Camera Wing System, Vehicle Therewith and Method to Operate the Same

Abstract

A camera wing system to a vehicle comprising such camera wing system and a method to operate such a camera wing system comprising at least one camera to record a scenery in a field of view of the camera and an illuminating system to emit light to illuminate the field of view of the camera, the camera being sensitive to the light emitted by the illumination system, wherein the illuminating system provides light to the scenery in one or more emission cones (EC), where the one or more emission cones are adaptable in emission direction (ED1, ED2) and/or cone angle (CA) depending on the driving situation (DS) of the vehicle in order to illuminate the scenery in the field of view being of interest for a driver due to the detected driving situation.

Claims

1. A camera wing system for a vehicle, comprising: at least one camera to record a scenery in a field of view (FOV) of the camera; an illuminating system to emit light to illuminate the FOV of the camera, the camera being sensitive to the light emitted by the illumination system, wherein the illuminating system provides light to the scenery in one or more emission cones, where the one or more emission cones are adaptable in one or more emission direction and/or cone angle depending on a driving situation of the vehicle in order to illuminate the scenery in the FOV being of interest for a driver due to the driving situation.

2. The camera wing system according to claim 1, where the illuminating system comprises at least one optical system comprising one or more light sources and beam shaping elements to define one or more emission cones per optical system.

3. The camera wing system according to claim 2, where at least one of the light sources include an infrared light source.

4. The camera wing system according to claim 2, comprising a swiveling unit to swivel at least a part of the optical system in order to adapt the emission direction and/or cone angle of the one or more emission cones of the optical system.

5. The camera wing system according to claim 4, where the swiveling unit comprises a base plate, a mechanical repulling unit, and a controllable counteracting unit, where the repulling unit and counteracting unit are connected to the to be swiveled part of the optical system to swivel at least a part of the optical system along a swivel axis or swivel point.

6. The camera wing system according to claim 5, where the repulling unit is a spring and the counteracting unit is an electromagnet acting on a corresponding permanent magnet arranged on the to-be-swiveled part of the optical system.

7. The camera wing system according to claim 4, where the swiveling unit is arranged as an antagonistic system enabling swiveling between two stable positions.

8. The camera wing system according to claim 1, where the illuminating system comprises multiple optical systems adapted to emit emission cones of different emission directions and/or cone angles for the different optical systems.

9. The camera wing system according to claim 8, where the camera wing system is adapted to switch on or off a selection of the multiple optical systems depending on the driving situation of the vehicle.

10. The camera wing system according to claim 8, where one or more of the optical systems comprise at least one beam shaping element as a switchable beam shaping element enabling modification of the emission direction and/or cone angle of the light emitted through the switchable beam shaping element.

11. The camera wing system according to claim, where the beam shaping element is arranged in a wing of the camera wing system with a first wing surface directing towards the scenery in a field of view (FOV) of the camera, where at least a part of the beam shaping element establishes a part of the first wing surface.

12. The camera wing system according to claim 2, where the beam shaping element comprises one or more switchable lenses in order to adapt the cone angle of the emission cones.

13. The camera wing system according to claim 1, where the camera comprises a switchable light filter for day and night operation.

14. The camera wing system according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit to control the illuminating system in order to adapt the emission direction and/or cone angle of the one or more emission cones emitted by the illuminating system in response to the driving situation of the vehicle detected by a driving situation detection system of the vehicle.

15. A vehicle comprising the camera wing system of claim 1.

16. The vehicle according to claim 15, where the vehicle further comprises a driving situation detection system in order to adapt one or more emission cones emitted by an illumination system of the camera wing system in the emission direction and/or cone angle depending on the detected driving situation of the vehicle to illuminate the scenery in the field of view (FOV) being of interest for a driver due to the detected driving situation.

17. A method of operating a camera wing system mounted on a vehicle, the camera wing system comprising an illumination system and at least one camera being sensitive to light emitted by the illumination system, comprising: illuminating a scenery in a field of view (FOV) of the camera by the light emitted in one or more emission cones by the illuminating system; recording the illuminated scenery by the camera; detecting a driving situation of the vehicle by a driving situation detection system; and adapting an emission direction and/or a cone angle of the emission cones depending on the driving situation of the vehicle to illuminate the scenery in the FOV being of interest for a driver due to the driving situation.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] These and other aspects of the invention are shown in detail in the illustrations as follows.

[0039] FIG. 1: a schematic illustration of one embodiment of the camera wing system according to the present invention in a top view;

[0040] FIG. 2: an enlarged view of the optical system arranged on the swiveling unit of the camera wing system as shown in FIG. 1;

[0041] FIG. 3: a schematic illustration of another embodiment of the camera wing system according to the present invention in a top view;

[0042] FIG. 4: a schematic illustration of the method to operate the camera wing system according to the present invention; and

[0043] FIG. 5: a schematic illustration of a vehicle according to the present invention, where the camera wing system is adapted to the detected driving situation for (a) straight driving and (b) driving around a curve.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0044] FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of one embodiment of the camera wing system 1 according to the present invention in a top view comprising a camera 2 to record a scenery in a field of view FOV of the camera 2 and an illuminating system 3 to emit light to illuminate the field of view FOV of the camera 2. The camera 2 comprises a switchable light filter 21, preferably an infrared (IR) filter in order to be able for daytime and nighttime operation, and camera recording unit 22, e.g. a CCD or CMOS chip. The camera is sensitive to the light emitted by the illumination system 3. The illuminating system 3 provides light to the scenery in one emission cone EC, where the emission cone EC is adaptable in emission direction ED1, ED2 depending on the driving situation DS of the vehicle 10 to illuminate the scenery in the field of view FOV being of interest for a driver due to the detected driving situation DS. In case of the beam shaping element 33 comprises one or more switchable lenses the cone angle CA of the emission cone EC can also be adapted. The illuminating system 3 comprises at least one optical system 31 comprising one or more light sources 32 and suitable beam shaping elements 33 to define one or more emission cones EC per optical system 31. Here, the shown one light source 32 might be replaced by multiple light sources 32 in other embodiments. The light source 32 is an infrared LED or an array of infrared LEDs. The camera wing system 1 further comprising a control unit 5 to control the illuminating system to adapt emission direction ED1, ED2 and/or cone angle CA of the one or more emission cones EC emitted by the illuminating system 3 in response to the driving situation DS of the vehicle 10 detected by a driving situation detection system 20 of the vehicle 10. The beam shaping element 33 is arranged in a wing 4 of the camera wing system 1 with a first wing surface 41 directing towards the scenery in a field of view FOV of the camera 2, where at least a part of the beam shaping element 33 establish a part of the first wing surface 41.

[0045] FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the optical system 31 arranged on the swiveling unit 34 of the camera wing system 1 as shown in FIG. 1 to swivel the optical system 32 to adapt emission direction ED1, ED2 of the mission cone EC of the optical system 3. The swiveling unit 34 comprises a base plate 34a, a mechanical repulling unit 34b and a controllable counteracting unit 34c, where the repulling unit 34b and counteracting unit 34c are suitably connected to the to be swiveled optical system 32 to swivel the optical system 32 along a swivel axis or swivel point SAP. Here, the repulling unit 34b is a spring and the counteracting unit 34c is an electromagnet acting on a corresponding permanent magnet 35 arranged on the to-be-swiveled part of the optical system 32. In other embodiments the swiveling unit 34 is arranged as an antagonistic system enabling swiveling between two stable positions.

[0046] FIG. 3 shows a schematic illustration of another embodiment of the camera wing system 1 according to the present invention in a top view. For details not described with respect to FIG. 3 we refer to the details of FIG. 1. In this case the illuminating system 3 comprises two separate optical system 31 comprising two light sources 32 each and corresponding suitable beam shaping elements 33 to define one or more emission cones EC per optical system 31. The two optical systems 32 are suitably arranged to emit emission cones EC of different emission directions ED1, ED2 for the different optical systems 32. In case of the beam shaping element 33 comprising a switchable lens adapting the cone angle CA of the emission cones EC is also possible. The camera wing system 1 is adapted to switch on and/or off the two optical systems 32 depending on the driving situation DS of the vehicle 10. In an embodiment the optical systems 32 may comprise at least one beam shaping element 33 as switchable beam shaping element enabling to modify emission direction ED1, ED2 and/or cone angle CA of the light emitted through the switchable beam shaping element 33. Also, here the camera 2 comprises a switchable light filter 21 for day and night operation as well as a control unit 5 to control the illuminating system to adapt emission direction ED1, ED2 and/or cone angle CA of the two emission cones EC emitted by the illuminating system 3 in response to the driving situation DS of the vehicle 10 detected by a driving situation detection system 20 of the vehicle 10. The beam shaping elements 33 are arranged in a wing 4 of the camera wing system 1 with a first wing surface 41 directing towards the scenery in a field of view FOV of the camera 2, where at least a part of the beam shaping element 33 establish a part of the first wing surface 41.

