Vehicle Rock Kickup Detection for Following Distance Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Rocks kicked up by vehicles can cause damage to other vehicles, particularly when a trailing vehicle follows a leading vehicle too closely, leading to paint chips and windshield cracks.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle system equipped with sensors and a controller to detect rock kickups, enabling operations such as adjusting following distance, reducing speed, and performing vehicle maneuvers to mitigate the impact of propelled rocks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a trailing vehicle follows a leading vehicle at a short distance, then driving efficiency and road space utilization are improved, but the trailing vehicle is exposed to rock damage from kicked-up rocks
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of rocks on the road surface using sensors before the vehicle reaches them. When rocks are detected ahead of the trailing vehicle, the system proactively issues warnings to the driver or automatically adjusts following distance, preventing rock damage before it occurs while allowing the vehicle to maintain efficient following distance
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors road conditions using sensors and provides real-time feedback to the driver through warnings or notifications. This feedback loop enables the driver to adjust following distance dynamically, maintaining both driving efficiency and protection from rock damage
2Object-affected harmful factors
If sensors and control systems are added to detect and respond to rock kickups, then vehicle protection from rock damage is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses existing multi-functional vehicle sensors (designed for general obstacle detection and road monitoring) for the additional purpose of rock detection. This approach provides rock protection functionality without requiring entirely new dedicated sensor systems, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system leverages the vehicle's existing sensor network and control infrastructure to perform rock detection and response functions. By utilizing already-deployed components for multiple purposes, the system achieves rock protection with minimal additional hardware complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle includes one or more sensors configured to generate sensor data; and a controller programmed to: responsive to receiving the sensor data indicative of rocks being propelled off the ground, perform a vehicle operation to protect the vehicle from the propelled rocks.