Abstract:
The present invention relates to a distance sensor with a method and device that aid the compensation of mounting tolerances of a distance sensor, where compensation is provided with little effort, quickly and reliably. This is achieved by having the distance sensor ( 1 ) emit its rays ( 2 ) at an aperture angle (a) of 0.1° to 10° and pick up data while the vehicle is moving straight forward, and determining an angle error ( 6 ) by comparing the data picked up during a change of channels.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims priority from International Application No. PCT/EP/2005/053 181 filed Jul. 5, 2005 which claims priority from German Patent Application No. 10 2004 033 212 filed Jul. 9, 2004. 
   The subject matter of this current invention is a method of compensating mounting tolerances of a vehicle-mounted distance sensor according to the general term of Claim  1  hereunder plus a device that puts the method into practice. 
   An example of what distance sensors are used for in motor vehicles is to scan the area closely ahead of the vehicle and to make signals available to automatic speed control or other such uses. The sensor will measure an angle and at what distance it is to an object. Perfectly adjusting the distance sensor is a mandatory requirement to be able to correctly determine the lateral distance a vehicle has to an object at a specific point in time and, thus, to be able to properly assign the correct lane to the vehicle. Mounting tolerances produce an angle error, that is to say, a difference in angles between the reference and actual positions of the distance sensor, which will lead to wrong results of sensor value analysis. Driving the vehicle often produces significant mechanical loads for example when driving through potholes that may modify the original adjustment and its well-defined emitter angles. Sensor values therefore need to be corrected. 
   DE 197 46 524 A1 describes a setup for compensating the mounting tolerances of a vehicle-mounted distance sensor. Its distance sensor is characterized by a reference emitter angle defined in relation to the vehicle and an actual emitter angle which may differ from the reference angle. The setup features an analysis circuitry used to compute object distances and angles as a mean object angle which is defined as being equivalent to a reference bearing angle. The latter and the actual emitter angle are compared to result in an angular difference which is applied to correct the actual object angle. This approach demands quite a lot of memory capacity and computing power because errors will only be detected after some time. Moreover, this kind of compensation may become unreliable when the sensor is physically readjusted. 
   The present invention aims at providing a method and a device that aid the compensation of mounting tolerances of a vehicle-mounted distance sensor, where compensation is provided with little effort, quickly and reliably. 
   The tasks are completed by the properties of the separate claims. Emitting rays at an aperture angle between 0.1° and 10° and obtaining correction values from a comparison of the different data collected at the time channels are changed lead to an object normally being discovered by more than one of the rays. The present setup allows angles between the sensor and an object to be determined at a change of channels extremely accurately and with greater precision than has been previously known to the art. The results delivered by the different channels allow the detection of measuring errors caused by mounting tolerances of the distance sensor. There will be various data analysis options which can all be implemented with comparatively little effort. One key factor is that it is no longer necessary to keep a long-term repository of large volumes of data. Consequently, there is but little memory capacity required and measuring results are available immediately, i.e. without any need for collecting much data first. An analyzer can compute a correction value and provide a reliable compensation for situations where the mounting position of the distance sensor differs from the set reference position. 
   The ancillary claims describe the beneficial practical design of the invention. 
   Claims  2  through  4  describe different methods of analyzing various operating conditions. 
   Claims  5 ,  6 ,  8  and  9  describe particularly favorable emitter angles. 
   Examples further explain the invention 

   
     The following figures are included 
       FIG. 1  shows the block diagram of a distance sensor. 
       FIG. 2  shows the lateral distance between the sensor and a stationary object. 
       FIG. 3  shows the distance between the sensor and a stationary object. 
       FIG. 4  shows the distance between the sensor and a moving object. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1  shows a distance sensor ( 1 ) installed somewhere near the front of a motor vehicle such that it emits sixteen rays ( 2 )—only some of which are shown—which spread across a defined range of angles mainly pointing in the traveling direction, and receives the reflected rays ( 2 ). Every ray ( 2 ) has an aperture angle of 1°. In order not to confuse the picture, the aperture angle a is shown bigger than it really is. Every ray ( 2 ) is assigned a channel. In the depicted embodiment, distance sensor ( 1 ) is an optical sensor, e.g., an infrared laser. 
   Distance sensor ( 1 ) is electrically connected to an analyzer ( 3 ) which also acts as the control unit controlling distance sensor ( 1 ). The analyzer ( 3 ) also connects to a means ( 4 ) of determining whether the vehicle is moving straight ahead, a means ( 5 ) of determining the distance hitherto traveled, and a cruise control system ( 6 ). The means ( 4 ) of determining whether the vehicle is moving straight ahead for example includes a yaw rate sensor indicating how the angle of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle changes over time and plotting the graph on a set coordinate axis system; the traveling distance may be derived from the vehicle speed, for example. 
   Aperture angle a of distance sensor ( 1 ) can vary so that its rays ( 2 ) may have different aperture angles a. 
   During operation, i.e. while driving, the distance sensor ( 1 ) emits the rays ( 2 ). The analyzer ( 3 ) actuates the sensor such that it emits the rays ( 2 ) at cyclic clock pulse intervals. Reflected rays ( 2 ) are received by the distance sensor ( 1 ) and gated through to the analyzer ( 3 ), which takes each of the rays ( 2 ) after change of channels to compute the distance of an object ( 7 ) by looking at the time it took the ray ( 2 ) to return; the angle between the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and the object ( 7 ) is set by the emitter angle of the ray ( 2 ). Error compensation only relies on the data analyzed when the means ( 4 ) of determining straight ahead driving delivered a signal “driving straight ahead”. 
     FIGS. 2 through 4  explain the different possibilities available to collect and compute data and to compensate 20 mounting tolerances. 
   When the vehicle moves past a stationary object ( 7 ) next to and off a road the rays ( 2 ) will discover this object ( 7 ) one after the other  FIG. 2  shows for some of the rays ( 2 ) how the coordinates, i.e. the front distance (x axis) and the lateral distance (y axis) between the object ( 7 ) and the distance sensor ( 1 ), are measured while driving straight ahead and how the data of every change of channels is briefly stored. The stored coordinates are taken to compute a regression gradient ( 8 ) whose inclination m is the basis of the angle error δ of the distance sensor ( 1 ). If the distance sensor ( 1 ) is correctly adjusted, inclination m is=0. 
   The following formula is used to compute the angle error δ
 
δ=arc tan  m =arc tan(Δ y/Δx )
 
   The error is used as a value for correcting the data. 
   In the above formula, Δx is the difference of the front distance and Δy is the difference of the lateral distance that the object ( 7 ) has during the analysis interval as determined by means of the regression gradient ( 8 ). 
     FIG. 3  shows another possibility of determining a correction value for a vehicle driving past a stationary object ( 7 ). In the drawing, the aperture angles α of the channels appear wider than those used by the distance sensor ( 1 ). This array computes the distance w traveled by the vehicle between two changes of channels. It also determines the lateral distance between the object ( 7 ) and the distance sensor ( 1 ) measured at every change of channels. Results are averaged as mean distance a. These values are used to compute the actual angle β between a line ( 9 ) that is parallel to the central axis of the vehicle and the relevant ray ( 2 ), as follows: 
   
     
       
         
           β 
           = 
           
             
               arc 
               ⁢ 
               
                   
               
               ⁢ 
               sin 
               ⁢ 
               
                   
               
               ⁢ 
               
                 
                   
                     α 
                     · 
                     sin 
                   
                   ⁢ 
                   
                       
                   
                   ⁢ 
                   α 
                 
                 w 
               
             
             - 
             
               α 
               2 
             
           
         
       
     
   
   Angle error δ is the difference between the computed angle β and the reference angle. If the angle error is null, the distance sensor ( 1 ) is correctly adjusted. The reference angle is corrected by the angle error δ. 
     FIG. 4  shows the situation regarding a second vehicle driving ahead of one&#39;s own car. In the drawing, the aperture angles α of the channels appear wider than those used by the distance sensor ( 1 ). In this case, the system computes the position of a left boundary ( 11 ) and the position of a right boundary ( 12 ) of the second vehicle ( 10 ) with reference to the vehicle at the time channels change. While driving straight ahead, the positions of the two boundaries ( 11 ,  12 ) are taken to determine the center of the second vehicle ( 10 ) as well as the mean front distance d between the two vehicles. The system also computes the lateral distance f between the centers of the two vehicles. 
   The angle error δ is computed using the following formula
 
δ=arc sin  f/d 
 
   The result is used as correction value. 
   If the distance sensor ( 1 ) is correctly adjusted and if all drivers involved behave normally, the angle error δ will be null. 
   The different methods described herein provide possibilities of correcting mounting tolerances which will work reliably in most situations. 
   As various modifications could be made to the exemplary embodiments, as described above with reference to the corresponding illustrations, without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims appended hereto and their equivalents.