Vehicle proximity sensor

Claim 2

A sensor comprising: a transducer; a microprocessor coupled to said transducer for processing information received from said transducer; a light emitting diode coupled to said microprocessor, for indicating a first one of the following conditions: (a) when an object is within a first one of a plurality of predetermined range of distances of said sensor; or (b) when said sensor is faulty; and a temperature sensing circuit coupled to said microprocessor.

Claim 3

The sensor of claim 1 wherein: said transducer comprises: (a) an ultrasonic transducer; (b) a transducer driver coupled between said microprocessor and said ultrasonic transducer; and said microprocessor selectively determines each of said plurality of predetermined range of distances.

Claim 4

The sensor of claim 2 further comprising a bus transceiver, coupled between a data port of said sensor and the microprocessor, for receiving information fed to said data port and for transmitting information from said microprocessor to said data port.

Claim 5

The sensor of claim 3 further comprising a memory coupled to the microprocessor for holding an identification code of said sensor.

Claim 6

The sensor of claim 4 wherein said memory is an electrically erasable programmable read only memory.

Claim 7

The sensor of claim 5 further comprising an analog to digital converter coupled between said transducer and said microprocessor for receiving analog voltage signals from said transducer and providing digital voltage signals to said microprocessor and wherein said microprocessor is capable of performing diagnostics on said sensor.

Claim 8

A vehicle sensing system comprising: a bus; a first microprocessor coupled to said bus; and a plurality of sensors, for sensing objects within a first one of a plurality of predetermined range of distances of said sensor and with each sensor comprising: (a) a transducer; (b) a second microprocessor, coupled between said transducer and said bus, for processing information received from said transducer; (c) a light emitting diode coupled to said microprocessor, for indicating a first one of the following conditions: (i) when an object is within a first predetermined range of distances of said sensor; or (ii) when said sensor is faulty; (d) a temperature sensing circuit coupled to said microprocessor; and (e) a bus transceiver for receiving information from said bus and for transmitting information to said bus.

Claim 9

A vehicle sensing system comprising: a bus; a first microprocessor coupled to said bus; and a plurality of sensors, for sensing objects within a first one of a plurality of predetermined range of distances of said sensor and with each sensor comprising: (a) a transducer; (b) a second microprocessor, coupled between said transducer and said bus, for processing information received from said transducer; (c) a light emitting diode coupled to said microprocessor, for indicating a first one of the following conditions: (i) when an object is within a first predetermined range of distances of said sensor; or (ii) when said sensor is faulty; (d) a temperature sensing circuit coupled to said microprocessor; and (e) a bus transceiver for receiving information from said bus and for transmitting information to said bus.

Claim 10

The vehicle sensing system of claim 7 further comprising: a display coupled to said first microprocessor; and a first memory coupled to said first microprocessor.

Claim 11

The vehicle sensing system of claim 8 wherein each of said sensors comprises a second memory coupled to the second microprocessor for holding an identification code of said sensor and wherein each sensor has a unique identification code.

Claim 12

The vehicle sensing system of claim 9 wherein said second memory is an electrically erasable programmable read only memory.

Claim 13

The vehicle sensing system of claim 10 wherein said transducer comprises: (a) an ultrasonic transducer; (b) a transducer driver coupled between said second microprocessor and said ultrasonic transducer; and said second microprocessor selectively determines said first predetermined range of distances.

Claim 14

The vehicle sensing system of claim 11 further comprising an analog to digital converter, having a first port coupled to said transducer and having a second port coupled to said second microprocessor, for receiving analog voltage signals from said transducer and providing digital voltage signals to said second microprocessor.

Claim 15

The vehicle sensing system of claim 12 further comprising: a display coupled to the first microprocessor wherein said display comprises: (a) means for providing an audio signal to indicate the proximity of an object to at least one of said plurality of sensors; (b) means for providing a visual indication to indicate the proximity of an object to at least one of said plurality of sensors; and (c) means for indicating a sensor failure.

Claim 16

The vehicle sensing system of claim 13 wherein said bus is a three wire bus and comprises a plurality of bus sections with each bus section comprising: (a) a first bus connector coupled to a first end of said bus section (b) a second bus connector coupled to a second end of said bus section; and (c) a third bus connector coupled to said bus section in a region between said first and second connectors; wherein first ones of said first bus connectors are coupled to first ones of said second bus connectors to provide a harness; and wherein each of said plurality of sensors are parallel coupled to a corresponding one of said plurality of third bus connectors.

Claim 17

The vehicle sensing system of claim 14 wherein: said means for providing an audio signal comprises a speaker; said means for providing a visual indication comprises an alphanumeric display; and said means for indicating a sensor failure comprises at least one light emitting diode.

Claim 18

The vehicle sensing system of claim 15 wherein: said means for providing an audio signal comprises a digital tone generator; said means for providing a visual indication comprises: (a) a light emitting diode display; and (b) an ambient light sensor for monitoring the ambient light and adjusting the brightness of the display; and said means for indicating a sensor failure comprises a speaker.

