School Bus Door Lamp Override at Railroad Crossings
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Solution Overview
Problem
The sudden illumination from school bus entrance door lights can cause inconvenience and potential eye damage to pedestrians and drivers, especially at railroad crossings, due to the bright and intense LED lighting, which may lead to temporary vision loss, nausea, or even fatal accidents.
Innovation Solution
A method and arrangement that connects the bus entrance door lamp circuitry to a power cutoff noise suppression switch, which overrides the illumination when activated, ensuring the lights remain off during railroad crossings, thereby preventing unwanted illumination and improving driver visibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If LED lamps are installed to provide brighter and more intense entrance door lighting, then illumination intensity is improved, but harmful factors to pedestrians and drivers increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by detecting railroad crossing conditions before the bus stops and activates the noise suppression switch in advance. This prevents the entrance door lights from illuminating when the door opens at railroad crossings, eliminating the harmful bright flash to pedestrians and drivers before it can occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The noise suppression switch acts as an intermediary between the entrance door light circuitry and the power source. When activated at railroad crossings, it interrupts the power supply to the lights, preventing them from illuminating and thus blocking the transmission of harmful bright light to pedestrians and drivers.
2Illumination intensity
If entrance door lights illuminate when the door opens, then pedestrian visibility is improved, but sudden illumination causes inconvenience and potential eye damage
Solution Approach 1:
The system detects railroad crossing conditions in advance and activates the noise suppression switch before the bus stops and the door opens. This preliminary action prevents the sudden illumination from occurring in the first place, eliminating the harmful bright flash to pedestrians and drivers while still allowing normal illumination at regular stops.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the illumination state based on the operational context. At railroad crossings, the lights are prevented from illuminating despite the door opening. At regular stops, the lights illuminate normally. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to provide pedestrian visibility when needed while avoiding harmful sudden illumination when not needed.
3Area of stationary object
If multiple LED lamps are installed around the bus entrance door, then coverage area is improved, but the intensity of illumination increases causing harmful effects
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of railroad crossing conditions and activates the noise suppression switch before the bus stops. This prevents all entrance door lights (multiple LED lamps) from illuminating simultaneously, eliminating the intense light radiation to pedestrians and drivers that would result from multiple lamps turning on at once.
Solution Approach 2:
The noise suppression switch serves as an intermediary that controls the power supply to multiple LED lamps. When activated at railroad crossings, it interrupts power to all lamps simultaneously, preventing them from illuminating and thus blocking the intense combined light radiation to pedestrians and drivers while allowing normal operation at regular stops.
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
This solution effectively prevents the sudden illumination at railroad crossings, reducing the risk of accidents and eye strain, while maintaining adequate lighting for pedestrian safety at bus stops.
Implementation Method 1
configuring the power cutoff noise suppression switch and the switch logic circuitry so that input of the switch logic circuitry to the bus door entrance lamp circuitry is overridden, and the at least one bus entrance door lamp is turned off, when the power cutoff noise suppression switch is activated
Data Source
AI summary
A school bus having a pedestrian lighting system includes bus entrance door lamps that illuminate an area adjacent to the entrance door of the bus. Switch logic circuitry is connected to and controls bus door entrance lamp circuitry that provides power to the bus entrance door lamps. A power cutoff noise suppression switch, which otherwise functions to turn off noise generating devices in the bus when stopping for a railroad crossing, is connected to the switch logic circuitry or to delayed deactivation timer circuitry. The power cutoff noise suppression switch and the switch logic circuitry or the delayed deactivation timer circuitry are configured so that input of the switch logic circuitry to the bus door entrance lamp circuitry is overridden, and the at least one bus entrance door lamp is turned off, when the power cutoff noise suppression switch is activated.