TW201917703A - Method and apparatus for fatigue alarm - Google Patents

Abstract

A fatigue alarm apparatus includes a fatigue detector, a speaker, a light emitting element, and a control element. The fatigue alarm apparatus should be installed firmly on a place such that the fatigue detector continuously captures one of human face image and physiological signal at least. The control element electrically connects the fatigue detector, the speaker and the light emitting element and activates an alarm program according to the drowsiness signals from the fatigue detector. The alarm program comprises: causing the light emitting element to emit light and the speaker to sound in a short time, resting for a while, and causing the speaker to sound for the second time. The time from the first to the second sound of the speaker is between 50 and 150 milliseconds to match the phase of pre-stimulus alpha oscillations and produce in the second flash illusion in the mind.

Description

 Fatigue warning method and device thereof  

The present invention relates to a fatigue alarm method and apparatus thereof, and more particularly to a fatigue alarm method and apparatus using the self-awakening mechanism.

According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) survey of 47 million adults in 2002, more than half of them have experienced drowsy while driving, even 17%. People know that they have fallen asleep while driving. Coincidentally, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also counted that in 2014, 846 people died of fatigue driving, accounting for 2.6% of all deaths. In 2005-2009, an average of 83,000 car accidents per year in the United States were related to fatigue driving, of which 886 died and 37,000 were injured. Even more dangerous is that many drivers have never found themselves in a short-lived or short-lived fight.

In this regard, U.S. Patent No. 5,795,306 proposes to illuminate the face with an infrared light (IR LED), and captures the face image with an infrared camera, and determines the position and shape of the pupil according to the difference in reflectance of the pupil and the sclera to the IR. There are cases where the blinking is too frequent or the eyelids are directly attached. There is also the use of Japanese Patent No. 3350296 to extract the pattern features of the eyebrows and nostrils, and to determine the corresponding position of the eyelids to detect the action of closing the eyes. However, each person's facial features are not the same, and the degree of closed eyes is also different. If you want to improve the accuracy of judgment, you must use a long calculation time to determine whether it is a state of fatigue driving. Warning effect. Of course, other fatigue detection data can be added to reduce the fatigue determination time, but the actual reduction time is limited. For example, US Patent No. 5,689,241 counts the total intensity around the nose in the above facial image to determine whether the breathing volume is small. And use the above-mentioned blinking and the reduced breathing amount as the basis for whether or not to open the alarm.

In addition to capturing facial images, Japanese Patent No. 3282259 is additionally provided with multiple physiological signals such as eye-view angle and heart rate, or, as in Taiwan Patent No. I488588, directly through the complex electrodes to measure alpha in a drowsy state. Pre-stimulus alpha oscillations, thereby increasing the alert rate and correctness. What is more, the neuron frequency detector attached to the seat belt is used to judge the state of drowsiness. For example, U.S. Patent No. 7,254,439 detects the sympathetic nerves and the parasympathetic nerves. Regardless of the judgment method used, in order to be able to promptly raise the fatigue alarm, the judgment time cannot exceed several seconds and the alarm activation threshold should not be too high. Thus, the inevitable result is that an annoying alarm sound, vibration or flash is constantly being issued. Such frequent false alarms are not only annoying, but also cause people to lose their alertness to the alarm stimuli, and even more difficult to relieve fatigue. Therefore, in addition to being able to immediately determine the drowsiness situation, a proper and appropriate fatigue alarm is a practical fatigue warning device. This creation is based on the latest medical research report, and proposes a correct and appropriate (not annoying) fatigue warning program.

It has long been recognized in the medical community that a wide range of pre-stimulus alpha oscillations will gradually increase before people enter a drowsy state. In 1996, when a virtual car (more than one hour) was tested, a large number of brainwave signals were collected to further determine that the alpha brain nerve shock was positively correlated with the reaction time (RT) when driving virtually. (https://doi.org/10.1016/0926-6410(95)00042-9). Therefore, measuring the brain wave and performing the spectral phase analysis of the alpha brain nerve oscillation provides an emerging solution for detecting the fatigue state instantly and correctly.

However, in practical applications, because the voltage of the brain wave is extremely weak, the measured brain wave can only be measured by the electrode attached to the scalp. For example, the brainwave safety helmet disclosed in Taiwan Patent No. I488588, the user himself Installation is prone to signal instability. In addition, monotonous alarms (such as buzzing, flashing, or vibration) have no real awakening effect for those who are about to fall asleep.

In addition to the contact electrode measurement of brain waves, some scholars have proposed the use of visual disorder to detect alpha brain nerve oscillations. The origin of the study was from R. W. Bowen in 1989. In fact, there were only two flashes, and the human brain occasionally felt that the three-flash visual distraction Visual Illusion (PMID:2781731) began. However, the reason for its real occurrence was not discovered by Gulbinaite et al. in December 2016. The visual distortion of the above three flashes depends on whether the time of the two flashes is in phase with the alpha brain concussion (doi: https:// Doi.org/10.1101/093500). Gulbinaite et al.'s experiment pointed out that when the time of two flashes is in phase with the alpha brain nerve oscillation, the subject can feel three flashes (visual disorder); when in the out phase The subject can clearly point out that there are only two flashes.

The main purpose of this creation is to wake up the user with the intermittent flash and sound, and finally realize the fatigue state through the process of recalling the speculative process, and reduce the intensity of the alpha brain nerve oscillation to return to the awake state.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the present invention provides a wake-up procedure 50 in the order of: (A) driving the first flash, (B) after a rest time, then (C) driving the second flash, and finally (D) An interval is distinguished between the two alert procedures. According to the experimental results of Gulbinaite et al., when the rest time falls at 87.5 ms (~11.43 Hz), the visual distortion of three flashes is most likely to occur. More importantly, in this experiment, the intensity of the alpha brain concussion in the electroencephalogram (EEG) of the subject was significantly reduced after the process of thinking whether there were three flashes, indicating that the drowsiness situation was significantly improved.

Visual disorder driven by alpha brain neuronal shock is not only affected by visual stimuli but also by auditory stimuli. In 2014, Keil et al. continued Bowen's experiment in 1989, combining flash with a short-sounding sound, using a flash with two sounds, successfully causing the subject to produce a secondary flash of visual disorder (doi:10.1093/cercor/ Bhs409). Therefore, the creation further provides a wake-up program 51, which is in order: (A1) drives a flash and the first sound, (B1) after a rest time, then (C1) drives the second sound, and finally (D1) Distinguish between two alert procedures at an interval. According to the experimental content of Keil et al., step A1 drives a 17ms flash followed by a 7ms sound, step B1 has a rest time of 50ms, and step C1 drives only a 7ms second sound, and finally step D1 has an interval of 1000. -1700ms.

