Vehicle Seat Alertness Sensor for Autonomous Driving Transition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle driving control systems fail to ensure driver alertness during transitions from autonomous to manual driving, posing safety hazards as they rely solely on steering angle changes and limited warnings, which may not adequately rouse the driver.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle seat equipped with an alertness level sensor and a rousing unit that communicates with the vehicle control system to detect and respond to the driver's alertness, providing stimuli such as light, vibration, sound, or heat to ensure the driver is sufficiently alert before allowing manual driving mode.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the vehicle control system relies solely on steering angle changes and limited warnings to detect driver alertness, then the system complexity is reduced, but the reliability of detecting true driver alertness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The alertness detection function is segmented between the vehicle control device (steering angle monitoring) and the seat device (vital sign monitoring via alertness level sensor). This division allows each component to specialize in specific detection methods, improving overall reliability while keeping individual subsystems relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple detection methods (steering angle monitoring from vehicle control device and vital sign monitoring from alertness level sensor) to comprehensively assess driver alertness. This merging of detection channels resolves the contradiction by achieving high reliability through multi-parameter monitoring without requiring excessive system complexity.
2Ease of operation
If the vehicle control system issues only a prescribed number of warnings, then the ease of operation is improved, but the reliability of ensuring driver alertness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous feedback through the alertness level sensor that monitors vital signs and provides real-time information to the seat control device. When alertness falls below the threshold, the system activates the rousing unit and prohibits mode transition, creating a reliable feedback loop that ensures driver alertness without requiring complex manual warning procedures.
3Productivity
If the vehicle allows transition to manual driving based on limited alertness detection, then the productivity is improved, but the safety deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary alertness verification using the alertness level sensor before allowing transition from autonomous to manual driving. By detecting vital signs in advance and ensuring the driver is sufficiently alert, the system prevents unsafe transitions while minimizing interruptions to productive operation.
4Reliability
If the seat control unit continuously monitors alertness level and activates rousing unit when threshold is exceeded, then the reliability of ensuring safe transition is improved, but the use of energy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The alertness level sensor performs periodic monitoring of driver vital signs rather than continuous monitoring. The system checks alertness at regular intervals and activates the rousing unit only when the alertness level falls below the threshold, thereby ensuring safe transition reliability while minimizing energy consumption through intermittent rather than continuous operation.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a vehicle seat that detects an alertness level of the driver, urges the driver to be alert, and permits the transition from autonomous driving to manual driving when the driver is alert enough for the manual driving. A vehicle seat (1) configured to be mounted on a vehicle (3) provided with a vehicle control device (5) that can be selectively switched from autonomous driving to manual driving comprises: a seat body (7) configured to support a driver; a seat control unit (10) configured to communicate with the vehicle control device; an alertness level sensor (8) provided on the seat body for detecting an alertness level of the driver; and a rousing unit (9) provided on the seat body for providing a stimulus for urging the driver to be roused, wherein the seat control unit is configured to detect the alertness level of the driver according to a signal from the alertness level sensor upon receiving a start signal that is produced by the vehicle control device when a transition from the autonomous driving to the manual driving is to be initiated, to activate the rousing unit when the alertness level is lower than a first alertness level threshold value, and to permit the vehicle control device to perform the transition from the autonomous driving to the manual driving when the alertness level is equal to or higher than the first alertness level threshold value.