Rear-Facing Camera for Bidirectional Traffic Sign Detection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional camera arrangements for capturing traffic signs can only recognize signs ahead of the vehicle, limiting data collection and raising privacy concerns, as they do not capture signs from opposing directions, which can delay data transmission and create individual driving profiles.
Innovation Solution
Employing a rear-facing camera during forward travel to capture traffic signs from the opposite direction, in conjunction with a front-facing camera, to generate comprehensive data sets that are transmitted to a database, facilitating the creation of electronic road maps while making individual driving profiles more difficult to reconstruct.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a front-facing camera is used to capture traffic signs, then traffic signs ahead in the driving direction can be recognized, but traffic signs from opposing directions cannot be captured
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the inversion principle by utilizing a rear-facing camera to capture images of traffic signs that are behind the vehicle. Instead of only using the front-facing camera for forward-direction traffic signs, the system processes rearward images to identify and capture opposing direction traffic signs, thereby inverting the traditional forward-only capture approach to achieve bidirectional coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies the universality principle by enabling the rear-facing camera to serve multiple functions: it captures both rearward traffic signs for the current driving direction and opposing direction traffic signs by processing images taken during forward travel. This multi-functional use of the rear camera eliminates the need for separate capture systems for different directional requirements.
2Productivity
If traffic sign data is transmitted to a database outside the vehicle, then electronic road maps can be updated, but individual driving profiles can be created raising privacy concerns
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the extraction principle by isolating and transmitting only the essential traffic sign data and geographic position information to external databases, while deliberately excluding personal identifying information and detailed driving behavior patterns. This selective extraction reduces privacy risks while maintaining the utility of electronic road map updates.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies the copying principle by creating anonymized copies of traffic sign data that preserve the essential information needed for electronic road map updates without containing personal identifiers. The system transmits these sanitized copies to external databases, enabling data utilization while protecting driver privacy.
3Device complexity
If only forward-facing traffic signs are captured, then the camera system is simple, but data completeness for electronic road maps is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the universality principle by enabling the existing rear-facing camera to serve dual purposes: capturing traffic signs for the current driving direction and capturing opposing direction traffic signs. This multi-functional utilization of the rear camera achieves bidirectional traffic sign coverage without adding separate camera systems, thereby maintaining device simplicity while improving data completeness.
Data Source
AI summary
The limitation, which applies when capturing traffic signs in a conventional manner using a camera which is oriented to the front with respect to the vehicle, to capturing traffic signs that are located ahead in the driving direction and the unique association between traffic signs that apply only to one direction and the driving direction of the capturing vehicle are eliminated by way of a camera that is oriented to the rear with respect to the vehicle, for example a rear-view camera of the vehicle, also being operated during forward travel in order to also capture traffic signs that apply to the opposite direction and are located behind the vehicle at the time they are captured, and the position of said traffic signs, and by way of data sets generated therefrom being transmitted to the database together with the data sets generated by means of the front camera.