阅读说明：本技术 车辆及其控制方法 (Vehicle and control method thereof ) 是由 金荣范 于 2020-11-13 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供了一种车辆,通过基于乘客耳朵的位置来调整头枕扬声器的输出强度,从而使头枕扬声器的左侧输出强度和右侧输出强度的差异最小化。头枕扬声器包括：设置在车辆内部的座椅的头枕的左侧以输出声音的左侧扬声器和设置在头枕的右侧以输出声音的右侧扬声器。压力传感器测量施加到头枕的力,控制器基于由压力传感器测量的力的作用点来调整左侧扬声器和右侧扬声器的输出强度。(The present invention provides a vehicle that minimizes a difference between left and right output intensities of headrest speakers by adjusting the output intensities of the headrest speakers based on positions of ears of passengers. The headrest speaker includes: a left speaker provided on a left side of a headrest of a seat inside a vehicle to output sound and a right speaker provided on a right side of the headrest to output sound. The pressure sensor measures a force applied to the headrest, and the controller adjusts the output intensities of the left and right speakers based on the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor.)

1. A vehicle, comprising:

a headrest speaker, comprising: a left speaker provided at a left side of a headrest of a seat inside the vehicle to output a sound; and a right speaker provided at a right side of the headrest to output sound;

a pressure sensor configured to measure a force applied to the headrest; and

a controller configured to adjust output intensities of the left and right speakers based on a point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to: when an action point of a force measured by the pressure sensor is located in a first direction with respect to a vertical line passing through a center of the headrest, an output intensity of one of the left side speaker and the right side speaker disposed in the first direction is decreased, and an output intensity of one of the left side speaker and the right side speaker disposed in a second direction opposite to the first direction is increased.

3. The vehicle of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to: determining an amount of change in the output intensity of the left or right speaker in proportion to a distance between a point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor and a vertical line passing through the center of the headrest.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising:

a vibration sensor configured to detect vibration of the seat;

wherein the controller is configured to: calibrating the position of the point of action measured by the pressure sensor based on horizontal vibrations in the vibrations detected by the vibration sensor.

5. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to: the position of the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor is calibrated to the left when the direction of vibration detected by the vibration sensor is in the left direction, and to the right when the direction of vibration detected by the vibration sensor is in the right direction.

6. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to: calibrating a position of an action point of a force measured by the pressure sensor to a center of the headrest when the vibration sensor continuously detects vibration in a horizontal direction for a predetermined time.

7. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to: turning off an output of the headrest speaker in response to determining that the position of the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor has not changed within a predetermined period of time.

8. A vehicle, comprising:

a headrest speaker, comprising: a left speaker provided at a left side of a headrest of a seat inside the vehicle to output a sound; and a right speaker provided at a right side of the headrest to output sound;

a camera configured to acquire an image of a passenger seated on a seat of the vehicle; and

a controller configured to determine a position of the passenger's ear based on the image acquired from the camera, and adjust output intensities of the left and right speakers based on the position of the passenger's ear.

9. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to: decreasing an output intensity of a speaker when the left ear or the right ear of the passenger is closer to the left side speaker or the right side speaker, and increasing the output intensity of a speaker when the left ear or the right ear of the passenger is farther from the left side speaker or the right side speaker.

10. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to: determining an output intensity of the left or right speaker in proportion to a distance between a left or right ear of the passenger and the left or right speaker.

11. The vehicle of claim 8, further comprising:

a vibration sensor configured to detect vibration of the seat; and is

Wherein the controller is configured to: calibrating the position of the passenger's ear based on horizontal vibrations in the vibrations detected by the vibration sensor.

12. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to: the position of the passenger's ear is calibrated to the left when the direction of vibration detected by the vibration sensor is in the left direction, and the position of the passenger's ear is calibrated to the right when the direction of vibration detected by the vibration sensor is in the right direction.

13. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to: when the vibration sensor continuously detects the horizontal vibration for a preset period of time, calibrating the position of the passenger's ear so that the distance between the right side speaker and the passenger's right ear is equal to the distance between the left side speaker and the passenger's left ear.

14. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to: detecting the passenger's eyes based on the image of the passenger, and in response to determining that the passenger's eyes are closed for a predetermined period of time, turning off the output of the headrest speaker.

