Abstract
A system for simulation of a composite beam is disclosed. The system can comprise a memory storing executable instructions and one or more processors coupled to the memory to execute the executable instructions. The one or more processors can be configured to generate a representation of the original beam pattern transmitted via a propagation of the composite beam, to invoke a propagation model that represents a distortion for the propagation of the composite beam, and to determine a representation of a distorted beam pattern based on the propagation model and on the representation of the original beam pattern transmitted via the propagation.
Claims
1. A device for simulation of a propagation of a composite electromagnetic beam, configured to: receive an original pattern for a composite electromagnetic beam; provide a representation of the original pattern to be transmitted via the composite electromagnetic beam towards a target; invoke a propagation model that represents the propagation of the electromagnetic beam towards the target; and determine a representation of a distorted pattern of the composite electromagnetic beam based on the propagation model and on the representation of the original pattern.
2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the propagation model represents a geometric distortion of the original beam.
3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the propagation model represents a chromatic distortion of the original composite beam.
4. The device according to claim 3, wherein the propagation model comprises sub-models and wherein each of the sub-models is related to a different frequency of the original composite beam.
5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the representation of the distorted pattern depends on the representation of the original pattern.
6. The device according to claim 1, wherein a ratio between a sample size of the representation of the original pattern and of the representation of the distorted pattern is: equal to 1; smaller than 1; or greater than 1.
7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sample size of: the representation of the original pattern, the representation of the distorted pattern, or the propagation model depends on one or more of the following parameters: a user input; a received information; a wavelength of the original pattern and/or of the distorted pattern; a temperature in the environment of the composite electromagnetic beam; the original pattern and/or the distorted pattern itself.
8. The device according to claim 1, wherein the representation of the original pattern, of the distorted pattern and/or the propagation model are time variant.
9. The device according to claim 1, wherein the propagation model enables a simulation of the composite electromagnetic beam in real-time.
10. The device according to claim 1, wherein the composite beam is represented by a plurality of beam pixels and wherein the original pattern depends on which of the beam pixels are activated and which are deactivated.
11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of pixel beams are sourced from an electromagnetic wave system.
12. The device according to claim 10, wherein a representation of a first pixel beam is processed with a first propagation model and a representation of a second pixel beam is processed by a second propagation model.
13. The device according to claim 10, configured to determine the representation of the distorted pattern on the propagation model and on representations of the activated pixel beams.
14. The device according to claim 1, configured to: receive a second original pattern of the composite electromagnetic beam; and determine a representation of the distorted second pattern based on the propagation model and on the second pattern.
15. The device according to claim 1, further configured to: present a user interface indicating difference of the representation of the distorted pattern in comparison to a representation of a second distorted pattern determined by a measurement and/or in comparison to a representation of a second distorted pattern determined by a second propagation model.
16. The device according to claim 14, wherein the propagation model represents an energy distortion of the composite beam.
17. A method for generation of a model for simulation of a composite electromagnetic beam in a plurality of patterns, comprising the steps: providing a representation of an original pattern of a composite electromagnetic beam; simulating a propagation of the original pattern towards a target based on the representation of the original pattern and based on a first propagation model to provide a representation of a simulated distorted pattern; based on the representation of the original pattern and based on the representation of the simulated distorted pattern, generating a second propagation model that represents a propagation of the composite beam towards a target.
18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the second propagation model has less complexity than the first propagation model.
19. A method for generation of a model for simulation of a composite electromagnetic beam in a plurality of patterns, comprising the steps: providing an original pattern of a composite electromagnetic beam; measuring a propagation of the original pattern towards a target to provide a representation of a measured distorted pattern; based on a representation of the original pattern and based on the representation of the measured distorted pattern, generating a second propagation model that represents a propagation of the composite beam towards a target.
Description
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0101] Further advantages and features result from the following embodiments, which refer to the figures. The figures describe the embodiments in principle and not to scale. The dimensions of the various features may be enlarged or reduced, in particular to facilitate an understanding of the described technology. For this purpose, it is shown, partly schematized, in:
[0102] FIG. 1A two traffic scenarios for a pixel beam headlight;
[0103] FIG. 1B a general structure of a pixel beam headlight;
[0104] FIG. 2A a representation of an original beam pattern and of a distorted beam pattern based on a simulation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0105] FIG. 2B a working principle of a model and a simulation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0106] FIG. 2C a flow chart for the generation of a reduced-order model for a simulation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0107] FIG. 3 a block diagram illustrating a computer-implemented environment according to an embodiment of the disclosure;
[0108] FIG. 4A a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system that includes a standalone computer architecture according to an embodiment of the disclosure;
[0109] FIG. 4B a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system that includes a client server architecture according to an embodiment of the disclosure;
[0110] FIG. 4C a block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardware for a standalone computer architecture according to an embodiment of the disclosure.
