Patent ID: 11914679
Assignee: APTIV TECHNOLOGIES AG
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A system comprising:
a thermal sensor configured to detect thermal radiation emitted from an object in a field-of-view (FOV) of the thermal sensor and from a background around the object and provide thermal data, based on the thermal radiation;
a non-thermal sensor configured to detect non-thermal radiation associated with the object and provide non-thermal data, based on the non-thermal radiation;
an active near-infrared (NIR) range-finder that includes:
an emitter configured to emit NIR radiation; and
a detector configured to detect a portion of the NIR radiation reflected from the object over a time period and provide dynamic NIR range data based on the detected portion of the NIR radiation reflected from the object; and

a processor configured to:
receive the thermal data and the non-thermal data;
detect the object, based on at least one of the thermal data or the non-thermal data;
determine a temperature gradient across an edge of the object based on the thermal data; and
determine a size or a motion of the object in the FOV of the thermal sensor, relative to the system, based on one or more of the dynamic NIR range data or the temperature gradient.