Adaptive Incident Indicator via Vehicular Relay
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing road incident warning systems, such as signs and blockades, have limited visibility, are affected by adverse weather, and provide insufficient information to drivers, especially for vehicles farther away from the incident.
Innovation Solution
A communication system involving a road side station and vehicle-mounted communication devices that transmit and relay incident information via wireless links, allowing vehicles to modify and relay the information based on their location and speed, ensuring broader awareness of road conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If passive signs and blockades are used to warn drivers of incidents, then the system is simple and easy to implement, but the visible range is limited and information dissemination is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces communication devices in vehicles as intermediary elements that receive incident information from roadside stations and relay it to other vehicles. This mediator approach extends information dissemination beyond the limited visual range of physical signs, allowing drivers farther away to receive incident alerts through wireless communication networks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical visual signaling system (physical signs and blockades) with an electronic communication system. Instead of relying on drivers to visually detect and interpret physical signs, the system uses wireless communication to transmit incident information digitally to vehicles, eliminating the visibility and weather dependency limitations of mechanical signs.
2Use of energy by moving object
If passive signs and blockades are used to warn drivers of incidents, then the system requires minimal energy and resources, but adverse weather conditions make observation difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes the passive mechanical sign system with an active electronic communication system that transmits incident information wirelessly. This electronic approach eliminates the harmful effect of adverse weather conditions that obscure visual signs, as radio frequency communication penetrates rain, fog, and snow that block optical signals.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameter of information transmission from optical (visual signs requiring line-of-sight) to electromagnetic (wireless communication signals). This parameter change allows information to be transmitted through adverse weather conditions that block visual observation, maintaining system effectiveness across varying environmental conditions.
3Loss of information
If roadside stations transmit incident information to all vehicles, then information dissemination is maximized, but network congestion and interference increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the information dissemination function by having each vehicle's communication device relay incident information to its own communication range rather than all vehicles receiving directly from the roadside station. This segmentation distributes the communication load across multiple vehicles, reducing network congestion at the roadside station while maintaining broad information dissemination through a distributed relay network.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for a first communication device for use with a first vehicle in a system for transmitting information about an incident occurring on a road. The first communication device includes a first receiver to receive an incident indicator. In one embodiment, a first electronic processor is electrically coupled to the first receiver and a first transmitter. The first electronic processor is configured to determine whether to relay a modified incident indicator to other vehicles. The first electronic processor is further configured to modify at least a portion of incident information included in the incident indicator to create the modified incident indicator. The first electronic processor is further configured to control the first transmitter to transmit the modified incident indicator to one or more other vehicles.