- Jaguar Land Rover is developing a new system to prevent dents on car doors
- Number of sensors will detect how close the vehicle is to nearby obstacles
- The system will also alert the driver if there is a risk of collision, patent shows
Jaguar Land Rover is developing a system that will help prevent dents on car doors by detecting how close a vehicle is to nearby obstacles.
Using sensors in the handle and the edge of the door, the car will be able to measure how close the driver is to other vehicles, lamp posts and walls.
It will also determine the angle of the open door and from this calculate the distance between the door and the obstacle, the Times reported.
The system will then alert the driver if there is a risk of collision. The door could even become more difficult to open, helping to lower the risk damage.
It could work in tandem with another warning system which would warn pedestrians nearby that a door was about to open.
The details were revealed in a patent application filed by Jaguar Land Rover, the newspaper reported.
It is the latest in a string of in-car technologies to be patented by the UK car manufacturer.
Last month it was revealed Jaguar Land Rover is also developing technology that uses facial recognition and gait analysis to detect when owners of its vehicles approach, to open the doors for them.
Cameras mounted under the windows of the doors would capture both video and still images of someone walking and standing by the car, comparing them with those saved on its computer. If they match the car will unlock its doors and open them.
It could save drivers the hassle of having to dig out their key when approaching their car and even make it easier if they are laden down with bags of shopping.
A spokesman for Jaguar Land Rover said the company does not comment on future technologies.