Vehicle Warning Light Voltage Detection for Cloud Alerting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Obtaining a signal indicative of the state of a vehicle's warning lights, such as those on a police car, fire truck, or ambulance, is not trivial in existing digital alerting systems, which hampers effective determination of when and where to send digital alerts.
Innovation Solution
A device with a GPS unit, wireless transmitter, input voltage interface, and voltage detector circuit is used to detect a threshold voltage, transitioning between alerting and non-alerting modes based on the light driver signal, ensuring accurate transmission of alerting vehicle telemetry data, including location information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a voltage detector circuit is used to detect warning light state, then the ability to determine alerting mode is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A voltage detector circuit is introduced as an intermediary component between the warning light system and the alerting mode logic. This circuit detects voltage changes in the light driver signal and converts them into detectable electrical signals that trigger mode transitions, thereby enabling accurate warning light state detection without directly analyzing the complex light output
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces direct optical or mechanical detection of warning light states with an electrical detection system. Instead of using optical sensors to detect light emission or mechanical switches to detect light state changes, the system uses voltage detection circuits to monitor electrical signals from the light driver, simplifying the detection mechanism while maintaining accuracy
2Speed
If real-time monitoring of warning light state is implemented, then the responsiveness of digital alerting is improved, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system monitors the warning light state continuously through voltage detection, but only transitions between alerting modes when actual changes occur. The alerting mode logic continuously evaluates the voltage detector output and light driver signal, but maintains a stable operational state until a threshold voltage change is detected, thereby reducing unnecessary processing and energy consumption while maintaining rapid response capability
Solution Approach 2:
The voltage detector circuit automatically detects voltage changes and triggers mode transitions without requiring external intervention or continuous active processing. The system uses the natural electrical signals from the light driver to autonomously determine when to switch between alerting and non-alerting modes, reducing the need for energy-intensive external monitoring or control mechanisms
3Reliability
If the delay interval is made longer to filter false transitions, then the reliability of mode transition is improved, but the response time to actual light state changes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a delay interval parameter to filter false transitions, but this parameter is dynamically adjusted based on the detected voltage changes. When a threshold voltage change is detected, the system initiates a mode transition after the delay interval has elapsed since the voltage dropped below the threshold, thereby filtering out transient false signals while maintaining acceptable response time through intelligent parameter management
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for use in cloud-based digital vehicle alerting are disclosed. In an example, a device includes a global positioning system (GPS) unit, a wireless transmitter, an input voltage interface, a voltage detector circuit electrically connected to the input voltage interface and configured to detect a voltage at the input voltage interface, and alerting mode logic configured to transition from a non-alerting mode to an alerting mode in response to the voltage detected by the voltage detector circuit exceeding a threshold voltage, and transition from the alerting mode back to the non-alerting mode in response to the voltage detected by the voltage detector circuit not exceeding the threshold voltage for an entire delay interval, where the wireless transmitter is configured to transmit alerting vehicle telemetry data, which includes location information generated by the GPS unit, in response to the alerting mode of the alerting mode logic.