15. A vehicle control method, the vehicle including a headrest speaker, the headrest speaker comprising: a left speaker provided at a left side of a headrest of a seat inside the vehicle to output a sound; and a right speaker provided at a right side of the headrest to output a sound, the method comprising the steps of:

determining, by a controller, a position of an ear of a passenger seated in a seat of the vehicle; and

adjusting, by the controller, output intensities of the left and right speakers based on a position of the passenger's ears.

16. The vehicle control method according to claim 15, wherein:

the step of determining the position of the passenger's ear comprises:

determining the position of the ear of a passenger sitting in the seat based on the point of action of the force measured by a pressure sensor for measuring the force applied to the headrest, and

the step of adjusting the output intensity of the left and right speakers based on the position of the passenger's ears comprises:

when a point of action of a force measured by the pressure sensor is located in a first direction with respect to a vertical line passing through a center of the headrest, reducing an output intensity of a speaker disposed in the first direction among the left and right speakers,

and increasing an output intensity of a speaker of the left and right speakers disposed in a second direction opposite to the first direction.

17. The vehicle control method according to claim 15, wherein:

the step of determining the position of the ear of a passenger seated in the seat comprises:

determining a position of an ear of a passenger seated in the seat based on an image acquired by a camera configured to acquire an image of the passenger; and is

The step of adjusting the output intensity of the left and right speakers based on the position of the passenger's ears comprises:

decreasing an output intensity of a speaker when a left ear or a right ear of the passenger is closer to the left speaker or the right speaker; and

increasing the output intensity of the speaker when the left ear or the right ear of the passenger is farther away from the left side speaker or the right side speaker.

18. The vehicle control method according to claim 15, wherein the step of determining the position of the ear of the passenger seated in the seat includes: calibrating the position of the passenger's ear based on horizontal vibrations in vibrations detected by a vibration sensor configured to detect vibrations of the seat.

19. The vehicle control method according to claim 18, wherein the step of calibrating the position of the ear of the passenger based on the horizontal vibration in the vibrations detected by a vibration sensor that detects the vibration of the seat includes:

calibrating the position of the passenger's ear to the left when the vibration direction detected by the vibration sensor is in the left direction; and

when the direction of vibration detected by the vibration sensor is in the right direction, the position of the passenger's ear is calibrated to the right.

20. The vehicle control method according to claim 15, further comprising:

turning off, by the controller, an output of the headrest speaker in response to determining that the position of the ear of the occupant has not changed within a predetermined period of time.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a vehicle and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a vehicle and a control method thereof, in which the output intensity of a headrest speaker provided inside the vehicle is automatically changed according to the position of a passenger's ear.

Background

A vehicle is a device capable of transporting a person or an object toward a destination while traveling on a road or a track. Vehicles can be moved to various locations primarily using one or more wheels mounted on the body. Such vehicles may include three-or four-wheeled vehicles, two-wheeled vehicles (e.g., motorcycles, construction machines, bicycles, and trains running on rails (arranged on a track).

In addition, the vehicle performs a navigation function, a phone function, an audio function, a radio function, a broadcast function, a text message service function, an internet function, etc., and in recent years, software for performing more various and complicated functions is built in. The level of demand of drivers or passengers in vehicles is increasing and, in order to accommodate this, the level of interlocking technology between vehicles and external terminals such as smartphones is also increasing.

A driver or a passenger of the vehicle may desire to listen to desired music through interaction with an Audio Video Navigation (AVN) device or an external terminal of the vehicle, and the desire to listen to music may be different between the driver and the passenger. In addition, when a phone call is made inside the vehicle using a bluetooth connection, other people in the vehicle may also hear the content of the call, thus violating personal privacy.

In addition, with the development of various technologies related to vehicles, various sounds such as a warning sound, a navigation guidance sound, and a buzzer sound may be output to the inside of the vehicle, and the driver or passenger may also need to listen to unnecessary sounds. Therefore, in recent years, research has been conducted on a technique for separating a sound output area or a sound arrival area so that only passengers located within a predetermined area can hear sounds (e.g., music or talk sounds) output to the vehicle interior by differentiating the areas within the vehicle interior. In addition, a method of separating sound output regions and simultaneously outputting sound to the separated regions is being actively discussed.

