Ribbed Vehicle Camera Glareshield for Windshield Reflection Glare
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle vision systems face challenges in capturing high-quality images due to glare caused by light reflecting from the dashboard and other surfaces within the vehicle, which can impinge on the camera sensor.
Innovation Solution
A glareshield with a surface configured to face the windshield and a plurality of ribs, where the vertex angle between the windshield-facing and camera-facing surfaces of each rib is between about 40° and 100°, is designed to redirect specular components of reflected light outside the camera's entrance pupil.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a glareshield is used to block reflections from the dashboard, then glare from dashboard reflections is reduced, but light reflecting from the glareshield itself may impinge on the camera sensor and affect image quality
Solution Approach 1:
The glareshield employs an asymmetric ribbed structure where ribs are inclined at specific angles (40°-100° vertex angle) relative to the glareshield surface. This asymmetric geometry is designed to redirect reflected light away from the camera's optical axis, allowing the glareshield to block dashboard reflections while preventing its own reflections from entering the camera sensor.
Solution Approach 2:
The glareshield surface is divided into multiple localized rib structures with specific geometric properties. Each rib has a predetermined angle configuration that locally controls the direction of reflected light. This local quality variation across the surface allows different regions to redirect light from different angles, comprehensively solving the glare problem while maintaining camera visibility.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the glareshield blocks all reflected light, then glare is reduced, but the camera may lose useful light from the road scene
Solution Approach 1:
The glareshield is segmented into multiple discrete rib structures rather than being a continuous reflective surface. The spacing between adjacent ribs is controlled to be less than or equal to the rib height, creating a pattern that selectively blocks harmful reflections while allowing useful light paths to pass through the gaps between ribs, thus maintaining illumination from the road scene.
Solution Approach 2:
The rib geometry parameters (vertex angle between 40°-100°, rib height, spacing between ribs) are specifically optimized to change the reflection characteristics. By adjusting these parameters, the glareshield redirects harmful glare at specific angles while maintaining transmission of useful light from the road, achieving a balance between glare reduction and scene illumination.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The glareshield effectively reduces glare in images captured by vehicle cameras by ensuring that the specular component of reflected light does not impinge on the camera's sensor, thereby improving image quality across various daylight conditions.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of similarly shaped ribs on the surface. Each rib of the plurality of ribs may include a windshield-facing surface connected to a camera-facing surface to form a vertex angle therebetween. The vertex angle may be between about 40° and about 100°.
Implementation Method 2
The plurality of ribs may be configured such that a specular component of reflected light from the plurality of ribs during all daylight hours impinges on or passes through an area outside of an entrance pupil of the camera
Data Source
AI summary
A glareshield for a camera of a vehicle includes a plurality of similarly shaped ribs on a surface that faces the windshield of the vehicle. The plurality of ribs are configured such that the specular component of reflected light from the plurality of ribs, during all daylight hours, impinges on or passes through an area outside the entrance pupil of the camera, directly or after further reflection from the windshield.