FORWARD FACING SENSING SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE
First Claim
1. A forward facing sensing system for a vehicle, the vehicle having a windshield, said forward facing sensing system comprising:
- a windshield electronics module, said windshield electronics module disposed in the interior cabin of the vehicle behind the vehicle windshield;
a radar sensor device disposed within said windshield electronics module and wherein said radar sensor device has a sensing direction forward of the vehicle;
an image sensor disposed within said windshield electronics module and wherein said image sensor has a viewing direction forward of the vehicle;
a control comprising an image processor, said image processor operable to analyze images captured by said image sensor in order to, at least in part, detect an object present forward of the vehicle in its direction of forward travel;
wherein at least one of (a) said radar sensor device utilizes at least one of beam aiming and beam selection, (b) said radar sensor device utilizes digital beam forming, (c) said radar sensor device utilizes digital beam steering, (d) said radar sensor device comprises an array antenna, (e) said radar sensor device comprises a phased array antenna and (f) said image sensor comprises a pixelated imaging array sensor;
wherein said radar sensor device transmits at a frequency of at least about 20 GHz;
wherein at least a part of said windshield electronics module disposed in the interior cabin of the vehicle behind the vehicle windshield may be removed therefrom for at least one of (i) service and (ii) replacement;
wherein said control, at least in part, determines that a potentially hazardous condition may exist in the path of forward travel of the vehicle, and wherein said potentially hazardous condition comprises at least one of (i) another vehicle, (ii) a person and (iii) an animal; and
wherein said radar sensor device and said image sensor collaborate in a way that enhances the sensing capability of said sensing system for the potentially hazardous condition in the path of forward travel of the vehicle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A forward facing sensing system for a vehicle includes a windshield electronics module disposed in the vehicle cabin behind the windshield, a radar sensor device disposed within the windshield electronics module with a sensing direction forward of the vehicle, an image sensor disposed within the windshield electronics module with a viewing direction forward of the vehicle, and a control operable to analyze images captured by the image sensor in order to, at least in part, detect an object present forward of the vehicle in its direction of forward travel. The control, at least in part, determines that a potentially hazardous condition may exist in the path of forward travel of the vehicle. The radar sensor device and the image sensor collaborate in a way that enhances the sensing capability of the sensing system for the potentially hazardous condition in the path of forward travel of the vehicle.
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Citations
97 Claims
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1. A forward facing sensing system for a vehicle, the vehicle having a windshield, said forward facing sensing system comprising:
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a windshield electronics module, said windshield electronics module disposed in the interior cabin of the vehicle behind the vehicle windshield; a radar sensor device disposed within said windshield electronics module and wherein said radar sensor device has a sensing direction forward of the vehicle; an image sensor disposed within said windshield electronics module and wherein said image sensor has a viewing direction forward of the vehicle; a control comprising an image processor, said image processor operable to analyze images captured by said image sensor in order to, at least in part, detect an object present forward of the vehicle in its direction of forward travel; wherein at least one of (a) said radar sensor device utilizes at least one of beam aiming and beam selection, (b) said radar sensor device utilizes digital beam forming, (c) said radar sensor device utilizes digital beam steering, (d) said radar sensor device comprises an array antenna, (e) said radar sensor device comprises a phased array antenna and (f) said image sensor comprises a pixelated imaging array sensor; wherein said radar sensor device transmits at a frequency of at least about 20 GHz; wherein at least a part of said windshield electronics module disposed in the interior cabin of the vehicle behind the vehicle windshield may be removed therefrom for at least one of (i) service and (ii) replacement; wherein said control, at least in part, determines that a potentially hazardous condition may exist in the path of forward travel of the vehicle, and wherein said potentially hazardous condition comprises at least one of (i) another vehicle, (ii) a person and (iii) an animal; and wherein said radar sensor device and said image sensor collaborate in a way that enhances the sensing capability of said sensing system for the potentially hazardous condition in the path of forward travel of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A forward facing sensing system for a vehicle, the vehicle having a windshield, said forward facing sensing system comprising:
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a windshield electronics module, said windshield electronics module disposed in the interior cabin of the vehicle behind the vehicle windshield; a radar sensor device disposed within said windshield electronics module and wherein said radar sensor device has a sensing direction forward of the vehicle; an image sensor disposed within said windshield electronics module and wherein said image sensor has a viewing direction forward of the vehicle; a control comprising an image processor, said image processor operable to analyze images captured by said image sensor in order to, at least in part, detect an object present forward of the vehicle in its direction of forward travel; wherein at least one of (a) said radar sensor device utilizes at least one of beam aiming and beam selection, (b) said radar sensor device utilizes digital beam forming, (c) said radar sensor device utilizes digital beam steering, (d) said radar sensor device comprises an array antenna, (e) said radar sensor device comprises a phased array antenna and (f) said image sensor comprises a pixelated imaging array sensor; wherein at least a part of said windshield electronics module disposed in the interior cabin of the vehicle behind the vehicle windshield may be removed therefrom for at least one of (i) service and (ii) replacement; wherein said control, at least in part, determines that a potentially hazardous condition may exist in the path of forward travel of the vehicle, and wherein said potentially hazardous condition comprises a person; and wherein said radar sensor device and said image sensor collaborate in a way that enhances the sensing capability of said sensing system for the person in the path of forward travel of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A forward facing sensing system for a vehicle, the vehicle having a windshield, said forward facing sensing system comprising:
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a windshield electronics module, said windshield electronics module disposed in the interior cabin of the vehicle behind the vehicle windshield; a radar sensor device disposed within said windshield electronics module and wherein said radar sensor device has a sensing direction forward of the vehicle; an image sensor disposed within said windshield electronics module and wherein said image sensor has a viewing direction forward of the vehicle; a control comprising an image processor, said image processor operable to analyze images captured by said image sensor in order to, at least in part, detect an object present forward of the vehicle in its direction of forward travel; wherein said control, at least in part, determines that a potentially hazardous condition may exist in the path of forward travel of the vehicle, and wherein said potentially hazardous condition comprises at least one of (i) another vehicle, (ii) a person and (iii) an animal; wherein said radar sensor device and said image sensor collaborate in a way that enhances the sensing capability of said sensing system for the potentially hazardous condition in the path of forward travel of the vehicle; and wherein at least one of (i) said image sensor comprises part of an automatic headlamp control system of the vehicle, (ii) said image sensor comprises part of a lane departure warning system of the vehicle, and (iii) said image sensor comprises part of an object detection system of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
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71. A forward facing sensing system for a vehicle, the vehicle having a windshield, said forward facing sensing system comprising:
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a windshield electronics module, said windshield electronics module disposed in the interior cabin of the vehicle behind the vehicle windshield; a radar sensor device disposed within said windshield electronics module and wherein said radar sensor device has a sensing direction forward of the vehicle; an image sensor disposed within said windshield electronics module and wherein said image sensor has a viewing direction forward of the vehicle; a control comprising an image processor, said image processor operable to analyze images captured by said image sensor in order to, at least in part, detect an object present forward of the vehicle in its direction of forward travel; wherein said control, at least in part, determines that a potentially hazardous condition may exist in the path of forward travel of the vehicle, and wherein said potentially hazardous condition comprises at least one of (i) another vehicle, (ii) a person and (iii) an animal; wherein said radar sensor device and said image sensor collaborate in a way that enhances the sensing capability of said sensing system for the potentially hazardous condition in the path of forward travel of the vehicle; wherein said windshield electronics module comprises a self-contained unit; and wherein said control at least one of (a) at least in part controls a system of the vehicle, (b) enhances detection of an object ahead of the vehicle by said radar sensor responsive to said image sensor and (c) enhances detection of an object ahead of the vehicle by said image sensor responsive to said radar sensor. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82)
