System and method for controlling a vehicle

摘要

A system and a method of using an ultrasonic sensor to monitor a vehicle surroundings. The system comprises a sensor, having a substrate 202, wherein the substrate is a vehicle body or arranged for attachment to a vehicle body. The sensor including an array of ultrasonic elements comprising one or more electrically conductive pathways 104 deposited on the surface of the substrate. The system also comprises a controller, to generate and receive a signal from the array and determine a property of an object relative to the array of ultrasonic elements in dependence on the received signal. The ultrasonic array may include a piezoelectric film and the conductive pathways preferably form a digitated or interdigitated structure. The property determined is preferably either the location of a vehicle relative to the array or the topology of the ground in the sensors field of view.