Vehicle Undercarriage Object Detection Using Ground Clearance
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Solution Overview
Problem
The frequent occurrence of accidents due to objects being caught under vehicles, leading to potential damage or fire from friction, highlights the need for effective detection and prevention systems.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle system equipped with cameras, sensors, and a controller that determines the height of objects relative to ground clearance, providing alarms and adjusting ground clearance or guiding the vehicle to a safe position when an object is detected under it, using images from multiple angles to assess the situation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multiple cameras are mounted to obtain surrounding images for object detection, then the detection capability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The camera system is divided into multiple independent cameras positioned at different locations (front, rear, side) of the vehicle. Each camera independently captures images of specific areas, and the controller processes these separate image streams to achieve comprehensive object detection coverage without requiring a single complex camera system.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the vehicle increases ground clearance to avoid objects, then the risk of object damage is reduced, but the vehicle stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The controller calculates the escape time in advance and issues warnings to the driver before the vehicle actually contacts the object. This allows the driver to take preventive action (slow down or change direction) before the harmful contact occurs, avoiding the need to permanently alter vehicle ground clearance or stability characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle's ground clearance is made dynamically adjustable through suspension control. The controller monitors object detection results and real-time vehicle state, and only adjusts ground clearance when necessary based on the calculated escape time and object position, thereby maintaining vehicle stability during normal operation while providing protection when needed.
3Productivity
If the vehicle moves to a predetermined conditioned place when an object is detected, then the object removal efficiency is improved, but the productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors the vehicle's surroundings using multiple cameras and compares detected objects against the calculated escape time. This real-time feedback loop allows the controller to dynamically adjust warnings or navigation guidance only when objects are actually detected and pose a risk, rather than forcing unnecessary stops or route changes, thus maintaining productivity while ensuring safety.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle includes an alarm portion, a storage configured to store information on a ground clearance, a camera configured to obtain a surrounding image including a front image and a rear image of the vehicle, and a controller configured to, when an object in front of the vehicle is recognized based on the front image obtained by the camera, determine a height of the object based on the front image obtained by the camera, and when the ground clearance is greater than the height of the object by comparing the height of the object with the ground clearance, and when the object is not recognized in a rear side of the vehicle based on the rear image obtained by the camera, configured to control the alarm portion to output a warning alarm.