Patent Application
20210341584
This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202011393891.3, filed on Dec. 3, 2020, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to the technical field of automatic driving, and in particular to the technical field of lidar devices.
The lidar device with a cleaning function in the related art usually cleans the outer surface of the lidar device by means of water flow.
The present disclosure provides a lidar base, a lidar device, and an autonomous vehicle.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a lidar base is provided and includes: a base body configured to install a lidar assembly; a cover plate disposed on the base body, and a diversion gap being defined between the cover plate and the base body, wherein an air outlet of the diversion gap is arranged toward the lidar assembly.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a lidar device is provided and includes: a lidar assembly which includes a housing; and the lidar base according to the above-mentioned embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the housing is installed on the base body.
According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an autonomous vehicle is provided and includes: the lidar device according to the above-mentioned embodiment of the present disclosure.
It should be understood that the content described in this section of the invention is not intended to limit the key or important features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will be easily understood by the following description.
With reference to the following detailed description, the above and other features, advantages, and aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent, in combination with the drawings. In the drawings, the same or similar reference signs indicate the same or similar elements, in which:
The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which include various details of the embodiments of the present disclosure to facilitate understanding, and should be considered as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art should appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Also, descriptions of well-known functions and structures are omitted from the following description for clarity and conciseness.
According to related art, after cleaning, the water droplets remaining on the outer surface of the lidar device easily affect the laser signal, such as occlusion, refraction, and scattering, thereby causing point cloud data to be distorted and discontinuous, and affecting the working performance of the lidar device.
A lidar base 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to
As shown in
Specifically, the base body 10 is configured to install a lidar assembly 200. The cover plate 20 is disposed on the base body 10, and a diversion gap 20a is defined between the cover plate 20 and the base body 10. Wherein, an air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a is arranged toward the lidar assembly 200.
The lidar base 100 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to a lidar device 1, specifically, it may be used to support and fix the lidar assembly 200 of the lidar device 1.
By adopting the above technical solution, the technical problem in the related art that cleaning the lidar assembly by means of spraying water may easily cause the lidar device to work abnormally is solved by the lidar base of the embodiment of the present disclosure. The lidar base of the embodiment of the present disclosure not only has a good cleaning effect on the lidar assembly, but also can ensure the working stability of the lidar assembly, and also has the advantages of a simple structure and low cost.
Illustratively, the diversion gap 20a is further provided with an air inlet end. The air inlet end of the diversion gap 20a can be communicated with the output end of an air pump to introduce high-pressure airflow into the diversion gap 20a. The high-pressure airflow is secondarily compressed and guided in the diversion gap 20a and flows out from the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a, and then flow past the lidar assembly 200 installed on the base 10.
Preferably, the gap between the inner surface of the cover plate 20 and the upper surface 10a of the base body 10 can be less than 2 mm. Therefore, the height of the diversion gap 20a is relatively narrow, which can reduce the flow area of the high-pressure airflow in the diversion gap 20a. Therefore, the high-pressure airflow is compressed twice, and the air pressure of the high-pressure airflow in the diversion gap 20a is increased, thereby increasing the flow rate of the high-pressure airflow out from the air outlet 20b.
In an example, there may be one diversion gap 20a, and the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a extends along the circumferential direction of the base body 10, so that the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a surrounds the lidar assembly 200, so as to achieve cleaning in the circumferential direction of the lidar assembly 200, with no dead angle.
In another example, there may be a plurality of diversion gaps 20a, which are arranged at intervals along the circumferential direction of the base body 10. Wherein, the air outlets 20b of the plurality of diversion gaps 20a are connected in sequence and extend along the circumference of the base body 10, so as to achieve cleaning in the circumferential direction of the lidar assembly 200 as well, with no dead angle.
According to the lidar base 100 of the embodiment of the present disclosure, by disposing the cover plate 20 on the base body 10 to define the diversion gap 20a, the high-pressure airflow entering the diversion gap 20a is secondarily compressed, flows in the direction toward the lidar assembly 200 at a higher flow rate and forms a strong impact force on the lidar assembly 200, thereby cleaning the attachments such as liquid, dust, and dirt on the outer surface of the lidar assembly 200. Compared with the method of cleaning the lidar assembly by spraying water in the related art, the lidar base 100 of the embodiment of the present disclosure can avoid the situation that lidar device 1 cannot work normally due to the interference with the laser signal by water droplets left after spraying water. Therefore, the lidar base 100 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure not only has a good cleaning effect on the lidar assembly 200, but also can ensure the working stability of the lidar assembly 200, and also has the advantages of a simple structure and low cost.
In one embodiment, as shown in
Illustratively, the housing 201 of the lidar assembly 200 may be embedded in the central hole 10b, and the base body 10 is arranged adjacent to the lower end of the lidar assembly 200.
