Vehicle occupant detection

Abstract

A vehicle occupant detection system and method for using the same. The vehicle occupant detection system includes: a controller; a plurality of life detection sensors, wherein the plurality of life detection sensors are installed within an interior cabin of a mass-transit vehicle and are each associated with a life detection zone; a local warning system having at least one human-machine interface (HMI) output device; and a vehicle interface that communicatively couples the controller to a vehicle electrical system of the mass-transit vehicle. The vehicle occupant detection system is configured to: (i) acquire sensor data by scanning the life detection zone using the plurality of life detection sensors; (ii) determine whether an occupant is present based on the sensor data; and (iii) provide an indication to a user that an occupant is present using the HMI output device when it is determined that an occupant is present.

1 . A vehicle occupant detection system, comprising:
 a controller and a memory storing computer instructions, wherein the controller includes a processor that is communicatively coupled to the memory;   a plurality of life detection sensors, wherein each of the plurality of life detection sensors is installed within an interior cabin of a mass-transit vehicle and is associated with a life detection zone, and wherein each of the plurality of life detection sensors is communicatively coupled to the controller;   a local warning system having a human-machine interface (HMI) output device, wherein the at least one HMI output device is used to indicate a result of an occupant detection scanning process carried out using the plurality of life detection sensors;   a remote warning system having a cellular chipset and/or a short-range wireless communications circuitry;   wherein the controller, when executing the computer instructions using the processor, causes the vehicle occupant detection system to:
 acquire sensor data by scanning the life detection zones using the plurality of life detection sensors; 
 determine whether an occupant is present based on the sensor data; 
 locally provide a first indication to a primary operator indicating that an occupant is present using the HMI output device when it is determined that an occupant is present; 
 wait a first predetermined amount of time for a confirmatory input to be received locally from the primary operator; and 
 wirelessly transmit an indication that an occupant is present to a remote user using the remote warning system when it is determined that an occupant is present and when the confirmatory input is not received locally from the primary operator.