Vehicle Cabin Incident Detection for Autonomous Passenger Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current emergency response plans for aircraft do not adequately address incidents within the internal cabin of autonomous vehicles, as there is no onboard flight crew to handle issues such as unruly passengers or emergencies like smoke or fire.
Innovation Solution
A safety system comprising sensors to detect forces and images within the cabin, a control unit to analyze these inputs, and a user interface to alert and potentially control the vehicle in response to incidents, including autonomous operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If autonomous vehicle operation is implemented without onboard flight crew, then productivity is improved through automation, but reliability deteriorates due to inability to address and resolve various issues within internal cabin
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces ground-based staff and emergency service personnel as intermediaries to bridge the gap between autonomous vehicle operation and incident resolution. The system enables communication between the vehicle's sensors/imaging devices and ground-based responders, allowing them to monitor and address incidents remotely, thus maintaining reliability without compromising automation productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical presence of onboard flight crew with an electronic monitoring and communication system. Sensors, imaging devices, and communication systems substitute for human physical intervention, enabling automated operation while maintaining incident detection and response capabilities through technological means
2Measurement precision
If multiple sensors and imaging devices are deployed to detect incidents, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the control unit to perform multiple functions: processing data from various sensors, analyzing imaging device outputs, determining incident types, assessing severity levels, and coordinating responses. This multi-functional approach consolidates complexity into a single coordinating system rather than requiring separate dedicated systems for each function
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple detection systems (sensors for forces, imaging devices for visual monitoring) into an integrated monitoring framework. The control unit merges data from these different sources to comprehensively determine incidents and their severity, achieving high measurement precision through data fusion rather than through complex individual sensor systems
Data Source
AI summary
A system and a method include one or more sensors configured to detect one or more forces in relation to one or more components within an internal cabin of a vehicle. An imaging device is configured to acquire one or more images of the internal cabin of the vehicle. A control unit is in communication with the one or more sensors and the imaging device. The control unit is configured to determine one or more incidents within the internal cabin based on the one or more forces detected by the one or more sensors, and the one or more images acquired by the imaging device. The system and the method can also provide recommendations regarding actions to take in response determining incident(s).