LIGHTING SYSTEM WITH DRIVER ASSISTANCE CAPABILITIES

• US 20100191418A1
• Filed: 06/18/2008
• Published: 07/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LeddarTech, Inc.
• Original Assignee: LeddarTech, Inc.
• Inventors: Cantin, Daniel, Mimeault, Yvan
• Granted Patent: US 8,600,656 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/36
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/0023 the element being a sensor, e.g. distance sensor, camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/14 having dimming means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/40 Photo, light or radio wave sensitive means, e.g. infrared sensors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2422/00 Indexing codes relating to the special location or mounting of sensors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4041 Position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/08 Active safety systems predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision or attempting to minimise its consequences
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/085 Taking automatic action to adjust vehicle attitude in preparation for collision, e.g. braking for nose dropping
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/095 Predicting travel path or likelihood of collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/14 Adaptive cruise control
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/04 Systems determining the presence of a target
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93277 in the lights
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4815 using multiple transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/10 Controlling the intensity of the light
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/12 using optical feedback
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/18 using temperature feedback
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/30 Driver circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/325 : Pulse-width modulation [PWM]
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/125 : by using cameras
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 : Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection

Abstract

The present application adds detection capabilities to perceive the presence and/or measure the velocity of obstacles such as automobiles, trucks, pedestrian and other users, to vehicle lighting modules as headlamp, tail lamps, centre high mount stop lamp (CHMSL) and interior lighting to name a few, for driver assistance applications like adaptive cruise control, blind spot and pre-crash assist. For example, a Light Emitting Diode (LED) has the capability to be used as lighting source for illumination as a first function and also be pulsed or modulated as a source for the detection sub-system as a second function.

Claims

1. A method for providing driver assistance to a driver of a vehicle, comprising:

providing a vehicle with a visible-light source emitting visible light and having a function of illuminating an environment adjacent to the vehicle or emitting a signal;

driving the visible-light source to emit visible light in a predetermined mode, with visible light in the predetermined mode being visible to an unaided human eye to maintain said function of illuminating an environment adjacent to the vehicle or emitting a signal;

receiving a reflection/backscatter of the emitted visible light from an object;

identifying at least one of a presence and a position of the object as a function of the reflection/backscatter received and of the predetermined mode; and

triggering at least one of an interaction with a driver of the vehicle and an action of the vehicle as a function of the at least one of the presence and the position of the object.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising retrofitting an existing vehicle light with a source controller for driving the visible-light source and a detector for receiving the reflection/backscatter of the emitted visible light from the object.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein driving the visible-light source in the predetermined mode comprises at least one of pulsating and modulating the visible light.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the reflection/backscatter comprises filtering given light wavelengths.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying at least one of a presence and a position of the object comprises calculating at least a distance of the object by measuring a time delay between emitting the visible light and receiving the reflection/backscatter from the object.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein calculating the distance comprises continuously calculating the distance so as to calculate a speed of the object.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:

providing an auxiliary light source in association with the vehicle light;

driving the auxiliary light source in another predetermined mode to emit auxiliary light;

receiving a reflection/backscatter of the auxiliary light from an object;

identifying at least one of the presence and the position of the object as a function of the reflection/backscatter received from the auxiliary light and the other predetermined mode; and

triggering at least one of an interaction with the driver of the vehicle and an action of the vehicle as a function of the presence or the position of the object.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein driving the auxiliary light source comprises driving the auxiliary light source into emitting light non-visible to an unaided human eye.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein driving the visible-light source to emit visible light in a predetermined mode comprises pulsating a light emission diode to produce light pulses having a width of less than 50 ns.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein triggering at least one of an interaction with the driver of the vehicle and an action of the vehicle comprises triggering an indicator on a dashboard of the vehicle.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein triggering an action of the vehicle comprises at least one of actuating a horn of the vehicle, adjusting a speed of the vehicle, controlling a brake of the vehicle, controlling a steering of the vehicle, adjusting an intensity of the visible light, emitting a warning light, and emitting a warning sound inside a cabin of the vehicle.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein driving the visible-light source to emit visible light in a predetermined mode comprises using a unique signature modulation in order to avoid interference from visible light emitted by other vehicles.

13. The method according to any one of claims 7 and 8, wherein driving the auxiliary light source to emit light in another predetermined mode comprises using a unique signature modulation in order to avoid interference from light emitted by other vehicles.

14. A driver assistance lighting system comprising:

a light source emitting visible light and having a function of emitting visible light to illuminate an environment adjacent to the vehicle or emit a signal;

a source controller for driving the light source into emitting visible light in a predetermined mode in which the light remains visible to an unaided human eye while being driven by the source controller such that the light source maintains said function of illuminating an environment adjacent to the vehicle or emitting a signal;

an optical detector adapted to detect the visible light as reflected/backscattered by an object to produce detection data;

a data/signal processor for receiving detection data from the optical detector, the data/signal processor producing a data output associated to at least one of a presence and a position of the object as a function of the predetermined mode and the detection data; and

a driver assistance processor system for triggering at least one of an interaction with a driver of the vehicle and an action of the vehicle as a function of said data output.

15. The driver-assistance lighting system according to claim 14, wherein the data/signal processor controls the light source into adjusting a light intensity as a function of commands from the driver assistance processor system.

16. The driver-assistance lighting system according to claim 14, wherein the optical detector comprises a plurality of sub-detectors each detecting a specific angular zone.

17. The driver-assistance lighting system according to claim 14, further comprising a scanning mechanism in association with the optical detector so as to cause a scanning motion of a field of view of the optical detector within a range of illumination of emitted light of the light source.

18. The driver-assistance lighting system according to claim 14, wherein the optical detector has an array of sub-detectors.

19. The driver-assistance lighting system according to claim 14, wherein the source controller comprises a pulse/modulation driver to drive the visible-light source in the predetermined mode.

20. The driver-assistance lighting system according to claim 19, wherein the source controller comprises an illumination driver to drive the light source into emitting light of suitable intensity to illuminate the environment of the vehicle or emit a signal.

21. The driver-assistance lighting system according to claim 20, wherein the light source has a plurality of lights, with at least one of the lights of the light source being driven by the illumination driver to illuminate the road, while at least another one of the lights of the light source is driven by the pulse/modulation driver to emit the visible light in the predetermined mode.

22. The driver-assistance lighting system according to claim 14, wherein the optical detector has a filtering device to filter given light wavelengths of the reflected/backscattered visible light.

23. The driver-assistance lighting system according to claim 14, further comprising an auxiliary light source for emitting an auxiliary light in another predetermined mode concurrently with the visible-light source, the reflection/backscatter of the auxiliary light received from an object being used to produce said data output associated to the object.

24. The driver-assistance lighting system according to claim 23, wherein the auxiliary light source comprises a non-visible light source.

25. The driver-assistance lighting system according to any one of claims 14 to 24, wherein said light source comprises a light emitting diode light source.

26. The driver-assistance lighting system according to any one of claims 14 to 25, wherein said driver assistance processor system triggers an interaction with the driver of the vehicle by emitting a signal on a dashboard of the vehicle.

27. The driver-assistance lighting system according to any one of claims 14 to 25, wherein said driver assistance processor system triggers an action of the vehicle by at least one of actuating a horn of the vehicle, adjusting a speed of the vehicle, controlling a brake of the vehicle, controlling a steering of the vehicle, adjusting an intensity of the visible light, emitting a warning light, and emitting a warning sound inside a cabin of the vehicle.