The present invention relates to a technique for adjusting the detection range of a plurality of detection devices.
Conventionally, a system for arranging a plurality of scanning units which performs scanning by a laser beam or the like is disclosed. For example, Patent Reference 1 discloses such a technique that, when the detection areas of distance measuring units are arranged so as to partially overlap, the distance measurement of each distance measuring unit is executed at a different timing from the distance measurement of the other distance measuring unit(s) whose detection area(s) overlap with the said each distance measuring unit.
Patent Reference 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2016-8875
When performing automated driving and other ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) using the detected results of sensors attached to vehicles, high-precision detection accuracy is required for each sensor, and the attachment of these sensors must be performed accurately. On the other hand, conventionally, it is often the case that the sensor(s) are arranged roughly with reference to the front and side surfaces of the housing, and it is difficult to accurately place the sensor(s).
The present invent ion has been made to solve the issues as described above, and a main object thereof is to provide a housing of a ranging device for suitable installation of the ranging device and a housing of a detection device for suitable installation of the detection device.
One invention is a housing of a ranging device, the housing having a description of information associated with a range-finding range where the ranging device performs ranging.
Another invention is a housing of a detection device, the housing having a description of information associated with a detection range by the detection device.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a housing of a ranging device, the housing having a description of information associated with a range-finding range where the ranging device performs ranging. In this case, “information associated with a range-finding range” may be described as a mark or a figure or the like, may be described as character(s). Since the information associated with the range-finding range is described in the housing, a user can suitably install the housing of the ranging device on an object such as a vehicle while referring to the information described in the housing. Further, information associated with the range-finding range is also suitably referred to in the calibration of the ranging device after the installation of the housing.
In one mode of the housing of the ranging device, the information associated with the range-finding range includes information including a reference point of the ranging. This reference point refers, for example, to a point that is regarded as distance 0 in ranging. According to this mode, the user accurately recognizes the reference point of the ranging thereby to suitably perform installation of the housing of the ranging device and calibration of the ranging device after installation. In a preferred example, a mark indicative of a position of the reference point is described on the housing as the information including the reference point of the ranging.
In another mode of the housing of the ranging device, at least one of a center line of the range-finding range and angular information on the range-finding range is described as the information associated with the range-finding range. According to this mode, the user accurately recognizes the range-finding range of the ranging device thereby to suitably perform installation of the housing of the ranging device and calibration of the ranging device after the installation. In a preferred example, a sector having a center angle equal to an angle of the range-finding range is described on the housing as the angular information.
In still another mode of the housing of the ranging device, a center line of the range-finding range and a reference point of the ranging are described as the information associated with the range-finding range, the reference point being indicated as an intersection of the center line and the perpendicular line to the center line. According to this mode, it is possible to clearly display the center line of the range-finding range and the reference point of the ranging in a state where the user can easily recognize them.
In still another mode of the housing of the ranging device, information associated with the range-finding range with respect to horizontal direction and vertical direction is described as the information associated with the range finding range. According to this mode, it is possible to clearly display the range-finding range of the housing of such a ranging device that has a three-dimensional range-finding range. In a preferred example, the information associated with the range-finding range with respect to the vertical direction is described on a side surface of the housing and the information associated with the range-finding range with respect to the horizontal direction is described on an upper surface or a bottom surface of the housing.
In still another mode of the housing of the ranging device, there are multiple ranging devices including the ranging device in the housing, and information associated with range-finding ranges with reference to the multiple ranging devices is provided on the housing. According to this mode, even when installing the housing in which a plurality of ranging device is accommodated, the user can suitably place the housing of the ranging device with reference to the information described in the housing.
In still another mode of the housing of the ranging device, the housing has the description indicative of multiple range-finding range reference points as the information associated with the range finding range, and a line, which connects at least two points selected from the multiple range-finding range reference points, indicates information on a center line of the range-finding range or angular information on the range-finding range. According to this mode, in consideration of the appearance design, it is possible to make the description about the range-finding range written on the housing less conspicuous.
According to another preferable embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a housing of a detection device, the housing having a description of information associated with a detection range by the detection device. In this case, “information associated with a detection range” may be described as a mark or a figure or the like, may be described as character(s). Since the information associated with the detection range is described in the housing, a user can suitably install the housing of the detection device on an object such as a vehicle while referring to the information described in the housing. Further, information associated with the detection range is also suitably referred to in the calibration of the detection device after the installation of the housing.
