Vehicle-Trailer Safety Zone Calculation Using Attachment Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
When a driver attaches an item, such as a trailer, to a vehicle, the vehicle's length, weight, and height change, affecting safety zones like stopping distance and turning radius, but these changes are not communicated to the vehicle, making it unsafe.
Innovation Solution
A system with a communication module and processor that determines the attached item's specifications, calculates the vehicle's new overall dimensions, and adjusts the safety zone accordingly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a driver attaches an item (e.g., trailer) to a vehicle, then the vehicle's length, weight, and height change, but the vehicle system does not receive information about these changes, making safety zone calculations inaccurate
Solution Approach 1:
The system establishes a communication connection between the vehicle and the attached item to receive item specification information (length, height, weight). This feedback mechanism ensures the vehicle system is informed of configuration changes, enabling accurate recalculation of safety zones based on the updated vehicle combination parameters.
2Reliability
If the vehicle system automatically detects and adjusts safety zones when items are attached, then safety is improved, but the system complexity increases due to communication modules and calculation algorithms
Solution Approach 1:
The communication module serves multiple functions: detecting item attachment, receiving item specification information, and triggering safety zone recalculation. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated components for each task, thereby managing system complexity while maintaining improved safety through automatic adaptation.
Data Source
AI summary
According to an embodiment, it is a system comprising a communication module and a processor, wherein the processor is operable to determine, that an item is attached to a vehicle forming a vehicle combination; establish, a connection via the communication module, between the vehicle and the item; receive, a message from the item comprising a specification of the item, wherein the specification comprises a length of the item, a height of the item, and a weight of the item; calculate, an overall length, an overall height, and an overall weight of the vehicle combination; and determine, a safety zone for the vehicle combination.