Vehicle Printer for Road Surface Traffic Warning Patterns
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle communication systems are ineffective in distributing critical information about traffic impacting events to all vehicles, especially those not equipped with advanced communication technologies, leading to potential accidents.
Innovation Solution
A method and system where a control device in a vehicle assesses traffic situation information and sends a print command to a printer to create a visible notification pattern on the road surface, warning other vehicles of potential hazards, even if they lack advanced communication systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If advanced vehicle communication systems are used to distribute traffic information, then information distribution efficiency is improved, but compatibility with conventional vehicles without communication systems deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses visual markers as an intermediary communication medium that bridges advanced and conventional vehicles. The control device generates visual notifications displayed on the vehicle's exterior surfaces, which serve as a universal language that all drivers can perceive regardless of their communication system capabilities, thus resolving the incompatibility between advanced communication systems and conventional vehicles.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from auditory/radio-based communication (one dimension) to visual communication through external displays and markers (another dimension). By projecting information onto the vehicle's exterior surfaces and using visual markers, the system creates a new communication dimension that is accessible to all vehicles regardless of their equipped technology, thereby improving universal adaptability.
2Illumination intensity
If visual markers are projected on the road surface, then visibility of traffic warnings is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control device activates visual markers and external displays periodically or event-driven rather than continuously. The system monitors traffic conditions and only projects visual warnings when relevant events are detected, such as sudden braking, obstacles, or hazardous conditions ahead, thereby reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining high visibility when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies visual enhancement locally only to specific areas of the vehicle exterior or road surface where warnings are needed, rather than illuminating the entire vehicle. The control device projects markers and displays information selectively on relevant surfaces, concentrating energy usage on critical warning areas while leaving other areas unilluminated, thus optimizing the balance between visibility and energy consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
Onboard vehicle software that performs the following operations: (i) receiving, by a control device installed with a vehicle, situation assessment information pertaining to vehicle traffic; (ii) determining, by the control device, whether the situation assessment information is indicative of an event likely to impact vehicle traffic; and (iii) in response to determining that the situation assessment information is indicative of the event likely to impact vehicle traffic, sending, by the control device, a print command to a printer communicatively coupled to the control device, the printer adapted to print a patterned layer of a coloring substance to a surface supporting the vehicle, and the print command instructing the printer to print the coloring substance to the surface in a pattern encoding a notification.