Description:Complete Specification:
The following specification describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:

Field of the invention
[0001] The present disclosure relates to traffic assistance systems and more specifically to collision avoidance systems.

[0002] Background of the invention

[0003] Advance driving assistance system (ADAS) assists in warning the beforehand during situations such as a probability of a collision and provides functions such as automatic emergency braking (AEB) when driver is not attentive. Vehicle fitted with ADAS are equipped with the emergency breaking functionality to assist in critical situations that require reduction in the vehicle velocity. However, even when velocity is reduced, the ADAS system does not guarantee collision avoidance. Therefore, an impact can be anticipated during collision of the vehicle with another object which may be another vehicle or a passerby. This impact is still susceptible to cause injuries and damage the other vehicle including the people sitting inside. A solution to the above problem may be found by providing an acoustic(honking) and Visual warning (patterned blinking of headlight) prior to emergency braking when situation is critical and further collision cannot be avoided.

[0004] The prior art US9580009 BA discloses systems and methods for motorbike collision avoidance. One or more sensors or devices can be used to monitor the operating conditions of a motorbike and, upon a determination that a collision or drop has occurred, or is likely to occur, an alert system can be activated. The alert system can comprise one or more auxiliary illumination devices and/or acoustic devices configured to draw the attention of other motorists. The alert system may aid the other motorists in noticing the motorbike and approximating the motorbike's position, size, distance, or speed. The alert system can also be activated by the motorbike rider to communicate to other motorists that the rider believes a collision is possible or that a situation requires caution.
[0005] State of the art suggests that the ADAS system with AEB functionality do not integrate an external warning system to warn a surrounding of a vehicle during emergency braking.

Brief description of the accompanying drawings
An embodiment of the invention is described with reference to the following accompanying drawings:
[0006] Figure 1 depicts a system to warn a surrounding of a vehicle before collision of the vehicle with an external object.
[0007] Figure 2 depicts a flow chart for a method to warn a surrounding of a vehicle before collision of the vehicle.

Detailed description of the drawings:

[0008] The present disclosure is an advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) integrated into vehicle that is enabled to warn a surrounding of the vehicle before collision of the vehicle with an external object during the emergency braking.

[0009] The role of ADAS is to prevent deaths and injuries by reducing the number of vehicular accidents and the serious impact of those that cannot be avoided. Essential safety-critical ADAS applications include- pedestrian detection/avoidance, lane departure warning/correction, traffic sign recognition, Automatic emergency braking and Blind spot detection.

[0010] The ADAS applications are partitioned into various chips, called SoCs (systems on a chip). These chips connect sensors to actuators through interfaces and high-performance ECUs (electronic controller units).

[0011] Automatic emergency braking (one of the functionalities of ADAS) handles the vehicle automatically in case of emergency. ADAS comprises sensors which monitor the proximity of vehicles which are in front of it and detects the conditions where the relative speed and distance between the vehicle and the obstacle suggests that a collision is likely to happen. In these situations, ADAS in communication with the braking system of the vehicle enables emergency braking automatically to avoid or reduce the chances of collision. AEB system has the capability to reduce the impact of speed or mitigate the effects of head on crashes, rear end crashes, right turn crashes and pedestrian crashes. AEB is based on vehicle to vehicle communications (V2V) which helps to mitigate the effect of high speed collision to a low speed impact collision. These systems initially alert the driver to take feasible action to avoid the collision. The alert may be an audio signal to the driver, alert on the Display screen or tightening of the seat belts. If the driver’s steering and braking intervention is not adequate to avoid a collision, the automatic emergency braking system helps by automatically applying the brake.

[0012] There are further warning systems such as Front collision warning system (FCW). The measuring sensor installed in the front of the vehicle, such as millimeter wave radar, camera or lidar, etc., detect the relative distance, relative orientation and relative speed between vehicles and pedestrians on the path ahead, and integrate other drivers’ manipulations behaviors, such as braking, stepping on the accelerator, steering, etc. to assess the degree of collision risk, and to warn the driver when necessary.
[0013] The present disclosure adds a functionality of ‘external warning’ in the existing ADAS systems. An external warning system can be provided to warn a surrounding of a vehicle during emergency braking.

[0014] Referring to Figure 1, the same depicts an advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) (10) to warn a surrounding of a vehicle(1) before collision of the vehicle with an external object (2). Said vehicle equipped with ADAS to provide Automatic emergency braking (AEB) functionality. The ADAS (10) is in communication with the braking unit (7) to enable automatic emergency braking functionality.

[0015] The system further comprises at least one sensor(3) to obtain an input information on the external object(2). Said sensor may be millimeter wave radar, camera or lidar, etc. to detect the external object.

