METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR BLIND SPOT IDENTIFICATION AND WARNING UTILIZING VISUAL INDICATORS

• US 20090063053A1
• Filed: 09/04/2007
• Published: 03/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Basson, Sara H., Kelley, Edward E., West, Frances, Kanevsky, Dimitri
• Granted Patent: US 8,645,001 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/008 for anti-collision purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection

Abstract

A method for detecting and alerting a driver of vehicles in their blind spots, includes: tracking movement and relative position of a driver to one or more vehicles; determining one or more driver blind spots; determining when at least one of the one or more vehicles approaches one of the driver blind spots; determining when at least one of the one or more vehicles occupies one of the driver blind spots; activating one or more indicators in response to one or more vehicles approaching and occupying one of the driver blind spots; wherein the one or more indicators comprise light emitting diodes (LED), liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma, projected elements, and electroluminescent elements; and wherein a sequence and pattern of activating the one or more indicators is determined based on the relative position of the driver to the one or more vehicles.

Claims

1. A method for detecting and alerting a driver of vehicles in their blind spots, the method comprising:

tracking movement and relative position of a driver to one or more vehicles;

determining one or more driver blind spots;

determining when at least one of the one or more vehicles approaches one of the driver blind spots;

determining when at least one of the one or more vehicles occupies one of the driver blind spots;

activating one or more indicators in response to one or more vehicles approaching and occupying one of the driver blind spots;

wherein the one or more indicators comprise light emitting diodes (LED), liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma, projected elements, and electroluminescent elements; and

wherein a sequence and pattern of activating the one or more indicators is determined based on the relative position of the driver to the one or more vehicles.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracking and determining the relative position of the driver to one or more vehicles is conducted with at least one of the following:

a global position satellite (GPS) system, cameras, and radar.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the driver'"'"'s blind spots are pre-calculated with mathematical models.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the driver'"'"'s blind spots is accomplished with recognition technology to detect the position of a driver'"'"'s head and eyes;

and

wherein the detected position of the driver'"'"'s head and eyes is utilized with relative vehicle position data to determine whether driver'"'"'s can see approaching vehicles.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicators employ colors to denote various levels of danger to the driver;

and

wherein the level of danger is based on the position and relative speed of the approaching vehicle.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicators denote whether vehicles are approaching from the left or right side of the driver, as well as indicating the changing position and relative speed of the approaching vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the indicators employ colors to indicate the direction from which the vehicles are approaching.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicators are embedded in at least one of the following:

a steering wheel, a dashboard, a rear view mirror, and side view mirror.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the indicators are embedded in an arc on the upper portion of the steering wheel;

wherein the indicators begin to activate in a counter clockwise direction from the left side of the arc as a vehicle approaches and starts to occupy the driver'"'"'s blind spot from the left;

wherein the indicators begin to activate in a clockwise direction from the right side of the arc as a vehicle approaches and starts to occupy the driver'"'"'s blind spot from the right; and

wherein the arc is completely activated when the approaching vehicle is entirely within the driver'"'"'s blind spot.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the indicators are embedded in a complete circle within the steering wheel;

wherein the indicators begin to activate and rotate in a counter clockwise direction from the left side of the circle as a vehicle approaches and starts to occupy the driver'"'"'s blind spot from the left; and

wherein the indicators begin to activate and rotate in a clockwise direction from the right side of the circle as a vehicle approaches and starts to occupy the driver'"'"'s blind spot from the right.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the rotational speed of the activated indicators is proportional to the speed of the approaching vehicle.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicators are projected on to the windshield in front of the driver in a translucent manner so as not to obstruct their view.

13. A system for detecting and alerting a driver of vehicles in their blind spots, the system comprising:

one or more indicators;

one or more monitoring and tracking devices that are configured with software;

wherein the tracking devices determine the relative position of a driver to one or more vehicles;

wherein the tracking devices comprise at least one of the following;

a global position satellite (GPS) system, cameras, and radar;

wherein the tracking devices transmit the relative position of the driver to the one or more vehicles to the monitoring devices;

wherein the monitoring devices calculate blind spot hazards based on the tracking devices transmissions;

wherein monitoring devices issue activation signals to the one or more indicators in response to a vehicle approaching and occupying determined blind spot hazards;

wherein the one or more indicators comprise light emitting diodes (LED), liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma, projected elements, and electroluminescent elements; and

wherein a sequence and pattern of activating the one or more indicators is determined based on the relative position of the driver to the one or more vehicles.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the indicators employ colors to denote various levels of danger to the driver;

and

wherein the level of danger is based on the position and relative speed of the approaching vehicle.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the indicators denote whether vehicles are approaching from the left or right side of the driver, as well as indicating the changing position and relative speed of the approaching vehicle.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the indicators employ colors to indicate the direction from which the vehicles are approaching.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the indicators are embedded in at least one of the following:

a steering wheel, a dashboard, a rear view mirror, and side view mirror.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the indicators are embedded in an arc on the upper portion of the steering wheel;

wherein the indicators begin to activate in a counter clockwise direction from the left side of the arc as a vehicle approaches and starts to occupy the driver'"'"'s blind spot from the left;

wherein the indicators begin to activate in a clockwise direction from the right side of the arc as a vehicle approaches and starts to occupy the driver'"'"'s blind spot from the right; and

wherein the arc is completely activated when the approaching vehicle is entirely within the driver'"'"'s blind spot.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the indicators are embedded in a complete circle within the steering wheel;

wherein the indicators begin to activate and rotate in a counter clockwise direction from the left side of the circle as a vehicle approaches and starts to occupy the driver'"'"'s blind spot from the left;

wherein the indicators begin to activate and rotate in a clockwise direction from the right side of the circle as a vehicle approaches and starts to occupy the driver'"'"'s blind spot from the right; and

wherein the rotational speed of the activated indicators is proportional to the speed of the approaching vehicle.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the indicators are projected on to the windshield in front of the driver in a translucent manner so as not to obstruct their view.