WO2009101169A1

WO2009101169A1 - Tactile interaction device for two- or three-wheeled motorized vehicles

Info

Publication number: WO2009101169A1
Application number: PCT/EP2009/051693
Authority: WO
Inventors: Niccolò BALDANZINI; Giacomo Bencini; Marco Pierini
Original assignee: Universita' Degli Studi Di Firenze
Priority date: 2008-02-15
Filing date: 2009-02-13
Publication date: 2009-08-20
Also published as: ITFI20080027A1

Abstract

A tactile interaction device comprising at least one actuator (17) and at least one movable and/or deformable element (18) associated therewith contained in a grip adapted to be conveniently grasped by the user, said at least one movable and/or deformable element (18) being adapted to exert pressure variations on sensitive zones which are easily perceived by the user.

Description

TACTILE INTERACTION DEVICE FOR TWO-OR THREE-WHEELED MOTORIZED VEHICLES

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to the technical field of safety systems for tooling apparatuses, working machines and vehicles, specifically the present invention relates to the domain of active, integrated safety systems for two- or three- wheeled vehicles. State of the art Road safety is one of the most debated and addressed issues due to the constantly increasing number of vehicles on the road, in addition to an alarming increase in the number of both fatal and highly invalidating accidents. The purpose of many initiatives, either funded by public authorities or promoted by private companies, is to make roads, vehicles and obviously all road users safer. Unquestionably today, the major development of such systems capable of increasing vehicle and passenger safety, is in the automotive field, because such a field accounts for most of the vehicles on the road. The issue of two- wheeled vehicle safety has only recently started to be an active part of road safety, with the objective of enabling also the users of this type of vehicles to opportunely detect possibly risky situations so as to be able to correctly deal with them. With this regard, it is worth noting that although the number of motorcycles on the road is considerably lower than the number of motor vehicles, accident statistics show that accidents involving motorcycles lead to the worst consequences for the driver, because a motorcycle driver is much more vulnerable than a person inside the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. It is thus apparent a need to provide motorcycles with systems capable of monitoring everything which occurs about the motorcycle to attempt to minimize the risk of accident for the driver.

In general, there are safety systems addressing the following three different situations: a first type aims at preventing accidents by means of the so-called active safety systems, on the other hand a second type assists vehicle occupants by reducing the effects of the impact by means of the so-called passive safety systems, and finally the systems which deal with the step following the accident, which automatically call for rescue. Furthermore, reference may be made to integrated safety when systems capable of jointly managing the operation of active and passive safety devices are considered; in this manner, the system is able to establish the operation of the various devices according to the situation which is occurring. For example, should the electronic stability control system detect a strong over-steering or under-steering situation, condition which often leads to a crash, in conjunction with the operation of the stability control system, countermeasures capable of protecting the occupants of the passenger compartment as much as possible are implemented, both by pulling the seat belts to prevent any excessive displacement of the occupants during the crash, thus limiting possible physical injuries, and by activating the airbag control unit for establishing the area of the vehicle which could be most concerned by the crash and establishing the intervention modes of the airbags themselves. The present invention thus refers to the field of active, integrated safety systems.

In the various solutions processed in the development of active, integrated safety systems, a wide range of sensors are used for remotely identifying obstacles, such as for example vehicles standing on the carriageway, in addition to opportunely identify the "vulnerable" road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, under all the conditions in which their identification could be difficult. In addition to this type of sensors, there are others installed inside the vehicle, capable of recording the driver's level of alertness and attention, so as to re-establish attention levels suitable for driving when an excessively low attention level for driving is detected. In this regard, systems capable of autonomously intervening when no driver's reaction to a potentially risky situation is detected, are being constructed. Parallelly to the development of these systems, solutions regarding the various modes for communicating the information to the driver once collected by the various sensors installed on the vehicle are to be defined.

