WO2007003556A1 - Vehicle system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a motor vehicle system for operating in the motor vehicle compartment (1) comprising at least one audio device for producing and/or receiving acoustic signals by means of several loudspeakers distributed in the compartment (1) or at least one microphone (12) and at least one image acquisition-recording device (10) placed in the compartment (1). According to said invention, said image acquisition-recording device (10) detects the seat occupancy in the compartment (1) and a control makes it possible to adapt said occupancy according to the image acquisition and to adjust the audio device for controlling the loudspeakers (11) or the microphone (12).

Description

description

Title vehicle system

The present invention relates to a vehicle system for operating in the interior of a motor vehicle with at least one audio device for reproducing and / or recording acoustic signals with a plurality of distributed in the interior speakers or at least one microphone and at least one arranged in the interior of image capture device.

DE 199 52 857 C1 describes a device for driver state-dependent control of vehicle components, in which the driver state is determined and, depending on this, an information filtering of information to be displayed is undertaken. As a result, the operation and control by the driver is improved and increased safety, since the driver is relieved. In this device, the operation of a functionality of the electronic device is limited depending on the situation. Furthermore, depending on the driving speed, a complete application or partial functionality of an application of the electronic device can be switched on or off. In this device, only information about the driver of the motor vehicle is detected and evaluated for controlling the components or devices.

DE 103 37 852 A1 discloses a vehicle system with an operating device and a control for influencing the operation, in which a device is provided which can detect whether an operating access to the operating device is carried out by the vehicle driver or another occupant. Accordingly, the operation is influenced by the operating device. This makes it possible that operating accesses that can distract the driver excessively from the actual driving task, can be effectively prevented. At the same time that remains Vehicle system but for the other vehicle occupants in at least a wide or full extent operable.

Although this vehicle system prevents the driver from making any change in the system setting, the system can not prevent the driver from attempting to operate the vehicle itself. If the driver now repeatedly tries to make the desired change, his attention is distracted from the actual driving task. This unconcentrated driver can therefore represent an increased safety risk both for himself and for other road users.

Against this background, it is the object of the present invention to provide a generic vehicle system that distracts the driver as little as possible from his actual driving task.

This object is achieved by a vehicle system having the features according to claim 1. In a generic vehicle system, the at least one image capture device detects the seat occupancy in the interior of the motor vehicle and a control is provided which adjusts settings of the audio device for controlling the loudspeakers or microphones to the seat occupancy depending on the image capture. The optimal sound setting of the audio device depends, among other things, on how many people are present in the passenger compartment and what positions they sit in. Active adjustment of the audio device setting for sound optimization by the driver or another vehicle occupant is not required.

Advantageous embodiments of the vehicle system according to the invention provide as audio device a car radio, a navigation system and / or an integration of a handsfree device for a mobile phone. In all three audio setup examples, the loudspeakers are controlled to reproduce the acoustic signals in such a way that optimum sound perception is possible from each occupied seat. The seat occupancy-dependent control of one or more microphones allows for a low-noise or optimal voice recording for a telephone conversation and on the other hand the most error-free voice control of the audio device.

In a vehicle system according to the invention, the image capture device is preferably arranged in the vicinity of an interior mirror. From this arrangement position of the image capture device also an observation of a back seat is possible.

Alternatively, in a vehicle system according to the invention, the image capture device is arranged in a center console. This arrangement of the image capture device, which is lower in comparison to the interior mirror, can be used in particular in two-seat motor vehicles, for example a sports car or a convertible, in which the possibility of rear-seat observation is not required.

Finally, in a further embodiment of the vehicle system according to the invention, the image capture device can be arranged approximately centrally on the roof of the interior. In this arrangement, the camera can detect the seats in the back seat without any possible obstruction of the front seats. Furthermore, the central arrangement in vehicles with more than two rows of seats, such as a van or minibus, for detecting the seat occupancy can be used.

An advantageous embodiment of the vehicle system according to the invention provides a monitor for at least partial or complete reproduction of the image capture. Several monitors can also be provided so that they can be viewed from different seats. This allows the observation of other seats, such as the observation of the rear seat or child seats located there by a person in one of the two front seats, without this person has to turn around or turn his head back.

Preferably, it is provided in a vehicle system according to the invention that the controller evaluates biometric data of vehicle occupants. In this way, person-specific settings can be taken into account. As typical features, for example, the contour, a bald head, etc. are used. In a further advantageous embodiment of the vehicle system according to the invention, the controller may influence a triggering of at least one airbag provided in the interior as a function of the seat occupancy. This makes it possible that, if necessary, only the airbags are triggered at occupied seats.

A further preferred embodiment of the vehicle system according to the invention provides that the controller carries out interior monitoring as a function of the image acquisition. A deviation in a parked motor vehicle to an empty interior can thus be used to trigger an alarm.

Finally, in a further advantageous refinement of the vehicle system according to the invention, the arrangement of the image capture device makes it possible to monitor the rear seats.

In the following, the present invention is explained in more detail by way of example with reference to two exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached figures, in which:

Figure 1 - shows schematically a sketch of a first embodiment;

Figure 2 - shows a schematically outlined second embodiment of the invention, and

Figure 3 - shows a third embodiment of the invention shown schematically.

In Figure 1 is schematically sketched an interior 1 of a conventional motor vehicle with five seats shown in plan view. The seats are distributed over front seats 2a and 2b and three further seats 3a to c, which together form a back seat. In the direction of travel in front of the front seats 2 a, 2 b, a dashboard 4 is provided with a display field 5 located in front of the driver's seat 2 a. In about the middle of the dashboard 4, a center console 6 is arranged, in which a monitor 7 and a control panel 8 are installed. On the monitor 7, driver information, For example, direction indicators of a navigation system, are displayed. For example, the already mentioned navigation system and / or a car radio can be operated via the control panel 8.

