Patent ID: 11866983
Assignee: MAGNA ELECTRONICS INC.
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC E  G | IPC E  G

Claim 21:
22. A method of controlling opening of a vehicular door, the method comprising:
providing a radar unit disposed at a handle of a door of a vehicle and having a field of view comprising a space adjacent to and exterior of the door, the handle comprising a first handle end and a second handle end;
providing a scanning actuator coupled at least to the vehicle and the radar unit and operable to operably move the radar unit relative to the door;
providing an electrically powered actuator at the vehicle and operable to, when electrically powered, move the door along a door path;
transmitting emitted radar signals from the radar unit in the space adjacent to and exterior of the door and receiving at the radar unit reflected radar signals reflected from the object;
while transmitting emitted radar signals and receiving reflected radar signals, operating the scanning actuator to move the radar unit relative to the door to create a variation between the emitted radar signals and the reflected radar signals indicative of a relative shift between the radar unit and the object;
wherein operating the scanning actuator to move the radar unit relative to the door comprises moving the handle relative to the door along a handle path;
responsive to receiving reflected radar signals, processing the reflected radar signals at an electronic control unit (ECU) to determine presence of the object in the space adjacent to and exterior of the door;
wherein determining presence via the ECU of the object in the space adjacent to and exterior of the door comprises determining whether the object is in the door path;
responsive to determining the object is in the door path, preventing movement of the door along the door path;
responsive to determining the object is not in the door path, operating the electrically powered actuator to move the door along the door path; and
wherein moving the handle relative to the door along the handle path comprises rotating the handle about a horizontal rotation axis in a horizontal handle opening path between a handle closed position, where the handle is angled relative to the door at a first horizontal handle rotation angle, and a handle open position, where the handle is angled relative to the door at a second horizontal handle rotation angle greater than the first horizontal handle rotation angle.