US-12617409-B2 - Drunk driving prevention system and method

US12617409B2US 12617409 B2US12617409 B2US 12617409B2US-12617409-B2

Abstract

A drunk driving prevention system includes a biometric authentication device that performs biometric authentication of a driver step by step when startup of the vehicle is requested, a breathalyzer that measures a drinking level of the driver whose biometric authentication has been completed, a driver monitoring device that monitors the driver's state in a vehicle while a drinking level of the driver is measured, and a controller that allows or blocks startup of the vehicle based on a result of measuring the driver's drinking level, wherein the biometric authentication device adjusts biometric authentication phases for the driver in a case of an exceptional vehicle where a front seat of the vehicle is configured as an independent space.

Inventors

Joseph Ramzi DADOUSH
Salam Said NESHEWAIT

Assignees

HYUNDAI MOBIS CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230727

Claims (18)

1 . A drunk driving prevention system comprising: a multi-stage biometric authentication device configured to perform a biometric authentication of a driver when startup of a vehicle is requested; a breathalyzer configured to measure a drinking level of the driver whose biometric authentication has been completed; a driver monitoring device configured to monitor state of the driver in the vehicle while the drinking level of the driver is measured; and a controller configured to allow or block startup of the vehicle based on a result of measuring the drinking level of the driver, wherein the biometric authentication device is configured to adjust biometric authentication phases for the driver in a case of an exceptional vehicle where a front seat of the vehicle is configured as an independent space, wherein the biometric authentication device is configured to perform the biometric authentication of the driver based on the adjusted biometric authentication phases among recognition of a driver's fingerprint, recognition of a driver's voice, and question and answer through conversation with the driver, when the vehicle is the exceptional vehicle.
2 . The drunk driving prevention system of claim 1 , wherein the biometric authentication device includes: a fingerprint recognition module configured to recognize the driver by determining whether the fingerprint obtained from the driver matches a previously registered fingerprint of the driver; and an interactive AI module configured to recognize the driver's voice, asks the driver a question, and recognize the driver based on a driver's response to the question.
3 . The drunk driving prevention system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to activate a drinking measurement function and a driver monitoring function when the biometric authentication of the driver is successful.
4 . The drunk driving prevention system of claim 3 , wherein the breathalyzer is configured to compare alcohol concentration information of the driver obtained from a breathalyzer sensor installed in the vehicle with a preset first reference value and a preset second reference value to measure the drinking level of the driver, when the drinking measurement function is activated.
5 . The drunk driving prevention system of claim 4 , wherein the first reference value is set to a blood alcohol concentration value for determining whether alcohol is consumed, and wherein the second reference value is set to an acceptable blood alcohol concentration.
6 . The drunk driving prevention system of claim 5 , wherein the breathalyzer is configured to: determine that the driver is not in a drunk state when the alcohol concentration of the driver is less than or equal to the first reference value, determine that the alcohol concentration of the driver is acceptable when the alcohol concentration of the driver is greater than the first reference value and is less than or equal to the second reference value, and determine that the driver is in a drunk state when the alcohol concentration of the driver is greater than the second reference value.
7 . The drunk driving prevention system of claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to: allow startup of the vehicle when it is identified that the driver is not in the drunk state, allow startup of the vehicle and activate the driver monitoring function, when it is identified that the driver is in an acceptable drinking level, and block startup of the vehicle when it is identified that the driver is in the drunk state.
8 . The drunk driving prevention system of claim 4 , wherein the driver monitoring device is configured to determine whether a person subject to a sobriety test is an authenticated driver while the drinking level of the driver is measured when the driver monitoring function is activated.
9 . The drunk driving prevention system of claim 8 , wherein the driver monitoring device is configured to recognize a face of the subject for drinking measurement by analyzing an image obtained from a camera that captures a space of a driver seat of the exceptional vehicle while the drinking level of the driver is measured, and determine whether the subject for drinking measurement is the authenticated driver based on a result of the face recognition.
10 . The drunk driving prevention system of claim 8 , wherein the driver monitoring device is configured to recognize a weight and a physique of the subject to the sobriety test by analyzing data obtained from a seat sensor of a driver seat and determine whether the subject for drinking measurement is the authenticated driver based on a result of the recognition.
11 . The drunk driving prevention system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to guide the driver to take the sobriety test again when it is identified that the subject for drinking measurement is not the driver, and wherein the breathalyzer is configured to re-measure the drinking level of the driver.
12 . A drunk driving prevention method comprising: performing a multi-step biometric authentication of a driver when startup of a vehicle is requested; measuring a drinking level of a driver whose biometric authentication has been completed; monitoring state of the driver in the vehicle while a drinking level of the driver is measured; and allowing or blocking startup of the vehicle based on a result of measuring the drinking level of the driver, wherein the drunk driving prevention method further comprises adjusting biometric authentication phases for the driver in a case of an exceptional vehicle where a front seat of the vehicle is configured as an independent space, wherein the performing of the biometric authentication of the driver step by step includes performing the biometric authentication of the driver based on the adjusted biometric authentication phases among recognition of a driver's fingerprint, recognition of a driver's voice, and question and answer through conversation with the driver, when the vehicle is the exceptional vehicle.
13 . The drunk driving prevention method of claim 12 , further comprising: activating a drinking measurement function and a driver monitoring function, when the biometric authentication of the driver is successful.