As a method for separating sound output regions, research into headrest speakers is actively underway, and when headrest speakers are used, there is a problem: when the head of the passenger moves, the distance between the ear of the passenger and the speaker changes, resulting in a difference in left and right sound volume.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides a vehicle and a control method thereof for adjusting the output intensity of a headrest speaker based on the position of the ears of a passenger, thereby minimizing the difference in left and right sound volume felt by the passenger.

According to one aspect of the invention, a vehicle comprises: a headrest speaker having: a left speaker provided on a left side of a headrest of a seat inside a vehicle to output a sound; and a right speaker provided on a right side of the headrest to output sound; a pressure sensor configured to measure a force applied to the headrest; and a controller configured to adjust output intensities of the left and right speakers based on the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor.

The controller may be configured to: when the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor is located in a first direction based on a vertical line passing through the center of the headrest, the output intensity of the speaker of the left and right speakers disposed in the first direction is reduced, and the output intensity of the speaker of the left and right speakers disposed in a second direction opposite to the first direction is increased. The controller may be configured to: the amount of change in the output intensity of the left or right speaker is determined in proportion to the distance between the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor and a vertical line passing through the center of the headrest.

The vehicle may further include: a vibration sensor configured to detect vibration of the seat; and the controller may be configured to: the position of the point of action measured by the pressure sensor is calibrated based on horizontal vibrations in the vibrations detected by the vibration sensor. Additionally, the controller may be configured to: when the vibration direction detected by the vibration sensor is in the left direction, the position of the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor is calibrated in the left direction, and may be configured to: when the vibration direction detected by the vibration sensor is in the right direction, the position of the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor is calibrated in the right direction.

The controller may be configured to: when the vibration sensor continuously detects vibration in the horizontal direction for a predetermined time, the position of the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor is calibrated to the center of the headrest. The controller may be configured to: when the position of the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor does not change within a predetermined time, the output of the headrest speaker is turned off.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a vehicle may include: a headrest speaker, comprising: a left speaker provided on a left side of a headrest of a seat inside a vehicle to output a sound; and a right speaker provided on a right side of the headrest to output sound; a camera configured to acquire an image of a passenger seated in a seat of a vehicle; and a controller configured to determine a position of the passenger's ear based on the image acquired from the camera, and adjust output intensities of the left and right speakers based on the position of the passenger's ear.

The controller may be configured to decrease the output intensity of the speaker when the left ear or the right ear of the passenger is closer to the left side speaker or the right side speaker, and increase the output intensity of the speaker when the left ear or the right ear of the passenger is farther from the left side speaker or the right side speaker. The controller may be configured to: the output intensity of the left or right speaker is determined in proportion to the distance between the left or right ear of the passenger and the left or right speaker.

The vehicle may further include: a vibration sensor configured to detect vibration of the seat; and the controller may be configured to: based on the horizontal vibrations in the vibrations detected by the vibration sensor, the position controller that calibrates the passenger's ear may be configured to: when the vibration direction detected by the vibration sensor is in the left direction, the position of the passenger's ear is calibrated in the left direction, and when the vibration direction detected by the vibration sensor is in the right direction, the position of the passenger's ear is calibrated in the right direction.

The controller may be configured to: when the vibration sensor continuously detects horizontal vibration for a preset time, the position of the passenger's ear is calibrated so that the distance between the right side speaker and the passenger's right ear is equal to the distance between the left side speaker and the passenger's left ear. The controller may be configured to: based on the image of the passenger, the eyes of the passenger are detected, and when the eyes of the passenger are closed for a predetermined period of time, the output of the headrest speaker is turned off.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a control method of a vehicle including a headrest speaker, the headrest speaker having: a left speaker provided on a left side of a headrest of a seat inside a vehicle to output sound; and a right speaker provided on a right side of the headrest to output a sound, the method may include: determining a position of an ear of a passenger seated in the seat; and adjusting the output intensity of the left and right speakers based on the position of the passenger's ears.

Determining the position of the passenger's ear may include: the position of the ear of the passenger seated in the seat is determined based on the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor configured to measure the force applied to the headrest. Adjusting the output intensity of the left and right speakers based on the position of the passenger's ears may include: reducing an output intensity of a speaker disposed in the first direction among the left and right speakers when an action point of the force measured by the pressure sensor is located in the first direction based on a vertical line passing through a center of the headrest; and increasing an output intensity of a speaker disposed in a second direction opposite to the first direction, of the left side speaker and the right side speaker.

