GB2394076A - Vehicle collision prevention system including a radar and a brake light sensor - Google Patents

Vehicle collision prevention system including a radar and a brake light sensor Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2394076A
GB2394076A GB0307286A GB0307286A GB2394076A GB 2394076 A GB2394076 A GB 2394076A GB 0307286 A GB0307286 A GB 0307286A GB 0307286 A GB0307286 A GB 0307286A GB 2394076 A GB2394076 A GB 2394076A
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GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
vehicle
safety system
motor vehicle
controller
brake light
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
GB0307286A
Other versions
GB0307286D0 (en
GB2394076B (en
Inventor
Richard Dennis Shelton
Alan James Hutton
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Ford Global Technologies LLC
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Ford Global Technologies LLC
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Ford Global Technologies LLC filed Critical Ford Global Technologies LLC
Publication of GB0307286D0 publication Critical patent/GB0307286D0/en
Publication of GB2394076A publication Critical patent/GB2394076A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of GB2394076B publication Critical patent/GB2394076B/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
    • B60R21/01—Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents
    • B60R21/013—Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents including means for detecting collisions, impending collisions or roll-over
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60K—ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES
    • B60K31/00—Vehicle fittings, acting on a single sub-unit only, for automatically controlling vehicle speed, i.e. preventing speed from exceeding an arbitrarily established velocity or maintaining speed at a particular velocity, as selected by the vehicle operator
    • B60K31/0008—Vehicle fittings, acting on a single sub-unit only, for automatically controlling vehicle speed, i.e. preventing speed from exceeding an arbitrarily established velocity or maintaining speed at a particular velocity, as selected by the vehicle operator including means for detecting potential obstacles in vehicle path
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q—ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q9/00—Arrangement or adaptation of signal devices not provided for in one of main groups B60Q1/00 - B60Q7/00, e.g. haptic signalling
    • B60Q9/008—Arrangement or adaptation of signal devices not provided for in one of main groups B60Q1/00 - B60Q7/00, e.g. haptic signalling for anti-collision purposes
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60T—VEHICLE BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF; BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF, IN GENERAL; ARRANGEMENT OF BRAKING ELEMENTS ON VEHICLES IN GENERAL; PORTABLE DEVICES FOR PREVENTING UNWANTED MOVEMENT OF VEHICLES; VEHICLE MODIFICATIONS TO FACILITATE COOLING OF BRAKES
    • B60T7/00—Brake-action initiating means
    • B60T7/12—Brake-action initiating means for automatic initiation; for initiation not subject to will of driver or passenger
    • B60T7/22—Brake-action initiating means for automatic initiation; for initiation not subject to will of driver or passenger initiated by contact of vehicle, e.g. bumper, with an external object, e.g. another vehicle, or by means of contactless obstacle detectors mounted on the vehicle
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
    • B60W30/00—Purposes of road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub-unit, e.g. of systems using conjoint control of vehicle sub-units
    • B60W30/14—Adaptive cruise control
    • B60W30/16—Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S13/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of radio waves, e.g. radar systems; Analogous systems using reflection or reradiation of waves whose nature or wavelength is irrelevant or unspecified
    • G01S13/86—Combinations of radar systems with non-radar systems, e.g. sonar, direction finder
    • G01S13/867—Combination of radar systems with cameras
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S13/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of radio waves, e.g. radar systems; Analogous systems using reflection or reradiation of waves whose nature or wavelength is irrelevant or unspecified
    • G01S13/88—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications
    • G01S13/93—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes
    • G01S13/931—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes of land vehicles
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G08—SIGNALLING
    • G08G—TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS
    • G08G1/00—Traffic control systems for road vehicles
    • G08G1/16—Anti-collision systems
    • G08G1/161—Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication
    • G08G1/162—Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication event-triggered
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
    • B60R21/01—Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents
    • B60R21/013—Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents including means for detecting collisions, impending collisions or roll-over
    • B60R2021/01311—Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents including means for detecting collisions, impending collisions or roll-over monitoring the braking system, e.g. ABS
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
    • B60R21/01—Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents
    • B60R21/013—Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents including means for detecting collisions, impending collisions or roll-over
    • B60R21/0134—Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents including means for detecting collisions, impending collisions or roll-over responsive to imminent contact with an obstacle, e.g. using radar systems
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S13/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of radio waves, e.g. radar systems; Analogous systems using reflection or reradiation of waves whose nature or wavelength is irrelevant or unspecified
    • G01S13/88—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications
    • G01S13/93—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes
    • G01S13/931—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes of land vehicles
    • G01S2013/93185—Controlling the brakes
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S13/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of radio waves, e.g. radar systems; Analogous systems using reflection or reradiation of waves whose nature or wavelength is irrelevant or unspecified
    • G01S13/88—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications
    • G01S13/93—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes
    • G01S13/931—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes of land vehicles
    • G01S2013/932—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes of land vehicles using own vehicle data, e.g. ground speed, steering wheel direction
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S13/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of radio waves, e.g. radar systems; Analogous systems using reflection or reradiation of waves whose nature or wavelength is irrelevant or unspecified
    • G01S13/88—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications
    • G01S13/93—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes
    • G01S13/931—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes of land vehicles
    • G01S2013/9321—Velocity regulation, e.g. cruise control
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S13/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of radio waves, e.g. radar systems; Analogous systems using reflection or reradiation of waves whose nature or wavelength is irrelevant or unspecified
    • G01S13/88—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications
    • G01S13/93—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes
    • G01S13/931—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes of land vehicles
    • G01S2013/9325—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes of land vehicles for inter-vehicle distance regulation, e.g. navigating in platoons

