Vehicle proximity sensor

A vehicle sensing system comprising:

• a bus;
• a first microprocessor coupled to said bus;
• and
• a plurality of sensors, for sensing objects within a first one of a plurality of predetermined range of distances of said sensor and with each sensor comprising:
• (a) a transducer;
• (b) a second microprocessor, coupled between said transducer and said bus, for processing information received from said transducer;
• (c) a light emitting diode coupled to said microprocessor, for indicating a first one of the following conditions:
• (i) when an object is within a first predetermined range of distances of said sensor;
• or
• (ii) when said sensor is faulty;
• (d) a temperature sensing circuit coupled to said microprocessor;
• and
• (e) a bus transceiver for receiving information from said bus and for transmitting information to said bus.

A vehicle sensing system comprising:

• a sensor bus comprising:
• (a) a plurality of bus sections with each bus section comprising:
• (i) a first connector coupled to a first end of said bus section;
• (ii) a second connector coupled to a second end of said bus section;
• and
• (iii) a third connector coupled to said bus section in a region between said first and second connectors;
• a driver alert module coupled to said first connector of said sensor bus with said driver alert module comprising:
• (a) a first microprocessor coupled to said sensor bus;
• and
• (b) a display coupled to said first microprocessor;
• and
• at least one sensor module, coupled to said third connector of said sensor bus, for sensing objects within a first one of a plurality of predetermined range of distances of said sensor module and with each sensor module comprising:
• (a) a transducer;
• (b) a second microprocessor coupled to said transducer for processing information received from said transducer;
• (c) a light emitting diode disposed on a first surface of the transducer, coupled to said second microprocessor, for emitting a light in response to a first one of the following conditions:
• (i) when an object is within a first one of a plurality of predetermined range of distances of said sensor module;
• or
• (ii) when said sensor module is faulty;
• (d) a temperature sensing circuit coupled to said second microprocessor;
• and
• (e) a bus transceiver for receiving information from said bus and for transmitting information to said bus.

A method of sensing an object comprising the steps of:

• transmitting a first signal from a transducer;
• receiving a return signal in a transducer;
• computing in a first microprocessor, from said transmit and receive signals, a distance to an object;
• providing a distance signal to a bus;
• receiving in a second microprocessor said distance signal from said bus;
• and
• providing, in response to receiving said distance signal, a control signal from said second microprocessor to a display.

A proximity sensor bus system comprising:

• a data signal and power transfer bus;
• a first plurality of microprocessor based proximity sensors having unique identity data, a proximity data generator and setup storage and coupled to said bus for powering each said sensor and for identify data, proximity data and setup data exchange over said bus;
• and
• one or more microprocessor based display modules coupled to said bus for identity data, proximity data, and setup data exchange thereover and having indicators responsive to bus data for identifying, for each coupled sensor, sensor identity and proximity from exchanged bus data.