阅读说明：本技术 用于车辆的控制方法及相应的系统、车辆、设备和介质 (Control method for vehicle, and corresponding system, vehicle, apparatus, and medium ) 是由 宋国林 沈刚 于 2021-08-06 设计创作，主要内容包括：提供了一种用于车辆的控制方法及相应的控制系统、车辆、计算机设备和存储介质。所述方法包括：检测步骤：检测所述车辆的一个感兴趣座椅上是否有乘客,其中所述感兴趣座椅是副驾驶席座椅或后排座椅；判断步骤：在检测结果为肯定的情况下判断所述乘客是否属于目标乘车人员；处理步骤,包括以下控制步骤：在判断结果为肯定的情况下控制与所述感兴趣座椅相关联的至少一个娱乐控制特征以提供用于所述乘客的娱乐功能。通过本发明的方案,可以在检测到目标乘车人员时自动为其提供娱乐功能,能够避免或减少驾驶员分心的可能性,提高用户满意度和行车安全性。(A control method for a vehicle and a corresponding control system, vehicle, computer device and storage medium are provided. The method comprises the following steps: a detection step: detecting whether an occupant is present in a seat of interest of the vehicle, wherein the seat of interest is a passenger seat or a rear seat; a judging step: judging whether the passenger belongs to a target passenger or not under the condition that the detection result is positive; the processing step comprises the following control steps: in the event that the determination is positive, controlling at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest to provide an entertainment function for the passenger. By the scheme of the invention, the entertainment function can be automatically provided for the target passenger when the passenger is detected, the possibility of distraction of a driver can be avoided or reduced, and the user satisfaction and the driving safety are improved.)

1. A control method for a vehicle, comprising:

a detection step: detecting whether an occupant is present in a seat of interest of the vehicle, wherein the seat of interest is a passenger seat or a rear seat;

a judging step: judging whether the passenger belongs to a target passenger or not under the condition that the detection result is positive;

the treatment step comprises:

the control steps are as follows: in the event that the determination is positive, controlling at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest to provide an entertainment function for the passenger.

2. The control method of claim 1, wherein the target occupant comprises a plurality of target occupants, each target occupant corresponding to a different predetermined entertainment mode,

the judging step comprises the following steps: determining whether the passenger belongs to one of the plurality of target passengers in case of positive detection result,

the control step includes: and in the event that the determination is positive, controlling at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest in accordance with a predetermined entertainment mode corresponding to the one target occupant.

3. The control method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of target occupants includes children in a plurality of different age groups including at least a first age group and a second age group.

4. The control method of claim 3, wherein for each of the at least one of the plurality of target occupants, the predetermined entertainment mode corresponding thereto comprises a plurality of predetermined entertainment options, each predetermined entertainment option being for a different emotional state,

the processing step further comprises:

a state information acquisition step: obtaining emotion-related information related to an emotional state of the occupant;

a state determination step: determining an emotional state of the occupant based on the emotion-related information,

the control step includes: controlling at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest in accordance with a predetermined entertainment option included in a predetermined entertainment mode corresponding to the one target occupant for the determined emotional state.

5. The control method of any of claims 1-4, wherein the seat of interest is a rear seat, the at least one entertainment control feature comprising:

a microphone mounted on a rear surface of a front seat adjacent to the rear seat or mounted on a ceiling of the vehicle;

a speaker mounted on a rear surface of a front seat adjacent to the rear seat or mounted on a ceiling of the vehicle; and/or

A screen mounted on the back of the front row of seats adjacent to the rear row of seats.

6. A control system for a vehicle, comprising:

a detection unit configured to detect whether an occupant is present in one seat of interest of the vehicle, wherein the seat of interest is a passenger seat or a rear seat;

the judging unit is configured to judge whether the passenger belongs to a target passenger or not in the case that the detection result is positive;

a processing unit comprising:

a control unit configured to control at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest to provide an entertainment function for the passenger if the determination is positive.

7. The control system of claim 6, wherein the target occupant comprises a plurality of target occupants, each target occupant corresponding to a different predetermined entertainment mode,

the judging unit is configured to judge whether the passenger belongs to one of the target passengers in the plurality of target passengers in case that the detection result is positive,

the control unit is configured to control at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest in accordance with a predetermined entertainment mode corresponding to the one target occupant in the event the determination is positive.