1‧‧‧Fatigue alarm device

10‧‧‧Fatigue detector

101‧‧‧Infrared image capture lens

102‧‧‧Infrared fill light source

103‧‧‧Signal Analysis Circuit

11‧‧‧Smart mobile phone

20‧‧‧Speakers

21‧‧‧ Speakers on smart phones

3‧‧‧Warning around

30‧‧‧Lighting elements

31‧‧‧Flash on smart phones

40‧‧‧Control elements

401‧‧‧ counter

50‧‧‧Wake-up procedure

51‧‧‧Wake-up procedure one

52‧‧‧Wake-up procedure 2

52‧‧‧Wake-up procedure three

60‧‧‧Power and mode switch

70‧‧‧Status indicator light

8‧‧‧Steering wheel

A‧‧‧Wake-up procedure step one

B‧‧‧Wake-up procedure step two

C‧‧‧Wake-up procedure step three

D‧‧‧Wake-up procedure step four

A1‧‧‧Wake-up procedure one step one

B1‧‧‧Wake-up procedure one step two

C1‧‧‧Wake-up procedure one step three

D1‧‧‧Wake-up procedure one step four

A2‧‧‧Wake-up procedure two step one

B2‧‧‧Wake-up procedure, step two

C2‧‧‧Wake-up procedure, step two

D2‧‧‧Wake-up procedure, step two

A3‧‧‧Wake-up procedure three steps one

B3‧‧‧Wake-up procedure three steps two

C3‧‧‧Wake-up procedure three steps three

D3‧‧‧Wake-up procedure three steps four

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing the stereoscopic appearance and the alerting program of the fatigue alarm device of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a circuit diagram showing the fatigue alarm device of the second embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic view of the fatigue alarm device of the third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view showing the fatigue alarm device of the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Please refer to "FIG. 1", which is a schematic diagram of the stereoscopic appearance and the alerting procedure of the fatigue warning device of the first embodiment of the present invention. The fatigue warning device 1 includes a fatigue detector 10, a speaker 20, a light-emitting element 30, a control element 40, a power and mode switch 60, and a status display lamp 70. The fatigue detector 10 includes an infrared image capturing lens 101, at least one infrared supplement light source 102, and a signal analysis circuit 103. The signal analysis circuit 103 locates the pupil position based on the infrared image and calculates the closed eye frequency and the closing time, generates a missing signal, and electrically connects the control element 40. The control component 40 is electrically connected to the speaker 20 and the illuminating component 30, and is activated by the awake signal 50. The alerting program 50 is sequentially: (A) driving the light-emitting element 30 to flash for the first time, (B) after a rest time, (C) driving the light-emitting element 30 for a second flash, and finally (D) at an interval. The time is distinguished between the two wake-up procedures. To enhance the intensity of the visual disorder, the speaker 20 can be driven while the flash is being driven. The first embodiment of the present invention can also be switched to another wake-up program 51 through the power and mode switch 60: (A1) driving the light-emitting element 30 to flash once and the first sound of the speaker 20, (B1) After a rest time, (C1) drives the speaker 20 for a second time, and finally (D1) distinguishes between two alert programs at an interval. In order to match the alpha brain nerve oscillation frequency ~10Hz, the rest time should be around 100ms. In order to avoid user confusion caused by excessive alarms, the last interval of the alerting program 50 should be one second or so, and it should not be too long to miss the instant alarm time.

During the implementation of the present creation, a plurality of sets of optimized rest time and the interval time may be set according to the measured data of the country of sale, and the indication of the power and mode switch 60 and the status display lamp 70 is switched to be suitable. User's alert mode. In use, the flash and the sound not only remind the user (such as the driver, the dangerous work operator) that fatigue symptoms may occur, but also further remind the user that if they see three flashes (50) or two flashes (51), then It is already confirmed that there are signs of lethargy, and corresponding improvement measures are absolutely necessary.

Please refer to "Fig. 2", which is a circuit diagram of the fatigue alarm device of the second embodiment of the present invention. The fatigue warning device 1 includes a fatigue detector 10, a speaker 20, a light-emitting element 30, and a control element 40. In addition to detecting pupil changes, the fatigue detector 10 can detect or receive physiological signals of external components, for example, receiving a heartbeat frequency transmitted by a sports bracelet through a wireless network. Through the multiple fatigue messages, the fatigue detector 10 or the controller element 40 is accelerated and the fatigue state is determined.

Please refer to "3rd figure", which is a schematic diagram of the fatigue alarm device of the third embodiment of the present invention. The fatigue warning device is installed on the platform behind the steering wheel 8, and the power source uses the power supply on the vehicle (cigarette lighter), and after the power source 60 is turned on, the display position of the display unit 70 is correct, for example, whether the infrared image capturing lens 101 is successful. Take an image of the nostrils to the eyebrows. The control unit 40 has a counter 401 for recording the number of activations of the alert programs 50, 51, and when the predetermined number of times reaches a certain number of times, the light-emitting element 30 is driven to emit ambient wake-up light 3, and the illumination range is greater than the range of the flash. To remind drivers other than the driver. The surrounding alert light 3 can share the light source with the above flash, or otherwise set the light source used for the surrounding wake light. The ambient alert light 3 can perform progressive flashing illumination or progressive brightening illumination according to the number of times the counter 401 is accumulated, and can also change the color of the illumination.

Please refer to "Fig. 4", which is a schematic diagram of the fatigue alarm device of the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The fatigue alarm device is a smart phone 11. After the application program (App) of the alert program is installed in the App store, the wake-up program 50-53 can be selected to drive the flash 31 and the speaker 21 of the smart phone 11. The alerting program 52 refers to the experimental content of Gulbinaite et al., in order: (A2) driving the light-emitting element 30 for the first flash, (B2) after a modulated break time, and (C2) driving the light-emitting element 30. The second flash, and finally (D2) distinguishes between the two alert procedures at a fixed interval. According to the experimental results of Gulbinaite et al., the modulating rest time is between 75ms and 92ms, which is the easiest to match the alpha brain oscillating phase. In addition, the alert program 53 can also be enabled to sequentially: (A3) drive the first flash of the light-emitting component 30, (B3) after a fixed rest time, and then (C2) drive the light-emitting component 30 for a second time. Flash, and finally (D2) distinguishes between two alert procedures at a variable interval. The variable with the alpha brain oscillating phase is moved to the modulating interval time, and the experimental resting time is set to 87.5 ms with reference to the experimental results of Gulbinaite et al.

