Vehicle Impact Detection with Noise-Filtered Angle Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle impact detection systems face challenges in accurately determining the angle of impact due to noise interference from vibrations and acoustic noise, which can lead to inconsistent detection of impacts and incorrect identification of acceleration sources.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle impact detection system that includes an acceleration sensor, a processor, and a configurable moving average filter using a series of accumulators in a circular queue to attenuate noise, allowing for the detection of impacts and determination of their angle relative to the forward direction by computing vectors and angles between acceleration and forward vectors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a vehicle impact detection system uses acceleration sensors to detect impacts, then impact detection capability is provided, but noise from vibrations and acoustic noise interferes with accurate determination of impact angle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes noise components from the acceleration signal through filtering operations. The system separates the useful impact signal from harmful noise by applying filters that attenuate vibration and acoustic noise while preserving impact detection capability, thereby improving impact angle determination accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces filtering algorithms as intermediary processing steps between the acceleration sensor and the impact detection logic. These filters act as mediators that condition the raw sensor data by reducing noise interference before the data is used for impact angle calculation, thus resolving the contradiction between noise presence and measurement precision.
2Reliability
If noise filtering is applied to acceleration data, then false positives from noise are reduced, but detection consistency may be affected by filter configuration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs configurable filter parameters that can be adjusted to optimize the balance between noise attenuation and detection consistency. By changing filter parameters such as cutoff frequencies and attenuation levels, the system adapts to different noise conditions while maintaining reliable impact detection, managing the complexity through parameter optimization rather than structural changes.
3Productivity
If acceleration information is processed to detect impact occurrence, then impact detection is enabled, but noise causes inconsistent detection results
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies noise filtering as a preliminary action before impact detection processing. By pre-conditioning the acceleration data through filtering that attenuates noise, the system ensures that subsequent impact detection operations work with cleaned data, thereby maintaining both detection speed and consistency without requiring reprocessing.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for impact detection in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. In one embodiment, a vehicle impact detection system includes an acceleration sensor, a storage device storing an impact detection application, and a processor, where the impact detection application directs the processor to receive acceleration information using the acceleration sensor, filter the acceleration information to attenuate noise, determine an occurrence of an impact by detecting an acceleration from the acceleration information that exceeds a threshold for a time period, detect an angle of the impact with respect to a forward direction using the acceleration information, and trigger an impact detector signal.