Vehicle Sensor Health Testing with Drive-Through Target Arrays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle sensor systems, such as those used in autonomous vehicles, degrade over time, leading to potential safety issues and discomfort for passengers due to unpredictable deceleration, as there is no effective method to monitor or predict sensor performance in real-time.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle sensor testing system that uses drive-through depots with scanning targets to evaluate sensor health, identify trends, and predict degradation by analyzing data from multiple vehicles, allowing for proactive repair or replacement of sensors before performance declines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If sensor degradation is monitored to ensure safety, then passenger comfort and safety are improved, but testing and monitoring infrastructure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses two-dimensional representations (images) of three-dimensional test targets as proxies for actual sensor performance measurement. By capturing images of standardized test targets with known geometric features, the system creates simplified digital copies that can be analyzed computationally to assess sensor health without requiring complex physical measurement apparatus. This reduces infrastructure complexity while maintaining monitoring effectiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
Devices, systems, and methods are provided for sensor health and regression testing. A sensor testing system may include a first plurality of sensor testing targets positioned on a first side of a vehicle at a first distance from the vehicle, a second plurality of sensor testing targets positioned on a second side of the vehicle at the first distance, and a first sensor testing target positioned at a second distance from the vehicle, the second distance further from the vehicle than the first distance. The first and second pluralities of sensor testing targets both may include three or more sensor testing targets for testing cameras and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors of the vehicle. The first sensor testing target may be used to test at least one of camera or LIDAR data. The sensor testing system may identify degradation of sensor performance, triggering further analysis and/or repairs.