KR100520465B1 - Integrated sensor system for vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an integrated sensor system for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a system in which various sensors used in various driving assistance devices in a vehicle are integrated and implemented as a single integrated sensor.

In the integrated sensor system for a vehicle according to the present invention, a basic physical quantity of a first type is input from a plurality of sensor means, and the second physical quantity data is generated using the same, and is transmitted to various driving assistance devices in a vehicle.

According to the present invention, by reducing the number of sensors it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost, to reduce the weight and size of the vehicle, it is possible to obtain the effect of reducing the wiring for communication network construction.

Description

Integrated sensor system for vehicles {INTEGRATED SENSOR SYSTEM FOR VEHICLES}

The present invention relates to an integrated sensor system in an automobile, and more particularly, to an integrated sensor system for a vehicle in which various sensors used in various driving assistance apparatuses in an automobile are integrated into one integrated sensor.

Today's cars do not simply act as vehicles, but combine with various electrical and electronic technologies to provide the driver with a variety of information while driving. In recent years, remarkable developments in the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) industry have transformed our daily lives so that we can easily receive traffic information through mobile phones, pagers, portable computers and in-car telematics systems, as well as radios and TVs. I was. In addition, the car navigation system uses the data received through the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites to determine the location of the vehicle and uses the various voice guidance and graphics while driving the driver along the calculated route. By providing information about the distance, the driver can comfortably reach the destination.

For these various services, today's automobiles are equipped with various driving assistance devices.

1 illustrates an example of various driving assistance devices commonly used in motor vehicles today. As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle dynamic control system 120 such as a crash detection system 110 such as an airbag, an anti-lock brake system (ABS), and the like may be included in the vehicle 100. Dynamic Control System), Navigation / Driver Information System (130), Body and Chassis Control System (140), etc. Can detect rollover or vehicle accidents. The systems are also used for vehicle navigation via GPS.

In order for each of these devices to perform a given function, it is necessary to detect a change in the external physical quantity and to perform appropriate judgment and operation. For example, in the case of the airbag system, it is necessary to detect a change in the amount of impact applied to the vehicle, and when the detected amount of shock exceeds a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the shock is a dangerous level and the driver can operate the airbag to protect the driver.

Therefore, all of the above devices commonly include a sensor device capable of sensing a change in physical quantity. Commonly used sensor devices today include inertial sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes.

The accelerometer is a sensor that measures acceleration as it is expressed. By integrating twice, you can get the relative position from the initial position. In addition, using the posture obtained from the gyroscope, the position can be obtained in two-dimensional, 2.5-dimensional, and three-dimensional space.

When explaining the general structure of an accelerometer using a silicon acceleration sensor as an example, it is composed of an acceleration, that is, a micromechanical structure that receives a force, a conversion element unit that converts the received force into an electrical signal, and a signal processing unit that produces a rated output. .

The gyroscope is a sensor that measures the angular velocity, and once integrated, it becomes an angle, which is essential for calculating attitude in navigation systems. Types of gyroscopes include mechanical, optical and MEMS types. In mechanical gyroscopes using the principle of Coriolis force, the angular velocity is measured by measuring the displacement (angle) of the mass generated by the Coriolis force, and the optical gyroscope measures the phase difference (interference degree) due to the path difference of light generated when the angular velocity is applied. By measuring, the angular velocity is measured. Gyroscopes in the form of MEMS use a principle similar to a mechanical one, and their application is being actively conducted at low cost or small size.

The number of accelerometers and gyroscopes required by each device in the vehicle is determined by the axis component of the motion or movement to be measured. In general, in order to fully represent the motion of an object in space, a total of six (6 DOF: 6 degree of freedom) axis components for linear movement in the X, Y, and Z axes and rotational movements in the X, Y, and Z axes are required. . Each device expresses its operation using all or some of the six axis components according to the operating characteristics to be measured, and accordingly, the number of accelerometers and gyroscopes required is determined.

Each device measures the basic physical quantity (primary physical quantity) of angular velocity or acceleration through the sensor device, and uses these measured values to generate secondary physical quantities such as angle, posture, position, and impact quantity. Is appropriately used for the functions performed by each device.

Table 1 shows the layout design of in-vehicle accelerometers and gyroscopes, along with the number of accelerometers and gyroscopes and the basic physical quantities they can measure, along with secondary physical quantities and applications that can be generated using these physical quantities. To illustrate.

As shown in Table 1, even if the device performs the same function, there is a difference in the actual implementation depending on the difference in the accuracy and reliability of the measurement required, and accordingly, the number of gyroscopes and accelerometers required may vary. Can be. For example, as shown in Table 1, in the case of a vehicle black box (balck box), two or three accelerometers are built in, and according to the difference, the position and posture in 2.5 or 3 dimensions can be expressed differently. .

