KR-20260066342-A - AUTONOMOUS DRIVING SENSOR CLEANING DEVICE

KR20260066342AKR 20260066342 AKR20260066342 AKR 20260066342AKR-20260066342-A

Abstract

The present invention relates to an autonomous driving sensor cleaning device. An autonomous driving sensor cleaning device according to one embodiment of the present invention is characterized by comprising: a housing assembly; a bracket located inside the housing assembly, fastened to at least a part of the housing assembly, and including a camera mounting portion; a sensor assembly mounted on the bracket; a cover portion located spaced apart from the sensor assembly and fastened to a part of the housing assembly; a wiper assembly in contact with at least a part of the cover portion; a blower assembly adjacent to the wiper assembly and the sensor assembly, with a discharge port located adjacent to the cover portion; and a control unit for controlling the wiper assembly and the blower assembly.

Inventors

김경환
공락경
왕상헌
더볼트 데니스
라소셋 앤드류

Assignees

현대자동차주식회사
기아 주식회사
발레오 시스뗌므 데쉬야지

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20241104

Claims (16)

Housing assembly; A bracket located inside the housing assembly, fastened to at least a part of the housing assembly, and including a camera mounting portion; A sensor assembly mounted on the above bracket; A cover portion positioned spaced apart from the sensor assembly and fastened to a part of the housing assembly; A wiper assembly in which at least a portion contacts the above-mentioned cover portion; A blower assembly adjacent to the wiper assembly and sensor assembly, with a discharge port positioned adjacent to the cover portion; and An autonomous driving sensor cleaning device comprising: a control unit that controls the wiper assembly and the blower assembly.
In Article 1, The above housing assembly is, A frame to which the above bracket is fixed; An upper cover configured to wrap around the top of the above frame; A lower cover to which the lower end of the above frame is fixed; and An autonomous driving sensor cleaning device comprising: a face cover positioned to surround the above-mentioned cover portion.
In Article 1, The above sensor assembly is, A LiDAR sensor fixed to the upper surface of the above bracket; and An autonomous driving sensor cleaning device comprising: a camera sensor inserted into the camera mounting portion.
In Article 1, The above wiper assembly is, motor; A motor frame connected to the above motor; A screw mounted on the above motor frame; A wiper guide coupled to the above screw; A wiper arm connected to the above wiper guide; and A wiper blade connected to the wiper arm and in contact with the cover portion; comprising An autonomous driving sensor cleaning device having washer discharge ports located on both sides of the above-mentioned wiper blade.
In paragraph 4, The above wiper blade moves integrally with the wiper guide through the above wiper arm, and the autonomous driving sensor cleaning device moves along the longitudinal direction of the screw by the rotation of the above motor.
In Paragraph 4, A bumper mounted on the above motor frame; A guide shaft fixed to the above motor frame; A washer hose connected to the above wiper blade; and An autonomous driving sensor cleaning device comprising: a hose guide that guides the washer hose.
In Article 1, The above blower assembly is, A blower panel fastened to the above bracket; A blower connected to the blower panel above; and An autonomous driving sensor cleaning device comprising: an air duct fluidly connected to the discharge port of the blower.
In Paragraph 4, The above control unit is, The contamination state of the sensor assembly is measured, and if the measured contamination level of the sensor assembly is greater than or equal to a first set value, An autonomous driving sensor cleaning device that controls the motor so that the wiper blade moves to a contaminated location.
In Article 8, The control unit receives the position of the wiper blade from the Hall sensor, compares the current position of the wiper blade with the contamination position, and If the above wiper blade fails to move to the contaminated location, The above control unit controls the motor so that the wiper blade moves to a contaminated location, thereby forming an autonomous driving sensor cleaning device.
In Article 8, The control unit receives the position of the wiper blade from the Hall sensor, compares the current position of the wiper blade with the contaminated position, and if the wiper blade has moved to the contaminated position, An autonomous driving sensor cleaning device that controls the motor so that the wiper blade moves in the opposite direction.
In Article 10, After the above control unit controls the motor so that the wiper blade moves in the opposite direction, The contamination status of the sensor assembly is measured again, and if the sensor contamination level is greater than or equal to the second set value, The above control unit controls the motor so that the wiper blade moves to a contaminated location, thereby forming an autonomous driving sensor cleaning device.
In Article 10, After the above control unit controls the motor so that the wiper blade moves in the opposite direction, The contamination status of the sensor assembly is measured again, and if the sensor contamination level is less than the second set value, The above control unit controls the motor to move the wiper blade to a set position, thereby forming an autonomous driving sensor cleaning device.
In Article 7, The above control unit, The contamination state of the sensor assembly is measured, and if the measured sensor contamination level is less than a first set value, The above control unit is an autonomous driving sensor cleaning device that applies power to a blower.
In Article 13, The above control unit, After applying power to the blower, the operating status of the wiper assembly is determined, and if the wiper assembly is operating, The above control unit is an autonomous driving sensor cleaning device that stops power supply to the blower.
In Article 14, After the above control unit stops supplying power to the blower, The operating status of the above wiper assembly is determined again, and if the above wiper assembly is not operating, The above control unit is an autonomous driving sensor cleaning device that reapplies power to the blower.
In Paragraph 4, An autonomous driving sensor cleaning device in which a fluid is sprayed through the washer discharge port in the direction in which the blade moves.

