Obstacle detection system comprising two uwb modules for a motor vehicle

An obstacle detection system (10;

• 10′;
• 10″;
• 100) intended to be installed on a motor vehicle (1) for detecting obstacles (30;
• 30′;
• 30″) located outside the vehicle, the obstacle detection system comprising:
• a first UWB module (11;
• 11″;
• 15), installed for use on the motor vehicle (1) and configured to establish a two-way exchange of ultra-wideband radio frequency signals with a UWB fob (20), such as a smartphone, and to determine a current distance value to said UWB fob, the UWB fob (20) being carried for use by a user wishing to access the motor vehicle;
• a second UWB module (12;
• 12″;
• 15), installed for use on the motor vehicle (1) and configured to establish a two-way exchange of ultra-wideband radio frequency signals with said UWB fob (20), and to determine a current distance value to said UWB fob;
• and
• a central computer, configured to:
• receive, from each respective module from among the first UWB module (15) and the second UWB module (15), a current distance value to the UWB fob (20);
• compute, using said current distance values, a current position of the UWB fob (20) relative to said motor vehicle (1);
• and
• control the locking and/or unlocking of at least one opening element of the motor vehicle (1), notably as a function of at least one current position of the UWB fob relative to said motor vehicle;
• characterized in that:
• the first UWB module (11;
• 11″;
• 15) is configured to transmit an ultra-wideband radio frequency signal, called transmitted signal (S1), transmitted outside the motor vehicle during use;
• the second UWB module (12;
• 12″;
• 15) is configured to receive an ultra-wideband radio frequency signal, called received signal (S2), with the received signal originating from the transmitted signal and comprising a first contribution (S21) originating directly from the first UWB module (11;
• 11″;
• 15) and a second contribution (S22) being reflected on an obstacle (30;
• 30′;
• 30″) before reaching the second UWB module (12;
• 12″;
• 15);
• and
• the system comprises at least one computer (13), called main computer, distinct from or combined with the main computer, which can form an integral part of the second UWB module, and which is configured to receive data relating to the received signal (S2) as input, and to deduce time-of-flight values therefrom and then estimate a distance (D) between an obstacle and the motor vehicle.