Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The present invention relates to a system and a method for generating a visual alert. More particularly, the present invention relates to the system and the method for generating the visual alert by a vehicle for peer riders and/or pedestrians.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] In modern era, a lot of riders use personal digital assistants such as smart phones while riding a vehicle on a road. The term “rider” includes people riding a vehicle including bicycles, motorcycles, scooters, cars, trucks and the likes. In such a scenario, the rider tends to deviate from his riding for a duration of time he/she is occupied with his/her personal digital assistant. During this time, one or more peer riders and pedestrians may misjudge a status and an intent of the rider and take incorrect actions leading to unnecessary disturbances on the road including accidents or collisions.
[003] In order to avoid such scenarios and to indicate the status and the intent of the rider to the peer riders and/or pedestrians, generation of alerts by the rider himself while riding the vehicle is known in the art. However, generating such alerts is usually cumbersome for the rider or may be forgotten by the rider as operating the personal digital assistant along with riding the vehicle, increases the cognitive load of the rider.
[004] Further, vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to pedestrian communications are also known in the art to create situational awareness between the rider and the peer riders and the pedestrians to avoid accidents or collisions. However, such communications require both the rider as well as the peer riders and the pedestrians to necessarily have electronic devices capable of digitally communicating with each other which is undesirable.
[005] In view of the foregoing, there is a need-felt to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior arts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[006] In one aspect of the present invention, a system for generating a visual alert for peer riders and/or pedestrians is disclosed. The system comprises a personal digital assistant of a rider, a single sensor or multiple sensors mounted on a vehicle driven by the rider, a single lamp or multiple lamps mounted on the vehicle and a vehicle control unit mounted on the vehicle.
[007] The personal digital assistant, the sensors and the lamps are in communication with the vehicle control unit.
[008] The personal digital assistant of the rider is configured to monitor an acceptance of an incoming event and an occurrence of an outgoing event on the personal digital assistant. The personal digital assistant is further configured to transmit incoming event data (data indicative of an acceptance of an incoming event) or outgoing event data (data indicative of occurrence of an outgoing event) to the vehicle control unit. The sensors mounted on the vehicle are configured for detecting one or more states of the vehicle. For example, one or more states of the vehicle may include, being not limited to, position of the vehicle, lane on which the vehicle is travelling and/or speed of the vehicle. The vehicle control unit is configured to receive an input from the sensors with respect to one or more states of the vehicle and determine if there are any pre-defined deviations in the states of the vehicle. Upon determination of the pre-defined deviations in the states of the vehicle, the vehicle control unit controls operation of the lamps of the vehicle for a duration of time the rider is occupied with the incoming event or the outgoing event, based on the incoming event data and the outgoing event data.
[009] In an embodiment, the vehicle control unit switches lamps from an OFF condition to an ON condition upon determination of the pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle.
[010] In an embodiment, the vehicle control unit maintains lamps in an ON condition upon determination of pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle.
[011] In an embodiment, the personal digital assistant is in communication with a head mounted smart device and/or a wireless audio device.
[012] In an embodiment, the acceptance of the incoming event and the occurrence of the outgoing event is performed by the rider with the head mounted smart device, the personal digital assistant or the wireless audio device.
[013] In an embodiment, the incoming event and the outgoing event comprises a call, a message, and/or an email.
[014] In an embodiment, the pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle comprise a deviation from a lane on which the vehicle is moving, a variation in speed of the vehicle exceeding a pre-defined variation and/or a deviation of the vehicle along a width of the road exceeding a pre-defined deviation.
[015] In an embodiment, one or more sensors comprises a side stand sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensor, a Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor, a displacement sensor, a RADAR sensor and/or a lane change detection sensor.
[016] In an embodiment, the one or more lamps comprises a turn signal lamps and/or a hazard lamp.
[017] In another aspect of the present invention, a method for generating a visual alert for peer riders and/or pedestrians is disclosed. The method comprises a step of monitoring an acceptance of an incoming event and an occurrence of an outgoing event on a personal digital assistant of a rider. The step of monitoring is performed by the personal digital assistant.
[018] The method further comprises a step of transmitting to a vehicle control unit incoming event data or outgoing event data. The step of transmitting is performed by the personal digital assistant. The vehicle control unit is mounted on a vehicle driven by the rider.
[019] The method further comprises a step of receiving an input from sensors configured for detecting one or more states of the vehicle. The sensors are mounted on the vehicle and includes a single sensor or multiple sensors. The step of receiving is performed by the vehicle control unit.
[020] The method further comprises a step of determining pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle and upon such determination performing a step of controlling the operation of lamps of the vehicle for a duration of time the rider is occupied with the incoming event or the outgoing event based on the incoming event data and the outgoing event data. The step of determining and controlling is performed by the vehicle control unit. The lamps are mounted on the vehicle and include a single lamp or multiple lamps
[021] In an embodiment, the step of controlling performed by the vehicle control unit comprises switching lamps from an OFF condition to an ON condition upon determination of pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle.
[022] In an embodiment, the step of controlling performed by the vehicle control unit comprises maintaining the lamps in an ON condition upon determination of the pre-defined deviations in the states of the vehicle.
