Sending stop distance to pedestrian

Abstract

Various systems and methods are presented that utilize techniques on-board a vehicle to send a stop distance of the vehicle to a pedestrian. The vehicle may operate in any of an autonomous driving manner, a partially autonomous driving manner, or a non-autonomous driving manner. By utilizing in-vehicle technology / artificial intelligence, a vehicle may determine a location at which it is to stop based on its current speed and deceleration rate, and project a visual indicator of the location onto a surface in front of the vehicle.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to a technology for facilitating the sending of a vehicle's stopping distance and / or position to pedestrians. Background Art

[0002] Since roads are typically shared among drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians, the likelihood of accidents is a concern and occurs far too frequently. A common accident location is a crosswalk. Accidents at crosswalks often occur when a pedestrian (or other person using the crosswalk, such as a cyclist) believes that a vehicle approaching the crosswalk will stop before the crosswalk, but in fact the vehicle is unable to stop before the crosswalk and thus hits the pedestrian. Additionally, even when pedestrians have the right of way to cross the crosswalk, they will still often wait for the vehicle to stop out of extreme caution.

[0003] The foregoing background is only intended to provide an overview of some current problems and is not intended to be exhaustive. Other background information may become more apparent when reading the following detailed description. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The following presents a summary of the invention to provide a basic understanding of one or more embodiments described herein. This summary is not intended to identify key or critical elements or to define any scope of different embodiments and / or any scope of the claims. The sole purpose of the summary is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description presented herein.

[0005] In one or more embodiments described herein, a system, device, computer-implemented method, method, apparatus, and / or computer program product are presented for sending a vehicle's stopping distance to pedestrians. According to one or more embodiments, the system can be located on a vehicle, where the first vehicle can operate at least autonomously, partially autonomously, and in a similar manner. The system can include a memory storing computer-executable components and a processor executing the computer-executable components stored in the memory. The computer-executable components can include: a stopping distance determination component that determines the position where the vehicle will stop based on the vehicle's current speed and deceleration rate; and a stop notification component that projects a visual indicator of the position onto a surface in front of the vehicle.

[0006] In a further embodiment, the computer-executable components can further include: a crosswalk recognition component that recognizes a crosswalk on a surface in front of the vehicle; and a right-of-way determination component that scans the crosswalk and the surrounding area to determine whether the vehicle has the right of way to cross the crosswalk, where the stop notification component determines the position based on determining that the vehicle does not have the right of way.

[0007] In a further embodiment, the computer-executable component may further include a vehicle operation component that automatically disables the acceleration of the vehicle based on determining that the vehicle does not have the right of way.

[0008] In a further embodiment, the elements described in connection with the disclosed system may be embodied in different forms, such as a computer-implemented method, a computer program product, or other forms. For example, in one embodiment, the computer-implemented method may be executed by a device operatively coupled to a processor, where the device may be located on a vehicle. In one embodiment, the method may include: determining, by a device on the vehicle that includes a processor, a position at which the vehicle will stop based on the current speed and deceleration rate of the vehicle; and projecting, by the device, a visual indicator of the position onto a surface in front of the vehicle.

[0009] In another embodiment, the method may further include: identifying, by the device, a crosswalk on a surface in front of the vehicle; scanning, by the device, the crosswalk and the surrounding area to search for pedestrians; and determining, by the device, whether the vehicle has the right of way to pass through the crosswalk, wherein determining that the vehicle does not have the right of way initiates the determination of the position at which the vehicle will stop.

[0010] In another embodiment, the method may further include disabling the acceleration of the vehicle by the device based on determining that the vehicle does not have the right of way.

[0011] A further embodiment may include a computer program product that includes a computer-readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therein that are executable by a processor located on a vehicle, the program instructions being capable of causing the processor to: determine a position at which the vehicle will stop based on the current speed and deceleration rate of the vehicle; and project a visual indicator of the position onto a surface in front of the vehicle.

[0012] In another embodiment, the program instructions may further be executable by the processor to cause the processor to: identify a crosswalk on a surface in front of the vehicle; scan the crosswalk and the surrounding area to search for pedestrians; and determine whether the vehicle has the right of way to pass through the crosswalk, wherein determining that the vehicle does not have the right of way initiates the determination of the position at which the vehicle will stop.

[0013] Advantages of one or more systems, computer-implemented methods, and / or computer program products may be to utilize various systems and technologies located on a vehicle to identify whether a pedestrian has the right of way to an upcoming crosswalk and to send an indication of the stopping distance and / or position of the vehicle to the pedestrian by the vehicle. By sending the stopping distance of the vehicle to the pedestrian, the pedestrian can determine whether to enter, leave, or move within the crosswalk, thereby reducing the likelihood of an accident between the vehicle and the pedestrian. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 Illustrates a system that can be located on and used on a vehicle to notify a pedestrian of a stopping distance and / or position of the vehicle according to one or more embodiments.

[0015] Figure 2 Is an illustration showing a situation where a vehicle approaches a crosswalk according to one or more embodiments described herein.

[0016] Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B 、 Figure 3C Shows an illustration of a vehicle sending a stopping distance to a pedestrian according to one or more embodiments described herein.

[0017] Figure 4 Shows an illustration of an example scenario where a vehicle can stop before reaching a crosswalk according to one or more embodiments described herein.

[0018] Figure 5A and Figure 5B Shows an illustration of an example scenario where a vehicle cannot stop before reaching a crosswalk according to one or more embodiments described herein.

[0019] Figure 6A and Figure 6B Shows different forms of a visual indicator of a stopping distance according to one or more embodiments described herein.

[0020] Figure 7 and Figure 8 Shows a flowchart of a computer-implemented method for sending a vehicle stopping distance to a pedestrian according to one or more embodiments described herein.

[0021] Figure 9 Is a block diagram showing an example computing environment in which various embodiments described herein can be implemented.

[0022] Figure 10 Is a block diagram of an example computing environment with which the disclosed subject matter according to one embodiment can interact.

[0023] Figure 11 Displays a table presenting an overview of SAE J3016, which details the corresponding functions and features during Levels 0 - 5 of driving automation (as of April 2021). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The following detailed description is only exemplary and is not intended to limit the application or use of the embodiments and / or embodiments. In addition, it is not intended to be bound by any explicit and / or implicit information presented in the previous background technology section, summary of the invention section and / or detailed description section.

[0025] One or more embodiments are now described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same reference numerals are used to refer to the same elements throughout. In the following description, for the purpose of explanation, many specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the one or more embodiments. However, in various cases, it is apparent that the one or more embodiments may be implemented without these specific details.

[0026] It should be understood that when an element is referred to as being "coupled" to another element, this may describe one or more different types of coupling, including but not limited to chemical coupling, communication coupling, electrical coupling, electromagnetic coupling, operational coupling, optical coupling, physical coupling, thermal coupling, and / or other types of coupling. Similarly, it should be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, this may describe one or more different types of connections, including but not limited to electrical connections, electromagnetic connections, operational connections, optical connections, physical connections, thermal connections, and / or other types of connections.

[0027] As used herein, "data" may include metadata. In addition, a range An is used herein to represent a corresponding plurality of devices, components, signals, etc., where n is any positive integer.

[0028] In various embodiments presented herein, the disclosed subject matter can be directed to utilizing one or more components located on a vehicle that operates in a non-autonomous manner, a partially autonomous manner, or even a fully autonomous manner. The one or more components can be used to send the stopping distance of the vehicle to pedestrians and / or reduce traffic accidents between vehicles and pedestrians. Various systems and sensors on the vehicle, including one or more computer-implemented algorithms (including visual algorithms), can be used to detect the presence of a crosswalk and / or pedestrians and whether the pedestrian has the right of way to use the crosswalk. When the vehicle approaches a crosswalk where pedestrians have the right of way, various onboard systems and sensors can determine the position where the vehicle will stop based on the current speed, position, and / or deceleration rate of the vehicle. In some embodiments, various onboard systems can automatically disable the acceleration of the vehicle or begin to apply brakes to stop the vehicle. In further embodiments, various onboard systems can automatically activate the headlights of the vehicle to highlight the presence of pedestrians in limited visibility. Accordingly, various onboard systems and sensors can broadcast and / or send stopping distances and / or positions to pedestrians.

