Dynamic control of projected light relative to a scene

• US 9,855,887 B1
• Filed: 07/27/2016
• Issued: 01/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Potter, Daniel E., Last, Matthew E., Aikin, Randol W., Cull, Christy F., Northcott, Malcolm J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Williams, Joseph L
• Application Number:
  US15/221,417
• Time in Patent Office: 524 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/115 by electric means details of the electric drive components, e.g. motors, shafts, ball joints B60Q1/076
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/143 combined with another condition, e.g. using vehicle recognition from camera images or activation of wipers
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/13 Attitude of the vehicle body
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/143 the main emission direction of the LED being parallel to the optical axis of the illuminating device
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/145 the main emission direction of the LED being opposite to the main emission direction of the illuminating device
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/147 the main emission direction of the LED being angled to the optical axis of the illuminating device
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/148 the main emission direction of the LED being perpendicular to the optical axis
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/153 arranged in a matrix
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/285 Refractors, transparent cover plates, light guides or filters not provided in groups F21S41/24-F21S41/28
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/645 by electro-optic means, e.g. liquid crystal or electrochromic devices
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/675 by moving reflectors

Abstract

A system for optically stabilizing the projection light from a vehicle. The system includes a light source for generating and emitting light, an aperture, and a spatial light modulator for altering an illumination pattern of the light. The spatial light modulator disposed along an optical path extending from the light source to the aperture, wherein the light projects from the aperture. The system also includes an inertial-sensing. The inertial-sensing unit generates signals representing a position of the vehicle, an orientation of the vehicle, or both. The system further includes a control unit. The control unit receives signals from the inertial-sensing unit to determine changes in position and/or orientation of the vehicle relative to the road and sends signals to the spatial light modulator adjust an illumination pattern of the light to steer the light to a nominal value, defined by a vehicle in a level plane relative to a road system.

Claims

1. A system for dynamically controlling illumination of a scene, the system comprising:

an illumination unit coupled to a vehicle, the illumination unit comprising;

a light source positioned within a housing, and

a spatial light modulator disposed along an optical path extending from the light source to an aperture, wherein the spatial light modulator creates an illumination pattern for light projected from the light source through the aperture along an axis of projection,

an inertial-sensing unit coupled to the vehicle generating signals representing a measured inertial change of the vehicle in any direction; and

a control unit in communication with the illumination unit and the inertial-sensing unit, the control unit receiving the signals from the inertial-sensing unit and controlling the spatial light modulator based on the received signals from the inertial-sensing unit, wherein controlling the spatial light modulator comprises altering an operational state of the spatial light modulator to adjust an orientation of projection of the light along the axis of projection, the illumination pattern for the light, or combinations thereof.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an imaging unit for capturing images of the scene oriented along the axis of projection of the projected light, the imaging unit transmitting the captured images to the control unit and wherein the control unit further controls the spatial light modulator based on the transmitted images.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the imaging unit shares a common aperture with the illumination unit.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the control unit is further configured to control a state of the light source based on the received signals from the inertial-sensing unit.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the light sources comprises an array of light elements and controlling the state of the light source comprises activating a portion of the array of light elements.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a second inertial-sensing unit coupled to the illumination unit and in communication with the control unit, the second inertial-sensing unit generating signals representing a measured inertial change of the illumination unit in any direction and transmitting the signals to the control unit, wherein the control unit further controls the spatial light modulator based on the second inertial-sensing unit signals.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a proximity-sensing unit coupled to the vehicle and in communication with the control unit determining a relative distance from the vehicle to a reference in point in an illuminated scene and transmitting signals representing the distance to the control unit, wherein the control unit further controls the spatial light modulator based on the proximity-sensing unit signals.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a GPS receiver module in communication with the control unit determining an estimated geographical location of the vehicle, wherein the control unit further controls the spatial light modulator based on the proximity-sensing unit signals.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the aperture comprises a displaceable optical element selected from the group consisting of a lens, a mirror, and a prism.

10. A system for dynamically controlling illumination of a scene, the system comprising:

an illumination unit having an axis of projection and coupled to a vehicle, the illumination unit comprising;

an array of light sources for generating a light, the array of light sources comprising individual members for producing a selectable illumination intensity of light, and

an aperture, where the light generated by the array of light sources exits the aperture along the axis of projection;

a inertial-sensing unit coupled to the vehicle for generating signals representing a position of the vehicle, an orientation of the vehicle, a change in position of the vehicle, a change in orientation of the vehicle, or any combination thereof; and

a control unit in communication with the illumination unit and the inertial-sensing unit, the control unit controlling a state of the array of light sources of the illumination unit to adjust an orientation for the axis of projection, an illumination pattern for the light, or combinations thereof of the illumination unit based on the generated signals from the inertial-sensing unit.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

an imaging unit for capturing images of the scene oriented along the axis of projection, the imaging unit transmitting the captured images to the control unit and wherein the control unit further controls the state of the array of light sources of the illumination unit based on the transmitted images.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the illumination unit further comprises:

a spatial light modulator disposed along an optical path extending from the array of light sources to the aperture, wherein the spatial light modulator creates an illumination pattern for the projected light along the axis of projection.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the control unit is further configured to control an operational state of the spatial light modulator based on the received signals from the inertial-sensing unit.

14. The system of claim 10 wherein the array of light sources comprises an array of light elements and controlling the state of the array of light source comprises activating a portion of the array of light elements.

20. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving an estimated geographic location from a GPS receiver module in communication with the control unit; and

generating further spatial light modulator control signals to alter the operational state of the spatial light modulator of the light illumination unit based on the estimated geographic location.

15. A method for dynamically controlling illumination of a scene, the method comprising:

projecting an illumination pattern onto the scene using a light illumination unit, the light illumination unit coupled to a vehicle and having an axis of projection;

receiving a measured inertial change of the vehicle in any direction from an inertial-sensing unit coupled to the vehicle;

generating spatial light modulator control signals to alter an operational state of a spatial light modulator of the light illumination unit based on the received signals from the inertial-sensing unit; and

utilizing the spatial light modulator control signals to adjust an orientation of projection of the light along the axis of projection, the illumination pattern for the light, or combinations thereof.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the orientation of the axis of projection is further adjusted by displacing an optical element associated with the illumination unit, the optical element selected from the group consisting of a lens, a mirror, and a prism.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the inertial-sensing unit is an accelerometer.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

capturing images of the scene using a camera sharing a common aperture with the illumination unit;

identifying a reference feature in the scene using the images;

analyzing the images to determine changes to the reference feature; and

generating further spatial light modulator control signals to alter the operational state of a spatial light modulator of the light illumination unit based on the analyzed images.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

measuring an illumination unit parameter selected from the group consisting of a position of the illumination unit, an orientation of the illumination unit, a change in position of the illumination unit, and a change in orientation of the illumination unit.