Patent Application
20230356690
The present specification generally relates to lighting systems for vehicles and, in particular lighting control systems that activate exterior lighting using exterior vehicle component movement.
Exterior lights of a vehicle are typically controlled by actuating a switch located inside the vehicle. For example, a knob may be provided at a steering wheel that can be turned to activate the exterior lights and control the brightness. In some vehicles, a sensor may be provided that detects ambient light and is used by the vehicle electronic control unit to automatically control the exterior lights when the vehicle is in operation. Typically, to control the exterior lights, a user must be inside the vehicle.
Accordingly, a need exists to provide lighting control systems that allow a user to activate the exterior lights from outside the vehicle.
In one embodiment, a vehicle includes a lighting control system including a sensor that is located at an exterior movable component of the vehicle. When the exterior movable component is moved from one position to another position, the sensor sends a signal to a controller that activates exterior lights of the vehicle based on the signal.
In another embodiment, a method of controlling exterior lights of a vehicle is provided. The method includes moving an exterior movable component of the vehicle from an initial position to a moved position and detecting when the exterior movable component is in the moved position using a sensor. The sensor sends a signal to a controller. The controller activates the exterior lights in response to the signal.
These and additional features provided by the embodiments described herein will be more fully understood in view of the following detailed description, in conjunction with the drawings.
The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative and exemplary in nature and not intended to limit the subject matter defined by the claims. The following detailed description of the illustrative embodiments can be understood when read in conjunction with the following drawings, where like structure is indicated with like reference numerals and in which:
Embodiments described herein are generally related to vehicle lighting control systems that include a sensor that is located at an exterior movable component of a vehicle, such as a rearview side mirror, hood, window, fuel cap, tailgate, etc. When the exterior movable component is moved from one position to another position, the sensor is engaged and sends a signal to a controller that activates exterior lighting based on the signal. The vehicle lighting control systems may also authenticate a user before activating exterior lighting. The user may be authenticated using a key fob, smartphone (e.g., using a virtual key), facial recognition, etc.
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Accordingly, the communication path 52 may be formed from any medium that is capable of transmitting a signal such as, for example, conductive wires, conductive traces, optical waveguides, or the like. In some embodiments, the communication path 52 may facilitate the transmission of wireless signals, such as WiFi, Bluetooth, and the like. Moreover, the communication path 52 may be formed from a combination of mediums capable of transmitting signals. In one embodiment, the communication path 52 comprises a combination of conductive traces, conductive wires, connectors, and buses that cooperate to permit the transmission of electrical data signals to components such as processors, memories, sensors, input devices, output devices, and communication devices. Accordingly, the communication path 52 may comprise a vehicle bus, such as for example a LIN bus, a CAN bus, a VAN bus, and the like. Additionally, it is noted that the term “signal” means a waveform (e.g., electrical, optical, magnetic, mechanical or electromagnetic), such as DC, AC, sinusoidal-wave, triangular-wave, square-wave, vibration, and the like, capable of traveling through a medium.
The vehicle 10 further includes one or more memory modules 44 coupled to the communication path 52. The one or more memory modules 44 may comprise RAM, ROM, flash memories, hard drives, or any device capable of storing machine readable instructions such that the machine readable instructions can be accessed by the one or more processors 40. The machine readable instructions may comprise logic or algorithm(s) written in any programming language of any generation (e.g., 1GL, 2GL, 3GL, 4GL, or 5GL) such as, for example, machine language that may be directly executed by the processor, or assembly language, object-oriented programming (OOP), scripting languages, microcode, etc., that may be compiled or assembled into machine readable instructions and stored on the one or more memory modules 44. Alternatively, the machine readable instructions may be written in a hardware description language (HDL), such as logic implemented via either a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) configuration or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or their equivalents. Accordingly, the methods described herein may be implemented in any suitable computer programming language, as pre-programmed hardware elements, or as a combination of hardware and software components.
In some embodiments, the one or more memory modules 44 may include a database that includes logic for detecting an authorized person. For example, the one or more memory modules 44 may include a facial recognition database or algorithm to allow the vehicle 10 to identify a person within a vicinity of the vehicle 10. The lighting control system 12 may allow or disallow activation of the exterior lights 14 and 16 depending on whether or not the person is recognized as an authorized person.
The vehicle 10 comprises a display 48 for providing visual output such as, for example, maps, navigation, entertainment, information, or a combination thereof. The display 48 is coupled to the communication path 52, as shown in
In some embodiments, the vehicle 10 comprises network interface module 50 for communicatively coupling the vehicle 10 to a network. The network interface module 50 can be communicatively coupled to the communication path 52 and can be any device capable of transmitting and/or receiving data via the network. Accordingly, the network interface module 50 can include a communication transceiver for sending and/or receiving any wired or wireless communication. For example, the network interface module 50 may include an antenna, a modem, LAN port, Wi-Fi card, WiMax card, mobile communications hardware, near-field communication hardware, satellite communication hardware and/or any wired or wireless hardware for communicating with other networks and/or devices. In one embodiment, the network interface module 50 includes hardware configured to operate in accordance with the Bluetooth wireless communication protocol. In another embodiment, network interface module 50 may include a Bluetooth send/receive module for sending and receiving Bluetooth communications to/from a mobile device 54 (e.g., a smartphone including a virtual key) for controlling operation of the lighting control system 12.
The vehicle 10 may include one or more sensors, generally referenced as element 56, communicatively coupled to the one or more processors 40. The one or more sensors 56 may include, but are not limited to, cameras, LiDAR, RADAR, proximity sensors, pressure sensors, etc. In some embodiments, multiple types of sensors are used to provide a variety of information to the vehicle 10.
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The above-described lighting control systems utilize sensors to detect a physical movement of a vehicle component and then activate exterior lights in response to a signal from the sensors. The vehicle lighting systems can be used by a user of the vehicle when located outside of the cabin of the vehicle in order to improve lighting in the surrounding environment, for example. This improved lighting can aid the user to see when they need the lights activated from outside the vehicle, such as when setting up a campsite. The lighting control systems may also utilize image recognition to detect when a user is authorized. Such an arrangement can prevent unauthorized users from activating the exterior lights.
While particular embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be understood that various other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, although various aspects of the claimed subject matter have been described herein, such aspects need not be utilized in combination. It is therefore intended that the appended claims cover all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of the claimed subject matter.
