Vision system for vehicle

[0001] The present application is a 371 national phase filing of PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/066571, filed Nov. 27, 2012, which claims the filing benefit of U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No. 61/650,667, filed May 23, 2012; Ser. No. 61/605,409, filed Mar. 1, 2012; Ser. No. 61/579,682, filed Dec. 23, 2011; Ser. No. 61/565,713, filed Dec. 1, 2011; and Ser. No. 61/563,965, filed Nov. 28, 2011, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, and the present application is a continuation-in-part of PCT/US2012/066570, filed Nov. 27, 2012, which claims the filing benefit of U.S. provisional applications. Ser. No. 61/605,409, file Mar. 1, 2012, and Ser. No. 61/563,965, filed Nov. 28, 2011.

[0002] The present invention relates to imaging systems or vision systems for vehicles.

[0003] Use of imaging sensors in vehicle imaging systems is common and known. Examples of such known systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,949,331; 5,670,935; and/or 5,550,677, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0004] The present invention provides a vision system or imaging system for a vehicle that utilizes one or more cameras to capture images exterior of the vehicle, and provides the communication/data signals, including camera data or image data that is processed and, responsive to such image processing, detects an object at or near the vehicle and in the path of travel of the vehicle, such as when the vehicle is backing up. The present invention transfers the intelligence from the camera to an image displaying device or image display or cluster, central display or head unit (later referred as head unit or HU) or to a mobile device wired or wireless connected or attached to- or plugged into the head unit (as an app). The data transfer rate can be enhanced by LVDS having raw data transmitted as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,979,536, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Optionally, the users may be served with dump rear cameras, with DAS software functions, running independent and remote from the camera, but not in another control device. Thus, a business model may be provided that sells an app, not the hardware, to the end users or consumers.

[0005] According to an aspect of the present invention, a vision system for a vehicle includes at least one camera or image sensor disposed at a vehicle and having a field of view exterior of the vehicle, and a display device operable to display images for viewing by a driver of the vehicle. The camera provides almost raw image data to a display device and has a control channel for a data line, and wherein a graphic engine or image processing runs as a routine at the display device.

[0006] These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of the present invention will become apparent upon review of the following specification in conjunction with the drawings.

[0077] A driver assist system and/or vision system and/or object detection system and/or alert system may operate to capture images exterior of the vehicle and process the captured image data to detect objects at or near the vehicle and in the predicted path of the vehicle, such as to assist a driver of the vehicle in maneuvering the vehicle in a rearward direction. The object detection may utilize detection and analysis of moving vectors representative of objects detected in the field of view of the vehicle camera, in order to determine which detected objects are objects of interest to the driver of the vehicle, such as when the driver of the vehicle undertakes a reversing maneuver.

[0078] Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depicted therein, a vehicle 10 includes an imaging system or vision system 12 that includes one or more imaging sensors or cameras (such as a rearward facing imaging sensor or camera 14a and/or a forwardly facing camera 14b at the front (or at the windshield) of the vehicle, and/or a sidewardly/rearwardly facing camera 14c, 14b at the sides of the vehicle), which capture images exterior of the vehicle, with the cameras having a lens for focusing images at or onto an imaging array or imaging plane of the camera (FIG. 1). The vision system 12 is operable to process image data captured by the cameras and may provide displayed images at a display device 16 for viewing by the driver of the vehicle. Optionally, the vision system may process image data to detect objects, such as objects to the rear of the subject or equipped vehicle during a reversing maneuver, or such as approaching or following vehicles or vehicles at a side lane adjacent to the subject or equipped vehicle or the like. Optionally, the object detection may utilize detection and analysis of moving vectors representative of objects detected in the field of view of the vehicle camera, in order to determine which detected objects are objects of interest to the driver of the vehicle, such as when the driver of the vehicle undertakes a reversing maneuver (such as by utilizing aspects of the systems described in U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No. 61/605,409, filed Mar. 1, 2012; and Ser. No. 61/563,965, filed Nov. 28, 2011, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0079] Vehicle vision systems typically use sophisticated image processing algorithms. For example, either the algorithm runs on a hardware which is integrated to a vision camera or the algorithm runs on an external control device collecting and processing the incoming camera raw data, and then sends a processed image data stream to a display device, cluster or head unit. Vehicle displays vehicle vision systems may be provided at multi-media head units (such as by utilizing aspects of the mirror assemblies described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,937,667, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety), and may process several input sources, such that processing power is adapted accordingly. Optionally, a system may visualize and control the apps running on a mobile infotainment device or mobile phone which is connected to or in communication with the head unit, either wirelessly (near field communication, BLUETOOTH®, and the like) or plugged in. It is known to control the app interactively and depending on the driving situation.

