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US 6,686,869 B2Granted
Method and system for determining driving environment
AssigneeHyundai Motor Company
InventorJee-Young Kim
Life of this patent
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AssigneeHyundai Motor Company
InventorJee-Young Kim
Estimating the term…
When a reflective wave reflected from a preceding object is received, the reflective wave being of an original radar beam scanned at a variable vertical angle, the vertical angle is detected, an absolute speed of the preceding object is calculated based on a vehicle speed and a relative speed calculated from the reflective wave, and accordingly a driving environment is determined based on the vertical angle and the absolute speed.
A method for determining vehicle driving environment, comprising:
A vehicle driving environment determining system for detecting an object, the system comprising:
A method for determining road grade from a vehicle, the method comprising:
A system for determining road grade from a vehicle, the system comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Systems determining position data of a target: simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates
For anti-collision purposes: of land vehicles
Of land vehicles: using own vehicle data, e.g. ground speed, steering wheel direction
Sensor installation details: in the front of the vehicles
Term ended 12 Dec 2022 (estimated)
The present invention relates to a method and system for determining a vehicle driving environment, and more particularly, to a method and system for determining a vehicle driving environment that adapts to an undulating road.
Current systems for detecting approaching objects, such as a vehicle or a signpost, generally project a radar beam and analyze the reflected wave. To cover more area, such radar beams are scanned horizontally. Generally, where the scanning angle is varied, it is varied in a horizontal direction.
But the road a vehicle follows is rarely flat. In situations where the road has undulations, as shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle 10 often cannot detect an approaching object 11 using current systems. And when the vehicle 10 is driven in a mountainous district, not detecting an approaching object 11 becomes more problematic.
The following detailed description of the invention will be better understood with reference to the following drawings in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates situations where a vehicle fails to detect an approaching object;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a driving environment determining system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Returning to FIG. 1, a driving environment determining system for a vehicle 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention detects the approaching object 11. The system is not limited to detecting objects as they approach, but will also detect objects as they recede, although approaching objects are generally of greater interest to a driver. As shown in FIG. 2, a preferred embodiment of a system according to the invention includes: a single-beam radar 20 for scanning a radar beam and detecting a wave reflected from the object 11 (FIG. 1); a mirror 50 for adjusting a vertical angle (for example, an angle between the radar beam and the horizontal plane) of the scanned radar beam according to an angular position thereof; a mirror angle sensor 51 for sensing the angular position of the mirror 50; a stepper motor 30 for adjusting the angular position of the mirror 50; and an electronic control unit 40 (“ECU”); a vehicle speed sensor 45 for detecting the speed of vehicle 10 is connected to the ECU 40 so the ECU can receive a vehicle speed signal.
The ECU can be fabricated using one or more processors programmed with software employing a method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Multiple processors could also be incorporated into separate communicating ECUs.
The software is programmed to perform the steps of: calculating the relative speed of the approaching object based on the reflected wave detected by the single beam radar; calculating an absolute speed of the approaching vehicle 11 based on its relative speed and the speed of the vehicle 10; detecting the vertical angle of the radar beam of the reflective wave; and comparing the vertical angle of the reflected wave and the absolute speed with a predetermined angle and speed.