Vehicle collision warning system and method
First Claim
1. A collision warning system for a vehicle, comprising:
- a vision system being mounted on the vehicle, the vision system provides color video of an upcoming road segment that includes at least one in-path object;
a control module being coupled to the vision system, the control module receives the color video from the vision system and provides enhanced video of the upcoming road segment that includes the in-path object, wherein the in-path object is highlighted in color according to collision data by graying out a background of the color video so that the in-path object stands apart from the rest of the upcoming road segment which is in black and white; and
a color heads-up display (HUD) being coupled to the control module, the color heads-up display (HUD) receives the enhanced video from the control module and displays the enhanced video to a driver on a windshield of the vehicle, wherein the enhanced video that is displayed on the color heads-up display (HUD) includes the in-path object in color set against the rest of the upcoming road segment in black and white so as to create a contrast that acts as an intuitive warning to the driver.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle collision warning system and method that alerts a driver of an impending collision by displaying enhanced video of an upcoming road segment, where the enhanced video includes an in-path object that is highlighted so that it stands apart. In one exemplary embodiment, the system and method receive video of an upcoming road segment from a forward-looking vision system, obtain certain collision data for an in-path object, and then use the video and the collision data to provide enhanced video to a visual display that is seen by the driver. The enhanced video may include an in-path object that is highlighted according to the collision data (e.g., highlighted with a color-coded scheme where the in-path object changes color based on time-to-collision data) so that it stands apart from the rest of the upcoming road segment.
37 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A collision warning system for a vehicle, comprising:
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a vision system being mounted on the vehicle, the vision system provides color video of an upcoming road segment that includes at least one in-path object; a control module being coupled to the vision system, the control module receives the color video from the vision system and provides enhanced video of the upcoming road segment that includes the in-path object, wherein the in-path object is highlighted in color according to collision data by graying out a background of the color video so that the in-path object stands apart from the rest of the upcoming road segment which is in black and white; and a color heads-up display (HUD) being coupled to the control module, the color heads-up display (HUD) receives the enhanced video from the control module and displays the enhanced video to a driver on a windshield of the vehicle, wherein the enhanced video that is displayed on the color heads-up display (HUD) includes the in-path object in color set against the rest of the upcoming road segment in black and white so as to create a contrast that acts as an intuitive warning to the driver. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of operating a collision warning system for a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving color video from a vision system, the color video is of an upcoming road segment and includes a plurality of pixels associated with an in-path object; (b) receiving collision data from one or more object detecting sensors, the collision data pertains to the in-path object and is used in conjunction with the color video to determine time-to-collision values for the plurality of pixels associated with the in-path object; (c) using the color video and the collision data to generate enhanced video, the enhanced video is of the upcoming road segment and includes the in-path object which is highlighted in color for at least some of the plurality of pixels associated with the in-path object according to the time-to-collision values and the remaining pixels of the upcoming road segment that are not associated with the in-path object are grayed out so as to be in black and white; and (d) providing the enhanced video to a visual display and displaying the enhanced video with the in-path object in color set against the remaining pixels in black and white. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of operating a collision warning system for a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving color video from a vision system, the color video is of an upcoming road segment and includes a plurality of pixels associated with an in-path object; (b) receiving collision data from one or more object detecting sensors, the collision data pertains to the in-path object and is used in conjunction with the color video to determine time-to-collision values for the plurality of pixels associated with the in-path object; (c) using the color video and the collision data to generate enhanced video, the enhanced video is of the upcoming road segment and includes the in-path object which is highlighted in color for at least some of the plurality of pixels associated with the in-path object according to the time-to-collision values and the remaining pixels of the upcoming road segment that are not associated with the in-path object are removed; and (d) providing the enhanced video to a visual display and displaying the enhanced video with the in-path object in color and the remaining pixels of the upcoming road segment removed.
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Specification