In summary, the fatigue warning device of this creation is a non-irritating alerting method, allowing the user to detect the slumbering precursor (alpha brain concussion) autonomously, thereby inspiring the neural network of recalling thinking and improving the slumber situation (doi:https) ://doi.org/10.1101/093500). Compared with the products that have large errors and need to directly measure the scalp measurement of brain waves, it is more in line with the needs of consumers, and it has already met the requirements for creating patent applications, and has filed patent applications according to law.

However, the above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention cannot be limited by this; therefore, the simple equivalent changes and modifications made by the scope of the patent application and the content of the creation specification are All should remain within the scope of this creation patent.

Claims (14)

 A fatigue alarm device includes: a fatigue detector that outputs at least one sensory signal; a speaker that can be modulated by a signal or a power source; a light-emitting component that can be modulated by a signal or a power source; and a control component Sexually connecting the above components, and initiating at least one wake-up procedure by the malfunction signal, wherein the alerting program drives the light-emitting component and the speaker to emit the first flash and the first sound, and between 50 milliseconds and 150 milliseconds After the rest time, the speaker is driven to make a second beep, and there is an interval between the two alerting procedures, the length of which is greater than the above rest time.    The fatigue alarm device of claim 1, wherein the fatigue detector comprises: an infrared image capturing lens, an infrared supplement light source, and a signal analysis circuit.    The fatigue alarm device of claim 1, wherein the fatigue detector comprises: at least one physiological signal detecting circuit, such as a carbon dioxide concentration, a heartbeat frequency, and the like.    The fatigue alarm device of claim 1, wherein the fatigue detector comprises: a wireless network receiving end for receiving an externally transmitted physiological signal, such as a carbon dioxide concentration, a heartbeat frequency, and the like.    The fatigue alarm device of claim 1, wherein the illuminating element further comprises: a surrounding alert light portion for accepting that the control component modulates illumination that is greater than the flash illumination range.    The fatigue alarm device of claim 1, further comprising: a power and mode switch and a status indicator for switching between different alert programs.    The fatigue alarm device of claim 6, wherein the alerting program is switchable to another alerting program, for example, driving the light emitting component to emit a first flash, and after a rest period of between 50 milliseconds and 150 milliseconds, The illuminating element is driven to emit a second flash, and there is an interval between the two awake procedures.    The fatigue alarm device of claim 1 or 7, wherein the rest time or the interval time is different between the multiple alerting procedures, for example, sequentially changing within a certain interval or changing the random number within a certain interval. .    A fatigue alarm device comprising: a fatigue detector for outputting at least one sensory signal; a light-emitting component that can be modulated by a signal or a power source; and a control component electrically connected to the components and activated by the malfunction signal At least one wake-up procedure, wherein the wake-up procedure drives the light-emitting element to emit a first flash, and after a rest period of between 50 milliseconds and 150 milliseconds, drives the light-emitting element to emit a second flash, and two wake-up procedures There is an interval between the length of time and the length of time is greater than the above rest time.    The fatigue alarm device of claim 9, wherein the rest time or the interval time is different between the multiple alerting programs, for example, sequentially changing within a certain interval or randomly changing within a certain interval.    A fatigue alarm program comprising: emitting a first flash and a first sound, and after a rest period of between 50 milliseconds and 150 milliseconds, issuing a second sound, and an interval between the two alerting procedures, the time The length is greater than the above rest time.    The fatigue alarm program of claim 11, wherein the rest time or the interval time is modulated by a time parameter and varies within a certain interval.    A fatigue alarm program includes: emitting a first flash and emitting a second flash after a rest time of between 50 milliseconds and 150 milliseconds, and an interval between the two alerting procedures, the length of time being greater than the rest time .    The fatigue alarm program of claim 13, wherein the rest time or the interval time is modulated by a time parameter and varies within a certain interval.