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KR-20260067544-A - A vehicle safety apparatus for preventing a malfunction of the accelerator pedal and method using same

KR20260067544AKR 20260067544 AKR20260067544 AKR 20260067544AKR-20260067544-A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vehicle safety device for detecting misoperation of an accelerator pedal caused by a driver's mistake or misconception, and is characterized by comprising: a sensing data collection unit for collecting data sensed from a position sensor attached to the accelerator pedal; a control button operation unit for controlling a selection button for activating an acceleration safety mode to prevent sudden acceleration in advance and an acceleration button indicating that acceleration is in progress; an acceleration status display unit for displaying misoperation of the accelerator pedal on an instrument panel; a vehicle information collection unit for collecting vehicle information; a vehicle driving control unit for automatically controlling vehicle speed; and a central control unit for detecting misoperation of the accelerator pedal. The invention also relates to a vehicle safety device for preventing misoperation of an accelerator pedal and a method using the same. This research is the result of a project conducted with support from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology Planning and Evaluation (KEIT) in 2024. (RS-2024-00406173)

Inventors

  • 이호준

Assignees

  • (주)이모션

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20241106

Claims (8)

  1. In a vehicle safety device that detects misoperation of the accelerator pedal due to driver error or misconception, A sensing data collection unit that collects data sensed from a position sensor attached to the accelerator pedal; A control button operating unit that controls a selection button for activating an acceleration safety mode to prevent sudden acceleration in advance through automatic vehicle control, and an acceleration button that allows the driver to indicate that acceleration is in progress; An acceleration status display unit that displays incorrect operation of the accelerator pedal on the instrument panel or HUD (Head-up Display); A vehicle information collection unit that collects at least one of vehicle information, such as vehicle speed, location information, steering operation status, and braking status; A vehicle driving control unit that commands the ECU to automatically control the vehicle speed; and It consists of a central control unit that detects misoperation of the accelerator pedal, The above central control unit is, Accelerator pedal motion analysis unit that detects the maximum travel distance (D_max) of the accelerator pedal; An accelerator pedal misoperation determination unit that determines whether the misoperation is due to driver error or misconception when the time (T) to reach the maximum travel distance is within a pre-set threshold period (T_thre); and A vehicle safety device characterized by comprising a countermeasure instruction unit that provides guidance to the driver and selects and instructs a countermeasure when it is determined to be an error in operation.
  2. In paragraph 1, The selection button for activating the above acceleration safety mode automatically controls the throttle valve during rapid acceleration, and A vehicle safety device characterized by the above-mentioned acceleration button being provided on the steering wheel of a vehicle and serving as a means for the driver to additionally confirm whether to accelerate.
  3. In paragraph 1, The vehicle safety device described above is characterized by further including a vehicle information packet unit that compresses and encrypts periodically collected vehicle information to form packets, and a wireless communication interface unit equipped with a short-range communication means for linking with a driver's smartphone.
  4. In paragraph 1, The above-mentioned accelerator pedal misoperation determination unit includes a feature value extraction unit that extracts the distance traveled during a certain period of time from the moment the accelerator pedal is operated as a feature value; A vehicle safety device characterized by comprising a rapid acceleration determination unit that applies the above feature value to a deep learning-based artificial intelligence model to determine whether it is an abnormal pattern, and if it is an abnormal pattern, analyzes and determines whether it is due to a driver's driving error or lack of proficiency in operation or is normal acceleration.
  5. In paragraph 4, A vehicle safety device characterized in that the above feature values are converted into the frequency domain through a Fast Fourier Transform, and the above artificial intelligence model is an LSTM AE model.
  6. In paragraph 1, A vehicle safety device characterized in that the maximum travel distance (D_max) of the accelerator pedal and the emergency time (T_max) for reaching the travel distance most quickly are constants and are pre-set differently depending on the driver and the type of vehicle.
  7. In a method of using a vehicle safety device according to any one of paragraphs 1 through 4, A first step of collecting sensing data based on the movement of the accelerator pedal through the vehicle's OBD-2 terminal if the acceleration safety mode is not activated in advance to prevent sudden acceleration; A second step of determining normal operation of the accelerator pedal if the travel distance of the accelerator pedal does not reach the maximum travel distance (D_max) within a predetermined threshold period (T_thre), and determining whether there is misoperation of the accelerator pedal if it reaches D_max; A third step of searching for countermeasures for misoperation and displaying alarm and warning messages to the driver, and A method for detecting misoperation of an accelerator pedal, characterized by comprising a fourth step of forcibly adjusting the throttle valve of the vehicle's ECU to limit output if the driver is not indicated via the acceleration button that the operation is not misoperation and is in rapid acceleration.
  8. In Paragraph 7, A method for detecting misoperation of an accelerator pedal, characterized by determining that the time (T) for the operation of the accelerator pedal to reach D_max corresponds to the following condition. T_max - T_thre/2 < T < T_max + T_thre/2 Here, T_max is the time to reach D_max.