In one mode of the housing of the detection device, at least one of a center line of the detection range and angular information on the detection range is described as the information associated with the detection range. According to this mode, the user accurately recognizes the detection range of the detection device thereby to suitably perform installation of the housing of the detection device and calibration of the detection device after the installation. In a preferred example, a sector having a center angle equal to an angle of the detection range is described on the housing as the angular information.
In another mode of the housing of the detection device, the detection device is a ranging device which measures a distance to an object, and a center line of the detection range and a reference point of ranging are described as the information associated with the detection range, the reference point being indicated as an intersection of the center line and the perpendicular line to the center line. According to this mode, it is possible to clearly display the center line of the range-finding range and the reference point of the ranging in a state where the user can easily recognize them.
In still another mode of the housing of the detection device, information associated with the detection range with respect to horizontal direction and vertical direction is described as the information associated with the detection range. According to this mode, it is possible to clearly display the detection range of the housing of such a detection device that has a three-dimensional detection range. In a preferred example, the information associated with the detection range with respect to the vertical direction is described on a side surface of the housing and the information associated with the detection range with respect to the horizontal direction is described on an upper surface or a bottom surface of the housing.
In still another mode of the housing of the detection device, there are multiple detection devices including the detection device in the housing, and information associated with detection ranges with reference to the detection devices is provided on the housing. According to this mode, even when installing the housing in which a plurality of detection device is accommodated, the user can suitably place the housing of the detection device with reference to the information described in the housing.
In still another mode of the housing of the detection device, the housing has the description indicative of multiple detection range reference points as the information associated with the detection range, and a line, which connects at least two points selected from the multiple detection range reference points, indicates information on a center line of the detection range or angular information on the detection range. According to this mode, in consideration of the appearance design, it is possible to make the description about the detection range written on the housing less conspicuous.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to drawings.
The scanner L emits laser pulses (hereinafter, also referred to as “transmission light pulses” ) within a predetermined horizontal angle range and a predetermined vertical angle range. The scanner L emits a transmission light pulse with respect to each segment into which the above-mentioned horizontal angle range is divided by an equal angle. Then, the scanner L generates a signal relating to the received light intensity with respect to each segment by receiving the reflected light (hereinafter, referred to as “receiving light pulse”) of the transmission light pulse within a predetermined period after the emission of the transmission light pulse, and outputs the signal to the signal processor SP. On a basis of the signal received from the scanner L, the signal processor SP outputs a point cloud information indicating each set of the distance and the angle with respect to each point of an object subjected to irradiation by the transmission light pulse. The signal processor SP may be provided for each scanner L.
The scanner L is also housed in a scanner box Bx for accommodating one or more scanners L. In
Further, as will be described later, on the scanner box Bx, there is provided information indicative of the horizontal and vertical range-finding range (detection range) by the scanner(s) L to be housed in the scanner box Bx. The information is suitably referred to during the installation of the scanner box Bx to the vehicle or during the calibration of each scanner L after installation. Here, the calibration of the scanner L refers to the detailed adjustment of the range-finding range by the scanner L after the attachment of the scanner box Bx, and includes, for example, installing a reference object in front of the scanner L by a predetermined distance and performing the mechanical position adjustment of the scanner L or the electronic adjustment of the actual scan range within the scannable range according to the range-finding result of the reference object. The scanner box Bx is an example of a “housing” in the present invention.
It is noted that, for each of the scanners L, an adjustment mechanism which performs calibration of each scanner L may be provided. The adjustment mechanism includes, for example, an actuator or the like, and performs position adjustment of the corresponding scanner L based on a control signal supplied from the signal processor SP or the like. Further, for each of the scanners L, an attitude sensor or the like for detecting the posture of each scanner L may be further provided. The scanner L is an example of a “ranging device” and a “detection device” in the present invention.
Next, the scanner box Bx in the present embodiment will be described in detail. Hereinafter, a scanner box Bx1 for accommodating the scanner L1 and the scanner L2 will be described as a typical example.
At the front surface 4F, there are provided the window portion 2A which the transmitting light pulses and the receiving light pulses of the scanner L1 passes through, and the window portion 2B which the transmitting light pulses and the receiving light pulses of the scanner L2 passes through. At the rear surface 4R, there are provided the connectors 3 for the respective scanners L to transmit and receive signals to and from the signal processor SP. Further, at the rear surface 4R, there may be provided a hole (not shown) that is a path of wires required for driving the respective scanners L.
