US 11,682,314 B2
Systems and methods for generating improved environmental displays for vehicles
Jack Philip Cross, Reno, NV (US); William Edward Brandstetter, III, Sparks, NV (US); Igor Valigura, Sparks, NV (US); Justin Michael Bode, Reno, NV (US); Damien Bruno Jourdan, San Jose, CA (US); David McMartin Howard, Sparks, NV (US); Rodney Lee Pickens, Sparks, NV (US); Timothy L. Sweet, Sparks, NV (US); Joshua D. Gleason, Reno, NV (US); and Joseph H. Hansen, Jr., Kaysville, UT (US)
Assigned to SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION, Sparks, NV (US)
Filed by SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION, Sparks, NV (US)
Filed on Jul. 1, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/365,565.
Application 17/365,565 is a continuation of application No. 16/522,243, filed on Jul. 25, 2019, granted, now 11,056,012, issued on Jul. 6, 2021.
Application 16/522,243 is a continuation of application No. 15/520,780, granted, now 10,410,531, issued on Sep. 10, 2019, previously published as PCT/US2015/059209, filed on Nov. 5, 2015.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/075,724, filed on Nov. 5, 2014.
Prior Publication US 2021/0335139 A1, Oct. 28, 2021
Int. Cl. G08G 5/04 (2006.01); G01C 23/00 (2006.01); B64D 45/08 (2006.01); G06T 17/00 (2006.01); G08G 5/00 (2006.01); G01S 13/95 (2006.01); B64D 47/08 (2006.01)
CPC G08G 5/045 (2013.01) [B64D 45/08 (2013.01); B64D 47/08 (2013.01); G01C 23/005 (2013.01); G01S 13/953 (2013.01); G06T 17/00 (2013.01); G08G 5/0021 (2013.01); G08G 5/0052 (2013.01); G08G 5/0086 (2013.01)] 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An imaging system for use in a moving vehicle to provide a synthetic image of an environment in a vicinity of the vehicle in real-time, comprising:
a first data source providing scene data including a priori terrain data and a priori obstacle data;
a second data source providing a 3-D data cloud derived from real-time terrain data and real-time obstacle data;
a third data source providing real-time video image data including terrain image data and obstacle image data;
a scene fusion module configured to receive and combine the a priori terrain data and the a priori obstacle data, the 3-D data cloud, and the real-time video image data to produce a real-time, multi-resolution 3-D scene model including the a priori terrain data and the a priori obstacle data updated in real time by the 3-D data cloud and the video image data;
an image rendering module configured to receive and process the real-time, multi-resolution 3-D scene model to produce an image signal representing the real-time, multi-resolution 3-D scene model; and
a visual display configured to display a virtual view of the environment in the vicinity of the vehicle in response to the image signal;
wherein the scene fusion module is configured to (a) receive a first scene data point set from one of the first, second, and third data sources, (b) receive a second scene data point set from another of the first, second, and third data sources, (c) validate the data points of the second scene data point set against the data points of the first scene data point set to create an updated scene data point set, and (d) produce the real-time, multi-resolution scene model from the updated scene data point set;
wherein the first scene data point set is a set of data points, each of which has been determined to have met a predetermined validity criterion, and wherein the scene fusion module is configured to validate the data points of the second scene data point set by determining whether each of the data points of the second scene data point set meets the predetermined validity criterion; and
wherein the scene fusion module is further configured to use only those data points of the second scene data point set that have been determined to have met the predetermined validity criterion to create the updated scene data point set.