Shoulder Departure Assistance System for Overtaking Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Drivers may unintentionally leave their lane to facilitate overtaking, especially in situations where the shoulder or emergency lane ends suddenly or contains obstacles, and may be unaware of approaching vehicles due to distractions or poor conditions, leading to stressful and potentially dangerous situations.
Innovation Solution
A system that detects lane assignment, road property changes, and adjacent vehicles using sensors and map data, providing advance warnings to the driver to safely return to the original lane, reducing false alarms through driver state estimation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the driver leaves the lane to facilitate overtaking, then the overtaking vehicle can pass, but the driver becomes unaware of upcoming threats in the shoulder lane due to distraction or poor conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary monitoring mechanism that independently observes the shoulder lane environment and driver state, transferring this information to the driver through warnings. This mediator compensates for the driver's reduced awareness during overtaking maneuvers without interfering with the overtaking process itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback loops that monitor both the external environment (shoulder lane threats, road property changes) and internal driver state (attention level, drowsiness). This feedback enables real-time detection of dangerous conditions and triggers appropriate warnings to restore driver awareness.
2Reliability
If the driver steers back into the lane quickly to avoid threats, then safety is improved, but the decision time is reduced due to late detection
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary monitoring and detection of threats in the shoulder lane before the driver would naturally become aware of them. By detecting road property changes, obstacles, and adjacent vehicles in advance, the system provides early warnings that give the driver sufficient time to plan and execute safe lane re-entry maneuvers.
3Reliability
If the system provides continuous monitoring and warnings, then driver safety is improved, but the device complexity increases due to multiple sensors and processing units
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs multi-functional sensors and processing units that serve multiple purposes: monitoring the shoulder lane environment, detecting driver state, identifying road property changes, and tracking adjacent vehicles. This universal approach reduces the total number of specialized components needed while maintaining comprehensive monitoring capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system combines multiple monitoring functions (environmental sensing, driver state estimation, threat detection) into an integrated warning system. By merging these functions into a unified architecture with shared processing resources and coordinated output mechanisms, the system reduces overall complexity compared to having separate independent systems for each function.
4Reliability
If the system warns the driver of all potential threats, then safety is improved, but false alarms increase causing driver stress
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback from driver state monitoring to dynamically adjust warning thresholds and behavior. By continuously assessing whether the driver is already attentive or distracted, the system can suppress warnings when the driver is actively monitoring the situation, thereby reducing false alarms and driver stress while maintaining safety when needed.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a method and system (1) for shoulder departure assistance in an automotive vehicle (2). The system (1) comprises: means (7) for establishing lane assignment (3) when travelling fully or partially in a shoulder; means (7) for establishing the presence of upcoming changes in road properties of the assigned shoulder lane (3); means (9) for establishing the presence of a vehicle (4) in a lane (6) adjacent to the shoulder lane (3) assigned the vehicle (2) hosting the system (1). The system (1) further comprises means (10) for executing a first driver warning - if established that upcoming changes in road properties are such that the assigned shoulder lane (3) is unsuitable for further travel; and means (10) for executing a second driver warning - if further established that a vehicle (4) is present in a lane (6) adjacent to the shoulder lane (3) assigned the vehicle (2) hosting the system (1).