Warning of potential collision of an object with a stationary automobile's door

摘要

Raising an alert about a potential collision of an object 18 with a door 19 of a stationary vehicle 11 by monitoring a lateral rear space of the vehicle (e.g. using RADAR and ultrasonic sensors), said space having a predetermined width b (e.g. ¤3 m) and depth t (e.g. ¤35 m); detecting approaching object 18 within the lateral rear space; determining the objects distance and speed (4, Fig.1); calculating a warning distance as a function of the objects speed (5, Fig.1); and generating a warning signal in an interior space of the vehicle and on an exterior of the vehicle when the object distance is shorter than the warning distance (6, Fig.1). The exterior warning signal may be optical: e.g. indicators 14 or lamps 16 on a wing mirror 15. The interior warning signal may be acoustic: e.g. vehicle horn or an audible message.