Acoustic Alerting Controller for Electric Vehicles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current acoustic alerting systems for electric/hybrid vehicles integrate AVAS and antitheft alarms separately, requiring different types of acoustic transducers and conflicting power requirements, making a unified system difficult and costly.
Innovation Solution
A single controller manages both AVAS and antitheft alarm systems using distinct acoustic transducers, with a piezoelectric transducer for antitheft alerts and a magneto-dynamic transducer for AVAS, allowing selective activation of either system and optimizing power usage with a backup battery for antitheft functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single acoustic transducer is used for both AVAS and antitheft alarm functions, then device complexity is reduced, but the backup battery becomes extremely large, heavy, and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the acoustic alerting system into two separate acoustic transducers: one dedicated to AVAS functionality and another dedicated to antitheft alarm functionality. This segmentation allows each transducer to be optimized for its specific function and power requirements, enabling the use of a small backup battery for the antitheft system without being constrained by the higher power demands of the AVAS system.
2Reliability
If separate systems are used for AVAS and antitheft alarm, then each system can be optimized for its specific requirements, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the control functions of AVAS and antitheft alarm into a single integrated controller that selectively activates the appropriate acoustic transducer based on the detected condition. This combining approach maintains the optimization benefits of separate transducers while reducing overall system complexity through unified control logic and a shared backup battery solution.
3Quantity of substance
If AVAS transducer is used for both AVAS and antitheft alarm, then number of transducers is reduced, but power consumption increases requiring large backup battery
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the acoustic output function into two specialized transducers: an AVAS transducer optimized for vehicle presence notification and an antitheft alarm transducer optimized for security alerts. This segmentation ensures that the backup battery only needs to support the lower power requirements of the antitheft transducer, eliminating the need for an oversized battery that would be required if a single high-power transducer had to handle both functions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a cost-effective and efficient integration of AVAS and antitheft alarm functions, maintaining dedicated alerting capabilities while reducing the need for large, expensive batteries, enabling reliable operation in case of power failure.
Implementation Method 1
a piezoelectric transducer for antitheft alerts
Implementation Method 2
a magneto-dynamic transducer for AVAS
Data Source
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AI summary
Example embodiments presented herein relate to an acoustic alerting system for an electric/hybrid vehicle. The acoustic alerting system comprises a single controller configured to control the operations of both an internal theft alarm based system and an external Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS) based system.