Vehicle environment control using brightness detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12269398-B2
Application number	US-202318337196-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 19, 2023
Priority date	Jun 19, 2023
Publication date	Apr 8, 2025
Grant date	Apr 8, 2025

Abstract

A vehicle includes at least one camera that captures at least one image of a region external to the vehicle. The vehicle includes an environmental control system of the vehicle having at least one of lighting control and climate control for the vehicle. The vehicle includes control circuitry configured to process a first set of images of the plurality of images at a first sampling rate, determine a brightness condition of the region external to the vehicle based on processing the first set of images, process a second set of images of the plurality of images at a second sampling rate different than the first sampling rate, detect a shift in the brightness condition based on the second set of images, and control the environmental control system in response to the shift in the brightness condition.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle, comprising:
at least one camera that captures at least one image of a region external to the vehicle;
an environmental control system of the vehicle having at least one of lighting control and climate control for the vehicle;
control circuitry in communication with the at least one camera and the environmental control system, the control circuitry configured to:
process a first set of images of the at least one image at a first sampling rate;
determine a brightness condition of the region external to the vehicle based on processing the first set of images;
process a second set of images of the at least one image at a second sampling rate different than the first sampling rate;
detect a shift in the brightness condition based on the second set of images; and
control the environmental control system in response to the shift in the brightness condition.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to adjust from the first sampling rate to the second sampling rate in response to a movement of the vehicle.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the second sampling rate is less than the first sampling rate, and wherein the second set of images is processed in response to the vehicle having a non-zero speed.

4. The vehicle of claim 3 , wherein the first set of images is processed in response to the vehicle having a speed of zero.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , comprising:
a powertrain having a gear status, and wherein the control circuitry is configured to adjust from the first sampling rate to the second sampling rate in response to a change in the gear status.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
detect a rate of change of the brightness condition based on the first set of images; and
adjust from the first sampling rate to the second sampling rate in response to the rate of change.

7. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the environmental control system includes at least one of exterior lighting of the vehicle, interior lighting for a compartment of the vehicle, and a climate control system for the compartment of the vehicle.

8. The vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
process the brightness condition in a machine learning model trained to determine a threshold brightness condition for adjusting the at least one of the exterior lighting, the interior lighting, and the climate control system.

9. The vehicle of claim 8 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
receive an indication of manual adjustment to the at least one of the exterior lighting, the interior lighting, and the climate control system; and
train the machine learning model to modify the threshold brightness condition in response to the indication of manual adjustment.

10. The vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the at least one camera includes a plurality of cameras capturing the region external to the vehicle from different fields of view, and wherein at least one of the interior lighting and the climate control system controls an environmental condition for each of a plurality of spaces in the compartment individually.

11. The vehicle of claim 1 , comprising:
a location system that tracks a location of the vehicle along a travel route, wherein the control circuitry is configured to control the environmental control system based on the location of the vehicle along the travel route.

12. The vehicle of claim 1 , comprising:
a timing system that tracks a time of day, wherein the control circuitry is configured to control the environmental control system based on the time of day.

13. The vehicle of claim 1 , comprising:
at least one microphone that captures audio data, wherein the control circuitry is configured to detect a presence of rain based on the audio data and control the environmental control system based on the presence of rain.

14. A vehicle, comprising:
at least one camera that captures at least one image of a region external to the vehicle;
a lighting control system;
control circuitry in communication with the at least one camera and the lighting control system, the control circuitry including an image processor and configured to:
process a first set of images of the at least one image at a first sampling rate;
detect a rate of change of a brightness condition of the region external to the vehicle based on the first set of images;
adjust from the first sampling rate to a second sampling rate in response to the rate of change, the second sampling rate being different than the first sampling rate;
process a second set of images of the at least one image at the second sampling rate;
detect a shift in the brightness condition based on the second set of images; and
control the lighting control system in response to the shift in the brightness condition.

15. The vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the lighting control system includes at least one of exterior lighting of the vehicle and interior lighting for a compartment of the vehicle.

16. The vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
process the brightness condition in a machine learning model trained to determine a threshold brightness condition for adjusting the at least one of the exterior lighting and the interior lighting.

17. The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
receive an indication of manual adjustment to the at least one of the exterior lighting and the interior lighting; and
train the machine learning model to modify the threshold brightness condition in response to the indication of manual adjustment.

18. The vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the at least one camera includes a plurality of cameras capturing the region external to the vehicle from different fields of view, and wherein the interior lighting controls a lighting condition for each of a plurality of spaces in the compartment individually.

19. The vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the lighting control system controls headlights of the vehicle to adjust illumination in front of the vehicle in response to the shift in the brightness condition.

20. A vehicle, comprising:
at least one camera that captures at least one image of a region external to the vehicle;
a climate control system;
control circuitry in communication with the at least one camera and the climate control system, the control circuitry including an image processor and configured to:
process a first set of images of the at least one image at a first sampling rate;
detect a rate of change of a brightness condition of the region external to the vehicle based on the first set of images;
adjust from the first sampling rate to a second sampling rate in response to the rate of change, the second sampling rate being different than the first sampling rate;
process a second set of images of the at least one image at the second sampling rate;
detect a shift in the brightness condition based on the second set of images; and
control the climate control system in response to the shift in the brightness condition.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Ghannam Mahmoud Yousef
• Schroeter Robert
• Miller Justin
• Hoff Anna Marie-Sophia

Classifications

• B60H1/00735

  Control systems or circuits characterised by their input, i.e. by the detection, measurement or calculation of particular conditions, e.g. signal treatment, dynamic models · CPC title

• B60H1/0073

  Control systems or circuits characterised by particular algorithms or computational models, e.g. fuzzy logic or dynamic models · CPC title

• B60H1/00771

  the input being a vehicle position or surrounding, e.g. GPS-based position or tunnel · CPC title

• B60Q1/0023 Primary

  the element being a sensor, e.g. distance sensor, camera · CPC title

• B60H1/0075

  the input being solar radiation · CPC title