Vehicle Mode Audio Alerts With Seamless Transition Timing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle systems face challenges in accurately and timely audibly alerting users to operational mode changes due to uncertainty about subsequent events, leading to potential user confusion and safety risks.
Innovation Solution
The system triggers first audio indicative of a first operational mode and, upon receipt of a second event within a predefined time constraint, seamlessly transitions to second audio, creating substantially continuous audio feedback by maintaining predefined time relationships between audio segments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the system triggers separate audio alerts for each operational mode event independently, then each event is acknowledged, but user confusion occurs due to potential disjointed or overlapping audio feedback
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple audio alerts into a single continuous audio feedback stream. When a second event occurs during playback of audio for a first event, the system combines the audio segments to create a unified alert that represents the current operational mode, preventing disjointed audio feedback that could confuse the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by triggering the first audio playback immediately upon receiving the first event, without waiting to determine if a second event will occur. This ensures timely acknowledgment of the first event while the system remains ready to adjust the audio feedback based on subsequent events.
2Reliability
If the system waits to determine the final operational mode before triggering audio alert, then audio accuracy is improved, but response time to alert the user is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The system triggers the first audio alert immediately upon receiving the first event, without waiting to determine whether a second event will occur. This preliminary action ensures timely user notification while the system continues to monitor for additional events that might modify the operational mode.
Solution Approach 2:
The audio feedback system is designed to be dynamic, allowing it to adapt based on subsequent events. The system can modify the ongoing audio playback (e.g., by combining with second audio) to reflect the final operational mode, thus maintaining accuracy while avoiding initial delay.
3Ease of operation
If the system plays complete audio segments for each event, then each event is fully acknowledged, but continuous audio feedback is disrupted when multiple events occur in sequence
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the first audio segment with the second audio segment when a second event occurs during playback of the first. This combination creates a continuous audio feedback that acknowledges both events and maintains the alert until the operational mode is finalized, preventing disruption in the audio stream.
Solution Approach 2:
The system ensures continuity of useful action by maintaining uninterrupted audio feedback throughout the event sequence. Instead of allowing the first audio to complete and then playing the second audio separately, the system overlaps and combines them to create a seamless continuous alert that persists until the operational mode is determined.
Data Source
AI summary
In an embodiment, a method of audibly alerting a user of a vehicle includes receiving, in a vehicle control system, a first event associated with a first operational mode related to the vehicle and, responsive to the first event, triggering, by the vehicle control system, playback of first audio indicative of the first operational mode. The method also includes receiving, in the vehicle control system, a second event associated with a second operational mode related to the vehicle and, responsive to the second event, triggering, by the vehicle control system, playback of second audio in correspondence to a predefined time relationship between the first audio and the second audio, such that substantially continuous audio indicative of the second operational mode is played to the user. The substantially continuous audio includes at least a portion of the first audio and at least a portion of the second audio.