Above the dashboard 4, an inner mirror 9 is arranged approximately centrally relative to the vehicle width. An image capture device 10 or a camera is arranged on the interior mirror 9, the image capture area of which detects the seats 2 a, b and 3 a to c in the passenger compartment 1. The arrangement of the image capture device 10 in the vicinity of the inner mirror 9, so based on the vehicle height above the seats 2a and 2b also allows observation of the rear seats 3a to c, which is indicated by the arrows in Figure 1.

The images captured by the image capture device 10 can be displayed at least partially on the monitor 7. This allows observation of the rear seat or the children sitting there if necessary by a person located on one of the front seats 2a, b, without having to turn around to the rear bench.

In the interior of several speakers 11 and microphones 12 are arranged distributed. The loudspeakers 11 are controlled as a function of the occupation of the seats and a sound adaptation is carried out in such a way that the acoustic perception is optimal at all occupied seats. The adaptation to the seat occupancy can take into account whether a seat occupied by a person or with an object, such as a suitcase or a box, is occupied.

Furthermore, the microphone settings are changed so that a seated phone calls with as little disturbing noise is possible. In an additional biometric evaluation individual occupants can be detected and the settings are made accordingly. Thus, the microphones 12 can always be set so that a certain occupant is perceived optimally regardless of which seat he sits in and / or whether he is alone in the vehicle. In the biometric evaluation, in particular the facial contour can be used as an evaluable feature. FIG. 2 shows a further exemplary embodiment of the following invention. The difference from the first embodiment (Figure 1) is in another arrangement of the image capture device 10 '. The image capture device 10 'is arranged in the center console 6. As a result of this lower position of the image capture device 10 'compared to the first exemplary embodiment, the seats 3 a and 3 c are at least partially outside the detectable image area, since these seats are obscured by the front seats 2 a and 2 b to a considerable extent, which is shown in FIG indicated by the arrows. The arrangement of the image capture device 10 'in the center console 6 is therefore preferably suitable for two-seater vehicles, such as a sports car or a convertible.

FIG. 3 shows in outline a third exemplary embodiment with the interior 1 already described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Identical components are provided with the same reference numerals and for reasons of better readability and to avoid repetition, reference is made to the detailed description thereof Job waived. In the example shown here, an image capture device 10 "is arranged approximately in the middle of the roof of the interior 1. This allows a better observation possibility for the seats 3a-c of the rear seat, since there is no visual obstruction by the front seats 2a, b Image detection device 10 "can also be arranged and aligned at this position such that both the front seats 2a, b and the rear seats 3a-c are simultaneously in the detection area. In this case, a further image capture device, for example the image capture device 10 'in the center console 6 or the image capture device 10 (from FIG. 1), is not required to detect the occupancy of the entire interior 1.

The image capture device 10, 10 'or 10 "captures an image of an empty interior 1. This reference image is stored in the vehicle system as a contour template The images of an occupied or partially occupied interior 1 are compared with this contour template Partially occupied interior space 1 with the reference image gives information about the seat occupancy.According to the seat occupancy, the audio device, for example fader, sound, equalizer, is set so that optimum sound quality is generated at each occupied seat. When using a hands-free device, for example for a mobile phone, certain microphones 12 can be made more sensitive, which pick up the voice of an occupant from occupied seats. Further microphones 12 can be deactivated or at least attenuated in order to absorb as little undesired background noise as possible. It is also possible to detect certain vehicle occupants by comparing biometric data and, for example, to adjust the microphones so that a specific person is focused without taking into account the occupancy of additional seats.

If the vehicle is turned off, the last state can be saved as a reference image. A change from this reference image can then be used to trigger the alarm. Furthermore, it is conceivable that the detection of the seat occupancy can be sent in an emergency via a connected mobile phone to an operations center. The operations center receives in this way information about the number of people in the vehicle and can request emergency or emergency forces in an emergency situation. The vehicle system according to the invention consequently uses an optical sensor, the image capture device 10, 10 'or 10 ", for controlling various functions of the motor vehicle.

Claims

claims 1. Vehicle system for operation in the interior (1) of a motor vehicle with at least one audio device for playback and / or recording acoustic signals with several in the interior (1) distributed speakers ehern (11) or at least one microphone (12) and with at least one image capture device (10, 10 ', 10 ") arranged in the interior space (1), characterized in that the image capture device (10, 10', 10") detects the seat occupancy in the interior space (1) and a control is provided , which adjusts settings of the audio device for controlling the loudspeakers (11) or microphones (12) to the seat occupancy as a function of the image acquisition. 2. Vehicle system according to claim 1, characterized in that the audio device is a car radio. 3. Vehicle system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the audio device is a navigation system. 4. Vehicle system according to one of the preceding claims, character- ized in that the audio device is a hands-free device for a Mobile phone integrated. 5. Vehicle system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the image capture device (10) in the vicinity of an inner mirror (9) is arranged. 6. Vehicle system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the image capture device (10 ') in a center console (6) is arranged. 7. Vehicle system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the image capture device (10 ") is arranged approximately in the center of the roof of the interior (1). 8. Vehicle system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by a monitor (7) for at least partial reproduction of the image capture. 9. Vehicle system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the controller evaluates biometric data of vehicle occupants. 10. Vehicle system according to one of the preceding claims, character- ized in that the control can influence a release of at least one in the interior (1) provided airbag in dependence of the seat occupancy. 11. Vehicle system according to one of the preceding claims, character- ized in that the control in dependence of the image acquisition a Interior monitoring performs. 12. Vehicle system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the arrangement of the image capture device (10, 10 ") allows monitoring of the rear seats.