Steering Wheel Angular Position Control for Camera Field of View
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing steering wheel designs for vehicles, when equipped with a transparent central branch for camera monitoring, become more complex and expensive to manufacture, and may compromise robustness, while current camera positioning systems fail to ensure uninterrupted driver parameter collection due to potential obstruction by the steering wheel.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize a controllable steering system to adjust the angular position of the steering wheel based on real-time data from a rotation angle sensor, ensuring the camera's field of view is not obstructed, without modifying the steering wheel or camera, by actuating the steering system to return the wheel to a position that does not obscure the camera's field of view.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a transparent central branch is provided on the steering wheel to allow camera monitoring, then the camera can monitor the driver, but the manufacture becomes more complex and expensive and the steering wheel becomes less robust
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of the steering wheel angular position before vehicle operation begins. The control unit determines whether the steering wheel obscures the camera field of view and automatically adjusts the steering wheel to an appropriate angular position before the driver needs to use it, thus ensuring camera monitoring capability without requiring structural modifications to the steering wheel
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the mechanical/structural solution (transparent central branch on steering wheel) with a control system that uses sensors, a control unit, and actuation mechanisms to dynamically adjust the steering wheel position. This substitutes permanent structural modification with a controllable system that achieves the same monitoring goal without compromising steering wheel integrity
2Reliability
If the steering wheel is positioned to not obscure the camera field, then the camera can collect driver parameters, but the steering wheel may be in a position that is not optimal for driving
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection and adjustment of the steering wheel angular position before vehicle operation begins. By detecting the initial position and automatically adjusting it to an optimal angle that does not obscure the camera field, the system ensures both driver parameter collection capability and driving comfort from the start of operation
Solution Approach 2:
The invention makes the steering wheel position dynamic and adjustable rather than fixed. The control unit can actuate the steering system to change the angular position of the steering wheel based on camera field of view requirements, allowing the system to adapt between monitoring requirements and driving comfort requirements
Data Source
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Figure 3
AI summary
In order to control the angular position of a vehicle steering wheel with respect to the field of an interior camera positioned between the steering wheel and the combined controls of the vehicle or between the steering wheel and the dashboard of the vehicle, this vehicle comprising a controllable steering system: before the vehicle is started, a check (100) is performed to determine whether the steering wheel is at least partially masking the field of the camera, on the basis of the angular position of the steering wheel; if the field of the camera is at least partially masked by the steering wheel, then the controllable steering system is actuated (102) in such a way as to bring the steering wheel back into an angular position in which it does not mask the field of the camera.