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Radar, Positioning & Navigation (AREA)
  • Remote Sensing (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Transportation (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
  • Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Lighting Device Outwards From Vehicle And Optical Signal (AREA)
  • Regulating Braking Force (AREA)
  • Controls For Constant Speed Travelling (AREA)
  • Control Of Driving Devices And Active Controlling Of Vehicle (AREA)

Abstract

A vehicle speed control system includes a sensor for detecting preceding vehicles, such as a radar 14, and an optical sensor 12. The optical sensor 12 senses the operation of rear brake lights on a preceding vehicle. The sensors operate together to induce a reduction in speed, or a collision alert signal, when brake light illumination is sensed from the preceding vehicle and either an imminent collision is sensed, or a sensed relative closing velocity exceeds a critical value. The system may control the speed of the vehicle by actuating a braking system or by modifying a throttle control. The optical sensor 12 may be a camera, and a filter 11 may be fitted to the camera to filter out wavelengths of light not relevant to sensing the operation of rear brake lights.

Description

- 1 A safety system for a motor vehicle This invention relates to motor
vehicles and in particular to a safety system and method for a motor vehicle to reduce the probability of a collision between two vehicles travailing in the same direction.
It is known from GB-A-2367438 to provide a motor vehicle with a forward looking radar system for detecting the presence of another vehicle in the path of the motor vehicle and to provide signals indicative of closing velocity and or distance for use by a vehicle-mounted automatic cruise control system.
Such radar systems are normally based on transmitted and reflected pulsed energy waveforms and basically measure the time or Doppler shift of the waveform 10 when reflected back from the vehicle in front. Although these systems provide an effective solution they are very complex in their execution, are software intense and rely on powerful algorithms to compute velocities and distances.
Such radar systems have their limitations when applied to the problem of collision avoidance. For instance' the complexities of the calculations are such that the time 15 taken to calculate that a valid automatic braking or speed reduction action is to be taken can become significant in certain situations such as when the vehicle is in a high traffic density situation and is therefore following closely behind another vehicle. This is because the computer system associated with the radar system has to carry out a number of safety checks to ensure that the vehicle should be slowed before taking any 20 action. Although such calculations only take a matter of milliseconds any delay can make the difference between slowing the vehicle safely or a collision.
Other known examples of collision avoidance techniques are described in EP-A-
1024050, where vehicle speed is controlled based on an indication provided by a preceding vehicles brake lights, and in DE-A-19734005 where detection of a
-2- preceding vehicles brake lights provides a warning signal. Such optical systems are prone to false alarms, precipitated, for example, by a preceding vehicle turning on its side lamps or fog lamps.
Severe compromises have to be made to the timing and deployment of any 5 braking action resulting from any single sensor system alone. In emergency crash situations, just fractions of a second can be critical in preventing injury or death. Also, to avoid false alarms, there must be certainty that an emergency situation is taking place. Therefore there is a need for a safety system which enables a collision awidance 10 braking action to be deployed without delay and without compromising its immunity to false alarms.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a safety system for a motor vehicle comprising a radar system for sensing the presence of a preceding vehicle, an optical system for sensing a change of state of a rear brake light of the 15 preceding vehicle, and a controller having inputs from the radar system and the optical system wherein the controller is adapted to generate a collision alert signal when the optical system detects brake light illumination of the preceding vehicle and the radar system indicates that a collision is imminent..
Under the action of the controller, the collision alert signal may be used to activate o other motor vehicle-mounted systems.
The collision alert signal may be used to selectively control the speed of the motor vehicle by actuating a braking system of the motor vehicle.
An emergency braking routine may be initiated.
-3 The collision alert signal may be used to selectively control the speed of the motor vehicle by modifying a throttle control of the motor vehicle.
The collision alert signal may be used to trigger safety devices fitted to the motor vehicle. 5 The collision alert signal may be used to supply a warning signal to a driver of the motor vehicle that speed control is imminent.
The radar system may indicate that a collision is imminent by detecting that the closing velocity between the motor vehicle and the preceding vehicle is above a threshold value.
