Driver Assistance System for Narrowing Roadway Guidance

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current driver assistance systems do not adequately differentiate between static and dynamic road narrowing conditions, which can lead to inadequate support for drivers navigating through complex traffic scenarios, such as construction sites or city traffic, where continuous lateral guidance is crucial.

Innovation Solution

A driver assistance system that uses a sensor unit to detect road narrowing and categorize it as either static or dynamic, displaying graphical elements relative to the vehicle's position and size to intuitively alert the driver to potential hazards, with dynamic limitations highlighted for increased attention.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If driver assistance systems display generic road narrowing warnings, then drivers receive basic alerting, but drivers cannot adequately differentiate between static and dynamic narrowing conditions requiring different attention levels

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinformation about narrowing typeVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by differentiating the visual representation of road boundaries based on their dynamic characteristics. Static boundaries are displayed with one visual style while dynamic boundaries are displayed with another distinct visual style, allowing drivers to locally identify which specific boundaries require heightened attention without complicating the overall system architecture.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent utilizes color changes to encode information about road narrowing types. Different colors or visual styles are assigned to represent static versus dynamic boundaries, enabling drivers to quickly comprehend the nature of the narrowing condition through intuitive visual cues without requiring complex interfaces or additional information processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #32Color changes

2Reliability

If the system provides detailed visual information about road narrowing, then driver awareness improves, but the display becomes cluttered and harder to interpret

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedriver support reliabilityVSAvoiddisplay interpretability
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the road boundary into distinct visual elements that can be independently rendered. By dividing the boundary representation into separate static and dynamic components with distinct visual styles, the system provides comprehensive information while maintaining display clarity through organized, non-overlapping visual segmentation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent adds a visual dimension to differentiate narrowing types by using different display styles, colors, or graphical representations for static versus dynamic boundaries. This dimensional differentiation allows the system to convey multiple pieces of information simultaneously without cluttering the display, as each boundary type occupies a distinct visual category.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

Data Source

PatentEP2910445B1Method for supporting a driver when passing through a narrowing path and driver assistance system
Publication Date: 2020.04.08 VOLKSWAGEN AG
  • EP2910445B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2910445B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP2910445B1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

The present invention relates to a method for assisting the driver of a vehicle (1) when passing through a narrowing of the roadway, in which a narrowing of the roadway is detected by means of a sensor unit (2) in the direction of travel of the vehicle (1), the narrowing of the roadway is categorized, wherein a narrowing of the roadway is assigned a first category if it comprises only static boundaries (7), and a second category if it comprises dynamic boundaries (8), and, while approaching the narrowing of the roadway and/or while passing through the narrowing of the roadway, a first graphic element (9, 16) for the narrowing of the roadway and, relative to it, a second graphic element (10) for the vehicle (1) is displayed to assist the driver of the vehicle (1), wherein the manner of display of the first and/or second graphic element (9, 16, 10) differs depending on the category of the detected narrowing of the roadway.Furthermore, the invention relates to a driver assistance system for carrying out this method.