8. The control system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of target occupants includes children in a plurality of different age groups, the different age groups including at least a first age group and a second age group.

9. The control system of claim 8, wherein for each of the at least one of the plurality of target occupants, the predetermined entertainment mode corresponding thereto comprises a plurality of predetermined entertainment options, each predetermined entertainment option directed to a different emotional state,

the processing unit further comprises:

a state information acquisition unit configured to acquire emotion-related information related to an emotional state of the passenger;

a state determination unit configured to determine an emotional state of the occupant based on the emotion-related information,

the control unit is configured to control at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest in accordance with predetermined entertainment options for the determined emotional state included in a predetermined entertainment mode corresponding to the one target occupant.

10. The control system of any of claims 6-9, wherein the seat of interest is a rear seat, the at least one entertainment control feature comprising:

a microphone mounted on a rear surface of a front seat adjacent to the rear seat or mounted on a ceiling of the vehicle;

a speaker mounted on a rear surface of a front seat adjacent to the rear seat or mounted on a ceiling of the vehicle; and/or

A screen mounted on the back of the front row of seats adjacent to the rear row of seats.

11. A vehicle comprising a control system according to any one of claims 6-10.

12. A computer device comprising a memory and a processor, the memory having stored thereon a computer program that, when executed by the processor, causes the control method of any one of claims 1 to 5 to be performed.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium on which a computer program is stored, which, when executed by a processor, causes the control method of any one of claims 1 to 5 to be performed.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of vehicle control, and in particular, to a control method for a vehicle, and a corresponding control system, vehicle, computer device, and computer-readable storage medium.

Background

When a vehicle user drives a vehicle to travel, the vehicle user sometimes encounters a situation of traveling with a child. In this case, the emotion of the child is easily changed during driving, and sometimes even the child cries, which causes distraction of the vehicle user when driving the vehicle, thereby causing a safety hazard.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a control scheme for a vehicle that solves or at least alleviates the above mentioned problems.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method for a vehicle, comprising:

a detection step: detecting whether an occupant is present in a seat of interest of the vehicle, wherein the seat of interest is a passenger seat or a rear seat;

a judging step: judging whether the passenger belongs to a target passenger or not under the condition that the detection result is positive;

the treatment step comprises:

the control steps are as follows: in the event that the determination is positive, controlling at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest to provide an entertainment function for the passenger.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control system for a vehicle, comprising:

a detection unit configured to detect whether an occupant is present in one seat of interest of the vehicle, wherein the seat of interest is a passenger seat or a rear seat;

the judging unit is configured to judge whether the passenger belongs to a target passenger or not in the case that the detection result is positive;

a processing unit comprising:

a control unit configured to control at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest to provide an entertainment function for the passenger if the determination is positive.

According to a third aspect of the invention, a vehicle is provided that includes the control system described above.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer apparatus comprising a memory and a processor, the memory having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by the processor, causes the control method described above to be performed.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a processor, causes the control method described above to be performed.

According to an aspect of the invention, when a target occupant, such as a child, is present in a seat of interest of a vehicle, such as a passenger seat or a rear seat, at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat is controlled to provide an entertainment function for the occupant; therefore, the attention of the target passenger is attracted and diverted, and the possibility of negative emotion of the passenger is avoided or reduced. Therefore, by using the scheme of the invention, the entertainment function can be automatically provided for the target passenger when the passenger is detected, the situation of distraction of the vehicle driver caused by the target passenger such as a child can be avoided or reduced, and the driving safety can be improved.

Drawings

Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the present invention are described by way of example with reference to the following drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is a flowchart schematically showing a control method for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram that schematically illustrates the process steps, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a control system for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating the control scheme of the present invention;

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates control of a safety control feature according to one embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the above and other features and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention is further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to be limiting.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the specific details need not be employed to practice the present invention. In other instances, well-known steps or operations are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the invention.

Fig. 1 shows a control method 100 for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention. The method 100 includes a detection step S120, a determination step S140, and a processing step S160.

