Vehicle Roof Module With Rotating Sensor for Protected Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing roof modules with environment sensors face challenges in providing aesthetically pleasing designs while protecting sensors from environmental influences, and require complex mechanisms due to limited assembly space, leading to increased assembly effort and cost.
Innovation Solution
A roof module with a displaceable environment sensor that rotates around a rotation axis, allowing for a simple rotational movement between active and inactive positions, utilizing a rotating mechanism with minimal space requirements and standard components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the environment sensor is attached to the vehicle roof as an attachment, then the sensor can detect the vehicle environment from a high position, but the optical appearance does not meet customer requirements and the sensor is exposed to environmental damage
Solution Approach 1:
The environment sensor is integrated into the roof module structure itself, nested within the roof skin rather than attached as a separate component. The sensor housing is incorporated into the panel component, allowing the sensor to be protected while maintaining aesthetic appearance.
Solution Approach 2:
The environment sensor is made displaceable between a retracted position (when not in use) and an extended operating position (when detection is needed). This dynamic positioning allows the sensor to be protected from environmental influences when inactive while enabling aesthetic integration into the roof design.
2Reliability
If the environment sensor is made displaceable to protect it and satisfy aesthetic requirements, then the sensor can be retracted and extended, but the limited assembly space requires a complex movement mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The movement mechanism is segmented into a rotary joint that allows the sensor to pivot between retracted and extended positions. This segmentation simplifies the mechanism by breaking down the displacement function into a single rotational degree of freedom rather than requiring complex linear actuators or multiple moving parts.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of extending the sensor linearly outward from the roof surface, the sensor is rotated into position. The sensor housing pivots on a rotary axis, allowing the sensor to sweep into its operating position rather than extending straight out, which simplifies the mechanical requirements.
3Ease of operation
If a complex movement mechanism is used to displace the environment sensor, then the sensor can be retracted and extended, but the assembly effort and expense increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor housing is designed to be rotatable rather than linearly movable, creating a dynamic system with a single degree of freedom. This rotational movement can be achieved with simple pivot joints and minimal actuation, reducing manufacturing complexity and assembly effort compared to linear displacement mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
A roof module for forming a motor vehicle roof, the roof module having a panel component which may at least partially form a roof skin of the vehicle roof, which functions as an outer sealing surface of the roof module and which as at least one curved area. The roof module having at least one environment sensor which sends and/or receives electromagnetic signals for detecting a vehicle environment. The environment sensor is disposed in a circular opening of the curved area of the panel component and is displaceable, essentially without tilt, between a resting position and at least one operating position by means of a rotational movement around a rotation axis.