[0029] Various on-vehicle sensors (e.g., cameras, optical sensors, laser sensors, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors, sonar sensors, audiovisual sensors, perception sensors, road lane sensors, motion detectors, speed sensors, etc.) can be used to determine the presence of a crosswalk and / or pedestrians preparing to use the crosswalk. Various on-vehicle sensors and systems (e.g., using computer vision algorithms, etc.) can be used to determine whether a pedestrian has the right of way to use the crosswalk.

[0030] In one or more embodiments, various on-vehicle systems of a vehicle can communicate with and / or receive information from devices external to the vehicle. For example, various on-vehicle sensors can receive map data indicating the location of a crosswalk from an online source. In addition, various sensors located on or near the crosswalk (e.g., traffic cameras, proximity sensors, etc.) can identify the presence of pedestrians located on or near the crosswalk and send this information to the various on-vehicle systems of the vehicle.

[0031] In a series of non-limiting scenarios, a vehicle can (i) determine whether a pedestrian has the right of way, (ii) determine the stopping distance / position of the vehicle, and (iii) send the stopping distance / position of the vehicle to the pedestrian.

[0032] In one embodiment, various on-vehicle systems of a vehicle can send the stopping distance to a pedestrian via a visual indicator projected onto the road in front of the vehicle by the various on-vehicle systems. For example, the visual indicator can include a bar or line projected onto a point on the road where the vehicle is going to stop. In one or more embodiments, the visual indicator can include a solid color, multiple colors, patterns, and / or include text. In one or more additional embodiments, the various on-vehicle systems can notify the pedestrian of the vehicle's stopping position via an audio signal or message output by an external speaker of the vehicle. In one or more other embodiments, the various on-vehicle systems can notify the pedestrian of the stopping position via an electronic message sent to a user device (e.g., a smartphone, a smartwatch, etc.).

[0033] Regarding the term “automated” operation (or what is also referred to as “driving automation”), there are standards available to define the levels of automated operation or driving automation in order for suppliers and policymakers to define the complex levels of vehicle operation across the industry. For example, the international standard J3016 Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to Driving Automation Systems for On-Road Motor Vehicles has been developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and defines six levels of operation for (one or more) driving automation systems that perform some or all of the dynamic driving tasks (DDT) on a sustainable basis. The definitions for the six levels provided in SAE J3016 range from no driving automation (Level 0) to full driving automation (Level 5) and relate to the vehicle and its operation on the road. The Level 0-5 of SAE J3016 are summarized below and further presented in Table 1100 in Figure 11 as follows.

[0034] Level 0 (No Driving Automation): At Level 0, the vehicle is manually controlled, the automated control system (ACS) has no system capabilities, and the driver provides the DDT for steering, braking, accelerating, negotiating traffic, etc. There may be one or more systems to assist the driver, such as an emergency braking system (EBS), but since the EBS does not technically drive the vehicle, it does not meet the criteria for automation. Most vehicles in current operation are Level 0 automated.

[0035] Level 1 (Driver Assistance / Driver-Assisted Operation): This is the lowest level of automation. The vehicle has a single automated system for driver assistance, such as steering or acceleration (cruise control), but not both simultaneously. An example of a Level 1 system is adaptive cruise control (ACC), where the vehicle can be maintained at a safe distance behind a leading vehicle (e.g., operating in front of a vehicle with Level 1 automated operation), and the driver performs all other aspects of driving and is fully responsible for monitoring the road and taking over if the assistance system fails to act appropriately.

[0036] Level 2 (Partial Driving Automation / Partial Automated Operation): The vehicle can steer, accelerate, and brake in some situations (e.g., via an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS)), however, the level of automation is not as high as full self-driving, as tactical operations such as responding to traffic signals or changing lanes can be mainly controlled by the driver, as can the scanning for hazards, and the driver has the ability to take over the vehicle at any time.

[0037] Level 3 (Conditional Driving Automation / Conditional Automated Driving): The vehicle can control many aspects of the operation (e.g., steering, acceleration, etc.) by, for example, monitoring the operating environment, but the operation of the vehicle has a manual override. For example, the driver assistance system can prompt the driver to intervene when encountering a scenario that the on-vehicle system cannot navigate (e.g., with an acceptable level of operational safety), whereupon the driver must be able to take over the operation of the vehicle at any time.

[0038] Level 4 (High Driving Automation / High Automated Driving): Developed from Level 3 operation where the driver must be present, at Level 4, the vehicle can operate without human input or supervision, but only under select conditions defined by factors such as road type, geographical area, environment with a limited maximum speed (e.g., urban environment), etc., where this limited operation is also known as "geo-fencing". At Level 4 operation, a human (e.g., the driver) can still choose to manually override the automated operation of the vehicle.

[0039] Level 5 (Full Driving Automation / Full Automated Driving): A Level 5 vehicle does not require human attention for operation and can operate on any road and / or any road condition that a human driver can navigate (even beyond human navigation / driving capabilities). Further, the operation at Level 5 is not subject to the constraints of the geo-fencing limitation of the operation at Level 4. In one embodiment, a Level 5 vehicle may not even have a steering wheel or acceleration / brake pedals. In one usage example, a destination is input to the vehicle (e.g., by a passenger, by a supply manager if the vehicle is a delivery truck, etc.), whereupon the vehicle automatically controls the navigation and operation of the vehicle to the destination.

[0040] It should be clarified that the operation at Levels 0 - 2 may require human interaction at all stages or some stages of the vehicle's journey to the destination. The operation at Levels 3 - 5 does not require human interaction to navigate the vehicle (except at Level 3 where the driver needs to take over in response to the vehicle being unable to safely navigate a road condition).

[0041] As referenced herein, DDT relates to various functions of operating a vehicle. DDT relates to the (one or more) operational functions and the (one or more) tactical functions of vehicle operation, but may not relate to strategic functions. Operational functions relate to controlling vehicle movement, e.g., steering (lateral movement) and stopping / accelerating (longitudinal movement). Tactical functions (also known as Object and Event Detection and Response (OEDR)) relate to the navigation choices made during a journey for the purpose of detecting and responding to events and / or objects on demand, e.g., passing a vehicle ahead, exiting at the next exit, following a detour, etc. Strategic functions relate to the vehicle destination and the best way to get there, e.g., destination and waypoint planning. With respect to operational functions, a Level 1 vehicle under SAE J3016 controls steering or stopping / accelerating, while a Level 2 vehicle must control both steering and stopping / accelerating. The driving automation of Level 3, Level 4, and Level 5 vehicles under SAE J3016 involves the vehicle's full control of operational functions and tactical functions. Level 2 operation may involve full control of operational functions and tactical functions, but the driver can take over the tactical functions at any time.

[0042] Accordingly, the terms "autonomous" and "driving automation" as used herein with respect to the operation of a vehicle with or without human assistance during navigation to a destination can relate to any of Levels 1 - 5. In one embodiment, for example, the term "autonomous operation", "autonomously", or "autopilot" can relate to a vehicle operating at least at Level 2 operation, e.g., the lowest operating level is Level 2: Partial Driving Automation, according to SAE J3016. Thus, while Level 2 partial driving automation may be the lowest operating level, higher operating levels, e.g., Levels 3 - 5, are included in the vehicle operation of Level 2 operation. Similarly, the lowest Level 3 operation encompasses Levels 4 - 5 operation, and the lowest Level 4 operation encompasses Level 5 operation under SAE J3016.

[0043] It should be understood that while the various embodiments presented herein are directed to one or more vehicles (e.g., vehicle 102) operating in an autonomous or self-driving manner (e.g., as an autonomous vehicle (AV)), the various embodiments presented herein are not limited thereto and can be implemented with a group of vehicles operating in any one of an autonomous manner (e.g., Level 5 of SAE J3016), a partially autonomous manner (e.g., Level 1 or higher of SAE J3016), or a non-autonomous manner (e.g., Level 0 of SAE J3016). For example, a vehicle can operate in an autonomous or self-driving manner (e.g., any one of Levels 3 - 5), a partially autonomous or partially self-driving manner (e.g., any one of Levels 1 - 2), or a non-autonomous or non-self-driving manner (e.g., Level 0).