In a detection step S120, it is detected whether a passenger is present in a seat of interest of the vehicle.

In the determination step S140, in the case that the detection result of the detection step S120 is affirmative, it is determined whether the passenger in the seat of interest belongs to the target occupant.

The processing step S160 includes at least a control step S162. In a control step S162, in the event that the determination of decision step S140 is affirmative, controlling at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest to provide an entertainment function for the passenger.

The seats of interest mentioned above may include a passenger seat or a rear seat of the vehicle, or only a rear seat of the vehicle, depending on the circumstances. The rear seat of the vehicle may be a seat located behind the driver seat or behind the first row seat where the driver seat is located. For example, when the vehicle has two rows of seats, "rear row seats" may refer to seats in the second row; when the vehicle has three rows of seats, "rear seats" may refer to the second and third rows of seats.

"entertainment control feature" is to be broadly construed as a control, device or apparatus of various possible forms installed inside and/or outside of a vehicle, directly or indirectly related to providing entertainment functionality, and may include, for example and without limitation, a screen, microphone, speaker, etc.

In one embodiment, the seat of interest comprises a passenger seat of the vehicle, and the at least one entertainment control feature associated with the passenger seat may include, for example and without limitation: a screen, such as a touch screen, located at a large on-board screen of the vehicle; and/or a microphone and/or speaker mounted within the vehicle interior near the location of the front dome. In another embodiment, the seats of interest include rear seats, and the at least one entertainment control feature associated with each rear seat may include, for example and without limitation: a microphone and/or speaker mounted on the back of a front seat adjacent to the rear seat or mounted on the ceiling of the vehicle; and/or a screen, such as a touch screen, mounted on the back of the front seat adjacent the rear seat.

The detection in the detection step S120 may be performed in various possible ways. For example, whether a passenger is present in the seat of interest may be detected by a seat sensor mounted on the seat of interest. As another example, a camera may be activated to detect the presence of a passenger in a seat of interest after detecting that a door is open and closed.

The determination in the determination step S140 may be made in various possible ways. A "target occupant" may be a person having a characteristic that may be a characteristic related to the age, gender, and/or any other possible aspect of the person. For example, in one embodiment, a target occupant may refer to a child whose personal information (e.g., facial image information, voice print characteristic information, etc.) is stored in the vehicle, e.g., in a memory of the vehicle. In another embodiment, the target occupant may refer to a child within a target age group (e.g., 0-6 years of age). In the former case, whether the passenger belongs to the target passenger can be judged by collecting personal information of the passenger on the seat of interest and matching the collected personal information of the passenger with personal information of the target passenger stored in the memory; in the latter case, whether the passenger belongs to the target occupant may be determined by collecting facial image information of the passenger in the seat of interest and determining whether the age of the passenger is in the target age group using, for example, face recognition technology.

The target occupants may include a plurality of different types of target occupants, and may include at least a first type of target occupant and a second type of target occupant, for example. At this time, the determining step S140 may include determining whether the passenger in the seat of interest belongs to one of the plurality of target occupants.

In one embodiment, the target occupant may include a child in a plurality of different age groups including at least a first age group and a second age group. For example, the target occupant may include children of three different age groups: children of a first age group, e.g. 0-1 years old, children of a second age group, e.g. 1-3 years old, children of a third age group, e.g. 3-6 years old. At this time, the judging step S140 may include judging whether the passenger in the seat of interest belongs to a child in a certain age group among the plurality of age groups. For example, in one embodiment, the memory of the vehicle stores personal information of the target occupant, such as facial image information, voiceprint feature information, age information, and the like. At this time, according to circumstances, it may be determined that the passenger belongs to the target passenger by collecting personal information of the passenger on the seat of interest and matching the collected personal information of the passenger with personal information of the target passenger stored in the memory, or it may be determined that the passenger is of an age and is determined whether the passenger is the target passenger of a certain age group, or it may be determined that the passenger is of an identity and is determined whether the passenger is the target passenger of a certain age group. As another example, it may be determined whether a passenger belongs to any of a variety of targeted occupants by capturing facial image information of the passenger in the seat of interest and estimating the age of the passenger using, for example, face recognition techniques to determine whether the passenger is in one of the plurality of age groups.