Determining the position of the ear of the passenger seated in the seat may include: determining a position of an ear of a passenger based on an image acquired by a camera configured to acquire an image of the passenger seated in the seat; and adjusting the output intensity of the left and right speakers based on the position of the passenger's ears may include: reducing the output intensity of the speaker when the left ear or the right ear of the passenger is closer to the left speaker or the right speaker; increasing the output intensity of the speaker when the left ear or the right ear of the passenger is farther away from the left side speaker or the right side speaker;

additionally, determining the position of the ear of the passenger seated in the seat may include: the positions of the ears of the passenger are calibrated based on horizontal vibration in the vibration detected by a vibration sensor that detects the vibration of the seat. Calibrating the position of the passenger's ear based on horizontal vibrations in the vibrations detected by the vibration sensor configured to detect the vibrations of the seat may include: calibrating the position of the passenger's ear in the left direction when the vibration direction detected by the vibration sensor is in the left direction; and calibrating the position of the passenger's ear in the right direction when the vibration direction detected by the vibration sensor is in the right direction. The method may further comprise: when the position of the passenger's ear does not change within a predetermined time, the output of the headrest speaker is turned off.

The method and apparatus of the present invention have other features and advantages which will be apparent from, or are set forth in more detail in, the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and the following detailed description, which together with the drawings, illustrate certain principles of the invention.

Drawings

The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the appearance of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a seat of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a control block diagram of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a vehicle, according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining a process of controlling the output of the headrest speaker based on the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining a process of calibrating the output of the headrest speaker based on the vibration measured by the vibration sensor according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a vehicle according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating an image of a passenger acquired through a camera according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating a case where an output of a headrest speaker is turned off according to an exemplary embodiment.

Detailed Description

It should be understood that the term "vehicle" or "vehicular" or other similar terms as used herein generally includes motor vehicles in general, such as passenger vehicles including Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs), 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).

While the exemplary embodiments are described as performing exemplary processing using multiple units, it should be understood that the exemplary processing may also be performed by one or more modules. Additionally, it is understood that the term controller/control unit refers to a hardware device that includes a memory and a processor, and is specifically programmed to perform the processes described herein. The memory is configured to store the modules and the processor is specifically configured to execute the modules to perform one or more processes described further below.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the word "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Unless otherwise indicated or apparent from the context, the term "about" as used herein should be understood to be within the normal tolerance of the art, e.g., within 2 standard deviations of the mean. "about" can be understood as being within 10%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.1%, 0.05% or 0.01% of the stated value. All numerical values provided herein are to be modified by the term "about" unless otherwise clear from the context.

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below. While the invention will be described in conjunction with the exemplary embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that the description is not intended to limit the invention to those exemplary embodiments. On the other hand, the present invention is intended to cover not only exemplary embodiments of the present invention but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalents and other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

In the following description, like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification. Not all elements of an embodiment are described in this specification, and there is no overlap between general matters or embodiments in the field of inventions to which exemplary embodiments of the present invention pertain. Terms such as "unit," "module," "member," and "block" may be embodied as hardware or software. Depending on the embodiment, a plurality of "units", "modules", "members" and "blocks" may be implemented as a single component, or a single "unit", "module", "member" and "block" may include a plurality of components.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly or indirectly connected to the other element, including being "connected through a wireless communication network". In addition, when a component "comprises" or "comprising" an element, the component may also comprise, without excluding, other elements, unless specifically stated to the contrary.

The terms "first," "second," and the like are used to distinguish one element from another, and are not limited by the above terms. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, expressions in the singular include expressions in the plural. The reference numerals used in the operations are used for convenience of description and are not intended to describe the order of the operations, and the operations may be performed in a different order unless otherwise specified.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an appearance of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment, and fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a seat of the vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment.

For convenience of the following description, as shown in fig. 1, the direction in which the vehicle 1 moves forward is generally referred to as forward direction, and the left-right direction is distinguished based on the forward direction. In addition, the direction of the floor with respect to the vehicle 1 is referred to as a vertical direction, and the direction parallel to the ground is defined as a horizontal direction.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the vehicle 1 may include: at least one seat 300; a headrest speaker 600 provided on the headrest 300b of at least one seat 300; a pressure sensor 100 disposed on the headrest 300b and configured to measure a force applied to the headrest 300 b; a vibration sensor 200 disposed in the seat 300 and configured to detect vibration of the seat 300, and a camera 400 configured to acquire an image of an occupant inside the vehicle 1.