An extension direction of the diversion gap 20a can be understood as a direction in which the high-pressure airflow flows in the diversion gap 20a toward the air outlet 20b. The extension direction of the diversion gap 20a is set toward a center axis of the base body 10 and inclined upwardly, and thus the opening direction of the air outlet 20b is set toward the center axis of the base body 10 and is inclined upwardly. Therefore, the high-pressure airflow flows out from the air outlet 20b and then flows in a direction toward the lidar assembly 200 installed in the central hole 10b, and the flow direction of the high-pressure airflow has an upward inclination angle with respect to the outer surface of the lidar assembly 200, so that the high-pressure airflow can follow the outer surface of the lidar assembly 200 from bottom to top, thereby improving the cleaning effect of the lidar assembly 200.
In one embodiment, as shown in
In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the air passage 11 is used to guide the high-pressure airflow to the diversion gap 20a.
Illustratively, the cover plate 20 is provided on the upper surface 10a of the base body 10, and there is a gap between the inner surface of the cover plate 20 (that is, a surface of the cover plate 20 facing the base body 10) and the upper surface 10a of the base body 10, so as to define the diversion gap 20a. In addition, the cover plate 20 is disposed corresponding to the position of the air passage 11, so that the diversion gap 20a communicates with the air outlet end of the air passage 11.
The air passage 11 penetrates the base body 10 in the height direction of the base body 10 (i.e., the up-to-down direction in the figure), so that the air passage 11 communicates with the upper surface 10a and the lower surface of the base body 10. The air inlet end of the air passage 11 may be the lower end of the air passage 11, that is, the end of the air passage 11 extending to the lower surface of the base body 10; the air outlet end of the air passage 11 may be the upper end of the air passage 11, that is, the end of the air passage 11 extending to the upper surface 10a of the base body 10.
The air passage 11 can extend in a direction parallel to the central axis of the base body 10, or can extend in a direction at a certain angle with the central axis of the base body 10, as long as the upper surface 10a and the lower surface of the base body 10 are communicated.
Illustratively, the lidar device 1 includes an air pump (not shown in the figure), and the output end of the air pump is connected to the air inlet end of the air passage 11. The high-pressure airflow generated by the air pump enters the air passage 11 through the air inlet end of the air passage 11, and the high-pressure airflow flows along the air passage 11 and flows out through the air outlet end of the air passage 11. The high-pressure airflow enters the diversion gap 20a and collides with the inner surface of the cover plate 20, flows along the diversion gap 20a, and finally flows out from the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a.
In one embodiment, as shown in
Illustratively, the upper surface 10a of the base body 10 may be configured as a tapered surface, and the cross-sectional area of the upper surface 10a of the base body 10 gradually decreases in a direction from bottom to top. The inner surface of the cover plate 20 can also be inclined upwardly in the direction toward the central axis of the base body 10, and the inner surface of the cover plate 20 and the upper surface 10a of the base body 10 form a gap at the top end of the diversion gap 20a to define the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a. Therefore, the direction of the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a can be toward the central axis of the base body 10 and be inclined upwardly, the high-pressure airflow flows out from the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a and forms an upward angle with the outer surface of the lidar assembly 200, and thus the high-pressure airflow flows upwardly along the outer surface of the lidar assembly 200, thereby improving the cleaning effect on the outer surface of the lidar assembly 200.
In one embodiment, as shown in
Illustratively, the groove 12 may be provided on the upper surface 10a of the base body 10. The inner surface of the cover plate 20 and the upper surface 10a of the base body 10 are arranged to be close to each other, and the inner surface of the cover plate 20 is disposed on the groove 12 to define the diversion gap 20a within the groove 12. The shape of the groove 12 may be configured to be approximately triangular, and the width of the groove 12 gradually increases in the direction toward the central hole 10b of the base body 10. Therefore, the flow area of the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a may be increased and thus the flow quantity of the high-pressure airflow out from the air outlet 20b is increased. Moreover, by arranging the groove 12 on the outer wall of the base body 10, and defining the diversion gap 20b by the cover plate 20 and the groove 12, the processing difficulty of the diversion gap 20b can be reduced and the processing efficiency can be improved.
Optionally, as shown in
Illustratively, the upper edge of the groove 12 may be the top side wall of the groove 12, and the top side wall of the groove 12 extends obliquely from the bottom wall of the groove 12 to the upper surface 10a of the base body 10, so as to form the first inclined surface 12a. The gap between the cover plate 20 and the first inclined surface 12a defines the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a. As a result, the distance between the first inclined surface 12a and the inner surface of the cover plate 20 is gradually reduced in the flow direction of the high-pressure airflow, and the flow area of the high-pressure airflow can be reduced in the process that the high-pressure airflow flows outward along the air outlet 20b, thereby further increasing the flow rate of the high-pressure airflow.
