Vehicle Roof Sensor Module Layout for Crash-Safe Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing motor vehicle roofs with integrated sensor modules for autonomous driving require heavy and costly reinforcement measures to ensure crash safety, as the weight of metal housings for these sensors necessitates additional bracing to prevent them from being pushed into the vehicle interior during accidents.
Innovation Solution
The sensor modules are integrated into the roof support structure in a manner that their upper boundary surface protrudes minimally beyond the roof line, allowing forces in a crash to be absorbed by the roof side beams and diverted into the vehicle body, eliminating the need for elaborate reinforcement measures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sensor modules with metal housings are integrated into the roof, then crash safety is improved, but the roof weight increases and additional reinforcement measures are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the key parameter of sensor module height, positioning them below the reference roof indentation plane. This parameter change allows the roof to absorb crash forces through its standard structure without requiring additional reinforcements, thereby improving crash safety while avoiding increased weight
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual reference roof indentation plane that represents the standard roof surface. By positioning sensor modules below this reference plane, the design copies the force absorption characteristics of a standard roof, eliminating the need for additional reinforcement measures
2Measurement precision
If sensor modules are positioned high on the roof for optimal sensor visibility, then detection capability is improved, but crash safety deteriorates as forces can push sensors into the vehicle interior
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the vertical position parameter of sensor modules, placing them below the reference roof indentation plane. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining adequate detection capability while ensuring crash forces are absorbed by the roof structure before reaching the sensors
Solution Approach 2:
The reference roof indentation plane serves as an intermediary reference that mediates between the conflicting requirements. It defines the boundary that sensor modules must not exceed, allowing the roof structure to act as a protective intermediary between external forces and the sensor modules
3Reliability
If additional bracing and plates are integrated into the roof for crash safety, then passenger safety is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
By changing the vertical position parameter of sensor modules to be below the reference roof indentation plane, the patent eliminates the need for additional bracing and reinforcement plates, thereby improving ease of manufacture while maintaining passenger safety through the standard roof structure
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the requirement for additional reinforcement measures from the roof design. By positioning sensor modules below the reference plane, the harmful factor requiring extra bracing is eliminated, allowing the roof to be manufactured using standard procedures
Data Source
AI summary
A roof for a motor vehicle, in particular for a passenger car, the roof having a support structure, a roof skin at least partially covering the support structure, roof side beams which are part of a vehicle body, and at least one sensor module having an environment sensor for detecting a vehicle environment. The sensor module may be disposed on the support structure and is for a large part located below a reference roof indentation plane which is in tangential contact with one of the roof side beams and inclined relative to a horizontal plane by a first angle (α) in the transverse direction of the roof and by a second angle (β) in the longitudinal direction of the roof.