Dynamic vehicle grid infrastructure to allow vehicles to sense and respond to traffic conditions
View Patent ↗A dynamic ‘vehicle grid’ system provides the ability for drivers to be automatically warned to the conditions of other vehicles in the vicinity. In this grid system, a motor vehicle would be equipped with a transmitter, receiver, computer and a selection of sensors. Other adjacent vehicles are also contain the same of equipment for transmitting and receiving signals. When the sensors in a vehicle detect a change such as hard braking (rapid deceleration) or very slow speed (blockages), it automatically sends this information via the transmitter over a wireless communication channel to any other receivers in the vicinity.
1. A method for enabling motor vehicles in a dynamic vehicle grid system to sense and respond to traffic conditions comprising the steps of:
detecting a vehicle event at a first vehicle in a vehicle grid system;
formulating a warning message at the first vehicle in response to the detected vehicle event, by identifying the vehicle event detected; and creating a message format indicating the detected event and the identity of the vehicle;
broadcasting the formulated warning message to other vehicles in the dynamic vehicle grid;
detecting the warning message at a first receiving vehicle in the dynamic grid;
determining whether the detected warning message is from a first vehicle or a receiving vehicle:
when the determination is that the detected warning message is not from a first vehicle, interpreting the detected warning message at the receiving vehicle and sending the detected warning message to a driver of the receiving vehicle;
formulating a relay message at the receiving vehicle containing information from the warning message detected at the receiver vehicle, the relay message containing a field that identifies a sender of the relay message as a relay message sender and not the first vehicle which sent the original warning message;
relaying the formulated relay message to other vehicles in close proximity to the receiving vehicle that formulated the relay message; and
repeating said relay message formulating step and said message relaying step at receiving vehicles that received the relay message.
2. The method as described in claim 1 wherein said message formulating step further comprises the steps of: interpreting the message, which.
3. The method as described in claim 2 wherein the formulated message is broadcast from a computing device.
4. The method as described in claim 2 wherein the formulated message is broadcast from a transmitter device.
5. The method as described in claim 2 wherein the generated warning at the a receiving vehicle is conveyed to the driver of the receiving vehicle via a display in the receiving vehicle.
6. A computer program product stored in a computer readable storage medium for enabling motor vehicles in a dynamic vehicle grid system to sense and respond to traffic conditions comprising:
instructions detecting a vehicle event at a first vehicle in a vehicle grid system;
instructions formulating a warning message at the first vehicle in response to the detected vehicle event, by identifying the vehicle event detected; and creating a message format indicating the detected event and the identity of the vehicle;
instructions broadcasting the formulated warning message to other vehicles in the dynamic vehicle grid;
instructions detecting the warning message at a first receiving vehicle in the dynamic grid:
instructions determining whether the detected warning message is from a first vehicle or a receiving vehicle:
when the determination is that the detected warning message is not from a first vehicle, instructions interpreting the detected warning message at the receiving vehicle and sending the detected warning message to a driver of the receiving vehicle;
instructions formulating a relay message at the receiving vehicle containing information from the warning message detected at the receiver vehicle, the relay message containing a field that identifies a sender of the relay message as a relay message sender and not the first vehicle which sent the original warning message;
instructions relaying the formulated relay message to other vehicles in close proximity to the receiving vehicle that formulated the relay message; and
instructions repeating said relay message formulating instructions and said message relaying instructions at receiving vehicles that received the relay message.
7. The computer program product as described in claim 6 further comprising instructions for conveying a generated warning at the receiving vehicle to the driver of the receiving vehicle via a display in the receiving vehicle.
8. A method for enabling motor vehicles in a dynamic vehicle grid system to sense and respond to traffic conditions comprising the steps of:
detecting a vehicle event at a first vehicle in a vehicle grid system;
determining whether the detected event is from the first vehicle;
interpreting the detected event at the first vehicle;
formulating a warning message at the first vehicle in response to the detected vehicle event, by identifying the vehicle event detected; and creating a message format indicating the detected event, the identity of the vehicle and identifying in a field contained in the message information that identifies a sender of the message as the first vehicle;
broadcasting the formulated warning message to other vehicles in the dynamic vehicle grid;
detecting the warning message at a first receiving vehicle in the dynamic grid;
determining whether the detected warning message is from a first vehicle or a receiving vehicle;
when the determination is that the detected warning message is from the first vehicle, interpreting the detected warning message at the receiving vehicle and sending the detected warning message to a driver of the receiving vehicle;
formulating a relay message at the receiving vehicle containing information from the warning message detected at the receiver vehicle, the relay message containing a field that identifies a sender of the relay message as the first vehicle which sent the original warning message;
relaying the formulated relay message to other vehicles in close proximity to the receiving vehicle that formulated the relay message; and
repeating said relay message formulating step and said message relaying step at receiving vehicles that received the relay message.