Glare-Avoiding Vehicle Navigation Routing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle navigation systems fail to account for glare from sunlight, which can severely degrade visibility for drivers and autonomous systems, particularly during peak commute times when sun glare coincides with heavy traffic, leading to safety risks.
Innovation Solution
A navigation system that predicts glare-prone areas based on sun position and vehicle orientation, allowing for the calculation of alternative routes that avoid these areas, taking into account vehicle-specific factors and driver physiology to mitigate glare effects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If the navigation system selects the most direct route to destination, then travel time is reduced, but visibility is degraded due to sun glare in glare-prone areas
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation system performs preliminary identification of glare-prone portions along the route before the vehicle reaches them. By predicting glare conditions based on sun position and route geometry in advance, the system can prepare alternative routing options that avoid these hazardous areas, thereby maintaining visibility while minimizing travel time loss
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the routing parameters by establishing alternative routes that deviate from the most direct path. When glare-prone areas are detected, the navigation system modifies the route parameters to steer the vehicle around these regions, trading off some directness for improved visibility conditions during critical glare periods
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the navigation system establishes alternative routes to avoid glare-prone areas, then visibility is improved, but route complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation system segments the route into distinct portions, identifying specific glare-prone segments along the path. By dividing the route into manageable segments and treating only the problematic portions differently, the system can apply glare avoidance measures locally rather than redesigning the entire route, thereby reducing overall routing complexity while maintaining visibility improvements
3Measurement precision
If the navigation system accounts for sun position and vehicle orientation to predict glare, then prediction accuracy is improved, but computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial action by focusing computational resources only on predicting glare conditions in identified glare-prone portions of the route, rather than calculating glare potential for the entire route. This selective approach maintains high prediction accuracy in critical areas while reducing overall computational complexity by avoiding unnecessary calculations in non-problematic segments
Data Source
AI summary
Features of a vehicle navigation system are discussed in this disclosure. In particular, systems and methods for identifying glare-prone areas and establishing a route that avoids one or more of the identified glare-prone areas that are determined to be likely to degrade visibility of an environment outside of the vehicle. In some embodiments, the navigation system can be configured to calculate the likely duration of a trip and then based on sun angle data identify locations where glare is likely to be problematic. In some embodiments, the navigation system can also be configured to choose routes that avoid bright sources of light that could adversely affect visual acuity at night.