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83. A forward facing sensing system for a vehicle, the vehicle having a windshield, said forward facing sensing system comprising:
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a windshield electronics module, said windshield electronics module disposed in the interior cabin of the vehicle behind the vehicle windshield; a radar sensor device disposed within said windshield electronics module and wherein said radar sensor device has a sensing direction forward of the vehicle; an image sensor disposed within said windshield electronics module and wherein said image sensor has a viewing direction forward of the vehicle; a control comprising an image processor, said image processor operable to analyze images captured by said image sensor in order to, at least in part, detect an object present forward of the vehicle in its direction of forward travel; wherein said control, at least in part, determines that a potentially hazardous condition may exist in the path of forward travel of the vehicle, and wherein said potentially hazardous condition comprises at least one of (i) another vehicle, (ii) a person and (iii) an animal; wherein said radar sensor device and said image sensor collaborate in a way that enhances the sensing capability of said sensing system for the potentially hazardous condition in the path of forward travel of the vehicle; wherein said control enhances detection of the object ahead of the vehicle by said image sensor via algorithmic processing of image data captured by said image sensor; and wherein at least one of (i) said image sensor comprises part of an automatic headlamp control system of the vehicle, (ii) said image sensor comprises part of a lane departure warning system of the vehicle, and (iii) said image sensor comprises part of an object detection system of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94)
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95. A forward facing sensing system for a vehicle, the vehicle having a windshield, said forward facing sensing system comprising:
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a windshield electronics module, said windshield electronics module disposed in the interior cabin of the vehicle behind the vehicle windshield; a radar sensor device disposed within said windshield electronics module and wherein said radar sensor device has a sensing direction forward of the vehicle; an image sensor disposed within said windshield electronics module and wherein said image sensor has a viewing direction forward of the vehicle; a control comprising an image processor, said image processor operable to analyze images captured by said image sensor in order to, at least in part, detect an object present forward of the vehicle in its direction of forward travel; wherein said control, at least in part, determines that a potentially hazardous condition may exist in the path of forward travel of the vehicle, and wherein said potentially hazardous condition comprises at least one of (i) another vehicle, (ii) a person and (iii) an animal; wherein said radar sensor device and said image sensor collaborate in a way that enhances the sensing capability of said sensing system for the potentially hazardous condition in the path of forward travel of the vehicle; wherein said control enhances detection of the object ahead of the vehicle by said image sensor via algorithmic processing of image data captured by said image sensor; wherein at least one of (i) said image sensor comprises part of an automatic headlamp control system of the vehicle, (ii) said image sensor comprises part of a lane departure warning system of the vehicle, and (in) said image sensor comprises part of an object detection system of the vehicle; wherein at least one of (a) said radar sensor device utilizes at least one of beam aiming and beam selection, (b) said radar sensor device utilizes digital beam forming, (c) said radar sensor device utilizes digital beam steering, (d) said radar sensor device comprises an array antenna, (e) said radar sensor device comprises a phased array antenna and (f) said image sensor comprises a pixelated imaging array sensor; wherein said windshield electronics module comprises a self-contained unit and wherein said image processor is disposed within said windshield electronics module, and wherein said windshield electronics module is attached at the vehicle windshield, and wherein the vehicle windshield comprises an opaque layer generally where said windshield electronics module is disposed behind the vehicle windshield, and wherein said opaque layer comprises a first aperture, and wherein, with said windshield electronics module attached at the vehicle windshield, said first aperture generally coincides with a second aperture of said windshield electronics module in order to facilitate viewing through the vehicle windshield by said image sensor; and wherein said control at least one of (a) at least in part controls a system of the vehicle, (b) at least in part controls an adaptive cruise control system of the vehicle (c) enhances detection of an object ahead of the vehicle by said radar sensor responsive to said image sensor and (d) enhances detection of an object ahead of the vehicle by said image sensor responsive to said radar sensor. - View Dependent Claims (96, 97)
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Specification