US 12,403,942 B2Granted

System for obstacle detection

AssigneeElta Systems Ltd.

InventorsGabi Arieli, Rafi Gabbay, Gil Klar, Tomer Baum, Yacov Attias, Rami Shlomov

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Abstract

A system and corresponding method are described, for use in alerting on objects in path of vehicle's propagation. The system comprising RF transmission/reception unit comprising at least one phased array antenna unit, and a control unit. The RF transmission/reception unit is configured for periodically scanning a selected region by transmission of interrogating RF signal and collecting reflected RF signals from the selected region and generate based thereon pattern data indicative of the collected RF signal, and for transmitting the pattern data to the control unit. The control unit is configured and operable for processing the pattern data for determining existence of interfering object in path of propagation of a vehicle carrying the system, and for generating alert data indicative of existence of one or more interfering objects.

Claims44

Dependent claims

A system for alerting on interfering objects in path of vehicle's propagation, the system comprising:

an RF transmission/reception unit comprising at least one transmitting phased array antenna unit, at least one receiving phased array antenna unit, a main processing unit, and a control unit;
wherein the RF transmission/reception unit is configured for periodically scanning a selected region by transmission of interrogating RF signal and collecting reflected RF signals from the selected region based on a desired scanning profile and generating based thereon pattern data indicative of the collected RF signal, and for transmitting the pattern data to the control unit;
wherein the control unit is configured and operable for processing the pattern data for determining existence of interfering object in path of propagation of a vehicle carrying the system, and for generating alert data indicative of existence of one or more of the interfering objects;
and
wherein said vehicle is a train and wherein the control unit is configured and operable for determining path of said vehicle by identifying rails on which said train is moving, and wherein said control unit is configured for selectively limiting scanning region in accordance with projected path of the rails;
and
wherein said processing further comprises:
obtaining pre-stored data indicative of propagation path of said vehicle in said selected region;
generating operational data indicative of the desired scanning profile;
and
transmitting the operational data to the RF transmission/reception unit for executing the desired scanning profile.

8 more elements

A method for alerting on one or more interfering objects in a path of a vehicle's propagation, the method comprising:

transmitting an interrogating RF signal to a selected region by scanning a narrow interrogating beam to cover the region of interest and collecting reflecting RF signals therefrom based on a desired scanning profile;
generating pattern data indicative of the collected RF signals;
processing the pattern data to determine existence of one or more interfering object in the path of propagation of the vehicle, said processing comprises generating a reflected signal map of collected reflected RF signals and analyzing said reflected signal map to identify said one or more interfering objects in said reflected signal map, being indicative of existence and location of said one or more interfering objects reflecting RF signals in said selected region, said signal map comprising a spatial representation of intensities of the reflected signals with respect to the vehicle's location;
and
generating alert data indicative of existence of said one or more interfering objects;
wherein said vehicle is a train and wherein said processing comprises determining path of said vehicle by identifying rails on which said train is moving, and selectively limiting scanning region in accordance with projected path of the rails;
wherein said processing further comprises:
obtaining pre-stored data indicative of propagation path of said vehicle in said selected region;
and
generating operational data indicative of the desired scanning profile;
and executing the desired scanning profile.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/715,378Filed 16 Dec 2019
Priority: IL 26384819 Dec 2018
Published: US 2020/0198674 A125 Jun 2020
Granted: 2 Sep 2025
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification16 codes

B61L 23/041
For monitoring the mechanical state of the route: obstacle detection
G01S 7/354
Receivers: extracting wanted echo-signals
B61L 23/34
Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains: for indicating the distance between vehicles or trains by the…
G01S 13/426
Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates: scanning radar, e.g. 3D radar