Display Control Device for Speed Limit Visibility
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional drive assistance systems face challenges in ensuring the visibility of speed limit information when switching between road segments, leading to potential unnoticed changes or visual disturbance for drivers.
Innovation Solution
A display control system that uses a controller and determiner to assess segment length and speed limit changes, adjusting the display method to ensure clear and unobtrusive transitions of speed limit information on a display medium, such as a head-up display, by determining whether the new segment is significantly different in length or speed limit from the previous one.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If speed limit information is displayed for every road segment switch, then the driver can know the current speed limit, but the visibility and noticeability of speed limit changes deteriorates due to frequent switching
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating the display behavior based on the specific characteristics of each road segment transition. When a significant speed limit change occurs (e.g., from 60km/h to 40km/h), the system provides prominent display with animation effects. When no significant change occurs, the system suppresses display updates. This localized adaptation of display intensity based on local conditions (speed limit difference magnitude) resolves the contradiction between information visibility and visual disturbance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the display parameter (visibility intensity) based on the speed limit difference parameter. By calculating the absolute difference between current and previous speed limits, and comparing it against a threshold, the system dynamically adjusts whether to display the speed limit information and with what intensity. This parameter-based control mechanism ensures that display updates occur only when necessary, preventing visual disturbance while maintaining information visibility.
2Reliability
If speed limit display switching is made more frequent to ensure visibility, then information updates are timely, but unnecessary changes cause visual disturbance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by continuously monitoring the speed limit difference and using this information to control display updates. The system calculates the difference between current and previous speed limits, and this feedback determines whether a display update should occur. Only when the feedback (speed limit difference) exceeds the threshold does the system activate the display update, ensuring timely information delivery while avoiding unnecessary visual disturbances from insignificant changes.
3Loss of information
If the system displays speed limit information for all segments, then complete information is provided, but the display becomes cluttered and hard to notice important changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the significant information (speed limit changes exceeding the threshold) from the complete set of road segment data. By filtering out insignificant changes and displaying only those that meet the significance criterion (absolute difference greater than threshold), the system maintains information completeness for decision-making while improving ease of operation by presenting a clean, uncluttered display that highlights important changes.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
A display control device includes a controller that, if an obtainer obtains first-segment speed limit information, controls a displayer so that it creates a first predetermined image, indicating a first-segment speed limit, and displays the first predetermined image on a display medium, and includes a determiner that, if second-segment length information is obtained after the first-segment speed limit information has been obtained, determines whether the second-segment length is shorter than a threshold. The controller makes a switchover from control under which the displayer creates the first predetermined image and displays it on the display medium to control under which the displayer creates a second predetermined image, indicating a second-segment speed limit, and displays the second predetermined image on the display medium in different control ways depending on whether the second-segment length is shorter than the threshold.