[0044] Turning now to the drawings, Figure 1FIG. 0 shows the concept of a vehicle 102 notifying a pedestrian 104 of a stopping distance while the vehicle 102 is traveling in a direction toward a crosswalk 103.

[0045] Figure 1 FIG. 4 also shows a system 100 according to one or more embodiments that may be located on and used on a vehicle to reduce traffic accidents between the vehicle and a pedestrian. The system 100 includes a vehicle 102 having an accident mitigation system (AMS) 105 located thereon, where the vehicle 102 may operate in a non-autonomous, semi-autonomous, or fully autonomous manner (depending on Figure 11 ). The AMS 105 may include various devices / components, such as an on-vehicle computer system (OCS) 110, where the OCS 110 may be a vehicle control unit (VCU). The OCS 110 may be used to provide overall operation control and / or operation of the vehicle 102.

[0046] In one embodiment, the OCS 110 may be configured to operate / control / monitor various vehicle operations, where the various operations may further be controlled by one or more computer-executable components communicatively coupled to the OCS 110. The vehicle operation components 164 may include any one of the following in a non-limiting list: a navigation sub-component configured to navigate the vehicle 102 along a road and to control the steering of the vehicle 102, e.g., in and out of a parking space; and further, the vehicle operation components 164 may also include an engine sub-component configured to control the operation of an engine / motor, e.g., start / stop of the engine / motor, where the engine / motor is configured to propel the vehicle 102; and a braking sub-component configured to decelerate or stop the vehicle 102 or disable acceleration; where each component may be used to drive / stop the vehicle 102.

[0047] The vehicle operation component 164 may further include various sensors and / or cameras configured to monitor the operation of the vehicle 102 and further obtain images and other information about the environment / surroundings in which the vehicle 102 is operating. The sensor / camera may include any suitable detection / measurement device, including cameras, optical sensors, laser sensors, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors, sonar sensors, audiovisual sensors, perception sensors, road lane sensors, motion detectors, speed sensors, etc., as employed in applications such as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) and other computer-based techniques and methods used to determine the environment being navigated by the vehicle 102 and the position of the vehicle 102 within that environment (e.g., position mapping). The digital images, data, etc. generated by the sensor / camera may be analyzed by the crosswalk recognition component 160 to identify a crosswalk in front of the vehicle, and by the right-of-way determination component 142 to identify pedestrians within or near the crosswalk and determine whether the pedestrian or the vehicle 102 has the right of way. In one embodiment, the camera may capture visual data from the environment / surroundings, while the sensor may operate based on the emission and reflection of (one or more) detection beams based on signals (e.g., infrared (IR) signals), as further described herein.

[0048] As shown, the AMS 105 may further include a stopping distance determination component 155 that may determine a stopping distance and / or position based on the current position, speed, and deceleration rate of the vehicle, as well as the current road conditions (e.g., weather, traffic, etc.) and / or road features (e.g., hills, turns, slopes, etc.). As shown, the stopping distance determination component 155 may be communicatively coupled to any sub-component of the AMS 105, the OCS 110, the vehicle operation component 164, and other components located on the vehicle 102. In some embodiments, the stopping distance determination component 155 may determine the stopping distance in response to braking being applied to the vehicle 102 or due to the vehicle 102 not having acceleration.

[0049] The crosswalk recognition component 160 may be included in the AMS 105. The crosswalk recognition component 160 may analyze information (such as digital images, data) from various vehicle-mounted sensors and cameras to identify corresponding crosswalk markings, etc. The crosswalk recognition component 160 may identify the crosswalk and / or other pedestrian crossing points (such as traffic lights, stop signs, etc.) in front of the vehicle 102 based on the corresponding crosswalk markings, etc. The crosswalk recognition component 160 may also receive information from the GPS data / map system 185, where the GPS data / map system 185 may provide information to assist in identifying the upcoming crosswalk (such as the location of the vehicle 102, the location of the crosswalk, etc.). In addition, the crosswalk recognition component 160 may receive road information from an external system 199 (such as a remote GPS system, a remote road information system, a street camera, etc.), and the external system 199 provides further information about the upcoming crosswalk or other crossing points. In some embodiments, the crosswalk recognition component 160 may identify other crossing points, such as traffic lights or stop signs, and regard these crossing points as crosswalks even if there is no visible painted crosswalk on the road surface.

[0050] The AMS 105 may also include a right-of-way determination component 142, which may be configured to identify pedestrians and determine whether a pedestrian or the vehicle 102 has the right of way over a crosswalk or other crossing point. For example, the right-of-way determination component 142 (such as via data generated by sensors / cameras) may detect the presence of a pedestrian on or near the crosswalk and determine whether a pedestrian or the vehicle has the right of way based on the position and direction of travel of the pedestrian and local traffic laws or regulations. In some embodiments, if the right-of-way determination component 142 determines that a pedestrian has the right of way, the stopping distance determination component 155 may be activated, and the vehicle operation component 164 may apply brakes and / or disable acceleration to the vehicle 102 autonomously or automatically.

[0051] The AMS105 may also include a stop notification component 140 that may send a notification of the stopping distance / position of the vehicle 102 to a pedestrian. For example, based on the stopping distance / position determined by, e.g., the stopping distance determination component 155, the stop notification component 140 may activate one or more devices on the vehicle 102 to project a visual indicator of the stopping position of the vehicle 102 onto the surface of the road. In one or more embodiments, the visual indicator may include a solid line or bar indicating the position where the vehicle 102 will come to a complete stop. In additional embodiments, the stop notification component 140 may activate one or more internal or external vehicle speakers to send an audio message that notifies the pedestrian of the stopping distance / position of the vehicle 102 or whether the vehicle 102 will stop before an upcoming crosswalk or other crossing point. In some embodiments, the stop notification component 140 may display the visual indicator in response to the right-of-way determination component 142 determining that the pedestrian has the right-of-way to cross the crosswalk. In some embodiments, the stop notification component may display the visual indicator in response to the application of brakes to the vehicle 102 or due to the vehicle 102 having no acceleration.

[0052] As previously described, the AMS105 may also include various algorithms that are each configured / trained to determine information, make predictions, classify entities, etc. regarding any of the following: the road being navigated, an upcoming crosswalk or crossing point; the speed, position, movement, and / or trajectory, etc. of the pedestrian 104 crossing the crosswalk; the position / operation of the vehicle 102; the stopping distance of the vehicle 102, etc. These algorithms may be configured to provide artificial intelligence (AI) to various components on the vehicle 102 and may include, in a non-limiting list, (one or more) computer vision algorithms, (one or more) digital image processing algorithms, position prediction, speed prediction, direction prediction, etc., such that corresponding determinations, predictions, etc. can be achieved in accordance with the various embodiments presented herein. These algorithms may be configured to provide determinations / information regarding the pedestrian 104.

[0053] It should be understood that although Figure 1 the stop notification component 140 is presented as generating / sending an indication of the stop versus distance / position, any component included in the AMS105 may generate and send a notification to one or more other components included in the AMS105.

[0054] As Figure 1As shown, the OCS 110 may also include a processor 112 and a memory 114. Among them, the processor 112 may execute various computer-executable components, functions, operations, etc. presented herein. The memory 114 may be used to store various computer-executable components, functions, codes, etc., as well as algorithms, stopping distances / locations, information about the pedestrian 104 (such as motion, trajectory), information about the vehicle 102 (such as location, parking direction, motion, trajectory, operation), information about the upcoming crosswalk (such as location, direction), etc. (as further described herein). In one embodiment, the vehicle operation component 164 may form an independent component communicatively coupled to the OCS 110. And although not shown, the vehicle operation component 164 may operate in conjunction with a processor (functionally equivalent to the processor 112, for example) and a memory (functionally equivalent to the memory 114, for example) to implement navigation, steering, stopping / accelerating, etc. of the vehicle 102 and the operation of the in-vehicle system / device to notify the pedestrian of the stopping distance / location. In another embodiment, the vehicle operation component 164 may operate in conjunction with the processor 112 and the memory 114 of the OCS 110, where various control functions (such as navigation, steering, stopping / accelerating) may be controlled by the OCS 110. Similarly, the stopping distance determination component 155, the stop notification component 140, the crosswalk recognition component 160, and the right-of-way determination component 142 may form independent components communicatively coupled to the OCS 110. And although not shown, the stopping distance determination component 155, the stop notification component 140, the crosswalk recognition component 160, and the right-of-way determination component 142 may operate in conjunction with a processor (functionally equivalent to the processor 112, for example) and a memory (functionally equivalent to the memory 114, for example) to enable the sending of the stopping distance / location to the pedestrian during the operation of the vehicle 102. In another embodiment, the stopping distance determination component 155, the stop notification component 140, the crosswalk recognition component 160, and the right-of-way determination component 142 may operate in conjunction with the processor 112 and the memory 114 of the OCS 110, where various accident detection functions may be controlled by the OCS 110. In a further embodiment, the OCS 110, the vehicle operation component 164, the stopping distance determination component 155, the stop notification component 140, the crosswalk recognition component 160, and the right-of-way determination component 142 (and corresponding sub-components) may operate using a common processor (such as the processor 112) and a memory (such as the memory 114).

