Measuring and testing – Tire – tread or roadway – Tire inflation testing installation
Patent
1990-06-05
1992-11-17
Woodiel, Donald O.
Measuring and testing
Tire, tread or roadway
Tire inflation testing installation
356371, 356376, G01B 1130
Patent
active
051633191
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and a device for recognizing the condition of a road, particularly rough surface areas or unevenness of the edge of a road, by electromagnetic waves, such as light, according to the principle of measuring the transit time, in which a transmitter emits measuring beams and a receiver receives reflected measuring beams which generate signals to be analyzed at the time of reception.
Previously known apparatuses make it possible to obtain a CCD image of a specific road area by complex computing operations under favorable environmental conditions and with an expensive display system. However, this type of a display supplies no information on the distance, for example, of a displayed rough spot of the road surface.
On the other hand, distance measuring apparatuses according to the principle of measuring the transit time of signals which take a bearing on objects or scan them point by point have been known for some time. See, for example, German patent documents DE 32 19 423 A1, DE 34 47 015 A1.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method and a device for recognizing the condition of the road, particularly rough areas on the surface and at the edge of the road and their distance from a vehicle by electromagnetic radiation, using a transmitter to emit measuring beams and a receiver to transduce reflected measuring beams into signals to be fed to a processing and analysis unit. The apparatus needs to supply an image of the road surface condition in a simple manner and at the same time -- particularly in the case of rough areas -- provide information concerning the relative position/distance of the rough areas.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This and other objects are provided by the present invention which provides a device for recognizing the condition of a road, particularly rough areas on the surface of the road and at the edge of the road, and their distance from a vehicle by electromagnetic radiation. The device includes a transmitter emitting measuring beams, and a receiver transducing reflected measuring beams into signals. A processing and analysis unit is coupled to the receiver and receives the signals as input. The transmitter and receiver are pulsed. The processing and analysis unit includes a read-only memory in which signatures of known road profiles are stored, and a processor module in which the signatures are correlated with the amplitudes/time course of the reflected measuring beams.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the device includes a transmitter emitting measuring beams, a receiver transducing reflected measuring beams into signals, and a processing and analysis unit coupled to the receiver. The transmitter and receiver respectively emit and receive electromagnetic radiation in a pulsed manner such that by means of the timing and sensing of the emitted measuring beams, different areas of the road surface and its edge are detected by the measuring beams.
An advantage of the present invention is that if only one transmitter and one receiver is used, as is done in an embodiment of the invention, the energy distribution of the transmitter over the whole distance to be scanned takes place in such a manner that backscattered energy from each distance range is approximately the same with the same backscatter coefficient.
According to another embodiment of the invention, several transmitters and receiving devices are focussed on the road in such a manner that a geometric assignment of the change of the signals and also of an edge of the road takes place by analyzing the differences of the backscatter signals.
In contrast to the known apparatuses in the present invention, a road profile is detected and simultaneously a geometric or distance-related assignment of this displayed profile takes place.
In an embodiment of the invention, a road profile -- preferably after a plausibility check -- is displayed at the dashboard of the vehicle, preferably on a vehicle computer.
However, the device according to
REFERENCES:
patent: 4653316 (1987-03-01), Fukuhara
patent: 4796998 (1989-01-01), Soma et al.
patent: 4896964 (1990-01-01), Kitzaume
Elektronische Dampfer Control-eine vollautomatisch adaptive DampKraftverstelluns fur den BMU 635 CSi-ATX Automogiltechische Zeitschrift 89 (1987)9.
Abstract if Japanese Patent No. 59-17182 (A).
Spies Hans
Weishaupt Walter
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm GmbH
Woodiel Donald O.
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