Optionally, as shown in
Illustratively, the tangent direction of the upper end of the arc-shaped surface 10c may be set parallel to the central axis of the base body 10. In this way, after the high-pressure airflow flows out from the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a, the high-pressure airflow flows upwardly along the arc-shaped surface 10c, and finally flows upwardly in a direction parallel to the central axis of the base body 10 under the guidance of the arc-shaped surface 10c. Therefore, the high-pressure airflow flows upwardly along the outer surface of the lidar assembly 200, and the wind loss caused by the collision of the airflow with the outer surface of the lidar assembly 200 is reduced.
Thus, the portion of the upper surface 10a of the base body 10 adjacent to the upper end is configured as an arc surface 10c, which can guide the high-pressure airflow, and the guided high-pressure airflow can flow along the outer surface of the lidar assembly 200, thereby improving the cleaning effect of the lidar assembly 200.
In one embodiment, as shown in
Illustratively, as shown in
It can be understood that when the high-pressure airflow flows out at high speed from the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a, a negative pressure is formed at the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a, so that the external airflow can be guided along the second inclined surface 20c to the air outlet 20b of the gap 20a. Therefore, by providing the second inclined surface 20c on the outer surface of the cover plate 20, it is possible to guide the external airflow during the process of the high-pressure airflow flowing out from the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a, thereby increasing the flow quantity of airflow flowing along the outer surface of the lidar assembly 200 and further improving the cleaning effect of the lidar assembly 200.
In one embodiment, as shown in
Illustratively, the sealing gasket 30 may be made of a non-metallic material, such as rubber, silicone and other materials. Edges of the notch 30a of the gasket 30 is aligned with edges of the groove 12 to keep clear of the groove 12. As a result, the air tightness between the cover plate 20 and the upper surface 10a of the base body 10 can be improved, high-pressure airflow can be prevented from leaking from the gap between the cover plate 20 and the upper surface 10a of the base body 10, and the high-pressure airflow can only flow out through the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a. In addition, the notch 30a for keeping clear of the groove 12 is provided on the sealing gasket 30 to prevent the sealing gasket 30 from interfering with the high-pressure airflow.
In one embodiment, there may be a plurality of diversion gaps 20a, which are arranged at intervals along the circumferential direction of the base body 10. There are a plurality of air passages 11, which are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of diversion gaps 20a.
Illustratively, the upper surface 10a of the base body 10 may be provided with a plurality of grooves 12, the plurality of grooves 12 are distributed at intervals along the circumference of the base body 10, and the cover plate 20 is arranged on the base body 10, and thus the plurality of diversion gaps 20a distributed along the circumferential direction of the base body 10 at intervals are defined. The plurality of air passages 11 are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of grooves 12, and the air outlet end of each air passage 11 extends to the bottom wall of the corresponding groove 12 to communicate with the diversion gap 20a.
By providing the plurality of diversion gaps 20a in the circumferential direction of the base body 10, the plurality of diversion gaps 20a can be arranged around the lidar assembly 200, so as to spray high-pressure airflow toward the lidar assembly 200 in the circumferential direction of the lidar assembly 200, so as to realize the 360-degree non-dead-angle cleaning of the lidar assembly 200, and improve the cleaning effect.
In an example, the air inlet ends of the plurality of air passages 11 may be connected to the output ends of the air pump through a plurality of guide tubes. Among them, each guide tube can be provided with an air valve for opening and closing the high-pressure airflow. By controlling the opening and closing of the air valve, the airflow in each diversion gap 20a can be individually controlled, so as to realize a cleaning function for a specific area of the guide assembly.
In other examples of the present disclosure, a hermetic cavity may be provided below the base body 10, the air inlet ends of the plurality of air passages 11 are in communication with the hermetic cavity, and the air pump is arranged in the hermetic cavity to generate high-pressure airflow within the hermetic cavity.
In one embodiment, the cover plate 20 is configured in a ring shape, and the cover plate 20 and the base body 10 define a plurality of diversion gaps 20a.
Illustratively, the cover plate 20 may be an integral piece, and the inner surface of the cover plate 20 and the plurality of grooves 12 on the upper surface 10a of the base body 10 jointly define a plurality of diversion gaps 20a. As a result, the structure of the cover plate 20 is relatively simple, the processing is relatively convenient, and the assembly between the cover plate 20 and the base body 10 is also relatively convenient, which can further reduce the manufacturing cost of the lidar base 100 and improve the assembly efficient of the lidar base 100.
In another embodiment, as shown in
Illustratively, the plurality of cover plates 20 are individually provided, and the plurality of cover plates 20 are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of grooves 12 on the base body 10, and each cover plate 20 and its associated groove 12 separately define a diversion gap 20a. Wherein, the side edges of two adjacent cover plates 20 are connected, so that the plurality of cover plates 20 are jointed with each other in the circumferential direction of the base body 10 to form a ring shape.