[0055] As further shown in the figure, OCS110 may include an input / output (I / O) component 116. The I / O component 116 may be a transceiver configured to enable the transmission / reception of information 198 (such as GPS map data, road conditions, crosswalk positions, notifications of stopping distances / locations, etc.) between OCS110 and any (one or more) external systems (such as external system 199). The external systems may be, for example, mobile phones, GPS data systems, computer-based systems, etc. The I / O component 116 may be communicatively coupled to remotely located devices and systems (such as external system 199) via an antenna 117. The transmission of data and information between the vehicle 102 (such as via the antenna 117 and the I / O component 116) and remotely located devices and systems may be carried out via signals 190A-n. Any suitable technology may be used to implement the various embodiments presented herein regarding the transmission and reception of signals 190A-n. Suitable technologies include (Bluetooth), cellular technologies (such as 3G, 4G, 5G), Internet technologies, Ethernet technologies, ultra-wideband (UWB), technologies based on the IEEE 802.15.4a standard, Wi-Fi technologies, radio frequency identification (RFID), near field communication (NFC) radio technologies, etc.

[0056] In one embodiment, according to the various embodiments presented herein, OCS110 may further include a human-machine interface (HMI) 118 (such as a display, a graphical user interface (GUI)). The HMI 118 may be configured to present various information, including images of pedestrians 104 / information about pedestrians 104, components of the vehicle 102, notifications of right-of-way, roads, alerts, warnings, information received from on-vehicle and external systems and devices, etc. The HMI 118 may include an interactive display 119 to present various information through various screens presented thereon, and is further configured to facilitate the input of information / settings, etc. regarding the operation of the vehicle 102.

[0057] Moving on to Figure 2, FIG. 200 illustrates a scenario involving a vehicle 202 approaching a crosswalk 203 in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein. As the vehicle 202 travels along a road or street, the crosswalk recognition component 160 may identify the location of an upcoming crosswalk 203 in front of the vehicle 202. For example, the crosswalk recognition component 160 may use one or more sensors on the vehicle 202 (e.g., optical sensors, laser sensors, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors, sonar sensors, audiovisual sensors, perception sensors, road lane sensors, motion detectors, speed sensors, etc.) to detect and identify the crosswalk 203. In another embodiment, the crosswalk recognition component 160 may utilize GPS map data, satellite road images, and / or other external data sources transmitted to the vehicle via the antenna 117 to identify the crosswalk 203. For example, the crosswalk recognition component 160 may utilize image processing algorithms to identify the crosswalk from an overhead image of the road, or may receive a list of GPS coordinates of crosswalks within a city. In another embodiment, the crosswalk recognition component 160 may utilize known crosswalk locations stored in the on-vehicle computer system 101 or stored within a cloud architecture.

[0058] Once the crosswalk recognition component 160 has identified the crosswalk 203, the right-of-way determination component 142 may begin scanning (e.g., using sensors such as optical sensors, laser sensors, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors, sonar sensors, audiovisual sensors, perception sensors, road lane sensors, motion detectors, speed sensors) for pedestrians, such as pedestrian 204, within or near the crosswalk 203. In some embodiments, in response to detecting a crosswalk, various on-vehicle systems may automatically activate the vehicle 202's headlights to assist in the detection of pedestrians in limited visibility. In some embodiments, after identifying the crosswalk 203, the crosswalk recognition component 160 may store the location of the crosswalk 203 in the on-vehicle computer system 101 or within a cloud architecture for future use.

[0059] Once the pedestrian 204 has been recognized, the right-of-way determination component 142 can determine whether the vehicle 202 or the pedestrian 204 has the right-of-way over the crosswalk 203. In one embodiment, the right-of-way determination component 142 can utilize one or more algorithms and / or AI processing (e.g., a classifier described in more detail below) on input data including information such as the pedestrian's position relative to the crosswalk, the pedestrian's speed, the vehicle's position relative to the crosswalk, the orientation of the pedestrian's direction, local traffic laws / regulations, road characteristics, traffic lights, stop signs, etc. to determine whether the pedestrian 204 or the vehicle 202 has the right-of-way. For example, if the pedestrian 204 is within a defined distance metric of the crosswalk 203 or has already started crossing the crosswalk 203, the right-of-way determination component 142 can determine that the pedestrian 204 has the right-of-way. In another example, if the pedestrian 204 is moving away from the crosswalk 203, the right-of-way determination component 142 can determine that the vehicle 202 has the right-of-way. In a further example, if the right-of-way determination component 142 recognizes a stop sign or a traffic light stop signal at the crosswalk 203, the right-of-way determination component 142 can determine that the pedestrian 204 has the right-of-way. In some embodiments, if it is determined that the pedestrian 204 has the right-of-way, the vehicle operation component 164 can automatically or autonomously disable the acceleration of the vehicle 202 and / or automatically apply the brakes to the vehicle 202 to start decelerating the vehicle 202. It should be understood that although the above examples describe operations regarding one pedestrian, the right-of-way determination component 142 can determine the right-of-way in cases involving multiple pedestrians.

[0060] Figures 3A to 3C Illustrations 300A - C of a vehicle sending a stopping distance to a pedestrian in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein are shown. In response to the crosswalk recognition component 160 recognizing the crosswalk 304 and determining that the pedestrian 303 has the right-of-way, the stopping distance determination component 155 can determine the stopping distance / position of the vehicle 302. For example, based on the characteristics of the vehicle 302 (e.g., vehicle weight, braking mass, tire mass, etc.), the vehicle speed, the deceleration rate, and the road conditions (e.g., wet or dry road surface, weather conditions, uphill or downhill on the road, etc.), the stopping distance determination component 155 can determine the distance 330 or position at which the vehicle 302 will come to a complete stop.

[0061] Once the stopping distance 330 has been determined, the stopping distance notification component 140 can send the stopping distance 330 to the pedestrian 303. In one or more embodiments, the stopping distance notification component 140 can send a visual indicator 320 for the location where the vehicle 302 will stop based on the stopping distance 330. For example, the stopping distance notification component 140 can activate one or more lights of a projector located at the front of the vehicle 302 to project the visual indicator 320 onto the surface of the road or pavement at location y (e.g., the stopping location based on the distance 330). In another example, the stopping distance notification component 140 can send a signal (e.g., via the antenna 117) to lights / projectors located within the road surface and / or projectors mounted to the side of the road or above the road to project the visual indicator 320. In some embodiments, the visual indicator can include a solid colored line, stripe (colored bar), or bar, where the color of the lights used to project the visual indicator is based on the time of day or weather conditions. For example, on a road with no precipitation at night, bright white stripes can be used for better visibility relative to the road surface. In another example, a color such as red can be utilized on a snow-covered road. In another embodiment, the stopping distance notification component 140 can activate one or more speakers on or outside the vehicle 302 to emit an audio message notifying the pedestrian 303 of the stopping location of the vehicle 302 or whether the vehicle 302 will stop before the crosswalk 304. In a further example, the stop notification component 140 can send a text or audio message notifying the pedestrian 303 of the stopping distance and / or location of the vehicle 302 to the pedestrian 303's device (e.g., smartphone, smartwatch, etc.). As shown in FIGS. 300B and 300C, since the vehicle 302 continues to move towards the crosswalk 304 when approaching a stop, the visual indicator 320 remains at location y to continuously notify the pedestrian 303 of the stopping location of the vehicle 302. As shown in FIG. 300C, the vehicle 302 can come to a complete stop at or before the visual indicator 320.

