Directional Driver Alerts for Vehicle Hazard Awareness
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicle safety systems fail to provide vehicle operators with sufficient directional awareness of potential safety hazards in the external environment, as existing cues do not effectively convey the directionality of hazards relative to the vehicle or operator.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle system that applies directional stimuli, such as heated or cooled air, or haptic feedback, from specific directions to correspond with the location of detected safety hazards, using sensors like LiDAR and cameras to determine the directionality and intensity of the stimulus, thereby enhancing situational awareness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If conventional audible and visual cues are used to enhance situational awareness, then the system is simple to implement, but the directional information about hazards is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies directional stimuli from multiple spatial dimensions (front, rear, left, right sides of the operator) to convey hazard directionality. This dimensional approach transforms the information delivery system from simple audible/visual cues into a spatially-distributed notification system that preserves directional information about external hazards.
Solution Approach 2:
The notification system is segmented into multiple independent output devices positioned at different locations around the operator (front, rear, left, right). Each device can be independently activated to provide directional information, allowing the system to maintain simplicity while enhancing directional awareness through distributed components.
2Reliability
If existing vehicle safety systems provide cues to operators, then basic awareness is improved, but the level of alertness for potential safety risks is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies localized stimuli to specific regions of the operator's body (front, rear, left, right sides) corresponding to the direction of detected hazards. This local quality approach enhances safety awareness by creating distinct sensory experiences for different hazard directions, making the system more effective while maintaining ease of operation through intuitive spatial mapping.
3Loss of information
If directional stimuli are applied from multiple directions, then hazard directionality is clearly communicated, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple output devices are positioned around the operator to serve universal functions of directional hazard notification. Each device can independently convey information about hazards from its respective direction, allowing the system to maintain clear directional communication while using standardized, multi-functional components that reduce overall system complexity.
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
The system provides more precise and immediate directional information about potential safety hazards, leading to a rapid increase in the operator's situational awareness and alertness, improving response times to potential threats.
Implementation Method 1
The stimulus may be applied to a particular part of the vehicle operator's body such as the hackles (back of the neck) to stimulate an immediate instinctual reaction
Data Source
AI summary
Directional stimuli are applied to a vehicle operator to enhance situational awareness. Characteristics within a vehicle's external environment may be assessed to determine whether they present at least a threshold safety risk. If so, a type and/or intensity of a directional stimulus to apply to the vehicle operator is determined. In addition, one or more output devices is selected to apply the directional stimulus. The selected output devices may, upon activation, apply the directional stimulus from a same direction as the underlying directionality, in relation to the vehicle, of a potential safety hazard present in the vehicle's external environment. In this manner, the applied stimulus elicits an immediate rise in the vehicle operator's situational awareness, and also immediately informs her—based on the direction from which the stimulus is applied/received—of the directionality of the potential safety hazard within the vehicle's external environment.