ES2368398A1 - Set of identification devices for drivers in fleets of vehicles and identification method carried out by such devices. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

Set of identification devices for drivers in fleets of vehicles and identification method carried out by said devices. The devices comprise at least one sensor for opening at least the door of the driver of the vehicle, at least one sensor for the presence of the driver, at least one camera for capturing images and an electronic circuit connected to the camera and the different sensors, provided with at least one image storage device. The method comprises the steps of detecting the opening of the door, detection of a person sitting in the driver's seat of the vehicle, taking an image by means of a photograph or a brief videographic sequence of the driver, identification of the date and time in which it was taken. Taken said photograph, and storage of the information in a means of storage of information or transmission of said information for remote storage. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

Set of identification devices drivers in vehicle fleets and identification method carried out by said devices.

The present invention aims at a set of devices by which it is possible to identify through an image to a driver of a vehicle, usually a Variable driver in a fleet of vehicles. With this system you make photographic recording or a short sequence of images of the driver's face at the moment it begins to circulate with the vehicle. The devices may come installed by the vehicle manufacturer or can also be installed with subsequent to its manufacture. Store the images by a processor in a card or memory device, which It is hidden in the vehicle, although it can also send those images through a communications system to a center data processing.

Essentially, the set of devices is It consists of an inner chamber, a processor, a device image storage, such as a memory card, and a set of sensors that determine the right time for the beginning of the recording, which is activated in the presence of the driver and start-up of the vehicle, and possibly to scheduled, fixed or variable time intervals. Understands preferably also a communications device by means of the which image files can be transmitted to the center of data processing.

The identification of the driver of a vehicle, which is usually used by different drivers, is one of the frequent problems that occur on many occasions in companies, public bodies, vehicle fleets, carriers, taxis, car dealers, etc.

A big problem in many vehicle fleets is that drivers are assigned to different vehicles, and frequently it is not determined and duly registered which is the driver who is driving a certain vehicle.

Despite the efforts, when it comes to carrying a control over this particular, there are few times that arise small conflicts when determining responsibilities in Regarding traffic complaints, blows, misuse of these vehicles, doubts in the work shifts made by the personnel, use of vehicles by unauthorized persons, etc.

The problem reaches a high degree of severity when traffic penalties are frequently received in a fleet, or there are vehicles that suffer damage, which in the absence of a responsible true it is the company that directly assumes the costs that such situations entail, resulting in a problem of decrease of the economic performance of the vehicle in the company by the misuse of said vehicle.

Therefore, the present invention is aimed at correcting the problem for companies, so that accredited which is the driver at the time of the sanction it can be passed on to that person without the possibility of discussion.

With the proposed invention, it is intended solve the problem posed by identifying the driver through images taken in the cabin of the vehicle, what That is fast, efficient, simple and economical. Also for guarantee the privacy of the vehicle user, it will not be realized any audio recording or long video sequences.

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State of the art

There are numerous control devices and Driver identification of a vehicle.

DE 4238275 A1 describes a system for making photographs of the passengers of a taxi, which are transmitted to a receiving center, and deleted at the end of the race.

DE 102 34 824 A1 describes an intake system images inside a vehicle and its visualization in a interior screen

JP2008189230 describes a camera that takes continuously the image of a driver of a vehicle to detect Your dream state.

DE 10 2007 023 140 describes a method of checking the identity of a driver by taking images compared to those in an image bank.

EP 1 789 906 describes a method of Identification of a driver similar to the previous one.

US 2006/0204059 A1 also describes a system similar to the previous two, in which by Such images are authorized or not the start of the vehicle.

There are also different devices of cameras arranged or oriented towards the outside of the vehicle, but that do not identify the driver of the same but register the traffic situation, for example when a collision occurs.

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Description of the invention

Essentially, the system consists of a small camera, connected to an electronic circuit equipped with a programming and a memory card, which will record the faces of different drivers who use the vehicle, depending on the information provided by a set of sensors. The system it can be part of the original equipment of the vehicle, or be installed later; in the latter case they may be used some of the sensors available to the vehicle or be used independent sensors from those of the vehicle, later installed.

