DESC:FIELD
The present disclosure relates to the field of vehicular collision avoidance systems.

BACKGROUND
The background information herein below relates to the present disclosure but is not necessarily prior art.
Automobile accidents result in thousands of fatalities and injuries each year. These accidents also result in damage of property worth millions of dollars.
A major reason for automobile accident is careless overtaking, i.e, when drivers tend to overtake the vehicle without paying much attention to other vehicles coming from the opposite side of the road, and due to restricted visibility. For example, in an event a trolley truck is moving ahead of the vehicle and there is no/restricted visibility, the driver of the vehicle may make a wrong decision of overtaking the trolley truck at a wrong time. This leads to fatal accidents in many cases.
Alternatively, on straight busy roads, there are situation when a plurality of vehicles tend to move close to each other. The reason for accidents in these situations is due to application of sudden brakes by a vehicle which is leading or is ahead of 2-3 vehicles resulting in a chain of accidents.
There is, therefore, felt a need for a vehicular collision avoidance system that alleviates the above-mentioned scenarios.
OBJECTS
Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies, are as follows:
It is an object of the present disclosure to ameliorate one or more problems of the prior art or to at least provide a useful alternative;
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a vehicular collision avoidance system.
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a vehicular collision avoidance system which alerts the trailing vehicle drivers.
Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a vehicular collision avoidance system which determines the closeness of the leading vehicle.
Still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a a vehicular collision avoidance system which allows the trailing vehicle drivers to overtake without any risk.
Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description, which is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
SUMMARY
The present disclosure is related to a vehicular collision avoidance system installed in vehicles for alerting the drivers of any vehicle trailing behind the vehicle. The system alerts the driver of at least one second trailing vehicle which is desirous of overtaking a first leading vehicle.
The system comprises a plurality of sensors mounted on the frontal portion of the vehicles, a computation unit, and an indication means mounted at the rear portion of the vehicles. The sensors are mounted on the frontal portion of the vehicles for generating signals corresponding to the distance between the vehicles. The computational unit is installed in each vehicle for computing the distances between vehicles based on the signals received from the sensors. The indication means are configured for indicating and alerting trailing vehicles based on the signal received from the computational units, to the operative second trailing vehicle that the distance between the first leading vehicle and a third leading vehicle which is in an operative leading location of the first leading vehicle, is unsafe for overtaking.
In accordance with an embodiment, the sensors are selected from the group consisting of LiDAR (Light Detecting And Ranging), C-LiDAR (Camera LiDAR), laser-based distance sensors, ultrasonic distance sensors, and image processing based distance sensors.
In accordance with another embodiment, at least one of the sensors is placed in each corner of the vehicles installed with the system.
In accordance with another embodiment, at least one of the sensors is placed in the rear portion of the vehicles for detecting the proximity of the vehicle with trailing vehicle/s.
In accordance with yet another embodiment, the vehicular collision avoidance system comprises at least one lane detection module for detecting the lane of the vehicle.
In accordance with an embodiment, the control unit is configured to co-operate with the sensors and the lane detection module to notify and suggest the driver of the second trailing vehicles about a safe lane for overtaking the first leading vehicle.
In accordance with another embodiment, the indication means is selected from the group consisting of lightings, LEDs, running displays, and display screens.
In accordance with another embodiment, lightings of different colour are used to alert the second trailing vehicles about different conditions in the front of the first leading vehicle.
In accordance with another embodiment, each of the sensors is configured to measure the proximity of the overtaking a first leading vehicle with pedestrians and other stationary objects such as trees, diversions, and poles.
In accordance with another embodiment, the third leading vehicle is a vehicle approaching towards the first leading vehicle from the opposite direction and along a lane parallel to the lane in which the first leading vehicle is travelling.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWING
A vehicular collision avoidance system of the present disclosure will now be described with the help of the accompanying drawing, in which:
Figure 1 illustrates a block diagram of a vehicular collision avoidance system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
Figure 2 - Figure 6b illustrate different scenarios where the system of the Figure 1 assists in avoiding vehicular collision.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS USED IN DETAILED DESCRIPTION AND DRAWING
100 – Vehicular collision avoidance system
101a – First leading vehicle/s
101b – Second trailing vehicle/s
101c – Third trailing vehicle/s
101d – Approaching vehicle/s
105 – Sensor/s
106 – Notification unit
108 – Lane detector module
115 – Computational unit
114 – Memory
120 - Indication means
201a – Fourth vehicle
X – Distance between main vehicle and trailing vehicle
Y – Distance between main vehicle and approaching vehicle
Z – Distance between main vehicle and first leading vehicle
a – Distance between main vehicle and second leading vehicle
1,2,3,4 – Vehicles overtaking the fourth vehicle
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Embodiments, of the present disclosure, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
Embodiments are provided so as to thoroughly and fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to the person skilled in the art. Numerous details are set forth, relating to specific components, and methods, to provide a complete understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that the details provided in the embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, well-known processes, well-known apparatus structures, and well-known techniques are not described in detail.
The terminology used, in the present disclosure, is only for the purpose of explaining a particular embodiment and such terminology shall not be considered to limit the scope of the present disclosure. As used in the present disclosure, the forms "a,” "an," and "the" may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly suggests otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," “including,” and “having,” are open ended transitional phrases and therefore specify the presence of stated features, elements, modules, units and/or components, but do not forbid the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
When an element is referred to as being "mounted on," “engaged to,” "connected to," or "coupled to" another element, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed elements.
The terms first, second, third, etc., should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure as the aforementioned terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, or region from another component, region. Terms such as first, second, third etc., when used herein do not imply a specific sequence or order unless clearly suggested by the present disclosure.
Terms such as “inner,” “outer,” "beneath," "below," "lower," "above," "upper," and the like, may be used in the present disclosure to describe relationships between different elements as depicted from the figures.
A vehicular collision avoidance system 100 of the present disclosure detects possible collision threats and provides an alert to a driver of the trailing vehicle in a manner that is not irritating, yet is effective and provides the driver with a warning that fits within the context of driving. Additionally, the vehicular collision avoidance system of the present disclosure does not require any training, but rather is inherently intuitive to all drivers.
Figure 1 illustrates a block diagram of the vehicular collision avoidance system.
In an embodiment, the vehicular collision avoidance system 100 (hereinafter referred as “system 100”) includes a plurality of sensors 105, a lane detector module 108, a computational unit 115 such as a processor, a indication means 120, a notification unit 106, and a memory 114. In an embodiment and for simplicity of illustration, the system 100 is implemented on a first leading vehicle 101a. It is to be noted that the system 100 is intended to be installed in a plurality of vehicles which are either leading or trailing the first leading vehicle 101a.
In an embodiment, the memory 114 is configured to store a pre-determined threshold distance and a pre-determined set of rules. In one embodiment, the memory 114 includes any computer-readable medium known in the art including, but is not limited to, volatile memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or a non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM, flash memories, hard disks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes.
In another embodiment, the computational unit 115 is configured to cooperate with the memory 114 to generate a set of system operating commands based on the pre-determined set of rules. The computational unit 115 is implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, micro-controllers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions.
In another embodiment, the lane detector module 108 and the plurality of sensors 105 are mounted on an operative front portion of the first leading vehicle 101a. In another embodiment, the lane detector module 108 and the plurality of sensors 105 are mounted on a front bumper of the first leading vehicle 101a. In some embodiment, the sensors 105 are mounted in the rear portion of the vehicles to measure the proximity of any trailing vehicle.
In an embodiment, the lane detector module 108 includes at least one lane identifier and a plurality of lane detectors. The lane identifier/s is/are configured to periodically detect the current lane of the first leading vehicle 101a, and can be further configured to generate at least one current lane signal.
In an embodiment, the plurality of lane detectors are configured to periodically detect the total number of lanes, and are further configured to generate a total count of lanes and notify the same to a trailing vehicle via the indication means 120.
In another embodiment, the plurality of sensors 105 is configured to detect the distance of a third leading vehicle 101c present in the current lane of the first leading vehicle 101a, and generate a lead vehicle distance signal. Further, the sensors 105 are configured to detect the distance of an approaching vehicle 101d present in adjacent lanes of the first leading vehicle 101a, and are further configured to generate approaching vehicle distance signal.
In an embodiment, the computational unit 115 is configured to cooperate with the lane detector module 108 and the sensors 105 to receive the current lane signal, the total count of lanes, the lead vehicle distance signal, and at least one approaching vehicle distance signal.
In an embodiment, the computational unit 115 is configured to generate an alert signal based on the received lead vehicle distance signal or approaching vehicle distance signal. In another embodiment, the computational unit 115 is also configured to generate either a left overtake signal or a right overtake signal based on the received current lane signal, the total count of lanes, the lead vehicle distance signal, and the approaching vehicle distance signal.
In another embodiment, the indication means 120 is mounted at an operative rear end of the first leading vehicle 101a. The indication means 120 is also configured to receive the alert signal, and is further configured to alert the driver of the second trailing vehicle/s 101b by displaying the distance of the third leading vehicle 101c with respect to the first leading vehicle 101a.
In an embodiment, the notification unit 106 includes at least two sets of visual notifiers, i.e. a left notifier and a right notifier, wherein each set of the visual notifiers is mounted at the operative rear end of the first leading vehicle 101a. The notification unit 106 is configured to provide notification to the driver of the second trailing vehicles 101b indicating safe lane for overtaking the first leading vehicle 101a. In an embodiment, the left notifier indicates that the left lane is safer for overtaking. In another embodiment, the right notifier indicates that the right lane is safer for overtaking.
In an operative configuration, referring to Figure 2, the automobiles are traveling on a straight road one after the other. In an event when the third leading vehicle 101c is required to apply sudden brakes and since there is restricted or no visibility to the trailing vehicles 101b, there is a possibility that to avoid the collision of the first leading vehicle 101a with the third leading vehicle 101c, the first leading vehicle 101a can apply sudden brakes and if the distance between the second trailing vehicles 101b is very less, there is a probability of occurrence of a fatal accident between them.
In this configuration, the system 100 will provide alerts to the driver of the second trailing vehicles 101b via the indication means 120. The indication means 120 is configured to provide warning to the driver’s of the trailing vehicles 101b by glowing a light and displaying the distance between the third leading vehicle 101c and the first leading vehicle 101a when the first leading vehicle 101a comes in proximity with the third leading vehicle/s 101c. So during normal driving condition, since the drivers of the second trailing vehicles 101b will be aware about the distance between the first leading vehicle 101a and the third leading vehicle 101c, the second trailing vehicles 101b will be alerted to stay at a particular distance and therefore during sudden braking, the driver of the second trailing vehicles 101b will be able save themselves as well as avoid collision with the first leading vehicle 101a and the third leading vehicle 101c.
In another operative configuration, referring to Figure 3, when there is a third leading vehicle/s 101c and one more approaching vehicles 101d in front of the first leading vehicle 101a, for the second trailing vehicle 101b to overtake the first leading vehicle 101a, the driver of the second trailing vehicle 101b must know that there is a third leading and an approaching vehicle (101c and 101d) in front of the first leading vehicle 101a. Further, the driver of the second trailing vehicle 101b should be aware about the distance between the third leading vehicles 101c and the approaching vehicles 101d, and the first leading vehicle 101a. In an event, when the driver of the second trailing vehicle 101b is willing to overtake the first leading vehicle 101a, and the approaching vehicle 101d is at some distance from the first leading vehicle 101a, but there is one more third leading vehicle(s) 101c in front of the first leading vehicle 101a at very less distance from the first leading vehicle 101a, there will be no room left for the second trailing vehicle 101b to overtake the first leading vehicle 101a, and in the meantime the approaching vehicle 101d will reach near the second trailing vehicle 101b, thereby causing a fatal accident.
