I/We Claim:
1. An angular measurement device (100) for measuring an angle of
tilt, the angular measurement device (100) comprising:
5 a fixable base (106);
a suspended element (102) mounted to the fixable base (106),
wherein the suspended element (102) capable of exhibiting oscillatory
movement with respect to the fixable base (106); and
an angular position sensor (104) operably coupled to the suspended element (102) to measure an angular displacement of the
suspended element (102) from a neutral position of the suspended
element (102) measured with respect to the fixable base (106).
2. The angular measurement device (100) as claimed in claim 1,
15 wherein the neutral position of the suspended element (102) is the
equilibrium position. 3. The angular measurement device (100) as claimed in claim 1,
further comprising a damping unit (108) to dampen the oscillatory
20 movement of the suspended element (102). 4. The angular measurement device (100) as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the suspended element (102) is a buoyant pendulum.
25 5. The angular measurement device (100) as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the angular position sensor (104) is one of a potentiometer, an
optical sensor, an encoder, and a hall-effect sensor.
6. A tilt measurement system (200) for estimating angle of tilt of a
component, the tilt measurement system (200) comprising:
an angular measurement device (100) comprising:
a fixable base (106) mounted to the component;
5 a suspended element (102) mounted to the fixable base
(106), wherein the suspended element (102) is capable of
exhibiting oscillatory movement with respect to the fixable base
(106); and
an angular position sensor (104) operably coupled to thesuspended element (102) to measure an angular displacement of
the suspended element (102) from a neutral position of the
suspended element (102) measured with respect to the fixable
base (106);
an angular rate measurement sensor (204) mounted to the
15 component, wherein the angular rate measurement sensor (204)
measures rate of change of orientation of the component; and
a control unit (206) operably coupled to the angular position sensor
(104) and the angular rate measurement sensor (204), wherein the
control unit (206) is to: receive a first set of inputs from the angular position sensor
(104);
receive a second set of inputs from the angular rate
measurement sensor (204); and
estimate an angle of tilt of the component with respect to a
25 reference datum, based on the first set of inputs and the second
set of inputs. 7. The tilt measurement system (200) as claimed in claim 6, wherein
the control unit (206) further comprises a Bayesian filter, wherein the
Bayesian filter causes the control unit (206) to:
estimate an error associated with the first set of inputs;
5 estimate an error associated with the second set of inputs;
eliminate the errors associated with the first and second set of
inputs to obtain a fused output; and
estimate the angle of tilt of the component in accordance with the
fused output.8. The tilt measurement system (200) as claimed in claim 6, wherein
the control unit (206) further comprises a Fusion filter, wherein the Fusion
filter causes the control unit (206) to:
estimate an error associated with the first set of inputs;
15 estimate an error associated with the second set of inputs; eliminate the errors associated with the first and second set of
inputs to obtain a fused output; and
estimate the angle of tilt of the component in accordance with the
fused output. 9. The tilt measurement system (200) as claimed in claim 6, wherein
the angular rate measurement sensor (204) is a MEMS gyroscopic
sensor.
25 10. The tilt measurement system (200) as claimed in claim 6, further
comprising an accelerometer sensor (400) operably coupled to the
control unit (206), wherein the control unit (206) is to: receive a third set of inputs from the accelerometer sensor
(400); and
estimate the angle of tilt of the component based on the third
set of inputs. 11. A vehicle (600), comprising a vehicular frame having a tilt
measurement system (200) as claimed in any one of claims 6-10 is
mounted to the vehicular frame (602).
12. The vehicle (600) as claimed in claim 11, wherein the tilt
measurement system (200) is located at a distance of 400mm to 900 mm
from the ground.
13. A method for measuring tilt angle of a component, the method
15 comprising:
determining, by an angular position sensor (104), an angular
displacement of a suspended element (102) operably coupled to the
angular position sensor (104), wherein the angular position sensor (104)
and the suspended element (102) are mounted to the component;
20 determining, by an angular rate measurement sensor (204), rate
of change of orientation of the component; receiving, by a control unit (206) operably coupled to the angular
position sensor (104), a first set of inputs based on the angular
displacement of the suspended element (102);
25 receiving, by the control unit (206) operably coupled to the angular
rate measurement sensor (204), a second set of inputs based on the rate
of change of orientation of the component; and processing, by the control unit (206), the first and second set of
inputs to estimate the angle of tilt of the component with respect to a
reference datum.
5 14. The method as claimed in claim 13, the method comprising:
estimating an error associated with the first set of inputs;
estimating an error associated with the second set of inputs;
eliminating the errors associated with the first and second set of
inputs to obtain a fused output; and
10 estimating the angle of tilt of the component in accordance with the
fused output 15. The method as claimed in claim 13, the method comprising:
receiving a third set of inputs from the accelerometer sensor (400);
15 and
processing, by the control unit (206), the third set of inputs to
estimate the angle of tilt of the component.