Vehicle Control Device for Emergency Vehicle Yielding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Emergency vehicles often face delays due to heavy traffic, illegal parking, and reluctance to yield, which can hinder their timely response to emergencies, highlighting the need for an efficient system to manage interactions with other vehicles on the road.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle control device and method that utilizes receiving units for emergency vehicle information, driving lane identification, and a controller to adjust speed or inter-vehicle distance of driving assist systems to ensure efficient yielding when an emergency vehicle approaches, using V2X communication and sensor data to determine lane alignment and control vehicle parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If vehicles maintain normal driving behavior without active yielding, then regular traffic flow is maintained, but emergency vehicle response time is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by detecting emergency vehicles in advance through V2X communication and sensor data, determining lane alignment before the emergency vehicle arrives, and proactively adjusting driving assist parameters (speed, inter-vehicle distance) to facilitate yielding. This allows vehicles to prepare for yielding beforehand rather than reacting at the last moment, reducing emergency response time while maintaining normal driving until needed.
2Loss of time
If vehicles actively yield to emergency vehicles by adjusting driving parameters, then emergency response time is improved, but driving assist system control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback mechanisms by continuously monitoring emergency vehicle detection status, lane alignment information, and current driving assist parameters. Based on this feedback, the controller automatically adjusts speed and inter-vehicle distance parameters only when emergency vehicles are detected in the same lane, and restores normal parameters when the emergency vehicle passes. This conditional feedback approach enables active yielding without requiring complex continuous control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements parameter changes by modifying specific driving assist parameters (speed value, inter-vehicle distance) in response to emergency vehicle detection. The controller varies these parameters dynamically - reducing speed and increasing following distance when yielding is needed, and restoring original parameters when normal driving resumes. This targeted parameter adjustment approach simplifies control compared to comprehensive system reconfiguration.
3Measurement precision
If lane identification and emergency vehicle detection systems are implemented, then yielding accuracy is improved, but system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges multiple detection functions by integrating V2X communication module and sensor data processing to simultaneously achieve emergency vehicle detection, lane identification, and position determination. Rather than using separate dedicated systems for each function, the patent combines these capabilities into a unified detection framework that processes communication data and sensor information together, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining detection accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The driving assist controller is designed with multi-functionality, serving both normal driving assistance functions and emergency vehicle yielding functions. The same controller that manages adaptive cruise control and lane keeping also handles emergency vehicle detection response, parameter adjustment, and yielding execution. This universal controller approach eliminates the need for separate dedicated emergency response control systems, reducing complexity while maintaining precise lane alignment detection and yielding accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
According to the disclosure, there may be provided a vehicle control device and method and, in particular, a vehicle control device and method that allows an emergency vehicle to smoothly travel without disturbance by other vehicles by analyzing the location and driving lane of the emergency vehicle and providing a notification to vehicles in the same lane as the emergency vehicle according to a predetermined condition when the emergency vehicle approaches and allowing the vehicles to change their driving lane or to change preset variable parameter values of the driving assist system applied to the vehicle and activated.