Articulating Vehicle Sensors for Maneuver-Priority Coverage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional autonomous vehicles lack the ability to dynamically direct sensors towards regions based on their relative importance and the type of maneuver being executed, leading to suboptimal sensor coverage and potentially detrimental impacts on navigation.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous vehicle system that employs an articulation system and a computing system to orient sensors with limited fields of view based on a sensor prioritization scheme, which ranks regions by importance for different maneuvers, allowing the vehicle to focus on critical areas and adjust sensor direction as needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If sensors are directed towards every region surrounding the autonomous vehicle, then complete view coverage is improved, but device complexity and practical feasibility deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the sensor system movable rather than static. The articulation system enables sensors to dynamically change their orientation and field of view direction based on the vehicle's maneuver type and detected regions of interest, allowing complete coverage without requiring sensors in every possible fixed position.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the surrounding environment into different maneuver-specific regions of interest. Instead of uniformly covering all directions with fixed sensors, the system divides the space into relevant regions based on the current maneuver (e.g., left turn, right turn, straight), and directs sensors only to those segmented regions.
2Device complexity
If sensors with limited fields of view are used, then device complexity is reduced, but sensor coverage completeness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The articulation system enables sensors with limited fields of view to dynamically redirect their coverage areas. By articulating the sensors to different angles and orientations based on maneuver type, the system achieves complete surrounding coverage using simpler, limited-field sensors rather than requiring complex omnidirectional sensors.
Solution Approach 2:
The same limited-field sensors serve multiple functions by being articulated to different positions. A single sensor can cover multiple different regions of interest by changing its orientation, making the sensor system universal and multi-functional rather than requiring dedicated sensors for each direction.
3Device complexity
If sensors are statically positioned without articulation, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability to different maneuvers deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The articulation system transforms the static sensor positioning into a dynamic system that can adapt to different maneuvers. The sensors can be articulated to specific orientations based on whether the vehicle is performing a left turn, right turn, or other maneuvers, providing maneuver-specific coverage without permanently complex positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the orientation parameter of the sensors based on the maneuver type. By adjusting the angular parameters of sensor direction according to the current maneuver, the system achieves adaptability to different driving scenarios while maintaining relatively simple hardware.
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomous vehicle is described herein. The autonomous vehicle comprises a first sensor and a second sensor having limited fields of view, an articulation system, and a computing system. The computing system determines a first region and a second region external to the autonomous vehicle based on a sensor prioritization scheme comprising a ranking of regions surrounding the autonomous vehicle. The computing system then causes the articulation system to orient the first sensor towards the first region and the second region towards the second region. Responsive to receiving a sensor signal from the first sensor indicating that an object has entered a field of view of the first sensor, the computing system determines a third region having a higher ranking than the second region within the sensor prioritization scheme. The computing system then causes the articulation system to orient the second sensor towards the third region.