Patent ID: 11915590
Assignee: GENTEX CORPORATION
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 18:
19. A warning system for a vehicle, comprising:
a first imager disposed on a first vehicle surface on a first side of the vehicle and positioned within one of a first vehicle A pillar or a first vehicle fender and configured to capture image data from a scene in a first forward blind spot of a vehicle;
a second imager disposed on a second vehicle surface on a second side of the vehicle and positioned within one of a second vehicle A pillar or a second vehicle fender and configured to capture image data from a scene in a second forward blind spot of the vehicle;
a processor in communication with the imager and configured to process the image data from the first and second imagers and determine whether there is an obstruction in one of the first blind spot and the second blind spot and to further determine if the object is a person;
a controller in communication with the processor; and
at least one of an accelerometer in communication with the controller and a communication link between a bus of the vehicle and the controller;
wherein:
the controller is configured to determine whether the vehicle is moving in a forward direction based on an input received from one of the bus of the vehicle and the controller,
the processor is configured to determine that there is an obstruction that is a person within one of the first blind spot and the second blind spot and within a predetermined distance from the vehicle and, upon such determination, send an appropriate input to the controller, and
wherein the controller is configured to, upon receipt of the input indicating that there is an obstruction that is a person in one of the first blind spot and the second blind spot within the predetermined distance from the vehicle and the receipt of an input indicating that the vehicle is moving in a forward direction, cause an alert to be generated, and to ignore an obstruction that is not a person.