Systems and methods for detecting spatial availability around a vehicle

A vehicle, comprising:

• a passenger compartment having a side and an upper wall extending from the side in an upper plane;
• an extension extending from the side of the passenger compartment to an end that extends in an end plane;
• at least one time-of-flight sensor configured to capture positional information about an obstruction outside the vehicle;
• a powertrain that moves the vehicle in a motion direction;
• and
• control circuitry in communication with the at least one time-of-flight sensor and the powertrain, the control circuitry configured to:
• define a space above the extension between the side, the upper plane, and the end plane;
• determine a first potential contact point between the obstruction and the end;
• determine a second potential contact point between the obstruction and the side;
• compare the first and second potential contact points;
• calculate, based on the positional information and the comparison of the first and second contact points, an available position for the vehicle having the obstruction in the space;
• and
• communicate an instruction to adjust the powertrain in response to the calculation of the available position.

A vehicle, comprising:

• a passenger compartment having a side and an upper wall extending from the side in an upper plane;
• an outer compartment extending from the side of the passenger compartment to an end that extends in an end plane;
• at least one time-of-flight sensor configured to capture positional information about an obstruction outside the vehicle;
• a powertrain that moves the vehicle in a motion direction;
• and
• control circuitry in communication with the at least one time-of-flight sensor and the powertrain, the control circuitry configured to:
• define a space above the extension between the side, the upper plane, and the end plane;
• calculate, based on the positional information, an available position for the vehicle having the obstruction in the space;
• determine a first potential contact point between the obstruction and the end;
• determine a second potential contact point between the obstruction and the side;
• compare the first and second potential contact points to calculate the available position;
• calculate a first contact distance between the first potential contact point and the end;
• calculate a second contact distance between the second potential contact point and the side;
• assign a maximum travel for the vehicle in the motion direction to one of the first contact distance and the second contact distance;
• and
• communicate an instruction to adjust the powertrain in based on the comparison.