IP Library Granted Patent US 11,930,302
Granted Patent B2
US 11,930,302 · App. 17/171,352 · Granted Mar 12, 2024

Enhanced sensor operation

Inventors: Robert Parenti (Dearborn, MI); Adil Siddiqui (Farmington Hills, MI); Mahmoud Yousef Ghannam (Canton, MI); Yasodekshna Boddeti (East Lansing, MI)
Assignees: Ford Global Technologies, LLC; Board of Trustees of Michigan State University
H04N7/188B60H1/00742B60H1/00871B60R21/01538B60R21/01542G06F18/22G06N5/04G06N20/00G06T7/73G06V10/147G06V20/59G06V40/10G06V40/20H04N13/204H04N23/90G06T2207/20081G06T2207/30196G06T2207/30268
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,930,302
App. No.
17/171,352
Granted
Mar 12, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

A two-dimensional image of a vehicle occupant in a vehicle is collected. The collected two-dimensional image is input to a machine learning program trained to output one or more reference points of the vehicle occupant, each reference point being a landmark of the vehicle occupant. One or more reference points of the vehicle occupant in the two-dimensional image is output from the machine learning program. A location of the vehicle occupant in an interior of the vehicle is determined based on the one or more reference points. A vehicle component is actuated based on the determined location. For each of the one or more reference points, a similarity measure is determined between the reference point and a three-dimensional reference point, the similarity measure based on a distance between the reference point and the three-dimensional reference point.

Claims (57)

1. A system, comprising:

a three-dimensional image sensor;

a two-dimensional image sensor; and

a computer communicatively coupled to the three-dimensional image sensor and the two-dimensional image sensor, the computer including a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor to:

receive a two-dimensional image of an object from the two-dimensional image sensor;

output, from a machine learning program trained to identify one or more reference points in an input two-dimensional image, a reference point of the object in the two-dimensional image;

when a similarity measure based on a distance between the reference point and a three-dimensional reference point is below a threshold, collect three-dimensional image data of the object from the three-dimensional image sensor;

output a new three-dimensional reference point based on the collected three-dimensional image data; and

deactivate the three-dimensional image sensor upon outputting the new three-dimensional reference point.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the three-dimensional image sensor is one of a stereo image sensor or a time-of-flight image sensor.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to identify the three-dimensional reference point from a reference three-dimensional image captured by the three-dimensional image sensor before the two-dimensional image sensor captured the two-dimensional image.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the image includes an occupant, and the reference point in the two-dimensional image is associated to a joint of the occupant.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the reference point is an object keypoint, and the similarity measure is an object keypoint similarity measure.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the distance is a Euclidean distance between the reference point and the three-dimensional reference point.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to actuate a vehicle component based on the output reference point.

8. A system, comprising a computer including a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor to:

collect a two-dimensional image of a vehicle occupant in a vehicle;

input the collected two-dimensional image to a machine learning program trained to output one or more reference points of the vehicle occupant, each reference point being a landmark of the vehicle occupant;

output, from the machine learning program, one or more reference points of the vehicle occupant in the two-dimensional image;

determine a location of the vehicle occupant in an interior of the vehicle based on the one or more reference points;

actuate a vehicle component based on the determined location;

for each of the one or more reference points, determine a similarity measure between the reference point and a three-dimensional reference point, the similarity measure based on a distance between the reference point and the three-dimensional reference point;

actuate a three-dimensional image sensor to collect three-dimensional image data; and

deactivate the three-dimensional image sensor upon generating a new three-dimensional reference point based on the three-dimensional image data.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the three-dimensional image sensor is one of a stereo image sensor or a time-of-flight image sensor.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to identify a plurality of reference points in the two-dimensional image and to identify an action performed by the vehicle occupant based on the plurality of reference points.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to actuate one or more vehicle components based on the identified action.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to identify the three-dimensional reference point from a previously collected three-dimensional image.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the one or more reference points in the two-dimensional image is associated to a joint of the vehicle occupant.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein each reference point is an object keypoint, and the similarity measure is an object keypoint similarity measure.

15. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to actuate a safety device based on the location of the vehicle occupant in the vehicle.

16. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to rotate an air vent toward the vehicle occupant based on the location of the vehicle occupant in the vehicle.

17. A system, comprising:

a three-dimensional image sensor;

a two-dimensional image sensor; and

a computer communicatively coupled to the three-dimensional image sensor and the two-dimensional image sensor, the computer including a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor to:

receive a two-dimensional image of an object from the two-dimensional image sensor;

output, from a machine learning program trained to identify one or more reference points in an input two-dimensional image, a reference point of the object in the two-dimensional image;

when a similarity measure based on a distance between the reference point and a three-dimensional reference point is below a threshold, collect three-dimensional image data of the object from the three-dimensional image sensor;

output a new three-dimensional reference point based on the collected three-dimensional image data; and

reactivate the three-dimensional image sensor when the similarity measure is below the threshold.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the three-dimensional image sensor is one of a stereo image sensor or a time-of-flight image sensor.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the image includes an occupant, and the reference point in the two-dimensional image is associated to a joint of the occupant.

20. The system of claim 17 , wherein the reference point is an object keypoint, and the similarity measure is an object keypoint similarity measure.

21. The system of claim 17 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to actuate a vehicle component based on the output reference point.

22. A system, comprising a computer including a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor to:

collect a two-dimensional image of a vehicle occupant in a vehicle;

input the collected two-dimensional image to a machine learning program trained to output one or more reference points of the vehicle occupant, each reference point being a landmark of the vehicle occupant;

output, from the machine learning program, one or more reference points of the vehicle occupant in the two-dimensional image;

determine a location of the vehicle occupant in an interior of the vehicle based on the one or more reference points;

actuate a vehicle component based on the determined location;

for each of the one or more reference points, determine a similarity measure between the reference point and a three-dimensional reference point, the similarity measure based on a distance between the reference point and the three-dimensional reference point; and

reactivate a three-dimensional image sensor when a similarity measure between a new three-dimensional reference point and one of the one or more reference points of the vehicle occupant in the image is below a threshold.

23. The system of claim 22 , wherein the three-dimensional image sensor is one of a stereo image sensor or a time-of-flight image sensor.

24. The system of claim 22 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to identify a plurality of reference points in the two-dimensional image and to identify an action performed by the vehicle occupant based on the plurality of reference points.

25. The system of claim 24 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to actuate one or more vehicle components based on the identified action.

26. The system of claim 22 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to identify the three-dimensional reference point from a previously collected three-dimensional image.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 7, 2021
From: BODDETI, YASODEKSHNA
To: BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Reel/Frame 058320/0958 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 9, 2021
From: PARENTI, ROBERT; SIDDIQUI, ADIL; GHANNAM, MAHMOUD YOUSEF
To: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 055198/0136 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20220256123A1 · Aug 11, 2022