System and method for providing intelligent airbag deployment
First Claim
1. A method to determine deployment level of an airbag in a vehicle, the method comprising the following steps:
- (a) disposing in said vehicle a sensor system that emits optical energy toward a scene and includes an array of detection pixels in which each pixel captures three-dimensional depth information of a corresponding location of said scene using a reflected fraction of said emitted optical energy, each said pixel further capturing intensity of said reflected fraction of said emitted optical energy as well as capturing intensity of ambient optical energy, to repeatedly capture a plurality of frames of time-of-flight (TOF) three-dimensional depth images of said scene, said scene including a region of a seat in said vehicle, from which plurality of frames data representing occupancy of said seat may be determined with a confidence level greater than if data from a single frame were used; and
b) repeatedly determining occupancy information using confidence enhancing plurality of frames captured at step (a), wherein determined said occupancy information is useable to determine deployment level to intelligently control deployment of said airbag.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A sensor system is provided for determining a deployment level of an airbag in a vehicle. A light source of the sensor system emits light onto a region around a vehicle seat. An array of light-sensitive pixels which capture reflected light from the scene, including reflected light that originated from the light source. Processing resources are provided that determine depth information for an object in the scene based on a time-of-flight characteristic of the reflected light from the light source captured on the array. The processing resources may be configured to determine occupancy data for the object based on the captured reflected light from the scene. The processing resources are configured to determine the deployment level of the airbag based at least in part on the occupancy data in when a collision of the vehicle occurs.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method to determine deployment level of an airbag in a vehicle, the method comprising the following steps:
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(a) disposing in said vehicle a sensor system that emits optical energy toward a scene and includes an array of detection pixels in which each pixel captures three-dimensional depth information of a corresponding location of said scene using a reflected fraction of said emitted optical energy, each said pixel further capturing intensity of said reflected fraction of said emitted optical energy as well as capturing intensity of ambient optical energy, to repeatedly capture a plurality of frames of time-of-flight (TOF) three-dimensional depth images of said scene, said scene including a region of a seat in said vehicle, from which plurality of frames data representing occupancy of said seat may be determined with a confidence level greater than if data from a single frame were used; and b) repeatedly determining occupancy information using confidence enhancing plurality of frames captured at step (a), wherein determined said occupancy information is useable to determine deployment level to intelligently control deployment of said airbag. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A three-dimension time-of-flight (TOF) sensor system to determine deployment level of an airbag in a vehicle, the sensor system deployable within said vehicle and comprising:
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a light source to emit light onto a scene that includes a region of a seat in said vehicle protectable by said airbag; a sensor array of detection pixels disposed such that each pixel captures three-dimensional depth information of a corresponding location of said scene using a reflected fraction of emitted light from said light source, each said pixel further capturing intensity of said reflected fraction of emitted light as well as capturing intensity of ambient light, said sensor array; means for repeatedly capturing a plurality of frames of time-of-flight (TOF) three-dimensional depth images of said scene from said sensor array, from which plurality of frames data representing occupancy of said seat may be determined with a confidence level greater than if data from a single frame were used; and means for repeatedly determining occupancy information using confidence enhancing plurality of frames captured by said sensor array, wherein determined said occupancy information is useable to determine deployment level to intelligently control deployment of said airbag. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification