Back to results
US 2026/0100172 A1Published application
Vehicle camera-based ambient light detection
AssigneeFca US LLC
InventorsDaniel P Cashen, Emily A Robb, Esaias Pech
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of detecting ambient light outside of a vehicle includes capturing a first image with a sensor of a camera mounted on the vehicle, generating image data that is representative of the light incident on the sensor at the time the first image was captured, analyzing the image data to determine an ambient light level, and controlling at least one vehicle light as a function of the determined ambient light level.
Claims22
A method of detecting ambient light outside of a vehicle, comprising:
- capturing a first image with a sensor of a camera mounted on the vehicle;
- generating image data that is representative of the light incident on the sensor at the time the first image was captured;
- analyzing the image data to determine an ambient light level;
- and
- controlling at least one vehicle light as a function of the determined ambient light level, wherein at least part of a field of view of the camera includes a surface of the vehicle, and the at least part of the field of view of the camera that includes the surface is used to determine the ambient light level based at least in part on a known reflectivity of the surface.
2 more elements
A system for a vehicle, comprising:
- a camera mounted on the vehicle and having a sensor responsive to light at the sensor;
- a control system communicated with the sensor, wherein the control system includes one or more processors, memory and programming arranged to capture a first image with the sensor of the camera, generate image data that is representative of the light incident on the sensor at the time the first image was captured, analyze the image data to determine an ambient light level, and control at least one vehicle light as a function of the determined ambient light level, wherein the camera has a field of view that includes a portion of the vehicle, and at least part of a field of view of the camera that includes the portion of the vehicle is used to determine the ambient light level based at least in part on a known reflectivity of the portion of the vehicle.
(canceled)
(canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.