Brake Actuation Force Monitoring for Early Malfunction Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional brake systems in vehicles, especially commercial vehicles, often rely on driver perception for successful parking brake engagement, leading to potential roll-away situations due to driver complacency with automatic functions, resulting in safety and integrity issues.
Innovation Solution
A brake control system that monitors sensor data indicative of actuation force during the braking process, issuing early warnings if a malfunction is detected, using a reception module to receive brake signals and sensor data, and a processing module to compare data against benchmarks, extrapolate success, and trigger warnings incrementally based on probability, potentially triggering re-attempts at braking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If automatic parking brake functions are implemented, then driver workload is reduced and convenience is improved, but driver vigilance decreases leading to potential safety issues
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors sensor data during the braking process and provides real-time feedback through a warning signal when malfunction is detected. This feedback loop compensates for reduced driver vigilance by automatically detecting and alerting the driver to braking failures, thus maintaining safety despite automatic operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary monitoring of sensor data during the braking process to detect potential malfunctions before the driver would naturally notice them. By detecting issues during the braking process itself rather than waiting for post-braking verification, the system proactively addresses safety concerns.
2Reliability
If driver verification of parking brake engagement is required, then safety is improved, but time consumption increases and driver convenience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-verification by automatically monitoring its own braking process through sensor data. The processing module independently evaluates whether the brake is functioning correctly without requiring driver intervention, thus maintaining safety verification while eliminating the time and effort previously needed for manual checking.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual mechanical verification process by the driver is replaced with an electronic monitoring system that uses sensors and processing modules to automatically detect brake malfunctions. This substitution maintains verification reliability while eliminating the time loss associated with manual driver actions.
3Measurement precision
If monitoring continues until brake completion, then detection accuracy is improved, but response time is delayed reducing effectiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of malfunctions during the braking process itself rather than waiting for completion. By monitoring sensor data in real-time and detecting anomalies as they occur, the system provides early warning while the brake is still applying force, maximizing the effectiveness of the warning signal.
Solution Approach 2:
The system skips the traditional approach of waiting for brake completion before detection. Instead, it rushes through the braking process while continuously monitoring, detecting malfunctions as they occur and providing immediate warning, thus eliminating the time delay inherent in post-completion verification.
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed is a brake control system (100) for issuing an early warning about a malfunction of a brake (210) of a vehicle (50). The brake (210) is configured to receive a brake signal (70) and to perform a braking process after receiving the brake signal (70). The vehicle (50) comprises a sensor (220) configured to generate sensor data (225, 227), indicative of an actuation force of the brake (210). The brake control system (100) is characterized by a reception module (110), configured to receive the brake signal (70) and the sensor data (225), and by a processing module (120), configured to monitor the sensor data (225, 227) during subsequent stages of the braking process, to detect, based on the monitored sensor data (225, 227), a potential malfunction of the brake (210), and to issue a warning signal (130, 133, 135, 137, 138) if the potential malfunction is detected.