US-20260125027-A1 - METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR GESTURE-BASED CONTROLS OF VEHICLES

US20260125027A1US 20260125027 A1US20260125027 A1US 20260125027A1US-20260125027-A1

Abstract

Systems for granting access to a vehicle control system may include a vehicle, a camera mounted to the vehicle, one or more processors of an electronic control unit, at least one memory module communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, and machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module. The machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module may cause the one or more processors to identify a user based on photos or videos obtained from the camera and may classify the user as: (i) a privileged user, (ii) an inherited privilege user, or (iii) a non-privileged user based on photos or videos obtained from the camera. The privileged user, inherited privilege user, and non-privileged user may be granted varying levels of access to gesture-based controls of the vehicle.

Inventors

Alexander Charles Granieri
Tristan R. Littlehale
Conor Sullivan
Jimmy Chiu

Assignees

TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20241106

Claims (20)

1 . A vehicle control system comprising: a vehicle; a camera mounted to the vehicle; one or more processors of an electronic control unit; at least one memory module communicatively coupled to the one or more processors; and machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module, wherein: the machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module cause the one or more processors to perform at least the following: identify a user based on photos or videos obtained from the camera; and classify the user as: (i) a privileged user, (ii) an inherited privilege user, or (iii) a non-privileged user based on photos or videos obtained from the camera, wherein: the privileged user, inherited privilege user, and non-privileged user are granted varying levels of access to gesture-based controls of the vehicle.
2 . The vehicle control system of claim 1 , wherein the gesture-based controls of the vehicle allow the user to: move the vehicle; unlock the vehicle; capture an image or video with the camera; activate lights of the vehicle; or start the vehicle.
3 . The vehicle control system of claim 1 , wherein the machine readable instructions cause the one or more processors to perform the following: classify the user based on key fob proximity.
4 . The vehicle control system of claim 3 , wherein: the privileged user is a user holding the key fob; the inherited privilege user is a user within a threshold proximity of the privileged user holding the key fob; and the non-privileged user is a user outside of the threshold proximity of the privileged user holding the key fob.
5 . The vehicle control system of claim 1 , wherein the machine readable instructions cause the one or more processors to perform the following: classify the user based on facial recognition based on photos or videos captured from the camera.
6 . The vehicle control system of claim 5 , wherein the inherited privilege user is classified based on a threshold proximity from the privileged user.
7 . The vehicle control system of claim 1 , wherein the privileged user has access to more gesture-based controls of the vehicle compared to that of the inherited privilege user and the inherited privilege user has access to more gesture-based controls of the vehicle compared to that of the non-privileged user.
8 . The vehicle control system of claim 7 , wherein the inherited privilege user has access to gesture-based controls of the vehicle for capturing a photo.
9 . The vehicle control system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory module comprises a user database comprising user identities, wherein the machine readable instructions cause the one or more processors to perform the following: classify the user as the privileged user, the inherited privilege user, or the non-privileged user by matching the user with one of the user identities of the user database through facial recognition based on photos or videos captured from the camera.
10 . A vehicle control system comprising: a vehicle; a camera mounted to the vehicle; one or more processors of an electronic control unit; at least one memory module communicatively coupled to the one or more processors; and machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module, wherein: the machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module cause the one or more processors to perform at least the following: identify a user based on photos or videos obtained from the camera; and classify the user based on key fob proximity as: (i) a privileged user, (ii) an inherited privilege user, or (iii) a non-privileged user based on photos or videos obtained from the camera, wherein: the privileged user, inherited privilege user, and non-privileged user are granted varying levels of access to gesture-based controls of the vehicle, wherein the gesture-based controls of the vehicle allow the user to: move the vehicle; unlock the vehicle; capture an image or video with the camera; activate lights of the vehicle; or start the vehicle.
11 . The vehicle control system of claim 10 , wherein: the privileged user is a user holding the key fob; the inherited privilege user is a user within a threshold proximity of the privileged user holding the key fob; and the non-privileged user is a user outside of the threshold proximity of the privileged user holding the key fob.
12 . The vehicle control system of claim 10 , wherein the privileged user has access to more gesture-based controls of the vehicle compared to that of the inherited privilege user and the inherited privilege user has access to more gesture-based controls of the vehicle compared to that of the non-privileged user.
13 . The vehicle control system of claim 12 , wherein the inherited privilege user has access to gesture-based controls of the vehicle to capture a photo.
14 . The vehicle control system of claim 10 , wherein one or more users are privileged users.