14 . The drunk driving prevention method of claim 13 , wherein the measuring of the drinking level includes: comparing alcohol concentration information of the driver obtained from a breathalyzer sensor installed in the vehicle with a preset first reference value and a preset second reference value, determining that the driver is not in a drunk state when the alcohol concentration of the driver is less than or equal to the first reference value, determining that the alcohol concentration of the driver is acceptable when the alcohol concentration of the driver is greater than the first reference value and is less than or equal to the second reference value, and determining that the driver is in the drunk state when the alcohol concentration of the driver is greater than the second reference value.
15 . The drunk driving prevention method of claim 14 , wherein the first reference value is set to a blood alcohol concentration value for determining whether alcohol is consumed, and wherein the second reference value is set to an acceptable blood alcohol concentration.
16 . The drunk driving prevention method of claim 14 , wherein the allowing or blocking startup of the vehicle includes allowing startup of the vehicle when it is identified that the driver is not in the drunk state; allowing startup of the vehicle and activating the driver monitoring function, when it is identified that the driver is in an acceptable drinking level; and blocking startup of the vehicle when it is identified that the driver is in a drunk state.
17 . The drunk driving prevention method of claim 13 , wherein the monitoring of the driver includes: recognizing a face of a subject for drinking measurement by analyzing an image obtained from a camera that captures a driver seat space of the exceptional vehicle while the drinking level of the driver is measured, and determining whether the subject for drinking measurement is the driver based on a result of the face recognition, when the driver monitoring function is activated; and recognizing a weight and a physique of the subject to a sobriety test by analyzing data obtained from a seat sensor of the driver seat and determining whether the subject for drinking measurement is the driver based on a result of the recognition.
18 . The drunk driving prevention method of claim 17 , further comprising: guiding the driver to take the sobriety test again when it is identified that the subject for drinking measurement is not the driver, and re-measuring the drinking level of the driver.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a drunk driving prevention system and method. BACKGROUND Drunk driving is a factor that accounts for a large portion of car accidents, and a large number of deaths occur every year due to drunk driving accidents. Recently, to prevent drunk driving accidents, a system for measuring a driver's drinking level is being mounted in a vehicle. In particular, in some countries, laws are being made to apply a system for measuring a driver's drinking level to a vehicle. In this way, the system for measuring the driver's drinking level, which is mounted in the vehicle, measures the driver's drinking level when the driver attempts to drive, and prevents the vehicle from starting when the driver is in a drunk state, thereby preventing a drunk driving accident. However, there may be a case where a passenger takes a test of measuring a drinking level on behalf of a drunk driver, and in this case, a problem occurs in which that the passenger has passed the test and startup of the vehicle is allowed, which may eventually lead to a drunk driving accident. Meanwhile, in the case of a special vehicle such as a pickup truck or a fleet vehicle, separate monitoring for a passenger seat is not required because a rear seat is not provided or even if there is a rear seat, the rear seat is separated from a front seat. Therefore, it is difficult to apply a drunk driving prevention system applied to general vehicles to such a special vehicle. SUMMARY The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art while advantages achieved by the prior art are maintained intact. An aspect of the present disclosure provides a drunk driving prevention system and method capable of performing driver authentication through several phases when measuring the driver's drinking level, and at the same time, monitoring the states of a driver and passengers in a vehicle during the measurement of the drinking level, thereby facilitating driver identification and a sobriety test, and preventing a drunk driving accident by blocking startup of the vehicle when a driver is in a drunk state. An aspect of the present disclosure provides a drunk driving prevention system and method a drunk driving prevention system and method capable of adjusting biometric authentication phases for a driver and omitting monitoring of a passenger's state to increase the operating efficiency of the system because it is unnecessary to identify the state of a backseat passenger during the sobriety test in the case of an exceptional vehicle in which a front seat space is configured as an independent space. The technical problems to be solved by the present disclosure are not limited to the aforementioned problems, and any other technical problems not mentioned herein will be clearly understood from the following description by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a drunk driving prevention system includes a biometric authentication device that performs a biometric authentication of a driver step by step when startup of the vehicle is requested, a breathalyzer that measures a drinking level of the driver whose biometric authentication has been completed, a driver monitoring device that monitors a state of a driver in a vehicle while the drinking level of the driver is measured, and a controller that allows or blocks startup of the vehicle based on a result of measuring the driver's drinking level, wherein the biometric authentication device adjusts biometric authentication phases for the driver in a case of an exceptional vehicle where a front seat of the vehicle is configured as an independent space. According to an embodiment, the biometric authentication device may perform the biometric authentication of the driver based on the adjusted biometric authentication phases among recognition of the driver's fingerprint, recognition of the driver's voice, and question and answer through conversation with the driver, when the vehicle is the exceptional vehicle. According to an embodiment, the biometric authentication device includes a fingerprint recognition module that recognizes the driver by determining whether the fingerprint obtained from the driver matches a previously registered fingerprint of the driver and an interactive AI module that recognizes the driver's voice, asks the driver a question, and recognize the driver based on the driver's response to the question. According to an embodiment, the controller may activate a drinking measurement function and a driver monitoring function when the biometric authentication of the driver is successful. According to an embodiment, the breathalyzer may compare alcohol concentration information of the driver obtained from a breathalyzer sensor installed in the vehicle with a preset first reference value and a preset second reference value to measure the drinking level o