Container structure with builtin heatsink for housing a sensor unit of an autonomous driving vehicle

• US 10,645,848 B1
• Filed: 10/24/2018
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Baidu USA LLC (Baidu Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Baidu USA LLC (Baidu Incorporated)
• Inventors: Lu, Weiyu, Liao, Fu-Kang
• Primary Examiner(s): Vortman, Anatoly
• Application Number:
  US16/168,932
• Publication Number:
  US 20200137928A1
• Time in Patent Office: 559 Days
• Field of Search: 361709
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 11/04 Mounting of cameras operative during drive; Arrangement of controls thereof relative to the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/28 with correlation of data from several navigational instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3602 Input other than that of destination using image analysis, e.g. detection of road signs, lanes, buildings, real preceding vehicles using a camera
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/865 Combination of radar systems with lidar systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9323 Alternative operation using light waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/027 Constructional details of housings, e.g. form, type, material or ruggedness
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20854 Heat transfer by conduction from internal heat source to heat radiating structure H05K7/20863 takes precedence

Abstract

A sensor unit utilized in an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) includes a unit tray containing a sensor interface, a host interface, and one or more sensor processing modules. The sensor interface can be coupled to a variety of sensors used in the ADV, such as, for example, LIDAR, RADAR, cameras, etc., which may be mounted on different locations of the ADV. The host interface can be coupled a host system that is responsible for autonomously driving the vehicle. The host system is configured to perceive a driving environment surrounding the ADV base on sensor data obtained from the sensors and plan a path to autonomously drive the vehicle through the driving environment. The sensor processing modules are configured to process the sensor data obtained from the sensors.

Claims

1. A sensor unit utilized in an autonomous driving vehicle, the sensor unit comprising:

a unit tray including mounted therein,

a sensor interface to be coupled to a plurality of sensors mounted on a plurality of locations of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV),

a host interface to be coupled to a host system, wherein the host system is configured to perceive a driving environment surrounding the ADV based on sensor data obtained from the sensors and to plan a path to autonomously drive the ADV, and

one or more sensor processing modules coupled to the sensor interface to process sensor data received from the sensors;

a unit base plate to receive the unit tray deposited thereon; and

a unit cover to cover the unit tray and the unit base plate, wherein the unit cover comprises a plurality of fins disposed on an external surface of the unit cover to form a heat sink integrated thereon to radiate heat generated and received from the sensor processing modules without using a fan, wherein the unit cover is made of a heat conductive material.

2. The sensor unit of claim 1, wherein the unit cover further comprises a first set of one or more heat transfer arms disposed on an internal surface of the unit cover, and wherein the heat transfer arms of the first set extend downwardly to receive the heat generated from the sensor processing modules and to transfer the heat to the plurality of fins disposed on the external surface.

3. The sensor unit of claim 2, wherein when the unit cover is lowered down to cover the unit tray, the heat transfer arms are positioned to substantially contact external surfaces of the sensor processing modules to receive and transfer at least a portion of the heat generated by the sensor processing modules.

4. The sensor unit of claim 3, wherein the one or more heat transfer arms are disposed on the internal surface of the unit cover directly underneath at least a portion of the fins disposed on the external surface of the unit cover.

5. The sensor unit of claim 1, wherein the unit base plate further comprises a second set of one or more heat transfer arms disposed on an internal surface of the unit base plate, and wherein the heat transfer arms of the second set extend upwardly to receive the heat generated from the sensor processing modules and to transfer the heat to the base plate.

6. The sensor unit of claim 5, wherein when the unit tray is deposited onto the unit base plate, the heat transfer arms of the second set are positioned to substantially contact external surfaces of the sensor processing modules to receive and transfer at least a portion of the heat generated by the sensor processing modules.

7. The sensor unit of claim 1, wherein the unit tray further comprises:

a printed circuit board (PCB) having soldered thereon the sensor processing modules and a plurality of sensor connectors as a part of the sensor interface and the host interface;

a first mounting plate perpendicularly mounted to a first side of the PCB; and

a second mounting plate perpendicularly mounted to a second side of the PCB, wherein the second side is opposite to the first side.

8. The sensor unit of claim 7, wherein the unit tray is mounted to the unit base plate and the unit cover by mounting the first mounting plate and the second mounting plate onto the unit base plate and the unit cover.

9. The sensor unit of claim 7, wherein the first mounting plate comprises a plurality of openings to expose a first set of sensor connectors as a part of the sensor interface to be connected to a first set of the sensors, and wherein the second mounting plate comprises a plurality of openings to expose a second set of sensor connectors as a part of the sensor interface to be connected to a second set of the sensors.

10. The sensor unit of claim 7, wherein the first mounting plate, the PCB, and the second mounting plate are attached to each other to form a U-shape tray.

11. The sensor unit of claim 10, wherein the unit cover is molded into a single piece in a reversed U-shape form to complement the U-shape tray.

12. The sensor unit of claim 1, wherein the host interface comprises a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interface.

13. The sensor unit of claim 1, wherein the sensor interface comprises an Ethernet interface to be coupled with a LIDAR device or one or more cameras.

14. The sensor unit of claim 1, wherein the sensor interface comprises a global positioning system (GPS) interface to be coupled to at least one of a GPS receiver and an IMU device.

15. The sensor unit of claim 1, wherein the sensor interface comprises a control area network (CAN) interface to be coupled to throttle control logic, braking control logic, and steering control logic of the ADV.

16. An autonomous driving system, comprising:

a plurality of sensors mounted on a plurality of locations of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV);

a host system having a perception module and a planning and control module, wherein the perception module is configured to perceive a driving environment surrounding the ADV based on sensor data obtained from the sensors, and wherein the planning and control module is configured to plan a path to autonomously drive the ADV; and

a sensor unit coupled to the plurality of sensors and the host system, wherein the sensor unit comprises

a unit tray including mounted therein,

a sensor interface to be coupled to a plurality of sensors mounted on a plurality of locations of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV),

a host interface to be coupled to the host system, wherein the host system is configured to perceive the driving environment surrounding the ADV based on sensor data obtained from the sensors and to plan the path to autonomously drive the ADV, and

one or more sensor processing modules coupled to the sensor interface to process sensor data received from the sensors;

a unit base plate to receive the sensor unit tray deposited thereon; and

a unit cover to cover the unit tray and the unit base plate, wherein the unit cover comprises a plurality of fins disposed on an external surface of the unit cover to form a heat sink integrated thereon to radiate heat generated and received from the sensor processing modules without using a fan, wherein the unit cover is made of a heat conductive material.

17. The autonomous driving system of claim 16, wherein the unit cover further comprises a first set of one or more heat transfer arms disposed on an internal surface of the unit cover, and wherein the heat transfer arms of the first set extend downwardly to receive the heat generated from the sensor processing modules and to transfer the heat to the plurality of fins disposed on the external surface.

18. The autonomous driving system of claim 17, wherein when the unit cover is lowered down to cover the unit tray, the heat transfer arms are positioned to substantially contact external surfaces of the sensor processing modules to receive and transfer at least a portion of the heat generated by the sensor processing modules.

19. The autonomous driving system of claim 18, wherein the one or more heat transfer arms are disposed on the internal surface of the unit cover directly underneath at least a portion of the fins disposed on the external surface of the unit cover.

20. The autonomous driving system of claim 16, wherein the unit base plate further comprises a second set of one or more heat transfer arms disposed on an internal surface of the unit base plate, and wherein the heat transfer arms of the second set extend upwardly to receive the heat generated from the sensor processing modules and to transfer the heat to the base plate.