Van with automatic side-hung tail door system and tail door control method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a van with an automatic side-hung tail door system and a tail door control method of the van. An automatic opening and closing subsystem in a compartment of the van comprises a driving motor, a guide piece internally provided with a sliding groove, a push rod and a first proximity sensor. The automatic locking subsystem on the casement tail door comprises a sliding groove, a sliding block, an electric push rod piece, a locking piece and a locking handle. In response to a door opening instruction, a controller of the system controls an electric push rod piece to drive a sliding block to move in the direction close to a locking handle along a sliding groove till the locking handle drives a locking piece to exit from a locking position, and then a driving motor is controlled to drive a push rod to move in the direction outside a carriage along a guiding piece sliding groove; in response to a door closing instruction, the driving motor is controlled to drive the push rod to move towards the interior of the carriage along the sliding groove of the guide part until the first proximity sensor detects that the side-hung tail door is in a closed state, and then the electric push rod part is controlled to drive the sliding block to move away from the locking handle along the sliding groove until the locking handle drives the locking part to enter the locking position.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of vehicle automation, and more particularly to a van with an automatic swing-open tailgate system and a tailgate control method thereof. Background Technology

[0002] With the continuous development of autonomous driving technology, the application of autonomous transportation is becoming increasingly widespread. Using autonomous vans to transport goods from a designated starting point to a destination can meet most current urban and intercity road transport requirements. However, in actual logistics transportation, to prevent goods from falling out during transport, the cargo box's rear door remains closed and locked. When the vehicle arrives at the designated loading / unloading location, the rear door is then manually opened or closed, making it impossible to achieve full automation and unmanned operation of the entire freight process.

[0003] Current autonomous driving technology has solved the problem of movement from the starting point to the destination, but the entire cargo handover process still relies heavily on human intervention. The opening, closing and locking of the cargo box tail door is the key "last link" problem in the process of moving towards "full-process automation".

[0004] The disclosure of the above background technical content is only for the purpose of assisting in understanding the concept and technical solution of this application, and does not necessarily provide technical instruction. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide a solution for automating the entire cargo handover process by automatically opening and closing the swing-out tailgate of a van.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows: A van with an automatic swing-open tailgate system, wherein the van's cargo compartment is equipped with an automatic opening and closing subsystem for automatically opening or closing the tailgate, the automatic opening and closing subsystem comprising: A drive motor is installed at the top or bottom of the inner wall of the carriage, and the drive motor corresponds one-to-one with the swing tailgate; A guide component with an internal groove rotates at one end as the output shaft of the drive motor rotates; A push rod, one end of which is set in the slide groove and connected to the output shaft of the drive motor, and the other end of which is rotatably connected to the swing tailgate; A first proximity sensor, located at the rear of the vehicle compartment, is configured to detect the closed state of the swing tailgate; The truck also includes an automatic locking subsystem mounted on the swing tailgate, which includes a slide rail, a slider, an electric push rod, a locking mechanism, and a rotating rod. Driven by the electric push rod, the slider moves left and right along the slide rail. The locking mechanism includes a locking element and a locking handle. One end of the rotating rod is rotatably connected to the slider, and the other end is rotatably connected to the locking handle. The truck also includes a controller configured to control the opening or closing of the swing tailgate: In response to the door opening command, the controller controls the electric push rod to drive the slider to move towards the locking handle until the locking handle drives the locking member out of the locking position on the car door frame; then controls the drive motor to drive the push rod to move along the slide groove towards the outside of the car, thereby opening the swing tail door; In response to a door closing command, the controller controls the drive motor to drive the push rod to move along the slide rail toward the interior of the carriage until the first proximity sensor detects that the swing tailgate is closed; then the controller controls the electric push rod to drive the slider to move away from the locking handle until the locking handle drives the locking member into the locking position on the carriage door frame.

[0007] Furthermore, in accordance with any or a combination of the aforementioned technical solutions, the van with an automatic swing-open tailgate system provided by the present invention further includes a side lidar and a rear lidar. The side lidar is configured to output lateral point cloud data to the controller, and the rear lidar is configured to output rear point cloud data to the controller.

