Method and control unit for a digital rear view mirror

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019191107-A1
Application number	US-201716311227-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 12, 2017
Priority date	Jun 28, 2016
Publication date	Jun 20, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

Method and control unit in a vehicle comprising a digital rear view mirror, for detecting an object situated outside a default view of a display of the digital rear view mirror and visualizing the detected object for a driver of the vehicle. The method comprises detecting the object, situated outside the default view of the display, by a sensor; and adjusting the field of view of a subset of the display by widening the viewing angle so that the object becomes visible for the driver in the subset of the display, while the main portion of the display outputs the default view at a default viewing angle.

First claim

1 . A method in a vehicle comprising a digital rear view mirror comprising a camera for capturing a stream of images and a display for displaying the captured stream of images, wherein said digital rear view mirror is arranged for detecting an object situated outside a default view of said display of the digital rear view mirror and visualizing the detected object for a driver of the vehicle, wherein the method comprises:
detecting the object, situated outside the default view of the display, by a sensor; and in case an object is detected, adjusting the field of view of a subset of the display by widening the viewing angle so that the object becomes visible for the driver in the subset of the display, while a main portion of the display always outputs the default view at a default viewing angle.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that no object is detected situated outside the default view and/or estimating that the object is visible for the driver, either in the main portion of the display, or by direct vision; and when no object is detected situated outside the default view, adjusting the field of view of the subset of the display to the default view at the default viewing angle.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
determining the relative speed of the object in relation to the vehicle; and wherein the adjustment of the field of view of the subset of the display is made at a pace corresponding to the determined relative speed.

4 . A control unit in a vehicle comprising a digital rear view mirror comprising a camera for capturing a stream of images and a display for displaying the captured stream of images, wherein said digital rear view mirror, is arranged for detecting an object situated outside a default view of a display of the digital rear view mirror and visualizing the detected object for a driver of the vehicle, wherein the control unit is configured to:
detect the object, situated outside a default view of the display, based on signals received from a sensor; and in case an object is detected, generate control signals to adjust the field of view of a subset of the display by widening the viewing angle so that the object becomes visible for the driver in the subset of the display, while a main portion of the display always outputs the default view at a default viewing angle.

5 . The control unit according to claim 4 , further configured to:
determine that no object is detected situated outside the default view and/or estimate that the object is visible for the driver, either in the main portion of the display, or by direct vision; and when no object is detected situated outside the default view, generate control signals to adjust the field of view of the subset of the display to the default view at the default viewing angle.

6 . The control unit according to claim 4 , further configured to:
determine the relative speed of the object in relation to the vehicle; and generate the control signals to adjust the field of view of the subset of the display at a pace corresponding to the determined relative speed.

7 . The control unit according to claim 4 , wherein the field of view of the subset of the display is widened with a uniformly distributed viewing angle over the subset.

8 . The control unit according to claim 4 , wherein the field of view of the subset of the display is widened with an increasing viewing angle towards the outer edge of the subset of the display, situated most remotely from the main portion of the display.

9 . A computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, said computer program product for capturing a stream of images and a display for displaying the captured stream of images, wherein said digital rear view mirror is arranged for detecting an object situated outside a default view of said display of the digital rear view mirror and visualizing the detected object for a driver of the vehicle, said computer program product comprising computer instructions to cause one or more electronic control units or computers to perform the following operations:
detecting the object, situated outside the default view of the display, by a sensor; and in case an object is detected, adjusting the field of view of a subset of the display by widening the viewing angle so that the object becomes visible for the driver in the subset of the display, while a main portion of the display always outputs the default view at a default viewing angle.

10 . A system in a vehicle for detecting an object situated outside a default view of a display of the digital rear view mirror and visualizing the detected object for a driver of the vehicle, which system comprises:
a digital rear view mirror, comprising a camera for capturing a stream of images and a display for displaying the captured stream of images, wherein the display comprises a main portion which always output a default view at a default viewing angle, and a subset of the display, configured to alternately output the default view at a default viewing angle and a widened viewing angle; at least one sensor of the vehicle, for detecting the object situated outside the default view of the display; and a control unit configured to:
detect the object, situated outside a default view of the display, based on signals received from a sensor; and
in case an object is detected, generate control signals to adjust the field of view of a subset of the display by widening the viewing angle so that the object becomes visible for the driver in the subset of the display, while a main portion of the display always outputs the default view at a default viewing angle.

11 . A computer program product according to claim 9 , said computer program product further comprising computer instructions to cause one or more electronic control units or computers to perform the following operations:
determining that no object is detected situated outside the default view and/or estimating that the object is visible for the driver, either in the main portion of the display, or by direct vision; and when no object is detected situated outside the default view, adjusting the field of view of the subset of the display to the default view at the default viewing angle.

12 . A computer program product according to claim 9 , said computer program product further comprising computer instructions to cause one or more electronic control units or computers to perform the following operations:
determining the relative speed of the object in relation to the vehicle; and wherein the adjustment of the field of view of the subset of the display is made at a pace corresponding to the determined relative speed.

13 . The system according to claim 10 , wherein said control unit is further configured to:
determine that no object is detected situated outside the default view and/or estimate that the object is visible for the driver, either in the main portion of the display, or by direct vision; and when no object is detected situated outside the default view, generate control signals to adjust the field of view of the subset of the display to the default view at the default viewing angle.

14 . The system according to claim 10 , wherein said control unit is further configured to:
determine the relative speed of the object in relation to the vehicle; and generate the control signals to adjust the field of view of the subset of the display at a pace corresponding to the determined relative speed.

15 . The system according to claim 10 , wherein the field of view of the subset of the displa

Assignees

• Scania Cv Ab

Inventors

• Claezon Fredrich
• Lindberg Mikael

Classifications

• H04N7/18

  Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast · CPC title

• H04N7/183

  for receiving images from a single remote source · CPC title

• B60R2300/70

  characterised by an event-triggered choice to display a specific image among a selection of captured images · CPC title

• B60R2300/303

  using joined images, e.g. multiple camera images · CPC title

• B60R2300/8066

  for monitoring rearward traffic · CPC title