Patent ID: 8253551

Claim:
A driving monitoring method using a driving monitoring device in a vehicle, the driving monitoring device comprising a camera and a button, the method comprising: setting a first angle of the camera to capture a face of a driver, and setting a threshold value to determine if the driver is awake; setting a second angle of the camera to capture a steering wheel of the vehicle, setting a division standard to divide a steering wheel region, and setting standard positions of hands of the driver on the steering wheel; sending a first instruction in response to receiving a press signal from the button; controlling the camera to capture a face image of the driver at the first angle according to the first instruction; identifying a facial region in the face image, locating an eye region from the facial region, and calculating a ratio of a height and a width of the eye region; determining that the driver is not awake if the calculated ratio is not larger than the threshold value, and invoking a second instruction; controlling the camera to capture a first image of the steering wheel at the second angle according to the second instruction; identifying a steering wheel region and two hand regions, dividing the steering wheel region into a plurality of sub regions according to the division standard, and confirming one or more sub regions corresponding to the two hand regions; and determining that the driver drives the vehicle appropriately if the confirmed sub regions match the standard positions; or determining that the driver drives the vehicle inappropriately if the confirmed sub regions do not match the standard positions, and outputting alert signals to prompt the driver.