EV Collision Avoidance via Camera-Based Power Cutoff
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for vehicles rely heavily on sensors to prevent collisions, which can be inaccurate in various driving environments, necessitating a method to acquire information about surrounding circumstances using alternative means.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method for electric vehicle collision avoidance using camera units to acquire images, monitoring units to estimate distances based on image analysis, and power management units to cut off power when an object approaches within a preset distance, employing danger, alert, surveillance, and safety regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sensor-based collision prevention systems are used, then collision warning function is provided, but measurement accuracy of inter-vehicle distance deteriorates in various driving environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the sensor-based mechanical detection system with a camera-based optical system. The camera unit captures images of the surrounding environment, and the monitoring unit processes these images to detect objects and estimate distances, thereby substituting the traditional sensor mechanism with an optical imaging approach that performs better in various driving conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces image processing algorithms and computer vision techniques as intermediaries between the camera and the collision prevention system. The monitoring unit uses these intermediary processes to extract object information, estimate distances, and determine collision risks from captured images, bridging the gap between optical detection and safety control
2Measurement precision
If camera-based monitoring is implemented, then measurement accuracy of surrounding objects is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The camera unit serves multiple functions: capturing images for object detection, estimating distances through image analysis, and providing visual information for collision risk assessment. This multi-functional approach reduces the need for separate sensors for each function, thereby managing device complexity while improving measurement precision
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a visual copy of the surrounding environment through camera imaging, allowing the monitoring unit to analyze and process spatial information without direct physical measurement. This copying approach simplifies the detection mechanism while maintaining high measurement accuracy for object positions and distances
3Reliability
If power cutoff command is issued when object enters danger region, then collision avoidance is achieved, but response time must be extremely short
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the surrounding space into multiple regions (surveillance, alert, and danger regions) and begins monitoring objects when they enter the surveillance region, well before they reach the danger region. This preliminary action allows the system to process information and issue power cutoff commands with sufficient time margin, ensuring collision avoidance while maintaining reasonable response times
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring space is segmented into multiple zones with different monitoring intensities and response requirements. The surveillance region uses lower frame rates for energy efficiency, while the alert and danger regions trigger progressively more intensive monitoring and faster response actions, optimizing the balance between collision avoidance reliability and response time
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for electric vehicle collision avoidance. The apparatus for electric vehicle collision avoidance may include: a camera unit configured to acquire an image of the surrounding of an electric vehicle; a monitoring unit configured to control the camera unit such that the image is acquired as a preset number of image frames, monitor changes in consecutive image frames to recognize an object present in the image, estimate a distance between the electric vehicle and the object based on the position of the recognized object in the image, and generate a power cutoff command signal if the estimated distance is smaller than or equal to a preset distance; and a power management unit configured to cut off the power of a battery pack of the electric vehicle in response to the power cutoff command signal.