By providing the plurality of cover plates 20, the corresponding cover plate 20 can be removed separately in a case that a certain diversion gap 20a is blocked, without removing all the cover plates 20, so as to facilitate cleaning and maintenance of a single diversion gap 20a.
In one embodiment, as shown in
Illustratively, the cover plate 20 is provided with two mounting holes 21 spaced apart from each other, the upper surface 10a of the base body 10 is provided with screw holes corresponding to the positions of the two mounting holes 21, and the fasteners 22 pass through the mounting holes 21 and fit the screw holes, so as to fix the cover plate 20 on the upper surface 10a of the base body 10. Wherein, the fastener 22 may be a screw.
In addition, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the cover plate 20 and the upper surface 10a of the base body 10 may also be connected in other detachable way, such as snapping or gluing.
The laser radar device 1 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to
As shown in
Illustratively, the lidar assembly 200 further includes a transmitting part and a receiving part provided within the housing 201, the transmitting part is used for transmitting laser signals, and the receiving part is used for receiving the laser signals that are sent back. The base body 10 is sleeved on the outside of the housing 201 and adjacent to the lower end of the housing 201, the direction of the air outlet 20b of the diversion gap 20a is set toward the outer surface of the housing 201, and the direction of the air outlet 20b is at an angle to the outer surface of the housing 201.
Further, the lidar device 1 further includes an air pump for generating high-pressure airflow, and the output end of the air pump is communicated with the air inlet end of the air passage 11 to introduce the high-pressure airflow into the diversion gap 20a through the air passage 11.
According to the lidar device 1 of the embodiment of the present disclosure, by using the lidar base 100 of the above-mentioned embodiment of the present disclosure, it can not only achieve a better self-cleaning effect on the housing 201 of the lidar assembly 200, but also can ensure the working stability of the lidar assembly 200 at the same time of cleaning, and it has the advantages of a simple structure and low cost.
According to an embodiment of yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an autonomous vehicle is also provided, which includes the lidar device 1 according to the above-mentioned embodiment of the present disclosure.
In addition, other configurations of the autonomous vehicle in the above-mentioned embodiments can be adopted in various technical solutions known to those of ordinary skill in the art now and in the future, and will not be described in detail here.
By adopting the above solution, the lidar base 100 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can not only achieve the cleaning effect on the outer surface of the lidar assembly 200, but also can ensure the working stability of the lidar assembly 200 at the same time of cleaning, and it also has the advantages of a simple structure and low cost.
In the description of this specification, it should be understood that the orientational or positional relationship indicated by the terms “center”, “longitudinal”, “transverse”, “length”, “width”, “thickness”, “up”, “down”, “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “inner”, “outer”, “clockwise”, “counterclockwise”, “axial”, “radial”, “circumferential” and so on is based on the orientational or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and is only for the convenience of describing the present disclosure and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation of the present disclosure.
In addition, the terms “first” and “second” are only used for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the referred technical features. Thus, the features defined by “first” and “second” may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of these features. In the description of the present disclosure, “plurality of” means two or more than two, unless otherwise specifically defined.
In the present disclosure, the terms “installed”, “connected”, “connecting”, “secured” and so on should be understood in a broad sense, unless otherwise specifically stated and defined. For example, it may be fixedly connected, be detachably connected, or be integral; it may be mechanically connected, be electrically connected, or be communicatively connected; it may be connected directly, or be connected indirectly by an intermediate component; it may be interconnection between two elements, or be interaction between two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above-mentioned terms in the present disclosure can be understood according to specific circumstances.
In the present disclosure, a first feature “on” or “under” a second feature may include the first feature directly contacted by the second feature, and also include the first feature indirectly contacted by the second feature with other feature therebetween, unless otherwise specifically stated and defined. In addition, a first feature “on”, “above” or “on top of” a second feature may include the first feature directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or it simply means that the level of the first feature is higher than that of the second feature. A first feature “under”, “beneath” or “on bottom of” a second feature may include the first feature directly beneath and obliquely beneath the second feature, or it simply means that the level of the first feature is lower than that of the second feature.
The above disclosure provides many different embodiments or examples to realize the different structures of the present disclosure. In order to simplify the disclosure of the present disclosure, the components and arrangements of specific examples are described above. Of course, they are only examples, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. In addition, repeated reference numerals and/or reference signs may be used in different examples of the present disclosure. Such repetition is for the purpose of simplification and clarity, and does not indicate the relationships between the various embodiments and/or arrangements discussed herein.
The above-mentioned embodiments are not to be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and substitutions are possible, depending on design requirements and other factors. Any modifications, equivalents, and improvements within the spirit and principles of the present disclosure are intended to be included within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202011393891.3 | Dec 2020 | CN | national |
