METHOD FOR LIGHT PROJECTION IN THE INTERIOR OF AN AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE AND AUTOMOTIVE PROJECTOR ASSEMBLY

Abstract

The invention provides a method for light projection in the interior of an automotive vehicle. The method includes sensing, by at least one sensor, the presence of an object or person in the interior of the vehicle, wherein the sensor comprises a plurality of image sensing devices. A protection zone is defined by using the data of the at least one sensor, thus obtaining a three-dimensional protection zone. A first light pattern is projected with a first pattern zone by means of a first projector associated to a first image sensing device. A second light pattern is projected with a second pattern zone by means of a second projector associated to a second image sensing device, wherein the first pattern zone and/or the second pattern zone are projected over the protection zone and wherein the light pattern forms a projected image on an interior surface of the automotive vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for light projection in the interior of an automotive vehicle, the method comprising: sensing, by at least one sensor, the presence of an object or person in the interior of the vehicle, wherein the sensor includes a plurality of image sensing devices; defining a protection zone by using the data of the at least one sensor, thus obtaining a three-dimensional protection zone; projecting a first light pattern with a first pattern zone by means of a first projector associated to a first image sensing device; and projecting a second light pattern with a second pattern zone by means of a second projector associated to a second image sensing device, wherein the first pattern zone or the second pattern zone are projected over the protection zone and combined to form a combined pattern of a projected image on an interior surface of the automotive vehicle.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second pattern zones are projected over the protection zone.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first pattern zone has a lower average luminous intensity than the combined pattern.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the combined pattern has no luminous intensity in the first pattern zone.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein sensing the presence of an object and defining the protection zone are carried out more than once during the projection.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the projected image receives only the first light pattern.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the projected image receives a combination of the first light pattern and the second light pattern.

8. An automotive projection assembly comprising: at least a first image sensing device; a first light projector associated to the first image sensing device; a second image sensing device; a second light projector associated to the second image sensing device; and a projector control unit configured to: sense, by at least one sensor, the presence of an object or person in an interior of a vehicle, wherein the sensor includes the first and the second image sensing devices; define a protection zone by using the data of the at least one sensor, thus obtaining a three-dimensional protection zone; project a first light pattern with a first pattern zone by means of a first projector; and project a second light pattern with a second pattern zone by means of a second projector, wherein the first pattern zone or the second pattern zone are projected over the protection zone and combined to form a combined pattern of a projected image on an interior surface of the vehicle.

9. The automotive projection assembly according to claim 8, wherein the projector control unit is further configured to perform a positional calibration of the first light projector with respect to the second light projector.

10. The automotive projection assembly according to claim 1, wherein the first and second light projectors are configured to project a three-dimensional light pattern.

11. The automotive projection assembly according to claim 10, further comprising a mirror, wherein the first or the second light projector is configured to project a light pattern towards the mirror.

12. The automotive projection assembly according to claim 11, wherein the mirror includes a rotatory element configured to rotate the mirror.

13. The automotive projection assembly according to claim 12, wherein the rotatory element includes attaching means for attaching the rotatory element to a roof of an automotive vehicle.

14. The automotive projection assembly according to claim 8, further comprising attaching means for attaching the first and second light projector to a roof of a vehicle.

15. The automotive projection assembly according to claim 12, wherein the rotatory element is configured to provide rotation in two different axis.

16. The automotive projection assembly according to claim 8, further comprising a housing where the light projectors and a mirror are housed.

17. The automotive projection assembly according to claim 16, wherein the distance between the light projectors and the mirror is less than 40 cm.

18. The automotive projection assembly according claim 8, further comprising a communication port, configured to send and/or receive information via a communication protocol, such as WPAN, WLAN, WMAN or WWAN.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0046] To complete the description and in order to provide for a better understanding of the invention, a set of drawings is provided. Said drawings form an integral part of the description and illustrate an embodiment of the invention, which should not be interpreted as restricting the scope of the invention, but just as an example of how the invention can be carried out. The drawings comprise the following figures:

[0047] FIG. 1 shows an automotive vehicle which comprises an automotive projection assembly according to the invention.

[0048] FIG. 2 shows some steps of a method according to the invention.

[0049] FIG. 3 shows an automotive vehicle comprising an alternative automotive projection assembly according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0050] Elements of the example embodiments are consistently denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings and detailed description where appropriate:

[0051] 1 First light projector

[0052] 2 First camera

[0053] 3 Second light projector

[0054] 4 Second camera

[0055] 5 Person

[0056] 6 Projector control unit

[0057] 7 Dashboard

[0058] 8 Aim projected image

[0059] 10 Automotive vehicle

[0060] 11 Dimmed zone of the first light pattern

[0061] 12 Main zone of the first light pattern

[0062] 13 Dimmed zone of the second light pattern

[0063] 14 Main zone of the second light pattern

[0064] 15 Zone of the dashboard which only receives the main zone

[0065] 16 Mirror

[0066] 17 Rotatory element

[0067] 18 Coupler

[0068] 19 Housing

[0069] 20 Hole of the housing

[0070] 21 Roof

[0071] The example embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to embody and implement the systems and processes herein described. It is important to understand that embodiments can be provided in many alternate forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein.

