Patent Publication Number: US-8988188-B2

Title: System and method for managing entrance and exit using driver face identification within vehicle

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Priority to Korean Patent Application Number 10-2010-0115250, filed on Nov. 18, 2010 which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, is claimed. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a system and a method for managing entering and exiting a secure facility using driver facial identification within a vehicle, and more particularly, to a technology for authenticating a driver&#39;s face within a vehicle without stopping the vehicle or having to run a separate operation when the vehicle passes a security facility. More specifically, the present invention determines whether a vehicle can enter and exit a facility by transmitting security information related to a facial authentication of a driver to a security facility via a wireless communication. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In general, a vehicle access control system is a system for managing the entrance and exit of a vehicle via recognition of a vehicle number or recognition of a vehicle ID in a building or an apartment. In these conventional systems, a camera is typically utilized to recognize the vehicle number or the vehicle ID, e.g., vehicle&#39;s license plate. Image data of the camera, however, is negatively affected by the quantity of light surrounding the image being captured. That is, the brightness of the image is changed depending on the time of day, the weather, etc. For example, the amount of light in any given area, especially outdoors, is greatly different in the early morning and evening than during, for example, midday. Accordingly, the probability of identification success is weak during these time periods. Moreover, such recognition method of vehicle number or recognition method of vehicle ID can be readily counterfeited by a user forging the tags. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a method of authenticating a driver&#39;s face within a vehicle when the vehicle enters and exits a facility. 
     According to one aspect of the present invention, a system for managing entrance and exit of a vehicle using a driver facial identification within a vehicle is provided. In particular, the system includes a vehicle configured to recognize driver&#39;s face within vehicle via performance of a driver identification technique to obtain facial information related to the driver. The vehicle then sends the facial information via a wireless communication to a vehicle access control center within the facility once the vehicle is able to authenticate the driver&#39;s facial information. 
     To verify whether the driver has access to a particular facility, however, vehicle access control center performs a verification of the driver&#39;s facial information when the driver facial information is received from the vehicle, and controls an opening and/or closing of a gate for vehicle access in accordance with a positive verification. 
     In some embodiments of the present invention, the vehicle may include a wireless communication unit to perform a wireless communications with the vehicle access control center; an image input unit to photograph a driver&#39;s face within vehicle; a storage unit to store facial characteristic information of a driver/user; and a controller to extract facial characteristic information from the photographed image. The control then compares the extracted facial characteristic information with the facial characteristic information of the storage unit to perform an identification/verification of the drivers face. The controller then determines whether there has been a positive verification of the driver&#39;s facial characteristics by comparing the extracted facial characteristic information with the facial characteristic information of the storage unit. 
     If there the extracted facial information and the stored facial information are identical, a positive verification has occurred. However, the controller determines that the driver is not registered when the extracted facial characteristic information is not identical with the facial characteristic information of the storage unit and performs a new registration of said driver&#39;s facial characteristic information. 
     The vehicle may further include a display unit which displays the result of the identification and a screen for inputting information for a new registration. 
     The vehicle access control center, in some embodiments of the present invention may include a wireless communication unit to perform a wireless communications with one or more vehicles; a storage unit which stores facial characteristic information for one or more individuals having permission to access the facility; an access management unit which compares the facial characteristic information received from the vehicle with the facial characteristic information stored in the storage unit to perform a identification/verification of driver&#39;s facial characteristics; and a gate controller to control the opening and closing of a gate under control of the access management unit. 
     The wireless communication may performed by using, e.g., either an infrared ray (IR), a radio frequency (RF), BLUETOOTH®, WiFi, ZIGBEE®, a near field communication (NFC), and a radio frequency identification (RFID). 
     Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the controller may request the image input unit photograph the driver&#39;s face when the vehicle is in an ignition is turned on and the vehicle is stopped. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, provided is a method of managing entrance and exit of vehicle using driver facial identification/verification within a vehicle. In this illustrative embodiment of the present invention the method initiates by photographing a face of driver within a vehicle. Then facial characteristic information is extracted from data within the photographed image and a driver identification/verification technique is performed using the facial characteristic information extracted. Subsequently, the facial characteristic information is sent to a vehicle access control center via a wireless communication once the driver&#39;s face has been verified by the vehicle. Upon receiving the driver&#39;s facial characteristic information, a facility identification/verification is performed using the facial characteristic information by the vehicle access control center. A gate is then opened for vehicle access in response to a positive identification. 
     As stated above, the face of driver may be photographed when the vehicle ignition is turned on or when a door of vehicle is opened or closed, and the vehicle is stopped. 
     In addition, opening a gate for vehicle access when the driver&#39;s facial information has been verified may be further configured to determine a positive verification has been made when facial characteristic information that exists among previously stored information associated with a particular individual is identical to the facial characteristic information received from the vehicle for that same particular individual. 
