Patent Issued for Systems And Methods For Providing Awareness Of Emergency Vehicles (USPTO 10,988,960)
2021 MAY 06 (NewsRx) -- By a
The patent’s assignee for patent number 10,988,960 is
News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Vehicle occupants including but not limited to the driver are often partially or completely unaware of their immediate surroundings exterior to their vehicle. Some examples that cause vehicle occupants to behave in this manner are the use of mobile phones or listening to the radio with the volume very high. Blind spots, not being able to recall driving directions, ground unawareness, and other factors and distractions contribute to and/or exacerbate the impairment to situational awareness vehicle occupants. Vehicle occupants that are not situationally aware or attentive to what is going on exterior to their vehicle cannot only create dangers for themselves and their vehicle, but also create danger for those persons and objects outside of the vehicle. This type of behavior by vehicle occupants can result in injuries (and, in worst case scenarios, fatalities) to themselves and/or those outside of the vehicle as well as damage to their vehicle and property outside of the vehicle. The present disclosure may provide solutions for some scenarios in which the lack of situational awareness and attention by vehicle occupants creates danger for themselves and those exterior to the vehicle.”
As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present embodiments disclose systems and methods that relate to, inter alia, facilitating situational awareness of a vehicle when certain scenarios exterior to the vehicle arise. Exemplary systems and methods may use data received from sensors to determine if the vehicle needs to take autonomous action in order to create a safer environment for the vehicle occupants as well as for those exterior to the vehicle. In accordance with this exemplary aspect of the invention, a method implemented on a computer system for a vehicle to take autonomous action in order to prevent injury and/or damage to the vehicle and its occupants as well as those persons and objects exterior to the vehicle. Examples of autonomous actions may be automatically locking the doors of the vehicle and/or generating an alert or alarm inside the vehicle.
“Different types of sensors may be used. These sensors may be used to detect motion, velocity, proximity, light, or sound. Some sensors may be used to detect more than one characteristic (e.g., motion, velocity, and proximity). These sensors may be actively detecting exterior to the vehicle while the vehicle is stationary and when the vehicle is in motion. Objects in motion (e.g., cyclists, pedestrians) approaching the vehicle while the vehicle is stationary may be detected. Additionally, emergency vehicles in the vicinity of the vehicle while the vehicle is stationary or moving may also be detected.
“In one aspect, an automatic alarm system of a vehicle includes a sensor adapted to detect electromagnetic data, and a computer system adapted to: (1) receive data from the sensor; (2) analyze, by a computer processor, the data from the sensor to determine whether a pattern from the electromagnetic data has been detected; and/or (3) compare, by the computer processor, the pattern of electromagnetic data detected by the sensor with known patterns of electromagnetic data emitted by emergency vehicles that are stored in a library. The automatic alarm system also includes an automatic alarm mechanism that activates in response to the processor determining that the comparison matches a known pattern of electromagnetic data for an emergency vehicle resulting in the computer processor sending a first signal to activate an alarm of the vehicle.
“In another aspect, a method includes: (1) detecting electromagnetic data using a sensor; (2) receiving, by a computer system, data from the sensor; (3) analyzing, by a computer processor, the data from the sensor to determine whether a pattern from the electromagnetic data has been detected; (4) comparing, by the computer processor, the pattern of electromagnetic data detected by the sensor with known patterns of electromagnetic data emitted by emergency vehicles that are stored in a library; and/or (5) activating an automatic alarm mechanism in response to the computer processor determining that the comparison matches a known pattern of electromagnetic data for an emergency vehicle, at least in part by the computer processor sending a first signal to activate an alarm of the vehicle.”
The claims supplied by the inventors are:
“What is claimed:
“1. An automatic alarm system of a vehicle comprising: a sensor adapted to detect electromagnetic data; a computer system adapted to: receive data from the sensor; compare, by the computer processor, the electromagnetic data detected by the sensor with known patterns of electromagnetic data emitted by emergency vehicles that are stored in a library; and an automatic alarm mechanism that activates in response to the processor determining that the comparison matches a known pattern of electromagnetic data for an emergency vehicle resulting in the computer processor sending a first signal to activate an alarm of the vehicle.
“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is adapted to: detect audible frequencies in the 20 Hz to 20 KHz range.
“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is adapted to: detect visible wavelengths in the 390 nm to 700 nm range.
“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a plurality of sensors adapted to detect electromagnetic data.
“5. The system of claim 4, wherein the plurality of sensors are comprised of different types of sensors adapted to: detect audible frequencies in the 20 Hz to 20 KHz range; and detect visible wavelengths in the 390 nm to 700 nm range.
“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is adapted to: detect specific wavelengths and patterns of light in the visible range (390 nm to 700 nm); and detect specific frequencies and patterns of sound in the audible range (20 Hz to 20 KHz).
“7. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer processor is adapted to: send a first signal to activate the alarm if the outcome of the data analysis matches a known pattern of electromagnetic data; and turn off one or more peripheral devices.
“8. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more peripheral devices comprise, but are not limited to, the following: AM/FM radio, satellite radio, Bluetooth, WiFi, CD player, cassette player, auxiliary input(s), or USB input(s).
“9. The system of claim 7, wherein the computer processor is further adapted to: continue to receive data from the sensor; analyze the data from the sensor to determine whether the outcome of the data analysis matches a known pattern of electromagnetic data; send a second signal to deactivate the alarm if the outcome of the data analysis matches no known pattern of electromagnetic data; and turn on one or more peripheral devices that were turned off when the alarm was activated.
“10. The system of claim 9, wherein the computer processor is further adapted to: send a second signal to deactivate the alarm if the electromagnetic audio data drops below a predetermined decibel level.
“11. A method implemented by an automatic alarm system of a vehicle, the method comprising: detecting electromagnetic data using a sensor; receiving, by a computer system, data from the sensor; comparing, by the computer processor, the electromagnetic data detected by the sensor with known patterns of electromagnetic data emitted by emergency vehicles that are stored in a library; and activating an automatic alarm mechanism in response to the computer processor determining that the comparison matches a known pattern of electromagnetic data for an emergency vehicle, at least in part by the computer processor sending a first signal to activate an alarm of the vehicle.
“12. The method of claim 11 wherein the sensor is adapted to: detect audible frequencies in the 20 Hz to 20 KHz range.
“13. The method of claim 11, wherein the sensor is adapted to: detect visible wavelengths in the 390 nm to 700 nm range.
“14. The method of claim 11, wherein the sensor comprises a plurality of sensors adapted to detect electromagnetic data.
“15. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of sensors are comprised of different types of sensors adapted to: detect audible frequencies in the 20 Hz to 20 KHz range; and detect visible wavelengths in the 390 nm to 700 nm range.
“16. The method of claim 11, wherein the sensor is adapted to: detect specific wavelengths and patterns of light in the visible range (390 nm to 700 nm); and detect specific frequencies and patterns of sound in the audible range (20 Hz to 20 KHz).
“17. The method of claim 11, wherein: the method further comprises sending, by the computer processor, the first signal to activate the alarm if the outcome of the data analysis matches a known pattern of electromagnetic data; and the method comprises turning off, by the computer processor, one or more peripheral devices.
“18. The method of claim 17, wherein the one or more peripheral devices comprise, but are not limited to, the following: AM/FM radio, satellite radio, Bluetooth, WiFi, CD player, cassette player, auxiliary input(s), or USB input(s).
“19. The method of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises: continuing, by the computer processor, to receive data from the sensor; analyzing, by the computer processor, the data from the sensor to determine whether the outcome of the data analysis matches a known pattern of electromagnetic data; sending, by the computer processor, a second signal to deactivate the alarm if the outcome of the data analysis matches no known pattern of electromagnetic data; and turning on, by the computer processor, one or more peripheral devices that were turned off when the alarm was activated.
“20. The method of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the computer processor, a second signal to deactivate the alarm if the electromagnetic audio data drops below a predetermined decibel level.”
For additional information on this patent, see: Chan, Leo N.; Gaudin,
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