Where the target occupants include a plurality of different types of target occupants, each target occupant may correspond to a different predetermined entertainment mode, and the correspondence between each target occupant and the respective predetermined entertainment mode may be predetermined. At this time, if it is determined in the determining step S140 that the passenger in the seat of interest is one of the plurality of target occupants, the at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest may be controlled according to a predetermined entertainment mode corresponding to the one target occupant in the controlling step S162. For example, in the case where the above-mentioned target vehicle occupant includes children of three ages, the first predetermined entertainment mode may be set for children of the first age group of 0-1 year old; setting a second predetermined entertainment mode for children of a second age group of 1-3 years old; a third predetermined entertainment mode is set for children of a third age group of 3-6 years old. For each predetermined entertainment mode, it may be preset which one or more of the available entertainment control features may be enabled to provide entertainment functionality and/or which one or more of the available entertainment control features are disabled in that predetermined entertainment mode. In addition, one or more entertainment control features that may be enabled in one or more predetermined entertainment modes may optionally be configured to be operable by, and interact with, a user for each of the one or more predetermined entertainment modes. For example, assuming that the entertainment control features include speakers and a screen, the first predetermined entertainment mode may correspond to enabling the speakers, disabling the screen, such that music is played for the child through the speakers in the first predetermined entertainment mode to placate the child's mood; the second predetermined entertainment mode may correspond to enabling a speaker or enabling a screen and a speaker so that music is played for the child or an animation is played for the child to sooth the child's mood or attract the child's attention in the second predetermined entertainment mode; the third predetermined entertainment mode may correspond to enabling the screen and the speaker to play music or animations for the child in the third predetermined entertainment mode and/or to allow the child to interact through a screen, such as a touch screen or voice, e.g. the child may click on the screen or select a favorite animation or a song of the child through a voice assistant.

Further, for each of the at least one of the plurality of target occupants, the predetermined entertainment mode corresponding thereto may include a plurality of predetermined entertainment options, each predetermined entertainment option being for a different emotional state, such as an emotional state of calm, excited, crying, etc. For example, the second one of the above-mentioned first, second and third predetermined entertainment modes, for example, may comprise a predetermined entertainment option 1 for the emotional state "crying" and a predetermined entertainment option 2 for the emotional state "calm". As described above, the second predetermined entertainment mode may correspond to enabling a screen or speaker, predetermined entertainment option 1 may correspond to playing music for the child through the speaker, and predetermined entertainment option 2 may correspond to playing an animation for the child through the speaker and the screen. More than one predetermined entertainment option may optionally be set for the first and/or third predetermined entertainment modes, as the case may be. As described above, the first predetermined entertainment mode may correspond to enabling a speaker, disabling a screen, and the first predetermined entertainment mode may be set with a first predetermined entertainment option for the emotional state "crying" for playing soothing music through the speaker and a second predetermined entertainment option for the emotional state "calm" for playing a children's story through the speaker. For any predetermined entertainment mode that includes a plurality of predetermined entertainment options, each of the predetermined entertainment options included may, depending on the circumstances, involve the use of a different entertainment control feature, or involve the use of the same entertainment control feature but provide a different entertainment output to the passenger through the same entertainment control feature.

Fig. 2 shows process step S260 according to an embodiment of the invention. The processing step S260 including the status information acquiring step S262, the status determining step S264 and the controlling step S266 may enable the use of the corresponding predetermined entertainment option according to the emotional state of the occupant in the seat of interest.

In the state information acquisition step S262, emotion-related information related to the emotional state of the occupant in the seat of interest is acquired. The emotion-related information may be obtained in various possible ways, for example facial expression information and/or voice feature information of the passenger may be captured as emotion-related information by means of an available camera and/or microphone.

In the state determination step S264, the emotional state of the occupant is determined based on the acquired emotion-related information. Techniques and means for determining an emotional state from emotion-related information may be known in the art and will not be described in detail herein.