     Furthermore, vehicle access verification/identification may be performed by respectively comparing additional information and vehicle information as well as the facial characteristic information. This additional information may be for instance a social security number, a name, an address, and/or a telephone number of driver, and the vehicle information may be for instance a vehicle manufacturing company, a vehicle model, and/or a frame serial number. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a view illustrating a configuration of a system for managing entrance and exit of a facility by verification of a driver&#39;s face within a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 2  is a flow chart illustrating a method of managing entrance and exit of a facility by verification of a driver&#39;s face within a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings in detail. The same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. Detailed descriptions of well-known functions and structures incorporated herein may be omitted to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the present invention. 
     Hereinafter, a system and a method for managing entrance and exit using driver face identification within a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     It is understood that the term “vehicle” or “vehicular” or other similar term as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such as passenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles (SUV), buses, trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including a variety of boats and ships, aircraft, and the like, and includes hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles (e.g. fuels derived from resources other than petroleum). As referred to herein, a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that has two or more sources of power, for example both gasoline-powered and electric-powered vehicles. 
       FIG. 1  is a view illustrating a configuration of a system for managing entrance and exit of a facility by verification of a driver&#39;s face within a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     The system for managing entrance and exit of a facility by verification of a driver&#39;s face within a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a vehicle  100 , and a vehicle access control center  200  which communicate via a wireless communication. 
     The vehicle  100  includes a wireless communication unit  110 , an image input unit  120 , a controller  130 , a storage  140 , and a display unit  150 . 
     More specifically, the wireless communication unit  110  performs wireless communications with the vehicle access control center  200  and sends the results of a driver identification procedure within the vehicle to the vehicle access control center  200 . In the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, the wireless communication may include IRs (infrared rays), RFs (Radio Frequency), BLUETOOTH®, WiFi, ZIGBEE®, NFC (Near Field Communication), RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and the like. 
     The present invention may be commonly applied to many different makes, models and types of vehicles through a standard packet which is transmitted via the wireless communication. 
     In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, the image input unit  120  may include a camera that is configured to photograph a driver&#39;s face upon request from the controller  130 . 
     Along those lines, the controller  130  is configured to send a request to the image input unit  120  to photograph a driver&#39;s face, and receive the data associated with the photographed image from the image input unit  120 . 
     For example, the control  130  may request a driver&#39;s face be photographed when the vehicle is stopped and the ignition is turned on. Alternatively, the control unit  130  may also request the driver&#39;s face be photographed when a door of the vehicle is opened or closed. Accordingly, the controller  130  may then analyze the driver&#39;s facial characteristics, (e.g., their eyes, nose, mouth and/or ears), from the data associated with the image received from the image input unit  120 . In doing so, the control unit  130  extracts the facial characteristic information based the facial characteristics that have been detected in the previous step. 
     For example, the facial characteristic information in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention may include the distance between the driver&#39;s eyes, the distance between the driver&#39;s nose and mouth, the distance between two or more facial features (e.g., the eyes, nose, mouth and ears), and frequency information of the entire face in the image. The technology for extracting facial characteristic information is implemented with a technique for extracting information from normal data which is related or associated with an image. 
     Once the facial characteristics of the driver have been extracted from the photographed image, the controller  130  then determines whether a user having identical facial characteristic information exists within facial characteristic information that has been previously stored in a storage unit  140 . In doing so, the extracted facial characteristic information is compared with facial characteristic information stored in the storage  140 , to determine whether a positive verification/identification can be made. That is, a positive verification can be made when the driver has identical facial characteristic information as the information already stored for the driver on within the storage unit  140 . In response to a positive verification/identification, the driver&#39;s information (e.g., their facial characteristic information, additional information, and vehicle information) is then sent to the vehicle access control center  200  via the wireless communication unit  110 . 
     If, however, positive identification of the driver&#39;s face is not made, the controller  130  may determine that user is not registered and begin a new registration of this driver. 
     With particular reference to the storage unit  140 , user/driver information (e.g., facial characteristic information, additional information, and vehicle information) which is registered for facial verification may be stored accordingly. Furthermore, examples of additional information may include personal information such as a driver&#39;s name, social security number, address, telephone number, etc. Examples of vehicle information may include information such the make and/or model of a vehicle, a frame serial number, etc. Moreover, the face characteristic information may include the distance between two or more facial characteristics (e.g., eyes, nose, mouth and ears), and frequency information of the entire face within the image. 
     A display unit  150  may also be installed in the interior of the vehicle. More particularly, the display unit  150  may be configured to display a verification result and an input screen for new user registration to input user information for registration of a new driver in the facial recognition system. Moreover, the display unit  150  may also be configured to display information relating to the verification of the driver&#39;s facial features on the screen so that drive can verify its accuracy. 
     Again referring to  FIG. 1 , the vehicle access control center  200  includes a wireless communication unit  210 , an access management unit  220 , a storage unit  230 , and a gate controller  240 . The wireless communication unit  210  performs wireless communications with the vehicle  100  to aide in efficient verification of a driver within the vehicle. 
