Patent ID: 6940398

Claim:
An apparatus for object detection and ranging used by a vehicle backing system, which includes: a processor, which is connected to an alarm and a memory device, and is used for detecting objects and issuing a warning when there is obstruction; a channel selector, which is controlled by the processor and is used to select one sensor in a sensor array composed of a plurality of sensors; multiple power boosters, which are connected between the channel selector and the plurality of sensors in the sensor array for controlling the signal transmission by the above sensors; and an A/D converter, which is connected between the channel selector and the processor, and is used to convert the received signal to a digital format for computation of relative distance; whereby, the processor through the channel selector governs the sequence of transmission of a ranging signal by one of the sensors in accordance with a given sequence, and later the reception of echoed signals, by the same sequence, which are then converted by the A/D converter to a digital format for computation of relative distance.