Night vision on full windshield head-up display

• US 8,164,543 B2
• Filed: 05/18/2009
• Issued: 04/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Seder, Thomas A., Szczerba, Joseph F., Cui, Dehua
• Primary Examiner(s): MULLEN, THOMAS J
• Application Number:
  US12/467,350
• Publication Number:
  US 20100289632A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,072 Days
• Field of Search: 340/435, 340/459, 340/461, 340/462, 340/901, 340/903, 340/905, 345/7, 345/9, 348/148, 382/103, 382/104
• US Class Current: 345/7
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/723 by using numerical data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/86 Combinations of radar systems with non-radar systems, e.g. sonar, direction finder
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/867 Combination of radar systems with cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/87 Combinations of radar systems, e.g. primary radar and secondary radar
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9316 combined with communication equipment with other vehicles or with base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9318 Controlling the steering
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93185 Controlling the brakes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9319 Controlling the accelerator
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/932 using own vehicle data, e.g. ground speed, steering wheel direction
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9321 Velocity regulation, e.g. cruise control
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9322 using additional data, e.g. driver condition, road state or weather data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9325 for inter-vehicle distance regulation, e.g. navigating in platoons
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93271 in the front of the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0118 comprising devices for improving the contrast of the display / brillance control visibility
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0138 comprising image capture systems, e.g. camera
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/014 comprising information/image processing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0187 slaved to motion of at least a part of the body of the user, e.g. head, eye
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/01 Head-up displays
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10016 : Video; Image sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30261 : Obstacle
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/246 : using feature-based methods, e.g. the tracking of corners or segments
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/277 : involving stochastic approaches, e.g. using Kalman filters
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/95 : structured as a network, e.g. client-server architectures
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/58 : Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/588 : Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road

Abstract

A system to display graphical images upon a windscreen of a vehicle including night vision includes a transparent windscreen head up display, a night vision system, and an enhanced vision system system manager monitoring data from the night vision system, analyzing the monitored data identifying critical information, and determining display requirements based upon the critical information. A graphics system generates the graphical images to be displayed based upon the display requirements, and a graphics projection system communicates with the graphics system and displays the graphical images.

Claims

1. System to display graphical images upon a windscreen of a vehicle including night vision, the system comprising:

a transparent windscreen head up display;

a night vision system;

an enhanced vision system system manager monitoring data from the night vision system, analyzing the monitored data identifying critical information, and determining display requirements based upon the critical information;

a graphics system generating the graphical images to be displayed based upon the display requirements; and

a graphics projection system communicating with the graphics system and displaying the graphical images.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an occupant eye location sensing system; and

wherein the graphics system is in communication with the enhanced vision system system manager and the occupant eye location sensing system to register the graphical images upon the transparent windscreen head up display.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the enhanced vision system system manager further determines a low light condition outside the vehicle, and wherein determining display requirements is further based upon the low light condition.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the enhanced vision system system manager further determining a high light contrast condition outside the vehicle, and wherein determining display requirements is further based upon the high light contrast condition.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein analyzing the monitored data identifying critical information comprises:

utilizing pattern recognition programming to identify from the monitored data a target object;

tracking the target object; and

identifying the critical information based upon the tracking of the target object.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein identifying the critical information comprises identifying the target object in a same lane as the vehicle.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein identifying the critical information comprises identifying the target object as a collision threat to the vehicle.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein identifying the critical information comprises identifying the target object as a vehicle with headlights deactivated.

9. The system of claim 5, wherein identifying the critical information comprises identifying the target object as a pedestrian close to a lane of travel for the vehicle.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein analyzing the monitored data identifying critical information comprises:

utilizing pattern recognition to identify from the monitored data a road surface; and

identifying the critical information based upon analyzing the road surface.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the analysis of the road surface comprises clear path detection.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein analyzing the road surface comprises identifying obstacles upon the road surface.

13. Apparatus to display registered graphical images upon a windscreen of a vehicle including night vision, the apparatus comprising:

a substantially transparent windscreen head up display;

a night vision system comprising an infrared sensor;

an enhanced vision system system manager monitoring data from the infrared sensor, and identifying features of an operating environment of the vehicle based upon recognizing patterns within data;

an occupant eye location sensing system;

a graphics system generating the registered graphical images to be displayed based upon the identified features and data from the occupant eye location sensing system; and

a graphics projection system communicating with the graphics system and displaying the graphical images.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the enhanced vision system system manager identifying features of an operating environment of the vehicle based upon recognizing patterns within data comprises:

utilizing pattern recognition to identify areas in the data describing temperature differences;

comparing the identified areas to trained images; and

identifying the features based upon the comparing.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the substantially transparent windscreen head up display comprises a substrate combined with light emitting particles, wherein the particles are sized between 50 nm and 500 nm.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the substantially transparent windscreen head up display comprises microstructures that direct a light emission into a confined and directed viewing cone.

17. Method to utilize data from an infrared sensor to identify critical information upon a transparent windscreen head up display of a vehicle, the method comprising:

monitoring data from the infrared sensor;

identifying critical information based upon patterns within the monitored data;

determining a graphic image describing the identified critical information;

monitoring an occupant eye location;

determining a registered location on the head up display for the graphic image; and

displaying the graphic image on the head up display based upon the registered location.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein identifying critical information based upon patterns within the monitored data comprises:

identifying a target object in the monitored data; and

identifying the target object as critical information based upon the target object acting as an obstacle to the vehicle.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein identifying critical information based upon patterns within the monitored data comprises:

identifying a road surface in the monitored data;

identifying features of the road surface; and

identifying a lane of travel upon the road surface based upon the identified features of the road surface.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the vehicle is an emergency vehicle.