US 7,418,346 B2 · Collision avoidance methods and systems

Abstract

Method for avoiding collisions between a host vehicle and other vehicles in which the position of the vehicles is determined, the vehicles are equipped with a transmitter/receiver, and in the host vehicle, the possibility of a collision involving the host vehicle is assessed by receiving signals from the transmitter/receivers of each other vehicle, analyzing the received signals to extract positional information about the transmitter/receivers from each signal, and when a received signal contains additional information of interest about a possible collision involving the host vehicle, analyzing the extracted positional information to determine whether any signals contain additional information of interest about a possible collision involving the host vehicle. Additional information is extracted only from such signals and analyzed to ascertain whether a collision between the host vehicle and any other vehicles is likely to occur in order to enable action to be taken to prevent the collision, e.g., evasive action.

Claims27

Dependent claims

A method for avoiding collisions between a host vehicle and one or more other vehicles, comprising:

determining the position of the host vehicle and each other vehicle;
equipping the host vehicle and each other vehicle with a transmitter/receiver;
transmitting a signal from the transmitter/receiver of each other vehicle containing positional information about the other vehicle and additional information of potential interest about the other vehicle;
and
in the host vehicle, assessing the possibility of a collision involving the host vehicle and each other vehicle by
receiving signals at the transmitter/receiver in the host vehicle from the transmitter/receiver of each other vehicle;
analyzing the received signals to extract the positional information about the other vehicle from each signal;
and
analyzing the extracted positional information in order to determine, based on the extracted positional information, whether any signals contain additional information of interest about a possible collision involving the host vehicle;
and when signals are determined to contain additional information of interest about a possible collision involving the host vehicle,
extracting the additional information only from signals received from each transmitter/receiver whose signals are determined to contain additional information of interest, and
analyzing the additional information to ascertain whether a collision between the host vehicle and any of the other vehicles is likely to occur in order to enable action to be taken to prevent the collision.

9 more elements

A method for avoiding collisions between a host vehicle and one or more other vehicles, comprising:

determining the position of the host vehicle and each other vehicle;
equipping the host vehicle and each other vehicle with a transmitter/receiver;
transmitting a signal from the transmitter/receiver of each vehicle containing the position of the vehicle and additional information of potential interest about the vehicle;
and
in the host vehicle, assessing the possibility of a collision involving the host vehicle and each other vehicle by
receiving the signals at the transmitter/receiver in the host vehicle from the transmitter/receiver of each other vehicle;
filtering the received signals to determine whether the additional information in any of the signals is determined to be of interest in assessing the possibility of a collision involving the host vehicle and any other vehicle;
and when the additional information in any of the signals is determined to be of interest in assessing the possibility of a collision,
extracting the additional information only from those signals determined to contain useful additional information, and
analyzing the additional information to ascertain whether a collision involving the host vehicle and any other vehicle is likely to occur in order to enable action to be taken to prevent the collision.

7 more elements

A system, for avoiding collisions between a host vehicle and one or more other vehicles, comprising:

an information unit arranged on the host vehicle and comprising
a transmitter/receiver for transmitting radio frequency waves and receiving radio frequency waves from a transmitter of each other vehicle in transmission range;
a position determining device for determining the position of the host vehicle;
and
a processor coupled to said transmitter/receiver and said position determining device and arranged to analyze waves received by said transmitter/receiver, determine whether any received waves contain information of interest for operation of the host vehicle based on the host vehicle's position as determined by said position determining device, and extract the information of interest only from the received waves determined to contain information of interest,
wherein at least one of the other vehicles includes a transmitter/receiver for transmitting and receiving radio frequency waves, a position determining device for determining the position of the vehicle and a processing unit for generating a signal to be transmitted via said transmitter/receiver containing positional information about the at least one other vehicle obtained from said position determining device and additional information about the at least one other vehicle of potential interest for operation of the host vehicle.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Collision avoidance methods and systems

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Collision avoidance methods and systems

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims27