Vehicle Stop Control via Simulated Malfunction in Safe Zones
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for requesting a vehicle stop during an imminent breakdown often fail to effectively encourage drivers to stop at safe locations, leading to potential accidents and traffic hazards, as they do not strongly influence the driver to stop before the vehicle breaks down.
Innovation Solution
The method involves detecting an imminent breakdown and geo-locating the closest repair structure, then temporarily simulating a malfunction to encourage the driver to stop at a safe location by gradually reducing engine performance or cutting off engine power before reaching a safe stopping place, providing visual or auditory warnings of the breakdown type and severity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the driver is only informed of the imminent breakdown through indicators, then the driver maintains full control and can choose to continue driving, but the driver may ignore the warning and stop at unsafe locations causing accidents or traffic hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies preliminary anti-action by temporarily simulating a malfunction (reducing engine power, cutting off power, or activating brakes) before the vehicle actually breaks down. This counter-action is designed to counter the driver's potential tendency to ignore warnings and continue driving, thereby preventing the harmful outcome of unsafe stopping by creating a compelling incentive to stop at the recommended safe location.
Solution Approach 2:
The system converts the potential harm of vehicle malfunction into a beneficial safety mechanism. By temporarily simulating malfunction symptoms (power reduction, braking), the system transforms what would normally be a harmful event into a useful tool that persuades the driver to stop safely, thereby converting the vehicle's vulnerability into a protective function.
2Productivity
If the vehicle breaks down on the road without prior warning, then the vehicle maintains normal operation, but the vehicle may stop in dangerous locations causing accidents or traffic obstruction
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by proactively simulating malfunction conditions before the actual breakdown occurs. This advance action allows the driver to respond by stopping at a safe location rather than being forced to stop unexpectedly on the road, thereby maintaining operational continuity in a controlled manner and preventing the harmful effect of dangerous roadside stopping.
3Loss of information
If the system provides detailed information about breakdown type and location, then the driver can make informed decisions, but the information overload may distract the driver and cause additional hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by providing the driver with specific information about the simulated malfunction (type of malfunction, location, distance to safe stopping place) and then observing the driver's response. This feedback loop allows the system to adjust the intensity and nature of the simulated malfunction based on whether the driver is responding appropriately, thereby providing necessary information without excessive distraction.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a vehicle with an engine control unit including a unit for detecting the imminence of a breakdown with the engine or with an element associated with the engine, and a vehicle control unit including a unit for geo-locating the vehicle and the closest structure for repairing an imminent breakdown, a unit for formulating a route that the vehicle needs to follow in order to reach the structure and for geo-locating at least one safe stopping place that is en-route, the two units including a unit for receiving and transmitting information between them, the vehicle control unit sending the engine control unit a request for temporary malfunctioning of the vehicle just before the vehicle passes the at least one safe stopping place or the structure.