Patent Application
20160250969
Many vehicle owners enjoy moonroofs because they increase the amount of natural light that enters the passenger compartment. Moreover, in good weather, the moonroof can open to improve airflow in the passenger compartment. Accommodating the moonroof often includes redesigning the roof structure. Specifically, vehicle roofs have cross-members that provide structural support, and at least one cross member often runs through the area where the moonroof is located. That cross member must be removed, resulting in a reduced structural support. The roof must therefore be reinforced in other areas to compensate for the reduction in structural support.
Not all moonroofs can open. For example, fixed moonroofs allow ambient light to enter the passenger compartment of the vehicle but do not open for, e.g., airflow purposes. Even if it can be opened, moonroofs are generally only opened in nice weather conditions. Accordingly, the most common benefit of having a moonroof is the addition of ambient light in the passenger compartment. If that light is not desirable, a shade can be drawn to darken the passenger compartment.
One way to provide the ambient light benefits of a moonroof without having to redesign the vehicle roof structure includes a vehicle system that simulates an opening in the roof. An example system includes a camera that is configured to capture a live video feed of a view above a vehicle. The system further includes a display panel that is configured to attach to an interior roof surface and display the live video feed of the view above the vehicle in real time inside the vehicle. When the ambient light is not desired, the display panel may be turned off to simulate the effect of closing a moonroof shade. Moreover, the display panel may have different sections that can be independently illuminated to, e.g., illuminate different areas of the passenger compartment.
Therefore, the proposed vehicle system can simulate ambient light in the passenger compartment, and therefore replace a moonroof, including a fixed moonroof or a moonroof that can be opened to vent air.
The elements shown may take many different forms and include multiple and/or alternate components and facilities. The example components illustrated are not intended to be limiting. Indeed, additional or alternative components and/or implementations may be used.
As illustrated in
The camera 110 may include any computing device configured to capture a live video feed of a view above the host vehicle 100. The camera 110 may be configured and programmed to capture the live video feed and output a video signal representing the captured video. In some instances, the camera 110 may be programmed to process the video feed so that the video signal may be provided directly to the display panel 115. In other instances, the video signal may additionally or alternatively be processed at the display panel 115, the controller 120, or both. As discussed in greater detail below with respect to
The display panel 115 may include any electronic device configured to present, in real time, the live video feed captured by the camera 110. The display panel 115 may be attached to an interior roof surface of the host vehicle 100. Therefore, the light generated by the display panel 115 may illuminate the passenger compartment of the host vehicle 100. The display panel 115 may be formed from a flexible material that, e.g., conforms to the shape of the interior roof surface. For example, the display panel 115 may be formed from a flexible liquid crystal display (LCD) sheet. In some instances, the flexible display panel 115 may be more shatter resistance than traditional materials used in a moonroof. The display panel 115 may include an array of pixels that can be selectively turned on or off. Each pixel may include different segments for showing different colors. For example, each pixel may include a red segment, a blue segment, and a green segment. By illuminating some or all of the segments, and by varying the intensity of each segment, each pixel may appear as a particular color. Groups of pixels may be controlled by, e.g., the controller 120, to present the live video feed captured by the camera 110 as represented by the video signal. As discussed in greater detail below with reference to
The display panel 115 may attach to the interior roof surface by, e.g., mounting the display panel 115 to the interior roof surface using mounting hardware, bonding the display panel 115 to the interior roof surface using an adhesive, or a combination of both. As discussed in greater detail below with respect to
The controller 120 may include any computing device programmed to control the output of the display panel 115. For example, the controller 120 may be programmed to process the video signal and output a control signal that causes the display panel 115 to show the live video feed in real time inside the passenger compartment of the vehicle. Moreover, the controller 120 may be programmed to selectively illuminate the different sections 130 of the display panel 115, as discussed in greater detail below with respect to
Although illustrated as a sedan, the host vehicle 100 may include any passenger or commercial automobile such as a car, a truck, a sport utility vehicle, a crossover vehicle, a van, a minivan, a taxi, a bus, etc. In some possible approaches, the host vehicle 100 is an autonomous vehicle configured to operate in an autonomous (e.g., driverless) mode, a partially autonomous mode, and/or a non-autonomous mode.
