Vehicle control with sun glare

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025091534-A1
Application number	US-202318466869-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 14, 2023
Priority date	Sep 14, 2023
Publication date	Mar 20, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A computer includes a processor and a memory, and the memory stores instructions executable by the processor to receive sensor data from an optical sensor of a vehicle, determine a predicted effect of sunlight on at least a portion of a field of view of the optical sensor, determine an adjustment to the sensor data based on the predicted effect of the sunlight, and actuate a component of the vehicle based on the sensor data and the adjustment.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor to:
receive sensor data from an optical sensor of a vehicle; determine a predicted effect of sunlight on at least a portion of a field of view of the optical sensor; determine an adjustment to the sensor data based on the predicted effect of the sunlight; and actuate a component of the vehicle based on the sensor data and the adjustment.

2 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein the predicted effect of the sunlight includes an illumination map indicating intensity of reflected sunlight.

3 . The computer of claim 2 , wherein determining the adjustment includes executing an algorithm taking the illumination map and the sensor data as inputs.

4 . The computer of claim 2 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to:
determine a reflectance-angle map of the at least a portion of the field of view, the reflectance-angle map indicating angle of reflection of reflected sunlight entering the optical sensor; and determine the illumination map based on the reflectance-angle map.

5 . The computer of claim 2 , wherein the at least a portion of the field of view includes an object, and the instructions further include instructions to:
identify the object as a specific type of object; determine a reflectance model of the object based on the specific type of the object; and determine the illumination map based on the reflectance model.

6 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein:
the instructions further include instructions to fuse second sensor data from a second sensor with the sensor data from the optical sensor using a first set of weights applied to the sensor data and the second sensor data; and the instructions to determine the adjustment to the sensor data include instructions to fuse the second sensor data with the sensor data using a second set of weights, the second set of weights being different than the first set of weights.

7 . The computer of claim 6 , wherein the second set of weights gives a greater relative weight to the second sensor data versus the sensor data than the first set of weights gives.

8 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein the at least a portion of the field of view includes an object, and the instructions further include instructions to:
determine a position of the object; and determine the predicted effect of the sunlight on the object based on the position of the object.

9 . The computer of claim 8 , wherein the position of the object includes a height of the object, and the instructions further include instructions to:
identify the object as a specific type of object; and determine the height of the object based on the specific type of the object.

10 . The computer of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to:
determine a reflectance-angle map of the object based on the position of the object, the reflectance-angle map indicating angle of reflection of reflected sunlight entering the optical sensor; and determine the predicted effect of the sunlight based on the reflectance-angle map.

11 . The computer of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to determine the reflectance-angle map of the object based on the position of the object and based on a position of the optical sensor.

12 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to:
determine a direction of the sun; and determine the predicted effect of the sunlight based on the direction of the sun.

13 . The computer of claim 12 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to determine the direction of the sun based on a position of the vehicle and a time and date.

14 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to:
determine a normal map of the at least a portion of the field of view; and determine the predicted effect of the sunlight on the at least a portion of the field of view based on the normal map.

15 . The computer of claim 14 , wherein the at least a portion of the field of view includes an object, and the instructions further include instructions to:
identify the object as a specific type of object; and determine the normal map of the object based on the specific type of the object.

16 . The computer of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to select a prestored normal map associated with the specific type of the object as the normal map.

17 . The computer of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to:
determine a direction of the sun; determine an incident-angle map of the at least a portion of the field of view based on the normal map and the direction of the sun, the incident-angle map indicating angles of incidence of the sunlight on the at least a portion of the field of view; and determine the predicted effect of the sunlight on the at least a portion of the field of view based on the incident-angle map.

18 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to:
determine that an occlusion is present between the sun and the at least a portion of the field of view; and determine the predicted effect of the sunlight based on the occlusion.

19 . The computer of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is a color camera.

20 . A method comprising:
receiving sensor data from an optical sensor of a vehicle; determining a predicted effect of sunlight on at least a portion of a field of view of the optical sensor; determining an adjustment to the sensor data based on the predicted effect of the sunlight; and actuating a component of the vehicle based on the sensor data and the adjustment.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Schoenberg Michael

Classifications

• G06V10/60

  relating to illumination properties, e.g. using a reflectance or lighting model · CPC title

• G06T2207/30252

  Vehicle exterior; Vicinity of vehicle · CPC title

• B60W2420/40

  Photo, light or radio wave sensitive means, e.g. infrared sensors · CPC title

• B60W2420/403

  Image sensing, e.g. optical camera · CPC title

• B60W2555/20

  Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain · CPC title