FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10, rule 13)
1. Title of the Invention:
“A VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM AND A METHOD FOR CONTROLLING SPEED OF A VEHICLE”
2. APPLICANT (S) -
(a) Name : MINDA CORPORATION LIMITED
(b) Nationality : Indian
(c)Address : E-5/2, Chakan Industrial Area, Phase-III, M.I.D.C,
Nanekarwadi, Tal: Khed, Dist. Pune - 410501, Maharashtra, India
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

Field of Invention
The present invention relates to automobile safety, and more particularly, to a system and method to control speed of a vehicle.
Background of the Invention
A drastic increase in the number of vehicles on road over the past few years have been witnessed world over. With increase in the number of vehicles on the road, the traffic density has also increased. It, therefore, becomes highly important for a driver to drive the vehicle safely to avoid accidents. Many factors like road conditions, vehicular speed, skill of the driver, effect of alcohol or drugs and like can result in accidents. However, amongst the above-mentioned factors, vehicular speed is the most common accident causing factor. In India, a report presented by the Ministry of Transport and Highways states that out of a total of 4,64,910 accidents reported in 2017, 3,27,448 accidents were caused due to over speeding. This accounts to more than 70% of the total accidents and is an alarming figure.
In a conventional approach, a driver controls the speed of a vehicle by manipulating brake pedal and accelerator pedal in accordance with the road type, road conditions, visibility, traffic density and the like. This approach, therefore, relies solely on the discretion of the driver and cannot ensure the necessary control over the speed of the vehicle. Hence, there is a need to implement an intelligent vehicle control system that can dynamically control the speed of the vehicle.
The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.
Objects of the Invention
An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control system for controlling speed of a vehicle.
Another object of the present invention is to improve vehicular safety by controlling speed of a vehicle.

Summary of the Invention
The present disclosure overcomes one or more shortcomings of the prior art and provides additional advantages discussed throughout the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosure.
In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, a vehicle control system for controlling speed of a vehicle is disclosed. The vehicle control system comprises of an electronic control unit (ECU) coupled with a memory storing processor executable instructions. The ECU, upon executing the processor-executable instructions, is configured to receive navigation data from a global positioning system (GPS) in real-time, The navigation data comprises at least one of current road data and current traffic data associated with a route on which the vehicle is moving. The ECU further analyses the current road data with the prestored road map comprising a plurality of road types and a plurality of road conditions. Further, the ECU determines one or more accident prone locations on the route based on the analysis and the current traffic data. The one or more accident prone locations are dynamically updated to new one or more accident prone locations based on change in the current traffic data. The change in the current traffic data indicates a change in traffic density. Finally, the ECU is coupled to a speed control unit that dynamically controls speed of the vehicle, based on the current traffic data, at the new one or more accident prone locations on the route.
In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for controlling speed of a vehicle is disclosed. The method comprises providing an electronic control unit (ECU) coupled with a memory for storing processor executable instructions. The method further comprises receiving by the ECU, navigation data from a global positioning system (GPS) in real-time. The navigation data comprises at least one of current road data and current traffic data associated with a route on which the vehicle is moving. Further, the method comprises analyzing by the ECU the current road data with the prestored road map comprising a plurality of road types and a plurality of road conditions. Additionally, the method comprises determining one or more accident prone locations on the route based on the analysis and the current traffic data by the ECU. The one or more accident prone locations are dynamically updated to new one or more accident prone locations based on change in the current traffic

data. The change in the current traffic data indicates a change in traffic density. Finally, the method comprises dynamically controlling speed of the vehicle, based on the current traffic data, at the new one or more accident prone locations on the route by the speed control unit coupled to an ECU.
The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.
Brief Description of the Drawings:
The embodiments of the disclosure itself, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 shows an exemplary environment 100 for controlling the speed of a vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 2 shows block diagram 200 illustrating a vehicle control system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
Figure 3 shows a method 300 for controlling the speed of a vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
Detailed description

