System for characterizing surroundings of a vehicle

Abstract

The invention pertains to a system for characterizing surroundings of a vehicle, the system comprising: projection means (210) arranged for projecting a pattern of laser light towards said surroundings in a sequence of pulses; a detector (220) comprising a plurality of pixels, said detector (220) being configured for detecting light representing said pattern of laser light as reflected by said surroundings in synchronization with said sequence of pulses; and processing means (240) configured to calculate distances to objects (99) in said surroundings as a function of exposure values generatedby said pixels in response to said detected light; wherein said detector (220) is further configured for detecting light forming a two-dimensional image of said surroundings at points in time that donot coincide with said sequence of pulses or at pixels that do not receive said light representing said pattern of laser light as reflected by said surroundings.

Description

technical field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of systems for determining distances to objects, in particular to sensing systems for characterizing a scene or a part of a scene, which sensing systems can be used to detect obstacles in the vicinity of a vehicle. Background technique

[0002] In the field of remote sensing technology, especially with regard to the generation of high-resolution maps of the scene that can be used in control and navigation applications, including automotive and industrial applications, gaming applications, and mapping applications, it is known to use triangulation-based and time-of-flight based sensing to determine the distance of an object from the sensor.

[0003] A high-precision mid-range surround sensing system using triangulation for vehicles is known from International Patent Application Publication WO 2015 / 004213 A1 in the name of the applicant. In this patent application, the localization of the object is based on the analysi...

Examples

Embodiment Construction

[0035] figure 1 An embodiment of the system according to the invention is shown schematically.

[0036]The system is designed and adapted to characterize the vehicle's surroundings. The surrounding environment may include the area in front of the vehicle (including the road in front of the vehicle); similarly, the surrounding environment may include the area behind the vehicle (especially the area behind the vehicle when the vehicle is reversing); the surrounding environment may include the area near the vehicle. any space where obstacles or other road users may be present. The surrounding environment of the vehicle may extend over a distance of several meters, tens of meters or even hundreds of meters. The characterization is performed by determining distances to objects in the surrounding environment. While distance is the basic measurement parameter, estimates of derived variables such as velocity (which includes direction of motion) and acceleration of a detected object...

technical field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of systems for determining distances to objects, in particular to sensing systems for characterizing a scene or a part of a scene, which sensing systems can be used to detect obstacles in the vicinity of a vehicle. Background technique

[0002] In the field of remote sensing technology, especially with regard to the generation of high-resolution maps of the scene that can be used in control and navigation applications, including automotive and industrial applications, gaming applications, and mapping applications, it is known to use triangulation-based and time-of-flight based sensing to determine the distance of an object from the sensor.

[0003] A high-precision mid-range surround sensing system using triangulation for vehicles is known from International Patent Application Publication WO 2015 / 004213 A1 in the name of the applicant. In this patent application, the localization of the object is based on the analysi...

Examples

Embodiment Construction

[0035] figure 1 An embodiment of the system according to the invention is shown schematically.

[0036]The system is designed and adapted to characterize the vehicle's surroundings. The surrounding environment may include the area in front of the vehicle (including the road in front of the vehicle); similarly, the surrounding environment may include the area behind the vehicle (especially the area behind the vehicle when the vehicle is reversing); the surrounding environment may include the area near the vehicle. any space where obstacles or other road users may be present. The surrounding environment of the vehicle may extend over a distance of several meters, tens of meters or even hundreds of meters. The characterization is performed by determining distances to objects in the surrounding environment. While distance is the basic measurement parameter, estimates of derived variables such as velocity (which includes direction of motion) and acceleration of a detected object...

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