CLIAMS:STATEMENT OF CLAIMS
We claim:
1. A system for automatically adjusting a volume level of a horn, the system comprising:
a horn assembly for said horn of a vehicle; and
a signal processing unit configured to receive a first signal, wherein said first signal corresponds to pressure applied on a press switch of said horn assembly, wherein
said signal processing unit configured to,
generate a second signal to an actuator of said system on receiving said signal to adjust volume level of a sound signal emitted from said horn of said vehicle to a volume level among a set of standardized volume levels for vehicle horns, wherein said second signal is generated based plurality of parameters.
2. The system as claimed in 1, wherein said parameters include at least one of said pressure applied on said press switch, speed of said vehicle, an aggregated sound decibel (dB) level of horns blown by other vehicles in a surrounding environment, and direction of said aggregated sound dB level of said horns blown by said other vehicles in said surrounding environment.
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said signal processing unit comprises a controller unit configured to process said plurality of parameters to generate said signal to said actuator.
4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said signal processing unit comprises a weighted filtering unit configured to identify and segregate said aggregated sound dB level of horns blown by other vehicles in surrounding environment around from the ambient noise present in the surrounding environment.
5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said signal processing unit comprises a signal direction calculation unit configured to identify said direction of said aggregated sound level of said horns blown by said other vehicles in surrounding environment.
6. A method for automatically adjusting a volume level of a horn, the method comprising:
receiving a first signal based on pressure applied on a press switch of a horn assembly for said horn; and
generating a second signal on receiving said first signal to adjust volume level of a sound signal emitted from said horn to a volume level among a set of standardized volume levels, wherein said signal is generated by processing plurality of parameters.
7. The method as claimed in 6, wherein said parameters processed include at least one of said pressure applied on said press switch, speed of a vehicle, an aggregated sound decibel (dB) level of horns blown by other vehicles in a surrounding environment, and direction of said aggregated sound dB level of said horns blown by said other vehicles in said surrounding environment.
8. The method as claimed in 6, wherein said processing comprises identifying and segregating said aggregated sound dB level of horns blown by other vehicles in surrounding environment around from the ambient noise present in the surrounding environment.
9. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein said processing comprises identifying said direction of said aggregated sound level of said horns blown by said other vehicles in surrounding environment.

Dated this 29th June 2015

Signature:

Name: Kalyan Chakravarthy
,TagSPECI:FORM 2
The Patent Act 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
The Patent Rules, 2005

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(SEE SECTION 10 AND RULE 13)

TITLE OF THE INVENTION
“System for automatically adjusting volume level of vehicle horn to one of standardized volume levels”

APPLICANTS:
Name Nationality Address
Mahindra & Mahindra Limited Indian Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.,
MRV, Mahindra World City (MWC),
Plot No. 41/1, Anjur Post, Chengalpattu,
Kanchipuram District – 603204 (TN) INDIA