[0080] The present invention provides a system that delocates the computing load from the camera or separate image control to the head unit or conjuncted or connected mobile device which typically come with high processing performance and are embedded into the display or head unit environment anyway. The system may utilize aspects of the systems described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,697,027 and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/377,673, filed Dec. 12, 2011, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0081] Vision system camera electronics are preferably developed to cost efficient. Due to lower development costs, vision camera systems are typically uniformed as much as possible to lower the number of variants. Also, the complexity is preferably reduced or limited or held as low as possible. Every electronic part that is integrated into cameras produces heat and takes precious space. Simplifying and standardizing of cameras and their interfaces enables use of modern embedding methods, which reduces system costs and enables the shrinking of the camera, which provide customer benefits.

[0082] A different or alternative approach is to eliminate dedicated vision system control devices by transferring its functions (intelligence) either into the (smart) cameras or by transferring its functions to the end devices as like the head unit, the (display) cluster, or other display device. By that also the IOs and controls (such as, for example, invasive assistant systems) may be transferred/placed on those devices.

[0083] For reducing the cabling costs, there is the trend to use busses/data backbones onto several sensing and actuator devices attached. Some systems may be able to request data direct from another device on the backbone without interaction of the main unit (head unit). This requires at least bus interfaces on some or all nodes and maybe also processors and may require a sophisticated state and priority handling across the devices.

[0084] Vehicle development cycles are typically quite long compared to the rush changing infotainment industry. Because of this, infotainment and vehicle driver assistant and safety systems (DAS) outdate quite rapidly. The appearance and functionality is often already a step behind after-market systems when a vehicle inherent or vehicle-based system enters the market. To counter these circumstances, it would be desirable to vehicle manufacturers to keep (DAS) systems up to date.

[0085] The present invention provides an economized vehicle vision system architecture that reduces the cost and complexity of the vehicle camera and vision system.

[0086] (1) For lowering the number of variants of different car vision camera systems, the inventive solution is to not implement the electronics in a camera or a separate image processing device and may transfer the graphic engine to the head up unit. By avoiding this, the camera electronics can be reduced to the main functionalities for image capturing and own supply power control. Preferably, a simple data transfer interface finds use to send the camera's (raw) data to the head unit (or other image giving/processing end device). On the head unit or other image giving/processing end device the graphic engine (or the image processing) is processed. Other image giving/processing devices may comprise a mirror display within or outside of the passenger compartment, such as a mirror display at the top center region (such as a video mirror utilizing aspects of the displays described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,855,755 and/or 7,777,611, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties). There it may be sufficient to place image processing tasks, and the hardware and software, when it comes to comparably low sophisticated light balancing, distortion and stitching tasks, may be fed by comparably low performance rear and side cameras. The early state of the art was to capture images and send it over data lines to a display, typically via an analog signal such as an NTSC signal or the like. This was done without controlling or loop controlling the camera. The solution of the present invention also incorporates a control line running from the head unit to the camera. A loop controlling of the camera and the graphic engine (or the image processing) is realized by that. The controlling is necessary for light and color balancing (such as described in PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/063520, filed Nov. 5, 2012, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) and gain control. Also, the gamma correction may be controlled by the back channel. Other control commands may by for sleep/wake up/idle, low high resolution switching, reduced area selection, compression control or triggering a data dump of intrinsic calibration data (such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,979,536, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).

