KR20160103208A - Wireless Parking Assistance System Based on Battery and Driving Method Thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention can provide a wireless parking assistance system based on a battery, and a driving method thereof. The wireless parking assistance system comprises: at least one sensor node sensing a peripheral object and operated based on a battery; and a base station controlling the sensor node. The sensor node comprises: a wireless communications unit performing wireless communications with the base station; an acceleration sensor module unit measuring the motion of a vehicle; a power unit providing a current by using the battery; a sensor unit measuring a distance from the peripheral object; a sensor control unit controlling operation of the sensor unit; and a main control unit receiving information on the motion of a vehicle measured by the acceleration sensor module unit and determining whether to access an active mode where the sensor unit is operated by corresponding to the information on the motion of the vehicle.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a battery-based wireless parking assist system and a driving method thereof,

The present invention relates to a method of implementing a front-and-rear sensing system used in a car parking assist system as a battery-based wireless sensor network, and more particularly, To a method of managing the power of the sensor node and controlling the sensitivity of distance measurement of the ultrasonic sensor according to the vehicle speed.

The front-and-rear detection system, which provides the driver with the distance to the obstacles surrounding the vehicle, is basically installed in the car or when the driver slows down the vehicle, or DIY (Do-It-Yourself) It is a known technology.

The demand for minimizing the blind spot that can occur in automobiles is increasing, and the installation position of the detection sensor is also increasing on the whole, such as being installed on the lateral side outside the front and rear. In order for a user to easily install the sensor on a vehicle, development of a battery-based wireless sensor device is required.

On the other hand, there are two problems in implementing a battery-based front and rear sensing sensor. First, there is a burden on how long the battery can be maintained, and if the power consumed is high, the battery should be replaced at a rapid cycle. Secondly, since the ultrasonic sensor requiring a voltage higher than 80V must be operated by using the battery, it is difficult to satisfy the measurement range of 30 cm ~ 100 cm provided by the general front and rear detection system due to insufficient power to drive the ultrasonic sensor .

In order to solve the above problem, the embodiment of the present invention, which is devised to solve the above-described problems, is to solve the problem of electric power consumed in realizing the battery-based front and rear sensing node, and the measurement accuracy in the near and long distance by using the ultrasonic sensor, The present invention also provides a method of controlling a signal value of an ultrasonic sensor according to a vehicle speed by using a module capable of measuring a movement and a speed of a vehicle such as a vehicle.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery-powered wireless parking assist system including at least one sensor node that senses a surrounding object and is operable on a battery basis, and a base station that controls the sensor node. And the sensor node includes a wireless communication unit for performing wireless communication with the base station, an acceleration sensor module for measuring movement of the vehicle, a power source for providing current using a battery, a sensor for measuring a distance to a surrounding object, A sensor control unit for controlling the operation of the sensor unit, and a control unit for receiving the motion information of the vehicle measured by the acceleration sensor module unit and determining whether or not the sensor unit is driven into the active mode corresponding to the motion information of the vehicle And a main control unit.

The main control unit receives the moving speed of the vehicle measured by the acceleration sensor module unit of the active mode and supplies a control signal corresponding to the moving speed of the vehicle to the sensor control unit, And a main control unit for controlling the sensitivity.

In addition, the sensor unit includes an ultrasonic sensor.

In addition, the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit is inversely proportional to the moving speed of the vehicle.

Further, the wireless communication unit starts wireless communication with the base station upon entering the active mode, and notifies the base station of the entry into the active mode.

In addition, the sensor control unit controls the object detection distance of the sensor unit to be shorter as the moving speed of the vehicle is slower, and controls the object detection distance of the sensor unit to increase as the moving speed of the vehicle increases .

In addition, the base station collects distance information of the peripheral object measured by the sensor unit.

A method of driving a battery-powered wireless parking assist system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of starting an active mode and starting driving of a sensor unit when motion of the vehicle is detected by an acceleration sensor module unit, Wherein the step of changing the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit includes changing the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit when the moving speed of the vehicle is decreased, And decreases the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit when the moving speed of the vehicle is increased.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a wireless parking assisting system which can be installed in any place of a vehicle by implementing a wireless sensor node for sensing based on a battery.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a wireless parking assistance system capable of securing a battery efficiency and an object measurement range, which is problematic in implementation as a battery, can be realized by performing power management and measurement control of a sensor node according to vehicle movement .

