Collision Reduction Methods Using WebSphere Messaging (16-Sep-2009)

Collision Reduction Methods Using WebSphere Messaging

Disclosed are methods to enable sensors placed on obstructive vehicles or other observers, such as traffic lights or physical immobile obstructions such as oddly shaped signs or buildings. The sensors would altruistically detect, evaluate and warn of vehicular collision threats outside of one or both driver's sensory awareness. Several components are required for this invention including: a vehicle detection component, a threat evaluation component, a signalling component, a message receiver component, and a threat warning component onboard the threatened vehicle(s) to alert the drivers. Details and interactions of all components are discussed in the following section.

Details

Several modifications and inventive augmentations for warning and detection devices are required to implement the proposed invention.

Vehicle Detection Component

It is known in the art for a vehicle to detect a threat, either from a wireless device communicating between two cars, or through light based sensor detection from a car in the obscured area of driver's vision commonly known as the blind spot (i.e., the area to the right and behind a driver in the left hand drive vehicles in North America, or the corresponding spot to the left and behind a driver whose steering wheel is on the right hand side of the car). It is novel in the art for a third party to perform this detection, or for the detection to focus on obscured spots in front of the driver where the sight blockage is caused by a third party, and not visibility issues from the cab of the car.

Threat Evaluation Component

To avoid a high rate of false positive warnings, all alerts generated by the Vehicle Detection Component are evaluated for threat likelihood. If one car stops or slows to such a rate that stopping is likely, the alert will not be sent. This allows any recipient of the warning to know that a threat is real, and makes it much more likely that they will ta...