Adjustable Vehicle Sensor Layout for Load Contour Detection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face challenges in reliably detecting obstacles when they are carrying bulky transport frames or objects, especially when these protrude into the sensor device's detection region, potentially leading to collisions.
Innovation Solution
The autonomous vehicle is equipped with a joint arrangement that allows the sensor device to adjust its position relative to the vehicle body, enabling it to switch between monitoring the basic peripheral contour and the total peripheral contour including the transport frame. This ensures that the sensor device can detect obstacles around the entire vehicle, including the transport frame, without incorrectly recognizing it as an obstacle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the sensor device monitors the basic peripheral contour of the vehicle body only, then the device complexity is low, but the reliability of obstacle detection deteriorates when transport frames are carried
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor device is made dynamically adjustable through a joint arrangement that enables it to switch between different operational arrangements. In a first arrangement, the sensor monitors only the basic peripheral contour of the vehicle body. In a second arrangement, the sensor detects the total peripheral contour including the transport frame. This dynamic adaptability resolves the contradiction by allowing the system to optimize detection reliability according to the actual loading condition without permanently increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The detection parameters of the sensor device are changed based on the operational state. When a transport frame is present, the sensor's detection region and monitoring contour are adjusted to encompass the total peripheral contour rather than just the basic vehicle body contour. This parameter change enables reliable obstacle detection around the transport frame while maintaining simple operation when the vehicle is unladen.
2Measurement precision
If the sensor device is fixed to monitor the basic peripheral contour, then the ease of operation is high, but the measurement precision of the total peripheral contour deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor device transitions from a fixed monitoring configuration to a dynamically adjustable one. The joint arrangement allows the sensor to switch between monitoring the basic peripheral contour (simpler operation) and the total peripheral contour including the transport frame (higher measurement precision). This dynamic capability resolves the contradiction by providing both operational simplicity and precise measurement depending on the operational context.
3Reliability
If the sensor device monitors the total peripheral contour including transport frame, then the reliability of collision prevention is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The joint arrangement serves multiple functions: it supports the sensor device, enables positioning adjustment, and facilitates switching between different detection arrangements. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components and justifies the added complexity by providing comprehensive collision prevention reliability through adaptive monitoring of both the vehicle body and transport frame periphery.
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomous vehicle includes a vehicle body having a receiving device configured to receive an object to be transported, a chassis having at least one driven wheel, and at least one sensor device having a detection region surrounding the autonomous vehicle for recognizing obstacles which enter the detection region in the immediate surroundings of the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle includes a joint arrangement configured to adjust the sensor device relative to the vehicle body such that the sensor device can be operated in a first arrangement which monitors the basic peripheral contour of the vehicle body, and in at least one second arrangement which monitors a total peripheral contour including the basic peripheral contour and an expansion contour of the autonomous vehicle that is formed when an object to be transported is received.