Patent ID: 6781676
Filing Date: 2004-08-24
Classification: B60R,G01C

Abstract:
A method of determining the location of a vehicle occupant in the interior of a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:projecting at least one structured light pattern from a light source onto an area of interest in the vehicle; altering the apparent location of the light source with respect to the area of interest; detecting a reflected light pattern with an image sensor; measuring a characteristic of the light pattern on the area of interest; and calculating the distance of points on the area of interest from the image sensor on the basis of the measured characteristic, wherein said projecting step includes projecting at least one non-diverging light pattern onto the area of interest, said measuring step includes measuring the width of the light pattern on the area of interest, and said calculating step includes determining the amount of the field of view of the imager sensor that is occupied by the reflected light pattern.