Programmable Vehicle Beaconing for Micro-Mobility Fleet Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing number of micro-mobility fleet vehicles in transportation services makes it difficult for requestors to locate specific vehicles, leading to confusion and decreased safety, especially in congested areas, necessitating a solution to enhance visibility and identification.
Innovation Solution
A lighted vehicle beaconing system integrated with micro-mobility fleet vehicles, featuring programmable light elements that generate multicolored and animated lighting sequences to identify vehicles and provide safety features, synchronized with a logic device that determines and controls these sequences for effective communication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If more micro-mobility fleet vehicles are introduced into the transportation services marketplace, then transportation service capacity increases, but requestor confusion increases and vehicle location difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color changes by using multicolored programmable light elements that can display different colors (red, green, blue, yellow, etc.) to indicate various vehicle states such as available, rented, maintenance mode, or alert conditions. This allows requestors to quickly identify and distinguish specific vehicles in a fleet without confusion, even as the fleet size grows.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements periodic action through animated lighting sequences that cycle through different patterns (e.g., blinking, pulsing, rotating colors) to attract requestor attention and convey vehicle status information. These periodic light patterns make vehicles more detectable and distinguishable in congested areas where multiple similar vehicles are present.
2Productivity
If more micro-mobility fleet vehicles are introduced into the transportation services marketplace, then transportation service capacity increases, but rider safety decreases due to increased congestion-related risk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses color changes to communicate critical safety information to riders and surrounding pedestrians. For example, red lights may indicate brake application or hazard conditions, while green lights may indicate safe operation status. This visual communication system enhances rider safety by providing clear, visible feedback about vehicle state in congested environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs periodic lighting sequences to alert riders and pedestrians to potential safety concerns or to confirm safe operating conditions. The animated patterns create visible signals that can be detected from a distance, allowing riders to awareness of their surroundings and potential hazards in congested areas.
3Device complexity
If traditional static vehicle lighting is used, then device complexity is low, but vehicle visibility and identification capability are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by transitioning from static lighting to dynamic, programmable lighting sequences. The light elements can change colors, intensities, and patterns based on vehicle state and environmental conditions. This dynamic behavior significantly improves vehicle visibility and identification capability while the programmable nature allows for flexible control without requiring complex mechanical systems.
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
The system effectively reduces requestor confusion and enhances rider, public, and vehicle safety by providing a recognizable and visible means to locate rented vehicles, improving the overall quality of service and safety in dynamic transportation systems.
Implementation Method 1
The vehicle light assembly may include a programmable light element configured to receive a lighting control sequence and generate a multicolored and/or animated lighting sequence corresponding to the received lighting control sequence
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are disclosed for systems and methods to provide lighted vehicle beaconing, particularly for micro-mobility fleet vehicles. A lighted vehicle beaconing system includes a vehicle light assembly configured to be coupled to and/or integrated with a micro-mobility fleet vehicle and a logic device configured to communicate with the vehicle light assembly. The vehicle light assembly includes a programmable light element configured to receive a lighting control sequence and generate a multicolored and/or animated lighting sequence corresponding to the received lighting control sequence. The logic device is configured to determine the lighting control sequence and to generate the multicolored and/or animated lighting sequence by providing the lighting control sequence to the programmable light element of the vehicle light assembly.