Bi-directional adjustable holder for LiDAR sensor - Assembly findings and solutions

LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging and it works on the Principle of reflection of light. LiDAR is one among the other sensors like radar and camera to achieve a high level (Level 3 & above) of Autonomous driving capabilities. LiDAR, as a sensor, is used to perceive the environment in 3D by calculating the 'Time of flight' of the Laser beam transmitted from LiDAR and the rays reflected from the Object, along with the intensity of reflection from the object. The frame of perception is plotted as a point Cloud. LiDAR is assembled/ integrated on the roof of the vehicle/grill position of car having a high vantage point to perceive the environment in order to extract the best possible sensor performance. LiDAR sensor needs to be held in the front panel cutout with uniform gap however due to tolerance reasons it may have following issues: Function of the sensor can be affected if it is not aligned center to the cutout because the view cones will interfere with grill cutout edges. Aesthetic compromise may not be acceptable by customers Based on the above problem, we have defined a solution from our side. Since we need to maintain LiDAR sensor equidistant from grill cutout in Y and Z direction, we divided the bracket into 3 parts - Sheet metal bracket and 2 plastic bracket (which can slide on Sheet metal and on to plastic bracket). These 3 brackets are connected by fixation screw and position adjustor pin. We designed a unique solution to integrate Rack and position adjustor pin, which will help the LiDAR to be adjusted in Y and Z direction. The position adjuster pin teeth is designed in such a way that when you rotate the screw by 45 degrees you move the bracket by 4 mm each side. With this solution, we were able to solve both the problems mentioned above. However, there are some additional findings listed below: Assembly of the bracket onto the front-end module and how we are doing the adjustment (using separate tool). Problems faced during trial run/during testing and how it was solved.