To The optical sensing system may include at least one camera.
A filter may be fitted to the or each camera to filter out wavelengths of light not relevant to the detection of brake light activation.
A digital signal processor may be connected to the or each camera to distinguish the illumination of a brake light from the other light emission received by the camera 15 and provide a signal to the electronic controller.
The optical system may be operable to perform triangulation measurements based upon the brake lights of the vehicle in front to determine the distance between the vehicle in front and the motor vehicle.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a motor vehicle 20 having a safety system in accordance with the first aspect of the invention.
-4 The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing Fig.1 which is a block diagram of a safety system according a first aspect of the invention.
With reference to Fig. 1 there is shown a safety system fitted to a motor vehicle.
5 The safety system comprises an optical sensor 12, a filter 11, a digital signal processor (DSP) 13, a radar transponder 14, a microprocessor based signal analyser 15, a wheel speed detector 16 and a central electronic controller 10.
The optical sensor in the form of a COD camera 12 is positioned such that it points forwardly and is arranged to point in a direction corresponding to the general To direction of a rear brake light of a vehicle positioned in front of the motor vehicle to which the system is fitted. The camera 12 can be a monochrome or colour type and , the filter 11 is arranged to filter out wavelengths other that characteristic of a real brake light. As it is a legal requirement in the majority of countries to use red lights on the rear of a vehicle to warn of the application of the brakes wavelengths of light other than 15 red light are filtered out by the filter 11.
The digital signal processor 13 receives a signal from the camera 12 based upon the image falling within in area of vision. The area of vision will be considerably larger than the area of the image received by the camera 12 that relates to the state of the brake light of the preceding vehicle. The digital signal processor 13 analyses the 20 signal received and is able to rapidly analyse the signal received to discriminate between a brake light and other red light sources and determines whether a change of state has occurred in the rear brake light of the preceding vehicle.
If a change of state from unlit to illuminated has occurred then a signal is sent to the central electronic controller 10 indicating that such a change of state has occurred.
-5 The signal sent to the central processor 10 can be of a binary nature being in the form of a zero for unlit or 1 for illuminated or vice versa. Such a signal is often referred to as a flag and can be used by the central controller to very rapidly determine the perceived state of the brake light or brake lights of the preceding vehicle.
5 The optical sensor 12, filter 11 and digital signal processor 13 therefore form an optical sensing system for sensing a change of state of a rear brake light of a preceding motor vehicle.
The radar transponder 14 is arranged to send out a specific pulsed signal and capture the reflected signal as is well known in the art. The signal analyser 15 10 analyses the signals received from the radar transducer 14 and sends a digital signal to the electronic controller 10 as a primary input to the electronic controller 10.
The electronic controller 10 is operatively connected to a number of ancillary systems 20, 21, 22 which it is arranged to control. As shown there are three ancillary systems but there could be more or less systems depending upon the vehicle to which 15 the safety system is fitted.
The first of these ancillary systems is an automated braking system 20, the second is a supplementary restraints system 21 and the third is a driver warning system 22.
The braking system 20 is arranged to apply the main friction brakes of the motor go vehicle when instructed to do so by the electronic controller 10. The electronic controller 10 is operably connected to the wheel speed detector 16 and combines the signal received from this detector with the signal received from the radar signal analyser 15 to compute the level of braking that needs to be applied and to moderate the level of braking if wheel locking is sensed to be occurring. To achieve this wheel
-6 speed detectors are fitted to each wheel even though only one wheel detector is shown on Fig.1.
The radar system comprises in this embodiment the radar transducer 14 the radar signal analyser 15, and together with the electronic controller 10, the braking system 5 20, speed detector 16 and the optical system 11, 12, 13, acts as a collision avoidance system which can automatically stop or slow the motor vehicle.
It will however be appreciated that the electronic controller 15 output could also be connected to an electronic throttle of an engine of the motor vehicle and could then be used slow the motor vehicle via the electronic throttle or by applying the brakes 10 depending upon the severity of the retardation required.
Further the output of the electronic controller 10 could be used as the controller of an automatic (or adaptive) cruise control system capable of both slowing and accelerating the motor vehicle.