[0062] Go to Figure 4 , FIG. 400 shows an example scenario where a vehicle can stop before reaching a crosswalk. As shown, the visual indicator 420 is located before the crosswalk 404, indicating that the vehicle 402 will come to a complete stop before reaching the crosswalk 404. Accordingly, the pedestrian 403 knows that they can safely enter the crosswalk 404 because the vehicle 402 will stop in time.

[0063] Figure 5A and Figure 5BIllustrate example scenarios 500A and 500B where a vehicle cannot stop before reaching a crosswalk. As shown in scenario 500A, visual indicator 520 is located within crosswalk 504, indicating that vehicle 502 will not be able to stop before crosswalk 504. Thus, pedestrian 503 realizes that they should not enter crosswalk 504 as it is not safe to do so. As shown in scenario 500B, visual indicator 520 is located after crosswalk 504, indicating that vehicle 502 will not be able to stop before crosswalk 504. Thus, pedestrian 503 realizes that they should not enter crosswalk 504 as it is not safe to do so.

[0064] Go to Figure 6A and Figure 6B , illustrations 600A and 600B show different forms of visual indicators of stopping distance according to one or more embodiments described herein. As referred to above with reference to Figure 1 and Figures 3A to 5B described, the visual indicator of the stop position can be projected onto the road surface and can include solid lines, stripes or bars of colored lights. Alternatively, as shown in illustration 600A, in one or more embodiments, the visual indicator can include a text message 624 located within a bar or rectangular shape. Additionally, as shown in illustration 600B, in some embodiments, the visual indicator 622 can include a pattern or multiple colors to enhance the visibility of the visual indicator 622 based on road conditions and / or time of day. It should be understood that any form, shape or color of visual indicator for stopping distance projected onto the road surface can be envisioned. Additionally, in some embodiments, the visual indicator can flash quickly to better capture the attention of pedestrians. In some embodiments, the stop distance determination component 155 can determine whether a vehicle will stop before a crosswalk based on a comparison of the stop distance with the distance to the crosswalk. For example, if the vehicle will stop before the crosswalk, the visual indicator can include a first pattern, while if the vehicle will not be able to stop before the crosswalk, a second pattern can be utilized.

[0065] As described herein, one or more embodiments can utilize artificial intelligence models such as classifiers for prediction and / or determination. Support Vector Machine (SVM) is an example of a classifier that can be employed. SVM operates by finding a hyperplane in the space of possible inputs that optimally separates triggering input events from non-triggering events. Intuitively, this enables correct classification of test data that is close to but not exactly equivalent to the training data. Other directed and undirected model classification methods include, for example, Naive Bayes, Bayesian networks, decision trees, neural networks, fuzzy logic models, and probabilistic classification models that provide different independent modes can be adopted. Classification as used herein includes statistical regression used to develop priority models.

[0066] As can be readily understood from the present specification, various embodiments may employ classifiers that are explicitly trained (e.g., via general training data) and implicitly trained (e.g., via observing user behavior, receiving extrinsic information). For example, an SVM is configured via a learning or training phase within a classifier constructor and a feature selection module. Thus, the classifier(s) may be used to automatically learn and perform a number of functions, including but not limited to determining the presence of a crosswalk in front of a vehicle, the presence of pedestrians on or near the crosswalk, whether the vehicle or a pedestrian has the right of way over the crosswalk, and the distance required for the vehicle to come to a stop based on the current speed, deceleration rate, and road conditions.

[0067] As described above, inferences may be made and operations may be performed based on a large amount of information. For example, when vehicle 102 monitors and collects information about the actions / movements of pedestrians, the vehicle stopping distance, and visual or other indicators of a crosswalk, a database of relevant information may be created. As the database of information about the interactions between pedestrians, vehicles, and crosswalks accumulates (e.g., in memory 114), the data is analyzed to determine converging patterns, allowing inferences to be made about the presence of a crosswalk, the intentions of pedestrians, and whether the vehicle or a pedestrian has the right of way.

[0068] Figure 7 FIG. 700 is a flowchart illustrating a computer-implemented method for sending a vehicle stopping distance to a pedestrian in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

[0069] At 710, the speed and acceleration rate of a vehicle (e.g., vehicle 102) may be determined (e.g., determined by the stopping distance determination component 155 and / or the vehicle operation component 164).

[0070] At 720, a determination may be made as to whether the vehicle (e.g., vehicle 102) is decelerating. In response to no, the computer method may proceed to step 730, and the vehicle may continue normal driving operations. In response to yes, that the vehicle is decelerating, method 700 may proceed to step 740, where a determination of the stopping distance of the vehicle is made.

[0071] At 740, the stopping distance of the vehicle (e.g., vehicle 102) may be determined (e.g., by the stopping distance determination component 155) based on the current speed and deceleration rate of the vehicle and the current road conditions (e.g., weather and road grade).

[0072] At 750, in response to the determination of the stopping distance, the vehicle (e.g., vehicle 102) may project a visual indicator (e.g., visual indicator 120) to the location where the vehicle will come to a complete stop based on the stopping distance.

[0073] At 760, in response to determining that the vehicle has come to a complete stop, method 700 may proceed to step 770 and end the projection of the visual indicator; otherwise, the projection of the visual indicator may continue.

[0074] Figure 8 FIG. 800 is a flowchart showing a computer-implemented method for sending a vehicle stopping distance to a pedestrian according to one or more embodiments described herein.

[0075] At 810, a crosswalk (e.g., crosswalk 103) or other crossing point (e.g., traffic light stop sign, intersection, etc.) in front of the vehicle (e.g., vehicle 102) may be detected by a crosswalk recognition component 160.

[0076] At 820, a determination may be made (e.g., by a right-of-way determination component 142) as to whether the vehicle has the right-of-way over the crosswalk. This determination may be made by the right-of-way determination component 142 identifying pedestrians on or near the crosswalk and determining whether the pedestrians or the vehicle has the right-of-way. As described in detail above, this determination may be made using one or more sensors, artificial intelligence models, and / or algorithms. In response to a determination of yes, method 800 may proceed to step 830, and the driving operation of the vehicle may continue. In response to a determination of no, method 800 may proceed to step 840.

[0077] At 840, in response to determining that the vehicle does not have the right-of-way, the acceleration of the vehicle may be disabled, and automatic braking of the vehicle may be started (e.g., by a vehicle operation component 164).

[0078] At 850, a determination of the stopping distance of the vehicle (e.g., vehicle 102) may be made (e.g., by a stopping distance determination component 155) based on the current speed and deceleration rate of the vehicle and the current road conditions (e.g., weather and road grade).

[0079] At 860, in response to the determination of the stopping distance, the vehicle (e.g., vehicle 102) may project a visual indicator (e.g., visual indicator 120) to the location where the vehicle will come to a complete stop based on the stopping distance.

[0080] Next, turning to Figure 9 and Figure 10 , a detailed description is provided that gives additional context for one or more embodiments described herein with reference to Figures 1 to 8 the above.

[0081] To provide additional context for the various embodiments described herein, Figure 9The following discussion is intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment 900 in which the various embodiments described herein can be implemented. Although the embodiments have been described above in the general context of computer-executable instructions that can run on one or more computers, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments can also be implemented in combination with other program modules and / or as a combination of hardware and software.

[0082] Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will understand that these methods can be practiced with other computer system configurations, including single-processor or multi-processor computer systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, IoT devices, distributed computing systems, and personal computers, handheld computing devices, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, etc., each of which can be operatively coupled to one or more associated devices.

[0083] The embodiments shown herein can also be practiced in a distributed computing environment where certain tasks are performed by remote processing devices linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

[0084] Computing devices generally include a variety of media, which can include computer-readable storage media, machine-readable storage media, and / or communication media, the two terms being used differently from each other herein as follows. Computer-readable storage media or machine-readable storage media can be any available storage media that can be accessed by a computer and includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example and not limitation, computer-readable storage media or machine-readable storage media can be implemented in conjunction with any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable or machine-readable instructions, program modules, structured data, or unstructured data.

