ROAD PROFILE SCANNING METHOD AND VEHICLE USING SIDE FACING SENSORS
First Claim
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1. A motor vehicle, comprising:
- a vehicle body extending along a vehicle axis from a rear side to a front side and extending between first and second lateral sides;
at least one side facing road profile sensor mounted to one of the first and second lateral sides and operative to sense a road surface profile or a road obstruction in a sensing field extending laterally outward of the one of the first and second lateral sides and at least partially rearward of the front side of the vehicle body;
a positioning system operative to determine a current vehicle position;
a road profile data acquisition system operative to receive a profile sensor signal or value from the side facing road profile sensor indicating a sensed road surface profile or sensed road obstruction in the sensing field and to receive the current vehicle position from the positioning system; and
a radio frequency transceiver operative to transmit location and detected profile data indicative of the sensed road surface profile or sensed road obstruction in the sensing field and the current vehicle position at the time the road surface profile or road obstruction was sensed.
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Abstract
A motor vehicle and methods are presented in which side facing laser scanner sensors are used to detect road profile conditions and road obstructions in adjacent lanes and the profile information is used to update a central database for active suspension control in vehicles subsequently traveling along the scanned roadway.
94 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A motor vehicle, comprising:
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a vehicle body extending along a vehicle axis from a rear side to a front side and extending between first and second lateral sides; at least one side facing road profile sensor mounted to one of the first and second lateral sides and operative to sense a road surface profile or a road obstruction in a sensing field extending laterally outward of the one of the first and second lateral sides and at least partially rearward of the front side of the vehicle body; a positioning system operative to determine a current vehicle position; a road profile data acquisition system operative to receive a profile sensor signal or value from the side facing road profile sensor indicating a sensed road surface profile or sensed road obstruction in the sensing field and to receive the current vehicle position from the positioning system; and a radio frequency transceiver operative to transmit location and detected profile data indicative of the sensed road surface profile or sensed road obstruction in the sensing field and the current vehicle position at the time the road surface profile or road obstruction was sensed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for mapping road profiles, the method comprising:
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mounting at least one side facing road profile sensor to a lateral side of a motor vehicle with a sensing field extending laterally outward of the lateral side of the motor vehicle and at least partially rearward of a front side of the motor vehicle; sensing a road surface profile or a road obstruction in the sensing field of the side facing road profile sensor; determining a current vehicle position using a positioning system; and updating a road profile data store with detected profile data indicative of the sensed road surface profile or sensed road obstruction in the sensing field and the current vehicle position at the time the road surface profile or road obstruction was sensed. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for detecting road obstructions, the method comprising:
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mounting at least one side or forward facing road profile sensor to a motor vehicle with a sensing field extending onto a road proximate the motor vehicle; sensing a road obstruction in the sensing field of the road profile sensor; determining a current vehicle position using a positioning system; and transmitting data addressed to a server associated with a public service provider, the data indicative of the sensed road obstruction in the sensing field and the current vehicle position at the time the road obstruction was sensed.
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Specification