1 is a diagram illustrating a battery-based wireless parking assistance system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an outline of driving of the acceleration sensor module unit and the sensor unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a diagram illustrating a method of controlling the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit according to the vehicle moving speed in the active mode according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a vehicle having a battery-based wireless parking assist system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of driving a battery-based wireless parking assist system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention, and the manner of achieving them, will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. To fully disclose the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

Hereinafter, a battery-based wireless parking assist system and a driving method thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments of the present invention and drawings for describing the same.

1 is a diagram illustrating a battery-based wireless parking assistance system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a battery-based wireless parking assistance system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include at least one sensor node 100 and a base station 200.

The sensor node 100 senses nearby objects and can operate on a battery basis. For example, the sensor node 100 may be installed outside (front and rear bumper and side surfaces) of the vehicle, and may detect an object located in the vicinity of the vehicle.

In FIG. 1, only one sensor node 100 is shown for the sake of convenience, and may include a plurality of sensor nodes 100. (See Fig. 4)

The base station 200 may control at least one sensor node 100 included in the battery-based wireless parking assistance system 10. [

The sensor node 100 can also collect the data generated from the sensor node 100 (for example, distance information with surrounding objects) as well as controlling the sensor node 100 have.

1, the base station 200 controls one sensor node 100 for convenience of explanation, but the base station 200 can control the plurality of sensor nodes 100 together. (See Fig. 4)

The battery-based wireless sensor node 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a wireless communication unit 110, an acceleration sensor module unit 120, a power source unit 130, a sensor unit 140, a sensor control unit 150, (180).

The wireless communication unit 110 is used for interworking with the base station 200 and may perform wireless communication with the base station 200 for this purpose.

For example, the sensor node 100 may receive a command from the base station 200 through the wireless communication unit 110 to determine whether to drive the sensor unit 140 to measure the distance to an object in the vicinity of the vehicle, The base station 200 may transmit the distance information of the surrounding object measured by the sensor unit 140 to the base station 200 through the wireless communication unit 110. [

The acceleration sensor module unit 120 can measure the movement of the vehicle. For example, the acceleration sensor module unit 120 can detect not only the moving speed of the vehicle but also a motion such as a vibration of the vehicle caused by a person boarding the vehicle or a vibration of the body caused by the start-up of the vehicle.

The motion information of the vehicle measured by the acceleration sensor module unit 120 may be supplied to the main control unit 180.

The power supply unit 130 may serve to supply power for driving the sensor node 100.

Since the sensor node 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention is battery-based, the power supply unit 130 may include a battery (not shown) to supply current / voltage to each component located in the sensor node 100 have.

The sensor unit 140 measures a distance between an object located near the vehicle and the sensor node 100, and may include an ultrasonic sensor (not shown) using ultrasonic waves.

The sensor control unit 150 is a module for controlling the operation of the sensor unit 140 and analyzing the waveforms output from the sensor unit 140.

The main control unit 180 can perform all computation tasks of the sensor node 100 and thereby control other components included in the sensor node 100. [

At this time, the main control unit 180 may be implemented as an MCU (Micro Controller Unit).

On the other hand, in order to drive the ultrasonic sensor, a voltage of about 80V to 120V is generally used, and a front-and-rear sensing system is used by boosting the vehicle power source 12V. In order to detect the object, strong ultrasonic waves are generated from the ultrasonic sensor as the driving voltage is higher, and since the ultrasonic wave returns as a strong reflected wave, it is necessary to drive the reflected wave to a high voltage in order to measure the reflected wave as much as noise.

In the case of the sensor node 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the battery is used, the output voltage is in the vicinity of 3.3 V and the voltage should be increased at a boosting rate higher than that of the commercial product through the boosting circuit. However, due to the lack of current, there is a limit to the driving of the ultrasonic sensor. Therefore, it is difficult to measure the object in the range of 30 to 100cm due to the characteristics of the ultrasonic waveform. For the accuracy, it is possible to narrow the range and measure only the near- have.

