Sensor Assembly Cleaning via Interconnected Chamber Air Curtains
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles require efficient and compact sensor assemblies that can effectively clean multiple sensors simultaneously, reducing complexity and volume while ensuring reliable operation in various environmental conditions.
Innovation Solution
A sensor assembly with a housing featuring interconnected chambers, blower-driven air curtains, and liquid nozzles to clean camera and LIDAR sensor windows, providing a unified mechanism for debris removal and protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate cleaning mechanisms are used for each sensor, then each sensor can be cleaned effectively, but the device complexity and volume increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple cleaning functions into a single integrated housing structure that services both the camera sensor and LIDAR sensor simultaneously. The housing includes interconnected chambers with shared air intake and coordinated outlets that direct air curtains to multiple sensor windows, eliminating the need for separate cleaning mechanisms for each sensor.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing structure serves multiple functions: it protects both sensors, provides structured lighting for the camera, and delivers air curtain cleaning to multiple sensor windows through a unified system. The air intake and outlet arrangement enables the same housing to clean different sensor types with different cleaning requirements.
2Volume of moving object
If a compact sensor assembly is used, then vehicle space is optimized, but cleaning multiple sensors simultaneously becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent nests the LIDAR sensor within the camera housing structure, with the LIDAR sensor positioned in the second chamber that is part of the camera's housing. This nested arrangement allows both sensors to occupy reduced space while still accommodating separate cleaning pathways through the housing chambers and outlets.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses three-dimensional chamber arrangements with vertical and horizontal outlet positioning to clean multiple sensor windows from different angles. The first outlet directs air to the camera sensor window while the second outlet directs air to the LIDAR sensor window, utilizing spatial dimensionality to achieve effective cleaning in a compact footprint.
3Adaptability or versatility
If sensors are exposed to exterior environment, then they can detect external objects, but debris and contaminants can contact and obscure sensor windows
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary cleaning action by directing air curtains across sensor windows before debris can accumulate and obscure the sensors. The air curtain system proactively removes contaminants as they approach the sensor windows, preventing rather than just reacting to contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The air curtain acts as an intermediary barrier between the exterior environment and the sensor windows. The housing structure with its controlled air flow creates a protective medium that allows sensors to remain exposed to external objects while filtering out harmful debris through the aerodynamic barrier.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables efficient packaging, reduced component complexity, and effective cleaning of sensors, enhancing the reliability and operational efficiency of autonomous vehicle systems by maintaining sensor clarity and preventing debris contact.
Implementation Method 1
blower-driven air curtains
Implementation Method 2
The first outlet is positioned to direct air across the first sensor window, and the second outlet is positioned to direct air across the second sensor window
Implementation Method 3
liquid nozzles to clean camera and LIDAR sensor windows
Data Source
AI summary
A sensor assembly includes a housing including a first chamber and a second chamber fluidly connected to the first chamber, a first sensor disposed in the second chamber and including a first sensor window facing outward from the second chamber, and a second sensor outside and fixed relative to the first chamber and the second chamber. The second sensor includes a second sensor window. The housing includes an intake from an exterior environment to the first chamber, a first outlet from the second chamber to the exterior environment, and a second outlet from the second chamber to the exterior environment. The first outlet is positioned to direct air across the first sensor window, and the second outlet is positioned to direct air across the second sensor window.