[0087] (2) Optionally, a continuative idea of the solution of the present invention is to realize the image data stream from the camera to the head unit (or other end device) on a data encoder chip, preferably by a Low Voltage Differential Signal (LVDS) or Ethernet interface, preferably using a mono coaxial cable and Ethernet encoder chips (in the camera and in the head unit). The Data stream would be mono-directional (such as by utilizing aspects of U.S. provisional application 61/537,279, filed Sep. 21, 2011, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).

[0088] (3) Optionally, a further continuative idea is that the control line (HU-Cam) may be realized by a CAN/LIN/other car bus interface or just by a single signal line/wire.

[0089] (4) Optionally, and as an alternative to (3), above, the control signal may be transferred via the data encoder chip, preferably by LVDS/Ethernet (data line from (2), above) so the interfaces and data stream are bi-directional.

[0090] (5) As solution for the graphic engine (or the image processing) (from (1), above) running on the head unit for a mono or multi camera system, processing the camera control, image dewarp, enhancing, adding overlays, DAS functionality and the like, the software could be running on a hardware added to the head unit.

[0091] (6) A continuative idea from (5), above, is to have the head unit connected to a phone or communication device and to one or more cameras (see FIG. 29A).

[0092] (7) As a continuative idea to (6), above, the image processing software is running primarily on the head unit. The image processing software becomes updated from a remote source or device by transferring a data container containing an updated version of the image processing software. The container is a frame which is made individually for each vehicle communication environment. The content is preferably vehicle type and manufacturer independent, so the content may be substantially standardized to keep the variety low. Preferably, the communication device enables an app to carry the container. The container may also be transported by an audio (voice) channel, SMS, MMS, DSRC, near field communication, via a pier to pier protocol and/or the like (see FIG. 30). An alternative is to provide updates by a data medium, a removable cable or an OEM's service interface, either connected to a vehicle's port, a head unit's port, a communication device's port or a vision device's port.

[0093] (8) In cases where the hardware set up allows bidirectional communication between the head unit and the camera(s) and a phone or communication or between the communication device and the camera(s) directly, there is a continuative idea to (7), above, which may update the camera(s) image processing software by remote transferring data containers via the communication channels mentioned in (7) or by a common bus, or by an OEM service interface within a data container, from the communication device over the head unit to the camera. This may occur at once or step by step. There may be a part of the image processing software at the head unit, and this may be updated as well with the same or a different data container, at the same or another time (see FIG. 31).

[0094] (9) An addition solution to (7) and (8), above, is to have data security protocols in place making sure no data in the head unit, camera(s) or communication device or conjuncted system's software becomes overwritten or corrupted by wrong versions or by draft versions, or unauthorized versions, or by incomplete data sets or incompatible data sets, or by pirated versions or data sets, or virulent data sets, and/or the like. This task may also be managed by the data container's functionality.

[0095] (10a) The data of (9) preferably have been authorized by an application provider or distributor, the camera or image system software provider or distributer or the according OEM in compliance to the local or world wide legal or OEM's safety standards and testing procedures for safety relevant software and non safety relevant software, whichever may apply for the particular application.

[0096] (10b) As an additional or alternative solution, the image processing may be done in part on the mobile device or cellular phone or smart phone and in part on the head unit or other display device and/or in part in a dedicated image processing unit (see FIG. 29M).

[0097] As an additional aspect to the inventive solution, one of the systems described above may supplement or substitute the vehicle inherent rear camera's image input by an attached (aftermarket) non vehicle inherent camera image. An exemplary use case is shown in FIG. 39, where a trailer camera 14a′, which is attached to the rear of a trailer 20, and which camera's image is sent to the vehicle vision system or a non vehicle display and/or communication device (such as a cell phone's display or the like) via wireless communication (such as, for example, via a Bluetooth communication or via a WLAN or NTSC communication or the like). The architecture may be similar to those shown in FIGS. 29B, 29E and 29G-M. In the cases where the vehicle vision system receives the wireless camera image, the vision system is displaying the trailer camera's image as well. The system may switch to use or display the image of the vehicle rear camera 14a, such as for (machine vision) trailer (side) blind spot detection and trailer angle detection. The area where usually the rear camera is placed within top view (mode) may be filled with the image from the wireless camera so as to be seen in the display (FIG. 40). Since the wireless trailer camera 14a′ may not be calibrated and some area between the vehicle rear camera 14a and the trailer camera 14a′ may not be captured by any camera there may be voids or black bars in the top view images between the areas encompassed by the vehicle inherent cameras and the area encompassed by trailer camera. The trailer camera may be acquired with the trailer, or may be purchased independently (aftermarket) and then attached to the trailer or may be an optional delivery content from the OEM distributer.

