System for DLP vehicle-mounted projection

Abstract

The invention provides a system for DLP vehicle-mounted projection. The system comprises an image processing unit and at least one projection display unit. The image processing unit comprises an MCU control circuit and an SoC control circuit. The MCU is connected with a vehicle body and is responsible for power supply management, dormancy awakening and instruction bridging. And the SoC receives the image data, and completes image resolution and frame rate adjustment, trapezoidal distortion correction, double-lamp image fusion, projection interactive games and local storage and rapid calling of welcome videos. The projection display unit comprises a DLPC control circuit and a DMD circuit. The DLPC receives an instruction through a UART CAN, controls projection starting and stopping, angle, brightness and heat dissipation, and receives image data through an FPD-Link / GMSL. The DMD chip completes optical projection according to signals, and the temperature chip monitors in real time and achieves temperature protection and derating output. According to the invention, through the integrated image processing algorithm, the computing power limitation of the vehicle machine is overcome, and high-quality projection is realized; the welcome video is stored locally, so that the problem of starting delay of the vehicle-mounted terminal is solved, and the effect of unlocking instant projection is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the technical field of vehicle-mounted projection, and more specifically, to a system for DLP vehicle-mounted projection. Background Technology

[0002] With the continuous improvement of automotive intelligence and interactive experience, in-vehicle projection technology has gradually become one of the important ways to enhance the human-machine interaction and atmosphere of vehicles. Currently, most common in-vehicle projection solutions rely on the vehicle's domain controller or infotainment head unit to directly process images and output signals. However, limited by the vehicle's electronic and electrical architecture and the computing power of the main control chip, traditional solutions struggle to efficiently complete tasks such as high-resolution real-time image processing, dual-lamp image fusion, dynamic keystone correction, and complex interactive scene recognition. Especially in scenarios such as welcome projection and interactive game projection, system startup delays and image processing delays can easily lead to lag in projection response, affecting the user experience.

[0003] A patent document with publication number CN119975166A discloses a vehicle headlight control system and method based on DLP projection, relating to the field of vehicle headlight projection control technology. It includes: an in-vehicle camera module, a navigation module, an in-vehicle controller, a millimeter-wave radar module, and a DLP photography module. The in-vehicle camera module is used to capture the driver's gesture and gaze information in real time. The in-vehicle controller integrates an image processing module and a control module. The image processing module is used to analyze and recognize the received driver gesture and gaze information. The millimeter-wave radar module is used to detect information about the vehicle's surrounding environment. The navigation module is used to send navigation information to the control module when the vehicle's navigation function is activated. The control module is used to fuse the received information based on a preset algorithm, rule base, and gesture base, and generate corresponding control commands to send to the DLP photography module. Existing projection systems still have shortcomings in thermal management and reliability assurance under harsh in-vehicle environments such as high temperatures and vibrations, which restricts the large-scale application of high-pixel, high-stability DLP projection technology in in-vehicle scenarios.

[0004] Therefore, the industry urgently needs an integrated vehicle projection system solution that can independently perform high-performance image processing, support multiple input / output interfaces, and has fast response and high reliability, in order to break through the current system architecture and computing power limitations and realize higher quality and richer scenarios for vehicle projection applications. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of the deficiencies in the prior art, the purpose of this invention is to provide a system for DLP vehicle projection.

[0006] A system for DLP vehicle projection according to the present invention includes: an image processing unit and at least one projection display unit; The image processing unit includes an MCU control circuit and a SoC control circuit. The MCU control circuit is configured to communicate with the vehicle body via a CAN bus for system power management, sleep / wake-up control, and serves as a communication bridge between the vehicle body and the SoC control circuit for transmitting control commands. The SoC control circuit is configured to receive image data from the vehicle body via an Ethernet, FPD-Link, or GMSL interface for performing image resolution and frame rate adjustment, trapezoidal distortion correction, and dual-lamp image fusion processing. It also supports storing the processed video data in local memory to enable rapid retrieval and display of welcome projection content. The projection display unit includes a DLPC control circuit and a DMD circuit. The DLPC control circuit is configured to receive control commands from the image processing unit via a UART CAN bus to control the start and stop of the projection display, the adjustment of the projection angle, the adjustment of the projection brightness, and the start and stop of the cooling fan. It also receives image data from the image processing unit via FPD-Link or GMSL. The DMD circuit includes a DMD chip and a temperature sensing chip. The DMD chip is used to complete the optical projection display according to the lens control signal. The temperature sensing chip is used to monitor the temperature of the DMD chip in real time and feed it back to the DLPC control circuit to achieve temperature protection and derating output control.

[0007] Preferably, the SoC control circuit is further configured to interact with the vehicle body via control commands to achieve projection scene recognition and projection fault feedback; the SoC control circuit interacts with the projection display unit via a UART CAN bus and integrates a camera interface module for connecting a camera via FPD-Link or GMSL to acquire projection images, thereby achieving real-time trapezoidal distortion correction and interactive projection games; the SoC control circuit is also used to transmit the processed image data to the projection display unit via FPD-Link or GMSL.

[0008] Preferably, the DLPC control circuit includes a DLPC chip for converting received image data into DMD lens control signals and transmitting them to the DMD circuit; the DLPC control circuit also includes a PMIC power management chip for managing the power supply of the projection display unit, including driving the RGB or white LED light source, supplying power to the DLPC chip, and supplying power to the DMD chip.

[0009] Preferably, the SoC control circuit is further configured to support multiple image inputs and to process multiple input images synchronously or asynchronously; the SoC control circuit integrates a machine learning acceleration module for automatic recognition and adaptive correction of the projection scene based on image data acquired by the camera.

[0010] Preferably, the image processing unit and the projection display unit employ a redundant communication link, including at least two different types of communication interfaces.

[0011] Preferably, the DLPC control circuit further includes an optical engine drive module for automatically adjusting the projection brightness according to the ambient light intensity; the DLPC control circuit supports automatic identification of light source type and adaptive configuration of drive parameters to be compatible with various LED or laser light sources of different specifications.

[0012] Preferably, the system further includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) communicatively connected to the SoC control circuit, used to detect changes in vehicle attitude and dynamically adjust the projected image accordingly to maintain projection stability.

[0013] Preferably, the MCU control circuit supports multiple low-power modes and controls the entire system to switch between normal operation mode and sleep mode according to vehicle status information.

[0014] Preferably, there are two projection display units, which are respectively arranged on the left and right sides of the vehicle, and the SoC control circuit is also used to perform edge blending processing on the images of the two projection units to achieve a wide projection effect.