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

TECHNICAL FIELD
[001] The embodiments herein generally relate to motor vehicles, and more particularly to vehicle horns in the motor vehicles.
BACKGROUND
[002] Noise pollution levels are increasing day by day. Every possible measure to reduce the noise pollution contributes in maintaining noise pollution within acceptable limits. Increase in number of vehicle on road, and an equal increase in pedestrians on crowded streets is bound to increase usage of vehicle horns (horns), thus, contributing as one of the major factors for noise pollution in urban areas. Generally, blowing a horn to make people aware of a moving vehicle in vicinity is common action taken by a driver of the vehicle. However, restraining the usage of the horn to a minimum level is necessary so as to restrict or maintain noise pollution within acceptable limits of sound decibel (dB) level. Further, in most practical scenarios the volume of the horn blown by the driver may not necessarily be an indicative of emergency of the situation. Unnecessary honking is generally discouraged or rather may be an offence, however, not just the roads but the obsession with blowing horns is omnipresent in residential layouts, housing societies, hospitals, schools and the like. Different ways to control such noise pollution are practiced. As can be understood, it is practically difficult to control blowing of the horn as it is solely dependent on the individual driving the vehicle, however, a control can be introduced on the volume of the horn.
[003] Conventional mechanisms in the vehicles utilize predefined sound tracks or tones to indicate the gravity of situation to persons in proximity. However, the sound volume of the horn is preset, thus the volume may be unnecessarily loud in a quiet environment and may cause disturbance. Contrary, the preset volume may be too low in crowded places and may fail to alert the persons around (in the surrounding environment) about the urgency of the situation. Further, each vehicle may use a different tone or the sound track and is completely left to the persons around to interpret the gravity of the situation on hearing the horn.
[004] Another existing method with situation indicative horn blow mechanism provides automatic variations in the volume level of the horn being blown based on speed of the vehicle as the volume controlling parameter. Thus, for a listener such as a pedestrian, louder the volume higher is the speed of the approaching vehicle. However, the level of the volume decided by the existing method fails to take account of other moving vehicles and volume of the horns blown by them. Thus, the existing method provides no control over chaos caused by blowing of multiple horns and noise pollution generated by them. Such scenarios mostly confuse the pedestrians and may not solve the purpose of rightly alarming the pedestrian of the approaching vehicle.
[005] Therefore, there is a need for a system for automatically adjusting a volume level of a vehicle horn.
OBJECTS
[006] The principal object of the embodiments of this invention is to provide a system for automatically adjusting a volume level of a vehicle horn to a volume level among a set standardized volume levels for vehicle horns (horns). The system proposed standardizes volume levels for the horns that enable a person to relate the volume level of horn being heard to emergency of situation with reference to one or more vehicles approaching towards the person.
[007] Another object of the embodiments of this invention is to provide a system that configured to consider plurality of parameters including but not limited to pressure applied on a press switch of a horn assembly, speed of the vehicle, aggregated sound dB level of horns blown by other vehicles around (in the surrounding environment), and direction of the aggregated sound dB level of the horns blown by other vehicles around.
[008] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES
[009] The embodiments of this invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, through out which like reference letters indicate corresponding parts in the various figures. The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following description with reference to the drawings, in which:
[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates a system for automatically adjusting volume level of vehicle horn to one of standardized volume levels for vehicle horns, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0011] FIG. 2 illustrates a graph indicating comparison of aggregated sound dB level of horns blown by other vehicles around with the standardized volume levels for the vehicle horns, according to embodiments as disclosed herein; and
[0012] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for automatically adjusting the volume level of the horn, according to embodiments as disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
[0014] The embodiments herein achieve a system 100 for automatically adjusting a volume level, alternatively referred as dB level, of a vehicle horn to a volume level among set of standardized volume levels, and alternatively referred as standardized volume levels, for vehicle horns (horns). The system 100 standardizes volume levels for the horns, thus enabling a person to relate the volume level of horn being heard to emergency of situation with reference to one or more vehicles approaching towards the person. Further, each of the standardized volume levels of the system 100, the maximum horn volume level or dB level is maintained well within the safe dB level limit for a person so as to avoid any damage to his/her ears. Whenever a press switch (pressure sensor) in a horn assembly is activated (pressed), indicative of intension of a person for example, a driver of the vehicle to blow the horn, a controlling unit of the system 100 is configured to emits sound from the horn by adjusting the volume level to one of the volume level among the standardized volume levels for the vehicle horns. The system 100 considers pluralities of parameters to identify and adjust the volume level of the horn. The parameters include but are not limited to the pressure applied on press switch of a horn assembly, speed of the vehicle, and aggregated sound dB level of horns blown by other vehicles around (in the surrounding environment), and direction of the aggregated sound dB level of the horns blown by other vehicles around. In an embodiment, the standardized volume levels or standardized dB levels are defined as 85dB=level1<90dB, 90dB=level2<95dB, 95dB=level3<100dB, 100dB=level4<105dB, and 105dB=level5<110dB. However, frequency of the sound emitted from the horn based on the standardized volume levels lies within the frequency range specified by vehicle standards. Also the maximum standard dB level is within the safe limit. Further, the system 100 is further explained in conjunction with FIG. 1 with help of test case examples.
