Vehicle Pedal Pad Rotation and Vibration for Misstep Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicle pedal configurations lack effective feedback mechanisms to prevent or mitigate pedal missteps, leading to potential accidents and miscommunication between the vehicle and driver, especially during assisted driving scenarios.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves a vehicle pedal configuration with a pedal pad coupled to a pedal arm, featuring adjustable positioning elements such as rotation, vibration, and directional friction surfaces to prevent engagement of the wrong pedal, utilizing sensors and actuators to detect and correct improper foot placement and provide haptic feedback to the driver.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional fixed pedal configurations are used, then the device complexity is low, but the reliability is reduced due to inability to prevent pedal missteps
Solution Approach 1:
The pedal configuration transitions from a static fixed structure to a dynamic adjustable structure. The pedal pad can rotate about a pivot axis and reposition itself based on detected foot placement, allowing the system to adapt its configuration in real-time to prevent missteps while maintaining simplicity when not actively correcting
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates sensors that detect foot placement on the pedal and provide feedback to the control system. When a misstep is detected (e.g., foot on wrong pedal), the system activates positioning elements to rotate or reposition the pedal pad, creating a closed-loop feedback mechanism that continuously monitors and corrects pedal engagement
2Reliability
If positioning elements are added to adjust pedal pad, then the reliability improves by preventing missteps, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to additional adjustment mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The pedal pad performs self-correction through automated positioning elements that rotate or reposition the pad in response to detected missteps. The system serves itself by automatically detecting and correcting incorrect foot placement without requiring driver intervention or complex manual adjustment mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning elements can induce mechanical rotation or vibration of the pedal pad to physically guide the driver's foot to the correct position. This active mechanical feedback provides tactile cues to the driver while automatically correcting the misstep, maintaining ease of operation through intuitive physical guidance
3Reliability
If rotational adjustment mechanism is implemented, then the reliability improves by correcting foot placement, but the device complexity increases due to rotation mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The pedal assembly is segmented into distinct functional components: a pedal arm, a rotatable pedal pad, pivot axis, and positioning elements. This segmentation allows the rotation mechanism to be isolated to specific components rather than the entire pedal assembly, simplifying the overall system while enabling effective foot placement correction
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration effectively reduces pedal missteps by providing haptic feedback and physically guiding the driver's foot to the correct pedal, enhancing safety during assisted driving and preventing accidents by ensuring correct pedal application.
Implementation Method 1
the at least one positioning element vibrates the pedal pad and surface horizontally to reposition a driver foot
Implementation Method 2
the operator device is at least one of footwear including a sole, the sole including ferromagnetic material, and a wearable device including a ferromagnetic material
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and device configurations are provided for reducing misstep, such as miscommunication between a vehicle and a driver that results in applying the incorrect pedal. Vehicle pedal configurations having a positioning element are described. Embodiments include pedal configurations having a pedal pad and at least one positioning element to adjust the pedal pad in response to pedal misstep. Pedal adjustment can include rotation of a pedal pad, rotation of portions of a pedal pad, and multibody pedal pad configurations. According to embodiment, a pedal pad includes vibrational elements to control vibration of the pedal. Embodiments are also directed to a pedal configuration including a flip plate. Systems are provided including a controller to control a pedal configuration and positioning elements. The controller may control the pedal based on a driving mode, such as an assistive driving state wherein operator is instructed to apply a pedal.