[0008] Furthermore, following any one or a combination of the aforementioned technical solutions, the controller determines the opening angle of the tailgate in the following manner: Define tailgate status ,in, Indicates the opening angle of the tailgate. Indicates the speed at which the tailgate opens; Based on the point cloud data sampled by the rear lidar, the initial measured tailgate opening angle and tailgate opening speed are obtained; Predict the tailgate opening angle at the current moment using the state transition equation: ,in, The current tailgate opening angle. The tailgate opening angle from the previous moment. The tailgate opening speed at the previous moment. This represents the time difference between the previous moment and the current moment. Select the tailgate opening angle from the point cloud data sampled by the side or rear lidar, relative to the current moment. Matched point cloud data; The selected point cloud data was subjected to RANSAC plane fitting, and the detected value of the tailgate opening angle was calculated. ; Based on the tailgate status at the previous moment Detection value of tailgate opening angle The optimal estimated opening angle under the optimal state estimation is calculated using a Kalman filter. .

[0009] Furthermore, following any one or a combination of the aforementioned technical solutions, the initially measured tailgate opening speed is initialized to 0; Alternatively, the initial measured tailgate opening speed can be calculated using the following differential algorithm: At time t=0, the measured angle is obtained by fitting the point cloud data from the rear lidar. ; At time t=1, the measured angle is obtained by fitting the point cloud data from the rear lidar. , denoted as the initial measured tailgate opening angle; calculate , denoted as the initial measured tailgate opening speed.

[0010] Furthermore, following any one or a combination of the aforementioned technical solutions, starting from time t=2, the Kalman filter loop begins, and the optimal estimation opening angle under the optimal state estimation at time t-1 is defined as... Define the optimal estimated start speed under the optimal state estimation at time t-1 as: ; Predict the tailgate opening angle at the current moment using the state transition equation: Assuming the tailgate opening speed at the current moment... ; The Kalman filter compares the predicted value with the detected value of the tailgate opening angle. Calculate the Kalman gain, including the angle gain. and speed gain ; Using the aforementioned angle gain Correcting the prediction angle The optimal estimated opening angle is obtained. : ; and utilizing the aforementioned velocity gain Correcting prediction speed To obtain the optimal estimated opening speed : ; Based on the optimal state estimation results at time t Calculate the optimal state estimate at time t+1.

[0011] Furthermore, following any one or a combination of the aforementioned technical solutions, the tailgate opening angle ranges from 0° to 270°, and the tailgate opening angle at the current moment... If the angle is less than or equal to 90°, then the tailgate opening angle at the current moment is selected from the point cloud data sampled by the rear lidar. Matched point cloud data; At the current moment, the tailgate opening angle If the angle is greater than 90°, then the tailgate opening angle at the current moment will be selected from the point cloud data sampled by the side lidar. Matched point cloud data.

[0012] Furthermore, following any one or a combination of the aforementioned technical solutions, the automatic switching subsystem further includes: A second proximity sensor, located on the side of the vehicle compartment, is configured to detect when the tailgate opening angle reaches 270°. In response to the second proximity sensor detecting that the opening angle of the tailgate has reached 270°, the controller controls the drive motor to stop driving the push rod.

[0013] Furthermore, following any one or a combination of the aforementioned technical solutions, the detected value of the tailgate opening angle is calculated using the following method. : In the vehicle coordinate system, based on the current tailgate opening angle... Estimate the possible spatial location and orientation of the tailgate at the current moment to determine the possible spatial range in which the tailgate may appear, which is defined as the region of interest; The RANSAC plane fitting is performed on the point cloud within the region of interest, including: selecting three points in the point cloud within the region of interest to construct a planar model ax+by+cz+d=0, with a normal vector n=(a,b,c); calculating the distance from all points within the region of interest to the plane; if the distance is less than a preset distance threshold, the point is determined as an interior point of the model; iterating multiple times to determine the planar model with the most interior points, and fitting a plane based on its interior points to obtain the plane parameters and normal vector n=(a,b,c) of the optimal plane; Calculate the detection value for the tailgate opening angle. ,in, It is the angle of the reference vector when the tailgate is closed. It is the arctangent function in the fourth quadrant. and Let x and y be the x and y coordinates of the projection vector of the normal vector n of the optimal plane onto the horizontal plane.

[0014] Furthermore, based on any or a combination of the aforementioned technical solutions, the locking component of the locking mechanism corresponding to each swing tailgate is a vertical rod, the upper end and / or the lower end of which extends into the locking hole of the car door frame, and the upper end and / or the lower end of the locking component is a non-standard circular structure. The locking component is installed on the swing tailgate by a limiting component, and the limiting component prevents the locking component from moving left or right; When the locking handle moves left and right along the horizontally set slide groove, it drives the locking member to rotate around its own central axis. When the larger outer diameter portion of the locking element's end rotates into the locking hole, the locking element enters the locking position; when the smaller outer diameter portion of the locking element's end rotates into the locking hole, the locking element exits the locking position.

[0015] According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for controlling the swing tailgate of a van as described above is provided, comprising: In response to the door opening command, the truck's controller controls the electric push rod to drive the slider to move towards the locking handle until the locking handle drives the locking component out of the locking position on the truck door frame; then controls the drive motor to drive the push rod to move along the slide groove towards the outside of the truck, thereby opening the swing tail door; In response to the door closing command, the truck's controller controls the drive motor to drive the push rod to move along the slide rail toward the interior of the truck body until the first proximity sensor detects that the swing tailgate is closed; then it controls the electric push rod to drive the slider to move away from the locking handle until the locking handle drives the locking component into the locking position on the truck body door frame.

[0016] The beneficial effects of the technical solution provided by this invention are as follows: a. It can achieve automatic opening and closing of the cargo box tail door by simply modifying the original swing door and combining it with the original sensors of the autonomous driving truck, and ensure that the tail door remains locked during transportation. The modification cost is low, the applicability is good, and the safety and stability are stable. b. The Kalman filter method is used to obtain the filtered and smoothed optimal speed estimate. Compared with the method of obtaining speed by simple difference between the measured angles at two different times, it reduces measurement noise and is closer to the real physical speed, thus obtaining a tailgate opening angle that is closer to the real one. Attached Figure Description

[0017] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0018] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the architecture of an automatic swing tailgate system provided as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the architecture of an automatic switching subsystem for a van provided as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 A schematic diagram showing two open states of a swing tailgate, provided as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the locked state of the swing tailgate provided as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the unlocked state of the swing tailgate, provided as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 A control flowchart for the automatic opening of a swing tailgate is provided as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Figure 7 A control flowchart for automatically closing and locking a swing tailgate, provided as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0019] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the present invention, the technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0020] It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," etc., in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this invention are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged where appropriate so that the embodiments of the invention described herein can be implemented in orders other than those illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion; for example, a process, method, apparatus, product, or device that comprises a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to such processes, methods, products, or devices.

[0021] In one embodiment of the present invention, a van with an automatic swing-open tailgate system is provided, such as... Figure 1 As shown, the cargo compartment 110 of the truck is equipped with an automatic opening and closing subsystem for automatically opening or closing the truck's swing tailgate 120, and an automatic locking subsystem for automatically locking the swing tailgate, such as... Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the automatic switching subsystem includes: A drive motor 210 is installed at the top or bottom of the inner wall of the carriage 110, and the drive motor 210 corresponds one-to-one with the swing tailgate 120; The guide member 220, which has a groove 221 inside, rotates at one end as the output shaft of the drive motor 210 rotates; Push rod 230, one end of which is disposed in the slide groove 221 and connected to the output shaft of the drive motor 210, and the other end of which is rotatably connected to the swing tailgate 120; A first proximity sensor 240, located at the rear of the carriage 110, is configured to detect the closed state of the swing tailgate 120.

[0022] like Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the automatic locking subsystem 300 is installed on the swing tailgate 120, and includes a slide rail 310, a slider 320, an electric actuator 330, a locking mechanism, and a rotating rod 340. Driven by the electric actuator 330, the slider 320 moves left and right along the slide rail 310. The locking mechanism includes a locking element 351 and a locking handle 352. One end of the rotating rod 340 is rotatably connected to the slider 320, and the other end is rotatably connected to the locking handle 352. The truck also includes a controller configured to control the opening or closing of the swing tailgate: In response to an opening command, the controller controls the electric actuator 330 to drive the slider 320 to move closer to the locking handle 352 until the locking handle 352 causes the locking member 351 to exit the locking position 130 on the door frame of the carriage 110 (i.e., from the locked position 130). Figure 4 Turn to Figure 5 (the state); then control the drive motor 210 to drive the push rod 230 to move along the slide 221 toward the outside of the carriage 110, thereby opening the swing tailgate 120; In response to a door closing command, the controller controls the drive motor 210 to drive the push rod 230 to move along the slide rail 221 toward the interior of the carriage 110 until the first proximity sensor 240 detects that the swing tailgate 120 is closed; then, the controller controls the electric push rod 330 to drive the slider 320 to move away from the locking handle 352 until the locking handle 352 drives the locking member 351 into the locking position 130 on the door frame of the carriage 110 (i.e., from...). Figure 5 Turn to Figure 4 (state).

[0023] like Figure 1 As shown, the van with an automatic swing-open tailgate system in this embodiment also includes side lidar and rear lidar, such as... Figure 2 As shown, the side lidar 410 is located at the rearview mirrors on the left and right sides of the cab and is configured to output side point cloud data to the controller; the rear lidar 420 is located at the rear of the vehicle compartment 110 and is configured to output rear point cloud data to the controller.

[0024] It should be noted that the controller can be divided into different independent controllers according to different control functions. For example, the first controller controls the automatic switching subsystem, and the second controller controls the automatic locking subsystem. Alternatively, it can be like... Figure 1 As shown, the system is integrated into a single main controller, simultaneously controlling the automatic switching subsystem and the automatic locking subsystem, and analyzing the point cloud data from the side and rear lidar sensors. The following description uses the integrated main controller as an example to illustrate an embodiment of this application: The controller determines the tailgate opening angle in the following ways: Define tailgate status ,in, Indicates the opening angle of the tailgate. Indicates the speed at which the tailgate opens; Based on the point cloud data sampled by the rear lidar, the initial measured tailgate opening angle and tailgate opening speed are obtained; Predict the tailgate opening angle at the current moment using the state transition equation: ,in, The current tailgate opening angle. The tailgate opening angle from the previous moment. The tailgate opening speed at the previous moment. This represents the time difference between the previous moment and the current moment. Select the tailgate opening angle from the point cloud data sampled by the side or rear lidar, relative to the current moment. Matched point cloud data; The selected point cloud data was subjected to RANSAC plane fitting, and the detected value of the tailgate opening angle was calculated. ; Based on the tailgate status at the previous moment Detection value of tailgate opening angle The optimal estimated opening angle under the optimal state estimation is calculated using a Kalman filter. .

[0025] The entire process forms a closed loop of initial measurement calculation - prediction - update - estimation: When the system starts up or reinitializes, only the angle measurement value is available, and there is no historical state. In this case, one approach is to initialize the initial measured tailgate opening speed to 0, that is, at time t=0, the measured angle is obtained by fitting the point cloud data from the rear lidar. , Another approach is to use a differential algorithm to calculate the initial measured tailgate opening speed: at t=0, the measured angle is obtained by fitting the point cloud data from the rear lidar. At time t=1, the measured angle is obtained by fitting the point cloud data from the rear lidar. , denoted as the initially measured tailgate opening angle; calculate , denoted as the initial measured tailgate opening speed.

[0026] After the system starts running, it generates historical data and enters a prediction-update cycle to measure the tailgate opening speed. It is no longer simply calculated from the difference in measured angles, but has become a "state variable" that is constantly predicted and corrected within the Kalman filter: starting from time t=2, the Kalman filter cycle begins, and the optimal estimated opening angle under the optimal state estimate at time t-1 is defined as... Define the optimal estimated start speed under the optimal state estimation at time t-1 as: ; Predict the tailgate opening angle at the current moment using the state transition equation: Assuming the tailgate opening speed at the current moment... (Assuming the angular velocity remains essentially constant in the short term); Kalman filter comparison predictions The detected value of the tailgate opening angle A correction amount is calculated, which is simultaneously adjusted according to the optimal ratio (i.e., Kalman gain). K Including angle gain and speed gain ) are assigned to angle and velocity; Using the aforementioned angle gain Correcting the prediction angle The optimal estimated opening angle is obtained. : ; and utilizing the aforementioned velocity gain Correcting prediction speed To obtain the optimal estimated opening speed : ; Based on the optimal state estimation results at time t Calculate the optimal state estimate at time t+1.

[0027] Although there is no direct measurement of speed, there is a measurement of angle. The value contains implicit speed information; if the angle prediction value... Continuously less than the angle detection value If the Kalman filter fails, it will infer that "the predicted speed may be too slow," and thus adjust the speed estimate upwards. .

[0028] Compared to the velocity obtained by simply differentiating the measured angles at two different times, this embodiment uses a filtered, smoothed, and optimally estimated velocity estimate (the differential angle calculation is only used in the initialization phase), which reduces measurement noise and is closer to the true physical velocity.