The at least one seat 300 may include a driver seat 301, a booster seat 302, a rear seat 303 of the driver seat, and a rear seat 304 of the booster seat, and the passenger may refer to a person seated in any one of the driver seat 301, the booster seat 302, the rear seat 303 of the driver seat, and the rear seat 304 of the booster seat. The number or shape of the at least one seat 300 may be different based on the type of the vehicle 1.

Each seat 300 may include a backrest 300a supporting the body of the occupant and a headrest 300b supporting the head of the occupant. The headrest speaker 600 may include: a left speaker 600L provided on the left side of the headrest 300b to output sound, and a right speaker 600R provided on the right side of the headrest 300b to output sound. The headrest speaker 600 may be configured to output music, output sound of video, or output sound signals of a navigation device or an AVN device according to a control signal of the controller 500.

For example, the first headrest speaker 601 may be provided in the driver seat 301, and the first headrest speaker 601 may include a first left side speaker 601L and a first right side speaker 601R. A second headrest speaker 602 may be disposed in the booster seat 302, and the second headrest speaker 602 may include a second left speaker 602L and a second right speaker 602R. Similarly, a third headrest speaker 603 may be provided in the rear seat 303 of the driver seat, and the third headrest speaker 603 may include a third left-side speaker 603L and a third right-side speaker 603R. Additionally, a fourth headrest speaker 604 may be disposed in the back seat 304 of the booster seat, and the fourth headrest speaker 604 may include a fourth left speaker 604L and a fourth right speaker 604R.

Each headrest speaker 600 may be configured to output the same sound, or may be configured to output different sounds. For example, the second headrest speaker 602 of the passenger seat 302 may be configured to output music, and the first headrest speaker 601 of the driver seat 301 may be configured to output a sound of the navigation apparatus. Each seat 300 may include: a pressure sensor 100 configured to measure a force applied to the headrest 300 b. The pressure sensor 100 may include all regions in the horizontal direction of the headrest 300b, and may be configured to acquire information on the point of action of force applied to the headrest 300 b.

As the pressure sensor 100, all types of sensors configured to measure the force applied to the headrest 300b may be employed. In addition, a vibration sensor 200 configured to measure vibration of the seat 300 may be provided in each seat 300. As the vibration sensor 200, all types of sensors configured to detect vibration of the seat 300 may be employed. Specifically, the vibration sensor 200 may be configured to measure the direction and intensity of vibration applied to the seat 300.

Camera 400 may refer to any configuration capable of capturing an image of a passenger. For example, the camera 400 may employ a CMOS image sensor or a CCD image sensor. At least one camera 400 may be provided within the vehicle 1 and may acquire all images of the passengers seated in the respective seats 300.

Fig. 3 is a control block diagram of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment. Referring to fig. 3, the pressure sensor 100 may be configured to transmit information related to the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 to the controller 500. For example, the pressure sensor 100 may be configured to transmit information about the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 to the controller 500.

The vibration sensor 200 may be configured to detect vibration of the seat 300 and transmit the sensed information to the controller 500. For example, the vibration sensor 200 may be configured to transmit information about the direction, intensity, and the like of vibration applied to the seat 300 to the controller 500. The camera 400 may be configured to acquire an image of the passenger and transmit the acquired image to the controller 500. The controller 500 may be configured to: the output of the headrest speaker 600 is adjusted based on information obtained from the pressure sensor 100 and/or the vibration sensor 200 and/or the camera 400.

Specifically, the controller 500 may be configured to adjust the output intensities of the left speaker 600L and the right speaker 600R of the headrest speaker 600 differently from each other. To this end, the controller 500 may include: at least one memory in which a program for performing the above-described operation and the following operation is stored; and at least one processor for executing the stored programs. When the controller 500 includes a plurality of memories and a plurality of processors, the plurality of memories and the plurality of processors may be directly connected to one chip or may be physically separated.

