Driver Seat Position Monitoring With Tactile Takeover Alerts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automatic control systems in vehicles fail to reliably notify drivers to adjust their seat position within a recommended range for safe manual control transfer due to visual or auditory distractions, especially when the seat is positioned for comfort during automatic driving.
Innovation Solution
A monitoring system that utilizes tactile notifications, such as vibrating the seating surface or adjusting seat belt tension, to inform drivers when their seat position is not within the recommended range for manual control, ensuring the driver can safely take over.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the seat position is adjusted backward for driver comfort during automatic driving, then driver comfort is improved, but the driver cannot visually recognize control transfer demands and may not hear notifications correctly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a tactile notification system that uses the seat belt as an intermediary medium to transmit vibration signals to the driver. The notification device vibrates the seat belt, which directly contacts the driver's body, ensuring reliable perception of control transfer demands even when the driver's seat is positioned backward for comfort.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs mechanical vibration through the notification device that vibrates the seat belt. This vibration provides a tactile stimulus that the driver can perceive regardless of seat position, visual distractions, or auditory interference, thereby ensuring reliable notification while maintaining driver comfort through backward seat positioning.
2Loss of information
If visual or auditory notification methods are used for control transfer demands, then information can be transmitted to the driver, but the driver may not perceive the notification correctly due to distractions or mixed sounds
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the seat belt as a tactile intermediary to transmit notification information directly to the driver's body. This bypasses visual and auditory channels that are susceptible to distractions and interference, ensuring reliable information perception through a dedicated tactile communication path.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces visual and auditory notification systems with a tactile mechanical vibration system. By substituting the notification modality from light/sound to mechanical vibration through the seat belt, the system overcomes the limitations of visual and auditory channels in distracting environments.
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
Ensures reliable communication of seat adjustment requests to drivers through tactile means, enhancing safety by preventing unsafe driving conditions.
Implementation Method 1
the notifying unit be capable of vibrating or displacing a seating surface of the driver's seat to notify the driver of the move request
Implementation Method 2
the notifying unit be capable of varying tension on the seat belt of the driver's seat to notify the driver of the move request
Data Source
AI summary
A monitoring system has a notifying unit capable of notifying a driver of information in a tactually recognizable manner, and a processor configured to determine whether a seat position of a driver's seat in which a driver is sitting is within a recommended range that represents an extent of the seat position where the driver sitting in the driver's seat can drive a vehicle, and notify the driver of a move request requiring to adjust the seat position within the recommended range through the notifying control unit based on the determination that the seat position is not within the recommended range.