[0072] Accordingly, while embodiment can be modified in various ways and take on various alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and described in detail below as examples. There is no intent to limit to the particular forms disclosed. On the contrary, all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the appended claims should be included. Elements of the example embodiments are consistently denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings and detailed description where appropriate.

[0073] FIG. 1 shows a particular embodiment of an automotive projection assembly according to the invention.

[0074] This assembly comprises a first light projector 1, a first camera 2, a second light projector 3, a second camera 4 and a projector control unit 6.

[0075] This assembly is located in the interior of an automotive vehicle 10, where two people 5 are sit on the front seats.

[0076] The cameras 2, 4 are configured to sense the presence of the two people 5 by means of an edge recognition algorithm, and to send information about their location, size and shape to the projector control unit. The projector control unit 6 then elaborates a protection zone using these data.

[0077] This projector control unit 6 is also configured to establish a calibration routine between both light projectors when demanded.

[0078] FIG. 2 illustrates some steps of a particular embodiment of a method according to the invention.

[0079] The passenger 5 is located between the second projector 2 and a portion of the aim projected image 8, which is intended to be located on the dashboard 7 of the vehicle 10.

[0080] Hence, the first light projector 1 projects a first image pattern. This first image pattern has a first dimmed zone 11 which is intended to impinge on the passenger 5 and a main zone 12 which is intended to impinge on the dashboard 7, as a part of the aim projected image 8.

[0081] In turn, the second light projector 3 projects a second image pattern. This second image pattern does not have any dimmed zone, since the passenger 5 is not blocking the projection of the second light projector 3. In some embodiments, there would be a second dimmed zone if the passenger was also blocking part of the second image pattern. In this case, the second image pattern has a main zone 14 which is intended to impinge on the dashboard 7 as a part of the aim projected image 8. This main zone 14 of the second image pattern has a portion which impinges on a zone of the dashboard 7 coinciding with the main zone 12 of the first image pattern and has another portion which impinges on a zone 15 of the dashboard 7 where no other image pattern does. This last zone 15 is not reachable by the first image pattern due to the interposition of the obstacle 5.

[0082] The luminous intensity of the first and second image patterns is carefully adjusted by the projector control unit 6 to obtain a homogeneous projected image.

[0083] The first dimmed zone 11 is completely black, with no luminous intensity, to avoid glaring the passenger 5 and also to save energy, since the light projected on the objects is not useful.

[0084] The dimmed and main zones of the light patterns provided by the light projectors may be recalculated according to a predetermined interval, to update the projections when the position of the passenger changes.

[0085] In any case, the system is connected by a communication port with the manufacturer server via a communication protocol, such as GPRS, to send and receive updating about new features to be included in the method.

[0086] FIG. 3 shows an automotive vehicle 10 comprising an alternative automotive projection assembly according to the invention.

[0087] This assembly comprises a housing 19, where the first light projector 1 and a mirror 16 are housed. The first light projector 1 is configured to project a light pattern towards the mirror 16 and the mirror 16 is configured to reflect the light pattern received from the first light projector 1 onto an interior surface of the vehicle 10. The distance between the light projector 1 and the mirror 2 is about 20 cm, to optimise the size of the projected pattern.

[0088] The mirror 16 further comprises a rotatory element 17 configured to rotate the mirror 16, to allow the mirror to cover a wider range of the interior surface of the vehicle 10. The mirror 16 is able to reflect the image received by the first projector 1 through a hole 20. This hole 20 is wide enough to allow the reflection of the light through the whole range of rotation of the mirror.

[0089] The first light projector 1 further comprises a projector control unit 6 which is configured to perform a positional calibration of the light projector 1 with respect to the mirror 2. To complete this calibration, a camera 8 is also part of the projection assembly.

[0090] The light projector 1 is attached to the roof 21 of the vehicle 10 by means of a coupler 18, and the mirror 16 is also attached to the roof 21 of the vehicle 10 by means of the rotatory element 17. The housing 19 is in turn fixed to both elements 17, 18, to achieve a dimensional stability.

[0091] In any case, the system is connected by a communication port with the manufacturer server via a communication protocol, such as GPRS, to send and receive updating about new features to be included in the method.