[023] In an embodiment, the acceptance of the incoming event and the occurrence of the outgoing event is performed by the rider with the head mounted smart device, the personal digital assistant or the wireless audio device.
[024] In an embodiment, the incoming event and the outgoing event comprises a call, a message and/or an email.
[025] In an embodiment, the pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle comprises at least one of a deviation from a lane on which the vehicle is moving, a variation in speed of the vehicle exceeding a pre-defined variation and/or a deviation of the vehicle along a width of the road exceeding a pre-defined deviation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[026] Reference will be made to embodiments of the invention, examples of which may be illustrated in accompanying figures. These figures are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the invention is generally described in context of these embodiments, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to these particular embodiments.
Figure 1 is a block diagram of a system for generating a visual alert for at least one of peer riders and pedestrians, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a block diagram of a system for generating a visual alert for at least one of peer riders and pedestrians, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for generating a visual alert for at least one of peer riders and pedestrians, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[027] Various features and embodiments of the present invention here will be discernible from the following further description thereof, set out hereunder.
[028] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a system 100 for generating a visual alert for peer riders and/or pedestrians, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the system 100 comprises a personal digital assistant 202 of a rider riding a vehicle 200, a single sensor or multiple sensors 206 mounted on the vehicle 200, a single lamp or multiple lamps 208 mounted on the vehicle 200 and a vehicle control unit 204 mounted on the vehicle 200. As shown, the vehicle control unit 204 is in communication with the personal digital assistant 202, the lamps 208, and the sensors 206.
[029] The personal digital assistant 202 of the rider is an electronic device capable of receiving an incoming event or performing an outgoing event. The incoming event and the outgoing event comprises a call, a message and/or an email. In an embodiment, the personal digital assistant 202 includes smart phones, laptops, tablet devices and the likes.
[030] The personal digital assistant 202 is configured to monitor an acceptance of the incoming event and occurrence of an outgoing event by the rider of the vehicle 200. For example, when the incoming event such as a call is received on the personal digital assistant 202 of the rider, the personal digital assistant 202 will monitor whether the received call is accepted by the rider or rejected by the rider. Similarly, when the incoming event such as a message or an email is received on the personal digital assistant 202 of the rider, the personal digital assistant 202 will monitor whether the received message and/or an email has been accepted i.e. opened and/or read by the rider. Similarly, the personal digital assistant 202 will also monitor any outgoing calls, messages or emails made by the rider from the personal digital assistant 202. In an embodiment, the rider of the vehicle 200 accepts the incoming event and performs the outgoing event directly with the personal digital assistant 202.
[031] The personal digital assistant 202 is further configured to transmit incoming event data 214 and the outgoing event data 216 to the vehicle control unit 204. The incoming event data 214 is data indicative of acceptance of the incoming event and the outgoing event data 216 is data indicative of occurrence of the outgoing event. The incoming event data 214 and the outgoing event data 216 are transmitted to the vehicle control unit 204 by transmission modes. For example, standards for Internet and other packet switched network transmission may be used. The network may include wired networks, wireless networks, Ethernet AVB networks, or combinations thereof. The wireless network may be a cellular telephone network. Further, the network may be a public network, such as the Internet, a private network, such as an intranet, or combinations thereof. It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to transmission modes with any particular standards and protocols. Such modes are periodically superseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentially the same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocols having the same or similar functions are considered equivalents thereof.
[032] The incoming event data 214 or the outgoing event data 216 is generally encrypted and sent to the vehicle control unit 204, wherein it is decrypted. The encryption and decryption of the incoming event data 214 and the outgoing event data 216 is done in real time. The incoming event data 214 or the outgoing event data 216 includes information with respect to type of incoming event or outgoing event such as a call, message or email, the applications opened to access the incoming event or the outgoing event , a time stamp of the incoming event or the outgoing event, duration of time for which the rider is occupied or engaged with the incoming event or the outgoing event or type of notifications generated for the incoming event or the outgoing event.
[033] The vehicle control unit 204 is configured to receive input from the sensors 206 mounted on the vehicle 200. The sensors 206 are configured to detect one or more states of the vehicle 200. In an embodiment, the one or more states of the vehicle 200 comprises a speed of the vehicle 200, a position of the vehicle 200 and/or a lane on which the vehicle 200 is moving. The input from the one or more sensors 206 is data indicative of the one or more states of the vehicle 200.
[034] Based on the incoming event data 214, the outgoing event data 216, and inputs from the sensors 206, the vehicle control unit 204 determines pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle 200. In an embodiment, the pre-defined deviations are pre-configured in the vehicle control unit 204. In an embodiment, the pre-defined deviations are pre-configured in the vehicle control unit 204 as a factory setting.
[035] In order to determine the pre-defined deviations in the states of the vehicle 200, the vehicle control unit 204 is configured to compare the data indicative of the states of the vehicle 200 after the acceptance of the incoming event or occurrence of the outgoing event with data indicative of the states of the vehicle 200 prior to acceptance of the incoming event or occurrence of the outgoing event. Based on the comparison, the vehicle control unit 204 determines pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle 200. In an embodiment, the pre-defined deviations in the states of the vehicle 200 comprises a deviation of the vehicle 200 along a width of a road exceeding a pre-defined deviation, a variation in the speed of vehicle 200 exceeding a pre-defined variation and/or a deviation from a lane on which the vehicle 200 is moving.
