and deviations from a normal range of at least one of heartbeats and respiration using pattern recognition techniques.