SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CALIBRATING A PORTABLE VECHICLE SENSOR

Abstract

A system and method is provided for calibrating a portable vehicle sensor which is releasably mountable to a vehicle at least at a first and a second position on the vehicle, wherein the first and second positions are offset from each other. The system includes inputting means configured to receive position information relating to the second position when or after the portable vehicle sensor has been moved from the first position to the second position; calibration means configured to calibrate the position of the portable vehicle sensor with respect to the second position by use of the received position information.

Claims

1. A system for calibrating a portable vehicle sensor which is releasably mountable to a vehicle at least at a first and a second position on the vehicle, wherein the first and second positions are offset from each other, the system comprising: inputting means configured to receive position information relating to the second position when or after the portable vehicle sensor has been moved from the first position to the second position; calibration means configured to calibrate the position of the portable vehicle sensor with respect to the second position by use of the received position information.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the inputting means is further configured to receive orientation information relating to the second position when or after the portable vehicle sensor has been moved from the first position to the second position, and wherein the calibration means is further configured to calibrate the orientation of the portable vehicle sensor with respect to the second position by use of the received orientation information.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the received position information comprises information about a relative position with respect to the first position, and/or wherein the received orientation information comprises information about a relative orientation with respect to the first position and/or or with respect a first orientation of the portable vehicle sensor at the first position.

4. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a portable measurement device for obtaining the position information and/or the orientation information.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the portable measurement device is a handheld device, such as a smartphone, a tablet computer or the like.

6. The system according to claim 4, wherein the portable measurement device comprises any one or a combination of a motion sensor, a rotation sensor, a GNSS system and a perception sensor for obtaining the position information and/or the orientation information.

7. The system according to claim 4, wherein the portable measurement device further comprises communication means for automatically communicating the obtained position and/or orientation to the inputting means.

8. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a vehicle parameter database comprising information about one or more reference measurement positions on the vehicle, wherein the calibration means is further configured to calibrate the position and/or orientation by use of the information about the one or more reference measurement positions.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the system is configured to calibrate the portable measurement device by use of information from the vehicle parameter database which is indicative of a distance between at least two reference measurement positions on the vehicle.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the inputting means comprises a human machine interface (HMI) for manually inputting position information and/or orientation information.

11. A vehicle comprising at least a first and a second position on the vehicle at which a portable vehicle sensor is releasably mountable, wherein the first and second positions are offset from each other, and wherein the vehicle further comprises the system according to claim 1.

12. The vehicle according to claim 11, wherein the vehicle is a vehicle combination comprising a towing vehicle and at least one connected vehicle, such as a trailer.

13. The vehicle according to claim 10, wherein the first and second positions comprises a respective sensor bracket for releasably holding the portable vehicle sensor.

14. A method for calibrating a portable vehicle sensor which is releasably mountable to a vehicle at least at a first and a second position on the vehicle, wherein the first and second positions are offset from each other, the method comprising: receiving position information relating to the second position when or after the portable vehicle sensor has been moved from the first position to the second position; calibrating the position of the portable vehicle sensor with respect to the second position by use of the obtained position information.

15. A control unit for a vehicle for calibrating a portable vehicle sensor which is releasably mountable to the vehicle at least at a first and a second position on the vehicle, wherein the control unit is configured to perform the steps of the method according to claim 14.

16. A portable measurement device for a system according to claim 1, wherein the portable measurement device is configured to obtain the position information and/or the orientation information, and further configured to provide the position and/or orientation information to the inputting means of the system.

17. A portable measurement device for calibrating a portable vehicle sensor which is releasably mountable to a vehicle, wherein the portable measurement device is configured to: obtain position information and/or orientation information relating to a mounting position when or after the portable vehicle sensor has been moved to the mounting position; provide the obtained position information and/or orientation information to inputting means of a system for calibrating the portable vehicle sensor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0053] With reference to the appended drawings, below follows a more detailed description of embodiments of the invention cited as examples.

[0054] In the drawings:

[0055] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle according to an example embodiment of the present invention;

[0056] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a system according to an example embodiment of the present invention;

[0057] FIGS. 3a-b are schematic views from a side of a vehicle and vehicle combination according to example embodiments of the present invention;

[0058] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method according to an example embodiment of the present invention; and

[0059] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a portable measurement device according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0060] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a vehicle 100 in the form of a truck. More specifically, the truck 100 as shown is a towing truck, or tractor, for towing a trailer, such as a semi-trailer. It shall however be noted that the invention is not limited to only this type of vehicle, but may also advantageously be used for any other vehicle as e.g. mentioned in the above.

[0061] With respect to FIGS. 1 and 2, a system 1 for calibrating a portable vehicle sensor 2 according to example embodiments is depicted. The portable vehicle sensor 2 is releasably mountable to the vehicle 100 at least at a first P1 and a second P2 position on the vehicle 100. The first and second positions P1, P2 are as shown offset from each other. More specifically, the first position P1 is here provided behind rear wheels 101 of the vehicle 100. It is also provided below a coupling member 102 for a trailer. The coupling member 102 is here in the form of a so called fifth wheel. In the shown embodiment, the portable vehicle sensor 2 is currently releasably mounted at the first position P1. The portable vehicle sensor 2, which may be any kind of sensor as e.g. mentioned herein, is here a camera for obtaining a rear-view with respect to the vehicle 100. More specifically, the camera 2 is directed in a direction substantially corresponding to a longitudinal direction x of the vehicle 100. The direction x thus corresponds to a rearward direction of the vehicle 100, i.e. a direction opposite to a forward direction of the vehicle 100. The x-axis is here part of a Cartesian coordinate system, further comprising a lateral axis y and a vertical axis z, as seen when the vehicle 100 is provided on a flat horizontally extending surface.

[0062] The system 1 comprises inputting means 11 configured to receive position information x1, y1, z1 relating to the second position P2 when or after the portable vehicle sensor 2 has been moved from the first position P1 to the second position P2. The second position P2, corresponding to x1, y1 and z1 with respect to the Cartesian coordinate system is here a position at a vertical rear surface of a vehicle cabin 103 of the vehicle 100.

[0063] The inputting means 11 may be any kind of inputting means, such as a human machine interface (HMI) in the form of a touch display or a keyboard (not shown) of the vehicle 100. Additionally, or alternatively, the inputting means 11 may be a wireless receiver of the system 1 which is communicating with a portable measurement device 3 as shown in FIG. 5. The inputting means 11 may also, or alternatively, be a wired receiver, to which the portable measurement device 3 can be connected via wired connection.

[0064] The system 1 as shown in FIG. 2 is preferably an onboard system of the vehicle 100. However, the system could alternatively, or additionally, be an offboard system, such as a cloud-based system that communicates with other systems of the vehicle 100.

[0065] The system 1 further comprises calibration means 12 configured to calibrate the position of the portable vehicle sensor 2 with respect to the second position P2 by use of the received position information. Accordingly, the inputting means 11 and the calibration means 12 are communicatively connected, indicated by the line between the boxes 11 and 12 in FIG. 2. The calibration means 12 and/or at least parts of the inputting means 11 are preferably provided as a control unit, i.e. an electronic control unit comprising processing circuitry, hardware and/or software for performing a method as disclosed herein. Accordingly, the system 1, indicated by dashed lines, preferably comprises an electronic control unit, one or more memory units, a HMI and/or a wireless/wired receiver etc. According to an example embodiment, the system 1 comprises a computer.

[0066] The inputting means 11 may further be configured to receive orientation information φ, θ, ψ relating to the second position P2 when or after the portable vehicle sensor 2 has been moved from the first position P1 to the second position P2, and wherein the calibration means 12 is further configured to calibrate the orientation of the portable vehicle sensor 2 with respect to the second position P2 by use of the received orientation information. Thereby a further improved calibration of the portable vehicle sensor 2 may be achieved, also allowing the portable vehicle sensor 2 to have different orientations at the first and second positions P1, P2. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, φ corresponds to a rotation about the x-axis, θ corresponds to a rotation about the y-axis and ψ corresponds to a rotation about the z-axis.

[0067] The received position information may comprise information about a relative position with respect to the first position P1, and/or the received orientation information may comprise information about a relative orientation with respect to the first position P1 and/or or with respect a first orientation of the portable vehicle sensor 2 at the first position P1. The relative position and/or orientation information may for example be beneficial in order to easily update a driver assistance system or any other vehicle system which uses information from the portable vehicle sensor 2. For example, a vehicle system which is configured to issue a warning signal if the vehicle 100 is close to or about to hit an object during reversing needs to know where the portable vehicle sensor 2 is positioned with respect to a rearmost portion of the vehicle 100 which first would hit the object. This relative position may already be known for the position P1 as e.g. shown in FIG. 1. For example, the position P1 may here be the rearmost portion of the vehicle 100. As such, by using information about a relative position with respect to the first position P1 for the calibration, the calibration may be easily conducted, implying less processing power and faster calibration.

[0068] The system 1 may as shown in FIG. 2 further comprise a vehicle parameter database 13 which comprises information about one or more reference measurement positions on the vehicle 100, wherein the calibration means 12 is further configured to calibrate the position and/or orientation by use of the information about the one or more reference measurement positions Pref1, Pref2. The vehicle parameter database 13 is indicated in FIG. 2 by a box with dashed lines, implying that it is optional for the system 1. The vehicle parameter database 13 may be provided onboard the vehicle 100, in a memory unit, and/or it may be provided offboard, such as in the above-mentioned cloud. Accordingly, the vehicle 100 may comprise means for wireless communication, such as a V2X (vehicle-to-everything) system, with another entity. For example, Pref1 may be associated with a position of the coupling member 102. This position may be important to relate to and be aware of for a driver assistance system, since it corresponds to a pivot axle about which the non-shown trailer will pivot with respect to the vehicle 100 during use. The pivot axle is likely substantially parallel with the z-axis. In addition, purely by way of example, another reference measurement position may be Pref2 which is associated with a wheel axle comprising steerable wheels 104. This may also be an important position to relate to and be aware of for a driver assistance system, such as a reverse assistance system.

[0069] By using the one or more reference measurement positions, the calibration of the portable vehicle sensor 2 may be improved and adapted for its purpose more quickly, and also less processing power may be required for the calibration.

[0070] The vehicle parameter database 13 may comprise further measurement positions and/or other information about geometric properties of the vehicle 100. For example, it may comprise information about distance between wheel axles of the vehicle 100, vehicle height, vehicle width etc. This information may also be used for the calibration when the portable vehicle sensor 2 is moved to a new position on the vehicle 100.

[0071] Referring to FIGS. 3a and 3b, a schematic side view of a vehicle 100 in the form of a vehicle combination is shown. The shown vehicle 100 comprises a towing vehicle 105 and a trailer 106. In the shown embodiment, the first position P1 is similar to the position P1 in FIG. 1. However, the second position P2 is here a position on the trailer 106. More specifically, the second position P2 is a position at a rear of the trailer 106, so that the portable vehicle sensor 2 can obtain e.g. an image behind the trailer 106 when it is mounted at the position P2 as shown in FIG. 3b. When the towing vehicle 105 is not connected to the trailer 106, the portable vehicle sensor is preferably mounted at the position P1. Accordingly, by the provision of the present invention, the portable vehicle sensor 2 can be easily calibrated when moved on the vehicle 100 between different mounting positions. The vehicle 100 is also here provided in a space defined by a Cartesian coordinate system, similar to FIG. 1. It shall however be noted that the space may be defined by any other coordinate system, which may be used for the calibration.

[0072] Any one of the shown vehicles 100 may comprise a sensor bracket (not shown) for releasably holding the portable vehicle sensor 2. The portable vehicle sensor 2 may be releasably mounted by use of magnetic force and/or by use of vacuum force, such as one or more suction cups. Alternatively, the portable vehicle sensor 2 may be releasably mounted by more conventional means, such as by screws and/or bolts.

[0073] Further, the above-mentioned vehicle parameter database 13 may also comprise information about the trailer 106, such as but not limited to geometric information as mentioned in the above. In addition, or alternatively, the vehicle parameter database 13 may also comprise information about type of trailer, which may be used for the calibration. For example, the information relating to type of trailer may for example define an effective wheel axle for the trailer 106. An effective wheel axle may be defined as an imaginary wheel axle about which the trailer 106 will pivot when the trailer is moving and turning. For example, an effective wheel axle may be provided between the two rear axles 107, 108 of the trailer 106 as shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b.

[0074] Referring to FIG. 5, a portable measurement device 3 according to an example embodiment of the invention is shown. The portable measurement device 3 is here a handheld device, such as a tablet or smartphone, and may e.g. comprise an “app”, also known as e.g. a “mobile app” to perform certain tasks, such as for obtaining the position information and/or the orientation information.

[0075] Alternatively, the portable measurement device may be integrated with the portable vehicle sensor, implying further facilitated calibration for a user. As such, only one device may be required, instead of two separate devices. According to a yet further embodiment, the calibration may be performed by use of a vehicle sensor of another vehicle (not shown). The vehicle sensor of the another vehicle may for example be a stationary vehicle sensor which is fixedly mounted thereto. For example, the vehicle sensor of the another vehicle may be a perception sensor which may be used for obtaining position and/or orientation information of the second position P2 for the calibration.

[0076] The portable measurement device 3 may be part of the system 1 as shown in FIG. 2, but it may also be used for calibrating a portable vehicle sensor 2 at its first installation to the vehicle 100.

[0077] The portable measurement device 3 preferably further comprises any one or a combination of a motion sensor, a rotation sensor, a GNSS system and a perception sensor for obtaining the position information and/or the orientation information. For example, the portable measurement device 3 may be provided at the position P2, whereby the position information x1, y1, and z1 is at least partly obtained by use of the GNSS system. Additionally, or alternatively, the position information of P2 may be obtained by use of a camera (not shown) of the portable measurement device 3. For example, the position information of P2 may be obtained by use of an image recognition algorithm in combination with the vehicle parameter database 13. As such, the image recognition algorithm may e.g. obtain a distance between the position P2 and a reference measurement position, such as at least one of the reference measurement positions Pref1, Pref2 as shown in FIG. 1. In addition, the orientation information may be obtained by use of the aforementioned rotation sensor, which may be a gyro sensor of the portable measurement device 3, such as a MEMS (Microelectromechanical systems) gyroscope.

[0078] The portable measurement device 3 may further comprise a communication means (not shown) for automatically communicating the obtained position and/or orientation to the inputting means 11. For example, the communication means may be wireless, such as Bluetooth or the like, wherein a communicative connection is established with a wireless receiver as mentioned in the above. The information may be communicated directly when it is obtained, when a user pushes a button on e.g. the touchscreen, or at any other suitable time controlled by e.g. the portable measurement device 3.

[0079] The portable measurement device 3 preferably comprises a display 31 for a user, which may be a touch screen. The user may by use of the touch screen 31 indicate where the new position P2 is located in the image, whereby the above-mentioned image recognition algorithm then obtains the position information of the second position P2. The display 31 may further be used for manually inputting values, such as measured position information. Accordingly, the display 31 may be part of the inputting means 11 of the system 1. Additionally, or alternatively, the portable measurement device 3 may comprise voice control means and/or sound control means for a user, e.g. for inputting position and/or orientation information about the second position P2.

[0080] The system 1 may be configured to calibrate the portable measurement device 3 by use of information from the vehicle parameter database 13 which is indicative of a distance between at least two reference measurement positions on the vehicle 100. For example, a user may obtain an image of a camera of the portable measurement device 3, whereby the user then indicates where two positions are provided in the image, which indicated positions refer to the two reference measurement positions. Thereby, the portable measurement device 3 can be calibrated so that e.g. the image recognition algorithm is able to provide more correct distance information.

[0081] Referring to FIG. 4, a flowchart of a method for calibrating a portable vehicle sensor 2 which is releasably mountable to a vehicle 100 at least at a first and a second position P1, P2 on the vehicle 100 is shown. The first and second positions P1, P2 are offset from each other. The method comprises:

S1: receiving position information x1, y1, z1 relating to the second position P2 when or after the portable vehicle sensor 2 has been moved from the first position P1 to the second position P2;
S2: calibrating the position of the portable vehicle sensor 2 with respect to the second position P2 by use of the obtained position information.

[0082] The method may comprise further optional steps, as mentioned in the above. Preferably, the method is implemented in a control unit for a vehicle 100 for calibrating a portable vehicle sensor 2 which is releasably mountable to the vehicle 100 at least at a first and a second position P1, P2 on the vehicle 100. The control unit may comprise or utilize a computer program which is configured to perform at least parts of the steps of the method. The control unit is preferably an electronic control unit. It may be constituted as one control unit or as a two or more sub-control units.

[0083] It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings; rather, the skilled person will recognize that many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims.