Collision prevention system
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorMonica Andrea Vanterpool
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods of automatically controlling the application of a magnetic field based on certain sensed conditions and/or environmental considerations are provided. Sensed conditions may be vehicle operational characteristics and environmental considerations may be from V2X communications, which may be utilized to determine the current vehicle speed and the distance between a vehicle and an obstacle. When speed and distance meet certain thresholds, the magnetic components present on front, rear, and/or side panels of the vehicle may be activated to prevent or mitigate collision impact. The magnetic components may be activated with a determined amount of current for a specific repel force.
Claims15
A method, comprising:
- collecting a first data representing operational characteristics of a vehicle;
- collecting a second data external to the vehicle;
- comparing each of the first and second data to respective first and second thresholds, and against each other for validation when the first and second data correspond to the same operational characteristics of the vehicle;
- and
- analyzing the first data and the second data in conjunction with each other to determine at least one of when to activate a magnetic collision mechanism of the vehicle and a level of activation of the magnetic collision mechanism, the magnetic collision mechanism comprising a magnet component located proximate to at least one of a front bumper, rear bumper, first side panel, and second side panel of the vehicle.
A collision prevention system, comprising:
- a data interface, wherein the data interface collects data including at least one of a current speed of a vehicle, acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle, and braking frequency and intensity of the vehicle obtained from one or more sensors coupled to the vehicle and from one or more sensors external to the vehicle;
- a decision unit, comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a memory unit operatively connected to the processor, wherein the memory stores instructions causing the processor to:
- compare the current speed, acceleration and deceleration, and braking frequency and intensity of the vehicle to a respective plurality of thresholds, and compare the current speed, acceleration and deceleration, and braking frequency and intensity of the vehicle obtained from the one or more sensors coupled to the vehicle and the current speed, acceleration and deceleration, and braking frequency and intensity of the vehicle obtained from the one or more sensors external to the vehicle to validate the current speed, acceleration and deceleration, and braking frequency and intensity of the vehicle;
- analyze the validated current speed, acceleration and deceleration, and braking frequency and intensity of the vehicle;
- determine, based on the analysis of the validated current speed, acceleration and deceleration, and braking frequency and intensity of the vehicle, a time to activate the collision prevention system, and a level of activation of the collision prevention system, the collision prevention system including an electromagnetic component;
- and
- generate a signal to activate the electromagnetic component at the determined time, the signal including an indication of an amount of current to be injected into the electromagnetic component to achieve the determined level of activation.
A system to electromagnetically control a mechanism, comprising:
- one or more sensors configured to sense environmental features;
- a decision unit, communicatively connected to the one or more sensors via a data interface, wherein the data interface collects the sensed environmental features from the one or more sensors, comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a memory unit operatively connected to the processor, wherein the memory unit stores instructions causing the processor to:
- validate the sensed environmental features by comparing the sensed environmental features with corresponding thresholds and, when the sensed environmental features are sensed from two or more sensors, comparing the sensed environmental features from each of the two or more sensors;
- analyze the sensed environmental features;
- determine, based on the analysis, a time to activate/deactivate the system, and a level of activation/deactivation of the mechanism;
- and
- generate a signal to accordingly activate/deactivate the one or more electromagnetic components at the determined time, the signal including an indication of an amount of current to achieve the determined level of activation/deactivation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.