Combined Capacitive and Ultrasonic Distance Measurement for Automotive Applications

This work presents a sensor fusion concept based on capacitive and ultrasonic techniques for distance measurement in automotive applications. Although ultrasonic sensors are a well accepted technology for distance sensing applications, they reveal drawbacks in the immediate vicinity of a vehicle. Capacitive sensors are suited for distance measurements of up to 0.3 m and may also provide information about the approaching object itself. The measurement range of the proposed concept reaches up to 2 m avoided and means for object classification are provided. The feasibility of the approach and its robustness against environmental influences are demonstrated in this paper.

Existing System:
In earlier systems, imaging sensors provide a perspective view of the scene with high angular resolution but low distance resolution. In addition, complex signal processing methods in order to extract relevant information are required. On the other side, ultrasonic and laser sensors provide accurate information about the distance to an object but do not provide information about material properties of the object. Here, we use a capacitive sensor to find the size of the approaching object.

Proposed System:
For prospective parking aid and pedestrian safety applications, the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) requires accurate information about class and position of an approaching object. Based on this information, the ECU may trigger several safety measures in case of an accident. The capacitive sensors have an electrode in it, whenever an object approaches near the electrode the capacitance between the electrode and the object changes. Here PIC microcontroller is used to convert the analog datas from sensor to digital. Using CAN protocol the data is transmitted to a main controller then to a PC. Combined with ultrasonic sensors, this can be exploited to design an improved distance measurement system, which provides the possibility to classify the object.

Block Diagram:

Ultrasonic Sensor

Capacitive Sensor

Buzzer

PIC16F877A

Relay Driver

CAN Controller

DC Motor

CAN Transceiver

CANH CAN Bus

CANL

CAN Transceiver

Power Supply

CAN Controller

PC

PIC16F877A
PIC16F877A

Hardware Requirements:
Power Supply PIC16F877A Ultrasonic sensor & Capacitive Sensor CAN Controller and CAN Transceiver Alarm DC Motor PC

Software Requirements: Embedded C MPLAB or CCS Compiler VB .NET

Advantage: Since our proposed system is built over with capacitive and ultrasonic sensor we can classify the approaching object to avoid accidents.