System and Method for Detecting and Protecting Pedestrians

• US 20080046150A1
• Filed: 10/23/2007
• Published: 02/21/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/1994
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: American Vehicular Sciences LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Automotive Technologies International Incorporated
• Inventors: Breed, David
• Granted Patent: US 7,630,806 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/45
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0134 responsive to imminent contact with an obstacle , e.g. using radar systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar

Abstract

System and method for reacting to a impact involving a motor vehicle in which an anticipatory sensor system assesses the probable severity of the impact based on data obtained prior to the impact and initiates deployment of an external safety device via an actuator in the event an impact above a threshold probable severity is assessed. The anticipatory sensor system includes receivers for receiving waves or energy and a pattern recognition system for analyzing the received waves or energy, or data representative thereof, to assess the probable severity of the impact. The pattern recognition system ascertains the identity of an object from which the waves or energy have been emitted, reflected or generated. The pattern recognition system includes a processor embodying a pattern recognition algorithm designed to provide an output of one of a number of pre-determined identities of the object.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle, comprising:

a safety device deployable outside of the vehicle;

an anticipatory sensor system for assessing the probable severity of an impact involving the vehicle based on data obtained prior to the impact and initiating deployment of the safety device in the event an impact above a threshold probable severity is assessed; and

an actuator coupled to said anticipatory sensor system and said safety device for deploying said safety device when initiated by said anticipatory sensor system,

said anticipatory sensor system comprising at least one receiver for receiving waves or energy and a pattern recognition system for analyzing the received waves or energy or data representative of the received waves or energy to assess the probable severity of the impact,

said pattern recognition system being arranged to ascertain the identity of an object from which the waves or energy have been emitted, reflected or generated, the assessment of the probable severity of the impact being at least partially based on the identification of the object,

said pattern recognition system comprising a processor embodying a pattern recognition algorithm designed to provide an output of one of a number of pre-determined identities of the object.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said pattern recognition system is further arranged to determine that the object from which the waves or energy have been emitted, reflected or generated, is a human, pedestrian, animal or cyclist.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said anticipatory sensor system further comprises a transmitter for transmitting waves or energy away from the vehicle, said at least one receiver receiving waves or energy transmitted by said transmitter which have been reflected from objects exterior of the vehicle, the received waves or energy being analyzed to enable determination of the identity of the object.

4. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein said transmitter is arranged to transmit infrared waves.

5. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein said transmitter is arranged to transmit infrared waves in an eye-safe range.

6. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein said transmitter is controlled such that the intensity of transmitted infrared waves is determined at least in part by the distance to the reflecting object.

7. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein said anticipatory sensor system is arranged to apply range gating to select a range of an object to be identified.

8. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the vehicle has a front, a rear, a left side and a right side, wherein said safety device is an airbag, further comprising an airbag module for housing said airbag, said airbag module being mounted along the front of the vehicle such that when deployed, said airbag covers a portion of the vehicle hood and is designed to control a trajectory of the struck object.

9. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the vehicle has a front, a rear, a left side and a right side, said safety device is a net, further comprising a module for housing said net, said module being mounted along the front of the vehicle, said pattern recognition system being arranged to identify the object as a pedestrian such that said anticipatory sensor system initiates said actuator to deploy said net and said net is designed to capture the pedestrian and hold it onto the vehicle after the impact.

10. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein when said pattern recognition system identifies the object as a non-human animal, said anticipatory sensor system withhold initiation of said actuator.

11. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said pattern recognition system is arranged to receive images from said at least one receiver and analyze images of the object in order to ascertain the identity thereof.

12. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein said pattern recognition system is arranged to perform image subtraction when analyzing the images.

13. The vehicle of claim 12, wherein said anticipatory sensor system further comprises a transmitter for transmitting waves or energy away from the vehicle, said at least one receiver receiving waves or energy transmitted by said transmitter which have been reflected from objects exterior of the vehicle, the received waves or energy being analyzed to enable determination of the identity of the object, said at least one receiver and said transmitter being controlled such that said at least one receiver receives a first image of the object illuminated by waves transmitted from the vehicle and a second image of the object which is not illuminated by waves transmitted from the vehicle, said pattern recognition system analyzing the first and second images in relation to one another.

14. A method for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during an impact between the vehicle and an object, comprising:

detecting an impending impact between the vehicle and the object prior to the impact;

determining the probable severity of the impending impact prior to the impact; and

initiating deployment of a safety device outside of the vehicle between the vehicle and the object in the event the impending impact is determined to be above a threshold severity, the step of determining the probable severity of the impact comprising;

receiving waves or energy from the object, and

ascertaining the identity of the object based on the received waves or energy by inputting the received waves or energy or data representative of the received waves or energy into a pattern recognition algorithm which ascertains the identity of the object based thereon, the pattern recognition algorithm being designed to provide an output of one of a number of pre-determined identities of the object.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the vehicle has a front, a rear, a left side and a right side, further comprising housing the safety device in the front of the vehicle.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the safety device is a deployable net, further comprising housing the deployable net in the front of the vehicle.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising positioning the net is designed to capture the object and hold it onto the vehicle after the impact.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising initiating deployment of the net only when the object is a human such that when the object is a non-human animal, deployment of the net is not initiated.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising designing the pattern recognition algorithm to identify at least one of a human, pedestrian, animal and a cyclist.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of detecting an impending impact comprises transmitting waves away from the vehicle, receiving the transmitted waves after the waves have been reflected from the object and analyzing the received waves.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the transmitted waves are infrared waves.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the infrared waves are in an eye-safe range.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising determining an intensity of the infrared waves based at least in part on a distance to the reflecting object.

24. The method of claim 14, wherein the safety device is a deployable airbag, further comprising arranging the airbag to cover a portion of a vehicle hood when deployed and thereby control a trajectory of the object.