Sensor-equipped Interchangeable Equipment for Work Machine Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Interchangeable equipment on work machines, such as large blades or snow removal shields, can limit the driver's visibility, leading to unsatisfactory viewing conditions and potential safety risks due to changing geometric configurations, which existing indirect viewing systems struggle to address uniformly across various equipment setups.
Innovation Solution
Integrating sensors, like cameras or radar, directly onto the interchangeable equipment to provide real-time data to a display unit, ensuring complete coverage of obscured areas and adapting to different equipment geometries, with optional additional functional units for illumination and control, to enhance the driver's field of view and safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If interchangeable equipment with large size or specific geometry is attached to the work machine, then the work capacity and versatility are improved, but the driver's visibility and field of view are restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The viewing system is segmented into multiple sensors positioned at different locations on the interchangeable equipment, each capturing specific blind spots. This allows comprehensive coverage of obscured areas without requiring a single large viewing device that would interfere with work operations.
Solution Approach 2:
Electronic displays serve as intermediaries between the sensors mounted on the equipment and the driver. The sensors capture images of blind spots, and the displays present this information to the driver, mediating the visibility issue without requiring direct line-of-sight modifications to the equipment geometry.
2Reliability
If a fixed indirect viewing system is installed on the work machine, then legal field of view requirements are met, but visibility coverage is insufficient when interchangeable equipment geometry changes
Solution Approach 1:
The viewing system transitions from a fixed configuration to a dynamic one where sensors are repositionable or reconfigurable based on the specific interchangeable equipment attached. This allows the system to adapt its geometry to match different equipment configurations while maintaining continuous legal field of view coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor system is designed with universal mounting capabilities that allow the same basic sensor unit to be positioned at multiple locations on different interchangeable equipment pieces. This multi-functional approach ensures legal compliance across various equipment configurations without requiring equipment-specific custom installations.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If sensors are mounted on the interchangeable equipment to improve visibility coverage, then blind spot detection is enhanced, but the equipment complexity and installation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system allows adjustment of sensor parameters such as positioning height, angle, and orientation to optimize blind spot coverage for different equipment types. This parameter-based configuration is simpler than redesigning the entire sensor mounting structure for each equipment variation, reducing installation complexity while maintaining detection effectiveness.
Data Source
Figure 1~3
AI summary
An interchangeable piece of equipment (8) for a working machine (7) is adapted to be coupled to the working machine (7). A sensor (5) is attached to the interchangeable piece of equipment (8) such that the sensor detects an area (9) which, when the piece of equipment (8) is attached to the working machine, lies behind the piece of equipment (8) in the line of sight of an operator of the working machine (7). The sensor (5) is adapted to be coupled, when the piece of equipment (8) is coupled, to a playback unit (2) that outputs a signal to the operator of the working machine.