[0015] Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 3, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown embodiments.
[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates the system 100 for automatically adjusting volume level of vehicle horn to one of standardized volume levels for the vehicle horns, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. In an embodiment the system 100 includes a horn assembly 102, a signal processing unit 106, and an actuator 116. Further, the system 100 includes a vehicle frontal area mounted with sensors 122 (for example A, B depicted in FIG. 1) and a horn 118 of the horn assembly 102. . At user end, the horn assembly 112 comprises a press switch 104a with a pressure sensor, a battery 104b and a vehicle fuse 104c. The signal processing unit 106 includes a controlling unit 108, a signal direction calculation unit 110, a signal conditioning unit 112 and weighted filtering unit 114. The signal processing unit 106 is configured to receive the surrounding sound sensed by the sensors 122 and generate feedback signals for the controlling unit 108. For example, sensors A and B sense the ambient noise that includes the sound emitted from the vehicle horn and sound emitted from the vehicle horn of other vehicles in the surrounding and other noises in the surrounding. The controlling unit 108 utilizes a signal (first signal) from the press switch 104a and the feedback signals from the signal direction calculation unit 110 and the signal conditioning unit 112 to identify the volume level to which the horn volume level is to be adjusted. Once the volume level is identified, the signal processing unit 106 is configured to generate a signal (second signal) to the actuator 116. On receiving the signal the actuator 116 triggers emission of sound from the horn 118 with volume level as identified. The functioning of the system 100 is described below.
[0017] The controlling unit 108 is configured to receive the signal (first signal) from the horn assembly 102 whenever the press switch 104a is pressed. The signal from the press switch 104a may be proportional to the pressure applied on the press switch 104a. Simultaneously, the controlling unit 108 is configured to receive feedback signals from the front end of the vehicles as well as signal corresponding to the speed of the vehicle. The feedback signals include a signal corresponding to the aggregated sound dB level of horns blown by other vehicles around and a signal corresponding to direction of the aggregated sound dB level of the horns blown by other vehicles around. The effective signal fed back to the controlling unit 108 is a subtractive combination of the signal from the horn assembly 102a, which is indicative of the pressure with which the press switch 104a is pressed and the signals corresponding to the aggregated sound dB level of horns blown by other vehicles around, which is indicative of dB level or volume level of horn sound present in the surrounding. Using the effective feedback signal, the signal corresponding to direction of the aggregated sound dB level of the horns blown by other vehicles around, and the speed of the vehicle, the controlling unit 108 is configured to generate an appropriate signal (second signal) to the actuator 116 that triggers the horn 118. The signal to the actuator is generated such that the dB level of the sound emitted from the horn 118 is appropriately adjusted to one of the levels among the standardized volume levels. The volume level adjustment of the sound emitted from the horn by taking into consideration the noise of the surrounding so as to effectively maintain noise pollution as minimum as possible is explained in conjunction with test case examples provided below.
[0018] The weighted filtering unit 114 and the signal conditioning unit 112 of system 100 are configured to identify and segregate the aggregated sound dB level of horns blown by other vehicles in the surrounding environment (other vehicle around the vehicle) from the ambient noise (present in the surrounding environment). The sensors placed on the vehicle frontal area 120, for example sensor A and B sense the ambient noise including the sound level emitted from horn 118 of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the weighted filter 114 may be a band pass filter filtering the signals within a certain frequency range. The frequency range is in homologation decided by standards for the horns of the vehicle. Thus, all the other noises, in the environment or surrounding, generated by humans, animals, machines etc, are suppressed by this filter and only vehicles’ horn sound is considered.
[0019] The signal direction calculation unit 110 is configured to identify the direction of the aggregated sound dB level of the horns blown by other vehicles around. This enables the controlling unit 108 to identify whether any another vehicle, blowing the horn, is approaching towards or away from the vehicle and accordingly provide the correction factor to identify the volume level.
[0020] The system 100 may be implemented in every vehicle as a standardization effort. Such situations where the vehicle horn systems are standardized to install system similar to the system 100 of FIG. 1 are considered for examples to explain the working of system 100.
[0021] FIG. 1 shows a limited overview of system 100. The system 100 may include plurality of other components that are not explained here for brevity. Further, the names of the units, components or modules of the system 100 are illustrative and not a limitation.