At least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest is controlled in a control step S266 in accordance with predetermined entertainment options included in a predetermined entertainment mode corresponding to a particular targeted occupant to which the passenger belongs for the determined emotional state.

Alternatively or additionally, other possible factors such as the gender of the passenger, personal preferences, etc. may be taken into account in addition to their emotional state in providing entertainment output to the targeted passenger. This may be achieved, for example, by making necessary settings when setting predetermined entertainment options for a predetermined entertainment mode corresponding to a target occupant to which the passenger belongs or by using an interactive function.

According to circumstances, the control steps of the present invention, such as the control steps S162 or S266, may further optionally include: in the event that the determination is positive, at least one safety control feature associated with the seat of interest is enabled. Further details regarding the safety control features will be described further below.

In addition, the control steps of the present invention, such as the control step S162 or S266, may further optionally include: if the determination is positive, at least one environmental control feature associated with the seat of interest is selectively enabled, as appropriate. Environmental control features may include, for example, but are not limited to, overhead lights, atmosphere lights. For example, at night or when the vehicle is traveling in a dark environment, such as a tunnel, the dome and mood lights inside the vehicle corresponding to the seat of interest in which the passenger is located may be activated. In addition, an ambience lamp inside the vehicle corresponding to the seat of interest may be activated when the occupant of the seat of interest has a negative emotion. By starting the environment control feature, a comfortable environment is created for the passenger, the emotion of the passenger is pacified, and the user experience is improved.

Fig. 3 schematically shows a control system 300 for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention. The control system comprises a detection unit 302, a determination unit 304 and a processing unit 306. The detection unit 302 is communicatively coupled with the determination unit 304, and the determination unit 304 is communicatively coupled with the processing unit 306.

The detection unit 302 may be configured to detect whether a passenger is present in one seat of interest of the vehicle, wherein the seat of interest is a passenger seat or a rear seat. The detection unit 302 may comprise or be adapted to be communicatively coupled to a device, such as a camera or a seat sensor, adapted to detect whether a passenger is present in the seat of interest. The determination unit 304 may be configured to determine whether the passenger belongs to the target occupant if the detection result of the detection unit 302 is positive. The processing unit 306 comprises a control unit 3062, the control unit 3062 may be configured to control at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest to provide an entertainment function for the passenger in case the determination by the determining unit 304 is positive.

In one embodiment, the target vehicle occupant comprises a plurality of target vehicle occupants, each corresponding to a different predetermined entertainment mode. In this case, the determination unit 304 may be configured to determine whether the passenger belongs to one of the plurality of target occupants if the detection result of the detection unit 302 is affirmative, and the control unit 3062 may be configured to control at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest according to a predetermined entertainment mode corresponding to the one target occupant if the determination result of the determination unit 304 is affirmative.

In one embodiment, the predetermined entertainment mode corresponding thereto comprises, for each of the at least one of the plurality of target occupants, a plurality of predetermined entertainment options, each predetermined entertainment option being for a different emotional state. In this case, the processing unit 306 may further include: a state information acquisition unit (not shown) configured to acquire emotion-related information related to an emotional state of the passenger; a state determination unit (not shown) configured to determine an emotional state of the occupant based on the emotion-related information. Additionally, the control unit 3062 may be configured to control at least one entertainment control feature associated with the seat of interest in accordance with a predetermined entertainment option for the determined emotional state included in a predetermined entertainment mode corresponding to the one target occupant.

The entertainment control feature may, depending on the case, form part of the control system of the invention, or be not part of the latter and adapted to be controlled by the latter.

The solution of the invention is further illustrated with reference to fig. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, entertainment control system 400 includes an audiovisual entertainment host 402, a front row entertainment control feature 404, a back row entertainment control feature 406, and a T-BOX communication module 408.

