Granted Patent B2

US 12,611,981 · App. 18/035,682 · Granted Apr 28, 2026

Inventors: Alexander Weidler (Portland, OR); Shepol Meman (Portland, OR)

Assignee: Daimler Truck AG

B60Q1/52G06V20/56

Abstract

Claims (37)

1 . A safety system for an autonomous vehicle, the safety system comprising:

at least one warning device configured as a pyramid having a light source configured to emit light to illuminate the at least one warning device;

a moving device comprising a conveyor belt for separately deploying each of the at least one warning device from the autonomous vehicle; and

a warning system configured to automatically detect an emergency situation based on a monitored operating mode of at least one subsystem of the autonomous vehicle, and to operate the conveyor belt to automatically separately deploy, in response to detecting the emergency situation, each of the at least one warning device from a respective position on the conveyor belt into a surroundings of the autonomous vehicle;

wherein the at least one warning device is configured for wireless charging.

2 . The safety system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one warning device comprises a plurality of light sources.

3 . The safety system according to claim 1 , wherein the conveyor belt is arranged inside a compartment of the vehicle.

4 . The safety system according to claim 1 ,

wherein the safety system comprises at least one operating element arranged in an interior of the vehicle, the at least one operating element being configured to be operated by a person thereby manually effecting deployment of the at least one warning device in the surroundings.

5 . The safety system according to claim 1 , wherein the safety system comprises a vehicle control center that is configured to deploy the at least one warning device in the surroundings.

6 . The safety system according to claim 1 ,

wherein the safety system is incorporated within an autonomous driving system communication network in order to monitor the at least one subsystem.

7 . The safety system according to claim 1 ,

wherein the safety system comprises an auxiliary electronic control unit that monitors the at least one subsystem and requests actuation of the at least one warning device from the warning system.

8 . The safety system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one warning device comprises a first warning device and a second warning device, and further comprising:

a first compartment on a left side of the vehicle relative to a front of the vehicle, wherein the first compartment contains the first warning device; and

a second compartment on a right side of the vehicle relative to the front of the vehicle, wherein the second compartment contains the second warning device;

wherein the warning system is configured to selectively deploy the first warning device to the left side of the vehicle and the second warning device to the right side of the vehicle.

9 . A safety system for an autonomous vehicle, comprising:

a compartment;

at least one warning device configured as a pyramid a light source configured to emit light to illuminate the at least one warning device and configured for wireless charging inside the compartment; and

a warning system configured to:

automatically detect an emergency situation based on a monitored operating mode of at least one subsystem of the autonomous vehicle, and

automatically separately deploy, in response to detecting the emergency situation, each of the at least one warning device from the compartment into a surroundings of the autonomous vehicle,

wherein the warning system comprises a moving device including a conveyor belt configured to move each of the at least one warning device from a respective position on the conveyor belt and into the surroundings of the autonomous vehicle.

10 . The safety system of claim 9 , wherein the moving device comprises a spring element.

11 . The safety system of claim 10 , wherein the spring element comprises a pre-loaded spring mechanism arranged inside the compartment.

12 . The safety system of claim 9 , wherein the emergency situation comprises a loss of signal with a vehicle control center.

13 . A system for deploying warning devices from an autonomous vehicle, the system comprising:

a plurality of warning devices, wherein at least one of the plurality of warning devices is configured as a pyramid having a light source configured to emit light to illuminate the at least one of the plurality of warning devices and configured for wirelessly charging in a compartment inside the autonomous vehicle; and

a warning system configured to:

automatically detect an emergency situation based on a monitored operating mode of at least one subsystem of the autonomous vehicle, and

automatically deploy, in response to detecting the emergency situation, and using a moving device, the plurality of warning devices from the compartment into a surroundings of the autonomous vehicle, wherein the moving device comprises a conveyor belt configured to separately move each of the plurality of warning devices from a respective position on the conveyor belt and into the surroundings of the autonomous vehicle.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the moving device is arranged in the compartment of the vehicle and is configured to successively deploy the plurality of warning devices in response to detecting the emergency situation.

15 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the moving device comprises at least one spring element arranged in the compartment of the vehicle for deploying the plurality of warning devices.

16 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the emergency situation comprises a loss of signal with a vehicle control center.

17 . The system of claim 13 , wherein, in connection with detecting the emergency situation, the vehicle is configured to perform a minimal risk maneuver to move the vehicle from a driving lane to an emergency lane, and wherein automatically deploying the plurality of warning devices comprises deploying a first warning device on a first side of the vehicle during the minimal risk maneuver, and deploying a second warning device on a second side of the vehicle once the minimal risk maneuver is completed and the vehicle is stopped.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (46)