Patent Document ID: 7852462
Application ID: 11735575
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for controlling a vehicular system based on the presence of an object in an environment around a vehicle, comprising: emitting infrared light from an infrared light emitter system on the vehicle into a portion of the environment around the vehicle; receiving infrared light from the portion of environment around the vehicle into which the infrared light is emitted by means of an infrared light receiver system on the vehicle such that the infrared light receiver system receives infrared light that is reflected by one or more objects in the portion of the environment around the vehicle; measuring, using a processor, distance between the vehicle and an object from which the infrared light is reflected based on the emission of the infrared light and reception of the infrared light; detecting, using a processor, edges of the object from the received infrared light; determining, using pattern recognition and a processor, the presence of the object from which light is reflected based at least in part on the received infrared light and on the detected edges of the object; determining, using pattern recognition and a processor, an identification of the object whose presence has been determined and from which light is reflected, the determination of the identification of the object being based at least in part on the received infrared light and on the edges of the object detected from the received infrared light using the processor, whereby different objects are determined to have different identifications based on differences in the detected edges of the objects; and controlling or adjusting a vehicular system based on the determination of the presence of the object in the environment around the vehicle, the identification of the object, and the distance between the object and the vehicle.