Jeffrey L Morin

US Patent:

6397136, May 28, 2002

Filed:

Dec 29, 1999

Appl. No.:

09/474147

Inventors:

David S. Breed - Boonton Township, Morris County NJ
Wendell Johnson - San Diego CA
Wilbur E. Duvall - Kimberling City MO
Jeffrey L. Morin - Grosse Ile MI
Kunhong Xu - Rochester Hills MI
Andrew J. Varga - Farmington Hills MI

Assignee:

Automotive Technologies International Inc. - Denville NJ

International Classification:

B60R 2122

US Classification:

701 45, 280735, 180273

Abstract:

System for determining the occupancy of a seat in a vehicle using a variety of transducers and pattern recognition technologies and techniques that applies to any combination of transducers that provide information about seat occupancy. These include weight sensors, capacitive sensors, inductive sensors, ultrasonic, optical, electromagnetic, motion, infrared, and radar among others. The system includes a processor coupled to the transducers for receiving the data from the transducers and processing the data to obtain an output indicative of the current occupancy state of the seat. An algorithm is resident in the processor and is created from a plurality of data sets, each representing a different occupancy state of the seat and being formed from data from the transducers while the seat is in that occupancy state. The algorithm produces the output indicative of the current occupancy state of the seat upon inputting a data set representing the current occupancy state of the seat and being formed from data from the transducers. The algorithm may be a neural network or neural fuzzy algorithm generated by an appropriate algorithm-generating program.