[0029] like Figure 3 As shown, the tailgate opening angle ranges from 0° to 270°. The opening angle is defined as the angle between the plane containing the tailgate and the plane containing the door frame. The tailgate opening angle at the current moment... If the angle is less than or equal to 90°, then the tailgate opening angle at the current moment is selected from the point cloud data sampled by the rear lidar. Matched point cloud data; At the current moment, the tailgate opening angle If the angle is greater than 90°, then the tailgate opening angle at the current moment will be selected from the point cloud data sampled by the side lidar. Matched point cloud data.

[0030] like Figure 3As shown, the maximum opening angle of the tailgate is 270°. At the maximum opening angle, i.e., when the tailgate is open and close to the outer wall of the cargo compartment 110, the automatic opening and closing subsystem also includes: A second proximity sensor 250 is disposed on the side of the vehicle compartment and is configured to detect when the opening angle of the tailgate reaches 270°. In response to the second proximity sensor 250 detecting that the opening angle of the tailgate has reached 270°, the controller controls the drive motor 210 to stop driving the push rod 230.

[0031] This invention does not limit the number of swing-out tailgates on a van to two. The technical solution of this invention is also applicable to vans with a single swing-out tailgate. When there is only one swing-out tailgate, the corresponding number of drive motor 210, guide 220, push rod 230, first proximity sensor 240, second proximity sensor 250, electric push rod 330, slider 320, slide groove 310, rotating rod 340, locking member 351 and locking handle 352 are also corresponding.

[0032] The Kalman filter comparison prediction value mentioned above The detected value of the tailgate opening angle To calculate the correction amount, specifically, the detected value of the tailgate opening angle. The measurement and calculation methods are as follows: In the vehicle coordinate system, based on the current tailgate opening angle... The possible spatial location and orientation of the tailgate at the current moment are estimated to determine the possible spatial range of the tailgate, which is defined as the region of interest (ROI). This helps to filter out most irrelevant points, greatly improving the efficiency and robustness of subsequent processing. The tailgate can be modeled as a plane. RANSAC is well-suited for fitting this plane from point clouds containing noise and outliers (such as door handles, hinges, stains, and minor obstructions). The steps for RANSAC plane fitting of the point cloud within the Region of Interest (ROI) include: selecting three points in the point cloud within the ROI to construct a planar model ax+by+cz+d=0, with normal vector n=(a,b,c); calculating the distance from all points within the ROI to the plane; if the distance is less than a preset distance threshold, the point is determined as an interior point of the model; iterating multiple times to determine the planar model with the most interior points, and fitting a plane based on its interior points to obtain the corresponding plane parameters and normal vector n=(a,b,c). Calculate the detection value for the tailgate opening angle. ,in, It is the angle of the reference vector when the tailgate is closed. It is the arctangent function in the fourth quadrant. and Let x and y be the x and y coordinates of the projection vector of the normal vector n of the optimal plane onto the horizontal plane.

[0033] The locking principle of the locking mechanism at the tailgate is explained below: See [link / reference] Figure 4 and Figure 5 The locking member 351 of the locking mechanism corresponding to each swing tailgate 120 is a vertical rod, the upper end and / or the lower end of which extends into the locking hole of the car door frame (locking position 130). The upper end and / or the lower end of the locking member 351 is a non-standard round structure (not shown). The locking member 351 is installed on the swing tailgate 120 by a limiting member, and the limiting member prevents the locking member 351 from moving left or right; When the locking handle 352 moves left and right along the horizontally set slide groove 310, it drives the locking member 351 to rotate around its own central axis. The traditional locking method involves manually rotating the locking handle 352 until it is flush with the tailgate 120, which locks the locking element 351 with the locking hole, closing the tailgate 120 to prevent it from being opened. The traditional unlocking method involves manually rotating the locking handle 352 until it is perpendicular to the tailgate 120, which unlocks the locking element 351 with the locking hole, allowing the tailgate 120 to be opened.

[0034] In this embodiment, an automatic locking subsystem is used to achieve fully automated locking and unlocking: like Figure 4 As shown, when the electric actuator 330 drives the slider 320 to move to the far end relative to the locking handle 352, the larger outer diameter part of the locking member 351 rotates into the locking hole (locking position 130), and the locking member 351 enters the locking position 130, and the swing tailgate 120 is closed to prevent it from being opened. like Figure 5 As shown, when the electric actuator 330 drives the slider 320 to move to the proximal end relative to the locking handle 352, the smaller outer diameter portion of the locking member 351 rotates into the locking hole, and the locking member exits the locking position 130, thus unlocking the tailgate 120 so that it can be opened.

[0035] In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for controlling the swing-out tailgate of a van as described above is provided, comprising: like Figure 6 As shown: In response to the door opening command, the truck's controller controls the electric push rod to drive the slider to move towards the locking handle until the locking handle drives the locking component out of the locking position on the truck door frame; then controls the drive motor to drive the push rod to move along the slide groove towards the outside of the truck, thereby opening the swing tail door; like Figure 7 As shown: In response to the door closing command, the truck's controller controls the drive motor to drive the push rod to move along the slide rail toward the interior of the truck body until the first proximity sensor detects that the swing tail door is closed; then it controls the electric push rod to drive the slider to move away from the locking handle until the locking handle drives the locking component into the locking position on the truck body door frame.

[0036] The swing tailgate control method provided in this embodiment belongs to the same inventive concept as the van with automatic swing tailgate system provided in the above embodiment. Therefore, the entire contents of the van with automatic swing tailgate system embodiment are incorporated into this swing tailgate control method embodiment by reference.

[0037] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0038] The above description is only a specific embodiment of this application. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principle of this application, and these improvements and modifications should also be considered within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A van with an automatic swing-open tailgate system, characterized in that, The truck's cargo compartment is equipped with an automatic opening and closing subsystem for automatically opening or closing the truck's swing tailgate. The automatic opening and closing subsystem includes: A drive motor is installed at the top or bottom of the inner wall of the carriage, and the drive motor corresponds one-to-one with the swing tailgate; A guide component with an internal groove rotates at one end as the output shaft of the drive motor rotates; A push rod, one end of which is set in the slide groove and connected to the output shaft of the drive motor, and the other end of which is rotatably connected to the swing tailgate; A first proximity sensor, located at the rear of the vehicle compartment, is configured to detect the closed state of the swing tailgate; The truck also includes an automatic locking subsystem mounted on the swing tailgate, which includes a slide rail, a slider, an electric push rod, a locking mechanism, and a rotating rod. Driven by the electric push rod, the slider moves left and right along the slide rail. The locking mechanism includes a locking element and a locking handle. One end of the rotating rod is rotatably connected to the slider, and the other end is rotatably connected to the locking handle. The truck also includes a controller configured to control the opening or closing of the swing tailgate: In response to the door opening command, the controller controls the electric push rod to drive the slider to move towards the locking handle until the locking handle drives the locking member out of the locking position on the car door frame; then controls the drive motor to drive the push rod to move along the slide groove towards the outside of the car, thereby opening the swing tail door; In response to a door closing command, the controller controls the drive motor to drive the push rod to move along the slide rail toward the interior of the carriage until the first proximity sensor detects that the swing tailgate is closed; then the controller controls the electric push rod to drive the slider to move away from the locking handle until the locking handle drives the locking member into the locking position on the carriage door frame.

2. The van with an automatic swing-open tailgate system according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a side lidar and a rear lidar, the side lidar being configured to output lateral point cloud data to the controller, and the rear lidar being configured to output rear point cloud data to the controller.

3. The van with an automatic swing-open tailgate system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The controller determines the opening angle of the tailgate in the following way: Define tailgate status ,in, Indicates the opening angle of the tailgate. Indicates the speed at which the tailgate opens; Based on the point cloud data sampled by the rear lidar, the initial measured tailgate opening angle and tailgate opening speed are obtained; Predict the tailgate opening angle at the current moment using the state transition equation: ,in, The current tailgate opening angle. The tailgate opening angle from the previous moment. The tailgate opening speed at the previous moment. This represents the time difference between the previous moment and the current moment. Select the tailgate opening angle from the point cloud data sampled by the side or rear lidar, relative to the current moment. Matched point cloud data; The selected point cloud data was subjected to RANSAC plane fitting, and the detected value of the tailgate opening angle was calculated. ; Based on the tailgate status at the previous moment Detection value of tailgate opening angle The optimal estimated opening angle under the optimal state estimation is calculated using a Kalman filter. .