[0047] FIG. 4 shows a schematic illustration of the method 100 to operate the camera wing system 1 according to the present invention mounted on a vehicle 10 comprising an illumination system 3 and at least one camera 2 being sensitive to light emitted by the illumination system 3, comprising following steps of illuminating 110 a scenery in a field of view FOV of the camera 2 by the light emitted in one or more emission cones EC by the illuminating system 3; recording 120 the illuminated scenery by the camera 2; detecting 130 the driving situation DS of the vehicle 10 by a driving situation detection system 20; and adapting 140 emission direction ED1, ED2 and/or cone angle CA of the emission cones EC depending on the driving situation DS of the vehicle 10 to illuminate the scenery in the field of view FOV being of interest for a driver due to the detected driving situation DS.

[0048] FIG. 5 shows a schematic illustration of a vehicle 10 according to the present invention comprising two camera wing systems 1, one arranged on each side of the cockpit 30 of the vehicle 10. The vehicle consists of the cockpit 30, where the driver drives the vehicle 10 and a trailer 40 rotatably mounted to the cockpit 30. For a better overview, only one of the camera wing systems 1 is shown here. The camera wing system 1 is adapted to the detected driving situation for (a) straight driving (cockpit and trailer are straight aligned) and (b) driving around a curve (cockpit and trailer have a bend angle to each other). The vehicle 10 further comprises a driving situation detection system 20 to adapt the emission cone EC with cone angle CA und first emission direction ED1 emitted by an illumination system 3 of the camera wing system 1 when driving straight into a second emission direction ED2 during driving around the curve. In this embodiment the cone angle CA is constant for both driving situations DS. As shown in FIGS. 5a and 5b the field of view FOV of the camera 2 stays constant, but the illumination system 3 changes the emission direction to the second emission direction ED2 to still illuminate the rear view of the trailer 10 even when driving the curve to illuminate the scenery in the field of view FOV being of interest for a driver when driving the curve.

[0049] The embodiments shown herein are only examples of the present invention and must therefore not be understood as being restrictive. Alternative embodiments considered by the skilled person are equally covered by the scope of protection of the present invention.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0050] 1 camera wing system according to the present invention [0051] 2 camera [0052] 21 switchable light filter [0053] 22 camera recording unit [0054] 3 illuminating system [0055] 31 optical system [0056] 32 light sources, e.g. an LED or an array of LEDs, preferably emitting in the infrared spectrum [0057] 33 beam shaping elements [0058] 34 swiveling unit [0059] 34a base plate [0060] 34b (mechanically) repulling unit [0061] 34c controllable counteracting unit [0062] 35 permanent magnet [0063] 4 wing [0064] 41 first wing surface [0065] 5 control unit to control the illuminating system [0066] 51 control connection [0067] 10 vehicle according to the present invention [0068] 20 driving situation detection system [0069] 30 cockpit of the vehicle [0070] 40 trailer of the vehicle [0071] 100 method to operate a camera wing system according to the present invention [0072] 110 illuminating a scenery in a field of view of the camera [0073] 120 recording the illuminated scenery by the camera [0074] 130 detecting the driving situation of the vehicle [0075] 140 adapting emission direction and/or cone angle of the emission cones depending on the driving situation of the vehicle [0076] CA (emission) cone angle [0077] DS driving situation of the vehicle [0078] EC emission cone [0079] ED1 (first) emission direction [0080] ED2 (second) emission direction [0081] FOV field of view [0082] L light emitted from the light sources of the illumination system [0083] SAP swivel axis or swivel point