In this configuration, the system 100 will provide alerts to the second trailing vehicles 101b via the indication means 120. The sensors 105 mounted on the front bumper of the first leading vehicle 101a will detect the third leading and approaching vehicles (101c and 101d) and generate a lead vehicle distance signal and an approaching vehicle distance signal. Upon receiving the lead vehicle distance signal and the approaching vehicle distance signal, the computational unit 115 will direct the indication means 120 to display two different warnings to the driver/s of the second trailing vehicle/s 101b. This can be done in various ways:
• When the distance of the third leading vehicle 101c from the first leading vehicle 101a i.e. (Z) is less than the threshold distance value stored in the memory 114, the indication means 120 at the rear end of the first leading vehicle 101a is configured to warn the driver of the second trailing vehicle 101b by glowing a yellow light and displaying the distance between the third leading vehicle 101c and the first leading vehicle 101a.
• When distance of the approaching vehicle 101d from the first leading vehicle 101a i.e. (Y) is less than the threshold distance value stored in the memory 114, the indication means 120 is configured to warn the driver of the second trailing vehicle 101b by glowing a blue light and displaying the distance between the approaching vehicle 101d and the first leading vehicle 101a.
• When distances of both leading and approaching vehicles (101c and 101d) from the first leading vehicle 101a viz. (Z and Y) are less than the threshold distance values stored in the memory 114, the indication means 120 is configured to warn the driver of the second trailing vehicle 101b by glowing a red light and displaying the distance between the third leading and the approaching vehicles (101c and 101d) and the first leading vehicle 101a. Thus, the driver of the second trailing vehicle 101b will be warned about the third leading and the approaching vehicles (101c and 101d) and will not overtake the first leading vehicle 101a, because doing so will lead to a fatal accident.
In still another operative configuration, referring to Figure 4, when one of the approaching vehicles (1, 2, 3, or 4) is coming from opposite side after overtaking a fourth vehicle 201a, and when the trailing vehicle 101b is trying to overtake the first leading vehicle 101a, there is a chance of a fatal accident if the distance between the first leading vehicle 101a and the approaching vehicles (1, 2, 3, 4) is less.
In this configuration, the system 100 will provide alerts to the trailing vehicles 101b via the indication means 120. The indication means 120 is configured to provide warning to the driver of the second trailing vehicle 101b by glowing a light and displaying the distance between the approaching vehicles (1, 2, 3, 4) and the first leading vehicle 101a, when the first leading vehicle 101a come in proximity with one or more of the approaching vehicles (1, 2, 3, 4). The second trailing vehicle 101b can avoid overtaking the first leading vehicle 101a, thereby preventing the possibility of an accident.
In an operative configuration, referring to Figure 5, when the second trailing vehicle 101b is willing to overtake the first leading vehicle 101a on a multiple lane road, the system 100 will not only help the second trailing vehicle 101b to overtake the first leading vehicle 101a, but will also notify/inform the driver of the second trailing vehicle 101b about which lane is the most suitable to overtake the first leading vehicle 101a on the basis of distances ‘z’ and ‘a’ detected by the sensors 105. In an embodiment, if the detected distance for a particular lane is greater than the pre-determined threshold value stored in the memory 114, the computational unit 115 will direct the notification unit 106 to provide notification to the driver of the second trailing vehicle 101b by indicating a safe lane for overtaking the first leading vehicle 101a by blinking the notifier disposed on the side of the safe lane. The driver of the second trailing vehicle 101b will be informed about the safe side to overtake the first leading vehicle 101a.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the system 100 is implemented to operate in a one way road condition or a two way road condition. The lane detector module 108 is configured to detect whether a road is one way or two way, and is further configured to generate a one-way signal or a two-way signal.
In an operative configuration, referring to Figure 6a, when the lane detector module 108 detects a one way road, the sensors 105 are configured to detect the number of third leading vehicles 101c and the distances of the third leading vehicles 101c from the first leading vehicle 101a. This helps in ensuring that the first leading vehicle 101a accurately gives warning to the driver of the second trailing vehicle 101b about its proximity with any of the third leading vehicles 101c.
