Driver Wakefulness Visual Prompting During Autonomous Driving
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems fail to effectively check whether a driver is awake during autonomous driving without hindering their ability to monitor the surrounding environment or perform immediate driving operations.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle control system that uses a first visual device positioned away from the forward direction to issue a visual notification, guiding the driver's line of sight to monitor the surroundings, without requiring manual switch operations or audio notifications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a switch operation task is required to check driver wakefulness, then driver wakefulness can be confirmed, but driver's ability to monitor surrounding environment is hindered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical switch operations with optical visual notifications. The notification device uses visual signals (light emission, display) to check driver wakefulness instead of requiring manual switch operations, thereby eliminating the conflict between wakefulness verification and environment monitoring
Solution Approach 2:
The notification device acts as an intermediary between the system and driver. It provides visual notifications that can be perceived without requiring the driver to perform manual operations, serving as a mediator that verifies wakefulness while allowing continuous environment monitoring
2Reliability
If a switch operation task is required to check driver wakefulness, then driver wakefulness can be confirmed, but immediate driving operation is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical switch operations with optical visual notifications. This substitution eliminates the time required for manual switch operations, allowing immediate driving operations to proceed without delay while still verifying driver wakefulness through visual response
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs wakefulness verification through visual notifications in advance or concurrently with driving operations, rather than requiring sequential manual operations. This allows the driver to respond naturally to visual cues without interrupting the driving task timeline
3Reliability
If audio notification is used to check driver wakefulness, then driver wakefulness can be confirmed, but driver attention is diverted from surrounding environment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces acoustic notification with optical visual notifications. This substitution allows wakefulness verification through visual channels that do not compete with auditory attention required for environment monitoring, thereby eliminating the distraction problem associated with audio notifications
Data Source
AI summary
The vehicle includes a first visual device and a second visual device. The forward direction is a direction from the driver seat in which the driver of the vehicle is seated toward the front of the vehicle. The first direction is a direction from the driver seat toward the first visual device. The second direction is a direction from the driver seat toward the second visual device. The first angle between the first direction and the forward direction is greater than the second angle between the second direction and the forward direction. The vehicle control method includes: issuing a first visual notification from the first visual device when checking whether the driver is awake during autonomous driving of the vehicle; and determining that the driver is awake and continuing autonomous driving when the driver reacts to the first visual notification.