Vehicle Reversing Assistant With Mergeable Path Memory

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing reversing assistants for vehicles in constrained environments often require drivers to manually maneuver and record paths multiple times, leading to inefficient use and potential overwriting of recorded paths, especially when drivers activate assistive systems too late.

Innovation Solution

A reversing assistant system that continuously records vehicle paths and assesses mergeability between current and preceding segments, allowing for path merging to create a new segment for assisted reversing, ensuring correct positioning and orientation without requiring additional manual maneuvering.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the driver manually maneuvers the vehicle multiple times to record a path, then the path recording functionality is achieved, but the recorded path may be inadvertently overwritten by subsequent manual attempts

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepath recording reliabilityVSAvoiddriver operation simplicity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system continuously records the current forward segment in real-time as the driver maneuvers the vehicle, so that when the driver later requests assisted reversing, the path is already recorded and ready for use, eliminating the need for separate path recording maneuvers

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system creates a digital copy of the forward path segment and stores it in memory for later retrieval during reversing operations, allowing the driver to reuse the recorded path without manually recreating it

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

2Reliability

If the driver activates the assistive system only after unsuccessful manual attempts, then the driver has experience with the maneuver difficulty, but the recorded path may have been overwritten

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveassisted reversing availabilityVSAvoidtime to initiate assisted reversing
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs continuous recording of the forward path segment throughout the driver's maneuvering actions, ensuring that the path data is always available in memory regardless of when the driver decides to activate assisted reversing

Inventive Principle:
Principle #20Continuity of useful action

3Adaptability or versatility

If a menu interface is provided for selecting among multiple recorded paths, then path selection capability is added, but the user interface complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepath selection capabilityVSAvoiduser interface complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts only the essential functionality needed for path selection by automatically managing path segments and providing a simplified interface that avoids complex menu structures while maintaining the ability to select and execute appropriate reversing paths

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

4Productivity

If the vehicle position and orientation do not match the recorded path requirements, then assisted reversing cannot be directly executed, but additional manual maneuvering is required for preparation

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveassisted reversing efficiencyVSAvoidmaneuvering preparation effort
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system continuously monitors the vehicle's position and orientation during forward movement and uses this feedback to dynamically adjust and update the recorded path segment, ensuring that the vehicle maintains correct positioning and orientation throughout the maneuver without requiring additional preparation

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP4029762B1A reversing assistant for a vehicle
Publication Date: 2024.05.22 VOLVO TRUCK CORP
  • EP4029762B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4029762B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4029762B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~3B

AI summary

A reversing assistant system (100) for a vehicle (199) comprises: a first path memory (110) for storing a continuously recorded current forward segment, and a second path memory (120) for storing a recorded preceding forward segment. The system is configured to transfer the content of the first path memory to the second path memory when the vehicle resumes forward motion after reversing, and it further comprises: a path merger observer (130) configured to repeatedly assess whether the current forward segment is mergeable with the preceding forward segment and, if so, to trigger a path merging operation; a path merger (140) configured to execute a path merging operation and to substitute its output into the first path memory; and a drive assistance unit (150) configured to determine drive actions causing the vehicle to reverse along a recorded forward segment or a merged segment.