What is claimed is:
1. A range selection control device of a shift-by-wire type automatic transmission of a motor vehicle, comprising:
a range selector that issues a range selection command signal representative of an operation range of the transmission meeting with a driver’s intention, the operating range being at least one of P(parking)-range, R(reverse)-range, N(neutral)-range and D(drive)-range;
an actuator that causes the transmission to assume a certain operation range when receiving an instruction signal; and
a control unit that issues the instruction signal by processing the range selection command signal, so that the transmission is able to assume an operation range that meets with the driver’s intention,
wherein the control unit is configured to carry out:
when the range selector fails to issue the range selection command signal, presuming a range selection intended by the driver based on a previous operation of the range selector; and
based on the presumption, causing through the actuator the transmission to actually carry out at least one of first and second range selection operations, the first range selection operation meeting with the driver’s intention and the second range selection operation being to maintain the operation range that has been kept just before the failure of the range selector.
2. A range selection control device as claimed in claim 1, in which the control unit is further configured to presume the driver’s intended range selection based on both the operation range that has been kept just before the failure of the range selector and a direction in which the range selector has been moved just before the range selector failure.
3. A range selection control device as claimed in claim 1, in which the control unit is further configured to carry out:
upon presuming that the range selection intended by the driver would be a range switch from one of P-range and N-range to D-range with the range selector being in failure, maintaining one of P-range and N-range.
4. A range selection control device as claimed in claim 1, in which the control unit is further configured to carry out:
upon presuming that the range selection intended by the driver would be a range change from D-range to one of P-range and N-range with the range selector being in failure, effecting actually the range change to one of P-range and N-range.
5. A range selection control device as claimed in claim 4, in which the control unit is further configured to carry out:
upon presuming that the range selection intended by the driver would be a range change from D-range to P-range with the range selector being in failure, determining whether or not a speed of the vehicle is within a safe parking speed range that permits a safe parking lock of the transmission;
effecting actually the range change to P-range when the vehicle speed is determined within the safe parking speed range; and
effecting actually the range change to N-range when the vehicle speed is over the safe parking speed range.
6. A range selection control device as claimed in claim 4, in which the control unit is further configured to carry out:
upon presuming that the range selection intended by the driver would be a range change from D-range to N-range with the range selector being in failure, determining whether or not a speed of the vehicle is within a lower speed range that needs no engine braking,
effecting actually the range change to N-range when the vehicle speed is determined within the lower speed range; and
maintaining D-range when the vehicle speed is determined higher than the lower speed range.
7. In a range selection control device of a shift-by-wire type automatic transmission of a motor vehicle having a range selector that issues a range selection command signal representative of an operation range of the transmission meeting with a driver’s intention, the operating range being at least one of P(parking)-range, R(reverse)-range, N(neutral)-range and D(drive)-range, and actuator that causes the transmission to assume a certain operation range when receiving an instruction signal, the instruction signal being produced by processing the range selection command signal, so that the transmission is able to assume an operation range that meets with the driver’s intention,
a method of operating the range selection control device comprising:
when the range selector fails to issue the range selection command signal, presuming a range selection intended by the driver based on a previous operation of the range selector; and
based on the presumption, causing through the actuator the transmission to actually carry out at least one of first and second range selection operations, the first range selection being meeting with the driver’s intention and the second range selection operation being to maintain the operation range that has been kept just before the failure of the range selector.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A device for a motor vehicle, comprising:
a first camera and a second camera, wherein the first camera and the second camera are configured to at least one of (a) function as a stereo camera for at least a part of a recording of each of the first and second cameras to be simultaneously of a same scene, and (b) produce different images for a same imaging stimulus; and
a processor configured to:
perform a traffic sign recognition function based on color values of a color image obtained from the first camera and without regard to output of the second camera;
perform a night vision support function based on an image obtained from the second camera and without regard to output of the first camera;
convert the color image obtained from the first camera into a grayscale image; and
perform a driver assistance function, that includes at least one of object recognition, carriageway edge recognition, and lane recognition, based on a combination of the grayscale image and the image obtained from the second camera.
2. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the first camera and the second camera are configured to produce different images for the same imaging stimulus.
3. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the first camera and the second camera are configured to function as the stereo camera for the at least the part of the recording of each of the first and second cameras to be simultaneously of a same scene.
4. The device as recited in claim 2, wherein a light sensitivity of the first camera is higher than a light sensitivity of the second camera.
5. The device as recited in claim 2, wherein the second camera is a black-and-white camera.
6. The device as recited in claim 2, wherein the first and second cameras differ from each other with respect to at least one of a focal width of a lens, an aperture of a lens, a coating on a lens, and an optical filter of the camera.
7. The device as recited in claim 2, wherein the first and second cameras differ with respect to at least one of an image sensor technology, a spectral sensitivity, and a spectral sensitivity of at least one color channel.
8. The device as recited in claim 2, wherein the first and second cameras differ from each other with respect to at least one of a resolution of the camera interface, at least one exposure parameter, and an image rate.
9. The device as recited in claim 2, wherein the device is configured in such a way that at least one of an image of the first camera and an image of the second camera is processed with regard to at least one image property so that images of the first and second cameras are almost the same with respect to the at least one image property after processing.
10. The device as recited in claim 9, wherein the image property is at least one of a horizontal geometric resolution of the image, a vertical geometric resolution of the image, a gray-scale value resolution of the image, and an image brightness.
11. The device as recited in claim 2, wherein the first and second cameras differ from each other with respect to at least one of a pixel size, a pixel geometry, a horizontal geometric resolution, and a vertical geometric resolution.
12. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the second camera is not adapted for producing color images.