[0111] In the following descriptions, identical reference signs refer to identical or at least functionally or structurally similar features.
[0112] In the following description reference is made to the accompanying figures which form part of the disclosure and which illustrate specific aspects in which the present disclosure can be understood.
[0113] In general, a disclosure of a described method also applies to a corresponding device (or apparatus) for carrying out the method or a corresponding system comprising one or more devices and vice versa. For example, if a specific method step is described, a corresponding device may include a feature to perform the described method step, even if that feature is not explicitly described or represented in the figure. On the other hand, if, for example, a specific device is described on the basis of functional units, a corresponding method may include one or more steps to perform the described functionality, even if such steps are not explicitly described or represented in the figures. Similarly, a system can be provided with corresponding device features or with features to perform a particular method step. The features of the various exemplary aspects and embodiments described above or below may be combined unless expressly stated otherwise.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0114] FIG. 1A depicts two scenarios for an adaptive vehicle beam. FIG. 1a shows on the left side and on the right side a road 100 in two different illumination configurations. The road has two lanes, each for one travel direction, as depicted by the arrows. On the left side scenario, the street is fully illuminated. The illuminated area 101 covers both lanes, the right lane of the street and the left lane of the street. On the right side scenario, the illumination by the adaptive beam only covers the right part of the street 102. This would be the case if an oncoming vehicle is detected in order to avoid glaring the driver in the oncoming vehicle. For this kind of illumination, the beam is shaped according to the pathway of the road. This can be done with a so-called pixel beam headlight that can emit a composite beam in different patterns.
[0115] FIG. 1B shows a structure of a pixel beam headlight 110. The pixel beam headlight 110 consists of a light source 111 that emits light towards a mirror system 112. The mirror system 112 consists of a plurality of micro-mirrors 113, 114. These micro-mirrors 113, 114 can be controlled individually such that they can reflect the incoming light beam to individual directions or not at all, thereby creating a composite beam with a certain pattern. In the case shown in FIG. 1B, the pixel beam headlight generates a rectangular shaped composite beam 116. In the middle of the composite beam a rectangular region 118 is not illuminated and remains dark. The pixel beam headlight 110 further comprises a lens system 115 that focuses the composite beam towards the road. Accordingly, as perceived from the outside of the pixel beam headlight, the composite beam 116 comprises an illuminated region 117 cast by active micro-mirrors and a non-illuminated region 118 cast by inactive mirrors 113 from the mirror system. A plurality of patterns that differ in geometric shape, intensity and/or color can be generated by such a system.
[0116] FIG. 2A shows a simulation 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A representation of a distorted beam pattern 203 is computed based on a representation of an original beam pattern 201 and a propagation model. The representation of the original beam pattern is constructed out of a plurality of sample points that form the rectangle 201. The sample points are depicted by small circles 202. The sample points 202 form a rectangular shape in order to simulate a rectangular shaped original beam pattern from a beam source. As an example, each sample point may correspond to a source pixel or elementary pixel of the beam source, such as an active mirror in FIG. 1. In the same reference coordinates, a representation of a distorted beam pattern is depicted by the sample points 204 that form the area 203. The sample points 204 from the distorted beam pattern 203 are depicted as small asterisks, such that they can be distinguished from the sample points 202 of the original beam pattern 201. In this case, only a geometric distortion of the pattern 203 is depicted from the original pattern 201 to the shape of the distorted beam pattern 203. The distortion is caused by the different subsystems of a pixel beam headlight that affect the propagation of the composite light beam, as depicted in FIG. 1B. The simulation of such a distortion should provide developers of pixel beam headlights an immediate feedback of their simulated system. Therefore, the propagation model that computes the distorted beam pattern 203 from the original beam pattern 201 must be computational fast, in particular predefined real-time conditions have to be fulfilled. Then the different traffic situations depicted in FIG. 1A can be simulated in the same time (real-time) a vehicle driver would experience them if her/his car would be equipped with the simulated light system. The propagation model must be reduced in complexity in order to enable a real-time simulation. A propagation model that takes into account all possible effects the light beam encounters on its propagation path can hardly be simulated in real-time. Therefore, a reduced order propagation model is used as depicted in FIG. 2B.