The sections 130 may include a first front section 130A, a second front section 130B, a first rear section 130C, and a second rear section 130D. The first front section 130A may generally illuminate the area near the driver seat. The second front section 130B may generally illuminate the area near the front passenger seat. The first rear section 130C may generally illuminate the area near the rear seat behind the driver seat. The second rear section 130D may generally illuminate the area near the rear seat behind the front passenger seat. The controller 120 may be programmed to illuminate the sections 130 individually or in groups. Example groups may include front only illumination (i.e., only the first front section 130A and the second front section 130B may be illuminated), rear only illumination (i.e., only the first rear section 130C and the second rear section 130D may be illuminated), driver side only illumination (i.e., only the first front section 130A and the first rear section 130C may be illuminated), and passenger side only illumination (i.e., only the second front section 130B and the second rear section 130D may be illuminated). Another possible illumination scheme may include passenger only illumination (i.e., only the second front section 130B, the first rear section 130C, and the second rear section 130D) may be illuminated.
In general, the computing systems and/or devices described may employ any of a number of computer operating systems, including, but by no means limited to, versions and/or varieties of the Ford Sync® operating system, the Microsoft Windows® operating system, the Unix operating system (e.g., the Solaris® operating system distributed by Oracle Corporation of Redwood Shores, California), the AIX UNIX operating system distributed by International Business Machines of Armonk, New York, the Linux operating system, the Mac OSX and iOS operating systems distributed by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., the BlackBerry OS distributed by Blackberry, Ltd. of Waterloo, Canada, and the Android operating system developed by Google, Inc. and the Open Handset Alliance. Examples of computing devices include, without limitation, an on-board vehicle computer, a computer workstation, a server, a desktop, notebook, laptop, or handheld computer, or some other computing system and/or device.
Computing devices generally include computer-executable instructions, where the instructions may be executable by one or more computing devices such as those listed above. Computer-executable instructions may be compiled or interpreted from computer programs created using a variety of programming languages and/or technologies, including, without limitation, and either alone or in combination, Java™, C, C++, Visual Basic, Java Script, Perl, etc. In general, a processor (e.g., a microprocessor) receives instructions, e.g., from a memory, a computer-readable medium, etc., and executes these instructions, thereby performing one or more processes, including one or more of the processes described herein. Such instructions and other data may be stored and transmitted using a variety of computer-readable media.
A computer-readable medium (also referred to as a processor-readable medium) includes any non-transitory (e.g., tangible) medium that participates in providing data (e.g., instructions) that may be read by a computer (e.g., by a processor of a computer). Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media may include, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile media may include, for example, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which typically constitutes a main memory. Such instructions may be transmitted by one or more transmission media, including coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled to a processor of a computer. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read.
Databases, data repositories or other data stores described herein may include various kinds of mechanisms for storing, accessing, and retrieving various kinds of data, including a hierarchical database, a set of files in a file system, an application database in a proprietary format, a relational database management system (RDBMS), etc. Each such data store is generally included within a computing device employing a computer operating system such as one of those mentioned above, and are accessed via a network in any one or more of a variety of manners. A file system may be accessible from a computer operating system, and may include files stored in various formats. An RDBMS generally employs the Structured Query Language (SQL) in addition to a language for creating, storing, editing, and executing stored procedures, such as the PL/SQL language mentioned above.
In some examples, system elements may be implemented as computer-readable instructions (e.g., software) on one or more computing devices (e.g., servers, personal computers, etc.), stored on computer readable media associated therewith (e.g., disks, memories, etc.). A computer program product may comprise such instructions stored on computer readable media for carrying out the functions described herein.
With regard to the processes, systems, methods, heuristics, etc. described herein, it should be understood that, although the steps of such processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to a certain ordered sequence, such processes could be practiced with the described steps performed in an order other than the order described herein. It further should be understood that certain steps could be performed simultaneously, that other steps could be added, or that certain steps described herein could be omitted. In other words, the descriptions of processes herein are provided for the purpose of illustrating certain embodiments, and should in no way be construed so as to limit the claims.
Accordingly, it is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Many embodiments and applications other than the examples provided would be apparent upon reading the above description. The scope should be determined, not with reference to the above description, but should instead be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is anticipated and intended that future developments will occur in the technologies discussed herein, and that the disclosed systems and methods will be incorporated into such future embodiments. In sum, it should be understood that the application is capable of modification and variation.
All terms used in the claims are intended to be given their ordinary meanings as understood by those knowledgeable in the technologies described herein unless an explicit indication to the contrary is made herein. In particular, use of the singular articles such as “a,” “the,” “said,” etc. should be read to recite one or more of the indicated elements unless a claim recites an explicit limitation to the contrary.
The Abstract is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.