Description

Autonomous Driving Sensor Cleaning Device The present invention relates to a sensor cleaning device for a vehicle including an autonomous vehicle or an advanced driver assistance system, and more specifically, to a sensor cleaning device that can prevent contamination of external vehicle sensors or effectively remove contamination by utilizing a wiper assembly and a blower assembly. Sensors used in autonomous vehicles or Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) must always be kept clean to accurately detect and recognize road conditions. If sensors become contaminated, it significantly impacts the vehicle's driving safety and autonomous driving performance. For this reason, sensors cleaning devices play a very important role. Conventional sensor cleaning devices have primarily used methods such as spraying compressed air onto the sensor surface using an air compressor or using wipers to remove dust or foreign matter from the sensor surface. While these methods can remove some contamination from the sensor surface, compressed air alone has limitations in removing contaminants mixed with moisture or oil, and the wiper method alone has the problem of being unable to prevent contamination before it occurs. Furthermore, the continuous use of compressed air results in high energy consumption and may incur maintenance costs for the air compressor. To overcome the limitations of such conventional technology, research on a new cleaning method combining a blower and a wiper assembly has recently been actively emerging. This method aims to prevent contamination of the sensor by forming an air curtain through the air drawn in from inside the vehicle via a blower and discharged onto the cover. Additionally, the wiper assembly incorporates a washer discharge port directly into the wiper blade to add a function that sprays washer according to the direction of the wiper's movement, thereby enabling the effective removal of contaminants attached to the sensor surface. Research is being conducted in a direction that enhances the safety and performance of autonomous vehicles and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) by maintaining the cleanliness of the sensor through this method. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an autonomous driving sensor cleaning device as an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of an autonomous driving sensor cleaning device as an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 illustrates a state in which a sensor assembly, a wiper assembly, and a cover part are combined on a bracket as an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 shows a part of a side cross-sectional view of an autonomous driving sensor cleaning device. FIG. 5a illustrates an exploded view of a wiper assembly and a blower assembly as an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5b illustrates air flow through a blower as an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited to the embodiments below. These embodiments are provided to more completely explain the present invention to those with average knowledge in the art. Additionally, terms such as "...part," "...unit," etc., as described in the specification refer to a unit that processes at least two functions or operations, and this may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Furthermore, the terms used in the specification are used merely to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the embodiments. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, throughout the specification, when a part is described as "including" a certain component, this means that, unless specifically stated otherwise, it does not exclude other components but may include additional components; additionally, terms such as "?? part" as described in the specification refer to a unit that handles at least two functions or operations. Additionally, the control unit (500) may be implemented as a memory that stores data for an algorithm or a program that reproduces the algorithm for controlling the operation of various components placed in the vehicle, and as a processor that performs the aforementioned operation using the data stored in the memory. In this case, the memory and the processor may each be implemented as separate chips. Alternatively, the memory and the processor may be implemented as a single chip. For example, the control unit (500) may be configured to include at least two types of processors well known in the art of the present invention, such as an ECU (Electronic Control Unit), CPU (Central Processing Unit), MPU (Micro Processo