{
  "patent_number": "US 11702088",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Car Safety Systems Turn Off When Sensors Disagree",
  "original_title": "Vehicular driving assist system with sensor offset correction",
  "summary": "This patent describes a car safety system that uses both a camera and a radar sensor to detect objects, and if their detections don't match up, it can disable parts of the driving assistance for safety.",
  "what_it_does": "This system helps a vehicle stay safe by using two different types of sensors: a camera and a radar sensor, both looking forward. An electronic control unit (ECU) processes the information from both sensors to detect objects, like other cars or pedestrians, in front of the vehicle. The clever part is that the ECU then compares what the camera sees with what the radar sees. If there's a big difference, meaning one sensor detects an object and the other doesn't (as described in claims 8 and 10), or if the sensors are misaligned (claim 12), the ECU determines there's an \"error in object detection.\" If this error is too large, the system will disable at least part of the driving assist function, such as automatic emergency braking or forward collision warning (claims 2 and 3), and can alert the driver (claim 5).",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover driving assist systems that rely on only a single type of sensor, such as only a camera or only a radar.",
    "Does not cover systems that use sensor disagreement primarily to correct or fuse data, rather than to disable a driving assist function.",
    "Does not cover systems that use different combinations of sensors, like lidar and cameras, without a radar sensor.",
    "Does not cover systems where the 'error in object detection' is determined by internal sensor diagnostics rather than a direct comparison of object detections between a camera and a radar.",
    "Does not cover systems that continue to provide full driving assist functionality even when there is a significant discrepancy between camera and radar object detections."
  ],
  "filed": "2020-09-14",
  "granted": "2023-07-18",
  "expires": "2040-09-14",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Magna Electronics",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/magna-electronics",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "William J. Chundrlik, Jr.",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/william-j-chundrlik-jr"
    },
    {
      "name": "Dominik Raudszus",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/dominik-raudszus"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 1,
  "tags": [
    "automotive",
    "telecommunications",
    "software",
    "consumer_electronics"
  ],
  "abstract": "A driver assistance system of a vehicle includes a forward viewing camera, a forward sensing non-vision sensor, and an ECU having at least one data processor. The ECU, responsive to processing of image data captured by the camera and to processing of sensor data captured by the non-vision sensor, provides a driving assistance function for the vehicle. The ECU detects presence of objects forward of the vehicle via processing of captured image data and captured sensor data. The ECU determines an error in object detection by determining difference between object detection based on processing of captured image data and object detection based on processing of captured sensor data. The ECU disables at least part of the driving assist function at least in part responsive to the determined error in object detection being greater than a threshold error level.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11702088/vehicular-driving-assist-system-with-sensor-offset-correction",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11702088/vehicular-driving-assist-system-with-sensor-offset-correction/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US11702088",
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}