Pre-collision Detection Using Near-Field Sensors and Parallel Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing safety technologies in vehicles, even when properly utilized, are insufficient to prevent serious injury and death in traffic accidents, as they typically react only after a collision occurs, wasting precious time that could be used to deploy lifesaving countermeasures.
Innovation Solution
A sensor and processing system that uses high-speed, near-field optics and embedded computing to detect an imminent collision and deploy preemptive countermeasures such as larger airbags and suspension adjustments up to 0.25 seconds before impact, reducing human intervention and relying on deterministic physics to ensure timely and effective protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If existing safety technologies are used, then they can protect occupants after collision, but they cannot prevent serious injury and death because they react only after collision occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of imminent collision threats using sensors and predicts collision trajectory and timing through processing. This preliminary action enables deployment of countermeasures before collision occurs, transforming passive post-collision protection into active pre-collision prevention, thereby resolving the contradiction between reaction time and protection effectiveness
2Measurement precision
If high sample rate near-field sensors with advanced real-time parallel processing are used, then collision detection accuracy and timing are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the safety function into distinct modules: near-field sensors for detection, parallel processing units for trajectory prediction and timing calculation, and countermeasure deployment systems. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while maintaining overall system precision, resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and device complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle safety system performs close-in incipient collision detection that combines high sample rate near-field sensors with advanced real-time processing to accurately determine imminent threats and the likelihood of a collision before a collision occurs. This allows applicable countermeasures to be deployed based upon the probability of a collision, while also taking into account the type of threat and the impending impact's location on the vehicle. This radically new approach will soon transform the passive safety market to greatly reduce injuries from automotive crashes and save lives.