[0015] Preferably, the SoC control circuit has a built-in safety monitoring module for real-time detection of the system's operating status and for sending fault codes to the vehicle body when an anomaly is detected.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: 1. This invention employs a highly integrated image processing unit that integrates multiple image processing functions, including dynamic adjustment of image resolution and frame rate, trapezoidal distortion correction, dual-lamp image fusion, projection scene recognition, and projection interactive game algorithms. This effectively solves the technical problem that the vehicle-side system is unable to process complex image algorithms in real time and efficiently due to limitations in computing power or hardware architecture. It enables the vehicle-side system to achieve high-quality, low-latency color or black-and-white projection display at various pixel specifications by providing only the original image data. 2. This invention uses the SoC control circuit in the image processing unit to preprocess the welcome projection video input from the vehicle body via Ethernet, FPD-Link, or GMSL and store it in the Flash unit of the SoC control circuit. By simplifying and optimizing the Linux system running on the SoC, the welcome projection video stored in the Flash unit can be played within 2 seconds after the system is powered on. This fundamentally solves the problem of delayed welcome video push and asynchronous projection caused by the startup delay of the vehicle system in traditional solutions. It achieves an improved user experience by instantly and smoothly displaying the preset welcome screen the moment the vehicle is unlocked. 3. This invention acquires image information projected by the projection display unit through an external camera module and feeds this information back to the SoC control circuit in the image processing unit via FPD-Link or GMSL. The SoC control circuit analyzes the changes in the projected image information and then adjusts the content output to the projection display unit in real time, enabling user interaction, games, and interactive activities with the projected image. 4. This invention achieves real-time monitoring and dynamic derating protection of the DMD chip temperature by integrating temperature sensing and DLPC control circuits into each projection display unit, effectively ensuring the long-term stable operation and high reliability of the system in the complex environment of the vehicle. 5. The system of the present invention supports the collaborative processing of dual projection units and dual-lamp image fusion processing capabilities, and can be expanded for wide-screen or immersive projection scenarios, improving the applicability and performance of the system in the vehicle environment and meeting the needs of various high-end vehicle projection applications. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Other features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of non-limiting embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 This is a system block diagram of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0018] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to specific embodiments. These embodiments will help those skilled in the art to further understand the present invention, but do not limit the invention in any way. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make several changes and improvements without departing from the concept of the present invention. These all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0019] Example 1 A system for DLP vehicle-mounted projection according to the present invention includes: an image processing unit and at least one projection display unit; the image processing unit includes an MCU control circuit and a SoC control circuit; the MCU control circuit is configured to communicate with the vehicle body via a CAN bus for system power management, sleep / wake-up control, and as a communication bridge between the vehicle body and the SoC control circuit for transmitting control commands; the SoC control circuit is configured to receive image data from the vehicle body via an Ethernet, FPD-Link, or GMSL interface, for performing image resolution and frame rate adjustment, trapezoidal distortion correction, and dual-lamp image fusion processing, and supports storing the processed video data in a local memory to achieve rapid retrieval and display of welcome projection content; the projection display unit includes a DLPC control circuit and a DMD circuit; the DLPC control circuit is configured to communicate via UART The CAN bus receives control commands from the image processing unit to control the start and stop of the projection display, the adjustment of the projection angle, the adjustment of the projection brightness, and the start and stop of the cooling fan. It also receives image data from the image processing unit via FPD-Link or GMSL. The DMD circuit includes a DMD chip and a temperature sensing chip. The DMD chip is used to complete the optical projection display according to the lens control signal. The temperature sensing chip is used to monitor the temperature of the DMD chip in real time and feed it back to the DLPC control circuit to achieve temperature protection and derating output control.

[0020] The SoC control circuit is also configured to interact with the vehicle body to receive control commands, enabling projection scene recognition and projection fault feedback. The SoC control circuit interacts with the projection display unit via a UART CAN bus and integrates a camera interface module for connecting a camera via FPD-Link or GMSL to acquire projected images, enabling real-time trapezoidal distortion correction and interactive projection games. The SoC control circuit also transmits processed image data to the projection display unit via FPD-Link or GMSL.

[0021] The DLPC control circuit includes a DLPC chip, which converts the received image data into DMD lens control signals and transmits them to the DMD circuit. The DLPC control circuit also includes a PMIC power management chip, which manages the power supply of the projection display unit, including driving the RGB or white LED light source, supplying power to the DLPC chip, and supplying power to the DMD chip.

[0022] The SoC control circuit is also configured to support multiple image inputs and can process multiple input images synchronously or asynchronously; the SoC control circuit integrates a machine learning acceleration module for automatic recognition and adaptive correction of the projection scene based on the image data acquired by the camera.

[0023] The image processing unit and the projection display unit employ redundant communication links, including at least two different types of communication interfaces. The DLPC control circuit also includes an optical engine drive module for automatically adjusting the projection brightness based on ambient light intensity; the DLPC control circuit supports automatic light source type identification and adaptive configuration of drive parameters to ensure compatibility with various LED or laser light sources of different specifications.

[0024] The system also includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that communicates with the SoC control circuitry to detect changes in vehicle attitude and dynamically adjust the projected image accordingly to maintain projection stability. The MCU control circuitry supports multiple low-power modes and controls the entire system to switch between normal operation mode and sleep mode based on vehicle status information.

