Motor vehicle with a driver assistance system and method of operating a driver assistance system

• US 9,641,807 B2
• Filed: 08/09/2013
• Issued: 05/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Audi AG (Volkswagen AG)
• Original Assignee: Audi AG (Volkswagen AG)
• Inventors: Schuder, Claudia, Bruns, Erich
• Primary Examiner(s): Parikh, Dakshesh
• Application Number:
  US13/963,573
• Publication Number:
  US 20140043483A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,362 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/085 due to special conditions, e.g. adverse weather, type of road, badly illuminated road signs or potential dangers B60Q1/10, B60Q1/12, B60Q1/1423 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/06 Automatic manoeuvring for parking
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/675 by moving reflectors
• 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: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Abstract

A motor vehicle includes a control device and at least one lighting device which is controllable by the control device sequentially in at least two modes which illuminate surroundings of the vehicle differently. At least one camera captures at least two images of the differently illuminated surroundings of the vehicle. The at least two different images are processed by an image processing device for producing a processing result which is transmitted for control of a driver assistance system.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle, comprising:

a control device;

two lighting devices located at opposite sides of the motor vehicle and controllable by the control device sequentially in at least two modes which respectively illuminate surroundings of the vehicle differently so that first one of the lighting devices at one of the opposite sides of the motor vehicle is activated and thereafter another of the lighting devices at another of the opposite sides of the motor vehicle is activated to produce at least two images of the differently illuminated surroundings of the vehicle,

wherein each of the lighting devices has several light sources which are arranged in an offset relationship and illuminate a rotated solid angle range;

at least one camera for capturing the at least two images of the differently illuminated surroundings of the vehicle;

an image processing device configured for processing the at least two different images for producing a processing result, wherein the processing result is a distance interval for an object at at least one pixel, said control device having at least one further modus to differently illuminate the surroundings of the vehicle for operating at least one of the lighting devices, said image processing device configured to process at least one further different image, when the distance interval has a width which exceeds a desired value; and

a driver assistance system controlled in response to the processing result, wherein the driver assistance system is configured for autonomous execution of entering a garage or parking.

2. The motor vehicle of claim 1, wherein the lighting devices include at least one light source capable of being modulated.

3. The motor vehicle of claim 1, wherein the lighting devices include a plurality of light sources, said control device being configured for switching or modulation of the light sources individually or in groups.

4. The motor vehicle of claim 1, wherein the lighting devices include at least one micro-mirror actuator.

5. The motor vehicle of claim 1, wherein the driver assistance system is configured for autonomous execution of individual driving maneuvers.

6. The motor vehicle of claim 1, wherein the driver assistance system is configured for displaying on a display an image computed from the processing result of the image processing device or complemented by an image of the vehicle surroundings.

9. The motor vehicle of claim 1, wherein all of the light sources of each of the lighting devices illuminate the solid angle range which is a broad angle range of the vehicle surroundings, and some of the light sources of each of the lighting devices are deactivatable to limit the angle range.

7. A method of operating a driver assistance system of a motor vehicle, comprising:

capturing a first image by a camera of a first area of a vehicle surroundings illuminated by a first lighting device at one of two opposite sides of the motor vehicle when operating in a first mode;

capturing a second image by the camera of a second area of the vehicle surroundings illuminated by a second lighting device at another of the two opposite sides of the motor vehicle when operating in a second mode,

wherein each of the lighting devices has several light sources which are arranged in an offset relationship and illuminate a rotated solid angle range;

processing the first and second images by an image processing device to produce a processing result, wherein the processing step includes determining a distance interval for an object at at least one pixel, and capturing a third image by the camera of a third area of the vehicle surroundings illuminated by at least one of the lighting devices when operating in a third mode and processing the third image by the image processing device, when a width of the distance interval exceeds a desired value;

transmitting the processing result to the driver assistance system; and

autonomously executing a driving maneuver by the driver assistance system in response to the transmitted processing result, wherein the driving maneuver involves entering a garage or parking.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the driver assistance system operates in either of two ways, a first way in which the driver assistance system computes an image of the vehicle surroundings in response to the transmitted processing result and subsequently displays the computed image on a display, a second way in which the driver assistance system supplements the processing result with at least one of the first and second images and subsequently displays the supplemented image on a display.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein all of the light sources of each of the lighting devices illuminate the solid angle range which is a broad angle range of the vehicle surroundings, and some of the light sources of each of the lighting devices are deactivatable to limit the angle range.