Three-Dimensional CMOS Image Sensor for Pedestrian Protection and Collision Mitigation

Future car safety systems increasingly depend on the availability of robust sensors with vital improved technical perception output. For this objective, we develop a pulsed laser based time of flight range sensor in fully solid-state microsystems technology for more reliable detection and classification of road users, vehicles and traffic obstacles. The development aims on pedestrian protection and mitigation of collisions comprising the short distance around vehicle perception up to 25 m. The 3D sensor technology based on a chip design of 64×8 pixels and image repetition rates of up to 100 Hz will be presented and the performance of a first 3D line sensor prototype will be demonstrated for typical road test scenarios. Furthermore, an outlook on the final 3D array camera development for road safety applications will be given.