[0098] (11) Optionally, the system may use layer based models in the communication architecture between head units, actuators, sensors, communication devices, image processing and/or driver assistant devices, and mobile phones, and may use such layer based models in the driver assistant and safety vision system's cameras this might be new (see FIG. 32). The devices may be interconnected by one or more data lines, busses or backbones (see FIG. 29L), or may be interconnected over other devices and or gateways (see FIG. 29M). The proposed model contains an “Application layer” in which the application's semaphores run, a “Middle (soft-)ware” (MW) which adapts to the operation system and provides the communication between the application components, an “Operation System Abstraction Layer” (OSAL) which provides the abstracted base services of the Operation system as like LINUX which has configurable tasks and events and controls the communication behavior. Also, there is a “Run time operation system” (RTOS) which is the operation system itself and the “Board support package” (BSP) which adapts the operation system to the specific hardware.

[0099] (12) The present invention provides for DAS systems to establish a virtual communication layer, which expands over several devices having the same layer structure, and is connected via the communication hardware physically. The application communication layer communicates via virtual communication layer to other applications which are located on the same or other devices in a manner as if all applications would be on the local device (see FIGS. 33 and 34). Graphic capturing or processing applications might connect to each other by this. The hardware link may comprise removable ports (mentioned in (7), above), data buses or channels, such as CAN, LIN, LVSD/Ethernet, Bluetooth, NFC (Near Field Communication), and the like.

[0100] (13) Using the layer model from (12), above, a continuative idea is to transport data containers (from 7) from one device to the other.

[0101] (14) The virtual communication layer may have security tasks as well for doing that.

[0102] (15) Over these layers (from (12), above) there may become image data, camera control, parameters from sensors and other devices, driver assistant controls exchanged.

[0103] (16) Optionally, and as an alternative to (5), above, the graphic engine (or the image processing) of a mono or multi camera car vision system could be part of the head unit's software in full extend or partially, so a routine which preferably is served in real time may be provided. The processing performance and architecture of the head unit and peripheral interfaces has to be chosen or selected accordingly.

[0104] (17) Optionally, and as an alternative solution to (5) and (16), above, the head unit may be conjuncted to or connected to or in communication with a mobile device, such as, for example, a mobile infotainment device or a mobile phone. The graphic engine (or the image processing) may be running as an ‘app’ (application) on the mobile device and processing camera images which are not taken by the mobile phone's cameras but preferably taken or captured by a fixed mounted car vision camera or cameras, a wireless or wired aftermarket camera or cameras or a USB camera or cameras plugged into any USB port that is part of the car integrated bus architecture or other car based plug in bus.

[0105] (18) Optionally, and as an additional feature to (17), above, the app used in the mobile device is certified by according certification boards of governmental organs or (mobile device) companies and/or OEMs.

[0106] (19) Optionally, and as an additional feature to (17) or (18), above, the vision system's additional functions (value added) may be provided separate to the camera with the software installed on the head unit or on the app conjuncted to the head unit or from a cloud server or the like.

[0107] (20) Optionally, and as an additional solution to (19), above, the software (SW) or app may additionally compute additional parameters, and may consider or take into account various parameters, such as the steering angle of the vehicle or the like. This might be used for processing graphical steering aid overlays to a rear cameras displayed images while backing up the vehicle or for other driver assistant systems overlays.

[0108] (21) Optionally, and as an additional solution to (19) or (20), above, the SW (app) may additionally compute or process more than one camera, and also other driver assistant system sources like ultrasound sensors, Radar sensors, infrared or visual cameras, Lidar or Laser sensors.

[0109] (22) Optionally, and as an additional solution to (19) to (21), above, the app may not just visualize driver assistant functions, but may also control driving interventions or active warnings, such as haptic alerts or the like, such as, for example, steering wheel vibrations or foot pedal vibrations or the like.

