Vehicle Controller Pedestrian Collision Risk Evaluation
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Solution Overview
Problem
In densely populated areas, pedestrians are at risk due to the increasing quietness of vehicles, leading to reduced awareness of their proximity, and drivers may hesitate to use horns for warnings, as it is perceived as rude and may underestimate the danger.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle controller system that constructs a pedestrian zone based on received pedestrian information, predicts a vehicle trajectory, calculates the time to collision, and generates a warning if the time to collision is below a threshold, considering factors like vehicle status, environmental visibility, and intersection familiarity to determine the appropriate warning level.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If vehicles use enhanced noise suppression and become quieter during engine-on operations, then environmental noise pollution is reduced, but pedestrians are less likely to hear approaching vehicles and collision risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary warning system consisting of visual indicators (LED lights on the vehicle) and audible warnings (horn activation) that mediate between the quiet vehicle operation and pedestrian awareness. The visual indicators provide continuous presence information, while the audible warning provides urgent collision avoidance information, resolving the contradiction by adding intermediate warning mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by activating visual indicators before a collision risk is imminent, continuously informing pedestrians of vehicle presence and intent. The system calculates time-to-collision in advance and prepares warnings proactively, allowing pedestrians to react before danger becomes critical, thus maintaining safety while keeping vehicles quiet.
2Reliability
If drivers manually activate the horn to warn pedestrians, then pedestrian awareness is improved, but driver convenience deteriorates due to required manual intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by automatically calculating collision risk, determining appropriate warning levels, and activating visual and audible warnings without any driver intervention. The controller continuously monitors sensor data, computes time-to-collision, and autonomously decides when and how to warn pedestrians, eliminating the need for manual horn activation while maintaining effective warnings.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback by continuously monitoring sensor inputs (pedestrian detection, vehicle speed, distance), calculating collision risk in real-time, and adjusting warning activation accordingly. The feedback loop ensures warnings are provided precisely when needed based on actual collision risk, improving effectiveness while maintaining ease of operation through automation.
3Reliability
If drivers use horn to warn pedestrians, then collision risk is reduced, but social acceptance deteriorates as horn usage is perceived as rude behavior
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the warning function into two distinct parts: visual indicators (LED lights) for general presence and intent communication, and audible horn warning only for critical collision avoidance. This segmentation allows most situations to be handled politely with visual cues, reserving the potentially rude horn sound only for genuine emergencies, thus maintaining collision avoidance while reducing social rudeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies local quality by using different warning modalities in different situations: visual indicators provide continuous gentle presence information, while audible warnings are reserved for specific high-risk locations or situations. This localized application of warning intensity reduces unnecessary audible alerts perceived as rude while maintaining safety where truly needed.
Data Source
AI summary
Technical solutions are described for generating a pedestrian detection warning in a vehicle. An example method includes constructing, by a vehicle controller, a pedestrian zone based on pedestrian information that is received from a traffic controller. The method further includes computing, by the vehicle controller, a vehicle trajectory that predicts a path for the vehicle. The method further includes determining, by the vehicle controller, a minimal distance between the pedestrian zone and the vehicle trajectory. The method further includes predicting, by the vehicle controller, a time to collision by computing a time for the vehicle to reach a location corresponding to the minimal distance along the vehicle trajectory. The method further includes in response to the time to collision being below a threshold, generating, by the vehicle controller, a warning for an operator of the vehicle.