4. The van with an automatic swing-open tailgate system according to claim 3, characterized in that, Initialize the tailgate opening speed measured initially to 0; Alternatively, the initial measured tailgate opening speed can be calculated using the following differential algorithm: At time t=0, the measured angle is obtained by fitting the point cloud data from the rear lidar. ; At time t=1, the measured angle is obtained by fitting the point cloud data from the rear lidar. , denoted as the initial measured tailgate opening angle; calculate , denoted as the initial measured tailgate opening speed.

5. The van with an automatic swing-open tailgate system according to claim 4, characterized in that, Starting from time t=2, the Kalman filter loop begins, and the optimal estimation opening angle under the optimal state estimation at time t-1 is defined as... Define the optimal estimated start speed under the optimal state estimation at time t-1 as: ; Predict the tailgate opening angle at the current moment using the state transition equation: Assuming the tailgate opening speed at the current moment... ; The Kalman filter compares the predicted value with the detected value of the tailgate opening angle. Calculate the Kalman gain, including the angle gain. and speed gain ; Using the aforementioned angle gain Correcting the prediction angle The optimal estimated opening angle is obtained. : ; and utilizing the aforementioned velocity gain Correcting prediction speed To obtain the optimal estimated opening speed : ; Based on the optimal state estimation results at time t Calculate the optimal state estimate at time t+1.

6. The van with an automatic swing-open tailgate system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The tailgate opening angle ranges from 0° to 270°. The tailgate opening angle at the current moment... If the angle is less than or equal to 90°, then the tailgate opening angle at the current moment is selected from the point cloud data sampled by the rear lidar. Matched point cloud data; At the current moment, the tailgate opening angle If the angle is greater than 90°, then the tailgate opening angle at the current moment will be selected from the point cloud data sampled by the side lidar. Matched point cloud data.

7. The van with an automatic swing-open tailgate system according to claim 6, characterized in that, The automatic switching subsystem also includes: A second proximity sensor, located on the side of the vehicle compartment, is configured to detect when the tailgate opening angle reaches 270°. In response to the second proximity sensor detecting that the opening angle of the tailgate has reached 270°, the controller controls the drive motor to stop driving the push rod.

8. The van with an automatic swing-open tailgate system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The detection value of the tailgate opening angle is calculated using the following method. : In the vehicle coordinate system, based on the current tailgate opening angle... Estimate the possible spatial location and orientation of the tailgate at the current moment to determine the possible spatial range in which the tailgate may appear, which is defined as the region of interest; The RANSAC plane fitting is performed on the point cloud within the region of interest, including: selecting three points in the point cloud within the region of interest to construct a planar model ax+by+cz+d=0, with a normal vector n=(a,b,c); calculating the distance from all points within the region of interest to the plane; if the distance is less than a preset distance threshold, the point is determined as an interior point of the model; iterating multiple times to determine the planar model with the most interior points, and fitting a plane based on its interior points to obtain the plane parameters and normal vector n=(a,b,c) of the optimal plane; Calculate the detection value for the tailgate opening angle. ,in, It is the angle of the reference vector when the tailgate is closed. It is the arctangent function in the fourth quadrant. and Let x and y be the x and y coordinates of the projection vector of the normal vector n of the optimal plane onto the horizontal plane.

9. A van with an automatic swing-out tailgate system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The locking mechanism for each swing tailgate has a vertical rod whose upper and / or lower ends extend into the locking hole of the door frame. The upper and / or lower ends of the locking mechanism are non-standard circular structures. The locking component is installed on the swing tailgate by a limiting component, and the limiting component prevents the locking component from moving left or right; When the locking handle moves left and right along the horizontally set slide groove, it drives the locking member to rotate around its own central axis. When the larger outer diameter portion of the locking element's end rotates into the locking hole, the locking element enters the locking position; when the smaller outer diameter portion of the locking element's end rotates into the locking hole, the locking element exits the locking position.

10. A method for controlling the swing-open tailgate of a van as described in any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, include: In response to the door opening command, the truck's controller controls the electric actuator to drive the slider to move towards the locking handle until the locking handle drives the locking component out of the locking position on the truck door frame; Then, control the drive motor to drive the push rod to move along the slide rail towards the outside of the carriage, thereby opening the swing tailgate; In response to the door closing command, the truck's controller controls the drive motor to drive the push rod to move along the slide rail toward the interior of the truck body until the first proximity sensor detects that the swing tailgate is closed; then it controls the electric push rod to drive the slider to move away from the locking handle until the locking handle drives the locking component into the locking position on the truck body door frame.

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