Navigation System Sun Position Route Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Navigation systems often direct users along routes that align with the rising or setting sun, which can be unpleasant and dangerous, and existing re-routing technologies may re-route unnecessarily, leading to inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
A navigation system that determines the position of the sun relative to the route and weather conditions, providing an alternate route if the sun's alignment would impair visibility, but maintaining the original route if weather conditions are cloudy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the navigation system re-routes to avoid sun alignment, then driver visibility and safety are improved, but route efficiency and travel time may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes routing parameters based on sun position calculations, date, time, and location data to avoid sun-aligned routes that would impair driver visibility, while maintaining optimal travel time by selecting alternative paths that do not require excessive detours
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary sun position calculations and route analysis before providing navigation directions, identifying and flagging routes that would align with the rising or setting sun, then pre-computing alternative routes that avoid sun alignment while minimizing travel time impact
2Reliability
If the navigation system always provides alternate routes to avoid sun alignment, then driver safety is improved, but system complexity and computational requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically performs sun position calculations, route analysis, and alternate route generation without requiring user intervention, using readily available data from the device's location services, clock, and pre-stored roadmap data to make safety decisions autonomously
Solution Approach 2:
The system integrates multiple functions into a single navigation process: sun position calculation, route alignment analysis, weather condition monitoring, and alternate route generation, all handled by the existing navigation software without requiring separate dedicated systems
3Illumination intensity
If the navigation system re-routes based on sun position, then visibility impairment is avoided, but unnecessary re-routing occurs when weather conditions would mitigate the problem
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts routing decisions based on real-time weather condition parameters, specifically incorporating cloud cover data to modify the sun alignment avoidance logic, allowing direct sun-aligned routes when cloud cover is present that would naturally mitigate visibility impairment
Data Source
AI summary
A method for a computing device to determine a route entails determining a sun position relative to the route, determining weather conditions along the route, and determining whether to provide alternate routing based on both the sun position and the weather conditions. In one implementation, time-specific and weather-specific digital photographs of points of interest along the route are downloaded for display on the device when the device is located at or near the points of interest.