[0110] (23) Optionally, and as an additional solution to (19) to (22), above, the app may be adaptable for being updated, debugged, licensed, remote controlled, purchased, sold on ‘app-stores’ or the like, leased, time limited tried, reimbursed when given back, transferred, and/or the like. Also, the camera or vision system calibration may be running on the app or as an app.

[0111] (24) Optionally, and as a consecutive solution to (4), above, the LVDS/Ethernet (or other bus) driver chip may share one device with the imager. Thus, the present invention may provide a nearly monolytic assembly.

[0112] (25) Optionally, and as a consecutive solution to (24), above, and instead of having a lens holder as a separate component, the optics of the camera or imager may be incorporated to the compact, monolytic design of the imager device. The lens assembly or optics may comprise one lens or lens optic or optical element, or a plurality of lenses or lens optics, such as many small ones. So called wafer level cameras are state of the art in automotive applications but also incorporating the bus driver is new to such automotive camera applications.

[0113] (26) Optionally, any kind of automotive camera including wafer level cameras from (25) above may comprise a tunable liquid (micro-) lens capable to adapt the focal length of the lens. Optionally, the viewing direction may also be tunable by a micro electronic mechanical (MEM) or other mechanical element, either by turning the camera or a mirror that the camera has in its optical path. Such an assembly may be capable to focus on specific details or objects of interest within the field of view to enhance the performance of the object detection of the driver assistant system. Instead of using wide angle cameras (such as like fish eye lens cameras and the like), a focus tunable camera with a generally longer focus band may be used. The full area may be detectable by ‘scanning’ through all of the extensions of the mechanics' displacement angles. By that the same area as that provided by a fisheye lens may be covered but with the ability to perceive the area much better and evenly. The focus point to objects in the area or field of view may be a degree to determine or at least to estimate the distance between the focused object and the camera's imager (as like the eye of a chameleon does). For example, an exterior viewing camera with a relatively narrow field of view (for example, a horizontal field of view of about 40 degrees) can be mechanically moved rapidly so that its field of view scans or senses or rasters across a wider field of view (for example, a horizontal field of view of about 200 degrees). If this mechanical motion of the principal viewing direction of the subject camera is executed fast enough (for example, if an entire scan can be executed in about 30 ms or lower, video captured by the rastering camera, as displayed to the driver on an in-cabin video screen, will be usable to that driver as the rate of movement of the rastering camera exceeds the rate at which the eye perceives.

[0114] Also, if the focus of the camera can be varied, this can be used to estimate or determine distance to an object, such as discussed below. For illustrative purposes, assume that the focus-variable lens has a five meter focal point/length and assume that a person is standing 10 meters away from the subject lens/camera. The image of the person as captured by that camera will be out of focus. Then, as the focal point/length is progressively increased to six meters, then seven meters and then eight meters and then nine meters, the person ten meters away from the camera remains out of focus and comes into focus only when the variable-focus lens is set to have an about ten meter focal point/length. Thus, the distance from the camera can be determined or estimated based on varying the focal point/length of the lens and determining when the imaged object comes into focus in the captured images.

[0115] The camera or sensor may comprise any suitable camera or sensor. Optionally, the camera may comprise a “smart camera” that includes the imaging sensor array and associated circuitry and image processing circuitry and electrical connectors and the like as part of a camera module, such as by utilizing aspects of the vision systems described above and shown in FIGS. 41-65.

