Sensor integration into existing vehicle structures

• US 10,589,694 B2
• Filed: 06/17/2016
• Issued: 03/17/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Incorporated (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Williams, Paxton S., Higgins, Christopher M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chace, Christian
• Assistant Examiner(s): Torchinsky, Edward
• Application Number:
  US15/186,389
• Publication Number:
  US 20170364086A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,369 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 11/00 Arrangements for holding or mounting articles, not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 11/04 Mounting of cameras operative during drive; Arrangement of controls thereof relative to the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 13/005 Manufacturers' emblems, name plates, bonnet ornaments, mascots or the like; Mounting means therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2011/004 outside the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/00 Systems using the reflection or reradiation of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. lidar systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93271 in the front of the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2015/937 sensor installation details
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4813 Housing arrangements

Abstract

One or more vehicle sensors can be integrated into existing vehicle housings or structures to provide a streamlined appearance, potentially improved sensing capabilities, and a reduction in the use of extra structures to hold the one or more vehicle sensors. In one or more arrangements, one or more vehicle sensors can be located within a body of the vehicle and can be spaced from the vehicle emblem in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The one or more sensors can be configured and/or operatively positioned to sense at least a portion of an external environment of the vehicle through the vehicle emblem. In one or more arrangements, one or more sensors can be located within a front grille of the vehicle. The one or more sensors are configured to sense at least a portion of an external environment of the vehicle through the front grille.

Claims

1. A sensor system for a vehicle comprising:

a vehicle emblem, an aperture being defined solely by the vehicle emblem, whereby the aperture is not defined by a front grille of the vehicle;

a radiator located rearward from the vehicle emblem in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle; and

one or more sensors located between the vehicle emblem and the radiator, the one or more sensors being spaced rearward from the vehicle emblem in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the one or more sensors being substantially aligned with the vehicle emblem, the one or more sensors are configured to sense at least a portion of an external environment of the vehicle, whereby the aperture facilitates airflow to the one or more sensors and to the radiator for engine cooling; and

a radiator support structure, the one or more sensors being connected to a forward portion of the radiator support structure and the radiator being connected to a rearward portion of the radiator support structure.

3. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors include one or more lidar sensors.

4. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors include one or more radar sensors.

5. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors include one or more passive optical cameras, one or more passive thermal infrared sensors, one or more sonar sensors, or one or more ultrasonic sensors.

8. The sensor system of claim 1, further including a front bumper located at a forward end of a vehicle body, and wherein the one or more sensors are located above the front bumper in an elevation direction.

9. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle, and further including a processor operatively connected to the one or more sensors, and wherein the processor is configured to maneuver the vehicle based at least in part on data acquired by the one or more sensors.

10. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors are operatively positioned to sense the at least a portion of the external environment of the vehicle through the aperture in the vehicle emblem.

11. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors include one or more lidar sensors.

12. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors include one or more radar sensors.

13. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors include one or more passive optical cameras, one or more passive thermal infrared sensors, one or more sonar sensors, or one or more ultrasonic sensors.

14. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle includes a front grille, and wherein the one or more sensors are operatively positioned so that air received in the front grille passes over at least a top portion and a bottom portion of the one or more sensors.

2. A sensor system for a vehicle comprising:

a vehicle, the vehicle including;

a forward end region including a front end;

a rearward end region including a rear end;

a vehicle body, the vehicle body defining an opening in the forward end region of the vehicle; and

a front grille, the front grille including a frame member, the frame member being elongated in a substantially vertical direction, at least a portion of the frame member being hollow and defining an interior hollow space, the front grille and the frame member being received within the opening, the front grille being connected to the vehicle body in the forward end region, a front portion of the frame member defining a portion of an exterior of the vehicle in the forward end region, the front grille being located forward of an engine compartment of the vehicle, the front grille being configured to allow air from outside the vehicle to flow through the front grille and into an interior region of the vehicle body; and

one or more sensors being housed within the interior hollow space of the frame member, the one or more sensors are configured to sense at least a portion of an external environment of the vehicle through a wall of the frame member, the wall being solid, whereby the wall does not include apertures, and whereby the one or more sensors do not sense the external environment of the vehicle through any vehicle emblem.

6. The sensor system of claim 2, further including a front bumper located in the forward end region of the vehicle body, and wherein the one or more sensors are located above the front bumper in an elevation direction.

7. The sensor system of claim 2, wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle, and further including a processor operatively connected to the one or more sensors, and wherein the processor is configured to maneuver the vehicle based at least in part on data acquired by the one or more sensors.