Adaptive tilting radars for effective vehicle controls

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11360191-B2
Application number	US-201916729106-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 27, 2019
Priority date	Dec 27, 2019
Publication date	Jun 14, 2022
Grant date	Jun 14, 2022

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes accessing sensor data generated by one or more sensors of the vehicle, determining that a first beam angle of a radar of the vehicle provides insufficient radar visibility of a current road condition according to one or more criteria based on the sensor data, determining an amount of adjustment needed to adjust the first beam angle of the radar, adjusting the first beam angle of the radar to a second beam angle based on the determined amount of adjustment, and detecting one or more objects based on the second beam angle of the radar.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising, by a computing system of a vehicle:
accessing sensor data generated by one or more sensors of the vehicle;
determining, based on the sensor data, that a first beam angle of a radar of the vehicle provides insufficient radar visibility of a current road condition according to one or more criteria that relate to whether a field-of-view of the radar capture a defined area of the current road;
determining an amount of adjustment needed to adjust the first beam angle of the radar to resolve the insufficient radar visibility;
adjusting, based on the determined amount of adjustment, the first beam angle of the radar to a second beam angle; and
detecting, based on the second beam angle of the radar, one or more objects.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more criteria comprise one or more of:
a detection of an upward slope;
a detection of a downward slope;
an elevation angle of the radar;
a number of reflected signals of the radar;
a signal range associated with the radar; or
a probability of misdetection of targets by the radar based on the first beam angle.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the first beam angle of the radar of the vehicle provides insufficient radar visibility of the current road condition comprises:
transmitting, by the radar, one or more signals;
receiving one or more reflected signals of the one or more transmitted signals being reflected by one or more objects; and
analyzing the one or more reflected signals according to the one or more criteria.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more inertial measurement units (IMUs), and wherein determining that the first beam angle of the radar of the vehicle provides insufficient radar visibility of the current road condition is based on one or more of the IMUs.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the current road condition comprises one or more of:
a slope of a road;
a turn of the road; or
reflective objects on the road.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the current road condition comprises a slope of the road based on a rising surface, and wherein adjusting the first beam angle of the radar to the second beam angle comprises adjusting the beam angle of the radar upwards.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the current road condition comprises a slope of the road based on a falling surface, and wherein adjusting the first beam angle of the radar to the second beam angle comprises adjusting the beam angle of the radar downwards.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the current road condition comprises reflective objects on the road, and wherein adjusting the first beam angle of the radar to the second beam angle comprises adjusting the beam angle of the radar upwards.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the current road condition based on location information associated with the vehicle and one or more maps.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the current road condition based on an analysis of the sensor data by a machine-learning model, wherein the machine-learning model is based on scene recognition.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more inertial measurement units (IMUs), and wherein determining the current road condition is based on one or more of the IMUs.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more gyroscopes, and wherein determining the amount of adjustment needed to adjust the first beam angle of the radar comprises analyzing the sensor data by one or more of the gyroscopes.

13. A system comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media coupled to one or more of the processors, the one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media comprising instructions operable when executed by one or more of the processors to cause the system to:
access sensor data generated by one or more sensors of a vehicle;
determine, based on the sensor data, that a first beam angle of a radar of the vehicle provides insufficient radar visibility of a current road condition according to one or more criteria that relate to whether a field-of-view of the radar capture a defined area of the current road;
determine an amount of adjustment needed to adjust the first beam angle of the radar to resolve the insufficient radar visibility;
adjust, based on the determined amount of adjustment, the first beam angle of the radar to a second beam angle; and
detect, based on the second beam angle of the radar, one or more objects.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more criteria comprise one or more of:
a detection of an upward slope;
a detection of a downward slope;
an elevation angle of the radar;
a number of reflected signals of the radar;
a signal range associated with the radar; or
a probability of misdetection of targets by the radar based on the first beam angle.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein determining that the first beam angle of the radar of the vehicle provides insufficient radar visibility of the current road condition comprises:
transmitting, by the radar, one or more signals;
receiving one or more reflected signals of the one or more transmitted signals being reflected by one or more objects; and
analyzing the one or more reflected signals according to the one or more criteria.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more inertial measurement units (IMUs), and wherein determining that the first beam angle of the radar of the vehicle provides insufficient radar visibility of the current road condition is based on one or more of the IMUs.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the current road condition comprises one or more of:
a slope of a road;
a turn of the road; or
reflective objects on the road.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the current road condition comprises a slope of the road based on a rising surface, and wherein adjusting the first beam angle of the radar to the second beam angle comprises adjusting the beam angle of the radar upwards.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the current road condition comprises a slope of the road based on a falling surface, and wherein adjusting the first beam angle of the radar to the second beam angle comprises adjusting the beam angle of the radar downwards.

20. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed to cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
accessing sensor data generated by one or more sensors of a vehicle;
determining, based on the sensor data, that a first beam angle of a radar of the vehicle provides insufficient radar visibility of a current road condition according to one or more criteria that relate to whether a field-of-view of the radar capture a defined area of the current road;
determining an amount of adjustment needed to adjust the first beam angle of the radar to resolve the insufficient radar visibility;
adjusting, based on the determined amount of adjustment, the first beam angle of the radar to a second beam angle; and
detecting, based on the second beam angle of the radar, one or more objects.

Assignees

• Woven Planet North America Inc

Inventors

• Izadian Jamaledin
• Emadi Mohammad

Classifications

• G01S2013/93273

  on the top of the vehicles · CPC title

• G01S7/403 Primary

  in azimuth, i.e. in the horizontal plane · CPC title

• G01S13/931

  of land vehicles · CPC title

• G01S7/4034

  in elevation, i.e. in the vertical plane · CPC title

• G01S7/4026 Primary

  Antenna boresight · CPC title