In order to implement the measurement of the distance and the center distance in one sensor node 100, the circuit characteristic of the control unit must be automatically changed according to the situation. To implement this, the vehicle movement speed measurement module such as an acceleration sensor is used.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an outline of driving of the acceleration sensor module unit and the sensor unit according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method of controlling the sensitivity of the sensor unit according to the moving speed of the vehicle in the active mode according to the embodiment of the present invention. Fig.

In particular, FIG. 2 shows a case where the sensor unit 140 is set as an ultrasonic sensor.

The moving speed information of the vehicle measured by the acceleration sensor module unit 120 is collected in the main control unit 180 and the main control unit 180 moves the corresponding The measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit 140 can be changed by supplying a control signal to the sensor control unit 150 based on the speed information.

The measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit 140 may have a linear relationship with the vehicle moving speed. That is, the sensor control unit 150 lowers the sensitivity of the sensor unit 140 when the vehicle moving speed is fast, performs an operation for measuring an object at a long distance, and when the vehicle moving speed is gradually decreased, The sensitivity of the sensor 140 may be gradually increased and the sensor operation may be changed to detect a nearby object.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit 140 may be inversely proportional to the moving speed of the vehicle.

That is, as the moving speed of the vehicle increases, the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit 140 decreases, and as the moving speed of the vehicle decreases, the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit 140 increases.

In other words, the sensor control unit 150 controls the object detection distance of the sensor unit 140 to be shorter as the moving speed of the vehicle decreases, and increases the detection distance of the sensor unit 140 as the moving speed of the vehicle increases Can be controlled.

The acceleration sensor module 120 may be used not only for optimizing the distance measurement of the sensor node 100 but also for determining whether the sensor node 100 should be operated or not by measuring the movement state of the vehicle .

For example, the acceleration sensor module 120 measures the movement of the vehicle, and the measured motion information of the vehicle can be transmitted to the main control unit 180.

At this time, the main control unit 180 may determine whether to switch the sensor node 100 to the active mode or the sleep mode in response to the movement information of the vehicle transmitted from the acceleration sensor module unit 120.

For example, the sensor node 100 can be switched to the sleep mode when the vehicle is powered off, so that current consumption can be kept to a minimum.

In addition, when the sensor node 100 senses the movement of the vehicle, such as vibration in the vehicle caused by a person boarding the car, or body movement caused by the start-up of the vehicle, the sensor node 100 switches to the active mode, Communication can be performed.

For example, the wireless communication unit 110 may start wireless communication with the base station 200 upon entering the active mode, and notify the base station 200 of the entry into the active mode.

Thereafter, when the sensor node 100 receives the forward / backward sensing command from the base station 200, the sensor node 100 starts driving the sensor unit 140 to measure the distance to the surrounding object.

At this time, as described above, the control method of the sensor unit 140 changes according to the moving speed of the vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a vehicle having a battery-based wireless parking assist system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, a plurality of wireless sensor nodes 100 may be installed on front and rear bumpers and side surfaces of the vehicle 300. The sensor node 100 includes a sensor unit 140 having an ultrasonic sensor, a battery serving as a power source unit 130, and a wireless sensor node circuit board on which other components such as the main controller 180 are mounted. .

The sensor node 100 is designed so that the cross-sectional area of the circuit board is reduced to the size of the sensor unit 140 for ease of installation, and when the area of the circuit board is enlarged due to the elements, It is possible to design the sensor node 100 so that the area of the sensor node 100 is not widened.

Since the sensor node 100 is exposed to the outside, the sensor node 100 must be covered with the dustproof and waterproof housing and should be designed to operate normally even under high temperature conditions and external impacts due to the nature of the vehicle.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of driving a battery-based wireless parking assist system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5, the first step S100 of measuring the motion of the vehicle 300 by the acceleration sensor module 120 and the step S100 of measuring the motion information of the vehicle 300, which are measured by the acceleration sensor module 120, (S110) of determining whether the sensor node 100 is switched to the active mode or the sleep mode by using the step S100 may be performed.

