Vehicle Pre-Impact Sensing System Having Terrain Normalization

Abstract

A vehicle pre-impact sensing system is provided that includes an array of energy signal transmitters mounted on a vehicle for transmitting signals within multiple transmit zones spaced from the vehicle and an array of receiver elements mounted on the vehicle for receiving signals reflected from an object located in one or more multiple receive zones indicative of the object being in certain one or more zones. A processor processes the received reflected signals and determines range, location, speed and direction of the object, determines whether the object is expected to impact the vehicle as a function of the determined range, location, speed and direction of the object, and generates an output signal indicative of a pre-impact event. The system may detect one or more features of a target object, such as a front end of a vehicle. Additionally, the system may modulate the transmit beams. Further, the system may perform a terrain normalization to remove stationary items.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001]This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 130,236, filed on May 29, 2008, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD [0002]The present application generally relates to vehicle crash sensing and, more particularly, relates to a system and method of sensing an imminent collision of an object with a vehicle prior to impact.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003]Automotive vehicles are commonly equipped with passenger restraint and crash mitigation devices such as seat belts, front air bags, side air bags and side curtains. These and other devices may be deployed in the event of a collision with the host vehicle to mitigate adverse effects to the vehicle and the occupants in the vehicle. With respect to activated devices, such as air bags and side curtain bags, these devices generally must be deployed quickly and in a timely fashion. Typical...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of detecting an expected impact of an object with a vehicle is provided. The method includes the steps of transmitting signals within multiple transmit zones spaced from the vehicle, one zone at time, receiving signals reflected from an object located in the one or more multiple zones indicative of the object being in certain one or more receive zones and processing the received reflected signal. The method also determines location of the object, dete

Problems solved by technology

However, visions systems are generally very expensive and suffer a number of drawbacks.

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