Audiovisual entertainment host 402 is in communication with each of front row entertainment control feature 404 and back row entertainment control feature 406 and is configured to control front row entertainment control feature 404 and back row entertainment control feature 406. Front row entertainment control features 404 may include: a screen, such as a touch screen, located at a large on-board screen of the vehicle; and/or a microphone and/or speaker mounted within the vehicle interior near the location of the front dome. The back row entertainment control features 406 may include: a microphone and/or speaker mounted on the back of a front seat adjacent to the rear seat or mounted on the ceiling of the vehicle; and/or a screen, such as a touch screen, mounted on the back of the front seat adjacent the rear seat. Specifically, audiovisual entertainment host 402 may be configured to perform the processing steps of the control method of the present invention, namely: in response to the presence of a passenger belonging to a target occupant in a front seat of interest of the vehicle, audiovisual entertainment host 402 controls an entertainment control feature associated with the front seat included in front entertainment control feature 404 as described above, and in response to the presence of a passenger belonging to a target occupant in a rear seat of interest of the vehicle, audiovisual entertainment host 402 controls an entertainment control feature associated with the rear seat included in rear entertainment control feature 406 as described above. Audiovisual entertainment host 402 may also be configured to perform the determining step of the control method of the present invention or to perform the detecting step and the determining step of the control method of the present invention. Depending on the circumstances, audiovisual entertainment host 402 may include or be communicatively coupled to a device such as a camera or seat sensor adapted to detect the presence of a passenger in a seat of interest. As shown in FIG. 4, audiovisual entertainment host 402 communicates with front row entertainment control feature 404 and/or back row entertainment control feature 406 via LVDS signals.

In one embodiment, audiovisual entertainment host 402 may include two separate hosts, a front row audiovisual entertainment host and a back row audiovisual entertainment host, to control front row entertainment control feature 304 and back row entertainment control feature 306, respectively, and communication between the front row audiovisual entertainment host and the back row audiovisual entertainment host may be via ethernet (not shown).

Fig. 4 also illustrates a backend cloud platform. The infotainment host 402 may communicate with the backend cloud platform through the T-BOX communication module 408 to, for example but not limited to: uploading information about the target passenger, such as personal information (e.g., facial image information, voiceprint feature information, age information, etc.) of the target passenger, features of the target passenger for identifying the target passenger, and the like, which are locally stored by the vehicle, to a back-end cloud platform for storage; acquiring information about a target passenger from a rear-end cloud platform; network information, such as videos, music, etc., stored on the backend cloud platform is downloaded locally for playback via local entertainment control features such as screens and/or speakers. As shown in fig. 4, the av entertainment host 402 communicates with the T-BOX communication module 408 via ethernet, and the T-BOX communication module 408 communicates with the backend cloud platform via network signals (e.g., 4G signals, 5G signals, etc.).

The entertainment control system 400 may also be configured to be adapted to communicate with a vehicle control unit of the vehicle, communicating control signals to the vehicle control unit to cause the vehicle control unit to control at least one safety control feature associated with the seat of interest to provide a safety function for the passenger. The at least one safety control feature may include a vehicle door, a vehicle window, or a combination thereof. Taking a car with two rows of seats as an example, the at least one safety control feature comprises a window motor and a door lock relay corresponding to the front passenger seat, and a left window motor, a left door lock relay, a right window motor and a right door lock relay corresponding to the rear row of seats. In one embodiment, the seats on the left, right and middle of the rear row may correspond to the left window motor and door lock relay, the right window motor and door lock relay, and the left and right window motors and door lock relays, respectively; it is also possible to make each of the rear seats correspond to the window motor and the door lock relay on the left and right sides.

In one embodiment, in the presence of a passenger belonging to a target occupant at a seat of interest, the audiovisual entertainment host 402 may communicate with a vehicle controller of the vehicle over a CAN network to send control signals thereto for safety control features associated with the seat; in response, the vehicle control unit may then send a signal to the associated safety control feature, for example via the vehicle's hardwire to the associated safety control feature, such as an associated window motor and/or door lock relay, causing the corresponding window and door to be locked. Fig. 5 shows that the video entertainment host 402 communicates with the vehicle controller through the CAN network, and the vehicle controller communicates with the left window motor, the right window motor, the left door lock relay and the right door lock relay through hard-wired signals. Where there are multiple target occupants, each target occupant may correspond to a different predetermined safety mode, and where it is determined that the passenger at the seat of interest belongs to one of the target occupants, the at least one safety control feature associated with the seat of interest may be controlled in accordance with the predetermined safety mode corresponding to that one of the target occupants. For example, for the target occupant who is a child of the second age group, the corresponding predetermined safety mode may be to lock the window and the door corresponding to the seat of interest, and only allow the driver to operate the window and the door; for the target occupant who is a child of the third age group as described above, the corresponding predetermined safety mode may be to allow the passenger to operate the window by only locking the door corresponding to the seat of interest.

