Vehicle Safety Control Unit for Unresponsive Driver Intervention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional safe driving support systems fail to effectively prevent accidents when drivers become unresponsive or unable to control their vehicles, as warnings may not be recognized due to noise or visual distractions, leading to increased accident risks.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle safety support apparatus and method that includes a driver monitoring unit, an external environment monitoring unit, and a control unit capable of performing autonomous driving to move the vehicle to a safe area if the driver does not react to warnings, using sensors like cameras, radar, and ultrasonic sensors to assess driver availability and traffic hazards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional warning systems (voice or visual) are used to alert drivers of dangerous situations, then the driver can be informed of the hazard, but the warning may not be recognized due to noise, visual distractions, or driver inattention
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary alerting mechanism that uses the vehicle's vibration system to transmit warnings to the driver through tactile feedback. This intermediary channel bypasses the noisy visual and auditory environments, ensuring the driver receives the warning through a different sensory modality that is less susceptible to interference from road noise and visual distractions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic vibration alerts that oscillate at specific frequencies and intervals to capture the driver's attention. The periodic nature of the vibration creates a distinctive tactile pattern that stands out from normal driving vibrations, ensuring the driver notices the warning even in distracting environments.
2Reliability
If the system performs autonomous driving to move the vehicle to a safe area, then accident prevention is enhanced, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The autonomous driving function is segmented into discrete, manageable tasks: hazard detection, driver unresponsiveness determination, controlled lane keeping, and safe area navigation. Each segment handles a specific aspect of the emergency response, reducing overall system complexity by breaking down the autonomous driving function into modular components that can be independently developed and tested.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary monitoring and assessment of driver availability and traffic hazards continuously, so that when an emergency situation arises, the autonomous driving intervention can be initiated immediately without delay. This preliminary preparation reduces the complexity of real-time decision-making during critical moments.
3Reliability
If the system continuously monitors driver availability and external environment, then safety detection is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system operates periodically rather than continuously, assessing driver availability and external hazards at regular intervals. This periodic operation reduces energy consumption while maintaining adequate safety detection accuracy, as the system only needs to evaluate conditions at critical moments rather than maintaining constant monitoring of all parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies partial monitoring by focusing on key safety-critical parameters rather than continuously monitoring all possible variables. By selectively monitoring only the most important aspects of driver availability and environmental hazards, the system achieves adequate safety detection with reduced energy expenditure.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle safety support apparatus includes: a driver monitoring unit configured to monitor a driver; an external environment monitoring unit configured to monitor an external environment of a vehicle; and a control unit configured to: perform a controlled lane keeping function based on data acquired from the driver monitoring unit and the external environment monitoring unit; detecting whether a driver reacts to the controlled lane keeping function; determine a driving control for the vehicle in response to the driver not reacting to the controlled lane keeping function; perform autonomous driving to move the vehicle to a safe area, in response to determining to take over the driving control from the driver.