The present invention comprises a set of devices installed in a vehicle's driving cabin, what includes:

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A camera of photographic shots or driver-oriented videographic; it is desirable that the camera is small, simple and low cost, and is located in a hidden place that allows focusing on the driver's seat and, mainly, the face of it; without limitation, said camera can be arranged on the roof of the vehicle, in the area from the dashboard, or in the rearview mirror; the camera will be normally self-adjusting depending on the brightness existing in The time of recording the images. Focus angle it will be preferably in the direction of the entrance door of the driver;

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An opening / closing sensor of door; the vehicle sensor can be used or comprise a second sensor;

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Possibly a sensor Start / stop the vehicle engine and / or a motion sensor of said vehicle;

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A presence sensor of driver; this driver presence sensor can be a weight sensor arranged in the vehicle seat;

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An electronic circuit connected to the camera and the different sensors; provided with minus one of the following devices:

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A memory circuit;

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An accommodation for a card memory, and a corresponding memory card;

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A hard drive storage information;

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A communications circuit; that it can be part or separate from the electronic circuit of team; This circuit, without limitation, may be:

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A communications circuit by mobile phone;

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A communications circuit WIFI;

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A communications circuit by radiofrequency;

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A communications circuit bluetooth

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The electronic circuit of the equipment, along with circuit and / or memory card, will be located in a hidden area of the vehicle and protected in a small safe (for For example, a metal box capable of opening by means of a key and / or code); the circuit or box in which it is located can comprise a display screen as well as push buttons of the various functions, such as setting the date and hour.

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Optionally a circuit timer; which determines the intervals at which they should be Taken the images.

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It also includes, externally, a center of data processing with a temporary storage database of the images taken from the driver, also containing the date and time at which these photographs have been taken, and the vehicle at that belong, and parameters of the state of the sensors in the moment of taking those photographs. The process center of External data is communicated with the unit installed in the vehicle by downloading data from the memory card corresponding, or through a communications circuit. Center Data processing can be any computer.

We have two different cases:

The equipment is installed by the manufacturer of the vehicle

Some of the sensors, in this case will be common sensors preexisting in the vehicle. Electronic equipment can be part of the vehicle control unit or exchange information with it, such as date / time, indication of whether is the buckled belt, state of doors, presence the driver, vehicle movement or movement of the vehicle. In this case, you can take advantage of the dashboard display to show or Exchange information with the system.

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The equipment is installed after manufacturing vehicle

In this case, unless specific conditions given by the manufacturer, the usual thing will be to place sensors independent of those of the vehicle. In this case it is recommended minimize the number of sensors and they will not share any circuit with the factory installation of the vehicle.

In this case, it is estimated that they should at least install two sensors:

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An opening sensor of the driver's door, although it could be complemented with sensors opening of other doors;

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A presence sensor of the driver in his seat.

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The operation of the system is as follows:

The system achieves driver identification by a brief recording of the face of the same, which will allow your identification later, if necessary.

In the case of installations carried out by the vehicle manufacturer, this recording is activated when proceeding to engine start and vehicle start-up, recording that It lasts no more than about 10 seconds.

Likewise, recording will be activated for not more than 10 seconds when the engine contact is turned off to identify the person who has shut down the engine and abandonment of the vehicle

In both cases, however, they will intervene different sensors, as we will see later.

Although it is not a preferred embodiment, it is possible that a timer device allows the taking of a image, snapshot or for a period not exceeding 10 seconds, after a certain time without changing conditions, for example one hour without stopping the engine or opening the doors, anticipating a change of driver without cabin exit.

The memory card stores the images taken with indication of the expected parameters (date and time, GPS position, buckled belt, etc.). Periodically the stored information is turned over to the center of data processing, for example by direct extraction of the memory card, or via wireless communication. At in case of a card, preferably, the information contained must to be visible through conventional software in any team. The system memory may also comprise a viewer of images or all the information contained therein, susceptible to Be installed on any computer.

The system time can be taken from the system itself. vehicle, be operated manually by authorized access, be taken from a wireless external location, or be modified automatically by the system using the software / hardware correspondent.

The minimum time of storage of memory card or files Images will be a minimum of 3 months. However, the time of storage will depend on the legal conditions corresponding, such as the prescription time of a sanction or regulations on the protection of one's own image, etc.

It is also possible that the memory device Automatically delete archived images some time ago, permanently maintaining storage capacity, without Reach saturation.

The system will also make a new recording in the event that, with the engine running, proceed to open the driver's door (or any of the doors). This function is has considered in the event that a first driver yields the driving position to a second driver without engine stop. In this particular case, the camera starts recording at the moment in which the driver's door is opened, or any of the doors, provided the engine is running and has not been shut down. One time that the driver's door, or any of the doors, be closed, and the vehicle motion sensor is activated, the recording continues for a period of 10 seconds and then stops. Thus has studied in the case of systems that are already installed of fabric. In the case of equipment installed after the vehicle manufacturing, this case will be controlled by both only sensors involved in the operation: the sensors of opening and closing the doors and the presence sensor of a driver in the same seat.

