# How Car Safety Systems Turn Off When Sensors Disagree > 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. - **Patent:** US 11702088 - **Original title:** Vehicular driving assist system with sensor offset correction - **Owner:** Magna Electronics - **Granted:** 2023 - **Status:** Active - **Times cited:** 1 - **Field:** automotive, telecommunications, software, consumer_electronics ## 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. ## The clever bit The truly clever part is using the *discrepancy* between two different types of object detection – visual from a camera and range-based from radar – as a direct trigger to *disable* or reduce the functionality of a driving assist system, rather than just trying to reconcile or fuse the conflicting data. This prioritizes safety by defaulting to a more cautious state when sensor reliability is in doubt. ## Real-world examples 1. Automatic Emergency Braking systems in cars 2. Forward Collision Warning systems 3. Pedestrian detection systems in vehicles 4. Adaptive Cruise Control systems that rely on multi-sensor input ## Why it matters Modern vehicles increasingly rely on advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) for safety, but these systems need to be reliable. This patent addresses a critical safety concern: what happens when sensors provide conflicting information. By disabling functions when there's a significant disagreement between a camera and a radar, the system aims to prevent potentially dangerous actions based on unreliable data, enhancing overall vehicle safety. ## Frequently asked questions ### What does How Car Safety Systems Turn Off When Sensors Disagree cover? 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. ### Who owns patent US 11702088? Magna Electronics owns this patent, granted in 2023. ### When does this patent expire? This patent is expected to expire on September 14, 2040, when the invention enters the public domain. ### What is patent US 11702088 cited by? This patent has been cited by 1 later patents that build on its ideas. ### What problem does this patent solve? Modern vehicles increasingly rely on advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) for safety, but these systems need to be reliable. This patent addresses a critical safety concern: what happens when sensors provide conflicting information. By disabling functions when there's a significant disagreement between a camera and a radar, the system aims to prevent potentially dangerous actions based on unreliable data, enhancing overall vehicle safety. ### What does this patent 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. **Full plain-English explainer:** https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11702088/vehicular-driving-assist-system-with-sensor-offset-correction **Original patent:** https://patents.google.com/patent/US11702088 --- _Source: PatentBrief — https://patentbrief.org. Patent facts are from public records; the plain-English explanation is PatentBrief's._ ## Related patents Semantically similar inventions in the PatentBrief corpus: - [How Autonomous Cars Process Sensor Data for Driving](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/20220161815/autonomous-vehicle-system) — Intel's 2020 patent describes a system for autonomous vehicles that cleans and standardizes data from various sensors before using it to perceive the environment and make driving decisions. - [How Self-Driving Cars Find Clear Paths Between Objects](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10733420/systems-and-methods-for-free-space-inference-to-break-apart-clustered-objects-in) — This patent describes a method for vehicles, especially self-driving ones, to use lidar data and a 3D grid to precisely identify open spaces between obstacles, helping them navigate safely. - [How Vehicle Radar Systems Correct Phase Errors for Better Object Detection](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12332345/raptor-3) — A radar system for cars that switches between two modes with different pulse speeds to fix phase errors, helping the vehicle more accurately track the direction and speed of objects. - [How Car Factories Calibrate LIDAR Sensors for Self-Driving Cars](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11391826/vehicle-lidar-sensor-calibration-system) — This patent describes a system for car factories to precisely adjust a vehicle's LIDAR sensors using special floor and wall targets, ensuring they accurately map the world for features like self-driving. - [How to Combine Wide-Angle LiDAR Depth with Standard Camera Images](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11543533/systems-and-methods-for-wide-angle-lidar-using-non-uniform-magnification-optics) — This patent describes a method for combining a wide-angle depth map from a LiDAR sensor, which has unevenly spaced pixels, with a standard camera image by first correcting the depth map's pixel distribution and then merging the two for a complete view.