IP Library Granted Patent US 10,821,987
Granted Patent B2
US 10,821,987 · App. 15/214,700 · Granted Nov 3, 2020

Vehicle interior and exterior monitoring

Inventor: James Robert McBride (Saline, MI)
Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
B60W40/08B60Q9/00G01S17/42G01S17/86G01S17/89G01S17/931G05D1/0231G06K9/00845B60W2040/0881B60W2420/52
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,821,987
App. No.
15/214,700
Granted
Nov 3, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

A LIDAR sensor is mountable to a vehicle exterior with a field of view including a vehicle interior view first portion and a vehicle exterior view first portion. Data can be received from the LIDAR sensor. A state of a vehicle occupant can be determined based at least in part on data from the LIDAR sensor.

Claims (26)

1. A system, comprising a controller including a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor, including instructions to:

receive data from a first LIDAR sensor mountable to a vehicle exterior with a field of view including a vehicle interior view first portion and a vehicle exterior view first portion; and

determine a state of a vehicle occupant based at least in part on data from the first LIDAR sensor.

2. The system of claim 1 , the instructions further including instructions to:

receive data from a second LIDAR sensor mountable to the vehicle exterior with a second field of view including a vehicle interior view second portion and a vehicle exterior view second portion; and

use the data from the second LIDAR sensor to determine a state of a second vehicle occupant.

3. The system of claim 1 , the instructions further including instructions to generate a three dimensional model of the vehicle occupant.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to determine a number of occupants in a vehicle interior.

5. The system of claim 1 , the instructions further including instructions to:

determine that the vehicle occupant is in an unexpected state; and

perform an action to bring the vehicle occupant from the unexpected state to an expected state.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the action includes actuating a haptic module.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to use the data to create a three dimensional model of an area surrounding the vehicle exterior.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the three dimensional model includes data indicating at least one of distance and size of an object in the area surrounding the vehicle exterior.

9. A method, comprising:

receiving data from a first LIDAR sensor mounted to a vehicle exterior with a field of view including a vehicle interior view first portion and a vehicle exterior view first portion; and

determining a state of a vehicle occupant based at least in part on data from the first LIDAR sensor.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

receiving data from a second LIDAR sensor mounted to the vehicle exterior with a second field of view including a vehicle interior view second portion and a vehicle exterior view second portion; and

using the data from the second LIDAR sensor to determine a state of a second vehicle occupant.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising generating a three dimensional model of the vehicle occupant.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining that the vehicle occupant is in an unexpected state; and

performing an action to bring the vehicle occupant from the unexpected state to an expected state.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the action includes actuating a haptic module.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising using the data to create a three dimensional model of an area surrounding the vehicle exterior.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 20, 2016
From: MCBRIDE, JAMES ROBERT
To: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 039197/0519 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20180022356A1 · Jan 25, 2018