     In the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, the access management unit  220  compares the driver information (e.g., their facial characteristic information, additional information, and vehicle information) received from the vehicle  100  with access person information stored on the storage unit  230  (e.g., facial characteristic information, additional information, and vehicle information) to determine whether both pieces of information are identical, thereby positively identifying the driver of the vehicle. 
     The access management unit  220  performs a registration/delete of the access person information stored in the storage unit  230  and sends a gate control command to the gate controller  240  when the driver has been positive identified and cleared to enter. That is, the access management unit  220  requests a gate be opened when positive identification/verification has been made while requesting a closing of gate or continued closure of the gate when the driver&#39;s facial identification has been denied. 
     More particularly, the storage unit  230  stores access person information (e.g., facial characteristic information, additional information, and vehicle information) with respect to a driver who is allowed to access the facility. Additionally, the gate controller  240  may be controlled by the access management unit  220  to control the opening and closing of gate. 
     Hereinafter, a method for managing entrance and exit via driver facial identification within a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described in detail with reference to  FIG. 2 . 
     The controller  130  of the vehicle  100  first determines whether a driver has gotten into the vehicle (S 101 ). For example, the controller  130  may determine whether a drive gets into the vehicle by either checking whether the ignition has been turned on, or whether a door of the vehicle has been opened or closed. Then, the controller  130  requests that the image input unit  120  photograph the face of driver (S 102 ). The image input unit  120  then sends the data associated with photographed image to the controller  130 , and the controller  130  extracts facial characteristic information from the image data (S 103 ). For example, the facial characteristic information may include the distance between the driver&#39;s eyes, the distance between the driver&#39;s nose and mouth, the distance between two or more facial characteristics (e.g., their eyes, nose, mouth and ears), frequency information of the entire within the image, etc. The frequency information of the entire face means the facial characteristics information for analyzing a horizontal/vertical frequency ingredient of the photographed image as a two-dimensional discrete signal. The frequency analysis, which enables not only a frequency analysis of the entire face but also a frequency analysis of the local face (Short time Fourier transform, Wavelet transform, etc.) 
     Accordingly, the technology for extracting facial characteristic information is implemented via a technique of extracting information from normal image data. 
     Subsequent to extracting the driver&#39;s facial characteristics information, the controller  130  compares user&#39;s facial characteristic information stored in the storage  140  with the extracted facial characteristic information to determine whether a corresponding driver is a registered user (S 104 ). At this time, the controller  130  determines that the driver&#39;s facial features or characteristics have been positively identified when the user&#39;s facial characteristic information is identical with the extracted facial characteristic information. The control unit  130 , however, determines that the driver is not a registered user when the user&#39;s facial characteristic information is not identical with the extracted facial characteristic information. 
     When a corresponding driver is determined to be an unregistered user in step  104 , the display unit  150  may be configured to display a identification error on a screen and display a screen for creating or inputting information for a new registration, so that personal information input by the unregistered driver can be associated with the facial characteristics extracted from the photograph. Upon completion of the registration process, the control unit then stores the facial characteristic information in the storage unit  140 , thereby performing a new registration (S 105 ). 
     However, when a driver is determined to be a registered user as a result of step  104 , the vehicle  100  wirelessly transmits driver information (e.g., their facial characteristic information, additional information, and vehicle information) to the vehicle access control center  200  (S 106 ). 
     Upon receiving this driver information from the vehicle, the access management unit  220  of the vehicle access control center  200  compares the facial characteristic information among the driver information received from the vehicle  100  with access person information (e.g., facial characteristic information, additional information, and vehicle information) stored in the storage unit  230 , to determines whether a corresponding driver is a registered user of that facility (S 107 ). 
     At this time, when the facial characteristic information received in the step  107  is identical with the facial characteristic information stored in the storage unit  230 , the access management unit  220  determines whether the corresponding driver is a registered user for that facility. Here, a registered user means a user who is permitted to access the facility. 
     In the present invention, it is illustrated that both pieces face characteristic information are compared each other in step  107 , but it can be embodied in such a manner that a user is determined to be a user is granted access to the facility in respect to additional information and respective vehicle information which may also be compared. 
     When a corresponding driver is determined to be a user who is permitted to access in step  107 , the access management unit  220  requests the gate controller  240  to open the gate so that the corresponding driver and vehicle may enter the facility (S 108 ). 
     Alternatively, when a corresponding driver is determined to be a user who is not registered in step  107 , the access management unit  220  requests the gate controller  240  to close the gate or continue to keep the gate closed, to restrict the entrance of the corresponding driver to the facility (S 109 ), and may be configured to further perform a new registration for the driver (S 110 ). 
     As described above, in the present invention, a driver&#39;s face is not separately photographed for identification only but automatically photographed within a vehicle upon entrance to the vehicle. Thus, the present invention provides a system and method that is both efficient and convenient. Furthermore, the present invention may be configured to perform a double identification within a vehicle and in a vehicle access control system respectively so that identification/verification efficiency is improved. 
     Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail hereinabove, it should be clearly understood that many variations and modifications of the basic inventive concepts herein taught which may appear to those skilled in the present art will still fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention, as defined in the appended claims.