The pressure sensor 100, the vibration sensor 200, the camera 400, the controller 500, and the headrest speaker 600 according to the exemplary embodiment perform CAN (controller area network) communication with each other to transmit respective information. In addition, each information may be transmitted by performing wired communication. For example, a communication network including a body network, a multimedia network, and a chassis network is configured in the vehicle 1 for controlling various electric loads mounted on the vehicle 1 and communication between the various electric loads, and the networks separated from each other may be connected through the controller 500 to transmit and receive CAN (controller area network) communication messages.

The configuration of the vehicle 1 according to one exemplary embodiment, and the operation and structure of each configuration have been described above. Hereinafter, the control method of the vehicle 1 using various configurations of the vehicle 1 will be described in detail.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a vehicle, according to an exemplary embodiment. Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining a process of controlling the output of the headrest speaker based on the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor according to an exemplary embodiment. Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining a process of calibrating the output of the headrest speaker based on the vibration measured by the vibration sensor according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to fig. 4 to 6, the pressure sensor 100 may be configured to measure a force applied to the headrest 300b and transmit information about the force applied to the headrest 300b to the controller 500 (step 1000). The controller 500 may be configured to determine the location of the point of action (FP) of the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 (step 1100). When the vibration of the seat 300 is not detected (step 1150), the controller 500 may be configured to determine the position of the passenger's ear based on the position of the point of action (FP) of force measured by the pressure sensor 100 (step 1300).

Referring to fig. 5, when the point of action FP of the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 is located on the right side with respect to a vertical line VL passing through the center of the headrest 300b, it can be determined that the position of the passenger's ear is deviated to the right side. The controller 500 may then be configured to adjust the output intensity of the headrest speaker 600 based on the position of the passenger's ear (step 1400). Specifically, when the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 is located on the right side based on the vertical line VL passing through the center of the headrest 300b, it may be determined that the position of the passenger's ear is shifted to the right, and the controller 500 may be configured to decrease the output intensity of the right speaker 600R of the headrest speaker 600 and increase the output intensity of the left speaker 600L of the headrest speaker 600.

In contrast, when the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 is located on the left side with respect to the vertical line VL passing through the center of the headrest 300b, it may be determined that the position of the passenger's ear is shifted to the left, and the controller 500 may be configured to decrease the output intensity of the left speaker 600L of the headrest speaker 600 and increase the output intensity of the right speaker 600R of the headrest speaker 600.

As described above, according to the control method of the vehicle of the exemplary embodiment, the output intensity of the speaker near the passenger's ear can be reduced, and the output intensity of the speaker far from the passenger's ear can be increased, and therefore, the passenger can listen to the sound more smoothly and naturally. The controller 500 may be configured to: the amount of change in the output intensity of the left or right speaker 600L or 600R is determined in proportion to the distance between the point of action FP of the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 and the vertical line VL passing through the center of the headrest 300 b.

For example, referring to fig. 5, as the distance d between the point of action FP of the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 and the vertical line VL increases, the controller 500 may be configured to decrease the output intensity of the right speaker 600R. The output intensity of the left speaker 600L can be further increased. Conversely, assuming that the point of action of the Force (FP) measured by the pressure sensor 100 is on the left side with respect to the Vertical Line (VL), the controller 500 may be configured to increase the distance between the point of action of the Force (FP) and the Vertical Line (VL). The output intensity of the speaker 600R can be further increased, and the output intensity of the left speaker 600L can be further decreased.

When the output intensity of the headrest speaker 600 is adjusted based on the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 as described above, a sudden change in the speaker output may occur when a sudden vibration is applied to the seat 300. Accordingly, the vibration sensor 200 disposed on the seat 300 may be configured to detect vibration of the seat 300 (step 1150). When the vibration of the seat 300 is detected (yes in step 1150), the controller 500 may be configured to calibrate the position of the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 based on the horizontal vibration in the vibration detected by the vibration sensor 200 (step 1200).

Specifically, when the direction of the vibration detected by the vibration sensor 200 is the left direction, the controller 500 may be configured to calibrate the position of the point of application of force measured by the pressure sensor 100 in the left direction (correct the position in the left direction), and when the direction of the vibration sensed by the vibration sensor 200 is in the right direction, the position of the point of application of force measured by the pressure sensor 100 in the right direction (correct the position in the right direction).