[036] Upon determination of the pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle 200, the vehicle control unit 204 is configured to control operation of the lamps 208 of the vehicle 200 for a duration of time the rider is occupied with the incoming event or the outgoing event, based on the incoming event data 214 and the outgoing event data 216.
[037] In an embodiment, the vehicle control unit 204 switches lamps 208 from an OFF condition to an ON condition upon determination of the pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle 200. In an embodiment, the vehicle control unit 204 maintains lamps 208 in an ON condition upon determination of the pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle 200.
[038] The lamps 208 comprises turn signal lamps and/or a hazard lamp. In an embodiment, the vehicle may comprise hazard lamps to alert the peer riders and/or pedestrians. In such an embodiment, the hazard lamps are switched ON to alert the peer riders and/or pedestrians. The hazard lamps may also be made to blink to alert peer riders and/or pedestrians. In another embodiment, the vehicle does not comprise separate hazard lamps. In such an embodiment, the turn signal lamps are used as hazard lamps and may be made to blink together to alert the peer riders and/or pedestrians. In another embodiment, both hazard lamp as well as turn signal lamps are used to indicate different levels of alert. In one non-limiting example, in case the pre-defined deviations are less, the turn signal lamps may be used to alert the peer riders/pedestrians. In case the predefined deviations are more, the hazard lamp may be used to alert the peer riders/pedestrians. In another non-limiting example, the hazard lamp may be used to indicate one type of pre-defined deviation such as speed and the turn signal lamps may be used to define another type of predefined deviation such as deviation of the vehicle along the width of the road.
[039] In an embodiment, the vehicle control unit 204 may also control parameters such as intensity, color and/or frequency of the one or more lamps 208 to indicate different level of alerts. In one non-limiting example, the time interval between blinking of the hazard lamps or turn signal lamps can be increased and/or color of lamps can be changed with increase in the pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle 200.It is to be understood that the lamps 208 in the ON state alerts the peer riders and/or the pedestrians that the rider is occupied with the personal digital assistant 202. Such alerts create situational awareness among peer riders and/or pedestrians to avoid disturbance on the roads including accidents and collisions.
[040] In one non-limiting example, a variation at least 20km/h in the speed of the vehicle 200 prior to acceptance of the incoming event or the occurrence of the outgoing event and after the acceptance of the incoming event or the occurrence of the outgoing event is pre-configured in the vehicle control unit 204 as a pre-defined deviation. In case the speed of the vehicle 200 is 60km/h prior to acceptance of the incoming event or the occurrence of the outgoing event and the speed of the vehicle 200 is 45 km/h after the acceptance of the incoming event or the occurrence of the outgoing event, the vehicle control unit 204 will determine no pre-defined deviation in the state of the vehicle 200 and no action will be performed by the vehicle control unit 204 to alert at least one of the peer riders and/or the pedestrians. However, in the same example, in case the speed of the vehicle 200 is 60km/h prior to acceptance of the incoming event or the occurrence of the outgoing event and the speed of the vehicle 200 is 20 km/h after the acceptance of the incoming event or the occurrence of the outgoing event, the vehicle control unit 204 will determine the pre-defined deviation and operate the lamps 208 to alert the peer riders and/or the pedestrians that the rider is occupied with the personal digital assistant 202.
[041] In another non-limiting example, a deviation of at least 1 meter along a width of the road after the acceptance of the incoming event or the occurrence of the outgoing event is pre-configured in the vehicle control unit 204 as a pre-defined deviation. In case the deviation of the vehicle 200 is 0.5 meters after the acceptance of the incoming event or the occurrence of the outgoing event, the vehicle control unit 204 will determine no pre-defined deviation in the state of the vehicle 200 and no action will be performed by the vehicle control unit 204. However, in case the deviation of the vehicle 200 is 1.25 meters after the acceptance of the incoming event or the occurrence of the outgoing event, the vehicle control unit 204 will determine the pre-defined deviation in the state of the vehicle 200 and operate the lamps 208 to alert the peer riders and/or the pedestrians that the rider is occupied with the personal digital assistant 202.
[042] In another non-limiting example, change in the lane of the vehicle 200 after the acceptance of the incoming event or the occurrence of the outgoing event is pre-configured in the vehicle control unit 204 as a pre-defined deviation. In case the vehicle 200 changes the lane on which it is moving, the vehicle control unit 204 will determine the pre-defined deviation in the state of the vehicle 200 and operate the lamps 208 to alert the peer riders and/or the pedestrians that the rider is occupied with the personal digital assistant 202.
[043] In an embodiment, the vehicle control unit 204 may be an electronic control unit in an instrument cluster or a speedometer of the vehicle 200, an engine electronic control unit or a motor electronic control unit.
[044] In an embodiment, the incoming event data 214, the outgoing event data 216 and the data from the sensors 206 indicative of the one or more states of the vehicle 200 is transmitted by wireless networks including Bluetooth or Wi-Fi or combination of both.
[045] Figure 2 is a block diagram of a system 100 for generating a visual alert for peer riders and/or pedestrians, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.
[046] As shown, the system 100 comprises the personal digital assistant 202 of the rider riding a vehicle 200, the sensors 206 mounted on the vehicle 200, the lamps 208 mounted on the vehicle 200 and the vehicle control unit 204 mounted on the vehicle 200.