[0116] The vehicle may include any type of sensor or sensors, such as imaging sensors or radar sensors or lidar sensors or ultrasonic sensors or the like. The imaging sensor or camera may capture image data for image processing and may comprise any suitable camera or sensing device, such as, for example, an array of a plurality of photosensor elements arranged in at least 640 columns and 480 rows (at least a 640×480 imaging array), with a respective lens focusing images onto respective portions of the array. The photosensor array may comprise a plurality of photosensor elements arranged in a photosensor array having rows and columns. The logic and control circuit of the imaging sensor may function in any known manner, and the image processing and algorithmic processing may comprise any suitable means for processing the images and/or image data. For example, the vision system and/or processing and/or camera and/or circuitry may utilize aspects described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,005,974; 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 5,796,094; 5,949,331; 6,222,447; 6,302,545; 6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,523,964; 6,611,202; 6,201,642; 6,690,268; 6,717,610; 6,757,109; 6,802,617; 6,806,452; 6,822,563; 6,891,563; 6,946,978; 7,859,565; 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 6,636,258; 7,145,519; 7,161,616; 7,230,640; 7,248,283; 7,295,229; 7,301,466; 7,592,928; 7,881,496; 7,720,580; 7,038,577; 6,882,287; 5,929,786 and/or 5,786,772, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2010/047256, filed Aug. 31, 2010 and published Mar. 10, 2011 as International Publication No. WO 2011/028686 and/or International Publication No. WO 2010/099416, published Sep. 2, 2010, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US10/25545, filed Feb. 26, 2010 and published Sep. 2, 2010 as International Publication No. WO 2010/099416, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/048800, filed Jul. 30, 2012, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/048110, filed Jul. 25, 2012, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/CA2012/000378, filed Apr. 25, 2012, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/056014, filed Sep. 19, 2012, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US12/57007, filed Sep. 25, 2012, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/061548, filed Oct. 24, 2012, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/062906, filed Nov. 1, 2012, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/063520, filed Nov. 5, 2012, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/064980, filed Nov. 14, 2012, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/660,306, filed Oct. 25, 2012; Ser. No. 13/653,577, filed Oct. 17, 2012; and/or Ser. No. 13/534,657, filed Jun. 27, 2012, and/or U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No. 61/710,924, filed Oct. 8, 2012; Ser. No. 61/696,416, filed Sep. 4, 2012; Ser. No. 61/682,995, filed Aug. 14, 2012; Ser. No. 61/682,486, filed Aug. 13, 2012; Ser. No. 61/680,883, filed Aug. 8, 2012; Ser. No. 61/678,375, filed Aug. 1, 2012; Ser. No. 61/676,405, filed Jul. 27, 2012; Ser. No. 61/666,146, filed Jun. 29, 2012; Ser. No. 61/653,665, filed May 31, 2012; Ser. No. 61/653,664, filed May 31, 2012; Ser. No. 61/648,744, filed May 18, 2012; Ser. No. 61/624,507, filed Apr. 16, 2012; Ser. No. 61/616,126, filed Mar. 27, 2012; Ser. No. 61/615,410, filed Mar. 26, 2012; Ser. No. 61/613,651, filed Mar. 21, 2012; Ser. No. 61/607,229, filed Mar. 6, 2012; Ser. No. 61/602,878, filed Feb. 24, 2012; Ser. No. 61/602,876, filed Feb. 24, 2012; Ser. No. 61/600,205, filed Feb. 17, 2012; Ser. No. 61/588,833, filed Jan. 20, 2012; Ser. No. 61/583,381, filed Jan. 5, 2012; Ser. No. 61/570,017, filed Dec. 13, 2011; Ser. No. 61/568,791, filed Dec. 9, 2011; Ser. No. 61/567,446, filed Dec. 6, 2011; and/or Ser. No. 61/567,150, filed Dec. 6, 2011, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The system may communicate with other communication systems via any suitable means, such as by utilizing aspects of the systems described in PCT Application No. PCT/US10/038,477, filed Jun. 14, 2010, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/202,005, filed Aug. 17, 2011, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0117] The imaging device and control and image processor and any associated illumination source, if applicable, may comprise any suitable components, and may utilize aspects of the cameras and vision systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,877,897; 6,498,620; 5,670,935; 5,796,094; 6,396,397; 6,806,452; 6,690,268; 7,005,974; 7,123,168; 7,004,606; 6,946,978; 7,038,577; 6,353,392; 6,320,176; 6,313,454; and 6,824,281, and/or International Publication No. WO 2010/099416, published Sep. 2, 2010, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US10/47256, filed Aug. 31, 2010 and published Mar. 10, 2011 as International Publication No. WO 2011/028686, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/508,840, filed Jul. 24, 2009, and published Jan. 28, 2010 as U.S. Pat. Publication No. US 2010-0020170, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/048110, filed Jul. 25, 2012, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/534,657, filed Jun. 27, 2012, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The camera or cameras may comprise any suitable cameras or imaging sensors or camera modules, and may utilize aspects of the cameras or sensors described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/091,359, filed Apr. 24, 2008 and published Oct. 1, 2009 as U.S. Publication No. US-2009-0244361, and/or Ser. No. 13/260,400, filed Sep. 26, 2011, and/or U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,965,336 and/or 7,480,149, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The imaging array sensor may comprise any suitable sensor, and may utilize various imaging sensors or imaging array sensors or cameras or the like, such as a CMOS imaging array sensor, a CCD sensor or other sensors or the like, such as the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 5,760,962; 5,715,093; 5,877,897; 6,922,292; 6,757,109; 6,717,610; 6,590,719; 6,201,642; 6,498,620; 5,796,094; 6,097,023; 6,320,176; 6,559,435; 6,831,261; 6,806,452; 6,396,397; 6,822,563; 6,946,978; 7,339,149; 7,038,577; 7,004,606; and/or 7,720,580, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/534,632, filed May 11, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,965,336; and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2008/076022, filed Sep. 11, 2008 and published Mar. 19, 2009 as International Publication No. WO/2009/036176, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2008/078700, filed Oct. 3, 2008 and published Apr. 9, 2009 as International Publication No. WO/2009/046268, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0118] The camera module and circuit chip or board and imaging sensor may be implemented and operated in connection with various vehicular vision-based systems, and/or may be operable utilizing the principles of such other vehicular systems, such as a vehicle headlamp control system, such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,094; 6,097,023; 6,320,176; 6,559,435; 6,831,261; 7,004,606; 7,339,149; and/or 7,526,103, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, a rain sensor, such as the types disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,353,392; 6,313,454; 6,320,176; and/or 7,480,149, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, a vehicle vision system, such as a forwardly, sidewardly or rearwardly directed vehicle vision system utilizing principles disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 5,949,331; 6,222,447; 6,302,545; 6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,523,964; 6,611,202; 6,201,642; 6,690,268; 6,717,610; 6,757,109; 6,802,617; 6,806,452; 6,822,563; 6,891,563; 6,946,978; and/or 7,859,565, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, a trailer hitching aid or tow check system, such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,005,974, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, a reverse or sideward imaging system, such as for a lane change assistance system or lane departure warning system or for a blind spot or object detection system, such as imaging or detection systems of the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,720,580; 7,038,577; 5,929,786 and/or 5,786,772, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/239,980, filed Sep. 30, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,881,496, and/or U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No. 60/628,709, filed Nov. 17, 2004; Ser. No. 60/614,644, filed Sep. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/618,686, filed Oct. 14, 2004; Ser. No. 60/638,687, filed Dec. 23, 2004, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, a video device for internal cabin surveillance and/or video telephone function, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 6,690,268; and/or 7,370,983, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, a traffic sign recognition system, a system for determining a distance to a leading or trailing vehicle or object, such as a system utilizing the principles disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,396,397 and/or 7,123,168, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, and/or the like.

[0119] Optionally, the circuit board or chip may include circuitry for the imaging array sensor and or other electronic accessories or features, such as by utilizing compass-on-a-chip or EC driver-on-a-chip technology and aspects such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,451 and/or U.S. Pat. No. 7,480,149; and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0061008, and/or Ser. No. 12/578,732, filed Oct. 14, 2009, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0120] Optionally, the vision system may include a display for displaying images captured by one or more of the imaging sensors for viewing by the driver of the vehicle while the driver is normally operating the vehicle. Optionally, for example, the vision system may include a video display device disposed at or in the interior rearview mirror assembly of the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the video mirror display systems described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268 and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/333,337, filed Dec. 21, 2011, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The video mirror display may comprise any suitable devices and systems and optionally may utilize aspects of the compass display systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,370,983; 7,329,013; 7,308,341; 7,289,037; 7,249,860; 7,004,593; 4,546,551; 5,699,044; 4,953,305; 5,576,687; 5,632,092; 5,677,851; 5,708,410; 5,737,226; 5,802,727; 5,878,370; 6,087,953; 6,173,508; 6,222,460; 6,513,252; and/or 6,642,851, and/or European patent application, published Oct. 11, 2000 under Publication No. EP 0 1043566, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0061008, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Optionally, the video mirror display screen or device may be operable to display images captured by a rearward viewing camera of the vehicle during a reversing maneuver of the vehicle (such as responsive to the vehicle gear actuator being placed in a reverse gear position or the like) to assist the driver in backing up the vehicle, and optionally may be operable to display the compass heading or directional heading character or icon when the vehicle is not undertaking a reversing maneuver, such as when the vehicle is being driven in a forward direction along a road (such as by utilizing aspects of the display system described in PCT Application No. PCT/US2011/056295, filed Oct. 14, 2011 and published Apr. 19, 2012 as International Publication No. WO 2012/051500, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).

[0121] Optionally, the vision system (utilizing the forward facing camera and a rearward facing camera and other cameras disposed at the vehicle with exterior fields of view) may be part of or may provide a display of a top-down view or birds-eye view system of the vehicle or a surround view at the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the vision systems described in PCT Application No. PCT/US10/25545, filed Feb. 26, 2010 and published on Sep. 2, 2010 as International Publication No. WO 2010/099416, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US10/47256, filed Aug. 31, 2010 and published Mar. 10, 2011 as International Publication No. WO 2011/028686, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2011/062834, filed Dec. 1, 2011 and published Jun. 7, 2012 as International Publication No. WO2012/075250, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/048993, filed Jul. 31, 2012, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US11/62755, filed Dec. 1, 2011 and published Jun. 7, 2012 as International Publication No. WO 2012-075250, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/CA2012/000378, filed Apr. 25, 2012, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/333,337, filed Dec. 21, 2011, and/or U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No. 61/615,410, filed Mar. 26, 2012; Ser. No. 61/588,833, filed Jan. 20, 2012; Ser. No. 61/570,017, filed Dec. 13, 2011; and/or Ser. No. 61/568,791, filed Dec. 9, 2011, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0122] Optionally, a video mirror display may be disposed rearward of and behind the reflective element assembly and may comprise a display such as the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,530,240; 6,329,925; 7,855,755; 7,626,749; 7,581,859; 7,446,650; 7,370,983; 7,338,177; 7,274,501; 7,255,451; 7,195,381; 7,184,190; 5,668,663; 5,724,187 and/or 6,690,268, and/or in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/091,525, filed Apr. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,855,755; Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0061008; and/or Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The display is viewable through the reflective element when the display is activated to display information. The display element may be any type of display element, such as a vacuum fluorescent (VF) display element, a light emitting diode (LED) display element, such as an organic light emitting diode (OLED) or an inorganic light emitting diode, an electroluminescent (EL) display element, a liquid crystal display (LCD) element, a video screen display element or backlit thin film transistor (TFT) display element or the like, and may be operable to display various information (as discrete characters, icons or the like, or in a multi-pixel manner) to the driver of the vehicle, such as passenger side inflatable restraint (PSIR) information, tire pressure status, and/or the like. The mirror assembly and/or display may utilize aspects described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,184,190; 7,255,451; 7,446,924 and/or 7,338,177, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The thicknesses and materials of the coatings on the substrates of the reflective element may be selected to provide a desired color or tint to the mirror reflective element, such as a blue colored reflector, such as is known in the art and such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,910,854; 6,420,036; and/or 7,274,501, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0123] Optionally, the display or displays and any associated user inputs may be associated with various accessories or systems, such as, for example, a tire pressure monitoring system or a passenger air bag status or a garage door opening system or a telematics system or any other accessory or system of the mirror assembly or of the vehicle or of an accessory module or console of the vehicle, such as an accessory module or console of the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,289,037; 6,877,888; 6,824,281; 6,690,268; 6,672,744; 6,386,742; and 6,124,886, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0124] Changes and modifications to the specifically described embodiments may be carried out without departing from the principles of the present invention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims as interpreted according to the principles of patent law.