Systems and methods for detecting obstructions in a camera field of view
AssigneeMobileye Vision Technologies Ltd.
InventorsGideon Stein, Ofer Hadassi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system mounted on a vehicle for detecting an obstruction on a surface of a window of the vehicle, a primary camera is mounted inside the vehicle behind the window. The primary camera is configured to acquire images of the environment through the window. A secondary camera is focused on an external surface of the window, and operates to image the obstruction. A portion of the window, i.e. window region is subtended respectively by the field of view of the primary camera and the field of view of the secondary camera. A processor processes respective sequences of image data from both the primary camera and the secondary camera.
Claims19
A system mountable on a vehicle, the system comprising:
- a primary camera configured to acquire a plurality of primary images of the environment through the window;
- a secondary camera adapted to focus on at least a portion of a surface of the window to acquire a secondary image of an obstruction when present on the surface, wherein a region of the window is subtended by respective fields of view of the primary camera and the secondary camera;
- and
- a processor adapted to process and continuously monitor the secondary image for the obstruction;
- wherein the processor is configured to activate a low visibility mode of the primary camera when the obstruction is detected in the secondary image.
A method performable by a system mountable inside a vehicle, the system including a primary camera and a secondary camera both connectable to a processor, the method comprising the steps of:
- enabling acquiring through a window from the primary camera a primary image of the environment;
- wherein the secondary camera is focused on a surface of the window to provide a secondary image of the surface, wherein a region of the window is subtended by respective fields of view of the primary camera and the secondary camera;
- processing and continuously monitoring thereby the secondary image for an obstruction if present on the surface;
- enabling activating a low visibility mode of the primary camera when the obstruction is detected in the secondary image.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.