US 12,358,416 B2
Method for illuminating vehicle surroundings, and motor vehicle
Valentin Schmidt, Neuburg an der Donau (DE); Tilman Armbruster, Ingolstadt (DE); Johannes Reim, Ingolstadt (DE); and Marcel Debelec, Ingolstadt (DE)
Assigned to AUDI AG, Ingolstadt (DE)
Appl. No. 17/792,973
Filed by AUDI AG, Ingolstadt (DE)
PCT Filed Dec. 11, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/085691
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jul. 14, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/148196, PCT Pub. Date Jul. 29, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 10 2020 101 710.3 (DE), filed on Jan. 24, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0046242 A1, Feb. 16, 2023
Int. Cl. B60Q 1/04 (2006.01); B60G 17/0165 (2006.01); G06V 10/141 (2022.01); G06V 10/145 (2022.01); G06V 20/58 (2022.01)
CPC B60Q 1/04 (2013.01) [B60G 17/0165 (2013.01); G06V 10/141 (2022.01); G06V 10/145 (2022.01); G06V 20/58 (2022.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for illuminating vehicle surroundings of a motor vehicle that comprises an illumination device and a detection device, wherein the illumination device is set up to illuminate at least part of a solid angle region of the vehicle surroundings with different illumination patterns, using visible light, wherein the different illumination patterns each predefine illumination intensities for different solid angle subregions of the solid angle region, and wherein the detection device is set up to detect one or more light patterns illuminated with the different illumination patterns, the method comprising:
illuminating the vehicle surroundings with a first different illumination pattern of the different illumination patterns by the illumination device;
detecting a first light pattern that results from illumination of the vehicle surroundings with the first different illumination pattern by the detection device;
selecting a second different illumination pattern of the different illumination patterns on the basis of the detected first light pattern;
illuminating the vehicle surroundings with the second different illumination pattern by the illumination device;
detecting a second light pattern that results from the illumination of the vehicle surroundings with the second different illumination pattern by the detection device;
recognizing on the basis of the detected first light pattern, whether a bump and/or an obstacle is located in the solid angle region and/or a position of the recognized bump and/or the recognized obstacle is determined,
wherein the selection of the second different illumination pattern depends on the position and/or on whether the recognized bump and/or the recognized obstacle is located in the solid angle region,
wherein, based on the first different illumination pattern and the detected first light pattern, height information is determined for portions of a driving plane located in the solid angle region to extract a first height profile of the driving plane from the detected first light pattern, and
wherein the recognition of the bump and/or the obstacle and/or the determination of the position is based on the first height profile;
determining a second height profile of the driving plane from the detected second light pattern; and
classifying, by a classification algorithm based on the second height profile, the recognized bump and/or the recognized obstacle into one or more conditions corresponding to at least easily drivable over, unable to be driven over, or only drivable over under specific conditions.