GB2326298A

GB2326298A - Short range vehicle communicator

Info

Publication number: GB2326298A
Application number: GB9722082A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alan William Robinson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-06-12
Filing date: 1997-10-21
Publication date: 1998-12-16
Also published as: GB9712200D0; GB9722082D0

Abstract

A short range directional communication system enabling contiguously positioned vehicles in close proximity in traffic to send simple messages between each other without affecting the ability of other pairs of vehicles from achieving similar communication. Other information indicating the origin of a message may also be included automatically. Transmission medium may be infra-red, radio acoustic or ultrasonic.

Description

Vehicle Communicator The present invention relates to a system for providing a means of communication between occupants of vehicles.

Common problems on roads today are accidents and so called road rage incidents caused by mistakes or misunderstandings between the parties driving the vehicles involved. The lack of direct communication between drivers other than by use of simple body language which can easily be misinterpreted, is a fundamental reason behind such situations.

It is believed therefore that more effective communication between drivers of motor vehicles would provide for better safety on roads and produce a more effective environment for road users.

Using the equipment the driver or occupant of one vehicle is able to communicate with others in vehicles in close proximity moving on the highway, or when stationary, by means of a modulated electromagnetic or acoustic wave signal. The arrangement is such that communication means is provided by a short range, directional, approximately-line of sight transmission, so that, for example, communication may be enabled between a vehicle and the one immediately behind but not to vehicles further behind in a line of traffic. In this way many separate tconversations" can be held in parallel between pairs of vehicles without the resulting bandwidth restriction, which would be the case in conventional radio communication, for example.

In one form of the invention, speech (or other information) from the driver of a first vehicle is electrically modulated onto an infra red light beam which is directed towards a second vehicle either in front or behind (or optionally to both at the same time) and an infra red detector on the second vehicle receives the signal which is then amplified and discriminated to reproduce the original speech (or other information) signal allowing the second driver to hear the first. The signal may be modulated in various ways such as amplitude/ frequency/ pulse/ digital or other techniques, and the infra red light wave may be replaced by other electromagnetic radiation wavelengths, or by ultrasonic, acoustic or other propagation waves provided the range and direction of such wave can be limited effectively.

Using such an arrangement an effective form of communication may be provided between more or less adjacent vehicles whilst similar but separate communication is enabled between other adjacent vehicles without either communication process corrupting the other.

The invention may be more clearly described with reference to fig 1. The specifically limited signal strength and directional nature of the infra red light beam, from A, permits communication with B. The beam is partly shielded by the body of vehicle B from being further transmitted to vehicle C or D which further aids the limitation of signal strength. Simultaneously C may transmit to D without interfering with A or B. In similar fashion D may transmit to C, B to C, C to B, and B to A without causing conflict with other transmissions - except of course where, for example, A and C both attempt to communicate with B at the same time, in which case B must discriminate between the two messages or alternatively switch select the preferred message.

In situations where stray light does find its way to a vehicle further along a line of traffic the signal strength is reduced proportional to the square of the distance travelled by the light , and thus produces a much lower audible level than from a closer vehicle. In consequence it has been found that drivers can distinguish the relative proximity of various sources readily.

In general therefore communication is enabled between two adjacent vehicles, whilst the body of the receiving vehicle (supported by the limited signal strength) shields the beam from transmission to vehicles further along the line of traffic. Furthermore if desirable the signal strength may be varied in some proportion to the speed of the vehicles in question thus providing a control over the intended transmission range.

In this way a local communication may be set up immediately between drivers to warn of intentions, or to apologise for errors or the like . Obviously the same facility can not be provided by conventional mobile telephones systems because of both the limitation on radio frequency bandwidth and the complexity, expense and delay inherent in initiating communication.

Considering that the communication process is enabled to allow brief courtesy / clarification or similar messages to be sent for the purpose of aiding road safety and efficient use of the highway, the content of each message is short, is not confidential in nature, and therefore does not need elaborate encryption methods to prevent third parties in the vicinity from over-hearing the message. As such each motor vehicle is fitted with a transmitter and receiver transducer pair at the front and rear of the vehicle which need not be security encoded in any way , but which allow universal communication amongst all vehicles fitted with the device.

It has been found that at speeds of about 50 m.p.h.

(80km.p.h.) a transmission reception range of approximately 50 metres and a deviation angle of about 8 degrees from normal provide effective communication as shown in fig 2.

In some instances it may be advantageous to provide also a degree of lateral transmission so that communication between vehicles situated side by side is made possible. The range requirement in this situation can be restricted considerably over that described previously to perhaps a few metres only.

The usefulness of the equipment to the driver may be enhanced by use of an internal vehicle indicator to specify which sensor detected the transmitted signal. In its simplest form this need be no more than a front/rear indicator but may be further developed to provide extra information.

As an example the infra red light beam may have other coded information added to the audible information which may then be decoded on receipt and displayed, typically, on an alphanumeric display panel or other indicator, located within the vehicle for viewing by the occupants. Indeed where appropriate no audible signal need be sent, but merely the coded information relevant to the message to be conveyed. Such transmission of information may be as extensive as required, but in keeping with the intention of the invention described so far, simple phrases such as nSORRXn / "THANKYOU" I "PLEASE OVERTAKE" / OKw may be adequate for the situation. Indeed, some implementations benefit from restricting any voice transmission at all (thus regulating the words and phrases to be used), and providing means for a driver to initiate transmission of only a small number of helpful phrases such as those mentioned. In the latter situation the internal display panel may be supplemented or even replaced by a suitably synthesised audible message corresponding to the limited set of messages which may be deemed useful. Transmission of a limited set of messages in this fashion may be initiated by a driver using conventional selector switches individually or in combination appropriate to the particular message required, or may be initiated by a single switch enabling voice recognition techniques to detect the required message spoken by the driver which is automatically compared with a set of valid phrases prior to transmission as shown in Fig.3 Where a display panel is used it may be segregated to display and hold the messages received separately from each of the vehicles receiving sensors - thus indicating where the message originated. Whilst benefit is derived from the universal nature of the transmission protocol adopted, it is advantageous in some situations for the transmitted signal to contain information as to its origin. This may be as simple as whether the transmission originated from a front or rear mounted transmitter, but could be more complex. As an example the registration number of the transmitting vehicle can be added for detection by the receiving vehicle.