[047] In this embodiment, the system 100 additionally comprises a head mounted smart device 210 or a wireless audio device 212. The head mounted smart device 210 or the wireless audio device 212 are in communication with the vehicle control unit 204 and the personal digital assistant 202. In an embodiment, the head mounted smart device 210 or the wireless audio device 212 are in communication with the vehicle control unit 204 and the personal digital assistant 202 using wireless networks including Bluetooth or Wi-Fi or combination of both.
[048] In Figure 1, the acceptance of the incoming event and occurrence of the outgoing event is performed with the personal digital assistant 202. However, in this embodiment, the acceptance of the incoming event and occurrence of the outgoing event is performed with the head mounted smart device 210 or the wireless audio device 212. The head mounted smart device 210 or the wireless audio device 212 are in wireless communication with the personal digital assistant 202 of the rider such that the head mounted smart device 210 or the wireless audio device 212 is capable of accepting as well as rejecting an incoming event received on the personal digital assistant 202 of the rider as well as cause an outgoing event to occur from the personal digital assistant 202 of the rider. In one non-limiting example, the head mounted smart device 210 or the wireless smart device 212 comprises a voice assist feature to accept or reject the incoming event received on the personal digital assistant 202 of the rider. Similarly, the voice assist feature may be used for occurrence of the outgoing event such as placing a call or sending a message or an email from the personal digital assistant 202 of the rider. In another non-limiting example, one or more push buttons or touch buttons are provided on the head mounted smart device 210 or the wireless audio device 212 to accept or reject the incoming event received on the personal digital assistant 202 of the rider. Similarly, a single or multiple push buttons or touch buttons may be used for occurrence of the outgoing event such as placing a call or sending a message or an email from the personal digital assistant 202 of the rider. In another non-limiting example, a combination of the voice feature and the push buttons or touch buttons may be used for acceptance of the incoming event and the occurrence of the outgoing event.
[049] In one non-limiting example, the head mounted smart device 210 is for riders riding two-wheelers or three wheelers such as bicycle, scooters, motorcycles and the likes. In another non-limiting example, the wireless audio device 212 is for riders riding three wheelers or four wheelers such as cars, trucks, rickshaws and the likes.
[050] The interactions of the remaining components of the system 100 along with their functions have already been discussed in detail in Figure 1.
[051] Figure 3 is a flowchart 300 illustrating a method for generating a visual alert for peer riders and/or pedestrians, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[052] At step 301, the method comprises monitoring an acceptance of an incoming event and/or an occurrence of an outgoing event on a personal digital assistant 202 of a rider. The step of monitoring 301 is performed by the personal digital assistant 202 of the rider. The incoming event and the outgoing event comprises a call, a message, and/or an email. In an embodiment, the personal digital assistant 202 is a wireless device including smart phones, laptops, tablet devices and the likes.
[053] At step 302, the method 300 comprises transmitting at least one of incoming event data 214 and outgoing event data 216 to a vehicle control unit 204. The step 302 of transmitting is performed by the personal digital assistant 202. The incoming event data 214 is data indicative of acceptance of the incoming event. The outgoing event data 216 is data indicative of occurrence of the outgoing event. The incoming event data 214 and the outgoing event data 216 are transmitted to the vehicle control unit 204 by transmission modes. For example, standards for Internet and other packet switched network transmission may be used. The network may include wired networks, wireless networks, Ethernet AVB networks, or combinations thereof. The wireless network may be a cellular telephone network. Further, the network may be a public network, such as the Internet, a private network, such as an intranet, or combinations thereof. It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to transmission modes with any particular standards and protocols. Such modes are periodically superseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentially the same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocols having the same or similar functions are considered equivalents thereof.
[054] At step 303, the method comprises receiving, by the vehicle control unit 204, an input from sensors 206. The sensors 206 are configured for detecting the one or more states of the vehicle 200. It is to be understood that the sensors 206 are configured to detect and transmit the one or more states of the vehicle prior to the acceptance of the incoming event or the occurrence of the outgoing event and the after the acceptance of the incoming event or the occurrence of the outgoing event. In an embodiment, the one or more sensors 206 comprises a side stand sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensor, a Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor, a displacement sensor, a RADAR sensor and/or lane change detection sensor.
[055] At step 304, the method comprises determining pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle 200 and upon determination of the pre-defined deviations, controlling the operation of the lamps 208 of the vehicle 200 for a duration of time the rider is occupied with the incoming event or the outgoing event based on the incoming event data 214 and the outgoing event data 216. The step 304 of determining and controlling is performed by the vehicle control unit 304.
[056] In order to determine the pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle 200, the vehicle control unit 204 performs the step of comparing the data indicative of the one or more states of the vehicle 200 after the acceptance of the incoming event or occurrence of the outgoing event with data indicative of the one or more states of the vehicle 200 prior to acceptance of the incoming event or occurrence of the outgoing event. Based on the comparison, the vehicle control unit 204 performs the step of determining pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle 200. In an embodiment, the pre-defined deviations are pre-configured in the vehicle control unit 204. In an embodiment, the pre-defined deviations are configured in the vehicle control unit 204 as a factory setting. In an embodiment, the pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle 200 comprises a deviation of the vehicle 200 along a width of the road exceeding a pre-defined deviation, a variation in the speed of vehicle 200 exceeding a pre-defined variation and/or a deviation from a lane on which the vehicle 200 is moving.
