System and Method for Preventing Vehicular Accidents

• US 20080040004A1
• Filed: 10/18/2007
• Published: 02/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/1994
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: American Vehicular Sciences LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Automotive Technologies International Incorporated
• Inventors: Breed, David
• Granted Patent: US 7,783,403 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/45
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0004 Frontal collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0006 Lateral collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0018 Roll-over
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0134 responsive to imminent contact with an obstacle , e.g. using radar systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9315 Monitoring blind spots
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9316 combined with communication equipment with other vehicles or with base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9317 Driving backwards
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9318 Controlling the steering
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93185 Controlling the brakes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9319 Controlling the accelerator
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/932 using own vehicle data, e.g. ground speed, steering wheel direction
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9322 using additional data, e.g. driver condition, road state or weather data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9324 Alternative operation using ultrasonic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93272 in the back of the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93274 on the side of the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9329 cooperating with reflectors or transponders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/023 Interference mitigation, e.g. reducing or avoiding non-intentional interference with other HF-transmitters, base station transmitters for mobile communication or other radar systems, e.g. using electro-magnetic interference [EMI] reduction techniques auxiliary means for detecting or identifying radar signals or the like G01S7/021; means for anti-jamming G01S7/36
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/0231 : Avoidance by polarisation multiplex
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/0232 : Avoidance by frequency multiplex
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/0234 : Avoidance by code multiplex
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/0235 : Avoidance by time multiplex

Abstract

Vehicle including an anticipatory sensor system for determining that an impact involving the vehicle is about to occur unless a corrective action is taken based on data obtained prior to the impact and determining whether the potential impact requires activation of a reactive system which controls operation of the vehicle. The anticipatory sensor system includes a receiver for receiving waves or energy and a pattern recognition system for analyzing the received waves or energy, or data representative thereof, to determine that an impact is about to occur if corrective action is not taken and whether the potential impact requires activation of the reactive system. The pattern recognition system ascertains the identity of an object from which the waves or energy have been emitted, reflected or generated, so that the determination whether the impact requires activation of the reactive system is based on identification of the object.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle, comprising:

a reactive system for controlling the motion or travel direction of the vehicle; and

an anticipatory sensor system for determining that an impact involving the vehicle is about to occur unless a corrective action is taken based on data obtained prior to the impact and determining whether the potential impact requires activation of said reactive system;

said anticipatory sensor system comprising at least one receiver for receiving waves or energy and a pattern recognition system for analyzing the received waves or energy or data representative of the received waves or energy to determine that an impact is about to occur if corrective action is not taken and to determine whether the potential impact requires activation of said reactive system,

said pattern recognition system being arranged to ascertain the identity of an object from which the waves or energy have been emitted, reflected or generated, the determination whether the impact requires activation of said reactive system being at least partially based on the identification of the object,

said pattern recognition system comprising a processor embodying a pattern recognition algorithm which provides an output of one of a number of pre-determined identities of the object.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the vehicle has a front, a rear, a left side and a right side, said anticipatory sensor comprising a monitoring system for monitoring at least one of the front, rear, right or left side of the vehicle.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein said reactive system is a system which is arranged to activate at least one of the brakes of the vehicle, a throttle of the vehicle or steering of the vehicle.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said pattern recognition system is further arranged to determine that the object from which the waves or energy have been emitted, reflected or generated, is a human, pedestrian, animal or cyclist.

5. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said anticipatory sensor system further comprises a transmitter for transmitting waves or energy away from the vehicle, said at least one receiver receiving waves or energy transmitted by said transmitter which have been reflected from objects exterior of the vehicle, the received waves or energy being analyzed to enable the determinations that an impact involving the vehicle is about to occur and that the impact requires activation of said reactive system.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said at least one transmitter is arranged to transmit infrared waves.

7. The vehicle of claim 6, wherein said at least one transmitter is arranged to transmit infrared waves in an eye-safe range.

8. The vehicle of claim 6, wherein said transmitter is controlled such that the intensity of transmitted infrared waves is determined at least in part by the distance to the reflecting object.

9. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said anticipatory sensor system is arranged to apply range gating to select a range of an object to be identified.

10. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said pattern recognition system is arranged to receive images from said at least one receiver and analyze images of the object in order to ascertain the identity thereof.

11. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein said pattern recognition system is arranged to perform image subtraction when analyzing the images.

12. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein said anticipatory sensor system further comprises a transmitter for transmitting waves or energy away from the vehicle, said at least one receiver receiving waves or energy transmitted by said transmitter which have been reflected from objects exterior of the vehicle, the received waves or energy being analyzed to enable determination of the identity of the object, said at least one receiver and said transmitter being controlled such that said at least one receiver receives a first image of the object illuminated by waves transmitted from the vehicle and a second image of the object which is not illuminated by waves transmitted from the vehicle, said pattern recognition system analyzing the first and second images in relation to one another.

13. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said monitoring system monitors a rear of the vehicle and said reactive system is a system which activates the brakes of the vehicle.

14. A method for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during an impact between the vehicle and an object, comprising:

determining that an impact involving the vehicle is about to occur if corrective action is not taken prior to the impact;

determining whether the impact requires activation of a reactive system for controlling motion or travel direction of the vehicle, the step of determining whether the impact requires activation of the reactive system comprising;

receiving waves or energy from the object, and

ascertaining the identity of the object based on the received waves or energy by inputting the received waves or energy or data representative of the received waves or energy into a pattern recognition algorithm which ascertains the identity of the object based thereon, the pattern recognition algorithm being designed to provide an output of one of a number of pre-determined identities of the object; and

activating the reactive system when the impact is determined to require such activation.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising designing the pattern recognition algorithm to identify at least one of a human, pedestrian, animal and a cyclist.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of determining that an impact is about to occur comprises transmitting waves away from the vehicle, receiving the transmitted waves after the waves have been reflected from the object and analyzing the received waves.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the transmitted waves are infrared waves.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the infrared waves are in an eye-safe range.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of activating the reactive system comprises activating at least one of the brakes of the vehicle, throttle of the vehicle or steering of the vehicle.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising using range gating to select a range of an object being monitored for potential impact with the vehicle.

19. The method of clam 16, further comprising determining an intensity of the infrared waves based at least in part on a distance to the reflecting object.