Vehicle Navigation Assistance Using Driver Attention and Traffic Sensors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern vehicles equipped with sensors provide limited information to drivers about their surroundings, leading to potential delays in traffic flow due to driver distraction or lack of awareness when traffic lights change or when it is safe to proceed into a given region of a road.
Innovation Solution
Equipping vehicles with a combination of image sensors, cameras, and radar systems to monitor traffic light states, surrounding vehicle movements, and driver attention, providing audible, visual, or tactile indications to drivers when it is safe to proceed, such as when a traffic light turns green or when sufficient time exists for a left-hand turn.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If multiple sensors (image sensors, cameras, radar) are added to monitor traffic and driver attention, then the information about surrounding traffic conditions is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs multiple sensor types (image sensors, cameras, radar sensors) that serve different functions but are integrated into a unified navigation assistance system. Each sensor type detects different aspects of the traffic environment, and their data is processed together to provide comprehensive situational awareness, allowing the system to lose less information about traffic conditions while managing complexity through functional integration
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines data from multiple sensor sources (image sensors for visual information, cameras for traffic light detection, radar sensors for surrounding vehicle monitoring) and integrates them with driver attention monitoring data. This merging of multiple information streams into a single decision-making system allows comprehensive traffic condition assessment while consolidating the complexity into a unified processing architecture
2Loss of information
If the system provides frequent indications to alert drivers of changing traffic conditions, then the driver awareness is improved, but the driver distraction increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors driver attention state and uses this feedback to modulate the frequency and type of indications provided. When the driver is determined to be paying attention, the system reduces indication frequency. When distraction is detected, the system increases monitoring and provides targeted alerts. This feedback loop ensures driver awareness is maintained while minimizing unnecessary distractions
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies partial action by selectively providing indications only when necessary based on driver attention state and traffic condition urgency. Rather than providing continuous alerts, the system monitors continuously but acts partially—providing indications only when the driver's attention level warrants intervention, thus maintaining awareness without excessive distraction
3Loss of time
If the system monitors driver attention state continuously, then the timing of indications is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary monitoring of driver attention state continuously in the background before critical decisions are needed. This preliminary action allows the system to have advance knowledge of the driver's attention level, enabling optimally timed indications without requiring complex real-time decision-making at the moment of alert generation
Solution Approach 2:
The driver monitoring system uses self-service principles by automatically detecting driver attention state through sensors (such as eye tracking, head position monitoring) without requiring additional driver input or complex external monitoring equipment. The system serves itself by using the driver's own physiological signals to determine attention state, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining continuous monitoring capability
Data Source
AI summary
The preferred embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems and methods for assisting vehicular navigation through traffic. In one example, while a first vehicle is stopped, first data is received from a first set of sensors mounted on the first vehicle, the first data indicative of a state of traffic surrounding the first vehicle, and second data is received from a second set of sensors mounted on the first vehicle, the second data indicative of a state of attention of a driver of the first vehicle. Whether the first data and the second data satisfy indication-generation criteria, including a criterion that is satisfied when the second data indicates that the driver is distracted, is determined. In accordance with a determination that the first data and the second data satisfy the indication-generation criteria, the driver of the first vehicle is provided an indication to proceed into a region of a road.