An example of operation is as follows:

one.-

to the open the driver's door, the system receives a first signal to determine whether or not the recording should be done, depending of the verification of the following sensor;

2.-

driver presence sensor in your seat: once the driver occupies his seat, the system wait for the next step (described in point 3) to begin the recording.

3.-

from again the door sensor intervenes. When this sensor reports to the system that has been closed (and coinciding with the presence of the driver in his seat, as we have indicated in the point 2), the system will start recording for a period of 10 seconds.

4.-

For that the system "understands" that the driver has finished the driving the vehicle and can make the final recording, it will be The following sequence and operation of the sensors are necessary: the driver's presence sensor is activated while sitting in his seat, if the driver proceeds to open the door (the door sensor would then be activated indicating that it is has opened), the system will start the final recording, recording that will end when the driver gets up from the seat (the sensor of the seat will inform the system that the driver is no longer occupying the seat and recording will end).

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Another different case would be one in which, having already made the initial recording of the driver, this one was replaced in driving by a new driver who entered through the driver's door (or through any other door of the vehicle). In this case, it would suffice that the sensor of any of the open doors are activated and also the presence sensor of the driver indicated that the first driver rose from his seat and then another driver sat in that seat, moment in which a new recording would proceed.

While the information is not as complete as in the case of factory installation, the equipment also complies its essential function of driver identification, in everything moment.

We remember that in this case the system installed after the manufacture of the vehicle, the equipment must have a display and a series of buttons, along with the card of memory or other information storage device, that allows you to enter the date and time data, as well as any data necessary for the operation of the equipment.

Another example is the following:

one.-

to the open the driver's door, the system receives a first signal to determine whether or not the recording should be done, depending of the verification of the following sensors,

2.-

to the sit the driver in the seat, the system receives a second Sign confirming its presence. It is the second data that the team to decide whether or not recording begins,

3.-

engine ignition: third data that receive the system, will depend on the confirmation of the following data from the fourth point to start recording or not,

4.-

vehicle motion sensor: at Confirm this information, the first four are completed requirements, so the system proceeds to activate the recording of the driver's face for a maximum period of 10 seconds, after which it will stop.

5.-

a once the motion sensor detects the vehicle stop and the engine shutdown sensor, engine shutdown report, will proceed to the final recording for another period of a maximum of 10 seconds; possibly the recording will also occur when, without if the engine has stopped, any opening of door.

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In this case, the circumstance of that the driver had stopped the vehicle and turned off the engine, but I would not have abandoned it, that is, stay inside sitting intending to start driving again. Therefore, it would be necessary for the system to recognize this circumstance and perform A new recording. Therefore, as long as the seat sensor busy is activated, and then turn on of the engine, followed by the movement of the vehicle, a New recording for a maximum of 10 seconds. Different will be the case of vehicles equipped with the system "start-stop" In that case, the system of recording will not make recordings constantly with the boot of the engine, as it will be distinguished from the aforementioned case, in which It is the vehicle itself that turns the engine on and off. To be a valid case of recording, it must be the driver himself who Turn the ignition on using the key or by pressing a button with the Busy seat and subsequent movement of the vehicle.

The start of the final recording when the vehicle has stopped, the engine is turned off and the door has been opened. It will be the opening of the door and the activation of its corresponding sensor, the signal that indicates the system the beginning of the final recording.

Another exceptional case could occur when a vehicle that has already made the initial recording of commissioning march stops and someone enters through one of the doors to replace the original driver without having turned off the engine vehicle. This change of driver could be recognized by the system as follows: a first sensor has detected the opening of any of the doors, another second sensor has detected that the driver has already left the seat. This same seat sensor, detects the presence of a driver, again. Then the motion sensor detects the displacement vehicle. It will be then, when this sequence has been fulfilled of activation of these sensors, when the system determines that a new recording of a maximum of 10 seconds proceeds that It will allow the identification of a possible new driver.

As you can see, we are always considering the possibility of making a final recording when End driving. We have considered this function for complete the information as much as possible, that is, we have a initial recording that has informed us about the person who has started driving and a final recording that informs us that same person has finished driving. It also can consider the fact that the system only performs the initial recording, that is, the one that coincides with the beginning of the driving of the vehicle by a driver, discarding the function of the final recording of driving. This would save recording space on the card, allowing a greater number of recordings It would also simplify the system and programming of the same. Maybe this recording information is enough initials and we can do without the final recordings, which we leave open for consideration, although we can initially contemplate that the system could do both if it specify.

Thus, the identification of the driver takes out by visual identification of the driver's image in function of the different operations that are carried out and / or preset time intervals.

