Patent ID: 7380948

Claim:
An image sensing system for a vehicle, said image sensing system comprising: an imaging sensor; said imaging sensor comprising a two-dimensional array of light sensing photo sensor elements; a logic and control circuit; said logic and control circuit comprising an image processor for processing image data derived from said imaging sensor; said imaging sensor disposed at an interior portion of the vehicle proximate the windshield of the vehicle and having a forward field of view to the exterior of the vehicle through a windshield area that is swept by the windshield wipers; wherein said image sensing system senses the presence of an object within the field of view of said imaging sensor; wherein said image sensing system at least one of controls and supplements the control of an automatic vehicle system using forward field of view information; a portion of said array of light sensing photosensor elements sensing within the field of view; and said logic and control circuit analyzing particular groupings of photo sensor elements from said portion of said array while ignoring other particular groupings of photosensor elements from said portion of said array so as to determine at least one of presence, size, shape, contour and motion of said object within the field of view, wherein said particular groupings of photosensor elements and said other particular groupings of photosensor elements are within a region of said array where an object of interest is expected to be imaged.