Referring to fig. 6, the vibration of the seat 300 detected by the vibration sensor 200 is in the left direction. At this time, the position of the seat 300 may instantaneously move leftward, and accordingly, the direction in which the head of the passenger presses the headrest 300b may move rightward. In other words, when the vibration of the seat 300 detected by the vibration sensor 200 is in the left direction, the output intensity of the headrest speaker 600 may be changed due to the rightward movement of the position of the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 even if the position of the head of the passenger is not changed.

In order to prevent the output intensity of the headrest speaker 600 from varying according to the vibration of the seat 300 as described above, when the vibration of the seat 300 detected by the vibration sensor 200 is in the left direction, the controller 500 may be configured to calibrate the position of the force application point FP measured by the pressure sensor 100 to the left and determine a calibrated force application point (FPR). The controller 500 may be configured to determine a position of an ear of the passenger based on the calibrated position of the force action point (FPR), and adjust an output intensity of the headrest speaker 600 based on the position of the ear of the passenger (1400).

The controller 500 may also be configured to: the calibration amount of the position of the force application point FP measured by the pressure sensor 100 is determined in proportion to the intensity of the vibration sensed by the vibration sensor 200. Specifically, as the intensity of the horizontal vibration detected by the vibration sensor 200 increases, the controller 500 may be configured to move the position of the force application point FP in the direction of the vibration. In addition, when the horizontal vibration in the vibration sensor 200 is continuously detected for a preset period of time, the controller 500 may be configured to set the position of the point of action FP of the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 as the center of the headrest 300 b.

When the vehicle 1 is running on a bumpy road such as a dirt road, if the output of the headrest speaker 600 is constantly changing in accordance with the vibration detected by the vibration sensor 200, inconvenience may be brought to the passenger. Therefore, when the vehicle 1 is running on a bumpy road, the output of the headrest speaker 600 can be kept constant. Therefore, a preset time period may be set in advance as a time when the vehicle 1 may be determined to travel on a bumpy road (e.g., unpaved road). For example, the preset time may be set to about 2 seconds. Although not shown in fig. 4, the controller 500 may be configured to: when the position of the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 does not change within a preset time period, the output of the headrest speaker 600 is turned off.

If the position of the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 does not change for a certain period of time, the passenger is likely to have fallen asleep, and thus, the output of the headrest speaker 600 may be turned off in order to protect the hearing of the passenger. At this time, the preset time period may be set to a time long enough to reasonably consider that the passenger has fallen asleep. For example, the preset time may be set to about 10 minutes.

The control method of the vehicle 1 according to the example embodiment has been described above with reference to fig. 4 to 6. Hereinafter, a control method of the vehicle 1 according to another example embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 7 to 9. Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a vehicle according to another embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating an image of a passenger acquired through a camera according to an exemplary embodiment. Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating a case where an output of a headrest speaker is turned off according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to fig. 7, the camera 400 may be configured to acquire an image of a passenger seated on the seat 300. Specifically, image data about the face of the passenger may be acquired (step 2000). Controller 500 may be configured to identify the passenger's ear based on the image of the passenger obtained from camera 400 and determine the location of the passenger's ear (step 2100). When the vibration of the seat 300 is not detected (no in step 2150), the controller 500 may be configured to adjust the output intensities of the left speaker 600L and the right speaker 600R of the headrest speaker 600 based on the positions of the ears of the passenger (step 2300).

Specifically, the controller 500 may be configured to: the output intensity of the left speaker 600L is decreased as the passenger's ear is closer to the left speaker 600L, and the output intensity of the left speaker 600L is increased as the passenger's ear is farther from the left speaker 600L. At this time, the controller 500 may be configured to: the output intensity of the left speaker 600L is determined in proportion to the distance between the passenger's ear and the left speaker 600L. For example, the smaller the distance between the left side speaker 600L and the ear of the passenger, the more the output intensity can be reduced. The larger the distance between the left speaker 600L and the ear of the passenger, the greater the output intensity.

Conversely, the controller 500 may be configured to: the output intensity of the right side speaker 600R is decreased as the passenger's ear is closer to the right side speaker 600R, and the output intensity of the right side speaker 600R is increased as the passenger's ear is farther from the right side speaker 600R. At this time, the controller 500 may be configured to: the output intensity of the right speaker 600R is determined in proportion to the distance between the passenger's ear and the right speaker 600R. For example, the smaller the distance between the right side speaker 600R and the ear of the passenger, the more the output intensity can be reduced. The larger the distance between the right speaker 600R and the ear of the passenger, the greater the output intensity.

