Patent ID: 11893803
Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  B | IPC B  G

Claim 7:
8. A system for detecting a non-flashing light of at least one traffic signal element, the system comprising:
two or more image capturing devices of an autonomous vehicle, each image capturing device being configured to capture a series of images of at least one traffic signal element over a period of time; and
a computing device of the autonomous vehicle, including:
a processor; and
a memory,
wherein the computing device includes instructions, wherein the instructions cause the computing device to:
capture, by a first camera of the autonomous vehicle, a first series of images of a traffic signal element over the period of time;
capture, by a second camera, a second series of images of the traffic signal element over the period of time;
in each series of images, identify one or more flashing cycles comprising a first time interval when the traffic signal element is in a first state for at least a first minimum duration and not more than a first maximum duration followed by a second time interval when the traffic signal element is in a second state for at least a second minimum duration and not more than a second maximum duration, the first state different than the second state;
by an autonomous vehicle control system of the autonomous vehicle, send a command to the autonomous vehicle to perform one or more instructions associated with the non-flashing light,
compare the identified flashing cycles in each series of images to determine whether the one or more flashing cycles are consistent, wherein to compare the identified flashing cycles comprises instructions configured to cause the computing device to:
compare intervals of time when the traffic signal element is in the first state in the first series of images to intervals of time when the traffic signal element is in the first state in the second series of images; and

in response to the one or more flashing cycles being inconsistent, classify the traffic signal element as the non-flashing light.