Firefighting Vehicle Visual Assistance System for Ladder Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Firefighting vehicles face difficulties in maneuvering and positioning, especially in narrow spaces and poor visibility conditions, due to the need to estimate the positions of extractable and extendable vehicle parts like ladders and outriggers, which requires high operational skills and often assistance from others.
Innovation Solution
A visual assistance system with overlapping camera fields and a processing unit that combines images to create a comprehensive, marked bird's eye view of the vehicle's surroundings, including estimated positions of vehicle parts, displayed to the operator, and optionally generates thermal images for better visibility in dark environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the driver estimates the positions of extractable and extendable vehicle parts manually, then the positioning process requires high operational skills and often external assistance, but this manual estimation method is time-consuming and difficult in narrow spaces and poor visibility conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a virtual copy of the vehicle and its extractable parts (ladder, outriggers) in the camera overlay display. This virtual model shows the current and potential positions of all vehicle components, allowing the driver to see exactly where parts will be without manually estimating their positions. The virtual representation replaces manual spatial calculation with direct visual observation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system calculates and displays the future positions of extractable parts before the driver actually maneuvers the vehicle into final position. By showing where the ladder and outriggers will end up based on current vehicle orientation and planned movements, the system allows the driver to anticipate positions in advance, avoiding time-consuming trial-and-error adjustments.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple vehicle parts (ladder, outriggers, equipment) are positioned simultaneously, then the complexity of estimating all positions at once increases significantly, but this complexity requires high operational skills and external assistance
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges multiple camera feeds into a single overlay display that simultaneously shows the positions of the vehicle body, ladder, outriggers, and stored equipment. Instead of requiring the driver to mentally track each component separately, all positional information is combined in one visual field with visual cues indicating the spatial relationships between all parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a computer-generated visual intermediary layer between the driver and the physical vehicle parts. This intermediary overlay provides visual cues (such as boundary indicators and position markers) that mediate the complex spatial relationships, making it easier for the driver to understand the positions and interactions of multiple components without directly observing each part individually.
3Productivity
If the driver operates without external assistance in poor visibility conditions, then the independence and speed of operation improve, but the ability to accurately estimate positions of vehicle parts deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses color-coded visual cues in the overlay display to indicate different types of information about vehicle parts and their positions. Color changes provide immediate visual differentiation between vehicle boundaries, extractable parts, stored equipment, and potential obstacles, allowing the driver to quickly and accurately interpret spatial information even in poor visibility conditions without relying on external assistance.
Data Source
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AI summary
Utility vehicle (10), in particular a firefighting vehicle, comprising a visual assistance system for positioning the vehicle, characterized in that the visual assistance system comprises a plurality of cameras (16,18,20,22,24,26) disposed at the vehicle (10) in an elevated position to monitor the ground area around the vehicle (10) such that adjacent visual fields (28,30,32,34,36,38) of the cameras (16,18,20,22,24,26) overlap or supplement each other, a processing unit provided to combine the single images taken by the cameras (16,18,20,22,24,26) to one overall image and to calculate visual markings (42,44,46,48,50,52,54) within the overall image (40) on the basis of vehicle data, and a visual display for displaying the overall image (40) containing the visual markings (42,44,46,48,50,52,54).