[0016] The ADAS (10) further comprises a processor(4) to compute a probability of collision with the external object (2) based on the input information. The processor (4) may have an associated memory to store a software logic. The processor (4) activates the automatic emergency braking functionality when the probability of collision of the vehicle is above a threshold probability. A signaling unit (5) is in communication with the processor to warn the surrounding (6) of the vehicle when the probability of collision of the vehicle is above a threshold probability. In an example, there may be an input interface to the signaling unit(5). In an example, the communication between the processor (4) and the signaling unit may be through in-vehicle communication means such as CAN bus.

[0017] The signaling unit (5) comprises at least a horn unit (5a) and a headlight unit (5b). The at least one sensor (3) is, but not limited to, at least one RADAR sensor.

[0018] In an example, when the external object is detected by the ADAS, a probability of collision is calculated by the processor(4) based on the sensor inputs (radar, lidar, camera etc). This threshold probability(or the collision avoidance confidence) is to judge the criticality of the situation, that is, a decision has to be taken as to whether to raise a forward collision warning (FCW) for the driver or not. Further, if the driver does not react to the warning, AEB function may be enabled. When the detected probability is high (above the threshold probability) or in other words, the collision avoidance confidence is low, signaling unit is activated by the processor (which in an embodiment may be done through CAN as a communication means) in order to warn the surroundings (the other vehicles and passerby therein) of the vehicle either by blowing horn or patterned blinking of the headlight or both.

[0019] Referring to Figure 2, the same depicts a flowchart of the method to warn a surrounding of a vehicle before collision of the vehicle with an external object. The vehicle is equipped with an advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) to provide Automatic emergency braking (AEB) functionality. The method (100) will be implemented by the system as explained in Fig 1. The method 100 comprises of several steps, wherein, the first method step (101) is receiving at least one input from at least one sensor by a processor (4). The step (102) is computing, by the processor (4) a probability of collision with the external object. This is followed by the step (103) of activating the automatic emergency braking (AEB) functionality when the probability of collision of the vehicle is above a threshold probability and the characteristic step (104) of activating a signaling unit to warn the surrounding of the vehicle when the probability of collision of the vehicle is above a threshold probability. The signaling unit comprises at least a horn unit; and a lighting unit. The at least one sensor is, but not limited to, at least one RADAR sensor.
[0020] In an example, when the external object is detected by the ADAS, a probability of collision is calculated by the processor(4) based on the sensor inputs (radar, lidar, camera etc). This threshold probability(or the collision avoidance confidence) is to judge the criticality of the situation, that is a decision has to be taken as to whether to raise a forward collision warning (FCW) for the driver or not. Further, if the driver does not react to the AEB function may be enabled. When the detected probability is high (above the threshold probability) or in other words, the collision avoidance confidence is low, signaling unit is activated by the processor (in an embodiment this may be done through CAN bus as a communication means) in order to warn the surroundings (the other vehicles and passerby therein) of the vehicle either by blowing horn or patterned blinking of the headlight or both.
[0021] The present disclosure advantageously provides external acoustic/light warning to the surroundings to warn other vehicles of a likely collision from the (current) vehicle.

, Claims:We Claim:

1. A method (100) to warn a surrounding of a vehicle before collision of the vehicle with an external object, said vehicle equipped with an advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) to provide Automatic emergency braking (AEB) functionality, the method comprising the steps of:
-receiving at least one input from at least one sensor, by a processor (101);
-computing, by the processor, a probability of collision with the external object (102);
-activating, by the processor, the automatic emergency braking (AEB) functionality when the probability of collision of the vehicle is above a threshold probability (103),
characterized by,
-activating, by the processor, a signaling unit to warn the surrounding of the vehicle when the probability of collision of the vehicle is above a threshold probability (104).

2. The method (100) as claimed in Claim 1, wherein, the signaling unit comprises:
-a horn unit; and
-a lighting unit.

3. The method (100) as claimed in Claim 1, wherein, the at least one sensor is, but not limited to, at least one RADAR sensor.

4. An advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) (10) to warn a surrounding of a vehicle (1) before collision of the vehicle with an external object (2), said vehicle equipped with ADAS to provide Automatic emergency braking (AEB) functionality, the system comprising:
-at least one sensor (3) to obtain an input information on the external object;
-a processor (4) to compute a probability of collision with the external object based on the input information, said controlling processor activates the automatic emergency braking functionality when the probability of collision of the vehicle is above a threshold probability; and
-a signaling unit(5) in communication with the processor to warn the surrounding of the vehicle when the probability of collision of the vehicle is above a threshold probability.

5. The system(10) as claimed in Claim 1, wherein, the signaling unit comprises:
-a horn unit (5a); and
-a headlight unit (5b).

6. The system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein, the at least one sensor is, but not limited to, at least one RADAR sensor.