Autonomous Pedal Misapplication Control System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pedal misapplication in vehicles, where a driver inadvertently applies the accelerator instead of the brake, leading to potential accidents due to confusion and exacerbated by continued belief in correct pedal application, resulting in safety risks and potential injuries.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a gear shift detector, velocity detector, accelerator pedal detector, brake pedal detector, and obstacle detector coupled with a processor to detect likely pedal misapplication and engage autonomous braking and disengage accelerator commands, providing audible alerts to mitigate the effects of such misapplication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the driver applies the accelerator pedal while intending to apply the brake pedal, then the vehicle acceleration continues, but the driver's safety and control are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors multiple parameters (pedal positions, gear state, vehicle velocity, obstacle detection) and provides feedback to the control system. When pedal misapplication is detected through this feedback loop, the system automatically responds by disengaging the accelerator and applying the brake, thereby correcting the error and ensuring safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system acts as an intermediary between the driver's intended action and the vehicle's response. By monitoring the context (gear state, velocity, obstacle presence) and the actual pedal applications, the system mediates the conflict between intended and actual actions, automatically correcting misapplication without requiring direct driver intervention.
2Ease of operation
If the driver continues to believe they are applying the correct pedal, then their confidence is maintained, but the misapplication continues and panic may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides implicit feedback to the driver by automatically correcting the misapplication. The contextual awareness (knowing gear state, velocity, and obstacle presence) allows the system to distinguish between intentional and erroneous pedal applications, providing correction only when appropriate and maintaining driver confidence in normal operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-correction of pedal misapplication without requiring driver intervention. By automatically detecting the error through contextual analysis and executing the correct action (disengaging accelerator, applying brake), the system serves itself to correct the mistake, preventing panic while maintaining reliability.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If autonomous braking is engaged to mitigate pedal misapplication, then safety is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control system performs multiple functions: it monitors pedal positions, determines gear state, measures vehicle velocity, detects obstacles, analyzes the contextual relationship between these parameters to detect misapplication, and executes mitigation actions. By making the control system universal and multi-functional, the patent avoids adding separate dedicated systems for each function, thereby limiting the increase in overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the pedal misapplication detection and mitigation functions with the existing vehicle control systems. By merging the contextual analysis (gear state, velocity, obstacle detection) and the mitigation execution (accelerator disengagement, brake application) into the existing control architecture, the system achieves safety improvement without proportionally increasing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is provided for detecting a likely pedal misapplication event and mitigating the effects of a pedal misapplication. In one embodiment the method comprises determining if likely pedal misapplication has occurred by the steps of: determining if a gear shift has occurred within a threshold time; determining if a vehicle velocity is below a threshold velocity; determining if the accelerator pedal is above a threshold application level; determining if the brake pedal is being applied by the driver; and determining if an obstacle is in the vehicle path and within a threshold distance. If these criteria are found, a likely pedal misapplication is detected.