Vehicle Stranded Detection at Railroad Crossings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicles often become stuck at at-grade railroad crossings, leading to potential collisions with trains despite existing warning systems, as these systems fail to prevent vehicle entrapment and timely intervention.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle system equipped with a GPS receiver, sensors, and a DSRC transceiver that determines if a vehicle is stranded at a railroad crossing, generates a help request, and transmits it to neighboring vehicles, enabling potential assistance before a train arrives.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a vehicle is equipped with GPS receiver, sensors, and transceiver to detect and communicate stranded status, then the ability to prevent collisions through timely intervention is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines GPS receiver, sensors, and transceiver into an integrated vehicle monitoring system that collectively detects stranded status and communicates with neighboring vehicles. This merging of multiple components into a unified system resolves the contradiction by achieving reliable collision prevention through coordinated operation of the combined components, while the system manages complexity through integrated architecture rather than separate independent systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs multiple functions using a unified approach: location tracking via GPS, vehicle status monitoring via sensors, and communication via transceiver. This multi-functionality improves reliability by ensuring comprehensive monitoring and response capabilities, while managing device complexity through a single integrated system that handles diverse tasks rather than requiring separate specialized systems for each function.
2Measurement precision
If the system continuously monitors vehicle location and status to detect stranded conditions, then the detection precision improves, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs periodic monitoring of vehicle location and status rather than continuous monitoring. The GPS receiver and sensors operate at intervals to detect changes in vehicle position and operational state. This periodic action maintains adequate detection precision for identifying stranded conditions while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to continuous monitoring, resolving the technical contradiction between measurement precision and energy usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes baseline vehicle status and location data before potential stranded events occur. By having pre-configured monitoring parameters and communication channels ready, the system can quickly detect and respond to stranded conditions without requiring intensive continuous monitoring. This preliminary preparation maintains detection precision while minimizing ongoing energy consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
Method and apparatus are disclosed to facilitate mitigation of vehicle trapping on railroad crossings. An example vehicle comprises a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, sensors, a transceiver, a processor and a memory. The GPS receiver generates location information. The sensors generate vehicle information. The processor and memory are in communication with the sensors, the GPS receiver, and the transceiver. The processor is configured to: determine whether the vehicle is stranded on a railroad crossing using the location information and the vehicle information; if the vehicle is stranded, generate a help request; and transmit the help request to neighboring vehicles.