The technology relates to autonomous vehicles that use a perception system to detect objects and features in the vehicle's surroundings. A camera assembly having a ring-type structure is provided that gives the perception system an overall 360° field of view around the vehicle. Image sensors are arranged in camera modules around the assembly to provide a seamless panoramic field of view. One subsystem has multiple pairs of image sensors positioned to provide the overall 360° field of view, while another subsystem provides a set of image sensors generally facing toward the front of the vehicle to provide enhanced object identification. The camera assembly may be arranged in a housing located on top of the vehicle. The housing may include other sensors such as LIDAR and radar. The assembly includes a chassis and top and base plates, which may provide EMI protection from other sensors disposed in the housing.

The disclosure includes a technology feature that uses an overhead view camera system to view and record any activity 360 degrees around the vehicle. The system includes four exterior cameras, an interior camera, a data collector, a wireless key remote, and a remote activation/viewing platform. Exterior cameras together have a 360 degree range around the vehicle.

A computer implemented method for operating a wiper system of a sensor enclosure. The wiper system can be configured to receive a camera operating information from one or more cameras. The one or more cameras can be determined to be in an exposure mode based on the camera operating information. A first speed of one or more wipers can be adjusted such that the one or more wipers are not in field of views of the one or more cameras while the one or more cameras are in the exposure mode.

A motor vehicle, having a plurality of image recording devices arranged across the entire vehicle for recording images of the vehicle environment, includes a control device for generating an image representation showing the 360° environment around the motor vehicle on the basis of the images. The motor vehicle further includes a display device for displaying the image representation. The control device is designed to generate an additional partial image representation showing the area below the motor vehicle on the basis of images recorded, and to integrate the partial image representation into the displayed image representation for outputting an overall image representation. At least one sensor device is provided which detects the area below the motor vehicle and communicates with the control device. The overall image representation can be modifiable at least in the area of the partial image representation on the basis of the sensor information.

A vehicular camera system includes a camera module having an imager assembly, a main circuit board and a camera housing. The imager assembly includes (i) an imager disposed on an imager circuit board and (ii) a lens holder having a lens assembly that includes a lens barrel accommodating a lens. The imager assembly includes a flexible ribbon cable that electrically connects to an electrical connector at a multilayered PCB of the main circuit board. The camera housing includes an upper cover and a lower cover and includes a forward portion and a rearward portion. The main circuit board is accommodated within the forward and rearward portions, and the imager is disposed at the rearward portion and is not disposed at the forward portion of the camera housing. The lens holder is attached at the upper cover of the camera housing.

A vehicular camera system includes a camera module having an imager assembly, a main circuit board and a camera housing. The imager assembly includes (i) an imager disposed on an imager circuit board and (ii) a lens holder having a lens assembly that includes a lens barrel accommodating a lens. The imager assembly includes a flexible ribbon cable that electrically connects to an electrical connector at a multilayered PCB of the main circuit board. The camera housing includes an upper cover and a lower cover and includes a forward portion and a rearward portion. The main circuit board is accommodated within the forward and rearward portions, and the imager is disposed at the rearward portion and is not disposed at the forward portion of the camera housing. The lens holder is attached at the upper cover of the camera housing.

A method of processing an image using a camera of a vehicle includes: a first operation of controlling a road wheel of the vehicle according to an imaging mode selected by a user from among a plurality of imaging modes, and a second operation of generating an image according to the imaging mode selected by the user by using the camera while the road wheel of the vehicle is controlled.

The technology relates to autonomous vehicles that use a perception system to detect objects and features in the vehicle's surroundings. A camera assembly having a ring-type structure is provided that gives the perception system an overall 360° field of view around the vehicle. Image sensors are arranged in camera modules around the assembly to provide a seamless panoramic field of view. One subsystem has multiple pairs of image sensors positioned to provide the overall 360° field of view, while another subsystem provides a set of image sensors generally facing toward the front of the vehicle to provide enhanced object identification. The camera assembly may be arranged in a housing located on top of the vehicle. The housing may include other sensors such as LIDAR and radar. The assembly includes a chassis and top and base plates, which may provide EMI protection from other sensors disposed in the housing.

A method of operating an apparatus using a control system that includes at least one neural network. The method includes receiving an input value captured by the apparatus, processing the input value using the at least one neural network of the control system implemented on first one or more solid-state chips, and obtaining an output from the at least one neural network resulting from processing the input value. The method may also include processing the output with another neural network implemented on solid-state chips to determine whether the output breaches a predetermined condition that is unchangeable after an initial installation onto the control system. The aforementioned another neural network is prevented from being retrained. The method may also include the step of using the output from the at least one neural network to control the apparatus unless the output breaches the predetermined condition. Similar corresponding apparatuses are described.

A method for multi-camera monocular depth estimation using pose averaging is described. The method includes determining a multi-camera photometric loss associated with a multi-camera rig of an ego vehicle. The method also includes determining a multi-camera pose consistency constraint (PCC) loss associated with the multi-camera rig of the ego vehicle. The method further includes adjusting the multi-camera photometric loss according to the multi-camera PCC loss to form a multi-camera PCC photometric loss. The method also includes training a multi-camera depth estimation model and an ego-motion estimation model according to the multi-camera PCC photometric loss. The method further includes predicting a 360° point cloud of a scene surrounding the ego vehicle according to the trained multi-camera depth estimation model and the ego-motion estimation model.