LIGHTING SYSTEM WITH DRIVER ASSISTANCE CAPABILITIES
First Claim
1. A method for providing driver assistance to a driver of a vehicle, comprising:
- providing a vehicle with a visible-light source emitting visible light and having a function of illuminating an environment adjacent to the vehicle or emitting a signal;
driving the visible-light source to emit visible light in a predetermined mode, with visible light in the predetermined mode being visible to an unaided human eye to maintain said function of illuminating an environment adjacent to the vehicle or emitting a signal;
receiving a reflection/backscatter of the emitted visible light from an object;
identifying at least one of a presence and a position of the object as a function of the reflection/backscatter received and of the predetermined mode; and
triggering at least one of an interaction with a driver of the vehicle and an action of the vehicle as a function of the at least one of the presence and the position of the object.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present application adds detection capabilities to perceive the presence and/or measure the velocity of obstacles such as automobiles, trucks, pedestrian and other users, to vehicle lighting modules as headlamp, tail lamps, centre high mount stop lamp (CHMSL) and interior lighting to name a few, for driver assistance applications like adaptive cruise control, blind spot and pre-crash assist. For example, a Light Emitting Diode (LED) has the capability to be used as lighting source for illumination as a first function and also be pulsed or modulated as a source for the detection sub-system as a second function.
162 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method for providing driver assistance to a driver of a vehicle, comprising:
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providing a vehicle with a visible-light source emitting visible light and having a function of illuminating an environment adjacent to the vehicle or emitting a signal; driving the visible-light source to emit visible light in a predetermined mode, with visible light in the predetermined mode being visible to an unaided human eye to maintain said function of illuminating an environment adjacent to the vehicle or emitting a signal; receiving a reflection/backscatter of the emitted visible light from an object; identifying at least one of a presence and a position of the object as a function of the reflection/backscatter received and of the predetermined mode; and triggering at least one of an interaction with a driver of the vehicle and an action of the vehicle as a function of the at least one of the presence and the position of the object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A driver assistance lighting system comprising:
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a light source emitting visible light and having a function of emitting visible light to illuminate an environment adjacent to the vehicle or emit a signal; a source controller for driving the light source into emitting visible light in a predetermined mode in which the light remains visible to an unaided human eye while being driven by the source controller such that the light source maintains said function of illuminating an environment adjacent to the vehicle or emitting a signal; an optical detector adapted to detect the visible light as reflected/backscattered by an object to produce detection data; a data/signal processor for receiving detection data from the optical detector, the data/signal processor producing a data output associated to at least one of a presence and a position of the object as a function of the predetermined mode and the detection data; and a driver assistance processor system for triggering at least one of an interaction with a driver of the vehicle and an action of the vehicle as a function of said data output. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification