CN117295870A

CN117295870A - Obstacle detection device

Info

Publication number: CN117295870A
Application number: CN202280034168.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: R·施陶德; A·欣茨
Original assignee: Webasto SE
Current assignee: Webasto SE
Priority date: 2021-04-09
Filing date: 2022-03-15
Publication date: 2023-12-26
Also published as: DE102021108845A1; WO2022214277A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for detecting obstacles in the region of a movable closing element (12) in a motor vehicle for closing and/or releasing a space, having the following features: a plurality of transmitting means (3 a to 3 q) for transmitting optical signals; a plurality of receiving means (2 a to 2 h) for receiving the optical signals; -control means (6) operatively connected to the transmitting means (3 a to 3 q) and to the receiving means (2 a to 2 h) for comparing the light signal received by the receiving means (2 a to 2 h) with a setpoint signal, said control means (6) detecting the presence of an obstacle (11) in case of a deviation of the received light signal from the setpoint signal. For the purpose of reducing the cost of the device and improving the detection capability, the number of transmitting devices (3 a to 3 q) is greater than the number of receiving devices (2 a to 2 h), and the transmitting devices and the receiving devices are arranged relative to each other such that at least one receiving device can receive optical signals from a plurality of transmitting devices.

Description

Obstacle detection device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a device for detecting obstacles, in particular in motor vehicles, in the region of a movable closing element for closing and/or releasing a space.

Background

In the following, the term "closing element" is understood to mean in particular an electrically operable/lockable tailgate of a motor vehicle, but also a vehicle door, a bonnet and other movable surfaces for closing or releasing a space.

Furthermore, the above-described device is not limited to or only applicable to motor vehicles, but can be used for all vehicles.

A generic detection device is known from DE 10 2014 015 031 B4. The light signal emitted by the emitting means and received by the receiving means ensures a very reliable detection of an obstacle in the range of motion or rotation of the closure element, whereby, due to the use of the light signal, an obstacle is detected long before the closure element may come into contact with the obstacle, and thus, even in the event of a mechanical overrun of the closure element, there is still sufficient time or travel distance to stop the movement of the closure element.

At the same time, many vehicles have been equipped with devices and corresponding sensors or detectors that can detect obstacles or foreign bodies, warn the user and/or even electrically stop the closing movement when closing the closing element. The purpose of this is to prevent injury to personnel and damage to the vehicle or other object, or at least to reduce the corresponding risk.

A disadvantage of the prior art may be a complex electronic circuit. A large number of sensors and microcontrollers are required to perform efficient and reliable detection. This can lead to high cost and complex circuitry for the device.

Furthermore, obstacles cannot be detected well "shortly before closing" or "within the shearing area". Here, most of the reflected light originally emitted by the emitting device is from the frame, and therefore, if the IR LED (emitting device) is disposed only beside the sensor (receiving device), it is impossible to distinguish the obstacle from the frame.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device for detecting obstacles in the region of a moving closure element, wherein obstacles in the region of the movement of the closure element can be reliably detected with a very high degree of certainty. At the same time, the manufacturing cost will be reduced.

According to the invention, this object is solved by the features recited in claim 1.

In detail, a device according to the invention is provided for detecting obstacles in the region of a movable closing element in a motor vehicle for closing and/or releasing a space, said device having the following features:

a plurality of transmitting means for transmitting optical signals;

a plurality of receiving means for receiving the optical signals; and

a control device operatively connected to the transmitting device and the receiving device that compares the light signal received by the receiving device with a set point signal, and if the received light signal deviates from the set point signal, the control device detects the presence of an obstacle.

The apparatus is characterized in that the number of transmitting means is greater than the number of receiving means, and that the transmitting means and the receiving means are arranged relative to each other in such a way that at least one receiving means is able to receive optical signals from a plurality of transmitting means.

An advantage of the device according to the invention is that fewer receiving means, in particular sensors or for example Infrared (IR) sensors, are required compared to transmitting means, for example IR LEDs. This reduces the number of sensors and thus the manufacturing costs of the device.

Another advantage of the apparatus is that one or more transmitting devices may be placed between receiving devices so as to be shared by the receiving devices. This increases the efficiency of the transmitting means and reduces the power consumption of the detecting means compared to the prior art.

Furthermore, thanks to the use of the device according to the invention, the number of control means may be reduced, so that it may be possible to only need at least one control means, without having to control each pair of sensors and LEDs or to provide a respective control means for each pair of sensors and LEDs, as is known in the art.

By using two or more transmitting means for each receiving means, it is also possible to provide different light paths, which may differ, for example, due to differences in distance between the transmitting means and the receiving means, and which are not simply reflected in case of an obstacle.

Preferred embodiments according to the dependent claims are described as follows:

preferably, the number of transmitting means is one half to five times, preferably two to three times, the number of receiving means.

It has proven to be particularly advantageous: at least two transmitting devices are arranged between two adjacent or neighboring receiving devices. This may be used for examples where one, more or all are adjacent or neighboring receiving devices.

Furthermore, the transmitting means and/or the receiving means may advantageously be activated or controlled at a time interval with respect to each other and in a specific sequence. This may reduce the peak power consumption of the device and the peak amount of data generated when recording the reflected signal at a particular point in time.

In a preferred embodiment, the control device is designed to communicate with the transmitting device and/or the receiving device via an internal bus system, in particular via a custom bus system or UART bus system, and to output signals to or receive signals from the transmitting device and/or the receiving device.

Furthermore, the control device is preferably designed to communicate with the vehicle bus system, in particular with the CAN bus system, and to output signals to the vehicle bus system or to receive signals from the vehicle bus system.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the transmitting means are designed to transmit light signals, in particular infrared light, visible light and/or UV light, which can be received or recorded by the receiving means. The advantage of visible light is that it can also be used for illumination. Depending on the wavelength, more accurate distance determination and obstacle detection can be performed. For example, shorter wavelength signals are more accurate in determining location and distance. However, the range of such signals is short due to scattering and attenuation.

Preferably, the transmitting means and the receiving means are arranged in a line, in particular in a straight line. By such an arrangement, space of the apparatus can be saved or the width of the apparatus can be narrowed. At the same time, the device extends furthest over its length (compared to another device with the same number of transmitting and receiving means) and can monitor obstacles in a longer frame (of the closing element) to ensure its safety.

It has proven advantageous: the transmitting device is always a first distance from an adjacent transmitting device and the receiving device is always a second distance from an adjacent receiving device. In other words, the distance between adjacent transmitting means and the distance between adjacent receiving means of the apparatus proposed herein may always be constant. On the one hand, such a periodic arrangement may simplify the manufacturing or installation process. In addition, the obstacle on the equipment area can be identified or detected uniformly.

Furthermore, it has proven advantageous: the second distance is greater than or equal to the first distance. The advantage of doing so is: at least two transmitting devices may be used for one receiving device. Furthermore, this may affect the sensitivity of the device in detecting obstacles. Once the second distance is greater than the first distance, two transmitting devices may be placed between two receiving devices. Preferably, the second distance is twice the first distance. In this case, two transmitting devices may be placed between every two adjacent or neighboring receiving devices, in particular symmetrically or asymmetrically with respect to the center of the distance between the receiving devices. Because the distances between the transmitting device and the adjacent receiving devices are different, the foreign matters are irradiated by light rays with different angles, and therefore the blocking of the foreign matters on the light path is improved. Thus, foreign bodies can also be better detected in the "sheared areas" of the closure element.

In a preferred embodiment, the device has switching means configured to provide a connection, in particular an electrical connection, between the control means and the receiving means and to control one or more of the receiving means. Here, the switching means may receive a signal from the control means and then selectively transmit the signal to the corresponding receiving means. Additionally or alternatively, the switching means may receive, in particular retrieve, a signal from the receiving means and send said signal to the control means. The switching device and its previously mentioned functions are particularly advantageous if the control device uses a general broadcast switching technique (or similar technique) instead of an explicit receiver for the signal to the receiving device. In case the control means may selectively control the receiving means or be configured to perform the aforementioned functions of the switching means, such switching means become redundant and may be omitted.

Preferably, the control means and/or the switching means are configured to control or activate the at least one transmitting means and the at least one receiving means according to a specific temporal and/or spatial pattern. A time pattern may be understood to mean that the transmitting and/or receiving means are activated at different or equal time intervals, in particular simultaneously and/or consecutively. The spatial mode is for example activated once every second, third or n transmitting and/or receiving means. In particular, a mode in which only the transmitting device or only the receiving device is activated may be used. It is of course important to note here that at least one corresponding part of the respective device should be activated in order to detect an obstacle or to determine the degree of freedom of movement of the closure element by means of said device.

In order to improve the detection of obstacles, the control means and/or the switching means are preferably configured to determine at least two groups, each comprising one of the receiving means and at least one of the transmitting means, and/or to control the groups in such a way that the groups do not or only partly interact when transmitting and receiving the optical signal. By dividing the transmitting means and the receiving means into groups, the groups may be activated in different areas or sections of the means and/or at different times. This also reduces the control and/or switching operations, thereby reducing the number of signals to be processed. At the same time, this improves the accuracy and reliability of obstacle detection.

Advantageously, the transmitting means and the receiving means are arranged with respect to each other in such a way that: at least two groups may be determined, each comprising one of the receiving means and at least one of the transmitting means, and these groups do not or only partially interact when transmitting and receiving the optical signal. Each group of transmitting devices is spaced apart from the other groups of receiving devices: these receiving devices cannot receive signals or signals identifiable as signals from these transmitting devices.

In a further preferred embodiment, the transmitting device or its predetermined transmitting device, which is arranged between two adjacent receiving devices and/or whose distance from the respective receiving device is neither smaller nor exceeds a predetermined distance value range, belongs to both groups at the same time. This allows a corresponding set of one or more receiving devices to receive optical signals from these transmitting devices. This results in parts of the receiving means interfering or cross-talk with each other when the transmitting means are activated. The range of range values describes a set of different range values for one or more transmitting devices to their own set and the corresponding nearest receiving device of the other set capable of receiving signals.

Preferably, the respective distance from one or at least a part of the transmitting devices to the receiving devices associated with its group is smaller than the distance between two adjacent receiving devices.

Further advantageous embodiments are described below, which are not listed in the dependent claims, showing additional or alternative embodiments:

the device according to the invention preferably operates according to the principle of light reflection, whereby light is initially emitted by the emitting means and the reflection is received or detected by the receiving means. However, the transmitting means and the receiving means may also be arranged not (only) adjacent to each other, but opposite to each other, such that the receiving means directly receives the light from the transmitting means.

In particular, the received light signal may be compared with a light set point signal (i.e. a reference signal) corresponding to the respective position of the closure element. These setpoint signals may be determined prior to operation, for example, based on reflections of the frame enclosed by the enclosure element, wherein the reflections become stronger as the distance between the enclosure element and the frame decreases.

In addition to IR sensors and LEDs, other LEDs and optical sensors that emit visible light may be used, so that the visible light may be used as a light source.

The transmitting and receiving means may each be arranged on their own line or on a straight line. Likewise, the transmitting means may be arranged around one or more receiving means in addition to or instead of the linear arrangement.

Intelligent activation of the transmitting and receiving means (which is understood as an example of a temporal and/or spatial pattern) avoids cross-talk between the transmitting means. During the measurement by the receiving device, only one transmitting device is active at a time. The distance between the two pairs of active transmitting and receiving means is chosen such that they do not affect each other.

Due to the advantageous arrangement of the transmitting device between and adjacent to the receiving devices, obstacles can be better detected.

The switching means of the device proposed here may additionally be configured to provide a connection, in particular an electrical connection, between the control means and the transmitting means and to activate one or more transmitting means. In this case, the switching means may receive a signal from the control means and selectively send said signal to the corresponding transmitting means, in particular activating said transmitting means. In this case, the switching device has the following advantages: the switching means may selectively activate the transmitting means, in particular according to a specific temporal and/or spatial pattern, instead of activating all transmitting means simultaneously and/or at all times. Also, the control means may be configured to perform this function instead of the switching means. Furthermore, the control device may have a stored program which, after activation, is automatically executed by the external bus system and controls the transmitting and receiving device in a specific manner to detect obstacles.

If a group of transmitting and receiving means can be determined and/or controlled in such a way that they partly interact with each other, this means that signals from at least one transmitting means are or can be received by at least two receiving means from two different groups.

In order to distinguish the light signal emitted by the emitting device from daylight, it may be provided that the emitting device emits a modulated light signal. In this way, possible errors in the detection of the optical signal are avoided.

For example, the modulated optical signal may be pulse width modulated and/or frequency modulated, which allows for easy execution and reliable detection of the optical signal.

The figures described below relate in particular to preferred embodiments of the detection device according to the invention, whereby these figures are not intended to be limiting but are essentially illustrative of the invention. Elements from different figures but having the same reference numerals are identical; accordingly, the description of elements from one figure is also valid for elements in other figures with the same reference number or designation.

Drawings

The drawings show:

FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit diagram of a prior art detection device having a sensor, an infrared LED, and an I2C interface;

FIG. 2 is a schematic circuit diagram of an arrangement of a plurality of detection devices as shown in FIG. 1 connected by signaling technology in a vehicle;

FIG. 3 is a first example of detecting an obstacle by means of an infrared LED and a sensor arranged beside it;

FIG. 4 is a second example of detecting an obstacle by means of an infrared LED and a sensor arranged therebetween;

FIG. 5 is a schematic circuit diagram of a sensor strip as an embodiment of an apparatus for detecting obstacles in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic circuit diagram of the sensor strip shown in FIG. 5 connected by signaling in a vehicle; and

fig. 7 is an example of detecting an obstacle using an infrared LED and sensor arranged in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a schematic circuit diagram of a detection device 1 known from the prior art, said detection device 1 having a sensor 2, an infrared LED 3, an I2C interface 4, terminals for a bus system 5 and a microcontroller 6. The LED 3 is arranged beside the sensor 2. The sensor 2 detects the reflected light of the LED 3 and sends a corresponding electrical signal to the microcontroller 6 via the known I2C interface 4. The microcontroller 6 evaluates the signals and sends them via terminals to the bus system 5, which bus system 5 is connected to a further (not shown) control system. Since infrared sensors 2 are typically only accessible using I2C, they are not suitable for connecting multiple sensors to a common bus. Thus, for applications in a sensor strip, for example, one microcontroller is required for each sensor to convert the I2C interface to UART/LIN/CAN, for example.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic circuit diagram 10 of an arrangement of a plurality of detection devices 1 as shown in fig. 1, which are connected by signaling technology in a vehicle. In order to provide detection of obstructions between the closure element and the frame it closes, the prior art uses a detection device 1 in the form of a sensor strip. For illustration purposes five detection means are shown, which are electrically connected to the bus system 5 and eventually require five sensors, five LEDs and five microcontrollers. In addition, a motor 9 is shown in circuit fig. 10, which acts as an actuator for the tailgate and is connected to the electric vehicle control system 8. The vehicle control system 8 is also referred to as a tail top control unit (TRCD) and has electronics for controlling the driving of the tail gate. In order to control other vehicle systems and to receive signals from the detection device 1, the system 8 is electrically connected to the bus system 5 via the CAN bus system 7 and the ECU 16. The lines shown in the bus system 7 represent at least a portion of a vehicle wiring harness. The ECU16 (electronic control unit) is a control unit configured at least for evaluating the sensor, in particular the sensor strip.

Fig. 3 shows a first example of detection of an obstacle 11 by means of infrared LEDs 3a, 3b and sensors 2a, 2b arranged beside them. The LEDs 3a, 3b and the sensors 2a, 2b are arranged on a closing element 12 or a vehicle door, which closing element 12 or vehicle door faces a frame 13 of the space to be closed by the closing element 12 and is configured to close together with said frame. This example is a typical arrangement or function of the detection device according to fig. 1. Due to the close arrangement of the sensors 2a, 2b and the LEDs 3a, 3b, the detection device 1 cannot detect the obstacle 11, in particular the obstacle 11 in the cut-out area of the closing element 12 or just before the closing element 12 closes the frame 13. The frame 13 reflects light emitted or emitted by the first LED 3a back to the closing element 12 and received by the first sensor 2a, respectively. At the same time, the obstacle 11 reflects light emitted or radiated by the second LED 3b back to the closing element 12 and received by the second sensor 2b, respectively. The detection means are not able to identify the obstacle based on the reception of the reflection of light by the respective sensors 2a and 2 b. The reflected light exhibits an angle of incidence or divergence of less than 10 to 5 degrees.

Fig. 4 shows a second example of detecting an obstacle 11 using infrared LEDs 3a, 3b and sensors 2a, 2b arranged between them. The distance of the sensor 2a, 2b from the LED 3a, 3b is larger compared to fig. 3, and the reflected light shows an angle of incidence or reflection of about 40 degrees. Therefore, the light emitted or radiated from the second LED 3b, respectively, is blocked by the obstacle 11 and is not received by the second sensor 2 b. In view of this, the detection means can detect an obstacle 11 between the closing element 12 and its frame 13. The arrangement of the detection means according to the invention, in particular of the transmitting means and the receiving means, preferably applies both the first example according to fig. 3 and the second example according to fig. 4 simultaneously.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic circuit diagram of a sensor strip as an embodiment of the device 15 for detecting obstacles according to the invention. The device 15 has sensors 2a to 2h, the number of which is less than the number of LEDs, and LEDs 3a to 3 q. The sensors 2a to 2h and the LEDs 3a to 3q are located on a straight line. The sensors 2a to 2h are at a constant distance from each other; and the distance between the LEDs 3a to 3q is also constant, the distance between the LEDs 3a to 3q being smaller than the distance between the sensors 2a to 2 h. For example, two LEDs, e.g. 3b and 3c, are always arranged between two sensors, e.g. 2a and 2 b. Here, one LED 3b is arranged adjacent to the sensor 2a, and the other LED 3c is arranged between the sensor 2a and the sensor 2 b. The latter LED 3c is configured in such a form that: both sensors 2a and 2b are able to receive the signal or light of the LED 3c when said signal or light is reflected by the frame of the closure element. The sensors 2a to 2h are electrically connected to the microcontroller 6 via the I2C interface 4 by means of an I2C switch as switching device 14. The I2C interface is not suitable for connecting multiple sensors to a common bus, so the switching means 14 selectively receives signals from the sensors 2a to 2h and passes said signals to the microcontroller 6. The microcontroller 6 processes these signals and sends them to the bus system 5.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic circuit diagram 20 of the sensor strip shown in fig. 5 connected in signal technology in a vehicle. The circuit diagram 20 is identical to the circuit diagram 10 shown in fig. 2, except for the CAN gateway 18, the UART bus system 17 and the device 15 shown in fig. 5. The detection device 15 is a unit and may be attached to the vehicle closure element or the door, for example as a strap. The control means of the device 15 send and receive data from the UART bus system 17, another device 15 or an additional device than the device 15 being connected or connectable to the bus system 17. The CAN gateway 18 makes it unnecessary to directly connect the device 15 to the CAN bus, but rather enables the connection of the device 15 or further devices 15 or other devices using another bus system, in particular a UART bus, or a separate bus or a custom bus. The CAN gateway 18 has the features of the ECU16 with the additional function of converting signals from UART to CAN bus (and/or vice versa).

Fig. 7 shows a third example of detection of an obstacle using an infrared LED and a sensor arranged according to the invention. Here, a combination of the first example shown in fig. 3 and the second example shown in fig. 4 is referred to. A first group comprising LEDs 3a to 3c and a sensor 2a and a second group comprising LEDs 3c to 3e and a sensor 2b are arranged on the closing element 12. The light emitted or emitted by the sensor, respectively, is reflected by the frame 13, all light from the LEDs reaching the corresponding sensor, except for the light from the LED 3c at the sensor 2a, which is blocked by the obstacle 11. In this case, the third LED 3c belongs to both the first and the second group, since the light of the LED 3c can be received by the two sensors 2a and 2b without the obstacle 11. The sensors 2a and 2b may share an IR LED 3c arranged between the sensors. For each sensor 2a and 2b a total of 3 measurements can be made using IR LEDs on the left and right side (arranged between the sensors and on the other side beside the sensors).

