VEHICLE CAMERA SYSTEM OPERABLE IN OFF-ROAD MODE AND METHOD

• US 20120158243A1
• Filed: 12/21/2010
• Published: 06/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Ghneim, Maher, Mass, Noah Barlow, Baldori, Kerry Peter, Salenbauch, Hermann J., Pupin, Anthony, Wroblewski, Thomas Richard, Vann, Benny
• Granted Patent: US 8,983,717 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/36
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/05 Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0295 by overlaying a vehicle path based on present steering angle over an image without processing that image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A camera system and method of assisting a driver of vehicle for off-road mode use is provided. The camera system includes one or more cameras located on the vehicle to generate images of ground near the vehicle. The generated images are displayed to the driver when the vehicle is detected to be operating off-road and are prevented from being displayed when not off-road. A steering wheel direction indicator may also be displayed to the driver.

Claims

1. A vehicle camera system comprising:

a camera located on a vehicle and oriented to generate images of ground near the vehicle;

a display configured to display the images for viewing by a driver of the vehicle;

an off-road enabling input for providing an indication that the vehicle is in an off-road mode; and

a controller for controlling the display to display the images when in the off-road mode.

2. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the off-road enabling input comprises a user actuated switch.

3. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the off-road enabling input comprises a four wheel drive low gear input.

4. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the off-road enabling input comprises a global positioning system (GPS) signal for providing a position of the vehicle relative to map data.

5. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the camera comprises a first camera located in the vicinity of the grille of the front of the vehicle.

6. The system as defined in claim 5, wherein the camera further comprises a second camera located on an exterior rearview mirror housing for displaying images near a road tire of the vehicle.

7. The system as defined in claim 1 further comprising a steering wheel input receiving a steering signal indicative of a direction of the steering wheel, wherein the display provides a directional indicator of the direction of the steering wheel based on the steering signal.

8. A vehicle camera system comprising:

a camera mounted to a vehicle and oriented to generate images of ground near the vehicle;

a steering wheel input for receiving a steering signal indicative of direction of the steering wheel; and

a display configured to display the images and a directional indicator of the steering wheel based on the steering signal for viewing by a driver of the vehicle.

9. The system as defined in claim 8 further comprising a controller and an off-road enabling input for generating a signal indicative of the vehicle operating in an off-road mode, wherein the controller disables the presentation of images on the display viewable by the driver when the vehicle is not in an off-road mode and enables the generation of images on the display viewable by the driver when the vehicle is in an off-road mode.

10. The system as defined in claim 9, wherein the off-road enabling input comprises a four-wheel drive low gear input.

11. The system as defined in claim 8, wherein the off-road enabling input comprises a user activated switch.

12. The system as defined in claim 8, wherein the off-road enabling input comprises a global positioning system (GPS) input for providing a position of the vehicle relative to map data.

13. The system as defined in claim 8, wherein the camera comprises a first camera located in the vicinity of the grille of the front of the vehicle.

14. The system as defined in claim 13, wherein the camera further comprises a second camera located on an exterior rear view mirror housing for displaying images near a road tire of the vehicle.

15. A method of assisting a driver of a vehicle with imagery during off-road driving comprising:

generating images of ground near a vehicle using a camera;

detecting an off-road mode of the vehicle;

displaying the generated images to a driver of the vehicle when the off-road mode is detected; and

preventing the display of the generated images when the vehicle is not in the off-road mode.

16. The method as defined in claim 15, wherein the step of generating images comprises generating first images of ground forward of the vehicle generated by a first camera and generating second images of ground near the vehicle with a second camera located on an exterior rearview mirror housing.

17. The method as defined in claim 15 further comprising the step of receiving a steering wheel signal indicative of a direction of the steering wheel and displaying a directional indicator on the display indicative of the direction of the steering wheel.

18. The method as defined in claim 15, wherein the step of detecting an off-road mode comprises detecting one of a user activated switch input, a four-wheel drive low gear input, and a GPS determined location signal.

19. A method of assisting a driver of a vehicle with imagery comprising:

generating images of ground near a vehicle using a camera;

detecting a direction of steering of the vehicle;

displaying the generated images on a display to a driver of the vehicle; and

displaying a steering indicator on the display based on detected direction of steering.

20. The method as defined in claim 19 further comprising the steps of:

detecting an off-road mode of the vehicle;

displaying the generated images to the driver of the vehicle when the off-road mode is detected; and

preventing the display of the generated images when the vehicle is not in the off-road mode.