Abstract: The subject matter described in this specification is directed to systems and methods for dissipating heat from sensors supporting autonomous vehicle systems. In particular, the specification describes how a housing, enclosing a sensor mounted to an exterior of a vehicle, can include heat dissipation components such as cooling fins across which conditioned cabin air and/or ambient air can be driven to convectively dissipate heat generated by the sensor.

Abstract: A vehicle sensor mounting system includes a tubular bridge structure that spans across the width of the vehicle roof and attaches to existing rooftop anchor points. The mounting system allows camera sensors to have full field-of-view coverage while being as close to the vehicle body as possible to reduce parallax, and not being occluded by the vehicle body or mounting system. The mounting system also allows the cameras to be co-axial with a LiDAR sensor and to minimize parallax. The mounting system has a minimum natural frequency that reduces road vibrations, allowing the sensors to remain in a stable mounting position and minimizes the motion of the sensors relative to the vehicle chassis to reduce misalignment errors in the sensor data. The mounting system includes a front and rear assembly. The rear assembly includes a cable hub assembly that provides a single ingress/egress point for a multi-conductor sensor cable.

Abstract: The subject matter described in this specification is directed to systems and methods for dissipating heat from sensors supporting autonomous vehicle systems. In particular, the specification describes how a housing, enclosing a sensor mounted to an exterior of a vehicle, can include heat dissipation components such as cooling fins across which conditioned cabin air and/or ambient air can be driven to convectively dissipate heat generated by the sensor.