SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ILLUMINATION CONTROL AND DISTRIBUTION DURING A VEHICLE BANK
First Claim
1. An apparatus for calculating a bank angle value of a banking vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
- an inertial measurement unit, the inertial measurement unit including a processor and at least one motion sensor operatively coupled to the processor;
the processor programmed to;
sample yaw rate data at a predetermined rate, the yaw rate data provided by the at least one motion sensor;
compare the yaw rate data to a predefined minimum yaw rate and a predefined maximum yaw rate, and when the yaw rate data is between the predefined minimum yaw rate and the predefined maximum yaw rate, set a bank angle value to zero; and
when the yaw rate data is not between the predefined minimum yaw rate and the predefined maximum yaw rate, calculate the bank angle value.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A bank angle of a vehicle can be accurately calculated using yaw axis data and roll axis data, and based on the calculated bank angle, vehicle illumination optics can be controlled to maintain a pattern of distributed light from the illumination optics to be generally horizontal. The calculated bank angle may be zeroed when the yaw axis data equals zero. The improved pattern of distributed light from the illumination optics illuminates a more natural field of view for the vehicle driver during a bank. In some embodiments, the vehicle illumination optics can include a primary illumination group and a plurality of side illumination groups.
37 Citations
26 Claims
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1. An apparatus for calculating a bank angle value of a banking vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
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an inertial measurement unit, the inertial measurement unit including a processor and at least one motion sensor operatively coupled to the processor; the processor programmed to; sample yaw rate data at a predetermined rate, the yaw rate data provided by the at least one motion sensor; compare the yaw rate data to a predefined minimum yaw rate and a predefined maximum yaw rate, and when the yaw rate data is between the predefined minimum yaw rate and the predefined maximum yaw rate, set a bank angle value to zero; and when the yaw rate data is not between the predefined minimum yaw rate and the predefined maximum yaw rate, calculate the bank angle value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for controlling a horizontal distribution of illumination from a vehicle when the vehicle is banking, the vehicle including a headlamp to distribute the horizontal distribution of illumination, the apparatus comprising:
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an inertial measurement unit, the inertial measurement unit including a processor and a motion sensor operatively coupled to the processor, the motion sensor to be coupled to the banking vehicle; the processor programmed to; sample yaw rate data at a predetermined rate, the yaw rate data provided by the motion sensor coupled to the banking vehicle; receive a motion sensor offset value; compare the yaw rate data to a predefined minimum yaw rate and a predefined maximum yaw rate, and when the yaw rate data is between the predefined minimum yaw rate and the predefined maximum yaw rate, determine if the motion sensor offset value is between a predefined minimum offset and a predefined maximum offset; when the yaw rate data is not between the predefined minimum yaw rate and the predefined maximum yaw rate, or when the motion sensor offset value is not between the predefined minimum offset and the predefined maximum offset, determine a roll data sum, the roll data sum equal to a roll rate data value minus the motion sensor offset value, and then calculate the bank angle value; and when the motion sensor offset value is between the predefined minimum offset and the predefined maximum offset, set the bank angle value to zero. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A vehicle headlamp for providing a horizontal distribution of illumination for a vehicle when the vehicle is banking, the headlamp comprising:
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a headlamp housing; an inertial measurement unit positioned within the housing, the inertial measurement unit including a processor and at least one motion sensor operatively coupled to the processor; a primary illumination group and a plurality of side illumination groups positioned with the headlamp housing, the primary illumination group and the plurality of side illumination groups operatively coupled to a driver board, the driver board operatively coupled to the processor; the processor programmed to; sample yaw rate data provided by the at least one motion sensor; compare the yaw rate data to a predefined minimum yaw rate and a predefined maximum yaw rate, and when the yaw rate data is between the predefined minimum yaw rate and the predefined maximum yaw rate, set a bank angle value to zero; and when the yaw rate data is not between the predefined minimum yaw rate and the predefined maximum yaw rate, calculate a bank angle value and cause at least one of the plurality of side illumination groups to illuminate to provide the horizontal distribution of illumination for the vehicle when the vehicle is banking. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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26. An apparatus for calculating a angle value of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
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an inertial measurement unit, the inertial measurement unit including a processor and at least one motion sensor operatively coupled to the processor; the processor programmed to; sample motion data at a predetermined rate, the motion data provided by the at least one motion sensor; compare the motion data to a predefined minimum motion rate and a predefined maximum motion rate, and when the motion data is between the predefined minimum motion rate and the predefined maximum motion rate, set a vehicle angle value to zero; and when the motion data is not between the predefined minimum motion rate and the predefined maximum motion rate, calculate the vehicle angle value.
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Specification