Contactless Infrared Door Control for Mass Transit
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Solution Overview
Problem
In mass transit passenger vehicles, existing door control systems pose a risk of disease transmission due to the need for passengers to physically interact with buttons, especially during epidemics, as contaminated passengers can spread germs to others through these surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A contactless door control method using an infrared detector that sends a signal to a control unit to operate door actuators, allowing passengers to request door opening without direct contact, with features including motion and passenger filling coefficient-based threshold settings to differentiate between genuine and false requests.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If contactless detection is used to reduce disease transmission risk, then health safety is improved, but false activation risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the threshold value for contactless detection based on real-time vehicle occupancy levels. When occupancy is high, the threshold is increased to require longer detection durations, reducing false activations from incidental gestures. This dynamic adaptation maintains health safety while improving reliability according to actual operating conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the detection parameter (threshold value) based on vehicle occupancy conditions. By adjusting this parameter dynamically, the system optimizes the balance between preventing false door openings and maintaining contactless operation safety. The threshold adapts to different scenarios such as crowded versus empty vehicles.
2Ease of operation
If door opening is requested during vehicle motion, then passenger convenience is improved, but safety risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit continuously receives feedback about vehicle motion status and uses this information to determine whether to grant door opening requests. When motion is detected, the system provides feedback that prevents door opening, thereby maintaining safety while still allowing convenient contactless request submission. The feedback loop ensures safety constraints are applied automatically.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical button-pressing system with a contactless detection system that uses optical or electromagnetic fields to detect passenger intent. This substitution eliminates physical contact while incorporating intelligent control logic that considers vehicle motion status, thereby maintaining both convenience and safety.
3Speed
If threshold value is set low for rapid response, then door opening speed is improved, but false opening risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The threshold value is not fixed but dynamically adjusted based on vehicle occupancy. When the vehicle is less crowded, lower thresholds enable faster door opening response. When occupancy is high, thresholds are increased to prevent false activations from incidental gestures. This dynamic approach optimizes both speed and reliability according to actual conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary assessment of the detection signal duration and characteristics before granting door opening requests. By evaluating the detection signal against adaptive thresholds in advance, the system ensures that only genuine door opening requests are processed, preventing false openings while maintaining rapid response for valid requests.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Reduces the risk of disease transmission by eliminating direct contact with potentially contaminated buttons and optimizes door opening requests based on vehicle occupancy and motion status, minimizing false openings.
Implementation Method 1
The contactless detector is of the infrared type
Data Source
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AI summary
The device (8, 10, 14) according to the invention for controlling the opening of doors (6) for a mass transit passenger vehicle (2) comprises a contactless detector (14) adapted to send a door opening signal (S14) to a control unit which controls at least one door actuator (8). The method for controlling the opening of at least some of the doors (6) of the passenger transit vehicle (2) comprises at least the following steps: a) determining whether the vehicle (2) is stopped or in motion, b) if the contactless detector (14) is actuated while the vehicle is stopped, considering that opening of the doors has been requested and granting that request, c) if the contactless detector is actuated while the vehicle is in motion, comparing the actuation duration of the detector to a threshold value and, based on the result of that comparison, considering that opening of the doors has or has not been requested, d) if opening of the doors is considered to have been requested in step c), granting that request (120) at the next stop of the vehicle (2).