[057] In an embodiment, the step 304 of controlling the lamps 208 comprises switching lamps from an OFF condition to an ON condition upon determination of the pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle 200. In an embodiment, the step 304 of controlling the lamps 208 comprises maintaining the lamps in an ON condition upon determination of the pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle. It is to be understood that the lamps 208 in the ON state alerts the peer riders and/or the pedestrians that the rider is occupied with the personal digital assistant 202. Such alerts create situational awareness among peer riders and/or pedestrians to avoid disturbance on the roads including accidents and collisions.
[058] In an embodiment, the acceptance of the incoming event and occurrence of the outgoing event is performed by the rider with the personal digital assistant 202 as shown in Figure 1. In an embodiment, the acceptance of the incoming event and occurrence of the outgoing event is performed by the rider with a head mounted smart device 210 or a wireless audio device 212 in communication with the personal digital assistant 204 as shown in Figure 2. In an embodiment, the head mounted smart device 210 is a helmet. In an embodiment, the head mounted smart device 210 or wireless audio device 212 can be embedded one or add on module type with provision of one or more radio setup.
[059] It is to be understood that typical hardware configuration of the personal digital assistant 202 and the vehicle control unit 204 can include a set of instructions that can be executed to cause the personal digital assistant 202 and the vehicle control unit 204 to perform the above-disclosed method.
[060] The personal digital assistant 202 and the vehicle control unit 204 may include a processor which may be a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both. The processor may be one or more general processors, digital signal processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, servers, networks, digital circuits, analog circuits, combinations thereof, or other now known or later developed devices for analysing and processing data. The processor may implement a software program, such as code generated manually i.e. programmed.
[061] The personal digital assistant 202 and the vehicle control unit 204 may include a memory. The memory may be a main memory, a static memory, or a dynamic memory. The memory may include, but is not limited to computer readable storage media such as various types of volatile and non-volatile storage media, including but not limited to random access memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable read-only memory, flash memory, magnetic tape or disk, optical media and the like. The memory is operable to store instructions executable by the processor. The functions, acts or tasks illustrated in the figures or described may be performed by the programmed processor executing the instructions stored in the memory.
[062] The personal digital assistant 202 and the vehicle control unit 204 may further include a display unit such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a flat panel display, a solid state display, a cathode ray tube or other now known or later developed display device for outputting determined information. The display may act as an interface for the user to see the functioning of the processor, or specifically as an interface with the software stored in the memory.
[063] Additionally, the personal digital assistant 202 and the vehicle control unit 204 may include an input device configured to allow a user to interact with any of the components of the personal digital assistant 202 and the vehicle control unit 204. The input device may be a number pad, a keyboard, or a cursor control device, such as a mouse, or a joystick, touch screen display, remote control or any other device operative to interact with the personal digital assistant 202 and the vehicle control unit 204.
[064] The personal digital assistant 202 and the vehicle control unit 204 may also include a disk or optical drive unit. The disk drive unit may include a computer-readable medium in which one or more sets of instructions, e.g. software, can be embedded. Further, the instructions may embody one or more of the methods or logic as described. In a particular example, the instructions may reside completely, or at least partially, within the memory or within the processor during execution by the personal digital assistant 202 and the vehicle control unit 204. The memory and the processor also may include computer-readable media as discussed above. The present invention contemplates a computer-readable medium that includes instructions or receives and executes instructions responsive to a propagated signal so that a device connected to a network can communicate data over the network. Further, the instructions may be transmitted or received over the network. The network may include wired networks, wireless networks, Ethernet AVB networks, or combinations thereof. The wireless network may be a cellular telephone network. Further, the network may be a public network, such as the Internet, a private network, such as an intranet, or combinations thereof, and may utilize a variety of networking protocols now available or later developed.
[065] The claimed features/method steps of the present invention as discussed above are not routine, conventional, or well understood in the art, as the claimed steps enable the following solutions to the existing problems in conventional technologies. Specifically, the technical problem of lack of awareness in the peer riders and/or the pedestrians about the status and intent of the rider while using the personal digital assistant is solved by present invention.
[066] The present invention creates awareness in the peer riders and/or the pedestrians by generating a visual alert upon determination of the pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle 200 when the rider is occupied with the personal digital assistant 202.
[067] By creating visual alerts using lamps 208 which are easily visible to the peer riders and/or pedestrians even from a far distance, the present invention is capable of considerably reducing disturbances on the road including accidents and collision when the rider is occupied with the personal digital assistant 202.
[068] The generation of the visual alert is independent of manual intervention from the rider. The present invention, therefore, does not increase the cognitive load of the rider while riding the vehicle 200.
[069] The present invention does not require communication with devices of the peer riders and/or pedestrians to generate visual alerts which makes the present invention more effective over the prior arts requiring vehicle to vehicle communication or vehicle to pedestrian communication for generation of alerts.
[070] While the present invention has been described with respect to certain embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modification may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
, Claims:WE CLAIM:

