Light EV Rider Detection Using Sensor Fusion and Weight Inference
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ride share light electric vehicles often face safety and regulatory issues due to multiple riders exceeding the allowed occupancy, with current systems lacking the ability to automatically detect and prevent such violations.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system that collects data from multiple sensors, including accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, and pressure sensors, to determine the number of riders and apply interventions like warnings, flashing lights, or vehicle throttling to enforce the allowed occupancy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple riders are allowed on a light electric vehicle, then the vehicle can carry more passengers and increase productivity, but safety risks and regulatory violations increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors rider count and provides real-time feedback through notifications to both riders and operators when occupancy limits are exceeded, enabling corrective action to maintain safety while allowing flexible passenger capacity
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle automatically detects and monitors its own occupancy status using integrated sensors, eliminating the need for manual counting by operators and enabling autonomous safety enforcement through automated notifications and interventions
2Measurement precision
If sensors are installed to detect multiple riders, then rider detection accuracy improves, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses multi-functional sensors that serve both primary vehicle operations and secondary rider detection functions, reducing overall system complexity by reusing existing components for multiple purposes rather than adding dedicated detection sensors
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs intermediary sensors that detect indirect indicators of rider presence (such as weight distribution changes or electrical load variations) rather than directly counting riders, achieving accurate detection while maintaining simpler sensor requirements
3Reliability
If real-time monitoring and interventions are implemented, then safety and compliance are enhanced, but energy consumption and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs rider detection and monitoring at periodic intervals rather than continuously, reducing energy consumption while maintaining effective safety oversight through scheduled sensor activations and status checks
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts and processes only critical safety-related data from sensor inputs, filtering out unnecessary information to minimize processing energy requirements while maintaining effective rider count detection and compliance monitoring
Data Source
AI summary
The present application describes systems and methods for detecting more than a predetermined number of riders on a vehicle. Embodiments may either infer or directly measure the mass of the user and the vehicle using one or more sensors on the vehicle to calculate the mass using a microprocessor coupled to the one or more sensors. The system and methods may take various steps to encourage riders to dismount the vehicle if the total number of riders, determined by weight, exceeds the allowed number.