Vehicle lighting system featuring object identification and threat level assessment
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsStuart C. Salter, Paul Kenneth Dellock, Christopher Charles Hunt, Chad Hoover, Doug H. Randlett
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A lighting system of a vehicle is provided herein and includes an external lighting device, one or more sensors configured to detect an object approaching the vehicle, and a controller configured to identify the object and assess a threat level thereof based on input from the one or more sensors. If the controller determines that the object is high threat, the controller operates the external lighting device to produce an illumination sequence in the direction of the object.
Claims20
A lighting system of a vehicle, comprising:
- an external lighting device;
- one or more sensors configured to detect an object approaching the vehicle;
- and
- a controller configured to identify the object and assess a threat level thereof based on input from the one or more sensors, wherein if the controller determines that the object is high threat, the controller operates the external lighting device to produce an illumination sequence in the direction of the object, wherein the illumination sequence comprises one or more flashes of light followed by a steady stream of light in the direction of the object.
A lighting system of a vehicle, comprising:
- an external lighting device;
- one or more sensors configured to detect a location, speed, distance, and size of an object approaching the vehicle;
- and
- a controller configured to determine if the object is human based on input from the one or more sensors, and if so, operate the lighting device to produce an illumination sequence in the direction of the object, wherein the illumination sequence comprises a first flash of light followed by a second flash of light, and wherein the time between the first and second flashes of light is based on the time in which a human eye blinks.
A lighting method of a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
- detecting an object approaching the vehicle using one or more sensors;
- identifying the object and assessing a threat level thereof based on input from the one or more sensors;
- and
- if the object is determined to be high threat, operating an external lighting device to produce an illumination sequence in the direction of the object, wherein the illumination sequence comprises one or more flashes of light followed by a steady stream of light in the direction of the object.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.