Method and apparatus for detecting an object on a side of or backwards of a vehicle
First Claim
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1. A system for detecting an external obstacle within a given distance and spatial location on a side of or to the rear of a vehicle comprising:
- a rangefinder mounted on said vehicle for determining distance to an external obstacle within said spatial location including;
a transmitter of pulses of electromagnetic light radiation having a narrow beam width and a given pulse frequency transmitted within said spatial location;
a receiver that receives reflected light radiation pulses transmitted from the transmitter and reflected by said obstacle;
a timing device determining the time interval between pulses transmitted by said transmitter and reflected pulses from said obstacle received by said receiver where the time interval is less than approximately 200 nanoseconds and is a measure of the distance to said obstacle, said timing device including a digital clock producing clock pulses and a clock pulse counter activated to count clock pulses upon initiation of transmitter pulses and stopped upon receipt of reflected pulses by said receiver, said clock pulses being a measure of said time interval and said time interval between said transmitted and received pulses being a measure of distance to said obstacle;
a data averager connected to said clock pulse counter for maintaining a running average of time interval information of a plurality of successive transmitted and received pulses; and
means for determining from said time interval information if the distance to said obstacle falls within a preset range between a lower distance bound and an upper distance bound, said means for determining distance within a preset range including a range gate discriminator receiving time interval information from said data averager;
control means for controlling the operation of said rangefinder and providing an output from said rangefinder upon occurrence of reflected pulses within said range; and
a display receiving said output and displaying the results of the distance determination to the operator of the vehicle.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus are described for detecting obstacles in the “blind spot” of a motor vehicle'"'"'s side mounted mirrors. Advantageously, the inventive apparatus is mounted on the vehicle as an attachment to the side mirror system or adjacent to it. The invention determines the presence of an obstacle in a sensing volume that encompasses the “blind spot”. The invention relies on the time-of-flight measurement of preferably short infrared pulses to locate obstacles. Multiple sensors are used to provide area coverage. If any sensor detects an obstacle within its predefined range limits then an indication is provided by a display unit at the side mirror location. The system can be used on both sides of the vehicle and each side operates independently.
317 Citations
6 Claims
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1. A system for detecting an external obstacle within a given distance and spatial location on a side of or to the rear of a vehicle comprising:
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a rangefinder mounted on said vehicle for determining distance to an external obstacle within said spatial location including;
a transmitter of pulses of electromagnetic light radiation having a narrow beam width and a given pulse frequency transmitted within said spatial location;
a receiver that receives reflected light radiation pulses transmitted from the transmitter and reflected by said obstacle;
a timing device determining the time interval between pulses transmitted by said transmitter and reflected pulses from said obstacle received by said receiver where the time interval is less than approximately 200 nanoseconds and is a measure of the distance to said obstacle, said timing device including a digital clock producing clock pulses and a clock pulse counter activated to count clock pulses upon initiation of transmitter pulses and stopped upon receipt of reflected pulses by said receiver, said clock pulses being a measure of said time interval and said time interval between said transmitted and received pulses being a measure of distance to said obstacle;
a data averager connected to said clock pulse counter for maintaining a running average of time interval information of a plurality of successive transmitted and received pulses; and
means for determining from said time interval information if the distance to said obstacle falls within a preset range between a lower distance bound and an upper distance bound, said means for determining distance within a preset range including a range gate discriminator receiving time interval information from said data averager;
control means for controlling the operation of said rangefinder and providing an output from said rangefinder upon occurrence of reflected pulses within said range; and
a display receiving said output and displaying the results of the distance determination to the operator of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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Specification
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Current AssigneeRobert Lawrence Scully
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Original AssigneeRobert Lawrence Scully
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InventorsScully, Robert Lawrence
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Primary Examiner(s)NGUYEN, TAN QUANG
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Application NumberUS09/722,224Time in Patent Office484 DaysField of Search701/301, 701/96, 701/49, 340/903, 340/904, 340/435, 340/436, 342/47, 342/73, 342/133, 342/455US Class Current701/301CPC Class CodesB60R 21/0134 responsive to imminent cont...G01S 13/48 using multiple beams at emi...G01S 13/931 of land vehiclesG01S 2013/9315 Monitoring blind spotsG01S 2013/9323 Alternative operation using...G01S 2013/93271 in the front of the vehiclesG01S 2013/93274 on the side of the vehicles
