Patent ID: 7796081

Claim:
A vehicular arrangement for obtaining information about objects exterior to the vehicle, comprising: at least one combined imaging and distance measuring system arranged along the windshield, an edge or a side of the vehicle, each of said at least one combined system including: an infrared illuminator for directing infrared illumination outward from the vehicle; an imager sensitive to infrared illumination, said imager being arranged to form images of an environment around the vehicle including objects; at least one distance determining system, each comprising a source of a directed narrow beam of electromagnetic waves separate from said infrared illuminator and a receiver for receiving reflections of the electromagnetic waves, arranged to, after images of the environment around the vehicle have been formed by said imager, simultaneously determine a distance between the vehicle and objects in images obtained by said imager; and a reactive system arranged on the vehicle to consider both the presence of the objects and their distance from the vehicle and react accordingly, at least one of the illumination from said infrared illuminator or the electromagnetic waves from said source being in an eye-safe range.