Wading depth estimation for a vehicle
AssigneeJaguar Land Rover Limited
InventorsThuy-Yung Tran, Edward Hoare, Nigel Clarke
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A predictive method of detecting the depth of water ahead of a wading vehicle comprises providing a wading sensor and an attitude sensor on the vehicle, and using this information to estimate the depth of water at a location ahead of the direction of vehicle movement. Corresponding apparatus is disclosed.
Claims18
A method for use in a vehicle, comprising:
- receiving by a control unit a signal from one or more sensors indicating wading and wading depth;
- receiving by said control unit a signal from a sensor indicating attitude of the vehicle;
- and
- estimating, by said control unit and based upon:
- (i) a wading depth (D) as indicated by said signal from said one or more sensors, (ii) attitude as indicated by said signal from said sensor, and (iii) a distance (Rmax) in advance of the location of the vehicle and/or a maximum wading depth (Dmax) of the vehicle, a depth of water (D(R)) at a location ahead of the vehicle substantially in the direction of vehicle movement and/or the distance (R), ahead of the vehicle substantially in the direction of vehicle movement, to a maximum wading depth (Dmax).
A vehicle comprising a wading depth sensor, an attitude sensor and a control unit configured to receive and use signals issued by said wading depth sensor and said attitude sensor to compute an estimated wading depth (D(R)) at a location ahead of the direction of vehicle movement and/or to compute a distance (Rmax) ahead of the direction of vehicle movement at which a maximum wading depth (Dmax) will be reached.
A system for a vehicle, the system comprising a control unit, a sensor for determining vehicle tilt and a sensor for indicating wading depth, wherein the control unit is configured to estimate wading depth (D(R)) in advance of a location of a vehicle and/or is configured to estimate a maximum range of a vehicle in advance of a location of a vehicle, wherein said estimations are based upon a wading depth (D) as determined by the sensor for indicating wading depth, tilt as determined by the sensor for determining vehicle tilt and a distance (Rmax) in advance of the location of the vehicle and/or a maximum wading depth (Dmax) of the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.