Vehicular path sensing system and method
First Claim
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1. A method of sensing a physical feature of or along a path of a vehicle, comprising:
- a. projecting at least one fan beam of light from a vehicle onto a path along which said vehicle can travel, wherein said at least one fan beam of light is oriented substantially along a direction of travel of said vehicle, each said at least one fan beam of light generates a corresponding at least one light stripe along a surface of said path, and said at least one fan beam of light is substantially aligned with a corresponding at least one corresponding tire track of said vehicle, so as to provide for said at least one fan beam of light to intersect said corresponding at least one corresponding tire track of said vehicle for a corresponding projected trajectory of said vehicle;
b. capturing at least one pair of stereo image components of said at least one light stripe; and
c. processing said at least one pair of stereo image components of said at least one light stripe so as to provide for sensing a physical feature of or along said path.
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Abstract
At least one fan beam of light (16, 16.1, 16.2) projected along a path (14, 14.1, 14.2, 48) of a vehicle (12) generates a corresponding at least one light stripe (90, 90.1, 90.2) along the surface (14′, 48′) of the path (14, 48), which is imaged by an imaging system (22, 26) to generate a pair of stereo image components (88′, 88″) which is processed so as to provide for sensing a physical feature of or along the path (14′, 48′).
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of sensing a physical feature of or along a path of a vehicle, comprising:
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a. projecting at least one fan beam of light from a vehicle onto a path along which said vehicle can travel, wherein said at least one fan beam of light is oriented substantially along a direction of travel of said vehicle, each said at least one fan beam of light generates a corresponding at least one light stripe along a surface of said path, and said at least one fan beam of light is substantially aligned with a corresponding at least one corresponding tire track of said vehicle, so as to provide for said at least one fan beam of light to intersect said corresponding at least one corresponding tire track of said vehicle for a corresponding projected trajectory of said vehicle; b. capturing at least one pair of stereo image components of said at least one light stripe; and c. processing said at least one pair of stereo image components of said at least one light stripe so as to provide for sensing a physical feature of or along said path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system for sensing a physical feature of or along a path of a vehicle, comprising:
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a. a light projection system, wherein said light projection system is installed in the vehicle in an orientation so as to provide for projecting at least one fan beam of light onto a path upon which the vehicle can travel, wherein said at least one fan beam of light is oriented substantially along a direction of travel of said vehicle, each said at least one fan beam of light generates a corresponding at least one light stripe along a surface of said path, and said at least one fan beam of light is substantially aligned with a corresponding at least one corresponding tire track of said vehicle, so as to provide for said at least one fan beam of light to intersect said corresponding at least one corresponding tire track of said vehicle for a corresponding projected trajectory of said vehicle; b. an imaging system, wherein said imaging system generates at least one pair of stereo image components of said at least one fan beam of light; and c. an image processing system, wherein said image processing system is configured so as to sense a physical feature of or along said path of said vehicle responsive to said at least one pair of stereo image components of said at least one fan beam of light and responsive to stored reference information corresponding to said at least one fan beam of light. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification