CN116734986A

CN116734986A - Sensing device, method for collecting and processing signals by using sensing device and vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN116734986A
Application number: CN202210202155.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘杨; 赵祺; 张秀萍; 刘亚利
Original assignee: Continental Automotive Safety System Changchun Co ltd
Current assignee: Continental Automotive Safety System Changchun Co ltd
Priority date: 2022-03-03
Filing date: 2022-03-03
Publication date: 2023-09-12

Abstract

The invention relates to a sensing device (100; 100') comprising: -a substrate (1), at least one first acoustic sensor (2, 2') for capturing a first acoustic signal transmitted through a first medium; at least one second sound sensor (3, 3') for capturing a second sound signal transmitted through a second medium independent of the first sound sensor, wherein the second medium is different from the first medium; the signal processing unit is used for receiving the first sound signal and the second sound signal and performing preliminary processing on the first sound signal and the second sound signal; and a microprocessor for characterizing the primarily processed first and second sound signals. The invention also relates to a vehicle comprising the sensing device and a method for signal acquisition and processing by using the sensing device.

Description

Sensing device, method for collecting and processing signals by using sensing device and vehicle

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of vehicle sensing, in particular to a sensing device based on an MEMS microphone, a conveying device comprising the sensing device and a method for collecting and processing signals by using the sensing device.

Background

Vehicle sensing techniques for safety applications are known, for example, devices that judge malicious tapping of the vehicle glass by collecting sound signals; a method of detecting and responding to an alert that detects an emergency vehicle by a plurality of sensors and uses output from the plurality of sensors to estimate an orientation of the emergency vehicle; and an automobile scratch early warning and evidence recording system, wherein the system adopts a camera as a signal acquisition mode.

However, existing sensing devices still have the following drawbacks: the automobile is damaged or scratched maliciously and cannot be detected in time; for an automatic driving vehicle, the identification and avoidance of the emergency vehicle cannot be performed; and/or for an electric vehicle, the battery is easy to strike at the chassis part, but the damage state of the battery cannot be monitored.

Accordingly, there remains a need for improved sensing devices for vehicles.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is to solve at least one of the above-mentioned problems and disadvantages of the prior art.

Therefore, the invention provides the sensing device which has the advantages of simple structure, convenient installation, high signal recognition rate and rich application scenes.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sensing device comprising: a substrate, at least one first sound sensor for collecting a first sound signal transmitted through a first medium; at least one second sound sensor for acquiring a second sound signal transmitted through a second medium independent of the first sound sensor, wherein the second medium is different from the first medium; the signal processing unit is used for receiving the first sound signal and the second sound signal and performing preliminary processing on the first sound signal and the second sound signal; and a microprocessor for characterizing the primarily processed first and second sound signals, wherein the first sound sensor, the second sound sensor, the signal processing unit and the microprocessor are disposed on the substrate.

Therefore, two independent sensors are adopted to collect signals transmitted by different media, so that the signal recognition rate and the accuracy are improved.

Optionally, the first sound sensor and/or the second sound sensor are respectively piezoelectric MEMS microphones.

Optionally, the sensing device further comprises a signal collection structure for the first sound sensor, the signal collection structure being configured in the form of a horn or a truncated cone, and having two opposite openings with the larger of the two openings open outwardly and the smaller of the two openings being aligned with the first sound sensor for collecting sound signals transmitted through the air medium, and a signal collection chamber located between the two openings.

Alternatively, on the side of the substrate where the signal collection structure is provided, a protective film is arranged at a mounting position corresponding to the first sound sensor.

Optionally, the sensing device further comprises a support structure for the second sound sensor, the support structure being columnar and abutting the second sound sensor to secure and support the second sound sensor.

Optionally, the substrate is a PCB (printed circuit board), and/or the signal processing unit comprises at least one of an amplifying circuit and a filtering circuit.

Optionally, the sensing device further comprises a PSI5 (peripheral sensor interface 5) module, a CAN (controller area network) module and/or a power module.

Therefore, the sensor, the signal processing unit, the microprocessor, other modules and the like can be integrated on the PCB, and the detection with high reliability is simply realized by a simple hardware processing circuit, so that the cost is reduced.

Optionally, the sensing device is packaged as a single unitary body. Thereby, a modular structure is achieved.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of signal acquisition and processing with a sensing device according to the foregoing, the method comprising the steps of:

a) Collecting a first sound signal transmitted through air by means of a first sound sensor;

b) Collecting a second sound signal transmitted through the solid by means of a second sound sensor;

c) Receiving and primarily processing the first sound signal and the second sound signal by using a signal processing unit; and

d) The first sound signal and the second sound signal which are subjected to preliminary processing are subjected to characterization processing by a microprocessor. .

Optionally, step c) comprises: processing the first sound signal and the second sound signal with an amplifying circuit and a filtering circuit; and/or

Optionally, step d) comprises: after the primarily processed first sound signal and second sound signal are transmitted to the microprocessor, the microprocessor performs characterization processing on the first sound signal and the second sound signal to judge the type and the source of the signals.

Drawings

The invention will now be described in detail by way of non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are only schematic and are not necessarily drawn to scale, and which show only those parts which are necessary in order to elucidate the invention, while other parts may be omitted or merely briefly mentioned. That is, the present invention may include other components in addition to those shown in the drawings. In the drawings:

figure 1 schematically shows a front view and a side view of a sensing device according to a first embodiment of the invention,

figure 2 schematically shows the back side of the embodiment shown in figure 1,

figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of the embodiment shown in figure 1,

figure 4 is a schematic perspective view of a sensing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention,

figure 5 is a schematic front view of the embodiment shown in figure 4,

figure 6 is a schematic rear view of the embodiment shown in figure 4,

fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a method of signal acquisition and processing with a sensing device according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

A sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention to those skilled in the art. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. Furthermore, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to specific described embodiments. Rather, the invention can be considered to be implemented with any combination of the following features and elements, whether or not they relate to different embodiments. Thus, the following aspects, features, embodiments and advantages are merely illustrative and should not be considered elements or limitations of the claims except where explicitly set out in a claim.

Fig. 1-3 illustrate a sensing device 100 according to one embodiment of the invention, which may be, for example, a MEMS microphone based touch sensor device.

As shown in fig. 1, the sensing device 100 includes a substrate 1, a first sound sensor 2, a second sound sensor 3, a signal processing unit (not shown), and a microprocessor (not shown). The first sound sensor 2, the second sound sensor 3, the signal processing unit and the microprocessor are all arranged on the substrate 1. Thus, the sensing device 100 may be packaged as a single unitary body.

In one embodiment, the substrate 1 may be a PCB, i.e. a printed circuit board.

The first and second sound sensors 2, 3 may be MEMS-based sound sensors, such as MEMS microphones, in particular piezoelectric MEMS microphones. As shown in fig. 2, the first and second sound sensors 2, 3 are arranged on the back side of the substrate 1.

The first sound sensor 2 may be used to collect a first sound signal transmitted through a first medium. The second sound sensor 3 may be used to collect a second sound signal transmitted through the second medium in a manner independent of the first sound sensor. The second medium is different from the first medium. The first medium may be air and the second medium may be a solid, especially in case the sensing device 100 is mounted on a vehicle (e.g. attached to the inner surface of a vehicle sheet metal), the second medium is a vehicle body shell.

When the substrate 1 is a PCB, the signal processing unit may include a signal processing circuit, such as an amplifying circuit and a filtering circuit, disposed on the PCB. The signal processing unit may be configured to receive and preliminarily process a first sound signal transmitted through an air medium and a second sound signal transmitted through, for example, a solid medium (body shell). Further, a microprocessor (not shown) disposed on the substrate 1 may be used to characterize the primarily processed first sound signal and second sound signal.

As shown in fig. 1, the sensing device 100 further comprises a signal collection structure 4 for the first sound sensor 2. The signal collecting structure 4 is provided on the front side of the base plate 1, is constructed in the form of a horn, and has two openings facing each other with a larger one of the two openings open outward and a smaller other opening aligned with a through hole (not shown) in the base plate 1, and the first sound sensor 2 is provided on the back side of the base plate 1 at a position corresponding to the through hole (see fig. 2) so as to collect a sound signal transmitted through an air medium. In the present embodiment, the line between the center of the larger opening and the center of the smaller opening of the signal collection structure 4 is not perpendicular to the surface of the substrate 1, i.e. the larger opening is located in the substantially middle of the substrate and the smaller opening is offset towards the right side of fig. 1 with respect to the larger opening, so that the larger opening of the signal collection structure 4 and thus the signal collection structure cavity 5 is sufficiently large, while the surface area of the substrate 1 is effectively utilized without enlarging the substrate 1.