[0085] A computer-readable storage medium may include, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other storage technologies, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-ray disc (BD) or other optical disc storage, magnetic tape cartridges, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, solid state drives or other solid state storage devices, or other tangible and / or non-transitory media that can be used to store the desired information. In this regard, the terms "tangible" or "non-transitory" as applied to storage, memory or computer-readable media herein shall be understood to exclude only propagating transitory signals per se as modifiers, and do not relinquish rights to all standard storage, memory or computer-readable media that are not only propagating transitory signals per se.

[0086] A computer-readable storage medium can be accessed, for example, by one or more local or remote computing devices via an access request, query, or other data retrieval protocol for various operations on the information stored by the medium.

[0087] A communication medium typically embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other structured or unstructured data in a data signal such as a modulated data signal (e.g., a carrier wave or other transmission mechanism), and includes any information delivery or transmission medium. The term "modulated data signal" or signal refers to a signal, one or more of whose characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By way of example and not limitation, communication media include wired media such as a wired network or direct wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media.

[0088] Referring again to Figure 9 , an example environment 900 for various embodiments for implementing the aspects described herein includes a computer 902, which includes a processing unit 904, a system memory 906, and a system bus 908. The system bus 908 couples system components, including but not limited to the system memory 906, to the processing unit 904. The processing unit 904 can be any of a variety of commercially available processors and may include a cache memory. Dual microprocessors and other multiprocessor architectures may also be used as the processing unit 904.

[0089] The system bus 908 can be any of several types of bus structures, which can be further interconnected to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of commercially available bus architectures. The system memory 906 includes a ROM 910 and a RAM 912. The basic input / output system (BIOS) can be stored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, etc. The BIOS contains basic routines for transferring information between components within the computer 902 during startup, for example. The RAM 912 can also include high-speed RAM for caching data, such as static RAM.

[0090] The computer 902 can also include an internal hard disk drive (HDD) 914 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), one or more external storage devices 916 (e.g., a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 916, a memory stick or flash drive reader, a memory card reader, etc.), and an optical disc drive 920 (e.g., which can read from or write to CD-ROM discs, DVDs, BDs, etc.). Although the internal HDD 914 is shown as being within the computer 902, the internal HDD 914 can also be configured for external use in a suitable enclosure (not shown). Additionally, although not shown in the environment 900, solid-state drives (SSDs) can be used as a supplement to or in place of the HDD 914. The HDD 914, the external storage device(s) 916, and the optical disc drive 920 can be connected to the system bus 908 via an HDD interface 924, an external storage interface 926, and an optical drive interface 928, respectively. The interface 924 for external drive implementation can include at least one or both of the Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1094 interface technologies. Other external drive connection technologies are also contemplated within the embodiments described herein.

[0091] The drives and their associated computer-readable storage media provide non-volatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, etc. For the computer 902, the drives and storage media accommodate the storage of any data in a suitable digital format. Although the above description of computer-readable storage media refers to various types of storage devices, those skilled in the art will understand that other types of computer-readable storage media, whether currently existing or to be developed in the future, can also be used in the exemplary operating environment, and further, any such storage media can contain computer-executable instructions for performing the methods described herein.

[0092] Many program modules can be stored in the drive and RAM 912, including an operating system 930, one or more application programs 932, other program modules 934, and program data 936. All or part of the operating system, applications, modules, and / or data can also be cached in RAM 912. The systems and methods described herein can be implemented using a variety of commercially available operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0093] Computer 902 can optionally include emulation technology. For example, a hypervisor (not shown) or other intermediary can emulate a hardware environment for the operating system 930, and the emulated hardware can optionally be different from Figure 9 the hardware shown. In such an embodiment, the operating system 930 can include one VM among multiple virtual machines (VMs) hosted at the computer 902. Additionally, the operating system 930 can provide a runtime environment for the application programs 932, such as a Java runtime environment or a.NET framework. A runtime environment is a consistent execution environment that allows the application programs 932 to run on any operating system that includes the runtime environment. Similarly, the operating system 930 can support containers, and the application programs 932 can be in the form of containers, which are lightweight, independent, executable software packages that include, for example, code for the application, runtime, system tools, system libraries, and settings.

[0094] Furthermore, computer 902 can include a security module, such as a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). For example, for a TPM, the boot component will hash the next boot component in a timely manner before loading the next boot component and wait for the result to match a security value. This process can occur at any layer of the code execution stack of the computer 902, for example, be applied at the application execution level or the operating system (OS) kernel level, so as to achieve security at any level of code execution.

[0095] A user can input commands and information into computer 902 through one or more wired / wireless input devices (e.g., keyboard 938, touch screen 940, and pointing devices such as mouse 942). Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, an infrared (IR) remote control, a radio frequency (RF) remote control or other remote controls, a joystick, a virtual reality controller and / or a virtual reality headset, a gamepad, a stylus, an image input device (e.g., (one or more) cameras), a gesture sensor input device, a visual motion sensor input device, an emotion or face detection device, a biometric input device (e.g., a fingerprint or iris scanner, etc.). These and other input devices are typically connected to processing unit 904 through input device interface 944, which may be coupled to system bus 908, but may also be connected through other interfaces, such as a parallel port, an IEEE1094 serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, a Bluetooth interface, etc.

[0096] Monitor 946 or other types of display devices can also be connected to system bus 908 via an interface (such as video adapter 948). In addition to monitor 946, a computer typically also includes other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.

[0097] Computer 902 can operate in a network environment, using a logical connection via wired and / or wireless communication with one or more remote computers (e.g., (one or more) remote computers 950). (One or more) remote computers 950 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, a personal computer, a portable computer, a microprocessor-based entertainment device, a peer device, or other common network nodes, and typically include many or all of the elements described with respect to computer 902, although for simplicity, only memory / storage device 952 is shown. The depicted logical connections include wired / wireless connections to a local area network (LAN) 954 and / or a larger network (e.g., a wide area network (WAN) 956). Such LAN and WAN network environments are common in offices and companies and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all of which can be connected to a global communication network, such as the Internet.

[0098] When used in a LAN network environment, computer 902 can be connected to local network 954 through a wired and / or wireless communication network interface or adapter 958. Adapter 958 can facilitate wired or wireless communication with LAN 954, which may also include a wireless access point (AP) set thereon for communicating with adapter 958 in wireless mode.

[0099] When used in a WAN network environment, computer 902 may include a modem 960 or may be connected to a communication server on WAN 956 via other means for establishing communication on WAN 956, such as via the Internet. The modem 960 can be internal or external and can be a wired or wireless device that can be connected to the system bus 908 via the input device interface 944. In a network environment, program modules or portions thereof depicted relative to computer 902 may be stored in the remote memory / storage device 952. It should be understood that the network connections shown are examples and that other means of establishing a communication link between computers may be used.

[0100] When used in a LAN or WAN network environment, computer 902 can access a cloud storage system or other network-based storage system as a supplement or alternative to the external storage device 916 described above. Generally, the connection between computer 902 and the cloud storage system can be established, for example, on LAN 954 or WAN 956 by adapter 958 or modem 960, respectively. After connecting computer 902 to the associated cloud storage system, the external storage interface 926 can, with the assistance of adapter 958 and / or modem 960, manage the storage provided by the cloud storage system in the same way as other types of external storage. For example, the external storage interface 926 can be configured to provide access to cloud storage sources as if these sources were physically connected to computer 902.

[0101] Computer 902 is operable to communicate with any wireless device or entity configured for wireless communication, such as printers, scanners, desktop and / or portable computers, portable data assistants, communication satellites, any device or location with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., kiosks, newsstands, store shelves, etc.), and telephones. This can include wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) and Bluetooth wireless technologies. Thus, the communication can be, for example, of a predefined structure such as with a traditional network or can be merely an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.

[0102] The foregoing description includes non-limiting examples of various embodiments. Of course, it is not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methods for the purpose of describing the disclosed subject matter, and one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that further combinations and permutations of various embodiments are possible. The disclosed subject matter is intended to cover all such alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

[0103] Now referring to Figure 10 the details of one or more of the elements shown at Figure 10FIG. 0 is a schematic block diagram of a computing environment 1000 that can interact with the disclosed subject matter. System 1000 includes one or more remote components 1010. The (one or more) remote components 1010 can be hardware and / or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). In some embodiments, the (one or more) remote components 1010 can be a distributed computer system that is connected to a local auto-scaling component and / or a program that uses the resources of the distributed computer system via a communication framework 1040. The communication framework 1040 can include wired network devices, wireless network devices, mobile devices, wearable devices, wireless access network devices, gateway devices, femtocell devices, servers, etc.

