Apparatus and method for sensing with triangulation and time-of-flight for use in an actuatable occupant restraint system
First Claim
1. An apparatus for determining an object characteristic of an object that may be located on a seat of a vehicle, said apparatus comprising:
- an array of emitting means on a portion of the vehicle, each emitting means for emitting a beam along a path on which the object may be located, each path being in a different direction;
an array of receiving means on the portion of the vehicle, each receiving means for receiving beams emitted from said array of emitting means that are reflected from the object, each reflected beam received at said array of receiving means being indicative of distance between the portion of the vehicle and the object;
means for determining relative intensities at each receiving means of each reflected and received beam;
means for determining time-of-flight of each reflected and received beam between emission of the beam from said array of emitting means and reception of the beam at said array of receiving means; and
means for processing each determined relative intensity and each determined time-of-flight to determine an object characteristic, and for providing a signal indicative thereof.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus (32) is preferably part of an occupant protection system (10), and the apparatus determines a characteristic of an object (70) that may be located on a seat (14) of a vehicle (12) for use in control of the system. The object (70) may be a vehicle occupant, and the preferred characteristic that is determined is distance between the object and an instrument panel (22) of the vehicle (12). An emitter array (36) and a detector array (50) are located on the instrument panel (22). Each emitter (40) emits a beam (42) along a different path on which the object (70) may be located. Each detector (52) receives beams (42) emitted from the emitter array (36) that are reflected from the object (70). Each reflected beam received at the detector array (50) is indicative of distance between the instrument panel (22) and the object (70). An object sensor controller (34) determines relative intensities at each detector (52) of each reflected and received beam, and also determines time-of-flight of each reflected and received beam(s). The controller (34) processes each determined relative intensity and each determined time-of-flight to determine the object characteristic.
43 Citations
26 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for determining an object characteristic of an object that may be located on a seat of a vehicle, said apparatus comprising:
-
an array of emitting means on a portion of the vehicle, each emitting means for emitting a beam along a path on which the object may be located, each path being in a different direction;
an array of receiving means on the portion of the vehicle, each receiving means for receiving beams emitted from said array of emitting means that are reflected from the object, each reflected beam received at said array of receiving means being indicative of distance between the portion of the vehicle and the object;
means for determining relative intensities at each receiving means of each reflected and received beam;
means for determining time-of-flight of each reflected and received beam between emission of the beam from said array of emitting means and reception of the beam at said array of receiving means; and
means for processing each determined relative intensity and each determined time-of-flight to determine an object characteristic, and for providing a signal indicative thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
-
11. An apparatus for distance determination between a portion of a vehicle that is located adjacent to a vehicle seat and a surface of an object located on the vehicle seat, said apparatus comprising:
-
an array of emitting means, each for emitting a beam toward an associated area at which the surface of the object may be located, each area being located at a different distance from the portion of the vehicle;
an array of receiving means, each for receiving the beam originating from an associated one said emitting means that is reflected from the surface of the object located at the associated area;
means for determining whether reception occurs of each beam at its associated receiving means;
means for determining a time-of-flight of each received beam between emission and reception; and
means for processing results of the determinations of reception and time-of-flight to determine the distance between the portion of the vehicle and the surface of the object, and for providing a signal indicative thereof. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. An apparatus for determining an object characteristic of an object that may be located on a seat of a vehicle, said apparatus comprising:
-
a plurality of emitting means located on the vehicle, each emitting means for emitting a beam along a path on which the object may be located, each path being in a different direction;
a plurality of receiving means located on the vehicle, each receiving means for receiving at least one emitted beam that has been reflected from the object, each reflected beam received at one of said receiving means being indicative of a distance to the object;
means for determining relative intensities at each receiving means of each reflected and received beam;
means for determining time-of-flight of each reflected and received beam between emission and reception; and
means for processing each determined relative intensity and each determined time-of-flight to determine an object characteristic, and for providing a signal indicative thereof. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A method for determining an object characteristic of an object that may be located on a seat of a vehicle, said method comprising:
-
emitting a plurality of beams, each beam being directed along a path on which the object may be located, each path being in a different direction;
receiving emitted beams that are reflected from the object at reception locations, each reflected beam being indicative of distance between a portion of the vehicle and the object;
determining relative intensities at each reception location of each reflected and received beam;
determining time-of-flight of each reflected and received beam between the emission of the beam and the reception of the beam;
processing each determined relative intensity and each time-of-flight to determine a distance between the portion of the vehicle and the object; and
providing a signal indicative of the determined object characteristic.
-
-
22. A method for distance determination between a portion of a vehicle that is located adjacent to a vehicle seat and a surface of an object located on the vehicle seat, said method comprising:
-
emitting a plurality of beams, each beam being directed toward an associated area at which the surface of the object may be located, each area being located at a different distance from the portion of the vehicle;
receiving an emitted beam that is reflected from the surface of the object located at the associated area;
determining which emitted beam was reflected from the surface of the object and received to indicate that the surface of the object is located at the associated area;
determining a time-of-flight of the reflected and received beam between the emission of the received beam and the reception of the received beam;
processing results of the determinations of reception and time-of-flight to determine the distance between the portion of the vehicle and the surface of the object; and
providing a signal indicative of the determination of the distance.
-
Specification