On the front side of the substrate 1, a shielding film 6 is arranged at a smaller opening corresponding to the signal collection structure 4 (i.e., at a position corresponding to the aforementioned through hole). The protective film 6 is used to cover the through holes in the substrate 1 to prevent water and dust from entering the through holes to block them. When an acoustic signal is transmitted to the protective film 6 via the air medium, it can vibrate to transmit the acoustic signal to the first acoustic sensor 2 through the aforementioned through-hole in the substrate 1.

Fig. 2 shows the backside of the sensing device 100, as can be appreciated: when the sensing device 100 turns over from the front side shown in fig. 1 to the rear side shown in fig. 2, the left side portion in fig. 1 is changed to the right side portion in fig. 2, and the right side portion in fig. 1 is changed to the left side portion. Therefore, the first sound sensor 2 is arranged on the back surface side of the substrate 1 at a position corresponding to the protective film 6 in fig. 1 (which is shown to be located on the right side of fig. 1 in fig. 1), and is shown to be located on the left side of fig. 2 in fig. 2. Similarly, the second sound sensor 3 is then shown in fig. 2 as being located on the right side of fig. 2.

As shown in fig. 3, the sensing device 100 further comprises a support structure 7 for the second sound sensor 3. The support structure 7 is for example cylindrical (preferably cylindrical) extending through a further through hole in the substrate 1 and abutting the second sound sensor 3 to fix and support the second sound sensor 3.

The signal collection structure 4 and the support structure 7 may be integrally formed and as part of a housing 8, which housing 8 at least partly encloses the substrate 1 from the front side, as is best shown in fig. 3.

The sensing device 100, 100' further comprises a PSI5 (peripheral sensor interface 5) module, a CAN (controller area network) module and/or a power module. PSI5 is a bus interface for automotive applications. It is an open standard that provides highly safe, reliable, fast data transmission and helps reduce the size, weight, and cost of vehicle wiring harnesses and connectors.

Fig. 4 to 6 show a sensing device 100' according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The same or similar components of the sensing device 100' and the sensing device 100 shown in fig. 1 to 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals with a prime ('), and the detailed description of the same or similar components of the sensing device 100' and the sensing device 100 can be found in the foregoing descriptions with reference to fig. 1 to 3, and will not be repeated herein. The sensing device 100' differs from the sensing device 100 in that it comprises a signal collection structure 4' and a signal collection chamber 5'. As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the signal collection structure 4' is configured in the form of a truncated cone. Furthermore, the signal collection structure 4' and the support structure 7' are integrally formed and as part of a housing 8', which housing 8' is configured to at least partially enclose the substrate 1' in the circumferential direction (see fig. 5).

Fig. 7 shows in a schematic block diagram a method of signal acquisition and processing with a sensing device according to the invention. As shown in fig. 7, the power module may supply power to the microprocessor, the signal processing unit, and the sensor. The first sound signal transmitted through the air can be acquired by means of the first sound sensor 2 and the second sound signal transmitted through the solid can also be acquired by means of the second sound sensor 3. The first and second sound sensors input the first and second sound signals, respectively, to a signal processing unit, which may receive and initially process, in particular with an amplifying circuit and a filtering circuit, the first and second sound signals. The primarily processed first and second sound signals are input to a microprocessor which characterizes the signals so that they can be used to determine the type and source of the signals.

In particular, for security purposes, a high accuracy is generally required, for which purpose the signals emitted by the unified sound source can be collected separately and checked against each other by two sensors in the same sensing device. In addition, a plurality of sensing devices can be installed at different positions of the vehicle body, each first sensor in the sensing devices can respectively process sound signals transmitted through air and comprehensively compare and judge signal types and sources by a microprocessor, and likewise, each second sensor can respectively process sound signals transmitted through solids and comprehensively compare and judge signal types and sources by the microprocessor. Thereby significantly improving the accuracy of detection and the safety of the vehicle.

Industrial applicability

The sensing device according to the invention is based on the following idea:

1. with two independent acoustic sensors, such as MEMS microphones, in particular piezoelectric MEMS microphones, acoustic signals can be acquired through two propagation media (e.g. air and solid);

2. the combination of the first sound sensor (namely the air sound signal acquisition microphone), the signal collection structure and the protective film can effectively collect sound signals in the air, so that the environmental protection level of the product is improved, the production and the tooling die design are easy, the product performance is improved, and meanwhile, the manufacturing cost is reduced;

3. the mounting position of the second sound sensor (namely the solid sound signal acquisition microphone) is positioned on the back side of the PCB and corresponds to the position of the through hole of the PCB, and correspondingly, a columnar solid supporting structure is adopted on the front side of the PCB, so that the solid sound signal transmission is facilitated, and the supporting strength and the environmental protection level are improved.

The sensing devices 100 and 100' in the embodiments of the present invention use two piezoelectric MEMS microphones as sensing devices, and can collect an airborne sound signal and a solid structure-transmitted sound signal respectively by virtue of the difference of the housing structures at the microphone mounting positions. The two signals are transmitted to the microprocessor after being processed by the amplifying circuit and the filtering circuit, and the algorithm in the microprocessor performs characteristic processing on the two signals, so that the type and the source of the signals can be judged. The sensor may be applied to different scenarios depending on the type and source of the signal. For example, mounting a sensor to the inner surface of a sheet metal of an automobile can be used to detect scratches and impacts of the automobile; can be used for parking collision detection; the method can be used for identifying the emergency vehicle by the unmanned automobile so as to avoid the emergency vehicle and the like.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments described above are exemplary and that modifications may be made by those skilled in the art, and that the structures described in the various embodiments may be freely combined without conflict in terms of structure or principle. For example, it is conceivable to: more than two (e.g. 3 or more) sound sensors may be arranged in the same sensing device. Furthermore, the same sensor is used in the embodiments of the present disclosure, however it is also conceivable to arrange at least two sensors of different kinds in the same sensing device.

Having described the preferred embodiments of the present invention in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims, and the invention is not limited to the implementations of the embodiments illustrated in the specification.

Claims

1. A sensing device, characterized in that the sensing device (100; 100') comprises:

a substrate (1),

at least one first sound sensor (2, 2') for capturing a first sound signal transmitted through a first medium;

at least one second sound sensor (3, 3') for capturing a second sound signal transmitted through a second medium independent of the first sound sensor, wherein the second medium is different from the first medium;

the signal processing unit is used for receiving the first sound signal and the second sound signal and performing preliminary processing on the first sound signal and the second sound signal; and

a microprocessor for characterizing the primarily processed first and second sound signals,

wherein the first sound sensor (2, 2 '), the second sound sensor (3, 3'), the signal processing unit and the microprocessor are arranged on said substrate.

2. Sensing device according to claim 1, wherein the first sound sensor (2, 2 ') and/or the second sound sensor (3, 3') are respectively piezoelectric MEMS microphones.

3. Sensing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sensing device further comprises a signal collecting structure (4, 4 ') for the first sound sensor, the signal collecting structure being configured in the form of a horn or a cone and having two opposite openings and a signal collecting chamber (5, 5') located between the two openings, wherein the larger of the two openings is open outwards and the smaller other opening is aligned with the first sound sensor for collecting sound signals transmitted through the air medium.

4. A sensing device according to claim 3, wherein on the side of the substrate where the signal collecting structure is provided, a protective film (6, 6') is arranged at a mounting position corresponding to the first sound sensor.

5. Sensing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sensing device further comprises a support structure (7) for the second sound sensor, the support structure being cylindrical and abutting the second sound sensor (3, 3') to fix and support the second sound sensor.

6. The sensing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the substrate is a PCB (printed circuit board) and/or the signal processing unit comprises at least one of an amplifying circuit and a filtering circuit.

7. The sensing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sensing device further comprises a PSI5 (peripheral sensor interface 5) module, a CAN (controller area network) module and/or a power module.

8. The sensing device of claim 1 or 2, wherein the sensing device is packaged as a single unitary body.

9. A method of signal acquisition and processing with a sensing device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the method comprises the steps of:

d) The first sound signal and the second sound signal which are subjected to preliminary processing are subjected to characterization processing by a microprocessor.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein,

step c) comprises: processing the first sound signal and the second sound signal with an amplifying circuit and a filtering circuit; and/or

Step d) comprises: after the primarily processed first sound signal and second sound signal are transmitted to the microprocessor, the microprocessor performs characterization processing on the first sound signal and the second sound signal to judge the type and the source of the signals.

11. A vehicle, characterized in that it comprises a sensing device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

12. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the sensing device is mounted such that the second sound sensor is in abutment against the vehicle.