Motorcycle Formation Warning Control for Rear Vehicle Hazard Assessment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for operating motorcycles in formations do not adequately differentiate between vehicles within and outside the formation, leading to unnecessary collision warnings and reduced riding safety due to inconsistent distance management.

Innovation Solution

A method and system that automatically detects vehicles behind a motorcycle, determines their formation affiliation, and calculates a hazard potential based on relative position and speed, allowing closer distances to vehicles within the formation while providing tailored collision warnings.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a motorcycle's collision warning system uses a uniform safety distance threshold for all detected vehicles, then the system is simple to implement, but it generates unnecessary collision warnings for vehicles within the formation, reducing riding safety

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveriding safetyVSAvoidcollision warning system complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by differentiating the safety distance threshold based on the vehicle's formation affiliation. Vehicles within the formation are assigned a smaller safety distance threshold, while vehicles outside the formation use a larger threshold. This localized adjustment of parameters resolves the contradiction by improving reliability through reduced false warnings while maintaining manageable system complexity through conditional logic.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the safety distance threshold parameter dynamically based on whether the detected vehicle belongs to the formation. The control unit adjusts this critical parameter according to formation affiliation, allowing the system to adapt its behavior to different operational contexts. This parameter change enables the system to distinguish between formation vehicles and other vehicles, eliminating unnecessary warnings while preserving safety.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Reliability

If the motorcycle maintains larger distances to all detected vehicles, then collision warnings are more accurate, but the formation riding stability deteriorates due to excessive spacing requirements

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecollision warning accuracyVSAvoidformation riding stability
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by implementing different safety distance thresholds for different categories of vehicles. Formation vehicles receive a smaller threshold allowance, maintaining tight formation spacing and stability. Non-formation vehicles trigger warnings at larger distances, ensuring collision avoidance accuracy. This differentiated approach resolves the contradiction by allowing close formation riding while maintaining accurate collision warnings for external vehicles.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

3Speed

If the collision warning system triggers at shorter distances, then the system responds more quickly to potential hazards, but it generates false alarms for formation vehicles, reducing motorcyclist concentration and safety

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewarning response speedVSAvoidwarning accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the warning trigger distance parameter based on formation affiliation. For formation vehicles, the trigger distance is set to a smaller value, enabling quick response to actual hazards while avoiding false alarms from normal formation maneuvers. For non-formation vehicles, the trigger distance remains larger, ensuring warning accuracy. This dynamic parameter adjustment resolves the contradiction between fast response and accurate warnings.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP4375966B1Method and controller for operating a motorcycle in a formation of motorcycles
Publication Date: 2025.11.05 ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
  • EP4375966B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4375966B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP4375966B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

The present invention relates to a method for operating a motorcycle (100) in a formation (104) of motorcycles, wherein vehicles (102) in a rear area behind the motorcycle (100) are detected, a relative position (112) of the vehicle (102) to the motorcycle (100) and a formation membership (114) of the detected vehicle (102) to the formation (104) are determined for each detected vehicle (102), wherein a hazard potential (116) of the vehicle (102) for the motorcycle (100) is determined using the relative position (112) and the formation membership (114), wherein the hazard potential (116) of vehicles (102) belonging to the formation is determined to be lower than that of vehicles (102) not belonging to the formation at the same relative position (112).