Vehicle Stop Notification via Sound and Visual Display
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Pedestrians struggle to accurately determine the stop state of a vehicle using only notification sounds, especially in scenarios with multiple vehicles, as they cannot distinguish which vehicle is producing the sound.
Innovation Solution
A notification device for automatic driving vehicles that combines sound and visual displays to indicate the stop state, using intermittent sounds and flashing displays that change in volume, frequency, luminance, or chromaticity to clearly signal the vehicle's stop state, allowing pedestrians to recognize the vehicle's status more easily.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If only notification sound is used to indicate vehicle stop state, then the notification device is simple, but pedestrians cannot accurately determine which vehicle is stopping among multiple vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines sound notification and visual display notification into a single notification device. The sound output unit emits notification sounds while the display output unit shows visual indicators, creating a multi-sensory notification system that enables pedestrians to accurately identify which vehicle is stopping among multiple vehicles.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a visual dimension to the traditional auditory notification system. By introducing a display output unit that emits light or visual signals in addition to the sound output unit, the system transitions from one-dimensional (sound only) to two-dimensional (sound + visual) notification, enabling pedestrians to distinguish between multiple vehicles through both auditory and visual cues.
2Reliability
If notification sound is used alone, then the device is simple to operate, but pedestrians cannot grasp the stop state of the vehicle accurately
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges sound output and display output functions into a unified notification device controlled by a single control unit. This integration maintains ease of operation while significantly improving notification accuracy, as the coordinated sound and visual signals provide unambiguous information about vehicle stop state to pedestrians.
3Loss of information
If multiple vehicles are present, then the traffic environment is more complex, but pedestrians cannot determine which vehicle outputs the notification sound
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making each vehicle's notification device have unique visual characteristics. The display output unit can show different colors, patterns, or positions of visual indicators for different vehicles, allowing pedestrians to identify the specific vehicle source among multiple vehicles based on these localized visual qualities combined with the notification sound.
Data Source
AI summary
A notification device includes: a notification-sound output portion provided in a vehicle and configured to output a notification sound toward the outside of the vehicle; a notification display portion provided in the vehicle and configured to output a notification display toward the outside of the vehicle; a notification controlling portion configured to control the notification sound of the notification-sound output portion and the notification display of the notification display portion; and a stop-state determination portion configured to determine whether the vehicle during the automatic driving enters a stop state or not. When the stop-state determination portion determines that the vehicle during the automatic driving enters the stop state, the notification controlling portion outputs a stop-time notification sound as the notification sound by the notification-sound output portion and outputs a stop-time notification display as the notification display by the notification display portion.