Apparatus and sensor for adjusting vertical sensor-alignment

An apparatus for adjusting vertical sensor-alignment, comprising:

• a reflected wave measuring unit for measuring the signal intensity of received reflected waves for sensor signals transmitted from a sensor;
• a vertical misalignment determining unit which determines that the sensor is vertically misaligned if the measured signal intensity of the reflected waves is lower than a reference signal intensity;
• a vertical alignment adjustment unit for automatically correcting the vertical misalignment of the sensor, in response to a determination by the vertical misalignment determining unit that vertical misalignment of the sensor occurs, by controlling a tilting motor, by executing switching to one of a plurality of transmitting antennas which are differently set in terms of transmitting angle, or by executing switching to one of a plurality of receiving antennas which are differently set in terms of receiving angle;
• and
• a target sensing distance measuring unit for measuring the longest target-sensible distance as a target sensing distance on the basis of the received reflected waves,
• wherein the reflected wave measuring unit measures signal intensity of ground-reflected waves on the basis of received reflected waves for sensor signals transmitted from the sensor, and
• wherein the misalignment determining unit determines that the sensor is vertically misaligned when the signal intensity of the ground-reflected waves measured by the reflected wave measuring unit exceeds a reference signal intensity, and the measured target sensing distance is reduced beyond a reference target sensing distance.