Patent ID: 6396435
Filing Date: 2002-05-28
Classification: G01S

Abstract:
A method for determining the perpendicular distance between an object and a device whose position varies, in particular a motor vehicle, in the case of which method a first sensor which is arranged on this device emits a signal which is reflected by the object, and this reflected signal is received by this first sensor, in which case the delay time of the signal from transmission to reception is used by the first sensor to determine the distance between the first sensor and the object, wherein this distance is used to determine all the possible positions of the object with respect to the first sensor, the signal reflected by the object is furthermore received by a second sensor, which is likewise arranged on the device whose position varies, and the delay time of the signal from the first sensor to the second sensor is used to determine a path from the first sensor to the object and from this object to the second sensor, from which path all the possible positions of the object with respect to the second sensor are determined, the positions determined by the first sensor and the second sensor with the same distance are then compared with one another, the method further comprises steps ofestablishing a corridor extending from the device between the first sensor and the second sensor; determining whether a position of the object is within the corridor; and the perpendicular distance to the device whose position varies is determined for those positions of the object which are in the corridor and are detected by both the first sensor and the second sensor.