[0022] The system 100 is explained with test case examples for ease of understanding, and the examples provided are not to be construed as limitation.
[0023] Following are few test case examples:
[0024] Test case1: Consider four vehicles V1, V2, V3 and V4 in a defined surrounding and with all of them are equipped with system 100. The vehicles V1 and V2 intend to generate sound from the horn with volume at level3 and the vehicles V3 and V4 are intending to generate the sound from the horn with volume at level 4 in the surrounding. In an embodiment, the standardized volume levels or standardized dB levels are defined as 85dB=level1<90dB, 90dB=level2<95dB, 95dB=level3<100dB, 100dB=level4<105dB, and 105dB=level5<110dB. All the four vehicles simultaneously produce sound with intended dB level. Hence, initially (at time, t=0+) it turns out in to addition of all four dB levels that may be far above the highest standard dB level permitted. However, as soon as this higher dB level is sensed by the sensors A & B equipped in all four vehicles the controlling unit 108 adjusts (in this case reduces) the output dB level of the sound emitted from the horn of each vehicle V1, V2, V3 and V4. Further, after little iteration (typically 2-3 iterations) the dB level in the surrounding gets maintained at level4. The time required for iterations to settle the dB level is termed as settling time of the system 100. Thus, unlike existing methods, the system 100 contributes in reducing the noise pollution, and assists in maintaining the noise levels well within the safe limits of the human ear.
[0025] Test case2: Consider three stationary vehicles V1, V2 and V3 in a crowded place waiting for pedestrians to cross a road. Consider a situation when vehicles V1, V2 and V3 are not equipped with system 100. Thus, when all the vehicles are honking their sound levels add up together. However, another vehicle V4, equipped with system 100, arrives at the scene behind these vehicles. The driver of vehicle V4 presses the horn applying high pressure with intention to generate louder sound from horn of his/her vehicle. Also, there may be birds and animal sounds present in the surroundings. The system 100 on the vehicle V4 however senses the sound level in the surrounding made by the vehicle horns using the weighted filtering unit 114 and the signal conditioning unit 112 and filters out the bird or animal sound. The controlling unit 108 compares the indented dB level of the horn by the driver of vehicle V4 (say level 4) and the current sound level in the surrounding. Once the intended level and current dB level in the surrounding is compared, the controlling unit 108 is configured to generate an output to the actuator 116 that is just enough to bring down the sound level emitted from the horn from the vehicle V4 so that the effective sound level in the surrounding does not rise very high. However, if the vehicles V1, V2 and V3 stop honking, then system 100 of vehicle V4 senses the reduction in sound level of the surroundings and increases sound level emitted from horn of vehicle V4 to maintain the sound level required by the driver of V4.
[0026] TEST CASE 3: Consider a scenario unnecessary honking is a habit with the driver of the vehicle that has system 100 implemented and often will press the horn with pressure; he/she may do so when even when the speed of the vehicle is low or the vehicle is stationary. In such scenarios, the controlling unit 108 with feedback of the speed parameter that has a very low value generates a signal to the actuator to effectively reduce the output of the sound emitted from the horn.
[0027] FIG. 2 illustrates a graph indicating comparison of aggregated sound dB level of horns blown by other vehicles around with the standardized volume levels for the vehicle horns, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. In graph indicates the standardized volume levels on vertical axis as 85dB=level1<90dB, 90dB=level2<95dB, 95dB=level3<100dB, 100dB=level4<105dB, and 105dB=level5<110dB and the levels 1 to 5 that the driver of the vehicle intends to use, are on horizontal axis. The aggregated sound dB level of horns blown by other vehicles 202 is compared with the volume level that the system 100 adjusts to 204 (level 1 to level 5). For example, in a particular case indicated by the graph of Fig. 2, the sound or volume level generated by horns from other vehicles in the proximity 202 is very high (above 100 dB) and the controlling unit 108 of the system 100 identifies the volume level of the vehicle 204 to be level 2 (based on various parameters described), thus allowing the volume level generated by horns from other vehicles in the proximity 202 to override the volume level 204 of the vehicle horn. This indicates other vehicle is given priority over the vehicle. This may be because of a scenario that another vehicle is in urgency and takes priority as that vehicle might be approaching with higher speed and/or might be in more proximity to the a pedestrian in path. However, in a particular case when volume level generated by horns from other vehicles in the proximity 202 is above the 105 db, but the vehicle of the driver is very close to the pedestrian, the driver has applied more pressure on the pressure assembly 104a and the vehicle speed is very high, then the system 100 identifies the volume level to be emitted from the horn 118 at highest level (level 5). This highest level enables the pedestrian to quickly understand severity of the danger from the vehicle approaching and respond accordingly. The frequency of the sound emitted from the horn however always lies within the frequency range specified by vehicle standards.
[0028] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the method 300 for automatically adjusting the volume level of the horn, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. At step 302, the method 300 includes receiving the first signal (signal) from the horn assembly 102, where the first signal is based on pressure applied on the press switch 104a of the horn assembly 102. In an embodiment, the horn assembly 102 generates and sends the first signal (signal) based on pressure applied on the press switch 104a.