The foregoing has broadly outlined the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description of the disclosure that follows may be better understood. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure.
The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the disclosure, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present disclosure.
Disclosed herein is a vehicle control system for controlling the speed of a vehicle. The vehicle control system may be implemented in various types of vehicles including, but not limited to, two-wheeler, three-wheeler, four-wheeler, or in any other type of transport vehicles. Many accidents on road are caused by over speeding vehicles. The number of accidents can be reduced greatly if the necessary control over speed of the vehicle is timely exercised depending upon the road conditions and traffic density.
The present disclosure aims to address this issue by controlling the speed of the vehicle by analysing current road data and current traffic data for a route on which the vehicle is moving. The current road data and the current traffic data is received from a global positioning system (GPS) navigation unit. The current road data may provide information pertaining to different road types and road conditions, whereas and the current traffic data may provide information pertaining to traffic density information on the route. The current road data and the current traffic data are analysed with prestored road map for determining one or more accident-prone locations on the route. Since the traffic data dynamically changes based on increase or decrease of the vehicles, the accident-prone locations may also get dynamically updated. This helps the system to take decisions efficiently for controlling the speed of the vehicle when one or more accident prone locations are encountered.
Figure 1 shows an exemplary environment 100 for controlling the speed of a vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. It may be understood to a person skilled in art that the present invention may also be implemented in various environments, other than as shown in Fig. 1. Further, it may be also understood to the skilled person that, the present

invention may be implemented in various types of vehicles including, but not limited to, two-wheeler, three-wheeler, four-wheeler, or in any transport vehicle.
The vehicle control system 101 is employed in a vehicle V, for example. The exemplary environment 100 depicts the movement of the vehicle V on a route at a time, say, t = 1s as presented in 100a and at a time, say, t = 10s as presented in 100b. It may be understood that, as the vehicle V starts moving, the vehicle control system 101 may receive the navigation data from global positioning system (GPS) unit 201 (of Figure 2) in real-time which provides current road data and current traffic data to the system 101.
The vehicle control system 101 analyse the current road data with prestored road map to identify the sharp edges B and C (i.e., road condition) as accident-prone locations on the route on which the vehicle is moving. The vehicle control system 101 may understands that locations B and C are fixed accident-prone locations on the route and the speed of the vehicle V must be carefully controlled at these locations. At time t = 1s, the vehicle control system 101 may also identify location A as a dynamic accident-prone location based on the current traffic data that is indicative of the traffic density. However, at time t = 10s as depicted in 100b, when the vehicle V approaches the sharp edge B (already been identified as accident-prone location), the traffic of location A now shifts to new location Aʹ. The location Aʹ is the new accident-prone location with high traffic density identified on the basis of the current traffic data. The vehicle control system 101, therefore controls the speed of the vehicle V at accident-prone location B and new accident-prone location Aʹ. The detailed explanation of the working of the vehicle control system 101 is provided in the upcoming paragraphs of the specification.
Figure 2 shows a block diagram 200 illustrating the vehicle control system 101 for controlling the speed of a vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The vehicle control system 101 may comprise an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) 203 coupled to a memory 202. A roadmap of a route that the vehicle V may follow may be prestored in the memory 202 of the vehicle control system 101. As the vehicle V starts moving, the ECU 203 starts receiving current road data and current traffic data from GPS navigation unit 201. The current road data may comprise information about the road type and the road condition, whereas the current traffic data may comprise information on the current traffic density. For example, the current road data may comprise information pertaining to road type and road condition. That is, when the vehicle V starts moving on a particular route, it becomes important for the system 101 to know about different road types and road conditions. For example, whether the road is a service

