Determining vertical clearance for a vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025147187-A1
Application number	US-202318502653-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 6, 2023
Priority date	Nov 6, 2023
Publication date	May 8, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system for determining vertical clearance for a vehicle may include a first ranging sensor operable to measure a distance relative to an object surrounding the vehicle. The system further may include a display operable to provide information to an occupant of the vehicle. The system further may include a controller in electrical communication with the first ranging sensor and the display. The controller is programmed to determine a minimum required vertical clearance based at least in part on a height of the vehicle. The controller is further programmed to determine a maximum available vertical clearance using the first ranging sensor. The controller is further programmed to provide a warning to the occupant of the vehicle using the display in response to determining that the maximum available vertical clearance is less than or equal to the minimum required vertical clearance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system for determining vertical clearance for a vehicle, the system comprising:
a first ranging sensor operable to measure a distance relative to an object surrounding the vehicle; a display operable to provide information to an occupant of the vehicle; and a controller in electrical communication with the first ranging sensor and the display, wherein the controller is programmed to:
determine a minimum required vertical clearance based at least in part on a height of the vehicle;
determine a maximum available vertical clearance using the first ranging sensor; and
provide a warning to the occupant of the vehicle using the display in response to determining that the maximum available vertical clearance is less than or equal to the minimum required vertical clearance.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the display is further configured to receive input from the occupant of the vehicle, and wherein to determine the minimum required vertical clearance based at least in part on the height of the vehicle, the controller is further programmed to:
receive the height of the vehicle from the occupant of the vehicle using the display; and determine the minimum required vertical clearance based at least in part on the height of the vehicle.

3 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one vertical height sensor in electrical communication with the controller, and wherein to determine the minimum required vertical clearance based at least in part on the height of the vehicle, the controller is further programmed to:
perform at least one vertical height measurement using the at least one vertical height sensor, wherein the at least one vertical height measurement is a distance between a roof of the vehicle and a ground surface; and determine the minimum required vertical clearance based at least in part on the at least one vertical height measurement.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one vertical height sensor further comprises a first vertical height sensor, a second vertical height sensor, a third vertical height sensor, and a fourth vertical height sensor, and wherein to determine the minimum required vertical clearance, the controller is further programmed to:
perform a first vertical height measurement using the first vertical height sensor, wherein the first vertical height measurement is a distance between a first corner of the roof of the vehicle and the ground surface; perform a second vertical height measurement using the second vertical height sensor, wherein the second vertical height measurement is a distance between a second corner of the roof of the vehicle and the ground surface; perform a third vertical height measurement using the third vertical height sensor, wherein the third vertical height measurement is a distance between a third corner of the roof of the vehicle and the ground surface; perform a fourth vertical height measurement using the fourth vertical height sensor, wherein the fourth vertical height measurement is a distance between a fourth corner of the roof of the vehicle and the ground surface; and determine the minimum required vertical clearance based at least in part on the first vertical height measurement, the second vertical height measurement, the third vertical height measurement, and the fourth vertical height measurement.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the first ranging sensor further comprises a range sensing element and an electric motor operable to rotate the range sensing element along a pitch axis, and wherein to determine the maximum available vertical clearance using the first ranging sensor, the controller is further programmed to:
measure a Euclidian distance between the first ranging sensor and the object surrounding the vehicle using the range sensing element; determine a vertical clearance based at least in part on the Euclidian distance and a pitch angle of the range sensing element relative to the roof of the vehicle; rotate the range sensing element using the electric motor to change the pitch angle of the range sensing element; repeatedly measure the Euclidian distance, determine the vertical clearance, and rotate the range sensing element to determine a plurality of vertical clearances; and determine the maximum available vertical clearance to be a sum of a minimum value of the plurality of vertical clearances and a minimum value of the first vertical height measurement, the second vertical height measurement, the third vertical height measurement, and the fourth vertical height measurement.

6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the first ranging sensor is further configured to measure a distance relative to an object in front of the vehicle, wherein the system further includes a second ranging sensor in electrical communication with the controller, and wherein the second ranging sensor is configured to measure a distance relative to an object behind the vehicle.

7 . The system of claim 5 , wherein to determine the vertical clearance, the controller is further programmed to:
determine the vertical clearance using an equation:
c v =d e *sin θ p

wherein c v is the vertical clearance, d e is the Euclidian distance, and θ p is the pitch angle.

8 . The system of claim 4 , wherein to determine the minimum required vertical clearance, the controller is further programmed to:
determine the minimum required vertical clearance to be equal to a maximum value of the first vertical height measurement, the second vertical height measurement, the third vertical height measurement, and the fourth vertical height measurement.

9 . The system of claim 4 , wherein to determine the minimum required vertical clearance, the controller is further programmed to:
determine a height of a roof-mounted accessory affixed to the roof of the vehicle; and determine the minimum required vertical clearance to be equal to a sum of the height of the roof-mounted accessory and a maximum value of the first vertical height measurement, the second vertical height measurement, the third vertical height measurement, and the fourth vertical height measurement.

10 . The system of claim 9 , further comprising a telescopic break-beam sensor system affixed to the roof of the vehicle including a first telescopic break-beam sensor and a second telescopic break-beam sensor in electrical communication with the controller, wherein the telescopic break-beam sensor system is operable to detect an object occluding a line of sight between the first telescopic break-beam sensor and the second telescopic break-beam sensor, and wherein to determine the height of the roof-mounted accessory, the controller is further programmed to:
extend the first telescopic break-beam sensor and the second telescopic break-beam sensor until the line of sight between the first telescopic break-beam sensor and the second telescopic break-beam sensor is not occluded; retract the first telescopic break-beam sensor and the second telescopic break-beam sensor until the line of sight between the first telescopic break-beam sensor and the second telescopic break-beam sensor becomes occluded by the roof-mounted accessory; and determine the height of the roof-mounted accessory to be equal to a height of the first telescopic break-beam sensor and the second telescopic break-beam sensor after retracting the first telescopic break-beam sensor and the second telescopic break-beam sensor until the line of sight between the first telescopic break-beam sensor and the second telescopic break-beam sensor becomes occluded by the roof-mounted accessory.

11 . A method for determining vertical clearance for a vehicle, the

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Sarwar Azeem
• Islam Md Mhafuzul

Classifications

• G01V8/10

  Detecting, e.g. by using light barriers (by reflection from the object G01S17/00) · CPC title

• G01S7/4817

  relating to scanning · CPC title

• G01S17/931 Primary

  of land vehicles · CPC title

• G01B11/0608 Primary

  Height gauges · CPC title