Gesture access and object impact avoidance system for a motor vehicle
First Claim
1. A gesture access and object impact avoidance system for a motor vehicle, comprising:
- at least one radar signal transmitter configured to be mounted to the motor vehicle and responsive to activation thereof to emit radar signals,at least one radar signal receiver configured to be mounted to the motor vehicle and to produce radar detection signals, the radar detection signals including at least one reflected radar signal in response to detection by the at least one radar signal receiver of at least one of the emitted radar signals reflected by an object toward the at least one radar signal receiver,at least one processor operatively connected to the at least one radar transmitter and the at least one radar receiver, the at least one processor programmed to activate the at least one radar signal transmitter and to be operable in either of (i) a gesture access mode to control an actuator associated with an access closure of the motor vehicle to lock, unlock, open or close the access closure in response to an object within a sensing region of the at least one radar signal receiver exhibiting a predefined gesture, and (ii) an object impact avoidance mode to activate a warning device or control an actuator associated with an impact avoidance device of the motor vehicle in response to an object being within a predefined distance of the at least one radar signal receiver, andat least one memory having instructions stored therein executable by the at least one processor to cause the at least one processor to be responsive to the motor vehicle disabled from moving to operate in the gesture access mode, and to be responsive to the motor vehicle moving or enabled to move to operate in the object impact avoidance mode.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A gesture access and object impact avoidance system for a motor vehicle, includes a radar signal assembly configured to be mounted to the motor vehicle and to transmit radar signals and detect reflected radar signals, and a processor to operate in (i) a gesture access mode, when the motor vehicle is not moving or is disabled from moving, by controlling an access closure actuator to lock, unlock, open or close an access closure of the motor vehicle if an object is within a sensing region of the radar signal assembly and exhibits a predefined gesture, and (ii) an object impact avoidance mode, when the motor vehicle is moving or enabled to move, by activating a warning device or controlling an impact avoidance device actuator if an object is within a predefined distance of the radar signal assembly.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A gesture access and object impact avoidance system for a motor vehicle, comprising:
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at least one radar signal transmitter configured to be mounted to the motor vehicle and responsive to activation thereof to emit radar signals, at least one radar signal receiver configured to be mounted to the motor vehicle and to produce radar detection signals, the radar detection signals including at least one reflected radar signal in response to detection by the at least one radar signal receiver of at least one of the emitted radar signals reflected by an object toward the at least one radar signal receiver, at least one processor operatively connected to the at least one radar transmitter and the at least one radar receiver, the at least one processor programmed to activate the at least one radar signal transmitter and to be operable in either of (i) a gesture access mode to control an actuator associated with an access closure of the motor vehicle to lock, unlock, open or close the access closure in response to an object within a sensing region of the at least one radar signal receiver exhibiting a predefined gesture, and (ii) an object impact avoidance mode to activate a warning device or control an actuator associated with an impact avoidance device of the motor vehicle in response to an object being within a predefined distance of the at least one radar signal receiver, and at least one memory having instructions stored therein executable by the at least one processor to cause the at least one processor to be responsive to the motor vehicle disabled from moving to operate in the gesture access mode, and to be responsive to the motor vehicle moving or enabled to move to operate in the object impact avoidance mode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A gesture access and object impact avoidance system for a motor vehicle, comprising:
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at least one radar signal transmitter configured to be mounted to the motor vehicle and responsive to activation thereof to emit radar signals, at least one radar signal receiver configured to be mounted to the motor vehicle and to produce radar detection signals, the radar detection signals including at least one reflected radar signal in response to detection by the at least one radar receiver of at least one of the emitted radar signals reflected by an object toward the at least one radar signal receiver, at least one processor operatively connected to the at least one radar signal transmitter and to the at least one radar signal receiver, and configured to activate the at least one radar signal transmitter, and at least one memory having instructions stored therein executable by the at least one processor to cause the at least one processor to; monitor at least one vehicle operating parameter signal produced by at least one vehicle operating parameter sensor or switch, in response to the monitored at least one vehicle operating parameter signal satisfying a first vehicle operating condition, operate in a gesture access mode by monitoring the radar detection signals to determine whether an object is within a sensing region of the at least one radar signal receiver and, upon determining that an object is within the sensing region, controlling at least one actuator associated with an access closure of the motor vehicle to lock, unlock, open or close the access closure in response to the object within the sensing region exhibiting a predefined gesture, and in response to the at least one vehicle operating parameter sensor signal satisfying a second vehicle operating condition different from the first vehicle operating condition, operate in an object impact avoidance mode by monitoring the radar detection signals to determine whether an object is within a predefined distance of the at least one radar signal receiver and, upon determining that an object is within the predefined distance of the at least one radar signal receiver, at least one of activating at least one warning device and controlling at least one actuator associated with at least one impact avoidance device of the motor vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of processing reflected radar signals produced by at least one radar signal receiver mounted to a motor vehicle, the reflected radar signals including at least one radar signal transmitted by at least one radar signal transmitter, also mounted to the motor vehicle, and reflected by an object toward and detected by the at least one radar signal receiver, the method comprising:
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monitoring, with at least one processor, at least one vehicle operating parameter signal produced by at least one vehicle operating parameter sensor or switch carried by the motor vehicle, in response to the monitored at least one vehicle operating parameter signal satisfying a first vehicle operating condition, operating in a gesture access mode by processing the reflected radar signals with the at least one processor to determine whether an object is within a sensing region of the at least one radar signal receiver and, upon determining that an object is within the sensing region, controlling at least one actuator associated with an access closure of the motor vehicle with the at least one processor to lock, unlock, open or close the access closure in response to the object within the sensing region exhibiting a predefined gesture, and in response to the at least one vehicle operating parameter sensor signal satisfying a second vehicle operating condition different from the first vehicle operating condition, operating in an object impact avoidance mode by processing the reflected radar signals with the at least one processor to determine whether an object is within a predefined distance of the at least one radar signal receiver and, upon determining that an object is within the predefined distance of the at least one radar signal receiver, at least one of activating at least one warning device with the at least one processor and controlling at least one actuator associated with at least one impact avoidance device of the motor vehicle with the at least one processor.
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Specification