Center High-Mount Brake Light System Deceleration Indication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional center high-mount brake-light systems are less effective in high-traffic conditions where brake lights are continuously illuminated, leading to inadequate warning for trailing vehicles about deceleration or stopping of leading vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A center high-mount brake-light system with a controller that selectively illuminates a plurality of lights in response to changes in vehicle deceleration and brake actuation, featuring distinct illumination states to indicate varying levels of deceleration, including full illumination, dimming, and progressive illumination of outer sections in response to increasing deceleration thresholds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional center high-mount brake lights are continuously illuminated in high-traffic conditions, then the brake lights remain visible, but the warning effectiveness decreases as trailing vehicles drive with brake pedals depressed in anticipation
Solution Approach 1:
The brake light system is segmented into multiple individual lights arranged in an array rather than a single continuous light source. This allows selective illumination of different numbers and patterns of lights to convey different deceleration intensities, resolving the contradiction by providing distinguishable warning signals even when brake lights are frequently used.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the number and pattern of illuminated lights based on the detected deceleration rate. During rapid deceleration, more lights are illuminated to provide stronger warning, while during gentle braking, fewer lights are illuminated. This dynamic adaptation maintains warning effectiveness across varying traffic conditions.
2Illumination intensity
If the brake lights are fully and continuously illuminated during traffic jam conditions, then the brake lights remain visible to trailing vehicles, but the drivers of trailing vehicles may not receive adequate warning that leading vehicles are decelerating or stopping
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the light array are illuminated based on the deceleration rate. During rapid deceleration, lights across the entire array are illuminated to provide strong local and global visibility. During gentle braking, only certain portions of the array are illuminated, creating a differentiated local quality that conveys deceleration intensity while maintaining overall visibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses different colored lights (red and yellow) in different patterns to convey different deceleration intensities. This color variation provides additional information dimension beyond simple illumination intensity, allowing trailing drivers to distinguish between gentle and rapid deceleration even when multiple lights are illuminated.
3Loss of information
If a plurality of lights are used to indicate deceleration intensity, then more informative brake light signals are provided, but the device complexity increases with controller and sensor systems
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the vehicle's existing deceleration detection capabilities (through the brake controller or inertia sensor already present in modern vehicles) to automatically control the light pattern. The brake light system serves itself by utilizing information already available in the vehicle's braking control system, minimizing additional complexity while providing enhanced deceleration information.
Data Source
AI summary
A center high-mount brake-light system for a motor vehicle, comprising a plurality of selectively-illuminatable lights arranged to define each of a center section comprising at least one of the plurality of lights, and at least two outer sections disposed on either side of the center section. A controller is operative to selectively illuminate the plurality of lights of the center and at least two outer sections in response to changes in the rate of travel of the vehicle and/or actuation of the vehicle's brakes, and whereby the plurality of lights are characterized by at least the following illumination states:(a) an illumination state in which the lights of each of the center and at least two outer sections are illuminated in their entireties in response to actuation of the vehicle's brakes;(b) an illumination state in which illumination of the lights of each of the at least two outer sections ceases or diminishes perceptibly relative to illumination of the center section after a predetermined period of time following actuation of the vehicle's brakes if there has been less than a predetermined amount of vehicle deceleration; and(c) an illumination state in which increasing numbers of the plurality of lights of each of the at least two outer sections are progressively illuminated in response to corresponding and progressively increasing amounts of vehicle deceleration above a predetermined threshold.