[0117] FIG. 2B depicts a working principle (e.g., for the establishment or construction) of a 3×3 reduced order propagation-model 210 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The model can be applied for example to a representation of an original electromagnetic beam (or an original pattern of a composite beam) 201 such as depicted in FIG. 2A. From the representation of an undisturbed original beam pattern 201 nine sample points 202, which are distributed over the whole rectangular shape of the original undisturbed beam, are selected as model sample points 211. Based on the sample points 211, which can for example represent elementary pixels of a pixel beam headlight, a distortion is calculated. This can be done, for example, based on the positions of the distorted sample points or distorted positions of the sample points obtained from a full simulation or a measurement (if the beam system or a prototype thereof already exists). Alternatively, a distortion for the nine sample points can be calculated during the simulation. The calculation can be more or less exact, and e.g., depending on the available hardware and in order to achieve real-time capability of the simulation. This leads to a representation of a disturbed beam 204, based on the nine sample points 212. Each sample point of the original beam pattern 211 is related to (or correspond to) a sample point of the disturbed or distorted beam pattern 212, based on the propagation model. After the sample points of the disturbed beam 212 have been computed or determined based on simulation/measurement, a mapping or transformation relationship or function can be established for the propagation model to compute the distorted positions of the remaining sample points 204. The mapping relationship can be established based on an interpolation of the sample points 212. This could be, for example, done by a 2-D polynomial geometric transformation function. In this way an efficient and fast calculation of the disturbance of all sample points 202 of the original undisturbed beam pattern can be calculated and sample points 204 of the disturbed beam pattern 203 can be computed. The foregoing explanations are related to a geometric distortion of the original beam 201. Computation of chromatic distortions and or distortions of the energy, i.e., intensity, distribution can be computed analogously. In alternative embodiments the sample size of the original beam pattern 201 needs not to be the same as the sample size of the disturbed beam 203. If the sample size of the disturbed beam 203 is smaller than the sample size of the undisturbed beam 201 then fewer sample points have to be interpolated based on the modelled sample points 211. Furthermore, different models may be established based on different sample sizes. For example, a sample size of 3×3 might be sufficient to model a geometric distortion. However, to model an intensity distribution a 9×9-model might be selected. Based on this propagation model, different patterns of the electromagnetic beam can be simulated. This is done by applying the model only to the active sample points that are used to generate a certain pattern. While in FIG. 2A the distortion of a rectangular original pattern is described, other patterns can easily be imagined removing certain sample points that are not used for a specific pattern.
[0118] In a further embodiment, elementary sources of a composite light source are modelled individually. These elementary sources can be, for example, a pixel of a pixel beam headlight or a laser of a laser array. Each elementary light source emits an elementary electromagnetic beam. To model the elementary beams, each elementary beam can be represented by a plurality of samples, similar as depicted in FIG. 2A. An original elementary beam as emitted by an elementary light source needs not to have a rectangular shape. Different shapes for the original elementary beam are possible, for example, a circle, an elliptic shape, or a more complex shape. After a representation of an original elementary beam has been generated, a propagation model, similar to the propagation model shown in FIG. 2B, is applied to each representation of each elementary beam. Distorted elementary beams are computed based on the propagation model. The representations of the distorted elementary beams are superimposed in order to arrive at a composite distorted electromagnetic beam. By modelling each elementary electromagnetic beam source (pixel) individually by a plurality of sample points (pixel beams), an accuracy of the distorted composite beam can be increased. This needs not to increase computation time, because the representations of the distorted elementary beams can be calculated concurrently.
[0119] FIG. 2D shows a flowchart of a method 220 to generate a reduced order model 210 for a simulation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In a first step 221, a simulation of an electromagnetic beam system, for example a headlight system of an automotive vehicle, is performed to generate a pixel beam pattern from a pattern of the light beam that is emitted by the headlight system. This simulation should be as accurate as possible in order to have a reference computation that can form a basis for a reduced order model. Additionally or alternatively, a measurement (or measurement results) can be obtained from measures (e.g. according to physical measures conducted) of the distortions of the light beam of the headlight system transmitted along a predefined propagation path. This propagation path can for example be the headlight system itself. The measurement result can also be taken as a reference on which a reduced order model can be based on. In a second step 222, an input mask is defined. In one embodiment, the input mask may correspond to a light beam pattern projected from a beam source of the light beam to a target location. The beam source may include a set of pixel mirrors to reflect light beams from a light source to the target. This input mask comprises a predefined number of pixels at predefined pixel locations of the light beam pattern. In a third step 223, a reduced order model is generated such that the perfect mask (i.e. the original beam pattern) is converted to a distorted pattern representing the simulation and/or the measurement results. In one embodiment, the reduced order model is generated by fitting it to represent the mapping from the sample points of the perfect mask to the sample points of the distorted beam form according to the prior simulation and/or to the prior measurement. Thereby, geometric distortions, color aberrations, and/or intensity distortions can be taken into account. In a fourth step 224, an error map is generated over the samples such that a deviation from the full simulation and/or the measurement to the reduced order model can be provided to a user.