15 . A method of granting access to a vehicle control system, the method comprising: identifying a user based on photos or videos obtained from a camera mounted on a vehicle; classifying the user as: (i) a privileged user, (ii) an inherited privilege user, or (iii) a non-privileged user based on photos or videos obtained from the camera; and granting varying levels of access to gesture-based controls of the vehicle based on whether the user is classified as the privileged user, inherited privilege user, or non-privileged user.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising: classifying the user based on key fob proximity.
17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising: classifying the user based on facial recognition based on photos or videos captured from the camera.
18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising: classifying the inherited privilege user based on a threshold proximity from the privileged user.
19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the gesture-based controls of the vehicle comprise: moving the vehicle; unlocking the vehicle; capturing an image with the camera; activating lights of the vehicle; and starting the vehicle.
20 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the privileged user has access to more gesture-based controls of the vehicle compared to that of the inherited privilege user and the inherited privilege user has access to more gesture-based controls of the vehicle compared to that of the non-privileged user.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control system and, more particularly, to computer-assisted processing technologies for controlling vehicles. BACKGROUND Traditional vehicle control systems generally include steering controls, infotainment controls, climate controls, etc. Other vehicle control systems may include gesture-based controls where a user controls the vehicle based on gestures made by the user from images and videos on a vehicle camera. Moreover, a user generally gains access to the interior of the vehicle and, thus, access to the traditional vehicle control systems, through the use of a key fob. In the case of gesture-based controls, the user controls the vehicle while external to the vehicle interior. However, the traditional vehicle control systems do not have a way of authenticating particular users giving gesture-based controls. Such lack of authentication is problematic, as it is not desired that the vehicle accepts control commands from all users, only those who the owner desires to have access to the vehicle control systems. Therefore, a need exists for classifying users giving gesture-based controls to a vehicle, and granting varying levels of access to the gesture-based controls based on the user classification. SUMMARY In an aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle control system includes a vehicle, a camera mounted to the vehicle, one or more processors of an electronic control unit, at least one memory module communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, and machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module. The machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module cause the one or more processors to identify a user based on photos or videos obtained from the camera and classify the user as: (i) a privileged user, (ii) an inherited privilege user, or (iii) a non-privileged user based on photos or videos obtained from the camera. The privileged user, inherited privilege user, and non-privileged user are granted varying levels of access to gesture-based controls of the vehicle. In another aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle control system includes a vehicle, a camera mounted to the vehicle, one or more processors of an electronic control unit, at least one memory module communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, and machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module. The machine readable instructions stored in the at least one memory module cause the one or more processors to identify a user based on photos or videos obtained from the camera and classify the user based on key fob proximity as: (i) a privileged user, (ii) an inherited privilege user, or (iii) a non-privileged user based on photos or videos obtained from the camera. The privileged user, inherited privilege user, and non-privileged user are granted varying levels of access to gesture-based controls of the vehicle. The gesture-based controls of the vehicle allow the user to move the vehicle, unlock the vehicle, capture an image or video with the camera, activate lights of the vehicle, or start the vehicle. In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of granting access to a vehicle control system includes identifying a user based on photos or videos obtained from a camera mounted on a vehicle, classifying the user as: (i) a privileged user, (ii) an inherited privilege user, or (iii) a non-privileged user based on photos or videos obtained from the camera, and granting varying levels of access to gesture-based controls of the vehicle based on whether the user is classified as the privileged user, inherited privilege user, or non-privileged user. These and additional features provided by the embodiments described herein will be more fully understood in view of the following detailed description, in conjunction with the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative and exemplary in nature and not intended to limit the subject matter defined by the claims. The following detailed description of the illustrative embodiments can be understood when read in conjunction with the following drawings, where like structure is indicated with like reference numerals and in which: FIG. 1 schematically depicts an illustrative system for granting access to a vehicle control system, according to one or more embodiments shown and described herein; FIG. 2 schematically depicts non-limiting components of the devices of the system for granting access to a vehicle control system, according to one or more embodiments shown and described herein; and FIG. 3 schematically depicts a flow chart of an illustrative method for granting access to a vehicle control system, according to one or more embodiments shown and described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The embodiments described herein are directed to methods and systems controlling a vehicle, specifically, through gestur