Although not shown, the entertainment control system 400 may also include or be communicatively coupled to additional components or modules, such as security control features, environmental control features, air conditioning systems, cameras, and the like.

Entertainment control system 400 of fig. 4, or portions thereof (e.g., audiovisual entertainment host 402, or audiovisual entertainment host 402 and T-BOX communication module 408), may correspond to control system 300 of fig. 3 or form a portion of control system 300.

It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the schematic diagrams of the systems shown in fig. 3 and 4 are merely illustrative of some of the structures associated with aspects of the present invention and do not constitute limitations of the computer devices, processors or computer program instructions embodying aspects of the present invention. Particular computer apparatus, processors, or computer program instructions may include more or fewer components or modules than shown, or may combine or split certain components or modules, or may have different arrangements of components or modules.

It will be understood that the specific features, operations and details described herein above with respect to the method of the present invention may also be similarly applied to the system of the present invention, or vice versa. In addition, each step of the method of the present invention described above may be performed by a respective component or unit of the system of the present invention.

It should be understood that the various modules/units of the control system of the present invention may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof. The modules/units may be embedded in the processor of the computer device in the form of hardware or firmware or independent from the processor, or may be stored in the memory of the computer device in the form of software for being called by the processor to execute the operations of the modules/units. Each of the modules/units may be implemented as a separate component or module, or two or more modules/units may be implemented as a single component or module.

In one embodiment, a computer device is provided comprising a memory and a processor, the memory having stored thereon computer instructions executable by the processor, the computer instructions, when executed by the processor, instructing the processor to perform the steps of the method of the invention. The computer device may broadly be a server, a terminal, or any other electronic device having the necessary computing and/or processing capabilities. In one embodiment, the computer device may include a processor, memory, network interface, communication interface, etc. connected by a system bus. The processor of the computer device may be used to provide the necessary computing, processing and/or control capabilities. The memory of the computer device may include non-volatile storage media and internal memory. An operating system, a computer program, and the like may be stored in or on the non-volatile storage medium. The internal memory may provide an environment for the operating system and the computer programs in the non-volatile storage medium to run. The network interface and the communication interface of the computer device may be used to connect and communicate with an external device through a network. The computer program, when executed by a processor, performs the steps of the control method for a vehicle of the invention.

The present invention may be embodied as a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the steps of the method of the present invention to be performed. In one embodiment, the computer instructions are distributed across a plurality of computer devices or processors coupled by a network such that the computer instructions are stored, accessed, and executed by one or more computer devices or processors in a distributed fashion. A single method step/operation, or two or more method steps/operations, may be performed by a single computer device or processor or by two or more computer devices or processors. One or more method steps/operations may be performed by one or more computer devices or processors, and one or more other method steps/operations may be performed by one or more other computer devices or processors. One or more computer devices or processors may perform a single method step/operation, or perform two or more method steps/operations.

It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that all or a portion of the steps of the control method for a vehicle of the present invention may be directed to associated hardware, such as a computer device or a processor, via computer instructions, which may be stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, that when executed result in the steps of the method of the present invention being performed. Any reference herein to memory, storage, databases, or other media may include non-volatile and/or volatile memory, as appropriate. Examples of non-volatile memory include read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (prom), electrically programmable ROM (eprom), electrically erasable programmable ROM (eeprom), flash memory, magnetic tape, floppy disk, magneto-optical data storage device, hard disk, solid state disk, and the like. Examples of volatile memory include Random Access Memory (RAM), external cache memory, and the like.

The respective technical features described above may be arbitrarily combined. Although not all possible combinations of features are described, any combination of features should be considered to be covered by the present specification as long as there is no contradiction between such combinations.

While the present invention has been described in connection with the embodiments, it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing description and drawings are merely illustrative and not restrictive of the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. Various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.