[0120] FIG. 3 depicts a computer-implemented environment 300 wherein users 302 can interact with a system 304 hosted on one or more servers 306 through a network 308. The system 304 contains software operations or routines. The users 302 can interact with the system 304 through a number of ways, such as over one or more networks 308. One or more servers 306 accessible through the network(s) 308 can host system 304. The processing system 304 has access to a non-transitory computer-readable memory in addition to one or more data stores 310. The one or more data stores 310 may contain first data 312 as well as second data 314. It should be understood that the system 304 could also be provided on a stand-alone computer for access by a user.
[0121] FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C depict example systems for use in implementing a system. For example, FIG. 4A depicts an exemplary system 400a that includes a standalone computer architecture where a processing system 402 (e.g., one or more computer processors) includes a system 404 being executed on it. The processing system 402 has access to a non-transitory computer-readable memory 406 in addition to one or more data stores 408. The one or more data stores 408 may contain first data 410 as well as second data 412.
[0122] FIG. 4B depicts a system 400b that includes a client server architecture. One or more user PCs 422 can access one or more servers 424 running a system 426 on a processing system 427 via one or more networks 428. The one or more servers 424 may access a non-transitory computer readable memory 430 as well as one or more data stores 432. The one or more data stores 432 may contain first data 434 as well as second data 436.
[0123] FIG. 4C shows a block diagram of exemplary hardware for a standalone computer architecture 400c, such as the architecture depicted in FIG. 4A, that may be used to contain and/or implement the program instructions of system embodiments of the present disclosure. A bus 452 may serve as the information highway interconnecting the other illustrated components of the hardware. A processing system 454 labeled CPU (central processing unit) (e.g., one or more computer processors), may perform calculations and logic operations required to execute a program. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as read only memory (ROM) 456 and random-access memory (RAM) 458, may be in communication with the processing system 254 and may contain one or more programming instructions. Optionally, program instructions may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, recordable memory device, flash memory, or other physical storage medium. Computer instructions may also be communicated via a communications signal, or a modulated carrier wave, e.g., such that the instructions may then be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.
[0124] A disk controller 460 boundary layers one or more optional disk drives to the system bus 452. These disk drives may be external or internal floppy disk drives such as 462, external or internal CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW or DVD drives such as 464, or external or internal hard drives 466. As indicated previously, these various disk drives and disk controllers are optional devices.
[0125] Each of the element managers, real-time data buffer, conveyors, file input processor, database index shared access memory loader, reference data buffer and data managers may include a software application stored in one or more of the disk drives connected to the disk controller 460, the ROM 456 and/or the RAM 458. Preferably, the processor 454 may access each component as required.
[0126] A display boundary layer 468 may permit information from the bus 456 to be displayed on a display 470 in audio, graphic, or alphanumeric format. Communication with external devices may optionally occur using various communication ports 482.
[0127] In addition to the standard computer-type components, the hardware may also include data input devices, such as a keyboard 472, or other input device 474, such as a microphone, remote control, pointer, mouse, touchscreen and/or joystick. These input devices can be coupled to bus 452 via boundary layer 476.
LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS
[0128] 100 street [0129] 101 first light pattern [0130] 102 second light pattern [0131] 110 pixel beam headlight [0132] 111 light source [0133] 112 micro-mirror system [0134] 113 micro-mirror [0135] 114 micro-mirror [0136] 115 lens system [0137] 116 composite light beam [0138] 117 illuminated region of composite light beam [0139] 118 dark region of composite light beam [0140] 200 representations of original and distorted electromagnetic beam patterns [0141] 201 pattern of original electromagnetic beam [0142] 202 sample point of original electromagnetic beam pattern [0143] 203 pattern of distorted electromagnetic beam [0144] 204 sample point of distorted electromagnetic beam pattern [0145] 210 propagation model [0146] 211 sample point of original electromagnetic beam pattern [0147] 212 sample point of disturbed electromagnetic beam pattern [0148] 220 method for generating a propagation model [0149] 221-224 steps for performing the method 220
