Virtual Scene Monitoring for Route-Aware Vehicle Hazard Assessment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Modern vehicles, especially rail vehicles, face challenges in processing the vast volume of data generated by environmental monitoring sensors, making it difficult to analyze complex driving situations involving numerous static and dynamic objects and determine appropriate responses from assistance systems.

Innovation Solution

A method and system that utilize quality-assured route information from a database to generate a virtual scene representation of a vehicle's surroundings, incorporating external data to simplify and enhance the analysis of driving situations by identifying relevant objects and their interactions, thereby improving safety and flexibility.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If sensors continuously monitor the vehicle's environment to detect all objects, then detection completeness is improved, but data processing complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedetection completenessVSAvoiddata processing complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by pre-storing route information including static objects, road geometry, and environmental features in a database before the vehicle reaches the location. This advance preparation allows the sensor data to be compared against known information, filtering out expected static objects and reducing the computational burden of detecting all objects from scratch.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The invention extracts and separates static route information from dynamic sensor data. By extracting known static objects and environmental features from the route database, the system isolates only the dynamic elements that require active monitoring and analysis, thereby simplifying the data processing workload while maintaining complete detection capability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Measurement precision

If all detected objects are analyzed in detail to assess hazards, then hazard assessment accuracy is improved, but analysis time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehazard assessment accuracyVSAvoidanalysis time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies local quality by differentiating the analysis depth based on object characteristics and context. Static objects matched against route information receive minimal processing, while dynamic objects or anomalies trigger detailed hazard assessment. This localized approach to analysis quality maintains accuracy for critical elements while reducing overall processing time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The continuous monitoring system maintains a rolling analysis where sensor data is constantly compared against route information. This continuous action allows the system to maintain updated knowledge of the environment without periodic re-analysis of all objects, enabling rapid hazard assessment as new elements enter the vehicle's vicinity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #20Continuity of useful action

3Device complexity

If the system processes sensor data without external route information, then system simplicity is maintained, but detection reliability decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesystem simplicityVSAvoiddetection reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The route database serves as an intermediary between sensor data and hazard assessment. Rather than processing raw sensor data in isolation, the system uses the pre-stored route information as a reference framework to contextualize sensor inputs, verify detections, and distinguish between expected environmental features and potential hazards, thereby enhancing reliability without substantially complicating the processing architecture.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Adaptability or versatility

If the vehicle adapts to different routes and conditions, then system versatility is improved, but data processing requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveroute adaptabilityVSAvoiddata processing efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

For each new route or condition, the system performs preliminary actions by loading and storing relevant route information in advance. This preparation phase, conducted before the vehicle encounters the new environment, enables the system to adapt to diverse routes without incurring processing penalties during actual operation, as the adaptation work is completed beforehand.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP4119417B1Monitoring method and system
Publication Date: 2025.11.19 SIEMENS MOBILITY GMBH
  • EP4119417B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4119417B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP4119417B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

The present invention relates to a method and a system (50) for monitoring a vehicle's surroundings (10) while a vehicle (1) is traveling on a route (2), as well as to a vehicle (1). A scene in the vehicle's surroundings is detected by sensors, and corresponding sensor data is generated. Based on the sensor data and quality-assured route information stored in a database (52), a virtual scene representation of the detected scene is determined.