1. A system (100) for generating a visual alert for at least one of peer riders and pedestrians, the system (100) comprising:
one or more sensors (206) mounted on a vehicle (200) configured for detecting one or more states of the vehicle (200);
one or more lamps (208) mounted on the vehicle (200);
a personal digital assistant (202) of a rider riding the vehicle, said personal digital assistant (202) configured to monitor an acceptance of an incoming event and an occurrence of an outgoing event on the personal digital assistant (202), the personal digital assistant (202) further configured to transmit one of incoming event data (214) and outgoing event data 216; and
a vehicle control unit (204) mounted on the vehicle (200) and in communication with the personal digital assistant (202) of the rider, the vehicle control unit (204) configured to:
receive an input from the one or more sensors (206) to determine one or more pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle (200) and upon determination of the one or more pre-defined deviations, control operation of the one or more lamps (208) of the vehicle (200) for a duration of time the rider is occupied with one of the incoming event and the outgoing event, based on the incoming event data (214) and the outgoing event data (216).

2. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vehicle control unit (204) switches one or more lamps (208) from an OFF condition to an ON condition upon determination of the one or more pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle (200).

3. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vehicle control unit (204) maintains one or more lamps in an ON condition upon determination of the one or more pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle (200).

4. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the personal digital assistant (202) is in communication with at least one of a head mounted smart device (210) and a wireless audio device.