So, in summary, driving a Vehicle comprises different operations. In particular, for the purpose of the invention, the operations are basically the following:

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Door opening

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Door Closure

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A person sits in the driver's seat.

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A person gets up from driver's seat.

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Engine start vehicle.

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Engine stop vehicle.

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Moving vehicle

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It is about taking one or more shots Instant photographs or video sequence when it occurs one or more of the events involved in these operations.

When the vehicle is stationary and closed, and not There is a driver presence, the system will be inactive. Since state active, the door closing with the vehicle stopped and without presence of driver will go to inactive state. When referring to "boot and stop "we refer to the start-up or stop of the vehicle engine

In short, the system will activate and take the photograph or video sequence when one or more of the following events:

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By opening the door of the driver;

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By the change of state of the driver's seat (presence / absence of driver);

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By starting or stopping the vehicle engine

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For the start of the scroll and return to a stopped state.

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The photographs taken will be incorporated into the circuits or memory cards, and / or may be sent to the center of data processing for incorporation into the database corresponding, together with the information of the vehicle in which it has been taken, the date and time of the shot.

Thus, it is foreseeable that employees or drivers of vehicles make responsible use of it, being able, in any case, to decline the responsibility to the person who You have done the infraction or bad practice.

It is foreseen that in the manufacturing process a pre-installation of some of the system elements (sensors, connections) can be carried out, to be installed the rest of the elements later. This pre-installation can be a set of "plugs" in which to connect the different elements (electronic circuit, camera,
sensors, ...).

Claims (19)

1. Set of driver identification devices in vehicle fleets, characterized in that it comprises:

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At least one opening sensor of at least the driver's door of the vehicle;

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At least one presence sensor of the driver;

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At least one capture camera of images;

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An electronic circuit connected to the camera and the different sensors, provided with less an image storage device.

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2. Device set according to claim 1, characterized in that the driver presence sensor consists of a weight sensor arranged in the driver's seat of the vehicle. 3. Device set according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the camera is arranged inside the vehicle cabin and is oriented towards the driver. 4. Device set according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises a sensor for starting / stopping the engine of the vehicle. 5. Device set according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises a vehicle motion sensor. 6. Set of devices according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electronic circuit connected to the camera and the different sensors; provided with at least one of the following devices:

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A memory circuit;

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An accommodation for a card of memory, and a corresponding memory card;

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A hard drive storage of information;

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A circuit of communications

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7. Device set according to claim 6, characterized in that the communications circuit is integrated in the electronic circuit. 8. Device set according to claim 6, characterized in that the communications circuit constitutes an independent unit connectable with the electronic circuit. 9. Device set according to claim 6 or claim 7, characterized in that the communication circuit consists of at least one of the following:

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A communications circuit by mobile phone;

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A communications circuit WIFI;

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A communications circuit by radiofrequency;

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A communications circuit bluetooth

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10. Method of identifying drivers in vehicle fleets, characterized by comprising: the stages of:

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Opening detection of door;

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Detection of a seated person in the driver's seat of the vehicle;

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Take at least one image by photography or a short video sequence of the driver;

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Date Identification and time the image was taken;

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Information storage in an information storage medium or transmission of said Information for remote storage.

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11. Method of identifying drivers in vehicle fleets, according to claim 10, characterized in that it further comprises detecting the start / stop state of the vehicle engine. 12. Method of identifying drivers in vehicle fleets, according to claim 10 or according to claim 11, characterized in that it further comprises detecting the state of movement of the vehicle. 13. Method of identifying drivers in vehicle fleets, according to any of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that the images are taken for a period not exceeding 10 seconds. 14. Method of identifying drivers in vehicle fleets, according to any of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that an image is produced after a door opening is detected, whether or not followed by a door closure, and the presence of a driver in the seat after a state of no presence. 15. Method of identifying drivers in vehicle fleets, according to claim 14, characterized in that the image acquisition also requires the detection of the engine running. 16. A method for identifying drivers in vehicle fleets, according to claim 14 or according to claim 15, characterized in that the image acquisition also requires the detection of the start of vehicle movement. 17. Method of identification of drivers in vehicle fleets, according to any of claims 10 to 16, characterized in that each image is registered with the date and time of taking. 18. Method of identifying drivers in vehicle fleets, according to claim 17, characterized in that each image is registered with the GPS position in which it was taken. 19. Method of identifying drivers in vehicle fleets, according to any of claims 10 to 18, characterized in that it further comprises taking an image when one or more of the following events occurs:

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Engine stop vehicle;

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Driver stops being detected in the seat;

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Door opening