Many devices in conventional vehicles have been equipped with sensors of accelerometers or gyroscopes, respectively. Therefore, the accelerometers and gyroscopes included in each device also operate independently of each other, so that the accelerometers or gyroscopes measuring the same or similar physical quantity may be overlapped and used in each device.

As such, since the accelerometer and the gyroscope are used repeatedly, the total number of sensors eventually increases, which increases the manufacturing cost of various driving assistance devices mounted in the vehicle and wastes space in the vehicle.

In addition, an increase in the number of sensors has a problem of increasing network wiring for the transfer and processing of physical quantities input through these sensors.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a system that is scattered in a number of driving aids in the vehicle, the sensor to perform the same function in one place to prevent duplication of sensors and to significantly reduce the number of sensors to provide.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reduce the number of sensors to reduce the manufacturing cost of various devices and to reduce the weight and size of the vehicle.

Another object of the present invention is to increase the utilization of the sensor to perform the same function while satisfying all the specifications of the sensor required by each device. For example, accelerometers used in black boxes can be used for airbags or VDCs.

Yet another object of the present invention is to reduce the wiring for building the in-vehicle communication network by utilizing a standardized data bus as a communication means.

Another object of the present invention is to efficiently redundancy of the sensor means, to minimize the possibility of malfunction and inoperability of the sensor system due to an accident accident.

Still another object of the present invention is to minimize the damage prevention even when an accident occurs by integrating and installing the sensor means.

Another object of the present invention is to facilitate the error detection of the sensor means, thereby effectively performing error compensation and normal operation determination.

According to an aspect of the invention, the sensor means for measuring the physical quantity of the first form, the data conversion means for converting the physical quantity of the first form into a digital data format, and the physical quantity data of the second form using the digital data An integrated sensor system for a vehicle is provided that includes a processor for generating and communication means for transmitting the physical quantity data of the second form to an in-vehicle traveling assistance device.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a vehicle integrated sensor system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

2 shows the overall configuration of a vehicle integrated sensor system 200 according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicular integrated sensor system 200 comprises a sensor means 210, a data conversion means 220, a processor 230, and a communication means 240.

The sensor means 210 measures the physical quantity of the first form as the most basic physical quantity. As a sensor as a measuring means, an accelerometer or gyroscope can be used, and it can be comprised by the combination of one or many accelerometers or gyroscopes according to the kind of physical quantity to measure. In one embodiment, the physical quantity of the first form may include acceleration, angular velocity, and pressure. The measured data generally has an analog format.

The data converting means 220 converts the first type of physical quantity input from the sensor means 210 into data having a format of a form that can be processed by the processor 230. As an example of the data conversion means 220, when the A / D converter is used, the data conversion means 220 serves to convert the physical quantity of the first type measured in the analog format into the digital data format. In another embodiment, the sensor may include an A / D converter, in which case a decoder may be used as the digital conversion means 220.

The processor 230 generates the physical quantity data of the second type by processing the digital data converted by the data converting means. In one embodiment, the physical quantity of the second form may include a position, a speed, a yaw, a pitch, a roll, an impact amount, and a posture.

The communication means 240 transmits the generated second type physical quantity data to various driving assistance apparatuses in the vehicle. Examples of various driving assistance devices may be various applications illustrated in FIG. 1 or Table 1. Various driving assistance apparatuses receive the necessary physical quantity data through the communication means 240 configured in the vehicle, and determine the physical state of the vehicle and perform a necessary function based on the data.

As an embodiment of the communication means, various data bus standards currently developed and used for in-vehicle LANs can be used. For example, Media Oriented System Transport (MOST), IDB-CAN, IDB-1394, etc. may be used for the communication means 240. Among them, MOST is a high-speed communication network that is used for transmitting a large amount of data by constructing a multimedia environment such as DVD and MP3 in a vehicle. By utilizing these communication means together with the centralization of the sensor means, it is possible to greatly reduce the wiring required for establishing the communication network.

In another embodiment, the bandwidth of the communication means may vary depending on the characteristics of the travel assistance device. That is, data required for satellite broadcast antennas or vehicle navigation, etc., may be of low speed (eg 1 Hz). However, since ABS, transaction control, and vehicle rollover detection are devices that are directly related to driver's safety, data transfer and update will have to occur frequently, so the bandwidth for these devices should be relatively large. Will only do.

3 is a functional block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a processor according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention in more detail. As shown in FIG. 3, the processor 230 includes a signal processing unit 231, a Kalman filtering unit 232, a navigation algorithm 233, and an operating system unit (OS: Operation). System) 234.