The supplementary restraints system 21 is arranged to operate safety belt pre 15 tensioners when the electronic controller 10 has determined that an impact is imminent based upon the signals received from the radar signal analyser 15 and digital signal processor 1 3.
The driver warning system 22 is arranged to provide an audible or visual warning when a hazardous situation is sensed to be occurring or is likely to occur. The warning 20 can be way of a lamp on the dashboard of the motor vehicle that can be illuminated or by using the audio system to produce an audible warning.
Operation of the safety system is as follows, during normal driving conditions the electronic controller 10 continuously receives a signal from the radar signal analyser 15 which is fed into several algorithms stored as executable computer routines within the
electronic controller 10. These computer routines are very complex and enable the electronic controller to calculate the distance of any object in front of the motor vehicle, the position of the object relative to the motor vehicle, whether the motor vehicle is closing on the object, the value and rate of change of closing velocity, whether the 5 object is within a unsafe area in front of the motor vehicle, whether the closing velocity is beyond a safe limit and various other parameters. Such calculations are well known to those skilled in the art and will not be discussed any further.
In addition the electronic controller executes a very simple routine to check whether a flag has been set by the optical sensing system indicating that speed control 10 routine is required.
The routine can be expressed as:-; . Is Flag > 0 if Yes then goto Speed Control Routine if no then continue.
Therefore if the flag has been set to 1 the routine will start the speed control routine which comprises one or more of the algorithmic routines used to refine the 15 system performance but these are in a very simplified form and are conduce to confirm that the flag has been correctly set and that a speed control routine is required.
Either separately or as part of the speed control routine, signals are sent to the supplementary restraints system 21 and the driver warning system 22 from the electronic controller 10 as well as to the braking system 20.
20 In the case of the driver warning system 22 this is done as soon as the flag is set to 1 but in the case of the supplementary restraints system 21 the signal can be sent either as soon as the flag is set to 1 or when the emergency braking signal is sent to the braking system 20.
-8 Such an arrangement has the advantage that braking of the vehicle will start fractionally sooner than if the radar based system is used alone because many of the laborious algorithmic routines are ignored and only a simple check is made to see whether the optical system has correctly determined the need to stop, e.g. detecting if 5 closing speed is above a pre-determined critical value.
This is particularly useful in situations such as at a slip road or roundabout when as the car in front pulls away the driver looks to see if traffic is coming. If the vehicle in front has subsequently decided to stop while the driver is checking whether it is safe to proceed then there is little opportunity for the driver to stop the motor vehicle. In such 10 situations the close proximity of the vehicle in front gives little or no chance for a conventional radar based system to react but the - optical system gives an instantaneous output.
Although the system has been described based upon a single controller there could be several controllers or microprocessor based computational devices interlinked 15 to control the system or the processing of the algorithms could take place not in the .. central controller but in the signal analyser in which case the flag signal would need to be sent there and not to the central processor.
It will be further appreciated that the use of an infra-red filter is not an essential integer of the invention as other embodiments could be constructed in which the visual go scene could be captured and via an object recognition process the red stop lamps could be distinguished from the general scene. The relatively high dynamic change in the energy content of the brake lights or stop lamps is easily detected as a change in intensity even with a black and white camera.
Other modifications or refinements could be made such as for example the cancellation of the warning signal or the emergency braking if the driver applies the
-9 - brakes or the optical system could be used to estimate the distance from the vehicle in front by using spatial tracking with distance separation measurements between brake lights to form a triangulation of the position of the front vehicle. This calculation could then be used to inhibit setting of the flag if the distance is too great indicating that the 5 vehicle in front is not within the unsafe distance.
The system could be arranged to operate in several different warning and control modes depending upon the speed of the vehicle. For example at speeds greater than -40 kph the system could operate such that provided the vehicle in front is perceived to -
be beyond the unsafe distance the driver is only warned of the need to brake and only 10 if there is no response from the driver is the vehicle in front enters the unsafe distance is speed control routine initiated.

