Vehicular anticipatory sensor system

• US 9,007,197 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2013
• Issued: 04/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intelligent Technologies International, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intelligent Technologies International, Inc.
• Inventors: Breed, David S
• Primary Examiner(s): Backer, Firmin
• Assistant Examiner(s): WILSON, BRIAN P
• Application Number:
  US14/135,888
• Publication Number:
  US 20140104051A1
• Time in Patent Office: 480 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 340/436
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/82 wherein continuous-type signals are transmitted
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/06 Systems determining position data of a target
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/08 for measuring distance only indirect measurement G01S17/46; active triangulation systems G01S17/48
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/41 Differential correction, e.g. DGPS [differential GPS]
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/43 using carrier phase measurements, e.g. kinematic positioning; using long or short baseline interferometry
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/58 Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09626 where the origin of the information is within the own vehicle, e.g. a local storage device, digital map
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096783 where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 where the origin of the information is another vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/16 Anti-collision systems road vehicle drive control systems for predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision otherwise than by control of a particular sub-unit B60W30/08
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/163 involving continuous checking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/165 for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/065 : Navigation or guidance aids, e.g. for taxiing or rolling

Abstract

System and method for preventing collisions between a vehicle and objects in a path of the vehicle includes a laser system arranged to direct at least one laser beam outward therefrom and which is in an eye-safe portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, an imaging receiver for receiving at least one laser beam reflected from objects in the path of the laser beam, a processor coupled to the receiver and arranged to receive signals derived from the received laser beam and process the signals to determine a distance between the laser system and the objects from which the laser beam has been reflected, and one or more reactive systems coupled to the processor. The processor controls the reactive system to indicate the presence of objects at specific distances from the vehicle. This indication may be used to take preventive action to avoid the collision, either manually or automatically.

Claims

1. A vehicle including a system to prevent collisions between the vehicle and different objects in a path of the vehicle, comprising:

a laser radar system arranged on the vehicle and configured to direct laser beams outward from the vehicle, said laser radar system receiving, in a first operating stage, laser beams that have been reflected from objects in the paths of the outward directed laser beams, said laser radar system being configured to generate the laser beams in an eye-safe portion of the electromagnetic spectrum at a wavelength above 1.4 microns and comprising a high-powered laser radar;

a processor coupled to said laser radar system and configured to receive signals derived from the laser beams received in the first operating stage and process the signals to determine a distance between said laser radar system and each of the objects from which the received laser beams have been reflected in the first operating stage;

an imaging receiver for receiving laser beams that have been reflected from any of the objects in the paths of the laser beams directed outward from said laser radar system and creating images from the received laser beams,

said processor being further configured to determine a plurality of range gates to apply at different times, in a second operating stage, to said imaging receiver such that when each of the range gates is applied to said imaging receiver, an image is created from only laser beams received from objects in that range gate,

each of the range gates being determined for a respective one of the objects from which the laser beams received in the first operating stage have been reflected based on the determined distance between said laser radar system and the respective one of the objects from which the laser beams received in the first operating stage have been reflected such that said imaging receiver is thus configured to receive reflections of laser beams directed outward from said laser radar system in the second operating stage only from the respective one of the objects from which the laser beams received in the first operating stage have been reflected and any other objects in the same range gate;

and

a reactive system coupled to said processor, said processor being configured to control said reactive system to selectively indicate the presence of any of the objects from which the received laser beams have been reflected.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is an airplane.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said laser radar system is configured to project a bright spotlight in the eye-safe portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in a direction in which the vehicle is heading or in a direction forward of a front of the vehicle.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said processor comprises a pattern recognition algorithm configured to process the signals to determine whether any of the objects from which the laser beams received in the second operating stage have been reflected are in the vehicle'"'"'s path and optionally an identification of any of the objects from which the laser beams received in the second stage operating have been reflected determined to be in the vehicle'"'"'s path.

5. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein said pattern recognition algorithm comprises a trained neural network, a combination neural network or an optical correlation system.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said reactive system comprises a heads-up display which is controlled by said processor to project an image into a field of view of an occupant of the vehicle, the image being derived from one of the objects.

7. The vehicle of claim 6, wherein said processor is configured to select a form of the image to project into the field of the view of the occupant based on the received signals.

8. The vehicle of claim 6, further comprising a system for determining a location of the occupant'"'"'s head or eyes, said heads-up display being controlled by said processor to project the image into the field of view of the occupant based on the determined location of his or her head or eyes.

9. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said reactive system comprises an alarm system which provides a visual and/or audible warning to an occupant of the vehicle when one of the objects from which the laser beams received in the second stage have been reflected is determined to be within a threshold distance from the vehicle.

21. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said high-powered laser radar comprises a 30-100 watt laser diode.

22. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said laser radar system is configured to have a scanning range in the second operating stage that is smaller than a scanning range in the first operating stage.

23. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein said laser radar system is configured to have a controlled transmission of the laser beams and said imaging receiver is configured to have a controlled reception of the laser beams such that energy is accumulated by said imaging receiver to create the image including the objects in the range gate until the created image is analyzable.

10. A method for preventing collisions between a vehicle and different objects in a path of the vehicle, comprising:

in a first operating stage,

directing laser beams outward from a laser radar system on the vehicle, the laser radar system being configured to generate the laser beams in an eye-safe portion of the electromagnetic spectrum at a wavelength above 1.4 microns and comprising a high-powered laser radar;

receiving, at a laser beam receiving system, laser beams that have been reflected from objects in the paths of the outward directed laser beams;

receiving, at a processor, signals derived from the received laser beams;

processing, at the processor, the received signals to determine a distance between the laser radar system and each of the objects from which the received laser beams have been reflected;

determining, using the processor or a different processor, a plurality of range gates to apply at different times to the laser beam receiving system such that when each of the range gates is applied to the laser beam receiving system, an image is created from only laser beams received from objects in that range gate;

in a second operating stage,

directing laser beams outward from the laser radar system;

receiving, at the laser beam receiving system, laser beams that have been reflected from objects in the paths of the outward directed laser beams;

applying the range gates at different times to the laser beam receiving system to thereby create an image from only laser beams received from objects in the applied one of the range gates,

each of the range gates being applied for a respective one of the objects from which the laser beams received in the first stage have been reflected based on the determined distance between the laser radar system and the respective one of the objects from which the laser beams received in the first operating stage have been reflected such that the laser beam receiving system is thus configured to receive reflections of laser beams directed outward from the laser radar system in the second operating stage only from the respective one of the objects from which the laser beams received in the first operating stage have been reflected and any other objects in the same range gate;

creating, when each of the range gates is applied to the laser beam receiving system, an image from only laser beams received from objects in the applied one of the range gates

and then

controlling a reactive system on the vehicle to indicate the presence of any of the objects.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the vehicle is an airplane.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of directing laser beams outward from the laser radar system on the vehicle in the first operating stage and the second operating stage comprises projecting a bright spotlight in the eye-safe portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in a direction in which the vehicle is heading or in a direction forward of a front of the vehicle.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein further comprising deriving, using the processor or the different processor, signals from the received laser beams in the second operating stage and processing the signals derived from the received laser beams in the second operating stage in a pattern recognition algorithm which is configured to determine whether any of the objects are in the vehicle'"'"'s path and optionally an identification of any of the objects.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the pattern recognition algorithm comprises a trained neural network, a combination neural network or an optical correlation system.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the reactive system comprises a heads-up display, the step of controlling the reactive system comprising projecting an image into a field of view of an occupant of the vehicle using the heads-up display, the image to be projected being derived from any of the objects.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

identifying each of the objects using the processor on the vehicle or the different processor; and

selecting a form of the image for the heads-up display to project into the field of the view of the occupant based on an identification of each of the objects.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising determining a location of the occupant'"'"'s head or eyes using the processor on the vehicle or the different processor, the heads-up display being controlled to project the image into the field of view of the occupant based on the determined location of his or her head or eyes.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the reactive system comprises an alarm system which provides a visual and/or audible warning to an occupant of the vehicle when any of the objects is determined to be within a threshold distance from the vehicle.

19. The method of claim 10, further comprising controlling the laser radar system and the laser beam receiving system to adjust the range gate based on each of the objects such that the objects in each range gate are individually imaged and identified.

20. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying each of the objects using the processor on the vehicle or the different processor;

assessing potential for a collision between the vehicle and the identified object; and

effecting countermeasures when the potential for a collision is present.

24. The method of claim 10, wherein the high-powered laser radar comprises a 30-100 watt laser diode.

25. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

providing the laser radar system with a scanning range in the first operating stage; and

reducing the scanning range for the laser radar system in the second operating stage in comparison to the scanning range in the first operating stage, to at least cover one of the objects from which laser beams received in the first operating stage have been reflected.

26. The method of claim 10, further comprising controlling transmission of the laser beams from the laser radar system and reception of the laser beams by the laser beam receiving system such that energy is accumulated by the laser beam receiving system to create the image including the objects in the range gate until the created image is analyzable.