Vehicular safety system and method
First Claim
1. A vehicular safety system comprising:
- a navigational status determination system generating navigational status information representing a navigational status of a vehicle;
a data processing system storing at least one navigational condition for operation of the vehicle and generating alarm information in response to the navigational status information when the navigational status information indicates that the at least one navigational condition has been violated; and
an alarm response system generating a protective response in response to the alarm response information.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A relatively low cost but effective vehicular safety system includes a navigational status determination system generating navigational status information, an alarm response system generating alarm responses in response to alarm response command information and a data processing system. The data processing system stores a list of safety zones having one or more safety conditions for each safety zone. The data processing system receives the navigational status information and compares the received navigational status information to the stored safety conditions. If a safety condition is found to be violated the data processing system communicates a response command to the alarm response system. Depending upon the severity of the violated safety condition, the alarm response system notifies the vehicle operator of the violation, notifies law enforcement authorities external to the vehicle of the violation or takes some other safety response. In an extreme condition, the alarm response system assumes control over some aspect of the operation of the vehicle such as steering or engine control.
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Citations
90 Claims
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1. A vehicular safety system comprising:
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a navigational status determination system generating navigational status information representing a navigational status of a vehicle;
a data processing system storing at least one navigational condition for operation of the vehicle and generating alarm information in response to the navigational status information when the navigational status information indicates that the at least one navigational condition has been violated; and
an alarm response system generating a protective response in response to the alarm response information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 89, 90)
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37. A vehicular safety system comprising:
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a navigational status determination system generating navigational status information representing a navigational status of the vehicle;
a data processing system storing a list of one or more safety zones, each safety zone having associated therewith at least one condition restricting operation of the vehicle, the data processing system determining in response to the navigational status information whether or not a listed safety zone is occupied by the vehicle and, if it is determined that a listed safety zone is occupied by the vehicle, whether or not a condition of the occupied safety zone restricting operation of the vehicle has been violated by the vehicle, the data processing system generating alarm response information indicating an alarm response in response to a determination that a condition of an occupied safety zone has been violated;
an alarm response system producing a protective action in response to the alarm information generated by the data processing system. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A vehicular safety system comprising:
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a navigational status determination system, the navigational status determination system generating navigational status information including information representing a position of the vehicle within a coordinate system;
a data store located on the vehicle storing information defining a plurality of safety zones, each safety zone having at least one navigational condition associated therewith and each navigational condition having at least one alarm response associated therewith, the defined safety zones including a safety zone having a boundary extending around an object, the safety zone being an operator override safety zone having a navigational condition that the vehicle should not enter the safety zone which navigational condition includes an alarm response including an operator override response in which the alarm response overrides an aspect of operator control of the vehicle to limit further motion of the vehicle into the safety zone and toward the object, a data processor determining in response to the generated navigational status information and in response to the stored safety zone definition information whether or not a condition associated with a safety zone entered by the vehicle has been violated, the data processor generating alarm response information indicating an alarm response associated with the violated condition if a determination is made that a condition associated with a safety zone is violated; and
an alarm response system receiving alarm response information from the data processor and executing an alarm response indicated by the received alarm response information. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
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68. A vehicular safety system comprising:
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a navigational status determination system located on a vehicle, the navigational status determination system including a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and generating navigational status information representing position, speed and direction of motion of the vehicle;
a data store located on the vehicle storing information defining a plurality of safety zones, each safety zone having at least one navigational condition associated therewith and each navigational condition having at least one alarm response associated therewith, the defined safety zones including;
(a) a first safety zone having a spherically shaped boundary having a selected radius and a center near a protected object, the first safety zone being an early warning exclusive safety zone having a navigational condition that the vehicle should not enter the first safety zone which navigational condition includes an alarm response including a notification to the vehicle operator that the vehicle has entered an exclusive safety zone, (b) a second safety zone having a spherically shaped boundary that is concentrically located within the boundary of the first safety zone and has a radius less than the radius of the first safety zone, the second safety zone being a general warning exclusive safety zone having a navigational condition that the vehicle should not enter the second safety zone which navigational condition includes an alarm response including a notification to personnel outside the vehicle that the vehicle has entered an exclusive general warning safety zone, (c) a third safety zone having a spherically shaped boundary that is concentrically located within the boundary of the second safety zone and has a radius less than the radius of the second safety zone, the third safety zone being an operator override safety zone having a navigational condition that the vehicle should not enter the third safety zone which navigational condition includes an alarm response including an operator override response in which the alarm response overrides an aspect of operator control of the vehicle to limit further motion into the third safety zone by the vehicle, (d) a fourth safety zone having an elongated boundary of rectangular cross section, the fourth safety zone being an inclusive safety zone defining a travel path for the vehicle, the defined travel path having boundaries sufficiently distant from a normal path of the vehicle that the defined travel path does not interfere with normal operation of the vehicle, the fourth safety zone being an early warning safety zone having a first navigational condition requiring the vehicle to remain within the fourth safety zone with an alarm response that the vehicle operator be notified of a violation and a second navigational condition requiring the vehicle to travel at a speed below a selected speed limit with an alarm response of notification of the vehicle operator of a violation, (e) a fifth safety zone having an elongated boundary of rectangular cross section, the fifth safety zone being an inclusive safety zone defining a travel path for the vehicle, the defined travel path having boundaries sufficiently distant from a normal path of the vehicle that the defined travel path does not interfere with normal operation of the vehicle, the fifth safety zone having a first navigational condition requiring the vehicle to remain within the fifth safety zone with an alarm response of notifying an extra-vehicular communication and command center of a violation and a second navigational condition requiring the vehicle to travel at a speed below a selected speed limit with an alarm response of notifying an extra-vehicular communication and command center of a violation, (f) a sixth safety zone having an elongated boundary of rectangular cross section, the sixth safety zone being an inclusive safety zone defining a travel path for the vehicle, the defined travel path having boundaries sufficiently distant from a normal path of the vehicle that the defined travel path does not interfere with normal operation of the vehicle, the sixth safety zone having a navigational condition requiring the vehicle to remain within the sixth safety zone with an alarm response to violation of the condition of overriding operator control of the vehicle to keep the vehicle within the fifth safety zone, (g) a seventh safety zone having an elliptically shaped boundary, the ellipse being defined along a major axis that remains parallel to a direction of motion of the vehicle, the seventh safety zone having a condition that the vehicle not enter the seventh safety zone and an alarm response to a violation of the condition of notifying the vehicle operator of the violation, (h) an eighth safety zone having an elliptically shaped boundary, the ellipse being defined along a major axis that remains parallel to a direction of motion of the vehicle, the eighth safety zone having a condition that the vehicle not enter the eighth safety zone and an alarm response to a violation of the condition of overriding operator control of the vehicle to prevent further penetration of the vehicle into the eighth safety zone;
a data processor mounted on the vehicle and receiving navigational status information from the navigational status determination system and determining in response to the received navigational status information and in response to the stored safety zone definition information whether or not a condition associated with a safety zone has been violated, the data processor generating alarm response information indicating an alarm response if a determination is made that a condition associated with a safety zone is violated; and
an alarm response system receiving alarm response information from the data processor and executing an alarm response indicated by the received alarm response information, the alarm response system including (a) an audio alarm providing an audio alarm to the vehicle operator in response to audio alarm response information, (b) a visual alarm providing a visual alarm to the vehicle operator in response to visual alarm response information, (c) a vehicle operator override system overriding the vehicle operator with respect to a vehicle control function in response to operator override alarm response information, (d) a secure communication system communicating information indicating a condition violation in response to communication alarm response information, and (e) an extra-vehicular communication and command center located outside the vehicle and receiving information indicating a condition violation communicated by the secure communication system.
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69. A vehicular safety method comprising the acts of:
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generating navigational status information representing a navigational status of a vehicle;
storing at least one condition for operation of the vehicle;
generating alarm information in response to the navigational status information when the navigational status information indicates that a stored condition for operation of the vehicle has been violated; and
generating a protective response in response to the alarm information. - View Dependent Claims (70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82)
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83. A vehicular safety method comprising the acts of:
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generating navigational status information including information representing the position a vehicle;
storing information defining a plurality of safety zones using a data store located in the vehicle, each safety zone having at least one navigational condition associated therewith and each navigational condition having at least one alarm response associated therewith, the defined safety zones including;
(a) a first safety zone defining an available travel path for the vehicle, the first safety zone being an early warning safety zone having a first navigational condition requiring the vehicle to remain within the first safety zone with an alarm response that the vehicle operator be notified of a violation and a second navigational condition requiring the vehicle to travel at a speed below a selected speed limit with an alarm response of notification of the vehicle operator of a violation, (b) a second safety zone defining an available travel path for the vehicle, the second safety zone having a first navigational condition requiring the vehicle to remain within the second safety zone with an alarm response of notifying an extravehicular communication and command center of a violation and a second navigational condition requiring the vehicle to travel at a speed below a selected speed limit with an alarm response of notifying an extra-vehicular communication and command center of a violation, and (c) a third safety zone defining an available travel path for the vehicle, the third safety zone having a navigational condition requiring the vehicle to remain within the third safety zone with an alarm response to violation of the condition of overriding operator control of the vehicle to limit the distance that the vehicle can travel beyond a boundary of the third safety zone;
determining in response to the generated navigational status information and in response to the stored safety zone definition information whether or not a condition associated with a safety zone has been violated by the vehicle;
displaying to the vehicle operator a map of a local area in the vicinity of the vehicle, the map including an indication of the location of each safety zone in the local area;
generating alarm response information indicating an alarm response if a determination is made that a condition associated with a safety is violated; and
executing an alarm response indicated by the generated alarm response information.
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84. A vehicular safety method comprising the acts of:
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generating navigational status information representing position, speed and direction of motion of a vehicle using a navigational status determination system located on the vehicle, the navigational status determination system including a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver;
storing information defining a plurality of safety zones using a data store located on the vehicle, each safety zone having at least one navigational condition associated therewith and each navigational condition having at least one alarm response associated therewith, the defined safety zones including;
(a) a first safety zone having a spherically shaped boundary having a selected radius and a center near a protected object, the first safety zone being an early warning exclusive safety zone having a navigational condition that the vehicle should not enter the first safety zone which navigational condition includes an alarm response including a notification to the vehicle operator that the vehicle has entered an exclusive safety zone, (b) a second safety zone having a spherically shaped boundary that is concentrically located within the boundary of the first safety zone and has a radius less than the radius of the first safety zone, the second safety zone being a general warning exclusive safety zone having a navigational condition that the vehicle should not enter the second safety zone which navigational condition includes an alarm response including a notification to personnel outside the vehicle that the vehicle has entered an exclusive general warning safety zone, (c) a third safety zone having a spherically shaped boundary that is concentrically located within the boundary of the second safety zone and has a radius less than the radius of the second safety zone, the third safety zone being an operator override safety zone having a navigational condition that the vehicle should not enter the third safety zone which navigational condition includes an alarm response including an operator override response in which the alarm response overrides an aspect of operator control of the vehicle to limit further motion into the third safety zone by the vehicle, (d) a fourth safety zone having an elongated boundary of rectangular cross section, the fourth safety zone being an inclusive safety zone defining a travel path for the vehicle, the fourth safety zone being an early warning safety zone having a first navigational condition requiring the vehicle to remain within the fourth safety zone with an alarm response that the vehicle operator be notified of a violation and a second navigational condition requiring the vehicle to travel at a speed below a selected speed limit with an alarm response of notification of the vehicle operator of a violation, (e) a fifth safety zone having an elongated boundary of rectangular cross section, the fifth safety zone being an inclusive safety zone defining a travel path for the vehicle, the fifth safety zone having a first navigational condition requiring the vehicle to remain within the fifth safety zone with an alarm response of notifying an extra-vehicular communication and command center of a violation and a second navigational condition requiring the vehicle to travel at a speed below a selected speed limit with an alarm response of notifying an extra-vehicular communication and command center of a violation, (f) a sixth safety zone having an elongated boundary of rectangular cross section, the sixth safety zone being an inclusive safety zone defining a travel path for the vehicle, the sixth safety zone having a navigational condition requiring the vehicle to remain within the sixth safety zone with an alarm response to violation of the condition of overriding operator control of the vehicle to keep the vehicle within the fifth safety zone, (g) a seventh safety zone having an elliptically shaped boundary, the ellipse being defined along a major axis that remains parallel to a direction of motion of the vehicle, the seventh safety zone having a condition that the vehicle not enter the seventh safety zone and an alarm response to a violation of the condition of notifying the vehicle operator of the violation, (h) an eighth safety zone having an elliptically shaped boundary, the ellipse being defined along a major axis that remains parallel to a direction of motion of the vehicle, the eighth safety zone having a condition that the vehicle not enter the eighth safety zone and an alarm response to a violation of the condition of overriding operator control of the vehicle to prevent further penetration of the vehicle into to eighth safety zone;
determining in response to the generated navigational status information and in response to the stored safety zone definition information whether or not a condition associated with a safety zone has been violated by the vehicle;
displaying to the vehicle operator a map of a local area in the vicinity of the vehicle, the map including and indication of the location of each safety zone in the local area;
generating alarm response information indicating an alarm response if a determination is made that a condition associated with a safety zone has violated by the vehicle; and
executing an alarm response indicated by the generated alarm response information, the alarm response including at least one of the following;
(a) providing an audio alarm to the vehicle operator in response to audio alarm response information, (b) providing a visual alarm to the vehicle operator in response to visual alarm response information, (c) overriding the vehicle operator with respect to a vehicle control function in response to operator override alarm response information, (d) communicating information indicating a condition violation in response to communication alarm response information, and (e) receiving information indicating a condition violation communicated by the secure communication system.
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85. A vehicular safety system comprising:
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means for generating navigational status information representing a navigational status of a vehicle;
means for storing information storing at least one condition for operation of the vehicle;
means for generating alarm information in response to the navigational status information when the navigational status information indicates that a stored condition for operation of the vehicle has been violated; and
means for producing a safety response in response to the alarm information. - View Dependent Claims (86, 87, 88)
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Specification