Street Light Control for Reliable Emergency Route Indication
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing emergency response technologies, such as traffic signal control and vehicle-mounted cues, fail to provide reliable and specific direction information to non-emergency vehicles in urban environments, leading to delays and potential obstruction of emergency vehicles.
Innovation Solution
Street lights are controlled by a central controller to indicate priority routes through various modes, providing visual and auditory cues to drivers based on the location of emergency vehicles, adjusting these cues dynamically as the vehicles move along the route.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If traffic signals are used to control emergency vehicle passage, then emergency vehicle speed is improved, but reliability of route indication to non-emergency vehicles deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces street lights as an intermediary communication medium between the emergency vehicle and non-emergency vehicles. Instead of relying on drivers to detect vehicle-mounted cues, the system uses street lights controlled by a central controller to provide reliable visual route indication. The street lights act as a mediator that translates emergency vehicle position into clear directional guidance for other drivers, resolving the contradiction between speed improvement and reliable information delivery.
2Loss of information
If vehicle-mounted visual cues are used, then direction information is provided to non-emergency vehicles, but reliability deteriorates due to limited line of sight in urban environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces direct vehicle-to-vehicle communication with an intermediary street light system. The central controller receives position data from the emergency vehicle and activates specific street lights along the priority route, ensuring reliable directional information delivery regardless of visual obstructions. This intermediary approach eliminates the line-of-sight limitation inherent in vehicle-mounted cues.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a mobile communication system (vehicle-mounted cues) to a fixed infrastructure system (street lights). By utilizing the vertical dimension of street light poles and the distributed spatial arrangement of street lights along the route, the system overcomes the horizontal line-of-sight limitations in urban environments with buildings and intersections.
3Reliability
If street lights are controlled to indicate priority routes, then reliability of route information is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent repurposes existing street light infrastructure for dual functionality: normal illumination and emergency priority route indication. The street lights maintain their primary lighting function while adding the capability to display priority indicators (such as flashing patterns or color changes) when activated by the central controller. This multi-functionality approach improves reliability without requiring a completely separate communication system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system leverages the existing street light control infrastructure to manage the complexity of coordinating multiple street lights. Each street light controller independently receives commands from the central controller and autonomously controls its associated street lights, eliminating the need for complex inter-controller communication and simplifying the overall system architecture while maintaining high reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments relate to techniques for using street lights to indicate emergency or other priority routes along a route in a network of streets. In one example, a controller determines a plurality of street lights along a priority route for one or more vehicles and transmits, to respective street light controllers associated with the plurality of street lights, respective instructions to operate the plurality of street lights in a priority route mode, wherein a street light operating in the priority route mode is visually distinct from the street light operating in an illumination mode used to illuminate areas around the street light.