road or highway or any other type of road system. And, the information about sharp edges, speed breakers, predefined speed limit on the road and number of potholes. All the above data received from the GPS navigation unit 201 helps the system 101 to understand the upcoming situation on the route of the vehicle V.
The ECU 203 analyses the information received from the GPS navigation unit 201 in accordance with the prestored road map. Based on the analysis, the ECU 203 determines one or more accident-prone locations. The ECU 203 may further be coupled to a speed control unit 204. The speed control unit 204 controls the speed of the vehicle V through a vehicle braking unit 205 as it approaches one or more accident prone locations.
In this section, how the vehicle control system 101 is implemented and how the various components interact with each other is described in detail. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the GPS navigation unit 201 captures information about the road type and the road condition and stores it as current road data. Different road types may include service roads, highways, expressways and like. Road condition data may comprise information on the number of sharp edges/ turns, number of speed breakers and potholes, traffic signals and the predefined speed limit.
The current road data is captured for a fixed distance ahead of the vehicle V and after the vehicle V has moved through that distance, the current road data is dynamically updated. In a similar fashion, the current traffic data is also recorded by the GPS navigation unit 201 that gives an indication of the current traffic density within a fixed distance ahead of the vehicle V. The current road data and the current traffic data is received by the ECU 203 of the vehicle control system 101.
The ECU 203 analyses the current road data in accordance with a road map prestored in the memory 202 of the vehicle control system 101. It also determines a change in the current traffic data. According to an embodiment, the change in the current traffic data is determined by estimating an average vertical distance between a plurality of vehicles on the route. Based on the analysis, the ECU identifies one or more accident-prone locations. The speed control unit 204 which is coupled to the ECU 203, gradually reduces the speed of the vehicle V by employing the vehicle braking system 205 as it approaches one or more accident-prone locations.
However, before applying the brakes, for controlling the speed of the vehicle V, the ECU 203 first determines the distance between the vehicle V and the new one or more accident prone

locations on the route. The ECU 203 then determines the current speed of the vehicle V. It may happen that the current speed may be high in comparison with the distance between the vehicle V and upcoming accident-prone location, then the ECU 203 brakes may be applied little harder or stop or slow the down the vehicle on safe distance from the upcoming accident-prone location. The amount of brake to be applied may be determined by the ECU 203 and the vehicle braking system 205 based on the distance and the current speed of the vehicle V.
It may be noted that even though the presence of speed breakers or potholes may not qualify as an accident-prone location, the vehicle control system 101 would even so control the speed of the vehicle as they are approached. Also, since driving within a predefined speed limit is very essential to avoid any casualties on road, the vehicle control system 101 may also control the speed of the vehicle V if it runs at a speed greater than the predefined speed limit. Further, the vehicle control system 101 may be extremely useful during bad weather conditions like heavy rain and fog/smog when the visibility is poor and the driver is not able to identify the accident-prone locations on his/her own.
It may be understood that the above discussed components of the system 101 i.e., ECU 203 and speed control unit 204 may be dedicated hardware unit for performing the functionalities of the system 101. According to another embodiment, the ECU 203 and speed control unit 204 may refers to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality.
Figure 3 depicts a flowchart of an exemplary method for controlling the speed of a vehicle in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
As illustrated in Figure 3, the method 300 includes one or more blocks illustrating a method of controlling speed of a vehicle. The method 300 may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions. Generally, computer executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform specific functions or implement specific abstract data types.
The order in which the method 300 is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the methods without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein.

At block 301, the method 300 may include receiving navigation data from the GPS navigation unit 201. The navigation data comprises of current road data and current traffic data. Current road data includes information about the road type and the road condition for a route on which the vehicle V is travelling. Current traffic data gives information about the traffic density on the route at which the vehicle V is travelling. Current road data and the current traffic data are dynamically updated as the vehicle V keeps moving ahead on the route. The road types may include service roads, highways, expressways and like. Road condition data may comprise information on the number of sharp edges/ turns, number of speed breakers and potholes, traffic signals and the predefined speed limit.
At block 302, the method 300 may include analysing the current road data received from the GPS navigation unit 201 in accordance with a road map prestored in the memory 202 of the vehicle control system 101. The method may also include examining a change in the current traffic data. According to an embodiment, the change in the current traffic data is determined by estimating an average vertical distance between a plurality of vehicles on the route.
At block 303, the method 300 may include determining one or more accident-prone locations based on the change in the current traffic data and on the analysis of the current road data with the prestored road map.
At block 304, the method 300 may include detecting whether the vehicle V is approaching an accident-prone location. If the result of the determination is NO, then method goes to the steps of analysing of block 302. However, if the result of the determination is YES, the method 300 moves to block 305.
At block 305, the method 300 may include gradually reducing the speed of the vehicle V by employing the vehicle braking system 205 when the vehicle V approaches a detected accident-prone location at block 304.
The terms "including", "comprising", “having” and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to", unless expressly specified otherwise.
The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise.
The terms "a", "an" and "the" mean "one or more", unless expressly specified otherwise.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the invention.
When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readily apparent that more than one device/article (whether or not they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein (whether or not they cooperate), it will be readily apparent that a single device/article may be used in place of the more than one device or article or a different number of devices/articles may be used instead of the shown number of devices or programs. The functionality and/or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of the invention need not include the device itself.
Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based here on. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

We Claim:
1. A vehicle control system (101) for controlling speed of a vehicle, the vehicle control
system (101) comprises:
an electronic control unit (ECU) (203) coupled with a memory (202) storing processor
executable instructions, wherein the ECU (203), upon executing the processor-executable
instructions, is configured to:
receive navigation data from a global positioning system (GPS) navigation unit (201) in real-time, wherein the navigation data comprises at least one of current road data and current traffic data associated with a route on which the vehicle is moving;
analyse the current road data with prestored road map comprising a plurality of road types and a plurality of road conditions; and
determine one or more accident prone locations on the route based on the analysis and the current traffic data, wherein the one or more accident prone locations are dynamically updated to new one or more accident prone locations based on change in the current traffic data, and wherein the change in the current traffic data indicates change in traffic density; and a speed control unit (204), coupled with the ECU (203), to dynamically control speed
of the vehicle, based on the current traffic data, at the new one or more accident prone locations
on the route.
2. The vehicle control system (101) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the current road data further comprises a road type and a road condition, and wherein the current traffic data comprises traffic density information.
3. The vehicle control system (101) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of road types comprises a service road and a highway, and wherein the plurality of road conditions comprises number of sharp edges, number of speed breakers, predefined speed limit and number of potholes.
4. The vehicle control system (101) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the change in the current traffic data is determined by estimating an average vertical distance between a plurality of vehicles on the route.

5. The vehicle control system (101) as claimed in claim 1, dynamically control the speed
of the vehicle by:
determining a distance between the vehicle and the new one or more accident prone locations on the route;
determining current speed of the vehicle; and
applying brakes based on the distance and the current speed.
6. A method for controlling a vehicle by controlling speed of the vehicle, the method
comprises:
providing an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) (203) coupled with a memory (202) storing processor-executable instructions, and wherein the method comprises:
receiving, by the ECU (203), navigation data from a global positioning system (GPS) navigation unit (201) in real-time, wherein the navigation data comprises at least one of current road data and current traffic data associated with a route on which the vehicle is moving;
analysing, by the ECU (203), the current road data with prestored road map comprising a plurality of road types and a plurality of road conditions; and
determining, by the ECU (203), one or more accident prone locations on the route based on the analysis and the current traffic data, wherein the one or more accident prone locations are dynamically updated to new one or more accident prone locations based on change in the current traffic data, and wherein the change in the current traffic data indicates change in traffic density; and
dynamically controlling, by a speed control unit (204) coupled with the ECU (203), speed of the vehicle based on the current traffic density and at the new one or more accident prone locations on the route.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the current road data further comprises a road type and a road condition, and wherein the current traffic data comprises traffic density information.
8. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the plurality of road types comprises a service road and a highway, and wherein the plurality of road conditions comprises number of sharp edges, number of speed breakers, predefined speed limit and number of potholes.

9. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the current traffic data is determined by estimating an average vertical distance between a plurality of vehicles on the route.
10. The method as claimed in claim 6, the speed of the vehicle is dynamically controlled by:
determining a distance between the vehicle and the new one or more accident prone locations on the route;
determining current speed of the vehicle; and
applying brakes based on the distance and the current speed.