[0029] At step 304, the method 300 includes processing plurality of parameters on receiving the first signal. In an embodiment, the signal processing unit 106 processes the plurality of parameters. The plurality of parameters processed include the pressure applied on the press switch, speed of the vehicle, the aggregated sound decibel (dB)level of horns blown by other vehicles in the surrounding environment, and direction of the aggregated sound dB level of the horns blown by the other vehicles in the surrounding environment. The processing step 304 of method 300 includes identifying and segregating the aggregated sound dB level of horns blown by other vehicles in surrounding environment around from the ambient noise present in the surrounding environment. In an embodiment the weighted filtering unit 114 identifies and segregates the aggregated sound dB level of horns blown by other vehicles in surrounding environment around from the ambient noise present in the surrounding environment. The processing step 304 of the method 300 also includes identifying the direction of the aggregated sound level of the horns blown by the other vehicles in surrounding environment. In an embodiment, the signal direction calculation unit 110 identifies the direction of the aggregated sound level of the horns blown by the other vehicles in surrounding environment.
[0030] At step 306, the method 300 includes generating the second signal (signal) based on the processed plurality of parameters. The second signal generated to adjust volume level of the sound signal emitted from the horn to the volume level among the set of standardized volume levels is send to the actuator 116 which triggers the emission of sound from the horn 118.
[0031] The various actions in method 300 may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in FIG. 3 may be omitted.
[0032] Throughout the description the method 100 is explained with reference to a system 100 implemented for vehicles. However, the system implementation may not be restricted to vehicles. The system may be used for other suitable applications.
[0033] The embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing network management functions to control the network elements. The network elements shown in Fig. 1 include blocks which can be at least one of a hardware device, or a combination of hardware device and software module.
[0034] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal 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.
STATEMENT OF CLAIMS
We claim:
1. A system for automatically adjusting a volume level of a horn, the system comprising:
a horn assembly for said horn of a vehicle; and
a signal processing unit configured to receive a first signal, wherein said first signal corresponds to pressure applied on a press switch of said horn assembly, wherein
said signal processing unit configured to,
generate a second signal to an actuator of said system on receiving said signal to adjust volume level of a sound signal emitted from said horn of said vehicle to a volume level among a set of standardized volume levels for vehicle horns, wherein said second signal is generated based plurality of parameters.
2. The system as claimed in 1, wherein said parameters include at least one of said pressure applied on said press switch, speed of said vehicle, an aggregated sound decibel (dB) level of horns blown by other vehicles in a surrounding environment, and direction of said aggregated sound dB level of said horns blown by said other vehicles in said surrounding environment.
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said signal processing unit comprises a controller unit configured to process said plurality of parameters to generate said signal to said actuator.
4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said signal processing unit comprises a weighted filtering unit configured to identify and segregate said aggregated sound dB level of horns blown by other vehicles in surrounding environment around from the ambient noise present in the surrounding environment.
5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said signal processing unit comprises a signal direction calculation unit configured to identify said direction of said aggregated sound level of said horns blown by said other vehicles in surrounding environment.
6. A method for automatically adjusting a volume level of a horn, the method comprising:
receiving a first signal based on pressure applied on a press switch of a horn assembly for said horn; and
generating a second signal on receiving said first signal to adjust volume level of a sound signal emitted from said horn to a volume level among a set of standardized volume levels, wherein said signal is generated by processing plurality of parameters.
7. The method as claimed in 6, wherein said parameters processed include at least one of said pressure applied on said press switch, speed of a vehicle, an aggregated sound decibel (dB) level of horns blown by other vehicles in a surrounding environment, and direction of said aggregated sound dB level of said horns blown by said other vehicles in said surrounding environment.
8. The method as claimed in 6, wherein said processing comprises identifying and segregating said aggregated sound dB level of horns blown by other vehicles in surrounding environment around from the ambient noise present in the surrounding environment.
9. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein said processing comprises identifying said direction of said aggregated sound level of said horns blown by said other vehicles in surrounding environment.

Dated this 29th June 2015

Signature:

Name: Kalyan Chakravarthy

ABSTRACT
A system for automatically adjusting a volume level of a vehicle horn to a volume level among a set of standardized volume levels for vehicle horns is provided. The system proposed standardizes volume levels for the horns, thus enabling a person to relate the volume level of horn being heard to emergency of situation with reference to one or more vehicles approaching towards the person. Pluralities of parameters are considered to identify and adjust the volume level of the horn.
FIG. 1