Marking object arrangeable at a child seat for adaptive actuation of an airbag, method to determine a position and/or orientation of a child seat relative to a car seat and computer program for adaptive actuation of an airbag

Abstract

The invention relates to a marking object that can be placed on a vehicle child seat for adaptive actuation of an airbag, which is configured to reflect electromagnetic radiation and mark a position and/or orientation of the vehicle child seat in relation to a vehicle seat for an imaging sensor based on the reflection, in order to actuate the airbag depending on the position and/or orientation of the vehicle child seat, wherein the marking object is a Quick Response code, radar reflector, lidar reflector, or infrared reflector. The invention also relates to a vehicle child seat, a method for determining a position and/or orientation of a vehicle child seat in relation to a vehicle seat, and interior monitoring system, a computer program for adaptive actuation of an airbag and a computer readable data carrier.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium configured to store thereon a computer program for adaptive actuation of an airbag that, when executed by at least one processing device of an interior monitoring system, the interior monitoring system comprising at least one imaging sensor, at least one interface to a control unit for an airbag, and the control unit for the airbag, cause the interior monitoring system to perform a method comprising: detecting, by the at least one imaging sensor, a marking object, wherein the marking object comprises at least one of a Quick Response code, a radar reflector, a lidar reflector, or an infrared reflector placed on the vehicle child seat, and wherein the marking object is configured to reflect electromagnetic radiation and mark at least one of a position or an orientation of the vehicle child seat in relation to a vehicle seat for at least one interior imaging sensor based on the reflection; automatically determining the at least one of the position or the orientation of the vehicle child seat in relation to the vehicle seat using the marking object detected by the imaging sensor; and automatically determining whether to actuate, by the control unit, the airbag depending on the at least one of the position or the orientation of the vehicle child seat in relation to the vehicle seat.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the marking object comprises a Quick Response code.

3. A method for determining at least one of a position or an orientation of a vehicle child seat in relation to a vehicle seat, the method comprising: placing a marking object on the vehicle child seat, wherein the marking object comprises at least one of a Quick Response code, a radar reflector, a lidar reflector, or an infrared reflector, and wherein the marking object is configured to reflect electromagnetic radiation and mark the at least one of the position or the orientation of the vehicle child seat in relation to the vehicle seat for at least one interior imaging sensor based on the reflection; detecting, by the at least one interior imaging sensor, the marking object on the vehicle child seat; automatically determining, by at least one computing device, the at least one of the position or the orientation of the vehicle child seat in relation to the vehicle seat using the marking object detected by the at least one interior imaging sensor; and automatically determining, by the at least one computing device, whether to actuate an airbag depending on the at least one of the position or the orientation of the vehicle child seat in relation to the vehicle seat.

4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the computer program, when executed by the at least one processing device, cause the interior monitoring system to perform the method further comprising: automatically determining to suppress actuation, by the control unit, of the airbag based on the at least one of the position or the orientation of the vehicle child seat in relation to the vehicle seat.

5. An interior monitoring system comprising: at least one imaging sensor configured to: detect a marking object placed on a vehicle child seat; wherein the marking object comprises at least one of a Quick Response code, a radar reflector, a lidar reflector, or an infrared reflector placed on the vehicle child seat, and wherein the marking object is configured to reflect electromagnetic radiation and mark at least one of a position or an orientation of the vehicle child seat in relation to a vehicle seat for the at least one imaging sensor based on the reflection; at least one computing device configured to: automatically determine the at least one of the position or the orientation of the vehicle child seat in relation to the vehicle seat using the marking object detected by the imaging sensor; and automatically determine whether to actuate an airbag depending on the at least one of the position or the orientation of the vehicle child seat in relation to the vehicle seat.

6. The interior monitoring system according to claim 5, wherein the imaging sensor comprises at least one of a 2D camera, a 3D camera, a radar sensor, or a lidar sensor.

7. The interior monitoring system according to claim 5, wherein the marking object comprises a Quick Response code.

8. The interior monitoring system according to claim 5, wherein the at least computing device is further configured to: automatically determine to suppress actuation of the airbag based on the at least one of the position or the orientation of the vehicle child seat in relation to the vehicle seat.

9. The method according to claim 3, wherein the marking object comprises a Quick Response code.

10. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: automatically determining, by the at least one computing device, to suppress actuation of the airbag based on the at least one of the position or the orientation of the vehicle child seat in relation to the vehicle seat.

Description

(1) FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

(2) A vehicle child seat 2 is attached to a vehicle seat 4 facing the direction of travel. A marking object 1 is glued to an outer surface of the vehicle child seat 2. The marking object 2 is, e.g., a radar reflector.

(3) The vehicle comprises an interior monitoring system 7. The interior monitoring system 7 comprises an imaging sensor 5, and an interface 8 to a control unit 6 for an airbag 3. The imaging sensor 5 is, e.g., a radar sensor.

(4) The marking object 1 marks the position and orientation of the vehicle child seat 2. By way of example, the vehicle child seat 2 is positioned on a front passenger seat, facing the direction of travel. The imaging sensor 5 detects the position and orientation of the vehicle child seat 2 by means of the marking object 1, and outputs a corresponding image signal. The image signal is sent to an interface 8. The interface 8 is, e.g., a Bluetooth interface. The interface 8 is connected for signal transfer to the control unit 6 for the airbag 3. The control unit 6 actuates the airbag 3 depending on the position and/or orientation of the vehicle child seat 2, and the control unit 6 potentially suppresses an actuation of the airbag 3.

REFERENCE SYMBOLS

(5) 1 marking object 2 vehicle child seat 3 airbag 4 vehicle seat 5 imaging sensor 6 control unit 7 interior monitoring system 8 interface