Claims (16)

d - 10 CLAIMS
1. A safety system for a motor vehicle comprising a radar sensor for sensing the presence a preceding vehicle, a optical sensor for sensing a change of state of a rear brake light of the preceding vehicle and a controller having inputs from the radar sensor and the optical sensor wherein the controller is adapted to generate a collision alert signal when the optical sensor detects brake light illumination of the preceding vehicle and the radar sensor indicates that a collision is imminent.
2. A safety system as claimed in claim 1 in which the radar sensor is adapted to measure relative closing velocity between the motor vehicle and the preceding vehicle and to detect that a collision is imminent when said velocity is above a threshold value...CLME:
3. A safety system as claimed in either preceding claim in which the electronic controller is arranged to selectively control the speed of the vehicle by actuating a braking system of the motor vehicle.
4. A safety system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 in which the controller is adapted to initiate an emergency braking routine.
5. A safety system as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the electronic controller is arranged to selectively control the speed of the vehicle by modifying a throttle control of the motor vehicle.
6. A safety system as claimed in any preceding claim in which the controller is arranged to supply one or more signals to safety devices fitted to the motor vehicle.
- 1 1
7. A safety system as claimed in any preceding claim in which the controller is arranged to supply a warning signal to a driver of the motor vehicle that speed control is required.
8. A safety system as claimed in any preceding claim in which the optical system includes at least one camera.
9. A safety system as claimed in claim 8 in which a filter is fitted to the or each camera to filter out wavelengths of light not relevant to the detection of brake light activation.
10. A safety system as claimed in claim 8 in which a digital signal processor is connected to the or each camera to distinguish the illumination of a brake light . from the other light emission received by the camera and provide a signal to the electronic controller.
11. A safety system as claimed in claim 10 in which the optical system is adapted to perform triangulation measurements based upon the brake lights of the vehicle in front to determine the distance between the vehicle in 'rent and the motor vehicle.
12 A motor vehicle having a safety system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 1 1.
13. A method of operating a safety system for a motor vehicle including the steps of; (a) detecting illumination of a rear brake light of a preceding vehicle, (b) detecting that a relative closing velocity between the motor vehicle and the preceding vehicle exceeds a critical value, (c) and in response to steps (a) and (b), initiating a reduction in speed of the vehicle.
14. A safety system substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawing.
r - 12
15. A motor vehicle substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawing.
16. A method of operating a safety system for a motor vehicle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
GB0307286A 2002-04-12 2003-03-31 A safety system for a motor vehicle Expired - Fee Related GB2394076B (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GBGB0208423.4A GB0208423D0 (en) 2002-04-12 2002-04-12 A safety system for a motor vehicle

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Publication Number Publication Date
GB0307286D0 GB0307286D0 (en) 2003-05-07
GB2394076A true GB2394076A (en) 2004-04-14
GB2394076B GB2394076B (en) 2005-07-13

