Automated warning methods and systems for the prevention of animal-vehicle accidents
View Patent ↗Methods and systems for preventing collisions between vehicles and moving hazards include the use of active signs, a network of sensors, and a controller. Such sensors can be placed adjacent to a roadway and are used to detect the presence of animals. The active signs display a local speed limit. The controller accepts the sensor signals as input and outputs display commands to the active signs. The controller maintains a rolling window of recent detections in histogram form. The recent data, together with a control law specified by the municipal authority, can be used to specify updated local speed limits to influence driver behavior.
1. A method for preventing collisions between vehicles and moving hazards, said method comprising:
generating sensor signals indicative of a plurality of detections of moving hazards via a network of sensors with respect to a roadway;
processing said sensor signals with respect to display commands to be output to at least one active sign located adjacent said roadway;
compiling a histogram of recent detections from among said plurality of detections by: during a learning mode collecting a plurality of timestamped detector events from said sensor signals, during said learning mode compiling a frequency distribution over a period of N days indicating a relative probability of detector triggers from said sensor signals versus a time of day, and during an active mode accumulating a rolling window of said period of N days of detector events in order to compile said histogram based on said frequency distribution; and
adjusting said local speed limit for display via said at least one active sign based on data derived from said histogram in association with at least one specified control law to influence driving behavior of drivers of vehicles along said roadway.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising invoking said learning mode via a controller.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one sensor among said network of sensors comprises an infrared detector.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one sensor among said network of sensors comprises a laser trip sensor.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one sensor among said network of sensors comprises a Forward Looking InfraRed (FLIR) sensor.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one sensor among said network of sensors comprises a radar-based sensor.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one sensor among said network of sensors comprises a geomicrophone.
8. A system for preventing collisions between vehicles and moving hazards, said system comprising:
a processor;
a data bus coupled to said processor; and
a computer-usable medium embodying computer program code, said computer-usable medium being coupled to said data bus, said computer program code comprising instructions executable by said processor and configured for:
generating sensor signals indicative of a plurality of detections of moving hazards via a network of sensors with respect to a roadway;
processing said sensor signals with respect to display commands to be output to at least one active sign located adjacent said roadway;
compiling a histogram of recent detections from among said plurality of detections by: during a learning mode collecting a plurality of timestamped detector events from said sensor signals, during said learning mode compiling a frequency distribution over a period of N days indicating a relative probability of detector triggers from said sensor signals versus a time of day, and during an active mode accumulating a rolling window of said period of N days of detector events in order to compile said histogram based on said frequency distribution; and
adjusting said local speed limit for display via said at least one active sign based on data derived from said histogram in association with at least one specified control law to influence driving behavior of drivers of vehicles along said roadway.
9. The system of claim 8 further comprising a controller that invokes said learning mode.
10. The system of claim 8 wherein at least one sensor among said network of sensors comprises an infrared detector.
11. The system of claim 8 wherein at least one sensor among said network of sensors comprises a laser trip sensor.
12. The system of claim 8 wherein at least one sensor among said network of sensors comprises a Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) sensor.
13. The system of claim 8 wherein at least one sensor among said network of sensors comprises a radar-based sensor.
14. The system of claim 8 wherein at least one sensor among said network of sensors comprises a geomicrophone.
15. A system for preventing collisions between vehicles and moving hazards, said system comprising:
a network of sensors for generating sensor signals indicative of a plurality of detections of moving hazards with respect to a roadway;
at least one processor for processing said sensor signals with respect to display commands to be output to at least one active sign located adjacent said roadway and for compiling a histogram of recent detections from among said plurality of detections by: during a learning mode collectins a plurality of timestamped detector events from said sensor signals, during said learning mode compiling a frequency distribution over a period of N days indicating a relative probability of detector triggers from said sensor signals versus a time of day, and during an active mode accumulating a rolling window of said period of N days of detector events in order to compile said histogram based on said frequency distribution; and
at least one controller for adjusting said local speed limit for display via said at least one active sign based on data derived from said histogram in association with at least one specified control law to influence driving behavior of drivers of vehicles along said roadway.
16. The system of claim 15 wherein said at least one controller invokes said learning mode.
17. The system of claim 15 wherein at least one sensor among said network of sensors comprises an infrared detector.
18. The system of claim 15 wherein at least one sensor among said network of sensors comprises a laser trip sensor.
19. The system of claim 15 wherein at least one sensor among said network of sensors comprises a Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) sensor.
20. The system of claim 15 wherein at east one sensor among said network of sensors comprises at least one of a radar-based sensor and a geomicrophone.