5. The system (100) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the acceptance of the incoming event and the occurrence of the outgoing event is performed by the rider with one of: the head mounted smart device (210), the personal digital assistant (202), and the wireless audio device (212).

6. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the incoming event and the outgoing event comprises at least one of a call, a message and an email.

7. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle (200) comprises at least one of: change in a lane of the vehicle (200), a variation in speed of the vehicle (200) exceeding a pre-defined variation and a deviation of the vehicle (200) along a width of the road exceeding a pre-defined deviation.

8. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors (206) comprise at least one of : a side stand sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensor, a Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor, a displacement sensor, a RADAR sensor and a lane change detection sensor.

9. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more lamps (208) comprises at least one of: a plurality of turn signal lamps and a plurality of hazard lamps.

10. A method (300) for generating a visual alert for at least one of peer riders and pedestrians, the method (300) comprising:
- monitoring (301), by a personal digital assistant (202) of a rider, an acceptance of an incoming event and an occurrence of an outgoing event on the personal digital assistant (202) ;
- transmitting (302), by the personal digital assistant (202) to a vehicle control unit (204) mounted on a vehicle (200) driven by the rider, at least one of incoming event data (214) and outgoing event data (216);
- receiving (303), by the vehicle control unit (204), an input from one or more sensors (206) configured for detecting one or more states of the vehicle (200); and
- determining (304), by the vehicle control unit (204), one or more pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle (200) and upon determination of the one or more pre-defined deviations: controlling the operation of one or more lamps (208) of the vehicle (200) for a duration of time the rider is occupied with the incoming event or the outgoing event based on the incoming event data (214) and the outgoing event data (216).

11. The method (300) as claimed in claim 10, comprising: switching, by the vehicle control unit (204), one or more lamps (208) from an OFF condition to an ON condition upon determination of the one or more pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle (200).

12. The method (300) as claimed in claim 10, comprising: maintaining the one or more lamps (208) in an ON condition upon determination of the one or more pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle (200).

13. The method (300) as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the personal digital assistant (202) is in communication with at least one of: the head mounted smart device (210) and the wireless audio device (212).

14. The method (300) as claimed in claim 13, wherein the acceptance of the incoming event and the occurrence of the outgoing event is performed by the rider with one of: the head mounted smart device (210), the personal digital assistant (202), and the wireless audio device (212).

15. The method (3200) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the incoming event and the outgoing event comprises at least one of : a call, a message and an email.

16. The method (300) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the one or more pre-defined deviations in the one or more states of the vehicle (200) comprises at least one of: change in a lane of the vehicle (200), a variation in speed of the vehicle (200) exceeding a pre-defined variation and a deviation of the vehicle (200) along a width of the road exceeding a pre-defined deviation.