Optical identification and monitoring system using pattern recognition for use with vehicles

In a motor vehicle having an interior and an exterior, a monitoring system for monitoring at least one object exterior to said vehicle comprising:

• a) transmitter means for transmitting electromagnetic waves to illuminate the at least one exterior object;
• b) reception means for receiving reflected electromagnetic illumination from the at least one exterior object;
• c) processor means coupled to said reception means for processing said received illumination and creating an electronic signal characteristic of said exterior object based thereon;
• d) categorization means coupled to said processor means for categorizing said electronic signal to identify said exterior object, said categorization means comprising trained pattern recognition means for processing said electronic signal based on said received illumination from said exterior object to provide an identification of said exterior object based thereon, said pattern recognition means being structured and arranged to apply a pattern recognition algorithm generated from data of possible exterior objects and patterns of received electromagnetic illumination from the possible exterior objects;
• and
• e) output means coupled to said categorization means for affecting another system in the vehicle in response to the identification of said exterior object.

In a motor vehicle having an interior and an exterior, an automatic headlight dimming system comprising:

• a) reception means for receiving electromagnetic radiation from the exterior of the vehicle;
• b) processor means coupled to said reception means for processing the received radiation and creating an electronic signal characteristic of the received radiation;
• c) categorization means coupled to said processor means for categorizing said electronic signal to identify a source of the radiation, said categorization means comprising trained pattern recognition means for processing said electronic signal based on said received radiation to provide an identification of the source of the radiation based thereon, said pattern recognition means being structured and arranged to apply a pattern recognition algorithm generated from data of possible sources of radiation including lights of vehicles and patterns of received radiation from the possible sources;
• and
• d) output means coupled to said categorization means for dimming the headlights in said vehicle in response to the identification of the source of the radiation.

In a motor vehicle having an interior passenger compartment containing at least one occupying item, an interior monitoring system comprising:

• a) illumination means for illuminating a portion of said vehicle interior passenger compartment with electromagnetic radiation in which said at least one occupying item is likely situated;
• b) receiver means for receiving electromagnetic illumination reflected from said at least one occupying item in said vehicle interior passenger compartment;
• c) processor means coupled to said receiver means for processing said received illumination and generating an electronic signal characteristic of the form of said at least one occupying item in said passenger compartment based thereon;
• d) categorization and identification means coupled to said processor means for categorizing said electronic signal to thereby identify said at least one occupying item based on the form of said at least one occupying item, said categorization and identification means comprising trained pattern recognition means for applying a pattern recognition algorithm;
• and
• e) output means coupled to said categorization and identification means for affecting another system in said vehicle in response to the identification of said at least one occupying item based on the form of said at least one occupying item.

A method for affecting a system in a vehicle based on an object exterior of the vehicle, comprising the steps of:

• a) transmitting electromagnetic waves to illuminate the exterior object;
• b) receiving reflected electromagnetic illumination from the object on an array;
• c) processing the received illumination and creating an electronic signal characteristic of the exterior object based thereon;
• d) processing the electronic signal based on the received illumination from the exterior object to identify the exterior object, said processing step comprising the steps of generating a pattern recognition algorithm from data of possible exterior objects and patterns of received electromagnetic illumination from the possible exterior objects, storing the algorithm within a pattern recognition system and applying the pattern recognition algorithm using the electronic signal as input to obtain the identification of the exterior object;
• and
• e) affecting the system in the vehicle in response to the identification of the exterior object.

A method for monitoring an interior of a motor vehicle having an interior passenger compartment containing at least one occupying item, comprising the steps of:

• a) illuminating a portion of said vehicle interior passenger compartment with electromagnetic radiation in which said at least one occupying item is likely situated;
• b) receiving electromagnetic illumination reflected from said at least one occupying item in said vehicle interior passenger compartment on an array;
• c) processing said received illumination and generating an electronic signal characteristic of said at least one occupying item in said passenger compartment based thereon;
• d) processing the electronic signal based on the received illumination from said at least one occupying item to provide an identification of said at least one occupying item, said processing step comprising the steps of generating a pattern recognition algorithm from data of possible occupying items and patterns of received electromagnetic illumination from the possible occupying items, storing the algorithm within a pattern recognition system and applying the pattern recognition algorithm using the electronic signal as input to obtain the identification of the at least one occupying item;
• and
• e) affecting another system in said vehicle in response to the identification of said at least one occupying item.