Sensor and apparatus for vehicle height measurement

• US 8,345,096 B2
• Filed: 05/07/2009
• Issued: 01/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Stanley Electric Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Stanley Electric Company Limited
• Inventors: Ishiyama, Yutaka, Kushimoto, Takuya
• Primary Examiner(s): LIN, WEN TAI
• Application Number:
  US12/437,038
• Publication Number:
  US 20090278927A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,335 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 348/139
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/823 Obstacle sensing
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2401/142 Visual Display Camera, e.g. LCD
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/0608 Height gauges
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

The disclosed subject matter relates to a sensor and apparatus for vehicle height and slant measurement which can include a light source, and two cameras with respective lenses. The light source can be configured to emit light towards a road, and both cameras can be configured to receive the image of the road that is illuminated by the light from the light source and to thereby create image data. The apparatus can include a control circuit that can geometrically measure a vehicle height in accordance with the image data. The sensor can also receive image data from different points and from two light sources, and the apparatus can detect a vehicular lean using the different vehicle heights. Thus, because the sensors of the disclosed subject matter do not necessarily include a moving part as in the conventional sensor, the sensors can be easily attached to a vehicle body and can also be used for a vehicular lean detection.

Claims

1. A sensor for vehicle height measurement capable of measuring vehicular slant, comprising:

a base board;

a light source having a length direction extending parallel with a longitudinal axis of the light source, the light source being located adjacent to the base board and configured to emit a linear light about an optical axis and in a light emitting direction opposite the base board;

a first camera having a length direction extending parallel with a longitudinal axis of the first camera, the first camera being located adjacent to the base board, and the length direction of the first camera being substantially perpendicular to the length direction of the light source;

a second camera having a length direction extending parallel with a longitudinal axis of the second camera, the second camera being located adjacent to the base board and opposed to the first camera, and the length direction of the second camera being located substantially on a virtual extension line extending linearly from the length direction of the first camera across the light source; and

a pair of lenses having a focus and a focal length each of the lenses located in front of a respective one of the first camera and the second camera, wherein a virtual line connecting the focuses of the pair of lenses, a virtual line connecting the focal lengths of the pair of lenses, and the virtual extension line connecting the first camera to the second camera are located substantially in parallel and on a same virtual surface, and the first camera and the second camera are configured to photograph a road image of the substantially same virtual extension surface that is generated by the linear light emitted from the light source.

3. The sensor for vehicle height measurement capable of measuring vehicular slant according to claim 1, wherein the light source includes a plurality of LED chips.

5. The sensor for vehicle height measurement capable of measuring vehicular slant according to claim 1, wherein the length direction of the light source is substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

7. The sensor for vehicle height measurement capable of measuring vehicular slant according to claim 3, wherein the length direction of the light source is substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

9. A vehicle height measurement apparatus using the sensor for vehicle height measurement capable of measuring vehicular slant according to claim 3, comprising:

a driver configured to drive the light source to emit the linear light from the light source towards a road;

a receiver configured to receive an image of the road that is generated by the light source from both the first camera and the second camera in the form of image data; and

a controller configured to control both the driver and the receiver and configured to calculate a vehicle height in accordance with the image data output from the receiver and the focal length of the pair of lenses.

11. The vehicle height measurement apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the length direction of the light source is substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

13. The vehicle height measurement apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to operate in accordance with an instruction input, and the controller is configured to output the vehicle height via an output.

15. The vehicle height measurement apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to operate in accordance with an instruction output from a headlight system, and the controller is configured to output vehicle height data to the headlight system.

17. A vehicle height measurement apparatus using a plurality of sensors for vehicle height measurement capable of measuring vehicular slant according to claim 1, comprising:

a driver configured to drive the light sources in the plurality of sensors to emit a plurality of linear lights from the light sources towards a road;

a receiver configured to receive image data of the road generated by a respective one of the light sources from both a corresponding first camera and a corresponding second camera in the plurality of sensors; and

a controller configured to control both the driver and the receiver, configured to calculate respective vehicle heights in accordance with corresponding image data output from the receiver and a corresponding focal length of the pair of lenses, and configured to detect a vehicular slant between at least two vehicle heights.

18. The vehicle height measurement apparatus according to claim 17, wherein each of the light sources includes a plurality of LED chips.

19. The vehicle height measurement apparatus according to claim 18, wherein each of the length directions of the light sources is substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

20. The vehicle height measurement apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the controller is configured to operate in accordance with an instruction output from a headlight system, and the controller is configured to output vehicular slant data to the headlight system.

2. A sensor for vehicle height measurement capable of measuring vehicular slant, comprising:

a base board;

a first light source having a length direction extending parallel with a longitudinal axis of the first light source, the first light source located adjacent to the base board and configured to emit a linear light along a first optical axis and in a light emitting direction opposite the base board;

a second light source having a length direction extending parallel with a longitudinal axis of the second light source, the second light source located adjacent to the base board and the length direction of the second light source being substantially parallel with the length direction of the first light source, and the second light source being configured to emit a linear light along a second optical axis and in a second light emitting direction substantially in parallel with the light emitting direction of the first light source;

a first camera having a length direction extending parallel with a longitudinal axis of the first camera, the first camera being located adjacent to the base board, and the length direction of the first camera being substantially perpendicular to the length direction of both the first light source and the second light source;

a second camera having a length direction extending parallel with a longitudinal axis of the second camera, the second camera located adjacent to the base board and opposite the first camera, and the length direction of the second camera being located substantially on a virtual linear extension of the length direction of the first camera across from the length direction of both the first light source and the second light source; and

a pair of lenses having a focus and a focal length each of the lenses located in front of a respective one of the first camera and the second camera, wherein a virtual line connecting the focuses of the pair of lenses, a virtual line connecting the focal lengths of the pair of lenses, and the virtual extension line connecting the first camera to the second camera are located substantially in parallel and on a same virtual surface, and the first camera and the second camera are configured to photograph a road image of the substantially same virtual extension surface that is generated by at least one of the linear lights emitted from the first light source and the second light source.

4. The sensor for vehicle height measurement capable of measuring vehicular slant according to claim 2, wherein each of the first light source and the second light source includes a plurality of LED chips.

6. The sensor for vehicle height measurement capable of measuring vehicular slant according to claim 2, wherein each of the length directions of both light sources is oriented substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

8. The sensor for vehicle height measurement capable of measuring vehicular slant according to claim 4, wherein each of the length directions of both light sources is oriented substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

10. A vehicle height measurement apparatus using the sensor for vehicle height measurement capable of measuring vehicular slant according to claim 4, comprising:

a driver configured to drive both light sources to emit the linear lights from the both light sources towards a road;

a receiver configured to receive respective images of the road generated by the light sources from both the first camera and the second camera in the form of image data; and

a controller configured to control both the driver and the receiver and configured to detect a vehicular lean in accordance with respective image data output from the receiver.

12. The vehicle height measurement apparatus according to claim 10, wherein each of the length directions of the both light sources is oriented substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

14. The vehicle height measurement apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to operate in accordance with an instruction input, and the controller is configured to output the vehicular lean via an output.

16. The vehicle height measurement apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to operate in accordance with an instruction output from a headlight system, and the controller is configured to output vehicular lean data to the headlight system.