US-20260125068-A1 - DRIVER STATE DETECTION DEVICE, DRIVER STATE DETECTION METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

US20260125068A1US 20260125068 A1US20260125068 A1US 20260125068A1US-20260125068-A1

Abstract

According to an embodiment, a driver state detection device includes a recognizer configured to recognize a monitoring direction of a driver of a mobile object and a behavior of the mobile object, a determiner configured to determine whether or not the monitoring direction of the driver recognized by the recognizer is appropriate, a counter configured to perform a counting process for a period of time in which the determiner determines that the monitoring direction of the driver is inappropriate, and an alert output configured to output alert information when a count value from the counter is greater than or equal to a threshold. The counter stops the counting process while the recognizer recognizes that the behavior of the mobile object is disturbed or resets the count value when the disturbance in the behavior of the mobile object is recognized.

Inventors

Hirotaka Katayama
Yuichi MASUKAKE
Kazuma HAMADA

Assignees

HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251105
Priority Date: 20241107

Claims (11)

1 . A driver state detection device comprising: a recognizer configured to recognize a monitoring direction of a driver of a mobile object and a behavior of the mobile object; a determiner configured to determine whether or not the monitoring direction of the driver recognized by the recognizer is appropriate; a counter configured to perform a counting process for a period of time in which the determiner determines that the monitoring direction of the driver is inappropriate; and an alert output configured to output alert information when a count value from the counter is greater than or equal to a threshold, wherein the counter stops the counting process while the recognizer recognizes that the behavior of the mobile object is disturbed or resets the count value when the disturbance in the behavior of the mobile object is recognized.
2 . The driver state detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the determiner determines whether or not the monitoring direction of the driver is appropriate based on the monitoring direction of the driver and a preset monitoring target area and extends the monitoring target area when the recognizer recognizes that the behavior of the mobile object is disturbed.
3 . The driver state detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the counter performs the counting process when it is determined that the monitoring direction is inappropriate even while the recognizer recognizes that the behavior of the mobile object is disturbed and resets the counting process when the disturbance in the behavior has subsided.
4 . The driver state detection device according to claim 3 , wherein the alert output suppresses the output of the alert information when the count value is greater than or equal to the threshold while the behavior is disturbed.
5 . The driver state detection device according to claim 3 , wherein the counter resets a count value that has been accumulated in the counting process when the recognizer recognizes that the behavior of the mobile object is disturbed and it is determined that the monitoring direction is inappropriate.
6 . The driver state detection device according to claim 5 , wherein the counter performs a reset process including a count value that has been accumulated in the counting process before the recognizer recognizes that the behavior of the mobile object is disturbed.
7 . The driver state detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the disturbance in the behavior is disturbance in the behavior of the mobile object in a lateral direction.
8 . The driver state detection device according to claim 1 , further comprising a movement controller configured to control movement of the mobile object, wherein the recognizer recognizes that the behavior of the mobile object is disturbed when control for stabilizing the behavior of the mobile object is executed by the movement controller.
9 . The driver state detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the disturbance in the behavior includes an avoidance operation including lateral movement of the mobile object based on a driving operation of the driver according to an external situation of the mobile object.
10 . A driver state detection method comprising: recognizing, by a computer, a monitoring direction of a driver of a mobile object and a behavior of the mobile object; determining, by the computer, whether or not the recognized monitoring direction of the driver is appropriate; performing, by the computer, a counting process for a period of time in which it is determined that the monitoring direction of the driver is inappropriate; outputting, by the computer, alert information when a count value from the counter is greater than or equal to a threshold and stopping, by the computer, the counting process while it is recognized that the behavior of the mobile object is disturbed or resetting the count value when the disturbance in the behavior of the mobile object is recognized.
11 . A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to: recognize a monitoring direction of a driver of a mobile object and a behavior of the mobile object; determine whether or not the recognized monitoring direction of the driver is appropriate; perform a counting process for a period of time in which it is determined that the monitoring direction of the driver is inappropriate; output alert information when a count value from the counter is greater than or equal to a threshold; and stop the counting process while it is recognized that the behavior of the mobile object is disturbed or reset the count value when the disturbance in the behavior of the mobile object is recognized.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-195428, filed Nov. 7, 2024, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a driver state detection device, a driver state detection method, and a storage medium. Description of Related Art Recently, efforts to provide access to sustainable transportation systems have been increasingly active in consideration of vulnerable individuals among participants in transportation. For this realization, research and development efforts are focused on further improving the safety and convenience of transportation through research and development related to preventive safety technology. In this regard, conventional technology for performing distraction determination by acquiring a change pattern of first detection information indicating a driver's gaze or face orientation and temporarily switching a normal determination condition set for the distraction determination when the change pattern corresponds to a reference pattern set in advance in accordance with a lane confirmation operation of the driver during a lane change is known (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2019-91275). SUMMARY Meanwhile, in conventional preventive safety technologies, even in behaviors of a mobile object other than lane changes, there are situations in which a driver needs to shift his or her gaze or face orientation to monitor surroundings, but a process for such situations is not taken into account. Therefore, there is a problem because there is a possibility that the driver's state will not be appropriately detected according to the situation of the mobile object. The present application has been made in consideration of such circumstances and an objective of the present application is to provide a driver state detection device, a driver state detection method, and a storage medium that can enable a state of a driver to be more appropriately detected in accordance with a situation of a mobile object. Also, the present invention contributes to the development of a sustainable transportation system. A driver state detection device, a driver state detection method, and a storage medium according to the present invention adopt the following configurations. (1): According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a driver state detection device including: a recognizer configured to recognize a monitoring direction of a driver of a mobile object and a behavior of the mobile object; a determiner configured to determine whether or not the monitoring direction of the driver recognized by the recognizer is appropriate; a counter configured to perform a counting process for a period of time in which the determiner determines that the monitoring direction of the driver is inappropriate; and an alert output configured to output alert information when a count value from the counter is greater than or equal to a threshold, wherein the counter stops the counting process while the recognizer recognizes that the behavior of the mobile object is disturbed or resets the count value when the disturbance in the behavior of the mobile object is recognized. (2): In the above-described aspect (1), the determiner determines whether or not the monitoring direction of the driver is appropriate based on the monitoring direction of the driver and a preset monitoring target area and extends the monitoring target area when the recognizer recognizes that the behavior of the mobile object is disturbed. (3): In the above-described aspect (1), the counter performs the counting process when it is determined that the monitoring direction is inappropriate even while the recognizer recognizes that the behavior of the mobile object is disturbed and resets the counting process when the disturbance in the behavior has subsided. (4): In the above-described aspect (3), the alert output suppresses the output of the alert information when the count value is greater than or equal to the threshold while the behavior is disturbed. (5): In the above-described aspect (3), the counter resets a count value that has been accumulated in the counting process when the recognizer recognizes that the behavior of the mobile object is disturbed and it is determined that the monitoring direction is inappropriate. (6): In the above-described aspect (5), the counter performs a reset process including a count value that has been accumulated in the counting process before the recognizer recognizes that the behavior of the mobile object is disturbed. (7): In the above-described aspect (1), the disturbance in the behavior is disturbance in the behavior of the mobile object in a lateral direction. (8): In the above-described aspect (1), the driver state detection device further includes a movement controller configured to control movement of the mobile object, wherein the recogniz