Fig. 4 shows a display panel indicating separate messages from two vehicles.

Claims

1A system for enabling short range communication of messages or other information between contiguously positioned motor vehicles comprising transmission equipment mounted in a first vehicle and receiving equipment mounted in a second nearby vehicle whereby the signal transmitted via a suitable transmission medium from said first vehicle is arranged and constrained to be readily detected directly by said second vehicle but much less readily detected, or preferably not detected, by other vehicles further distant and/or in different directions, and wherein the transmission equipment includes input means for defining messages or other information to be transmitted and the receiving equipment includes output means enabling said message or other information to be understood.

2 A system according to claim 1 wherein the equipment includes means for mounting on a vehicle, so as to be directed towards another vehicle.

3 A system according to claim 1 whereby the transmitted signal is directed rearward toward a following vehicle.

4 A system according to claim 1 whereby the transmitted signal is directed forward toward a leading vehicle.

5 A system according to claim 1 whereby the transmitted signal is directed toward an adjacent vehicle.

6 A system according to any previous claim whereby the transmitted signal is arranged to be detected by a contiguously positioned vehicle but rejected by vehicles further distant.

7 A system according to any previous claim whereby the transmitted signal is constrained in power.

8 A system according to any previous claim whereby the maximum transmission range in free space is restricted to approximately 100 metres or less.

9 A system according to any previous claim whereby the transmitted signal is constrained in direction.

10 A system according to any previous claim whereby the transmitted signal is arranged to be obscured substantially by the receiving vehicle.

11 A system according to any previous claim whereby the transmitted signal direction is restricted to be within a small angle of deviation from the normal.

12 A system according to any previous claim whereby the transmitted signal direction is restricted to be within

20 degree angle of deviation from the normal.

13 A system according to any previous claim whereby the transmitted signal direction is restricted to be within

12 degree angle of deviation from the normal.

14 A system according to any previous claim whereby the transmitted signal direction is restricted to be within

8 degree angle of deviation from the normal.

15 A system according to any previous claim whereby the transmitted signal direction is restricted to be within

4 degree angle of deviation from the normal.

16 A system according to any previous claim whereby the transmitted signal direction is restricted to be within

2 degree angle of deviation from the normal.

17 A system according to any previous claim whereby the transmitted signal power is modified in relation to the speed of the vehicle.

18 A system according to any previous claim whereby each vehicle includes transmission equipment and receiving equipment to permit two way communication.

19 A system according to claim 18 whereby each vehicle includes transmission equipment and receiving equipment at the front of the vehicle and at the rear of the vehicle to permit two way communication in forward and/or rearward directions.

20 A system according to claim 18 whereby each vehicle includes a plurality of transmission equipment and receiving equipment to permit communication in a number of physical directions.

21 A system according to claim 1 whereby the transmission medium includes electromagnetic, pressure or other wave capable of signal propagation.

22 A system according to claim 21 whereby the transmission medium is an infra red light ray.

23 A system according to claim 21 whereby the transmission medium is a radio beam.

24 A system according to claim 21 whereby the transmission medium is an ultrasonic or acoustic wave.

25 A system according to previous claims whereby the input means includes a microphone or other audio transducer and associated equipment to permit speech to be transmitted.

26 A system according to any previous claims whereby the input means includes means for allowing non speech information to be transmitted.

27 A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the input means include a plurality of message selection switches.

28 A system according to the previous claim, arranged such that operation of the switches causes different selected messages to be transmitted.

29 A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the input means include a speech recognition system for supplying, selecting, validating or defining messages.

30 A system according to the preceding claim, further comprising means for selecting speech recognition as the input means.

31 A system according to any preceding claim1 wherein the input means includes a keyboard interface being arranged such that user-defined messages entered using a keyboard coupled to the keyboard interface can be transmitted.

32 A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the input means include a computer interface for connecting to a computer system.

33 A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the input means includes a switch interface for connection to display selection switches.

34 A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the input means includes means for transmitting information automatically.

35 A system according to the preceding claim, wherein the transmitted information includes the vehicle registration or other number.

36 A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the output means includes a loudspeaker or other audible transducer and other equipment to permit normal speech to be heard.

37 A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the output means includes means to decode information from the transmitted signal.

38 A system according to the preceding claim, wherein the decoded information is used to synthesis a spoken message.

39 A system according to claim 37 whereby decoded information is compared with reference information for validation purposes.

40 A system according to any preceding claim wherein the output means includes a visual display of some or all of the transmitted information.

41 A system according to the preceding claim, wherein the visual display represents the transmitted information as alpha-numeric or other characters.

42 A system according to the preceding claim, wherein a vehicle registration or other number is displayed.

43 A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the transmission equipment comprises a microcomputer circuit including a central processing unit, memory means for storing a control program and messages1 input means for selecting or defining information for transmission, and the receiving equipment comprises a microcomputer circuit including a central processing unit, memory means for storing a control program and messages and output means for enabling received information to be understood.

44 A system constructed and arranged substantially as herein described.