On the upper surface 4U, there are described horizontal ranging information 6H schematically illustrating a horizontal range-finding range (space or area) by the scanner L1 and horizontal ranging information 7H schematically illustrating a horizontal range-finding range (space or area) by the scanner L2. In addition, similarly to the upper surface 4U, on the bottom surface 4B, there are described the horizontal ranging information for the scanner L1 and the horizontal ranging information for the scanner L2. Furthermore, on the side surfaces 4RS, there are provided a vertical ranging information 6V which schematically illustrates a detection range in the vertical direction of the scanner L1 and a vertical ranging information 7V which schematically illustrates a detection range in the vertical direction of the scanner L2. Further, similarly to the side 4RS, on a side 4LS (not shown) in
Then, in the present embodiment, on the upper surface 4U and the bottom surface 4B, there are described the horizontal ranging information 6H, 7H indicative of the detection range by the target scanner L (the scanner L1 and the scanner L2 in
Here, the application of the scanner box Bx in this example will be described in supplement.
The lidar unit 1 is used for the purpose of the peripheral environment recognition aid of the vehicle as part of the system of the advanced driving assistance (including automatic driving), and since the high-level ranging accuracy is required, the installation of the scanner box Bx is required to be performed with a high degree of accuracy. According to the scanner box Bx of the present embodiment, since the operator or the like who installs the scanner box Bx can install the scanner box Bx while confirming: the center direction indicated by the center line Ln1; the scan angle range indicated by the angle line Ln2; and the distance 0 indicated by the reference point P, respectively. Thus, the scanner box Bx can be installed with a high degree of accuracy.
Further, the ranging information according to the embodiment is also suitably referred to in the middle of calibration of the scanner L after the installation of the scanner box Bx, especially at the time of performing positioning of the reference object to be ranged for calibration. In this case, an operator and the like can accurately and easily determine the distance from the reference point P to the reference object, so that the installation position of the reference object can be accurately and easily determined. For example, by using a predetermined length of yarn whose one end is fixed at the reference point P, it is also possible for the operator to place a plurality of reference objects equidistant from the reference point P. Even when a reference object for calibration is installed at the boundary position of the detection range of the two scanners L housed in the target scanner box Bx, the operator can suitably determine the installation position of the reference object by confirming each ranging information of the target scanners L, which includes: the center line Ln1 indicative of the center of the detection range; the angle line Ln2 indicative of the scanning angle range; and the reference line Ln3 indicative of the reference point P of the distance 0.
Even in the case where one scanner L is accommodated in the scanner box Bx, or in the case where three or more scanners L are accommodated in the scanner box Bx, each ranging information corresponding to each scanner L to be accommodated is provided on the scanner box Bx in the same way.
As described above, the scanner box Bx according to the present embodiment is a housing of the scanner L which functions as a ranging (range-finding) device or a detection device, and ranging information associated with range-finding range (detection range) within which the scanner L performs distance measurement (or detection) is described thereon. By referring to this ranging information, the operator can perform the installment of the scanner box Bx to the vehicle with a high degree of accuracy. This ranging information is also suitably referred to during the calibration of each scanner L housed in the scanner box Bx after the installment of the scanner box Bx.
Next, a description will be given of a preferred modification to the embodiment. The following modifications may be applied to the embodiments described above in arbitrary combination.
The ranging information described in the scanner box Bx is not limited to that shown in
Although the horizontal ranging information is described on both of the upper surface 4U and the bottom surface 4B according to
The scanner box Bx may be positionally-adjustably supported by a supporter marked with a scale relating to the alignment of the scanner box Bx.
The scanner box Bx may be marked with a mark for specifying at least one of the center line Ln1, the angular line Ln2, and the reference line Ln3 shown in
On the other hand, on the side surface 4RS, there are provided marks 9c to 9j formed into short line segments. Then, when installing the scanner box Bx to the vehicle, by drawing a supplementary line selectively connecting two points of the marks 9c to 9j, the center line Ln1 shown in
Thus, according to this modification, in consideration of the design of the appearance, it is possible to obscure the description on the scanner box Bx for specifying the center line Ln1, the angular line Ln2, and the reference line Ln3 which are illustrated in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2018-116672 | Jun 2018 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2019/017349 | 4/24/2019 | WO | 00 |