Abstract: A parking assistance system for parking a vehicle in a parking garage includes a measuring sensor system, with at least one sensor which is arranged on at least one end of the vehicle, and which measures a contour of the parking garage. The parking assistance system further includes a steering control unit, which automatically steers the vehicle from a stopping point into a parking end position inside the parking garage.

Abstract: A driver assistance system for avoiding collisions of a vehicle with pedestrians, the system including a camera sensor and/or a beam sensor. When an object moving at a given speed on a pedestrian crossing is detected, the object is detected as being a pedestrian with a probability that is sufficiently high to output a warning to the driver, reducing the likelihood of a potential collision.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a method for calibrating a camera-based system of a vehicle (F), having a pane (S), in particular of a camera-based driver assistance system. A type of the pane (S), in particular the tinting thereof, is detected by way of the camera-based system.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method and an object detection device for analyzing objects in the environment and/or scenes in the environment. The object detection device includes a data processing and/or evaluation device. In the data processing and/or evaluation device, image data (xt) is evaluated on the basis of a Conditional Random Field (CRF) model and the CRF model provides additional object nodes (otn) which take into account information from an object detector.

Abstract: A method for a motor vehicle for the predictive classification of a future vehicle environment and its lighting conditions. To this end, a camera system is oriented with respect to a region ahead of the vehicle. A sequence of images is recorded. In a predefined central image detail, the change of brightness per unit of time and/or distance is determined and this is used to infer the environment ahead of the vehicle.

Abstract: A method for exposure control for a camera system in a motor vehicle is provided. The camera system records a sequence of images of the surroundings of the vehicle using an optimal exposure time. The optimal exposure time is predetermined depending on the brightness of the surroundings or on the brightness of individual objects in the image. If the optimal exposure time is longer than a predetermined threshold value, at least one intermediate image is recorded using a short predetermined exposure time, i.e. an exposure time shorter than the optimal exposure time. At least two driver assistance functions are executed on the basis of the image data of the camera system. The image data recorded using the optimal exposure time is used for a first driver assistance system and the image data recorded using the short exposure time is used for a second driver assistance system.

Abstract: A vehicle antenna unit for participation in vehicle-to-surroundings communication in accordance with the DSRC or ITS-G5 standard having an adhoc network antenna for sending and receiving in the region of 5.9 GHz, having a satellite antenna for receiving satellite locating signals and having driver elements, which are set up to send, bit by bit, and/or to receive data with the adhoc network antenna and the satellite antenna, and having a computation unit for conditioning the data. In order to allow the vehicle to participate in the vehicle-to-surroundings communication, the computation unit is set up to evaluate the satellite locating signals and for the purpose of independent participation by the vehicle antenna unit in the vehicle-to-surroundings communication.

Abstract: A driver assistance system for a motor vehicle has a surroundings sensor and an evaluation unit for evaluating the surroundings sensor data. The evaluation unit receives data from a positioning device. Furthermore, a reduced or limited subset of data taken from a digital roadmap is stored in a non-volatile memory, which is provided to the evaluation unit. The reduced data are selected to include only data relevant for the function(s) of the driver assistance system. Thereby the driver assistance system does not need to be connected for data transmission with a navigation system.

Abstract: A radar system for recording the environment of a motor vehicle includes at least two transmitter antennas for emitting transmission signals, one or more receiver antennas for receiving transmission signals that have been reflected by objects, and signal processing equipment for processing the received signals. The antennas are arranged so that a phase center of at least one receiver antenna, with regard to a spatial direction R, does not lie outside of phase centers of two transmitter antennas that are offset in this spatial direction. The signals received by this receiver antenna are separated according to the two signal portions respectively originating from these two transmitter antennas.

Abstract: A radar sensor includes a housing of radar-transmissive material, a circuit board in the housing, first and second antennas of several patch elements on the same or opposite surfaces of the circuit board, and a metal or metallized support supporting a rear surface of the circuit board. The first antenna has a beam axis that extends out through a front of the housing at an angle in a range from 45° to 90° relative to the circuit board plane. The sensor further includes a beam deflection structure arranged within the housing to deflect a beam axis of the second antenna out through the housing at an angle in a range from 0° to 45° relative to the circuit board plane.

Abstract: A method and a device for distinguishing between reflectors arranged on the roadside and vehicle lights and for identifying said reflectors and vehicle lights for use in an automatic light control system in a vehicle with a camera sensor oriented towards the surroundings of the vehicle. The method includes recording a sequence of images of the surroundings of the vehicle. Light spots are found and subjected to temporal tracking within the sequence of images. Afterwards, for each light spot, a decision is made whether the light source of the light spot is a vehicle light or a reflector. A statistical map for the entire camera image is determined from the position of the light spots found with the statistical map comprising regions that are predominantly occupied by reflectors and regions that are predominantly occupied by vehicles driving ahead or by oncoming vehicles.