[0025] There are two projection display units, respectively located on the left and right sides of the vehicle. The SoC control circuit also performs edge blending processing on the images from the two projection units to achieve a wide-screen projection effect. The SoC control circuit has a built-in safety monitoring module, which is used to detect the system's operating status in real time and send fault codes to the vehicle body when an anomaly is detected.

[0026] Example 2: This invention employs a system solution combining a graphics processing unit and a projection display unit to achieve 400,000-pixel, 900,000-pixel, and 1.3 million-pixel color or monochrome DLP vehicle projection.

[0027] A system solution for color or monochrome DLP vehicle-mounted projection includes: an image processing unit, comprising an MCU control circuit and a SoC control circuit; the MCU control circuit is connected to the vehicle body via CAN communication, responsible for system power management, sleep / wake-up control, and acts as a bridge between the vehicle body and the SoC control circuit, transmitting control commands; the SoC control circuit receives image data input from the vehicle body via Ethernet and FPD-Link / GMSL interfaces, performs image resolution and frame rate adjustment, trapezoidal distortion correction, and dual-lamp image fusion processing, and supports storing the processed video data locally, enabling rapid recall and display of welcome projection.

[0028] The SoC control circuit interacts with control commands from the vehicle body to perform projection scene recognition and projection fault feedback. It communicates with the projection display unit via UART CAN and integrates a camera module, connecting to the camera via FPD-Link / GMSL to capture projected images for real-time trapezoidal distortion calibration and projection game control and feedback. The SoC control circuit transmits the processed image data to the projection display unit via FPD-Link / GMSL. The system supports dual projection display units, each including a DLPC control circuit and a DMD circuit. The DLPC control circuit receives control commands from the image processing unit via UART CAN to control the on / off state of the projection display, adjust the projection angle, adjust the projection brightness, and switch the cooling fan on / off. It also receives image data from the image processing unit via FPD-Link / GMSL. The DLPC chip in the DLPC control circuit converts the image data into DMD lens flip signals, which are then transmitted to the DMD circuit.

[0029] The DLPC control circuit includes a PMIC chip, which manages the power supply of the projection display unit system, including driving the RGB or white LED light source, powering the DLPC chip, and powering the DMD chip. The DMD circuit includes a DMD chip and a temperature sensing chip. The DMD chip completes the projection display based on the lens flip signal, and the temperature sensing chip monitors the temperature of the DMD chip in real time and feeds it back to the DLPC control circuit to achieve temperature protection and derating output.

[0030] This invention solves the problem that the vehicle-mounted system cannot efficiently process complex image algorithms due to limitations in computing power or architecture by adopting a structure that integrates image processing algorithms (including image resolution and frame rate adjustment, trapezoidal distortion correction, dual-lamp image fusion, and projection game algorithms) into a graphics processing unit. This allows the vehicle-mounted system to achieve a high-quality projection display effect by only needing to output the raw image data. Furthermore, by adopting a structure that allows the image processing unit to locally store the welcome video, this invention solves the problem of delayed welcome video push caused by the startup delay of traditional vehicle systems, achieving the effect of instantly projecting the welcome image when the vehicle is unlocked.

[0031] Those skilled in the art can understand this embodiment as a more specific description of Embodiment 1.

[0032] Those skilled in the art will understand that, besides implementing the system and its various devices, modules, and units provided by this invention in the form of purely computer-readable program code, the same functions can be achieved entirely through logical programming of the method steps, enabling the system and its various devices, modules, and units to function in the form of logic gates, switches, application-specific integrated circuits, programmable logic controllers, and embedded microcontrollers. Therefore, the system and its various devices, modules, and units provided by this invention can be considered a hardware component, and the devices, modules, and units included therein for implementing various functions can also be considered structures within the hardware component; alternatively, the devices, modules, and units for implementing various functions can be considered both software modules implementing the method and structures within the hardware component.

[0033] Specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and those skilled in the art can make various changes or modifications within the scope of the claims, which do not affect the essence of the present invention. Unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described in this application can be arbitrarily combined with each other.

