CN-121989867-A - Automatic driving sensor cleaning device

Abstract

An automatic drive sensor cleaning device includes a housing assembly, a bracket disposed inside the housing assembly, connected to at least a portion of the housing assembly, and including a camera mounting portion, a sensor assembly mounted to the bracket, a cover disposed spaced apart from the sensor assembly and connected to a portion of the housing assembly, a wiper assembly, wherein at least a portion of the wiper assembly is in contact with the cover, a blower assembly adjacent the wiper assembly and the sensor assembly and including an outlet disposed adjacent the cover, and a controller configured to control the wiper assembly and the blower assembly.

Inventors

• Jin Jionghuan
• KONG LIJING
• WANG SHANGXIAN
• D. Tybalt
• A. Lasso Ze

Assignees

• 现代自动车株式会社
• 起亚株式会社

Dates

Publication Date

20260508

Application Date

20250918

Priority Date

20241104

Claims (20)

1. 1. An autopilot sensor cleaning apparatus comprising: A housing assembly; A bracket disposed inside the housing assembly, connected to at least a portion of the housing assembly, and including a camera mounting portion; a sensor assembly mounted to the bracket; A cover disposed in spaced apart relation to the sensor assembly and connected to a portion of the housing assembly; A wiper assembly, wherein at least a portion of the wiper assembly is in contact with the cover; a blower assembly adjacent the wiper assembly and the sensor assembly and including an outlet disposed adjacent the hood, and A controller configured to control the wiper assembly and the blower assembly.
2. 2. The autopilot sensor cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the housing assembly includes: A frame to which the bracket is fixed; an upper cover surrounding an upper end portion of the frame; A lower cover fixed to a lower end of the frame, and A mask arranged to surround the mask.
3. 3. The autopilot sensor cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the sensor assembly includes: A light detecting and ranging sensor fixed to an upper surface of the bracket, and An image pickup device sensor inserted into the image pickup device mounting portion.
4. 4. The automatic driving sensor cleaning device according to claim 1, Wherein, the wiper assembly includes: a motor; a motor frame connected to the motor; a screw connected to the motor and rotatably mounted to the motor frame; a wiper guide coupled to the screw; a wiper blade in contact with the cover and including a washing liquid outlet disposed on at least one of a first side surface and a second side surface of the wiper blade, and A wiper arm pivotally connecting the wiper blade to the wiper guide.
5. 5. The autopilot sensor cleaning arrangement of claim 4 wherein the wiper blade and wiper guide are resiliently engaged.
6. 6. The automatic driving sensor cleaning device according to claim 4, wherein the wiper blade is moved integrally with the wiper guide by the wiper arm and is moved in a longitudinal direction of the screw by rotation of the motor.
7. 7. The automatic driving sensor cleaning device according to claim 4, further comprising: a guide shaft fixed to the motor frame and slidably engaged to the wiper guide.
8. 8. The automatic driving sensor cleaning device according to claim 4, further comprising: a damper mounted to the motor frame; a washing hose connected to the wiper blade, and A hose guide configured to guide the washing hose.
9. 9. The autopilot sensor cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the blower assembly includes: A blower plate connected to the bracket; a blower connected to the blower plate, and An air conduit fluidly connecting the outlet of the blower assembly to the outlet of the blower, wherein an end of the air conduit faces the hood.
10. 10. The autopilot sensor cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to operate a motor of a blower or wiper assembly of a blower assembly based on a contamination status of a sensor assembly.
11. 11. The autopilot sensor cleaning apparatus of claim 4 wherein the controller is further configured to measure a contamination status of the sensor assembly, the controller being further configured to control a motor to move the wiper blade toward a contaminated position based on the measured contamination level of the sensor assembly being greater than or equal to a first set point.
12. 12. The autopilot sensor cleaning apparatus of claim 11 wherein the controller is further configured to receive a current position of the wiper blade from a hall sensor and compare the current position of the wiper blade to a contaminated position, the controller being further configured to control a motor to move the wiper blade to the contaminated position based on the wiper blade not being moved to the contaminated position.
13. 13. The autopilot sensor cleaning apparatus of claim 11 wherein the controller is further configured to receive a current position of the wiper blade from a hall sensor and compare the current position of the wiper blade to a contaminated position, the controller being further configured to control a motor to move the wiper blade in an opposite direction based on the wiper blade moving to the contaminated position.
14. 14. The autopilot sensor cleaning assembly of claim 13 wherein the controller re-measures the sensor assembly for contamination after the controller controls the motor to move the wiper blade in an opposite direction, the controller being further configured to control the motor to move the wiper blade toward the contaminated position based on the sensor contamination level being greater than or equal to a second set point.
15. 15. The autopilot sensor cleaning assembly of claim 14 wherein the controller re-measures the sensor assembly for contamination after the controller controls the motor to move the wiper blade in the opposite direction, the controller being configured to control the motor to move the wiper blade to the set position based on the sensor contamination level being less than the second set point.
16. 16. The autopilot sensor cleaning apparatus of claim 15 wherein the controller is further configured to measure a contamination status of the sensor assembly, the controller being further configured to power a blower of the blower assembly based on the measured sensor contamination level being less than the first set point.
17. 17. The autopilot sensor cleaning apparatus of claim 16 wherein after the controller powers a blower, the controller is configured to determine an operational status of the wiper assembly, the controller configured to stop the supply of power to the blower based on the wiper assembly being operational.
18. 18. The autopilot sensor cleaning apparatus of claim 17 wherein after the controller ceases the supply of power to the blower, the controller is configured to re-measure the operational status of the wiper assembly, the controller being configured to again power the blower based on the wiper assembly not being operational.
19. 19. The autopilot sensor cleaning assembly of claim 4 wherein fluid is sprayed through the wash outlet in the direction of wiper blade movement.
20. 20. A vehicle comprising the automatic driving sensor cleaning device according to claim 1.

