OBJECT DETECTION APPARATUS AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A method for determining the position of an object relative to a moving vehicle comprising the steps of:
- while the vehicle is moving in a first direction, transmitting successive sensor pulses from a vehicle sensor toward the object,receiving an echo of each sensor pulse,determining a transit time between the transmission of each pulse and the receipt of its echo by the sensor,determining an angle factor as a function of the difference between the transit times of two sensor pulses and the distance traveled by the vehicle between said two sensor pulses,selecting an angle from a predefined table whenever the absolute value of the angle factor exceeds a preset threshold,calculating the angle as a function of said factor whenever the absolute value of the factor is less than the preset threshold,calculating the distance between the sensor and the object as a function of said angle and the transit time for the sensor pulse,generating a signal as a function of said distance calculating step.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for determining the position of an object relative to a moving vehicle. While the vehicle is moving in a first direction, successive sensor pulses are transmitted from a vehicle sensor and toward the object. The echo or reflection from the sensor pulse is then received while a processor determines the transit time between the transmission of each pulse and the receipt of its echo. An angle factor is then calculated which represents the difference between the elapsed time of two sequential sensor pulses and the distance traveled by the vehicle between those two pulses. Whenever the absolute value of the angle factor exceeds a preset threshold, an angle is selected from a predefined lookup table contained in memory. Conversely, when the absolute value of the factor is less than the preset threshold, the angle is calculated as a function of the factor. The distance is then calculated between the sensor and the object as a function of the angle and the transit time for the sensor pulse and the appropriate signal is provided to the occupant of the vehicle.
-
Citations
24 Claims
-
1. A method for determining the position of an object relative to a moving vehicle comprising the steps of:
-
while the vehicle is moving in a first direction, transmitting successive sensor pulses from a vehicle sensor toward the object, receiving an echo of each sensor pulse, determining a transit time between the transmission of each pulse and the receipt of its echo by the sensor, determining an angle factor as a function of the difference between the transit times of two sensor pulses and the distance traveled by the vehicle between said two sensor pulses, selecting an angle from a predefined table whenever the absolute value of the angle factor exceeds a preset threshold, calculating the angle as a function of said factor whenever the absolute value of the factor is less than the preset threshold, calculating the distance between the sensor and the object as a function of said angle and the transit time for the sensor pulse, generating a signal as a function of said distance calculating step. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A method for determining the position of an object relative to a moving vehicle comprising the steps of:
-
while the vehicle is moving in a first direction, transmitting successive sensor pulses from a vehicle sensor in a second direction substantially normal to said first direction toward the object, receiving an echo of each sensor pulse along, said echo traveling in a third direction, determining a transit time between the transmission of each pulse and the receipt of its echo by the sensor, determining an angle factor as a function of the difference between the transit times of two sensor pulses and the distance traveled by the vehicle between said two sensor pulses, selecting an angle corresponding to the angle between said second and third directions from a predefined table whenever the absolute value of the angle factor exceeds a preset threshold, calculating said angle as the arcsine of said angle factor whenever the absolute value of the factor is less than the preset threshold, calculating the distance between the sensor and the object as a function of said angle and the transit time for the sensor pulse, generating a signal as a function of said distance calculating step. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. Apparatus for determining the position of an object relative to a moving vehicle comprising:
-
means for transmitting successive sensor pulses from a vehicle sensor toward the object while the vehicle is moving in a first direction, means for receiving an echo of each sensor pulse, means for determining a transit time between the transmission of each pulse and the receipt of its echo by the sensor, means for determining an angle factor as a function of the difference between the transit times of two sensor pulses and the distance traveled by the vehicle between said two sensor pulses, means for selecting an angle from a predefined table whenever the absolute value of the angle factor exceeds a preset threshold, means for calculating the angle as a function of said factor whenever the absolute value of the angle factor is less than the preset threshold, means for calculating the distance between the sensor and the object as a function of said angle and the elapsed time for the sensor pulse, means for generating a signal as a function of the calculated distance between said sensor and said object. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
Specification