Power tailgate control device and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9689191-B1
Application number	US-201615152683-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 12, 2016
Priority date	Oct 8, 2015
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

A power tailgate control device and method can prevent a collision with an obstacle during the opening or closing of a tailgate by determining whether an obstacle is present or not and whether the collision with the obstacle would occur or not by using a rear lamp and a rear camera. The power tailgate control device includes: a command input unit receiving a tailgate open or close command from an operator; a rear camera mounted on a tailgate; and a controller controlling the opening or closing of the tailgate by determining whether a collision with an obstacle would occur or not, on the basis of R values of pixels in a difference image between a first image captured in a state in which a rear lamp is turned on and a second image captured in a state in which the rear lamp is turned off.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A power tailgate control device, comprising:
a command input unit receiving a tailgate open or close command from an operator;
a rear camera mounted on a tailgate; and
a controller controlling opening or closing of the tailgate by determining whether a collision with an obstacle would occur or not, on the basis of a difference image between a first image captured by the rear camera in a state in which a rear lamp is turned on and a second image captured by the rear camera in a state in which the rear lamp is turned off, during the opening or closing of the tailgate.

2. The power tailgate control device according to claim 1 , wherein the controller determines whether the collision with the obstacle would occur or not, on the basis of R (red) values of pixels in the difference image.

3. The power tailgate control device according to claim 2 , wherein the controller determines that the collision with the obstacle would occur, when a ratio of the number of R values exceeding a reference value to a total number of R values in the difference image exceeds a threshold value.

4. The power tailgate control device according to claim 1 , wherein the controller controls the rear camera to capture the first image and the second image periodically and determines whether the collision with the obstacle would occur or not, until the tailgate is completely opened or closed.

5. The power tailgate control device according to claim 1 , wherein the rear lamp is one of a brake lamp and a tail lamp.

6. The power tailgate control device according to claim 1 , wherein the controller matches the first image with the second image.

7. A power tailgate control method, comprising the steps of:
receiving, by a command input unit, a tailgate open or close command from an operator;
opening or closing, by a controller, the tailgate according to the receiving of the open or close command;
determining, by the controller, whether a collision with an obstacle would occur or not, on the basis of a difference image between a first image captured in a state in which a rear lamp is turned on and a second image captured in a state in which the rear lamp is turned off, during the opening or closing of the tailgate; and
stopping the opening or closing of the tailgate when it is determined that the collision would occur.

8. The power tailgate control method according to claim 7 , wherein the determining step is performed on the basis of R (red) values of pixels in the difference image.

9. The power tailgate control method according to claim 8 , wherein, in the determining step, it is determined that the collision with the obstacle would occur when a ratio of the number of R values exceeding a reference value to a total number of R values in the difference image exceeds a threshold value.

10. The power tailgate control method according to claim 7 , wherein the determining step is performed periodically until the tailgate is completely opened or closed.

11. The power tailgate control method according to claim 7 , wherein the rear lamp is one of a brake lamp and a tail lamp.

12. The power tailgate control method according to claim 7 , wherein, in the determining step, the first image is matched with the second image before the difference image is generated.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Cheol Han

Classifications

• H04N7/183

  for receiving images from a single remote source · CPC title

• B62D33/0273

  Movable tailboards for vehicles comprising non-movable sideboards, e.g. pick-up trucks (B62D33/037 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E05F15/70 Primary

  with automatic actuation · CPC title

• E05Y2400/322

  by using absolute position sensors · CPC title

• E05Y2400/32

  Position control, detection or monitoring · CPC title