In another operative configuration, referring to Figure 6b, when the lane detector module 108 detects a two way road, the sensors 105 are configured to detect the number of third leading vehicles 101c as well the number of approaching vehicles 101d, and is further configured to detect the distances of each of the third leading vehicles 101c and each of the approaching vehicles 101d from the first leading vehicle 101a. In this configuration, the lane identifiers are configured to detect the lane of the first leading vehicle 101a, and on that basis, are further configured to direct the sensors 105 to detect the third leading vehicles 101c in the detected lane and the approaching vehicles 101d in the adjacent lanes (i.e. left and right lanes). The computational unit 115 coordinates with the sensors 105 to direct the notification unit 106 to provide notification to the driver of the second trailing vehicle 101b indicating safe lane for overtaking the first leading vehicle 101a. The left notifier will indicate that the left lane is safer for overtaking and while the right notifier will indicate that the right lane is safer for overtaking. In an embodiment, the sensors 105 are configured to ensure that no unwanted surrounding components like trees and poles are detected.
In an embodiment, the system 100 is configured to estimate risk involved in overtaking by considering the speed of the first leading vehicle 101a and the third leading vehicle or approaching vehicle (101c and 101d) along with the distance of the third leading vehicle or approaching vehicle (101c and 101d) with respect to the first leading vehicle 101a.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Individual components of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, are interchangeable. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the present disclosure, and all such modifications are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.
TECHNICAL ADVANCES AND ECONOMICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The present disclosure described herein above has several technical advantages including, but not limited to, the realization of a vehicular collision avoidance system that:
• alerts the trailing vehicle drivers;
• determines the closeness of the leading vehicle; and
• allows the trailing vehicle drivers to overtake without any risk.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments so fully reveals the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.
The use of the expression “at least” or “at least one” suggests the use of one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as the use may be in the embodiment of the disclosure to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like that has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the disclosure. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form a part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the disclosure as it existed anywhere before the priority date of this application.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the components and component parts of the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the disclosure. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment as well as other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the disclosure and not as a limitation.
,CLAIMS:WE CLAIM:
1. A vehicular collision avoidance system (100) installed in vehicles for alerting at least one second trailing vehicle (101b) delirious of overtaking a first leading vehicle (101a), the system (100) comprising:
• a plurality of sensors (105) mounted on the frontal portion of the vehicles for generating signals corresponding to the distance between the vehicles;
• a computational unit (115) installed in each vehicle for computing the distances between vehicles based on the signals received from the sensors (105); and
• at least one indication means (120) mounted at the rear of the vehicles for indicating and alerting trailing vehicles based on signal received from the computational units (115), to the operative second trailing vehicle (101b) that the distance between the first leading vehicle (101a) and a third leading vehicle (101c) which is in an operative leading location of the first leading vehicle (101a), is unsafe for overtaking.
2. The vehicular collision avoidance system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the sensor (105) is selected from the group consisting of LiDAR (Light Detecting And Ranging), C-LiDAR (Camera LiDAR), laser-based distance sensors, ultrasonic distance sensors, and image processing based distance sensors.
3. The vehicular collision avoidance system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the sensors (105) is placed in each corner of the first leading vehicle (101a).
4. The vehicular collision avoidance system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the sensors (105) is placed in the rear portion of the first leading vehicle (101a) for detecting the proximity of the first leading vehicles (101a) with the second trailing vehicles (101b).
5. The vehicular collision avoidance system (100) as claimed in claim 1, the system (100) comprises at least one lane detection module (108) for detecting the lane of the first leading vehicle (101a).
6. The vehicular collision avoidance system (100) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the control unit is configured to co-operate with the sensors (105) and the lane detection module (108) to notify the second trailing vehicles (101b) about a safe lane for overtaking the first leading vehicle (101a).
7. The vehicular collision avoidance system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the indication means (120) is selected from the group consisting of lightings, LEDs, running displays, and display screens.
8. The vehicular collision avoidance system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein lightings of different colour are used to alert the second trailing vehicles (101b) about different conditions in the front of the first leading vehicle (101a).
9. The vehicular collision avoidance system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the sensors (105) is configured to measure the proximity of the overtaking a first leading vehicle with pedestrians and other stationary objects such as trees, diversions, and poles.
10. The vehicular collision avoidance system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the third leading vehicle (101c) is a vehicle approaching towards the first leading vehicle (101a) from the opposite direction and along a lane parallel to the lane in which the first leading vehicle (101a) is travelling.