The signal processor 231 inspects a state of a signal input from the data converting means 220 and compensates for an error in the amount of data measured by the sensor means 210. The Kalman filtering unit 232 estimates the sensor and navigation error using the compensated data amount. The navigation algorithm 233 calculates navigation information such as position, speed, attitude, and time, and the operation system unit 234 provides an environment in which the above-described parts can operate organically.

4 illustrates a configuration of an integrated sensor system for a vehicle 400 further including a GPS receiver, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the GPS receiver 450 receives location information and time information transmitted from a GPS satellite, and the processor 430 uses the outputs of the GPS receiver 450 to generate a second type of physical quantity. Can be.

At the level where the processor uses the output of the GPS receiver 450, there is a loosely coupled level embodiment using position, velocity, time, etc., and also using pseudo-range, Doppler, and carrier phase measurements using the measured values. There is a tightly coupled level embodiment. As another embodiment, an ultra tightly coupled embodiment is also possible in which the GPS signal is defective with the inertial sensor system in the satellite signal tracking step.

In addition, the GPS receiver 450 may be used to estimate an error such as an inertial sensor and navigation information.

5 illustrates a general configuration of a GPS receiver, and the GPS receiver 450 may include a high frequency unit 451, a signal processor 452, and a microcomputer unit 453. The high frequency unit 451 converts a high frequency signal of 1.2 or 1.5 GHz received from a GPS satellite to a low frequency through an antenna, and the signal processor 452 despreads the spread spectrum signal to restore the original signal. It plays a role. In addition, the microcomputer unit 453 processes the output of the signal processing unit 452 to output location information such as latitude, longitude, altitude, time information, and the like.

FIG. 6 illustrates a configuration of an integrated sensor system for a vehicle 600 further including a multisensor multiplexing device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In constructing the integrated sensor system 600 for a vehicle, instead of incorporating the sensor means of all the conventional driving aids, only the sensor means of some driving aids are integrated, and the remaining driving aids are used as they are. Forms are also possible. In this case, in generating the second type of physical quantity, the processor 630 may receive the second type of physical quantity measured by the existing driving assistance device, in addition to the first type of physical quantity measured by the sensor means 610.

As shown in FIG. 6, the multi-sensor multiplexing device 450 receives a plurality of second types of physical quantity data used in the traveling assistance devices in the existing vehicle, and transmits the data to the processor 630 through the data conversion means 620. Will be entered. The processor may transmit the second type of physical quantity data input through the multi-sensor multiplexing apparatus 650 to another driving assistance device using the communication means 640 or generate and transmit another second type of physical quantity data. do. As an example, the multi-sensor multiplexing device 650 may receive physical quantity data from a vehicle speedometer, a steering sensor, a pressure gauge, front and rear detectors (Sonar), and mm waves.

As another embodiment of FIG. 6, the second type physical quantity generated using the first type physical quantity input from the sensor means 610 and the second type physical quantity input from the multisensor multiplexing device 650 may be used. The sensor 630 detects a sensor error by comparing each other. For example, the speed value calculated by the processor 630 using the acceleration data input from the accelerometer, which is one of the sensor means 610, and the speed value input from the vehicle speedometer, which is one of the multiplexing apparatus 650, is used. By comparing each other at 630, error detection of the sensor means 610 is possible. Through such error detection, it is possible to perform error compensation of the sensor means 610 or to determine whether the normal operation.

Figure 7 shows another embodiment of an integrated sensor system for a vehicle in which the redundancy of the sensor means is implemented according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 7, the vehicular integrated sensor system 700 comprises a plurality of sensor means of a first sensor means 710 and a second sensor means 711, and fault detection / separation means (FDI). Isolation) 721 further.

The FDI 521 is located between the first and second sensor means 710 and 711 and the data converting means 720 so as to monitor whether the sensor means is normally operating. In a normal case, the physical quantity of the first form measured from the first sensor means 710 is input to the data converting means 720 via the FDI 721. If the first sensor means 710 does not operate normally due to a vehicle accident or the like, the FDI 721 detects a malfunction of the first sensor means 710, and the first sensor means 710 is connected to a system ( By separating from the 700 and automatically connecting the second sensor means 711 with the data conversion means 720, the second sensor means 711 as a preliminary sensor means can operate normally.

In one embodiment, the first sensor means 710 and the second sensor means 720 may be composed of exactly the same sensor means. Alternatively, the first sensor means 710 may be configured as an inertial sensor of a gyroscope or an accelerometer, and the second sensor means 720 may be a multisensor multiplexing device 650. As an example of such a case, even when the accelerometer does not operate normally and a speed value cannot be generated, the speed value of the speedometer input to the multi-sensor multiplexer 650 through the FDI 721 can be used, thereby allowing the processor 730 to be used. ) May transmit the physical quantity of the speed value to the other driving assistance apparatus through the communication means 740.

