System and method for controlling vehicle equipment by determining spatial composition of an image of a vehicle window
First Claim
1. A vehicle equipment control system comprising:
- an image sensor having a two-dimensional array of pixel sensors for detecting moisture on a vehicle window, wherein the vehicle window is a windshield of the vehicle, and the vehicle having windshield wipers;
an optical system operable to image a portion of the vehicle window onto the image sensor; and
a processor in communication with the image sensor, the processor operative to determine spatial composition of the image whereby a vehicle equipment control signal is generated based on the determined spatial composition, wherein the processor determines a spatial frequency component of the moisture on the windshield and generates control signals to control the time intervals at which the windshield wipers are activated.
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Abstract
A control system is disclosed for automatically detecting moisture on the windshield of a vehicle. The automatic moisture detecting system includes an optical system for imaging a portion of the windshield onto an image array sensor, such as a CMOS active pixel sensor. The voltage of each of the pixels which represents the illumination level is converted to a corresponding gray scale value by an analog digital converter. The spatial frequency composition of the gray scale values are analyzed to determine the amount of rain present in order to provide a control signal to control the operation of the windshield wipers of the vehicle as a function of the amount of moisture present. The system is also adapted to detect the level of fog both on the interior of the windshield as well as the exterior of the windshield.
60 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A vehicle equipment control system comprising:
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an image sensor having a two-dimensional array of pixel sensors for detecting moisture on a vehicle window, wherein the vehicle window is a windshield of the vehicle, and the vehicle having windshield wipers; an optical system operable to image a portion of the vehicle window onto the image sensor; and a processor in communication with the image sensor, the processor operative to determine spatial composition of the image whereby a vehicle equipment control signal is generated based on the determined spatial composition, wherein the processor determines a spatial frequency component of the moisture on the windshield and generates control signals to control the time intervals at which the windshield wipers are activated. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for controlling vehicle equipment upon the detection of moisture on a vehicle window comprising:
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acquiring an image of a portion of the vehicle window; generating a signal corresponding to the acquired image; determining spatial high frequency components of the signal; determining whether moisture is present on the vehicle window using the spatial high frequency components; and generating a vehicle equipment control signal when moisture is present on the vehicle window. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification