Collision predicting and avoidance device for moving vehicles

Claim 1

Apparatus for avoiding collision between a moving vehicle and an object moving in a trajectory relative to the vehicle, comprising: at least one transmitter mounted on the vehicle for transmitting a scanning beam of pulsed energy, the beam scanning a sector defining at least the space forward of the vehicle; at least one receiver connected with said transmitter for receiving any echoes of the pulses from said object; a clock for producing timing pulses triggering said transmitter in synchronism with the timing pulses; a ranging device having inputs connected to said clock and said receiver for measuring the difference in time between the transmitted pulses and the respective echoes, said difference being proportional to the range to said object; scanning means connected to said transmitter for directing the beam to scan said sector; a direction device coupled to said scanning means for sensing the instant direction of said beam for the pulse transmitted; a computer having inputs connected to said ranging device, said clock, and said direction device for computing for each echo received a set of coordinates of a vector to said object, means for computing the probability of a collision with said object on the basis of the last three sets of said coordinates defining a circle potentially intersecting said trajectory; and an anuciator connected to the output of said computer having outputs for announcing the probability of a collision.