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GB0307286A Expired - Fee Related GB2394076B (en) 2002-04-12 2003-03-31 A safety system for a motor vehicle

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Cited By (14)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2863398A1 (en) * 2003-12-09 2005-06-10 Denso Corp DRIVING ASSISTANCE APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING COLLISION OF VEHICLES
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EP1659029A1 (en) * 2004-11-17 2006-05-24 Aisin Aw Co., Ltd. Vehicle proximity warning apparatus and method
WO2006092361A1 (en) * 2005-03-01 2006-09-08 Robert Bosch Gmbh Driver assistance system comprising several assistance functions
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EP1804227A2 (en) 2005-12-26 2007-07-04 Aisin AW Co., Ltd. Driving support apparatus, driving support system and driving support program
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FR2863398A1 (en) * 2003-12-09 2005-06-10 Denso Corp DRIVING ASSISTANCE APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING COLLISION OF VEHICLES
US7205888B2 (en) 2003-12-09 2007-04-17 Denso Corporation Driving assisting apparatus for preventing vehicular collision
EP1602940A1 (en) * 2004-06-02 2005-12-07 Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha Obstacle recognition system and method with a radar and a camera
US7570198B2 (en) 2004-06-02 2009-08-04 Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha Obstacle recognition system and obstacle recognition method
US7362241B2 (en) 2004-11-17 2008-04-22 Aisin Aw Co., Ltd. Vehicle proximity warning apparatus, method and program
EP1659029A1 (en) * 2004-11-17 2006-05-24 Aisin Aw Co., Ltd. Vehicle proximity warning apparatus and method
US20080188996A1 (en) * 2005-03-01 2008-08-07 Bernhard Lucas Driver Assistance System Having a Plurality of Assistance Functions
WO2006092361A1 (en) * 2005-03-01 2006-09-08 Robert Bosch Gmbh Driver assistance system comprising several assistance functions
US8483906B2 (en) 2005-03-01 2013-07-09 Robert Bosch Gmbh Driver assistance system having a plurality of assistance functions
GB2425386A (en) * 2005-04-22 2006-10-25 John Revell Vehicle early warning system
EP1804227A2 (en) 2005-12-26 2007-07-04 Aisin AW Co., Ltd. Driving support apparatus, driving support system and driving support program
EP1804227A3 (en) * 2005-12-26 2009-03-18 Aisin AW Co., Ltd. Driving support apparatus, driving support system and driving support program
WO2008086859A1 (en) * 2007-01-19 2008-07-24 Daimler Ag Method and driver assistance system for assisting a driver when driving a motor vehicle
WO2008146304A2 (en) * 2007-05-25 2008-12-04 Ananya Innovations Limited A forward brake indicate device and method thereof
WO2008146304A3 (en) * 2007-05-25 2009-01-29 Ananya Innovations Ltd A forward brake indicate device and method thereof
US8593272B2 (en) 2009-10-28 2013-11-26 Honda Research Institute Europe Gmbh Behavior-based learning of visual characteristics from real-world traffic scenes for driver assistance systems
GB2488402A (en) * 2011-02-26 2012-08-29 Gm Global Tech Operations Inc Driver assistance system in which irrelevant warning is suppressed if CVIP is moving away
GB2488402B (en) * 2011-02-26 2014-03-12 Gm Global Tech Operations Inc A method for operating a driver assistance system and a driver assistance system
WO2013083313A1 (en) * 2011-12-09 2013-06-13 Robert Bosch Gmbh Method and device for identifying a braking situation
US9827956B2 (en) 2011-12-09 2017-11-28 Robert Bosch Gmbh Method and device for detecting a braking situation
CN103448654A (en) * 2012-05-31 2013-12-18 刘泰远 Velometer of automatic automotive bumper
CN103213550A (en) * 2013-05-07 2013-07-24 上海智汽电子科技有限公司 Automobile brake safety prompt control system and safety prompt control method
CN108944680A (en) * 2018-05-21 2018-12-07 苏州工业园区职业技术学院 A kind of radar auxiliary driving system based on viewing system

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