The main control unit 180 controls the motion of the actual vehicle 300 based on the motion information of the vehicle 300 transmitted from the acceleration sensor module unit 120. For example, (For example, driving of the sensor unit 140) is started (S120), the control unit 100 starts the operation of the sensor node 100 (for example, driving of the sensor unit 140) (Step S130).

On the contrary, when the main controller 180 determines that no motion has occurred in the actual vehicle 300 through the motion information of the vehicle 300 transmitted from the acceleration sensor module unit 120, the main controller 180 enters the sleep mode, Mode can be maintained. (S121)

At this time, the sleep mode may mean a state in which power consumption can be minimized, for example, a state in which the sensor unit 140 is not driven.

Thereafter, the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit 140 may be changed in accordance with the moving speed of the vehicle 300 measured by the acceleration sensor module unit 120 (S140).

At this time, the step of changing the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit 140 (S140) may include a step S141 of determining whether the moving speed of the vehicle 300 is decreasing, a case of decreasing the moving speed of the vehicle 300 A step S142 of increasing the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit 140 for narrow area detection and a step S142 of increasing the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit 140 for wide area detection when the moving speed of the vehicle 300 increases. And reducing the measurement sensitivity (S142).

On the other hand, the use of the wireless parking assist system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention is mainly used when parking the automobile. The driver uses the sight information as main information and refers to the warning sound generated by the wireless parking assist system 10 to perform parking. The beeps vary in three steps or four steps depending on the distance. Generally, the driver gradually reduces the speed of the vehicle according to the degree of the warning sound. The present invention operates the sensor unit 140 by using the behavior that the driver changes the vehicle moving speed in accordance with the visual information and the warning sound and using the fact that the distance required for measurement is different according to the vehicle moving speed.

In summary, if the moving speed of the car is slow, it is the case that the object is approaching the object. Therefore, the sensitivity of the ultrasonic sensor is increased to measure the object at a close range. On the other hand, when the moving speed of the automobile is high, it can be determined that there is no object at a close distance. Therefore, the sensitivity of the ultrasonic sensor control is lowered, and the presence of an object is confirmed in a wider area.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and range of the claims and the equivalents thereof are included in the scope of the present invention Should be interpreted.

10: Battery-based wireless parking assist system
100: sensor node 110: wireless communication unit
120: acceleration sensor module unit 130: power source unit
140: sensor unit 150: sensor control unit
180: main control unit 200: base station
300: vehicle

Claims (8)

At least one sensor node sensing ambient objects and being operable on a battery basis; And
A base station for controlling the sensor node; / RTI >
The sensor node comprises:
A wireless communication unit for performing wireless communication with the base station;
An acceleration sensor module unit for measuring a movement of the vehicle;
A power supply unit for supplying current using a battery;
A sensor unit for measuring a distance to the surrounding object;
A sensor control unit for controlling the operation of the sensor unit; And
A main controller which receives the vehicle motion information measured by the acceleration sensor module and determines whether to enter the active mode in which the sensor unit is driven corresponding to the motion information of the vehicle; A battery-powered wireless parking assist system. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the main control unit receives the moving speed of the vehicle measured by the acceleration sensor module unit during the active mode and supplies a control signal corresponding to the moving speed of the vehicle to the sensor control unit, And a main control unit for controlling the main control unit. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the sensor unit comprises an ultrasonic sensor. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit is inversely proportional to the moving speed of the vehicle. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the wireless communication unit starts wireless communication with the base station upon entering the active mode and notifies the base station of the entry into the active mode. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the sensor control unit controls the object detection distance of the sensor unit to be shorter as the moving speed of the vehicle is slower and controls the object detection distance of the sensor unit to increase as the moving speed of the vehicle increases, Wireless Parking Assist System. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the base station collects distance information of the peripheral object measured by the sensor unit. When the acceleration sensor module detects the movement of the vehicle, enters the active mode and starts driving the sensor unit; And
Changing a measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit corresponding to a moving speed of the vehicle measured by the acceleration sensor module unit; Lt; / RTI >
Wherein the step of changing the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit comprises:
Wherein the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit is increased when the moving speed of the vehicle is decreased and the measurement sensitivity of the sensor unit is decreased when the moving speed of the vehicle is increased.

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