Description

A vehicle safety apparatus for preventing a malfunction of the accelerator pedal and a method using the same The present invention relates to a vehicle safety device for preventing misoperation of an accelerator pedal and a method using the same, which can automatically take countermeasures by analyzing whether the accelerator pedal is misoperated due to driver error or misconception by comprehensively considering the vehicle's condition, the driver's driving habits, and road conditions. As we enter an aging society with a growing elderly population, driving accidents caused by the elderly mishandling the accelerator pedal due to driving inexperience or health reasons are occurring frequently. In particular, major traffic accidents involving casualties, vehicle damage, and building destruction are rapidly increasing as drivers mistake the accelerator pedal for the brake pedal when braking is required, leading to sudden acceleration. Recently, a taxi driver repeatedly pressed and released the accelerator pedal six times while driving 30 meters in 3 seconds after turning right in an alley, and after pressing the accelerator pedal for the seventh time, kept it pressed until the collision. At this time, the vehicle speed just before the collision was estimated to be 61 km/h, and the taxi driver did not press the brake pedal even once while driving a total of 119 meters (approximately 7.9 seconds) before colliding with the wall. As sudden acceleration situations can cause drivers to panic instantaneously, it is necessary to provide urgent and sequential guidance on alarms and response measures. Since most modern vehicles operate via electronic software control, they can automatically control the vehicle in the event of sudden acceleration; therefore, a detection method capable of checking in advance for any misoperation of the accelerator pedal is absolutely necessary. However, conventionally, there is a problem in that only general response manuals are presented without considering various conditions such as sudden vehicle acceleration or surrounding road conditions, and optimal response measures cannot be provided quickly in real time. Conventional accelerator pedals were directly connected to the throttle valve wire attached to the carburetor and utilized a physical control method based on the pressure applied by the driver. However, most modern vehicles have adopted electric accelerator pedal systems, where sensors measure the degree to which the driver presses the pedal, transmit an electrical signal to the ECU, and the ECU controls the throttle actuator (motor) responsible for opening and closing the throttle valve; electronic control is now common. In particular, it can be operated to ensure smooth acceleration even if the driver suddenly presses the accelerator pedal, and if there is a risk of a frontal collision, it is also possible to control the vehicle by cutting off power output to prevent acceleration even if the driver presses the pedal. However, there is a problem in that it is very difficult to control the operation of the accelerator pedal using only uniform numerical standards, as the sensing level of the accelerator pedal varies from vehicle to vehicle, there are differences in the advanced safety features (ADAS) technology applied for safety, and each automobile manufacturer has a different design for optimizing vehicle performance. Patent Document 1 relates to a system and method for preventing misoperation of automobile pedals, wherein the angle of the accelerator pad is configured to be greater than the angle at which the driver's foot touches the pad, for the purpose of preventing the brake pedal and accelerator pedal of the automobile from being misoperated due to the driver's mistake, so that when the driver places their foot on the accelerator pad, the accelerator pad rotates at a predetermined angle relative to the pedal arm. However, detecting misoperation using only the angle of the accelerator pad and the angle at which the driver's foot touches the pad has the problem that it cannot be applied uniformly because various variables occur depending on the vehicle type or driver. Patent Document 2 relates to a vehicle sudden acceleration detection system in which a sensor is installed on one side of the brake pedal and simultaneously transmitted to a display installed on the dashboard when the driver operates the pedal, thereby notifying the driver of whether the pedal is being operated and visualizing the malfunction of the pedal. However, Patent Document 2 has the problem that additional devices must be provided inside the vehicle in that it detects sudden acceleration by equipping a camera or a sensor that detects separate pedal operation, and there is the problem that additional failures occur due to changes and manipulations in the vehicle's control unit in that it brakes the vehicle by controlling the brake and ABS to be forcibly operated as a countermeasure. Patent Document 3 p