Abstract: The invention relates to an optical module having a semiconductor element (4) with a surface that is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation and with an objective lens (1) for the projection of electromagnetic radiation onto the sensitive surface of the semiconductor element (4), in particular for the use thereof in motor vehicles. An additional optical element (11) is arranged in a defined partial volume in the space between the objective lens (1) and the sensitive surface of the semiconductor element (4) so that, by the additional optical element (11), a first distance range (8) is imaged in a first region of the sensitive surface of the semiconductor element (4) and a second distance range (9) is imaged in a second region of the visual range where the additional optical element (11) is not located.

Abstract: A device and a method for detecting motor vehicles and their approach angles by passive or active transponders which are provided on the motor vehicles is described, which can be triggered by a transceiver device to transfer information stored in the transponders. It is recommended that on a motor vehicle at least two transponders are arranged with a restricted emission angle range and a different emission direction, and that information suitable for identifying the motor vehicle is stored in the transponders.

Abstract: A method for detecting the course of a traffic lane, including the following steps: measuring structures of the traffic lane; evaluating the homogeneity of the measurements; and determining the course of the traffic lane on the basis of the evaluated homogeneity.

Abstract: A radar system for recording the environment of a motor vehicle includes transmission antennas for emitting transmission signals, receiver antennas for receiving transmission signals reflected by objects in the environment, and a signal processor for processing the received signals. The antennas are planar and are situated on a level surface. Received signals are acquired from different combinations of the transmitter and receiver antennas. In the signal processor, the angular position of objects in a spatial direction R is estimated from the received signals, based on recognition that the received signals from an individual object have different phase positions depending on the angular position of the object in the spatial direction R. Two of the transmitter and receiver antennas overlap in the spatial direction R without coinciding, by special arrangements or configurations of the transmitter and receiver antennas.

Abstract: A radar system transmits signals for recording the environment of a motor vehicle, and the signals are reflected back from objects in the environment. Received signals are acquired from different combinations of transmitter and receiver antennas of the system. With regard to a series of such antenna combinations having their respective phase centers ordered in a spatial direction R, the positions of the phase centers of the combinations vary periodically with the period length P in a spatial direction S that runs perpendicular to the spatial direction R. Signal processing circuitry makes conclusions about the position of an object in the spatial direction S, based on an evaluation that the received signals from the object have a phase portion that alternates with the period length P over the antenna combinations ordered as set forth above, depending on the angular position of the object in the spatial direction S.

Abstract: A method for determining at least one threshold value S for distinguishing, in the dark, between reflectors and vehicle lights that are recorded as light spots by a camera sensor oriented towards the surroundings of a vehicle. The camera sensor records a series of images of the surroundings of the vehicle. At least one light spot in the series of images is tracked. When the tracking of a light spot is completed, at least one parameter (for example the maximum intensity Imax of the light spot in the entire series of images, or the lifetime ? of the light spot) is determined from measured values, for example from the intensity of the light spot in each image. The threshold value S is then adapted to the determined parameter/s. The determined parameter value of the light spot is included in a frequency distribution of the parameter values from previously tracked light spots.

Abstract: A sensor device for detecting a motion state of a motor vehicle. The sensor device includes at least one laser unit having a light source for emitting coherent light which is transmitted in the direction of a roadway surface, and an interference detector which is designed to detect at least one measurement variable which characterizes interference between the light scattered at the surface and the light of the light source. The measurement variable represents a speed component of the sensor device and/or a distance between the sensor device and the roadway surface. The laser unit is coupled to an evaluation device which is designed to determine, from the measurement variable, at least one variable which characterizes the motion state of the vehicle, in particular a speed component of the center of gravity of the vehicle, a rotational angle or a rotation rate of the vehicle.

Abstract: A detector for identifying a road lane boundary using a digitalized optical image of the region in front of the vehicle. The detector includes a correlator configured to select the edges which are to be used for road lane estimation by searching for extreme values of convolution response, and to weight each convolution response by a weighting factor. A histogram analysis unit configured to group the extracted edges into pairs, and to determine a frequency distribution of the distances between two paired edges as a histogram, and to use said frequency distribution to determine the distances between two grouped edges forming a frequency peak or a frequency plateau in the histogram as nominal edge widths.

Abstract: A device is arranged to carry out a method for identifying traffic-relevant information in a moving vehicle, wherein image data of a visual sensor and map data of a navigation system are each pre-evaluated for the identification and the results of the pre-evaluation are combined and interpreted. The image and map data is scanned for traffic-relevant information and compacted to relevant image and map data in a first and second scene interpretations, and the relevant image and map data is supplied to a rule engine and to a state machine for interpreting the image and map data. The rule engine evaluates the image and map data and transmits an action to be executed to the state machine which carries out a transition in its state space including pre-defined states and outputs information which is assigned to the state or to the transition.