Vehicle alarm systems and methods
A system and method for activating alarms in motor vehicles in response to detecting alarms from other nearby vehicles. This is accomplished by using sound emitting devices in vehicles that can emit two substantially different sounds: a first “warning” sound and a second “messaging” sound. The warning sound provides an audible alert that may be recognizable to anyone near the vehicle and which is intended to scare off the thief/vandal. The messaging sound may or may not be audible, and has the purpose of communicating information about a potential break-in to nearby vehicles, which can take further action based on the detected messaging sound. In particular, the other alarm systems may be activated when the messaging sound is detected.
1 . An alarm system for a motor vehicle, comprising:
a sound emitting unit that emits a first sound and a second sound, wherein the first sound is provides an audible warning to bystanders and wherein the second sound is a messaging sound for communicating information to at least one other vehicle;
a sound detecting unit, the sound detecting unit configured to detect sounds that are substantially similar to the second sound; and
an alarm control unit;
wherein when the alarm control unit receives information indicating that the sound detecting unit has detected the second sound, the alarm control unit signals the sound emitting unit to emit the first sound and the second sound.
2 . The alarm system according to claim 1 , wherein the first sound is audible and wherein the second sound is inaudible.
3 . The alarm system according to claim 1 , wherein the second sound is configured to be quieter than the first sound.
4 . The alarm system according to claim 1 , wherein the first sound and the second sound are associated with different frequencies.
5 . The alarm system according to claim 1 , wherein the sound emitting unit comprises a first sound emitting device that emits the first sound and wherein the sound emitting unit comprises a second sound emitting device that emits the second sound.
6 . The alarm system according to claim 1 , wherein the sound emitting unit comprises a speaker configured to play pre-recorded sounds.
7 . A system for a motor vehicle, comprising:
an alarm control unit;
a sound emitting unit that emits a first sound and a second sound, wherein the first sound provides an audible warning to bystanders and wherein the second sound is a messaging sound for communicating information to at least one other vehicle;
a sound detecting unit, the sound detecting unit configured to send a first triggering signal to the alarm control unit when the sound detecting unit detects sounds sufficiently similar to the second sound;
a person detecting unit that receives information from a sensing device of the motor vehicle, and wherein the person detecting unit is configured to send a second triggering signal to the alarm control unit when the person detecting unit detects a person sufficiently close to the motor vehicle; and
wherein when the alarm control unit receives the first triggering signal and the second triggering signal within a sufficiently close period of time, the alarm control unit signals the sound emitting unit to emit the first sound and the second sound.
8 . The system according to claim 7 , wherein the sensing device is a camera and wherein the person detecting unit is configured to receive image data.
9 . The system according to claim 7 , wherein the sensing device is a proximity sensor and wherein the person detecting unit is configured to receive proximity information.
10 . The system according to claim 7 , wherein the sensing device uses lidar and wherein the person detecting unit is configured to receive lidar data.
11 . The system according to claim 7 , wherein the sensing device uses radar and wherein the person detecting unit is configured to receive radar data.
12 . The system according to claim 8 , wherein the person detecting unit includes a computer vision module for analyzing images from the camera.
13 . The system according to claim 8 , wherein the person detecting unit can receive proximity data from a proximity sensor, and wherein the person detecting unit uses both the image data and the proximity data to detect the person sufficiently close to the motor vehicle.