As described above, the redundancy of the sensor means in the vehicle integrated sensor system 700 enables efficient redundancy of the entire sensor system without the duplication of the sensor means included in each device as in the prior art.

8 is a view showing the in-vehicle position of the integrated sensor system for a vehicle according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, as an example an integrated sensor system for a vehicle may be located in the center of the vehicle. The fact that the center between the front and rear seats in a vehicle is the safest in a vehicle accident is known to date through several impact tests. Therefore, when the integrated sensor system is located in the center of the vehicle as shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to minimize the prevention of damage of the integrated sensor system even when an accident occurs, and also to effectively measure the physical quantity of the first type and to measure the measured physical quantity of the first type. It is possible to most efficiently transfer the second type of physical quantity generated using the communication means.

In another embodiment, in the case of integrating the sensor means only for specific driving assistance devices, the position of the integrated sensor system may be variously modified according to the position of the driving assistance devices in the vehicle and its operating characteristics.

In addition, in the case of delivering the second type of physical quantity to a navigation related field, the information required for navigation can be made regardless of the position of the sensor, so that the position of the integrated sensor system related to the navigation field is not bound to a specific position in the vehicle. It may be installed in various locations without.

Meanwhile, in the detailed description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined not only by the claims below, but also by the equivalents of the claims.

According to the present invention as described above, by building an integrated sensor system it is possible to significantly reduce the number of sensors used in each driving assistance device in the vehicle. Through this, the manufacturing cost of the driving assistance device can be lowered, and the space utilization in the vehicle is also increased. It is also possible to reduce the weight of the vehicle.

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain the effect of reducing the wiring required to build the in-vehicle communication network through the concentration of the sensor system.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily duplicate all the sensor means used in the vehicle, it is possible to achieve a stable operation of the sensor system even in the event of an accident can effectively contribute to safe driving.

Further, according to the present invention, by integrating and installing the sensor means in an appropriate position in the vehicle, it is possible to minimize the prevention of damage or maximize the sensor function in the event of an accident.

In addition, according to the present invention it is possible to effectively detect the error of the sensor means, through which it is possible to compensate for the error or to determine whether the normal operation.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of various driving assistance apparatuses mounted on a vehicle.

2 is a view showing the overall configuration of a vehicle integrated sensor system according to the present invention.

3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a more detailed configuration of a processor according to the present invention.

4 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a vehicular integrated system incorporating a GPS receiver according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram showing a general configuration of a GPS receiver.

6 is a view showing the configuration of an integrated sensor system for a vehicle including a multi-sensor multiplexing device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a view showing the configuration of an integrated sensor system for a vehicle that implements the redundancy of the sensor means as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

8 shows a position in a vehicle of the integrated sensor system for a vehicle according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

200: Automotive integrated sensor system

210: sensor means

220: data conversion means

230: processor

240: communication means

Claims (10)

An integrated sensor system for a vehicle for integrally providing a change in an external physical quantity to a plurality of driving assistance devices installed in a vehicle, Sensor means for measuring a physical quantity of a first form comprising at least one of acceleration, angular velocity, and pressure; Data converting means for converting the physical quantity of the first form into a predetermined data format; A processor for generating physical quantity data of a second type using the converted data, wherein the physical quantity data of the second type includes at least one of position, velocity, angle, impact amount, and posture; Communication means for transmitting the generated second type physical quantity data to the plurality of travel assistance devices, the bandwidth of the communication means being dependent on the transmitted physical quantity data according to the characteristics of each travel assistance device; And Multi-sensor multiplexing device for receiving physical data of the second type from the outside and transferring it to the data converting means Including, And the processor compares the physical quantity of the second form inputted from the multi-sensor multiplexing apparatus with the physical quantity of the second form generated from the physical quantity of the first form to perform error detection of the sensor means. delete The integrated sensor system of claim 1, wherein the sensor means comprises a plurality of sensors, and the number of the plurality of sensors is determined according to an axis component of a movement to be measured. The integrated sensor system of claim 1, wherein the sensor means comprises at least one accelerometer or gyroscope. delete delete The integrated sensor system of claim 1, wherein the integrated sensor system for a vehicle further includes a GPS receiver, and wherein the processor receives an output of the GPS receiver. The vehicle integration of claim 1, wherein the sensor means comprises a plurality of sensor means, the integrated sensor system further comprising an FDI device, wherein the FDI device is located between the plurality of sensor means and the data conversion means. Sensor system. delete delete