Claims

1. A system for DLP vehicle-mounted projection, characterized in that, include: An image processing unit and at least one projection display unit; The image processing unit includes an MCU control circuit and a SoC control circuit; The MCU control circuit is configured to communicate with the vehicle body via a CAN bus for system power management, sleep / wake-up control, and serves as a communication bridge between the vehicle body and the SoC control circuit for transmitting control commands. The SoC control circuit is configured to receive image data from the vehicle body via an Ethernet, FPD-Link, or GMSL interface for performing image resolution and frame rate adjustment, trapezoidal distortion correction, and dual-lamp image fusion processing. It also supports storing the processed video data in local memory to enable rapid retrieval and display of welcome projection content. The projection display unit includes a DLPC control circuit and a DMD circuit; The DLPC control circuit is configured to receive control commands from the image processing unit via a UARTCAN bus, used to control the start and stop of the projection display, the adjustment of the projection angle, the adjustment of the projection brightness, and the start and stop of the cooling fan, and to receive image data from the image processing unit via FPD-Link or GMSL; the DMD circuit includes a DMD chip and a temperature sensing chip, the DMD chip is used to complete the optical projection display according to the lens control signal, and the temperature sensing chip is used to monitor the temperature of the DMD chip in real time and feed it back to the DLPC control circuit to achieve temperature protection and derating output control.

2. The system for DLP vehicle-mounted projection according to claim 1, characterized in that, The SoC control circuit is also configured to interact with the vehicle body to receive control commands, enabling projection scene recognition and projection fault feedback. The SoC control circuit interacts with the projection display unit via a UART CAN bus and integrates a camera interface module for connecting a camera via FPD-Link or GMSL to acquire projected images, enabling real-time trapezoidal distortion correction and interactive projection games. The SoC control circuit also transmits processed image data to the projection display unit via FPD-Link or GMSL.

3. The system for DLP vehicle-mounted projection according to claim 1, characterized in that, The DLPC control circuit includes a DLPC chip for converting received image data into DMD lens control signals and transmitting them to the DMD circuit. The DLPC control circuit also includes a PMIC power management chip for managing the power supply of the projection display unit, including driving the RGB or white LED light source, supplying power to the DLPC chip, and supplying power to the DMD chip.

4. The system for DLP vehicle-mounted projection according to claim 1, characterized in that, The SoC control circuit is also configured to support multiple image inputs and can process multiple input images synchronously or asynchronously; the SoC control circuit integrates a machine learning acceleration module for automatic recognition and adaptive correction of the projection scene based on the image data acquired by the camera.

5. The system for DLP vehicle-mounted projection according to claim 1, characterized in that, The image processing unit and the projection display unit employ redundant communication links, including at least two different types of communication interfaces.

6. The system for DLP vehicle-mounted projection according to claim 1, characterized in that, The DLPC control circuit also includes an optical engine drive module for automatically adjusting projection brightness according to ambient light intensity; the DLPC control circuit supports automatic light source type identification and adaptive configuration of drive parameters to be compatible with various LED or laser light sources of different specifications.

7. The system for DLP vehicle-mounted projection according to claim 1, characterized in that, The system also includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that is communicatively connected to the SoC control circuit, used to detect changes in vehicle attitude and dynamically adjust the projected image accordingly to maintain projection stability.

8. The system for DLP vehicle-mounted projection according to claim 1, characterized in that, The MCU control circuit supports multiple low-power modes and controls the entire system to switch between normal operation mode and sleep mode based on vehicle status information.

9. The system for DLP vehicle-mounted projection according to claim 1, characterized in that, The projection display unit consists of two units, which are respectively arranged on the left and right sides of the vehicle. The SoC control circuit is also used to perform edge blending processing on the images of the two projection units to achieve a wide projection effect.

10. The system for DLP vehicle-mounted projection according to claim 1, characterized in that, The SoC control circuit has a built-in safety monitoring module, which is used to detect the system's operating status in real time and send fault codes to the vehicle body when an anomaly is detected.

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