List of reference numerals

1. Detection device according to the prior art

2. Receiving device and sensor

2a … h receiving device

3. Emitting device, IR LED

3a … q transmitting device

4. Interconnect integrated circuit (I2C) interface

5. Bus system

6. Control device, microcontroller

7. Controller Area Network (CAN) bus system, vehicle wiring harness

8. Vehicle control system, TRCD (Tail top control device)

9. Engine and tail gate driving device

10. Schematic circuit diagram of a vehicle with a prior art detection device

11. Obstacle, foreign matter

12. Closing element, vehicle door

13. Frame of a space to be closed by a closing element

14. Switching device, I2C switch

15. Detection device according to an embodiment (sensor strip)

16. Electronic Control Unit (ECU), circuit unit or control device

17. Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) bus system

18 CAN gateway and UART master equipment

20. Schematic circuit diagram of a vehicle having a detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. An apparatus for detecting obstacles in the region of a movable closing element (12) in a motor vehicle for closing and/or releasing a space, comprising the following features:

a plurality of transmitting means (3 a; …;3 q) for transmitting the optical signal;

a plurality of receiving means (2 a; …;2 h) for receiving the optical signals;

control means (6) operatively connected to the transmitting means (3 a; …;3 q) and the receiving means (2 a; …;2 h) and comparing the light signal received by the receiving means (2 a; …;2 h) with a setpoint signal, said control means (6) detecting the presence of an obstacle (11) in case of a deviation of the received light signal from the setpoint signal,

it is characterized in that the method comprises the steps of,

the number of transmitting means (3 a; …;3 q) is greater than the number of receiving means (2 a; …;2 h), the transmitting means and the receiving means being arranged relative to each other in such a way that at least one receiving means is able to receive optical signals from a plurality of transmitting means.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the number of transmitting means (3 a; …;3 q) is one and one half to five times, preferably two to three times, the number of receiving means (2 a; …;2 h).

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that at least two transmitting means (3 a; …;3 q) are arranged between two adjacent receiving means (2 a; …;2 h).

4. A device according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the transmitting means (3 a; …;3 q) and/or the receiving means (2 a; …;2 h) can be activated or controlled in a time-spaced manner and in a specific sequence.

5. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the control device (6) is configured to communicate with the transmitting device (3 a; …;3 q) and/or the receiving device (2 a; …;2 h) via an internal bus system, in particular a custom bus system or UART bus system, and to send signals to the transmitting device (3 a; …;3 q) and/or the receiving device (2 a; …;2 h) or to receive signals from the transmitting device (3 a; …;3 q) and/or the receiving device (2 a; …;2 h).

6. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the control means (6) is configured to communicate with a vehicle-side bus system, in particular a CAN bus system, and to output signals to or receive signals from the vehicle-side bus system.

7. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the emitting means (3 a; …;3 q) are configured to emit or emit, respectively, an optical signal, in particular infrared light, visible light and/or UV light, which can be received or detected by the receiving means (2 a; …;2 h).

8. The apparatus according to any of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the transmitting means (3 a; …;3 q) and the receiving means (2 a; …;2 h) are arranged in a line.

9. The apparatus according to any of the claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the transmitting means (3 a; …;3 q) is always at a first distance from an adjacent transmitting means and the receiving means (2 a; …;2 h) is always at a second distance from an adjacent receiving means.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the second distance is greater than or equal to the first distance.

11. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the apparatus has switching means (14) adapted to provide a connection between the control means (6) and the receiving means (2 a; …;2 h) and to drive one or more receiving means (2 a; …;2 h).

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that the control means (6) and/or the switching means (14) are configured to control at least one of the transmitting means (3 a; …;3 q) and at least one of the receiving means (2 a; …;2 h) according to a specific temporal and/or spatial pattern.

13. The apparatus according to claim 10 or 12, characterized in that the control means (6) and/or the switching means (14) are configured to determine and/or drive at least two groups, each comprising one of the receiving means (2 a; …;2 h) and at least one of the transmitting means (3 a; …;3 q), such that these groups do not or only partially interact with each other when transmitting and receiving optical signals.

14. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the transmitting means and the receiving means are arranged relative to each other to: at least two groups can be determined, each of which comprises one of the receiving means (2 a; …;2 h) and at least one of the transmitting means (3 a; …;3 q), and which groups do not or only partially interact with each other during the transmission and reception of the optical signal.

15. The apparatus according to claim 12 or 14, characterized in that the transmitting means arranged between two adjacent receiving means and/or at a distance from the respective receiving means neither smaller nor exceeding a specific distance value range belong to both groups at the same time.

16. The apparatus according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that the distance from at least a part of the transmitting means (3 a; …;3 q) to the receiving means (2 a; …;2 h) associated with its group is smaller than the distance between two adjacent receiving means (2 a; …;2 h).