Description

Automatic driving sensor cleaning device Technical Field The present invention relates to a sensor cleaning device for an autonomous vehicle or a vehicle including an advanced driver assistance system (ADVANCED DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEMS, ADAS), and more particularly, to a sensor cleaning device that can prevent contamination of or effectively remove contamination of sensors outside the vehicle by using a wiper assembly and a blower assembly. Background Sensors used in automatic driving vehicles and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) should remain clean at all times to accurately detect and identify road conditions. When the sensor is contaminated, the driving safety and the automatic drivability of the vehicle may be greatly affected. For the present reasons, sensor cleaning devices play a very important role. The conventional sensor cleaning apparatus mainly uses a method of spraying air compressed by an air compressor to a sensor surface or a method of removing dust or foreign matter from the sensor surface using a wiper. These methods can remove contamination from the sensor surface to some extent, but compressed air alone has a limitation in removing contaminants mixed with moisture or oil, and scraping alone has a problem in that it is difficult to prevent contamination before the sensor is contaminated. Furthermore, the continued use of compressed air may result in high energy consumption and maintenance costs for the air compressor. To overcome these limitations of the prior art, research has been actively conducted recently on new cleaning methods incorporating blower and wiper assemblies. The method aims at forming an air curtain by sucking air in the vehicle interior by a blower and discharging the air onto a hood, thereby preventing contamination of the sensor. In addition, the wiper assembly includes a washing liquid outlet in the wiper blade itself, which increases the function of spraying washing liquid according to the direction in which the wiper moves, thereby effectively removing contaminants attached to the sensor surface. Research is underway to keep the sensors clean and to improve the safety and performance of autonomous vehicles and ADASs. The information included in the background section of the invention is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and is not to be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is known to a person skilled in the art. Disclosure of Invention Various aspects of the present invention are directed to provide a sensor cleaning device that can prevent contamination of a sensor by combining a blower and a wiper assembly, and can effectively remove contaminants on a sensor surface by including a washing liquid outlet in a wiper blade to spray washing liquid in a direction in which a wiper moves. The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above objects, and other objects of the present invention, which are not described, will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains (hereinafter, referred to as "those of ordinary skill in the art") through the following description. An automatic driving sensor cleaning device for achieving the object of the present invention includes the following configuration. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an automatic driving sensor cleaning device is provided that includes a housing assembly, a bracket disposed inside the housing assembly, connected to at least a portion of the housing assembly, and including a camera mounting portion, a sensor assembly mounted to the bracket, a cover disposed spaced apart from the sensor assembly and connected to a portion of the housing assembly, a wiper assembly, wherein at least a portion of the wiper assembly is in contact with the cover, a blower assembly adjacent to the wiper assembly and the sensor assembly and including an outlet disposed adjacent to the cover, and a controller configured to control the wiper assembly and the blower assembly. Further, the housing assembly may include a frame to which the bracket is fixed, an upper cover surrounding an upper end of the frame, a lower cover fixed to a lower end of the frame, and a mask arranged to surround the mask. Further, the sensor assembly may include a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor fixed to an upper surface of the stand and an image pickup device sensor inserted into the image pickup device mounting portion. Further, the wiper assembly may include a motor to which the motor frame is connected, a screw rotatably mounted on the motor frame, a wiper guide coupled to the screw, a wiper arm connected to the wiper guide, and a wiper blade connected to the wiper arm to be in contact with the cover, and a washing liquid outlet may be disposed on both side surfaces of the wiper blade. Further, the wiper blade may be moved integrally with the wiper gui