[0104] System 1000 also includes one or more local components 1020. The (one or more) local components 1020 can be hardware and / or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). In some embodiments, the (one or more) local components 1020 can include an auto-scaling component connected to a remotely located distributed computing system via the communication framework 1040 and / or a program that communicates with / uses the remote resources 1010 and 1020, etc.

[0105] One possible communication between the (one or more) remote components 1010 and the (one or more) local components 1020 can be in the form of data packets suitable for being sent between two or more computer processes. Another possible communication between the (one or more) remote components 1010 and the (one or more) local components 1020 can be in the form of circuit-switched data suitable for being sent between two or more computer processes in a radio time slot. System 1000 includes a communication framework 1040 that can be used to facilitate communication between the (one or more) remote components 1010 and the (one or more) local components 1020, and can include an air interface via a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network, etc., such as the Uu interface of a UMTS network. The (one or more) remote components 1010 can be operatively connected to one or more remote data stores 1050, such as hard disk drives, solid state drives, SIM cards, device memories, etc., which can be used to store information on the (one or more) remote component 1010 side of the communication framework 1040. Similarly, the (one or more) local components 1020 can be operatively connected to one or more local data stores 1030, which can be used to store information on the (one or more) local component 1020 side of the communication framework 1040.

[0106] Regarding the various functions performed by the above components, devices, circuits, systems, etc., unless otherwise specified, the terms used to describe such components (including references to "means") are intended to also include any (one or more) structures that perform the specified functions of the described components (e.g., functional equivalents), even if not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structures. Additionally, although a particular feature of the disclosed subject matter may be disclosed only with respect to one of several embodiments, such a feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other embodiments, as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.

[0107] As used herein, the terms "exemplary" and / or "illustrative" are intended to mean as an example, instance, or illustration. To avoid doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. Additionally, any aspect or design described herein as "exemplary" and / or "illustrative" is not necessarily to be construed as more preferred or advantageous than other aspects or designs, nor is it intended to exclude equivalent structures and techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Further, when the terms "comprising", "having", "including", and other similar words are used in the detailed description or claims, these terms are intended to be inclusive - in a manner similar to the term "including" as an open transitional word - and do not exclude any additional or other elements.

[0108] As used herein, the term "or" is intended to mean an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or". For example, the phrase "A or B" is intended to include A, B, and the case of A and B. Additionally, the articles "a" and "an" used in this application and the appended claims shall generally be construed to mean "one or more", unless otherwise specified or clearly indicated from the context to be in the singular form.

[0109] The term "set" as employed herein excludes the empty set, i.e., a set having no elements. Thus, a "set" in the disclosure of the present subject matter includes one or more elements or entities. Similarly, the term "group" as used herein refers to a collection of one or more entities.

[0110] The terms "first", "second", "third", etc. used in the claims are for clarity purposes only and do not denote or imply any temporal order, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. For example, "first determination", "second determination", and "third determination" do not denote or imply that the first determination should be made before the second determination, and vice versa, etc.

[0111] As used in this disclosure, in some embodiments, the terms "component", "system", etc. are intended to refer to or include a computer-related entity or an entity related to an operating device having one or more specific functions, where the entity can be hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. By way of example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, an execution thread, computer-executable instructions, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration and not limitation, an application running on a server and the server can both be components.

[0112] One or more components can reside within a process and / or an execution thread, and a component can be located on one computer and / or be distributed between two or more computers. Further, these components can execute from various computer-readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components can communicate via local and / or remote processes, such as in accordance with signals having one or more data packets (e.g., data from another component interacting with a component on a local system, a distributed system, and / or a network such as the Internet that interacts with other systems via the signals). As another example, a component can be a device having specific functionality provided by mechanical parts operated by an electrical or electronic circuit, which is operated by a software or firmware application executed by a processor, where the processor can be internal or external to the device and executes at least a portion of the software or firmware application. As yet another example, a component can be a device that provides specific functionality through electronic components without mechanical components, and the electronic components can include a processor that, within the electronic components, executes at least a portion of the software or firmware that imparts the functionality to the electronic components. Although the various components have been shown as separate components, it should be understood that multiple components can be implemented as a single component, or a single component can be implemented as multiple components, without departing from the example embodiments.

[0113] The term "facilitate" as used herein is in the context of a system, device, or component "facilitating" one or more actions or operations, given the nature of a complex computing environment where multiple components and / or multiple devices may be involved in some computing operations. Non-limiting examples of actions that may or may not involve multiple components and / or multiple devices include sending or receiving data, establishing a connection between devices, determining intermediate results towards obtaining a result, etc. In this regard, a computing device or component can facilitate an operation by playing any role in the completion of the operation. When describing the operation of a component herein, it should be understood that when the operation is described as being facilitated by a component, the operation can optionally be completed in cooperation with one or more other computing devices or components (such as but not limited to sensors, antennas, audio and / or visual output devices, other devices, etc.).

[0114] In addition, various embodiments can be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture that uses standard programming and / or engineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosed subject matter. As used herein, the term "article of manufacture" is intended to cover a computer program accessible from any computer-readable (or machine-readable) device or computer-readable (or machine-readable) storage / communication medium. For example, computer-readable storage media can include, but are not limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs)), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., cards, sticks, key drives). Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications can be made to such configurations without departing from the scope or spirit of the various embodiments.

[0115] In addition, terms such as "mobile device equipment", "mobile station", "mobile", "user station", "access terminal", "terminal", "handheld device", "communication device", "mobile device" (and / or terms representing similar terms) can refer to a wireless device used by a user of a wireless communication service or a mobile device to receive or transmit data, control, voice, video, sound, games, or substantially any data stream or signaling stream. The above terms are used interchangeably herein and with reference to the relevant drawings. Similarly, the terms "access point (AP)", "base station (BS)", "BS transceiver", "BS device", "cellular base station", "cellular base station device", "gNode B (gNB)", "evolved Node B (eNode B, eNB)", "home Node B (HNB)", etc., refer to a wireless network component or device that sends and / or receives data, control, voice, video, sound, games, or substantially any data stream or signaling stream from one or more user stations. The data and signaling streams can be packetized streams or frame-based streams.

[0116] In addition, the terms "device", "communication device", "mobile device", "user", "customer entity", "consumer", "customer entity", "entity", etc. can be used interchangeably throughout the text, unless the context requires a specific distinction between these terms. It should be understood that these terms can refer to a human entity or an AI-supported automated component (e.g., the ability to make inferences based on complex mathematical forms), which can provide simulated vision, sound recognition, etc.

[0117] It should be noted that although various aspects and embodiments are described herein in the context of 5G or other next-generation networks, the disclosed aspects are not limited to 5G implementations and can be applied to other network next-generation implementations, such as sixth-generation (6G) or other wireless systems. In this regard, aspects or features of the disclosed embodiments can be utilized substantially in any wireless communication technology. Such wireless communication technologies can include Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA2000, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Multi-Carrier CDMA (MC-CDMA), Single-Carrier CDMA (SC-CDMA), Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform Spread OFDM (DFT-spread OFDM), Filter Bank-based Multi-Carrier (FBMC), Zero-Tail DFT-spread-OFDM (ZT DFT-s-OFDM), Generalized Frequency Division Multiplexing (GFDM), Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC), Universal Fixed-Mobile Convergence (UFMC), Unique Word OFDM (UW-OFDM), Unique Word DFT-spread OFDM (UW DFT-Spread-OFDM), Cyclic Prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM), Resource Block Filtered OFDM, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced GPRS, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5G, 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Evolved High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Zigbee, or another Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.12 technology.

[0118] The description of the illustrated embodiments of the disclosed subject matter provided herein, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. While specific embodiments and examples are described herein for illustrative purposes, various modifications can be made within the scope of these embodiments and examples, as will be recognized by those skilled in the art. In this regard, while the subject matter is described herein in connection with various embodiments and the corresponding drawings, it is to be understood that, where applicable, other similar embodiments can be used or modifications and additions can be made to the described embodiments to perform the same, similar, alternative, or substitute functions of the disclosed subject matter without departing from its scope. Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter is not to be limited to any single embodiment described herein, but is to be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the following appended claims.