Claim 19

The vehicle sensing system of claim 16 wherein said bus is a three wire bus and comprises a plurality of bus sections with each bus section comprising: (a) a first bus connector coupled to a first end of said bus section (b) a second bus connector coupled to a second end of said bus section; and (c) a third bus connector coupled to said bus section in a region between said first and second connectors; wherein first ones of said first bus connectors are coupled to first ones of said second bus connectors to provide a harness; and wherein each of said plurality of sensors are parallel coupled to a corresponding one of said plurality of third bus connectors.

Claim 20

A vehicle sensing system comprising: a sensor bus comprising: (a) a plurality of bus sections with each bus section comprising: (i) a first connector coupled to a first end of said bus section; (ii) a second connector coupled to a second end of said bus section; and (iii) a third connector coupled to said bus section in a region between said first and second connectors; a driver alert module coupled to said first connector of said sensor bus with said driver alert module comprising: (a) a first microprocessor coupled to said sensor bus; and (b) a display coupled to said first microprocessor; and at least one sensor module, coupled to said third connector of said sensor bus, for sensing objects within a first one of a plurality of predetermined range of distances of said sensor module and with each sensor module comprising: (a) a transducer; (b) a second microprocessor coupled to said transducer for processing information received from said transducer; (c) a light emitting diode disposed on a first surface of the transducer, coupled to said second microprocessor, for emitting a light in response to a first one of the following conditions: (i) when an object is within a first one of a plurality of predetermined range of distances of said sensor module; or (ii) when said sensor module is faulty; (d) a temperature sensing circuit coupled to said second microprocessor; and (e) a bus transceiver for receiving information from said bus and for transmitting information to said bus.

Claim 21

A vehicle sensing system comprising: a sensor bus comprising: (a) a plurality of bus sections with each bus section comprising: (i) a first connector coupled to a first end of said bus section; (ii) a second connector coupled to a second end of said bus section; and (iii) a third connector coupled to said bus section in a region between said first and second connectors; a driver alert module coupled to said first connector of said sensor bus with said driver alert module comprising: (a) a first microprocessor coupled to said sensor bus; and (b) a display coupled to said first microprocessor; and at least one sensor module, coupled to said third connector of said sensor bus, for sensing objects within a first one of a plurality of predetermined range of distances of said sensor module and with each sensor module comprising: (a) a transducer; (b) a second microprocessor coupled to said transducer for processing information received from said transducer; (c) a light emitting diode disposed on a first surface of the transducer, coupled to said second microprocessor, for emitting a light in response to a first one of the following conditions: (i) when an object is within a first one of a plurality of predetermined range of distances of said sensor module; or (ii) when said sensor module is faulty; (d) a temperature sensing circuit coupled to said second microprocessor; and (e) a bus transceiver for receiving information from said bus and for transmitting information to said bus.

Claim 22

The vehicle sensing system of claim 18 wherein: said driver alert module is a first one of a plurality of driver alert modules with each of said driver alert modules being parallel coupled to one of said plurality of third sensor bus connectors disposed on the corresponding sensor bus section between the corresponding first and second sensor bus connectors; and said sensor module is a first sensor module of a plurality of sensor modules with each of said plurality of sensor modules being parallel coupled to one of said plurality of third sensor bus connectors with each of said third sensor bus connectors disposed on the corresponding sensor bus section between the corresponding first and second sensor bus connectors.

Claim 23

The vehicle sensing system of claim 19 wherein: each of said driver alert modules further comprise a first electrically erasable programmable read only memory coupled to said first microprocessor; and each of said plurality of sensor modules further comprise a second electrically erasable programmable read only memory coupled to said second microprocessor.

Claim 24

The vehicle sensing system of claim 20 wherein each of said plurality of sensor modules are disposed on an external surface of a vehicle.

Claim 25

The vehicle sensing system of claim 20 wherein each of said plurality of sensor modules are disposed on a stationary platform.

Claim 28

A proximity sensor bus system comprising: a data signal and power transfer bus; a first plurality of microprocessor based proximity sensors having unique identity data, a proximity data generator and setup storage and coupled to said bus for powering each said sensor and for identify data, proximity data and setup data exchange over said bus; and one or more microprocessor based display modules coupled to said bus for identity data, proximity data, and setup data exchange thereover and having indicators responsive to bus data for identifying, for each coupled sensor, sensor identity and proximity from exchanged bus data.

Claim 29

A proximity sensor bus system comprising: a data signal and power transfer bus; a first plurality of microprocessor based proximity sensors having unique identity data, a proximity data generator and setup storage and coupled to said bus for powering each said sensor and for identify data, proximity data and setup data exchange over said bus; and one or more microprocessor based display modules coupled to said bus for identity data, proximity data, and setup data exchange thereover and having indicators responsive to bus data for identifying, for each coupled sensor, sensor identity and proximity from exchanged bus data.