Patent ID: 11897384
Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 7:
8. A vehicle lighting-based roadway obstacle notification system for a motor vehicle that moves along a roadway, comprising:
a vehicle headlamp system with a controllable light distribution;
at least one camera having an optical axis aligned parallel to a forward driving direction; and
an electronic control unit operatively connected to the at least one camera and to the vehicle headlamp system, configured to:
record camera data of a part of a surface of the roadway lying in front of the motor vehicle in the forward driving direction using the camera, wherein a recorded part of the roadway includes a multiplicity of roadway detection paths;
individually evaluate the camera data relating to the roadway detection paths in relation to ranges and at least one quantity from among a magnitude of a vertical dimension (hi) of the roadway, a magnitude of a gradient (gradx;i) of the roadway in the forward driving direction, and an instantaneous speed (vmom) of the motor vehicle;
detect a roadway anomaly in response to compliance of at least one from among a magnitude of a vertical dimension (hi) of the roadway, a magnitude of a gradient (gradx;i) in the forward driving direction, and an instantaneous speed (vmom) of the motor vehicle with at least one respective predetermined condition; and
control the vehicle headlamp system as a function of the compliance with the respective predetermined condition in order to illuminate a part of the roadway corresponding to the roadway detection path in which the roadway anomaly has been detected.