3d Perception for New Airbag Generations

Providing new generations of airbags with reliable information about the vehicle inner space occupancy in order to minimize inappropriate inflation is a real challenge. Within this paper 2 techniques to rebuilt the 3D cockpit scene, are presented; beside the well-known stereoscopic vision principles, 3D reconstruction based on matricial sensor combined with an infrared structured light emitter is described. From the 3D points acquired by these sensors a 3D description of the seat area is built, pertinent attributes are extracted, and using a previously learnt data base, the current seat situation is identified amongst the learnt situations (empty seat, baby seat in normal or rear position, occupant, ... ). First promising results are depicted.