Dynamic monitoring of vehicle separation

Details Dynamic monitoring of vehicle separation Dynamic monitoring of vehicle separation

2000-03-13

2001-07-31

Tong, Nina (Department: 2632)

Communications: electrical

External condition vehicle-mounted indicator or alarm

Transmitter in another vehicle

C340S435000, C340S904000, C180S169000, C342S072000, C367S909000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06268804

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to dynamic monitoring of a separation zone surrounding a moving vehicle, from which other vehicles are to be excluded.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A moving vehicle, such as an automobile, truck, bus, motorcycle or railroad car, requires at least a minimum braking distance to stop after vehicle brakes are applied and an additional time and equivalent perception-reaction distance for the vehicle driver to perceive and/or react and to apply the brakes. Each of the braking distance and the perception-reaction distance increases with vehicle velocity and may be different for different vehicles and for different drivers. Where a first vehicle immediately follows a second vehicle in a traffic lane on a highway, expressway, street, lane or road (“road”), safe operation of the first vehicle requires keeping some distance between the first and second vehicles. Many drivers use an approximately fixed separation distance from the preceding vehicle, and this distance (often as small as two vehicle lengths) does not vary with vehicle velocity, with the type of vehicle, with road conditions or with the driver.
Monitoring of vehicle velocities, vehicle spacings and the like, that control access to a specified zone, is disclosed in several U.S. patents. Most of these patents do not concern separation of two consecutive vehicles with reference to the individual velocities of the two vehicles.
What is needed is a system for creating and subsequently monitoring a variable vehicle-to-vehicle buffer zone or separation distance whose location moves with the vehicle and whose size and/or character can change with vehicle velocities, with road conditions and with other variables. Preferably, the system should determine and take account of the velocities of each of the two vehicles and should permit receipt of information, received from a central station or elsewhere, that may affect determination of the size of the vehicle buffer zone.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These needs are met by the invention, which provides a system that uses location determination (LD) signals, ranging signals, road condition information and other information, received at the monitored vehicle, (1) to determine the present location and present velocity of the monitored vehicle and of the immediately preceding vehicle in the same road lane, (2) to determine a suitable minimum vehicle-to-vehicle separation distance for two vehicles traveling in the same road lane and to optionally display this distance, visually or audibly, to the driver, (3) to compare the minimum separation distance with the actual separation distance and to advise the driver if the monitored vehicle is too close to the immediately preceding vehicle, (4) to determine a maximum clear-view vehicle velocity, and (5) to take account of road conditions and other changing circumstances that may alter the minimum separation distance or maximum clear-view velocity.
The monitored vehicle carries, or has attached thereto, an LD module that receives LD signals and estimates the present location and velocity of the LD module and that estimates the present location and present velocity of a vehicle, if any, that immediately precedes the monitored vehicle in the same road lane and moves in the same direction. The LD module may include a communications module that exchanges information with a central station.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5574644 (1996-11-01), Butsuen et al.
patent: 5689245 (1997-11-01), Noreen et al.
patent: 5798911 (1998-08-01), Josic
patent: 5959552 (1999-09-01), Cho

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