Drone Warning System for Preventing Wrong-Way Collisions

A method for preventing wrong way collisions on a roadway, comprising:

• continuously monitoring an exit ramp of the roadway with sensors positioned at an exit end of the exit ramp to promptly detect any wrong way vehicle as the wrong way vehicle begins to enter the exit ramp from a wrong direction;
• transmitting an electronic signal from said sensors to a roadway safety system upon detecting a wrong way vehicle entered the exit ramp from the wrong direction;
• maintaining a robotic drone station that houses one or more preprogrammed robotic drones at a position on the exit ramp in front of any wrong way vehicle, said one or more preprogrammed robotic drones being controlled by said roadway safety system;
• launching at least a first preprogrammed robotic drone from the robotic drone station in response to a detection signal from said sensors indicating the wrong way vehicle entered the exit ramp from the wrong direction;
• intercepting the wrong way vehicle with said first preprogrammed robotic drone when the wrong way vehicle is on the exit ramp before reaching the roadway by flying the first preprogrammed robotic drone to fly in advance of and in front of the wrong way vehicle at a height and position to be visible to a driver of the wrong way vehicle;
• and
• generating a warning to the driver of the wrong way vehicle from said first preprogrammed robotic drone that the wrong way vehicle is traveling in the wrong direction to enable the driver to stop the wrong way vehicle before it reaches the roadway.

A method for preventing wrong way collisions on a roadway, comprising:

• continuously monitoring an exit ramp from the roadway with sensors positioned at an exit end of the exit ramp to promptly detect any wrong way vehicle as the wrong way vehicle begins to enter the exit ramp in a wrong direction;
• transmitting an electronic signal from said sensors to a roadway safety system once the wrong way vehicle is detected entering the exit ramp;
• detecting a vehicle identification number of the wrong way vehicle;
• transmitting the detected vehicle identification number to the roadway safety control system;
• determining a mobile phone number associated with the vehicle identification number;
• maintaining one or more preprogrammed robotic drones at a drone docking station located at or nearby the exit ramp, said one or more preprogrammed robotic drones being controlled by the roadway safety system;
• launching at least a first preprogrammed robotic drone in response to a detection signal from the roadway safety system that is generated in response to detecting the wrong way vehicle entering the exit ramp;
• intercepting the wrong way vehicle with the first preprogrammed robotic drone when the wrong way vehicle is on the exit ramp before reaching the roadway by flying the first preprogrammed robotic drone to fly in front of and over the wrong way vehicle;
• generating a warning to a driver of the wrong way vehicle from said first preprogrammed robotic drone that the wrong way vehicle is traveling in the wrong direction to enable the driver to stop the wrong way vehicle before it leaves the roadway;
• and
• calling the mobile phone number associated with the vehicle identification number to warn the driver of the wrong way vehicle before the wrong way vehicle leaves the exit ramp and enters the roadway.

A method for preventing wrong way collisions on a tollway, comprising:

• continuously monitoring an exit ramp from the tollway with sensors positioned at an exit end of the exit ramp to promptly detect any wrong way vehicle as the wrong way vehicle begins to enter the exit ramp
• transmitting an electronic signal from said sensors to a roadway safety system upon detecting a wrong way vehicle has entered the exit ramp from the wrong direction;
• detecting a vehicle identification number of the wrong way vehicle with a toll tag RFID reader located at the exit ramp to read the toll tag of a wrong way vehicle;
• transmitting the vehicle identification number to the roadway safety system;
• identifying a mobile phone number associated with the vehicle identification number;
• maintaining a drone docking station at or near the exit ramp for housing and energizing one or more preprogrammed eVTOL robotic drones which are each controlled by signals from the roadway safety system;
• launching a first preprogrammed eVTOL robotic drone towards the wrong way vehicle in response to a detection signal that is generated by the roadway safety system in response to detecting the wrong way vehicle entering the exit ramp;
• intercepting the wrong way vehicle with the first preprogrammed eVTOL robotic drone when the wrong way vehicle is on the exit ramp before reaching the tollway by flying the first preprogrammed eVTOL robotic drone to fly in advance of and in front of the wrong way vehicle at a height and position to be visible to a driver of the wrong way vehicle;
• generating a warning signal to a driver of the wrong way vehicle from the first preprogrammed eVTOL robotic drone that the wrong way vehicle is travelling in the wrong direction;
• attaching an attachment device on said first preprogrammed eVTOL robotic drone to the wrong way vehicle as the wrong way vehicle is on the exit ramp before reaching the tollway;
• launching a second preprogrammed eVTOL robotic drone from the drone docking station towards the tollway in response to the detection signal;
• flying said second preprogrammed eVTOL robotic drone above the tollway to provide one or more warning signals to vehicle drivers driving on the tollway in the correct direction before reaching an entrance to the exit ramp that a wrong way vehicle has entered the exit ramp from the wrong direction;
• and
• initiating a call from a command center at the roadway safety system to the mobile number associated with the detected vehicle identification number to establish a line of communication to the driver of the wrong way vehicle.

A method for preventing wrong-way vehicle accidents on an exit ramp of a roadway comprising:

• maintaining one or more robotic drones at a drone docking station;
• monitoring the exit ramp with roadway sensors positioned at an exit end of the exit ramp to detect a wrong-way vehicle that enters the exit ramp in a wrong direction;
• transmitting a first communication signal from the roadway sensors to a safety control system upon detecting the wrong-way vehicle while the wrong-way vehicle is on the exit ramp;
• launching at least a first robotic drone from the drone docking station toward the wrong-way vehicle in response to the first communication signal, where the first robotic drone comprises an attachment device which is operably configured for attachment to a surface of the wrong-way vehicle;
• attaching the attachment device of said first preprogrammed robotic drone to the wrong-way vehicle as the wrong way vehicle is on the exit ramp before reaching the roadway;
• and
• generating an alert or warning message from at least the first robotic drone to notify a driver of the wrong-way vehicle that the wrong-way vehicle is traveling in the wrong direction.

A method for preventing wrong-way vehicle accidents on an exit ramp of a roadway comprising:

• maintaining one or more robotic drones at a drone docking station;
• monitoring the exit ramp with roadway sensors positioned at an exit end of the exit ramp to detect a wrong-way vehicle that enters the exit ramp in a wrong direction;
• transmitting a first communication signal from the roadway sensors to a safety control system upon detecting the wrong-way vehicle;
• launching at least a first robotic drone from the drone docking station toward the wrong-way vehicle in response to the first communication signal;
• generating an alert or warning message from at least the first robotic drone to notify a driver of the wrong-way vehicle that the wrong-way vehicle is traveling in the wrong direction;
• and
• launching at least a second robotic drone from the drone docking station to reach a position above the roadway and to generate an alert to alert an additional driver traveling on the roadway that a wrong-way vehicle has been detected on the exit ramp ahead of said additional driver.