Referring to fig. 8, a distance d1 between the right ear of the passenger and the right side speaker 600R is smaller than a distance d2 between the left ear of the passenger and the left side speaker 600L. Referring to fig. 8, the controller 500 may be configured to decrease the output intensity of the right speaker 600R and increase the output intensity of the left speaker 600L.

As described with reference to fig. 4, when the vibration of the seat 300 is detected (yes in step 1150), the controller 500 may be configured to: the positions of the ears of the passenger are calibrated based on the horizontal vibration among the vibrations detected by the vibration sensor 200 (step 2200). Specifically, if the vibration direction detected by the vibration sensor 200 is a left direction, the controller 500 may be configured to calibrate the position of the passenger's ear in the left direction. If the vibration direction detected by the vibration sensor 200 is in the right direction, the position of the passenger's ear may be calibrated in the right direction.

In addition, the controller 500 may be configured to: a calibration quantity of the position of the passenger's ear is determined in proportion to the intensity of the vibration detected by the vibration sensor 200. In addition, when the controller 500 continuously detects horizontal vibration in the vibration sensor 200 for a preset period of time, the position of the passenger's ear may be calibrated such that the distance between the right side speaker 600R and the passenger's right ear is equal to the distance between the left side speaker 600L and the passenger's left ear.

As described above, when the vehicle 1 travels on a bumpy road such as a dirt road, if the output of the headrest speaker 600 is constantly changed according to the vibration detected by the vibration sensor 200, inconvenience may be brought to the passenger. Therefore, when the vehicle 1 is running on a bumpy road, the output of the headrest speaker 600 can be kept constant. Then, the controller 500 may be configured to: the output intensity of the headrest speaker 600 is adjusted based on the calibrated position of the passenger's ear (step 2300).

Although not shown in fig. 7, the controller 500 may be configured to sense the state of the passenger's eyes based on the image of the passenger, and turn off the output of the headrest speaker 600 when the passenger's eyes are closed for a predetermined period of time. As shown in fig. 9, the eyes of the passenger are closed, and if the eyes of the passenger are closed for a certain period of time, since the passenger is likely to be asleep, the controller 500 may be configured to protect the hearing of the passenger by turning off the output of the headrest speaker 600.

The control method of the vehicle 1 according to another example embodiment has been described above with reference to fig. 7 to 9. The control method of the vehicle 1 shown in fig. 4 and the control method of the vehicle 1 shown in fig. 7 are not mutually exclusive, and the output of the headrest speaker 600 according to the accurate position and state of the passenger's ear may be used interchangeably to adjust the intensity.

In other words, the controller 500 may be configured to more accurately determine the position of the passenger's ear based on information obtained from both the pressure sensor 100, the camera 400, and the vibration sensor 200. For example, even if the position of the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 is biased to one side, based on the image of the passenger obtained from the camera 400, if the position of the passenger's ear does not change significantly, the output of the headrest speaker 600 can be adjusted based on the image of the passenger obtained from the camera 400. In addition, even if the position of the point of action of the force measured by the pressure sensor 100 does not change within the preset time period, the headrest speaker 600 may not be turned off if the eyes of the passenger are not closed, based on the image of the passenger obtained from the camera 400.

As described above, various exemplary embodiments disclosed have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be implemented in forms other than the disclosed exemplary embodiments without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the invention. The disclosed exemplary embodiments are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting.

On the other hand, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in the form of a recording medium for storing instructions executable by a computer. The instructions may be stored in the form of program code and, when executed by a processor, may generate program modules to perform the operations of the disclosed embodiments. The recording medium may be implemented as a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium.

The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium includes all types of recording media in which instructions can be decoded by a computer. For example, there may be Read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), magnetic tape, magnetic disk, flash memory, optical data storage devices, and the like.

As described above, various exemplary embodiments disclosed have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

By adjusting the output intensity of the headrest speaker according to the position of the passenger's ear, there is an effect that the passenger can listen to the sound more effectively. In addition, when the passenger is not moving, the output of the speaker may be turned off to protect the hearing of the passenger.