Mr. Yoshizawa from the Mechanical Technology Department at TOYO Corporation, a company that sells driving test robots for actual vehicles (manufactured by HI-TEC), shared his thoughts after introducing the DISTO S910. "Not only has the efficiency of measurement tasks improved by allowing one person to complete the work that previously required multiple people, but the psychological burden of conducting detailed measurements has also been alleviated."
"NaviControl" Driving Test Robot
Mr. Yoshizawa is in charge of an automatic control robot system used for testing vehicles under predefined trajectories and speeds, including bad road conditions, long-duration runs, sudden braking, collisions, rollovers, and pot tests. He explains, "By equipping a car with a robot, the steering, brakes, accelerator, clutch, and gear can be automatically controlled, allowing for unmanned driving tests that do not endanger the driver." The robot used for these tests is the "NaviControl," a driving test robot for actual vehicles from HI-TEC in Italy. It is a robot that is attached to the vehicle during endurance and impact resistance tests, enabling automatic driving.
The robot collects data on various physical behaviors, such as the position and speed of the vehicle during the test run. Before the test run, the positional relationships of the two GPS antennas mounted on the vehicle and the IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) that detects vehicle sway are recorded. The positions of the GPS antennas and the IMU differ depending on the vehicle type, so they need to be measured for each vehicle.
Challenges Before Introducing the S910: Two-Person Measurement Using a Tape Measure
The 3D positional relationships of the GPS antennas and the IMU were measured by two people using a tape measure. These devices are not on the same plane or straight line, so it is necessary to understand not only the distance between them but also their three-dimensional positions. "We manually placed a level on top of the tape measure to ensure it was vertical, and we visually checked the height from the side. Since one person couldn't do it alone, it inevitably required at least two people," says Mr. Yoshizawa.
"The top of the vehicle is not always flat; it's often curved, making measurement with a tape measure time-consuming. Each measurement took two people 20-30 minutes. Additionally, sometimes measurements had to be taken outdoors. For a regular car, it was manageable if the weather was good... but in the rain, it was a different story. Moreover, for larger vehicles like trucks and buses, there were many areas out of reach, requiring high-altitude work, which was quite dangerous," Yoshizawa adds.
Benefits After Introducing the Leica DISTO S910
The deciding factor for introducing the Leica DISTO S910 was, as Mr. Yoshizawa puts it, "Not only could it measure distances and heights, but it could also obtain sensor positions as coordinate information via laser measurement from a distance, and output it to software, which was very appealing."
After introducing the S910, measurement tasks are conducted using the Leica DISTO S910 package, a laptop (Windows 10), and dedicated software called DISTO Transfer. The positions of five points are measured and output to the software: the front and rear wheels, two GPS antennas mounted on the vehicle's top, and one IMU mounted inside the vehicle. The positional relationships of the GPS antennas and the IMU are measured using the S910's "P2P (Point-to-Point) Measurement" function, where the locations are measured via laser.
The GPS antennas need to be installed parallel to the front and rear axles, so the front and rear wheel centers (P1, P2) are set as the X-Y axis. Since the GPS antennas are circular and the laser does not hit the center of the antenna, a custom-made auxiliary target is used for measurement.
The measurement results are continuously transferred to the dedicated software DISTO Transfer. Output to Excel is also possible with the push of a button. The offset values from the GPS antennas and the IMU are considered by measuring the target, and after obtaining the coordinates with the S910, they are calculated and entered into Excel.
By introducing the S910, "One person can now conduct the measurement work, and the work time has been reduced to a maximum of 15 minutes, or 2/3 to 1/2 of what it was before, with improved accuracy. The constant concern of 'Are the values correct?' that we had with tape measurements has also been eliminated," Mr. Yoshizawa explains.
A work manual has been created so that other members of the department can perform the same tasks. As a person in charge, Mr. Yoshizawa is most pleased that the psychological burden associated with measurement tasks has been removed. "Since we created a work manual, not only I, but all members of the department can now do the measurements, and everyone is actively participating in the work. The resistance to measurements has significantly decreased," Mr. Yoshizawa says.
Homepage: https://www.toyo.co.jp/
NaviControl: https://www.toyo.co.jp/mecha/products/detail/navicontrol.html
