Optics based detection of hands on-off and hand gesture based function selection for human driver

1. A product comprising:

an autonomous steering system comprising a steering interface and constructed and arranged to concurrently accept and interpret human driver steering commands input by a human driver via at least one steering interface and autonomous steering commands input by an autonomous steering system, wherein the autonomous steering system is capable of shifting between at least a first steering mode and a second steering mode, the first steering mode being a steering mode in which the steering occurs exclusively on the basis of autonomous steering commands produced by the autonomous steering system and the second steering mode being a steering mode in which steering occurs exclusively on the basis of human driver steering commands produced by a human driver via the manipulation of the at least one steering interface, wherein the product further comprises at least one camera or optical sensor configured to track at least one of the position or pose of a human appendage and wherein the autonomous steering system is configured to shift between steering modes based at least upon the tracked position or pose of the at least one human appendage, wherein the configuration of the at least one optical sensor or camera for tracking the position or pose of the at least one human appendage comprises at least one camera positioned to capture images of at least of the human driver's hands on or near a steering wheel, wherein the configuration of the autonomous steering to shift between steering modes based at least upon the tracked position or pose of the at least one human appendage comprises the use of an image analysis system to determine that every digit of the at least one hand of the human driver has flicked from a curled or clenched pose to a fully extended position and wherein the autonomous steering system is configured to change steering modes based at least upon this determination.

2. The product of claim 1 wherein the autonomous steering system is further capable of shifting to a third steering mode wherein the at least one steering interface is manipulated by both the human driver and the autonomous steering system.

3. The product of claim 2 wherein the at least one camera or optical sensor comprises a stereo camera arrangement.

4. The product of claim 2 wherein the product wherein the least one camera or optical sensor is configured to track the movement speed of the at least one human appendage.

5. The product of claim 2 wherein the least one camera or optical sensor is configured to track the proximity of the at least one human appendage to the at least one steering interface.

6. The product of claim 2 wherein the product further comprises at least one torque sensor for sensing torque input to the steering interface by the human driver.

7. The product of claim 6 wherein the torque input is torque sensed on a steering on column.

8. The product of claim 2 wherein the product further comprises at least one pressure sensor coupled to the steering interface for sensing pressure applied to the steering interface by the human driver.

9. The product of claim 2 wherein the product further comprises at least one capacitive touch sensor coupled to the steering interface for sensing a change in capacitance that applies at the capacitive touch sensor when the human driver touches the steering interface.

10. A method comprising:

using at least one camera or optical sensor to track at least one of the position or pose of at least one appendage of a human driver;

producing correlation data by correlating the at least one of the position or pose of the at least one appendage of the human driver to data collected from at least one steering interface or from at least one sensor configured to sense interaction with the at least one steering interface by the human driver; and,

changing a steering mode of an autonomous steering system based at least upon the correlation data, wherein using at least one optical sensor or camera for tracking the position or pose of the at least one human appendage comprises at least one camera positioned to capture images of at least of the human driver's hands on or near a steering wheel, using an image analysis system to determine that every digit of the at least one hand of the human driver has flicked from a curled or clenched pose to a fully extended position and wherein the autonomous steering system is configured to change steering modes based at least upon this determination.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the at least one camera or optical sensor comprises a stereo camera arrangement.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the data collected from at least one steering interface or from at least one sensor configured to sense interaction with the at least one steering interface by the human driver comprises data from at least one capacitive touch sensor embedded in the at least one steering interface.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the data collected from at least one steering interface or from at least one sensor configured to sense interaction with the at least one steering interface by the human driver comprises at least one torque sensor for sensing torque input to the steering interface by the human driver.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the torque input is torque sensed on a steering on column.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein the data collected from at least one steering interface or from at least one sensor configured to sense interaction with the at least one steering interface by the human driver comprises at least one pressure sensor coupled to the steering interface for sensing pressure applied to the steering interface by the human driver.

16. A product comprising at least one steering interface of an autonomous steering system for a vehicle;

at least one optical sensor or camera for tracking at least one of the pose or position of at least one human driver appendage; and,

at least one sensor other than an optical sensor embedded in the steering interface.

17. The product of claim 16 wherein the at least one sensor other than an optical sensor is a capacitive touch sensor.

18. The product of claim 16 wherein the at least one sensor other than an optical sensor is a pressure sensor.

19. A product comprising:

an autonomous steering system comprising a steering interface and constructed and arranged to concurrently accept and interpret human driver steering commands input by a human driver via at least one steering interface and autonomous steering commands input by an autonomous steering system, wherein the autonomous steering system is capable of shifting between at least a first steering mode and a second steering mode, the first steering mode being a steering mode in which the steering occurs exclusively on the basis of autonomous steering commands produced by the autonomous steering system and the second steering mode being a steering mode in which steering occurs exclusively on the basis of human driver steering commands produced by a human driver via the manipulation of the at least one steering interface, wherein the product further comprises at least one camera or optical sensor configured to track at least one of the position or pose of a human appendage and wherein the autonomous steering system is configured to shift between steering modes based at least upon the tracked position or pose of the at least one human appendage, wherein the at least one camera or optical sensor is positioned to view a front face of the steering interface and wherein the autonomous drive system is capable of identifying a detection zone with the at least one camera or optical sensor and determine if a predetermined portion of the human appendage has placed in the detection zone and if so shift to the second mode, and wherein autonomous drive system is capable of determining if a predetermined portion of the human appendage has placed outside of the detection zone and if so shift to the first mode.

20. A product as set forth in claim 19 wherein the human appendage comprises a human hand.

21. A method as set forth in claim 19 wherein the human appendage comprises a human hand.

22. A method comprising:

providing an autonomous steering system comprising a steering interface and constructed and arranged to concurrently accept and interpret human driver steering commands input by a human driver via at least one steering interface and autonomous steering commands input by an autonomous steering system, wherein the autonomous steering system is capable of shifting between at least a first steering mode and a second steering mode, the first steering mode being a steering mode in which the steering occurs exclusively on the basis of autonomous steering commands produced by the autonomous steering system and the second steering mode being a steering mode in which steering occurs exclusively on the basis of human driver steering commands produced by a human driver via the manipulation of the at least one steering interface, wherein the product further comprises at least one camera or optical sensor configured to track at least one of the position or pose of a human appendage and wherein the autonomous steering system is configured to shift between steering modes based at least upon the tracked position or pose of the at least one human appendage, wherein the at least one camera or optical sensor is positioned to view a front face of the steering interface and wherein the autonomous drive system is capable of identifying a detection zone with the at least one camera or optical sensor and determining if a predetermined portion of the human appendage has placed in the detection zone and if so shifting to the second mode, and determining if a predetermined portion of the human appendage has placed outside of the detection zone and if so shifting to the first mode.