Emergency Vehicle Route Broadcast for Navigation Overlap Detection

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Solution Overview

Problem

Emergency vehicles face delays due to motorists' difficulty in hearing sirens or determining their location, and this issue is exacerbated by autonomous vehicles' inability to detect sirens or react appropriately to emergency vehicle driving patterns.

Innovation Solution

A method and system where emergency vehicles broadcast their route as an emergency signal, allowing navigational devices to receive and determine if their route overlaps with the emergency vehicle's, thereby adjusting the vehicle's route to minimize overlap and ensure timely passage.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If emergency vehicles use sirens and flashing lights to alert motorists, then motorists can be warned of the emergency vehicle's approach, but motorists often cannot hear the siren or determine the location of the emergency vehicle in a timely fashion

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinformation about emergency vehicle location and routeVSAvoidtime for motorists to react and move out of the way

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an intermediary system consisting of broadcast signals and receiving devices that mediate between the emergency vehicle and motorists. The emergency vehicle's route and location information is broadcast through signals that receiving devices in other vehicles can detect, providing timely and accurate information about the emergency vehicle's approach without relying solely on audible sirens or visual lights.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces the mechanical/acoustic system of sirens and visual flashing lights with an electronic signal transmission system. Instead of relying on sound waves and light emission, the system uses broadcast signals containing encoded route and location information that can be received and processed electronically by other vehicles, providing more reliable and timely information.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Productivity

If autonomous vehicles are introduced to the road, then transportation efficiency can be improved, but autonomous vehicles may not be able to detect the siren or know how to react to the driving pattern of an emergency vehicle

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetransportation efficiencyVSAvoidability to detect and respond to emergency vehicle

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The broadcast signal acts as an intermediary that bridges the gap between emergency vehicles and autonomous vehicles. The signal contains structured information about the emergency vehicle's route and status that autonomous vehicles can detect and interpret through their receiving devices, enabling them to understand and appropriately respond to emergency situations without needing to detect acoustic sirens.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the parameter of information transmission from acoustic and visual signals to electronic broadcast signals with specific data parameters. The broadcast signal includes encoded information about route, location, and emergency status that autonomous vehicles can process, transforming the nature of the signal from something that needs to be sensed to something that can be digitally received and interpreted.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Reliability

If motorists manually respond to emergency vehicles by hearing sirens, then some awareness can be achieved, but this results in unnecessary delays in the emergency vehicle arriving at the location of the emergency

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemotorist awareness of emergency vehicleVSAvoiddelay in emergency vehicle arrival

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary action by broadcasting the emergency vehicle's route information in advance before the emergency vehicle reaches each motorist's location. Receiving devices can detect the broadcast signal and determine the emergency vehicle's approach ahead of time, allowing motorists to proactively clear the route before the emergency vehicle arrives, thereby reducing delays.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system establishes a feedback loop where broadcast signals provide continuous information about the emergency vehicle's location and route to receiving devices in other vehicles. This feedback enables motorists to monitor the emergency vehicle's approach in real-time and take appropriate action to clear the route, creating a responsive system that reduces delays.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS10302441B2Route modification based on receiving a broadcast emergency vehicle route

Publication Date: 2019.05.28 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORPORATION

AI summary

Methods, systems and computer program products for updating a route of a vehicle based on a broadcast emergency signal are provided. Aspects include receiving, by a navigational device associated with the vehicle, the broadcast emergency signal indicating a route of an emergency vehicle and determining, by the navigational device, whether the route of the vehicle associated with the navigational device overlaps with the route of the emergency vehicle. Aspects also include determining a revised route for the vehicle based on a determination that the route of the vehicle associated with the navigational device overlaps with the route of the emergency vehicle.