Vehicle Occupant Alert System Using Internal and External Cameras
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Solution Overview
Problem
Drivers often become distracted during low-stress driving conditions, leading to prolonged vehicle idling when they fail to notice changes in traffic signals or surroundings, causing inconvenience to following vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing internal and external cameras, facial recognition software, and piezoelectric notifications to detect driver attention and alert occupants when traffic conditions change, such as a traffic light turning green or preceding vehicles starting to move, prompting the driver to release the brake and restart the engine if necessary.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the driver stops paying attention to the environment during low-stress driving conditions, then the driver can engage in distracting activities, but the vehicle remains stopped for too long causing inconvenience to following vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors driver attention status through internal cameras and provides real-time feedback by detecting when the driver is not paying attention. It also monitors external traffic conditions through external cameras and provides feedback when traffic should be moving, enabling timely alerts to recommence vehicle operations
Solution Approach 2:
The alert system acts as an intermediary between the driver's attention state and the vehicle's operational state. It mediates by detecting driver distraction and traffic conditions, then providing notifications to bridge the gap between the driver's focused state and the required vehicle movement
2Reliability
If the system provides continuous monitoring of driver attention and traffic conditions, then timely alerts can be provided, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The alert system performs multiple functions using integrated components: it monitors driver attention through internal cameras, detects traffic conditions through external cameras, processes facial recognition, determines vehicle state, and provides notifications. This multi-functionality achieves reliable alert accuracy while managing system complexity through integration
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Ensures timely vehicle movement and reduces wait times for following vehicles by alerting distracted drivers to transition from a stopped to a moving state, enhancing traffic flow and safety.
Implementation Method 1
The notification is a tactile notification provided through an activation of a piezoelectric device
Data Source
AI summary
One general aspect includes a method to provide an alert to a vehicle occupant, the method includes: detecting, via an internal camera, whether the vehicle occupant is paying attention to an environment surrounding the vehicle; detecting, via an external camera, an occurrence of an event in the environment surrounding the vehicle; and based on each of the preceding steps, providing a notification configured to alert the vehicle occupant to transition the vehicle from a stopped state to a moving state.