[0119] Other aspects of the invention are provided by the subject matter of the following clauses:

[0120] 1. A system on a vehicle, the system comprising: a memory that stores computer-executable components; a processor that executes the computer-executable components stored in the memory, wherein the computer-executable components include: a stopping distance determination component that determines a location at which the vehicle will stop based on a current speed and a deceleration rate of the vehicle; and a stop notification component that projects a visual indicator of the location onto a surface in front of the vehicle.

[0121] 2. The system according to the preceding clause, wherein the stop notification component continuously projects the visual indicator until the vehicle has completely stopped.

[0122] 3. The system according to the preceding clause, wherein the visual indicator includes stripes that are horizontally oriented relative to the orientation of the vehicle.

[0123] 4. The system according to the preceding clause, wherein the computer-executable components further include: a crosswalk recognition component that recognizes a crosswalk on the surface in front of the vehicle; and a right-of-way determination component that scans the crosswalk and the surrounding area to determine whether the vehicle has the right-of-way to cross the crosswalk, wherein the stop notification component determines the location based on determining that the vehicle does not have the right-of-way.

[0124] 5. The system according to the preceding clause, wherein the computer-executable components further include: a vehicle operation component that automatically disables acceleration of the vehicle based on determining that the vehicle does not have the right-of-way.

[0125] 6. The system according to the preceding clause, wherein the visual indicator includes a flashing of the stripes.

[0126] 7. According to the system of the foregoing clause, wherein the stop notification component further determines whether the position is before the crosswalk, and if the position is before the crosswalk, the visual indicator includes a first pattern, and if the position is not before the crosswalk, the visual indicator includes a second pattern.

[0127] 8. A computer-implemented method, the computer-implemented method comprising: determining, by a device including a processor located on a vehicle, a position at which the vehicle will stop based on a current speed and a deceleration rate of the vehicle; and projecting, by the device, a visual indicator of the position onto a surface in front of the vehicle.

[0128] 9. According to the computer-implemented method of the foregoing clause, wherein the visual indicator is continuously projected until the vehicle comes to a complete stop.

[0129] 10. According to the computer-implemented method of the foregoing clause, wherein the visual indicator includes stripes that are horizontally oriented relative to the orientation of the vehicle.

[0130] 11. According to the computer-implemented method of the foregoing clause, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises: identifying, by the device, a crosswalk on the surface in front of the vehicle; scanning, by the device, the crosswalk and the surrounding area to search for pedestrians; and determining, by the device, whether the vehicle has the right of way to cross the crosswalk, wherein the determination of the position at which the vehicle will stop is initiated based on determining that the vehicle does not have the right of way.

[0131] 12. According to the computer-implemented method of the foregoing clause, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises: disabling, by the device, acceleration of the vehicle based on determining that the vehicle does not have the right of way.

[0132] 13. According to the computer-implemented method of the foregoing clause, wherein the visual indicator includes a blinking of the stripes.

[0133] 14. According to the computer-implemented method of the foregoing clause, wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises: determining, by the device, whether the position is before the crosswalk, and if the position is before the crosswalk, the visual indicator includes a first pattern, and if the position is not before the crosswalk, the visual indicator includes a second pattern.

[0134] 15. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having program instructions included therein, the program instructions being executable by a processor to cause the processor: determine a position at which the vehicle will stop based on a current speed and a deceleration rate of the vehicle; and project a visual indicator of the position onto a surface in front of the vehicle.

[0135] 16. The computer program product according to the preceding clause, wherein the visual indicator is continuously projected until the vehicle has completely stopped.

[0136] 17. The computer program product according to the preceding clause, wherein the visual indicator includes stripes that are horizontally oriented relative to an orientation of the vehicle.

[0137] 18. The computer program product according to the preceding clause, wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the processor: identify a crosswalk on the surface in front of the vehicle; scan the crosswalk and a surrounding area to search for pedestrians; and determine whether the vehicle has the right of way to pass through the crosswalk, wherein the determination of the position at which the vehicle will stop is initiated based on a determination that the vehicle does not have the right of way.

[0138] 19. The computer program product according to the preceding clause, wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the processor: disable acceleration of the vehicle in response to a determination that the vehicle does not have the right of way.

[0139] 20. The computer program product according to the preceding clause, wherein the visual indicator includes a blinking of the stripes.

Claims

1. A system on a vehicle, the system comprising: a memory storing computer executable components; a processor that executes computer executable components stored in the memory, wherein the computer executable components include: a stopping distance determination component that determines a location at which the vehicle will stop based on a current speed and a rate of deceleration of the vehicle; and A stop notification assembly projects a visual indicator of the location onto a surface in front of the vehicle.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The stop notification assembly continues to project the visual indicator until the vehicle comes to a complete stop.

3. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The visual indicator includes a stripe that is horizontally oriented relative to an orientation of the vehicle.

4. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The computer executable components also include: a crosswalk recognition component that recognizes a crosswalk on the surface in front of the vehicle; and a right-of-way determination component that scans the crosswalk and a surrounding area to determine whether the vehicle has the right of way to pass through the crosswalk, wherein the stop notification component determines the position based on determining that the vehicle does not have the right of way.

5. The system according to claim 4, characterized in that The computer executable components also include: A vehicle operating component automatically disables acceleration of the vehicle based on a determination that the vehicle does not have the right-of-way.

6. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that The visual indicator comprises a flashing of the stripes.

7. The system according to claim 4, characterized in that The stop notification component further determines whether the location is before the crosswalk, and if the location is before the crosswalk, the visual indicator includes a first pattern, and if the location is not before the crosswalk, the visual indicator includes a second pattern.

8. A computer-implemented method, the computer-implemented method comprising: determining, by a device located on the vehicle and including a processor, a location at which the vehicle is to stop based on a current speed and a rate of deceleration of the vehicle; as well as A visual indicator of the location is projected by the device onto a surface in front of the vehicle.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein: The visual indicator is continuously projected until the vehicle comes to a complete stop.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein: The visual indicator includes a stripe that is horizontally oriented relative to an orientation of the vehicle.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein: The computer-implemented method further comprises: identifying, by the device, a crosswalk on the surface in front of the vehicle; scanning the crosswalk and surrounding area by the device to search for pedestrians; and A determination is made, by the device, whether the vehicle has the right of way to pass through the crosswalk, wherein a determination of a position at which the vehicle is to stop is initiated based on a determination that the vehicle does not have the right of way.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein: The computer-implemented method further comprises: Acceleration of the vehicle is disabled, by the device, based on a determination that the vehicle does not have the right-of-way.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein: The visual indicator comprises a flashing of the stripes.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein: The computer-implemented method further comprises: A determination is made by the device whether the location is before the crosswalk, and if the location is before the crosswalk, the visual indicator comprises a first pattern, and if the location is not before the crosswalk, the visual indicator comprises a second pattern.

15. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having program instructions contained therein, the program instructions being executable by a processor to cause the processor to: determining a location at which the vehicle is to stop based on the current speed and rate of deceleration of the vehicle; and A visual indicator of the location is projected onto a surface in front of the vehicle.

16. The computer program product according to claim 15, characterized in that The visual indicator is continuously projected until the vehicle comes to a complete stop.

17. The computer program product according to claim 15, characterized in that The visual indicator includes a stripe that is horizontally oriented relative to an orientation of the vehicle.

18. The computer program product according to claim 15, characterized in that The program instructions are also executable by the processor to cause the processor to: identifying a crosswalk on the surface in front of the vehicle; scanning the crosswalk and surrounding area to search for pedestrians; as well as A determination is made as to whether the vehicle has the right of way to pass through the crosswalk, wherein a determination of a location at which the vehicle is to stop is initiated based on a determination that the vehicle does not have the right of way.

19. The computer program product according to claim 18, characterized in that The program instructions are also executable by the processor to cause the processor to: In response to determining that the vehicle does not have the right-of-way, acceleration of the vehicle is disabled.

20. The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein: The visual indicator comprises a flashing of the stripes.

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