The choice for the various modes for communicating and thus interacting with the driver is very important, because an excellent system for acquiring information from the external environment would be absolutely useless and completely ineffective if the information communication system were not equally effective and functional. It must be further considered that the choice on how to communicate information, in addition to the choice of senses to be involved, is very important because it could become a potential cause of distraction for the driver, thus increasing the level of risk. Therefore, a priority level of the information to be communicated is required to be established and a level of complexity of the information is required to be evaluated, so as to be able to evaluate the best mode for intervening and interacting with the driver in any type of situation. On these bases, the development in the automotive industry of such interaction systems has led to design various interaction systems of visual, auditory and tactile nature. The most used system for visual interaction is that consisting of the so-called "Head Up Display", i.e. a system capable of producing virtual images, thus focused at infinity, which firstly allows a considerable reduction in the reaction times of the eye passing from focusing on the dashboard to subsequently focusing on the road, further allowing a reduction of the head movement for reading information from the instrument present on the vehicle. There are different types of this system according to the method used for projecting the images on the vehicle windscreen and to the contrivances adopted to improve the image quality.

On one hand, the visual interaction has the unquestionable advantage of allowing the communication of even highly complex information, but on the other hand has the disadvantage of requiring an information acquisition time which increases with the information complexity, thus becoming a potential reason of distraction for the driver.

For such a reason, some information which are not highly complex may be communicated to the driver by means of an acoustic communication, both in the form of a simple acoustic warning, such as for example a simple buzzer, and in the form of a proper voice message, thus reducing the level of visual load for the driver, and thus the distraction possibility.

Also in this case, there are acoustic interaction systems used for different purposes.

Finally, tactile interaction systems may be used both for the purpose of recalling the driver's attention on an event which is occurring, which could be the detection of an accident or a potentially dangerous situation, or may be used as proper means for re-establishing the driver's attention on the road in all those cases in which visual or auditory messages could not be heard, such as for example in case of sleepiness or low alertness. In patent US2007008083, Berg et al. suggest a tactile warning system for drivers. Sensors capable of detecting several vehicle parameters are placed on the vehicle, and a control system makes the steering wheel vibrate when an emergency condition is detected. Three different operating states may occur, with which three different vibrating modes of the steering wheel are associated; in the first two modes, there are only variations in terms of direction in which the steering wheel vibrates (mono-directional or multi-directional), while in the latter mode, the intensity of the vibrations will be varied to generate resonance, so as to result in a sound warning. A solution of this type is difficult to be used in the motorcycle field, because a vibrating interaction system by means of oscillations of the handlebar could be a problem for the normal driving of the vehicle, and even make driving impossible when the handlebar vibrates at a frequency equal to the resonance frequency.

Finally, in patent DEI02041 37, Grabow suggests a system in which all three interaction modes - visual, acoustic and tactile modes - are used. The system is activated by a receiver from which information are collected. If potential risk conditions are found, the system will communicate the information using either the visual mode or the acoustic mode or the tactile mode according to the vehicle speed. In this solution, it is indeed the innovative element to represent the greatest obstacle to a possible application in the field of motorcycles; indeed, basing the system management on the vehicle speed does not allow to take into account all the other environmental factors - such as illumination or "noise" - which could negatively affect the reading and the comprehension of the produced message. From the analysis of the prior art related to similar systems specifically designed for the application to motorcycles, it arises that little has been done in this field. Although the sensors and the detection systems of external environment information are the same as those used in the automotive field, the information communication modes in the motorcycle domain must address and solve different problems, both due to the various "noise" conditions which could make it difficult to perceive the communicated information, and to the different needs related to the smaller volumes required, and finally also due to completely different vehicle dynamics.

Therefore, while in the automotive field the preferential modes for communicating information are the visual and the auditory modes, in the motorcycle domain the tactile mode plays an important role in transmitting information. Indeed, it must be considered that making a "Head-up display" for motorcycle applications is difficult; this implies that there is nearly no choice but to integrate a peripheral device on the dashboard on which the information received from the existing sensors are displayed, in addition to the normal information already present on the motorcycles. In order to avoid the driver from needing to periodically remove his/her eyes from the road to check displayed information, acoustic or tactile interaction systems may be used as notification means of the occurred visualization of information on the screen. Furthermore, given the different soundproofing condition of the driver with respect to the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, it is apparent that an acoustic interaction system could not be correctly heard under some conditions of external environment noise, while a correctly positioned and dimensioned tactile interaction system is the best system for attracting attention on the screen. Indeed, it is apparent that the tactile interaction mode may be used as imminent danger warning, which may be perceived without taking the gaze off from the road, thus considerably decreasing the driver's reaction times and opportunely providing information to the driver.

Therefore, it is the object of the present invention to introduce a tactile interaction device for tooling apparatuses, working machines and motorized vehicles, specifically for two- and three-wheeled vehicles, which overcomes the limitations of the devices of the prior art, and which may represent the element on which the active, integrated vehicle safety system may be based.

Disclosure of the invention

A first object of the present invention is to provide a system capable of supporting, by means of tactile interaction, the communication of information obtained from sensors installed on apparatuses and devices, specifically on motorcycles.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system which is capable of performing its task without being an impediment or a restriction for the user during his/her own activity, specifically with regards to driving two- or three-wheeled vehicles. Finally, a further object of the present invention is to provide a system which may be easily implemented and adapted to new technologies which could be introduced, specifically in the motorcycle field, for the purpose of increasing safety.

Summary of the invention

The present invention relates to a tactile interaction system capable of making the transmission of information obtained from sensors installed upon tooling apparatuses, working machines and motorized vehicles, specifically on two- or three-wheeled vehicles, more effective.

Brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 shows a block chart of a first preferred embodiment of the device according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows a block chart of a second preferred embodiment of the device according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows a block chart of a third preferred embodiment of the device according to the present invention. Fig. 4 shows a preferred embodiment of the electromechanical-type actuator of the device according to the present invention. Detailed description of the invention

With reference to accompanying Fig. 1 , the tactile interaction device according to the present invention comprises the following elements: at least one actuator 17 associated with at least one movable and/or deformable element 18, said at least one actuator 17 and said at least one movable and/or deformable element 18 being preferably contained in a grip preferably having a substantially cylindrical shape and adapted to be conveniently grasped by the user. Said tactile interaction device according to the present invention further comprising at least one sensor 10; at least one acquisition board 1 1 associated with said at least one sensor 10; a control unit 12 associated with a set 16 of operating and working parameters programmed by the manufacturer, and with a driving module 19 adapted to drive said at least one actuator 17. Said device may further comprise a user interface 13 - possibly comprising an audio interface 14 and a video interface 15. In a first preferred embodiment thereof, the device in accordance with the present invention thus comprises a plurality of movable elements, controlled by at least one actuator, preferably of electromechanical type, said movable elements and said actuators being integrated in said grip.

Said actuator may be of the electric, electromechanical, pneumatic or hydraulic type. In the case of an electromechanical-type actuator, it comprises at least one micro-motor of electric type advantageously accommodated, in the case of motorcycles, inside the normal tube of which the handlebar, or the vehicle controls, or the tool grip, are made.

The device in accordance with the present invention may be used either as a primary information element - in the case, for example, the range of sensors installed on the motorcycle is restricted and the function of each is univocal, i.e. if the information may not be misunderstood -, or may be used as notification system for displaying information on the integrated screen in the dashboard area. A second preferred embodiment of the present invention represents an example of use as primary information element, specifically as speed limit exceeding notification system and is characterized in that said at least one sensor 10 comprises the vehicle speedometer. A third preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in accompanying Fig. 2, represents a further example of use as primary information element and is characterized in that said at least one sensor 10 comprises remote detecting means of the existing obstacles, for example on the carriageway, preferably comprising an infrared camera 20, a radar or a laser scanner 21 : a further information collection module 22 is associated with said remote obstacle detecting means, in turn included in said at least one acquisition board 11 , adapted to interpret the information from said remote obstacle detecting means and to provide the information set to said control unit 12. A fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention, related now to the use as notification system for the visualization of information, e.g. on a screen integrated in the dashboard area of a motor vehicle, is shown in accompanying Fig. 3 and is characterized in that said at least one sensor 10 comprises an infrared camera 20 and a radar or a laser scanner 21 adapted to remotely detect objects on the carriageway, a speed limit exceeding detection system 30 and at least one antenna 31 adapted to receive signals related to accident reports transmitted, for example, by the vehicles involved in accidents or breakdowns, or more in general by vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication systems, or finally vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication systems, the former for receiving information from other vehicles on the road, the latter instead for receiving information from infrastructures, such as for example the speed limit on the road stretch being covered, or information concerning the presence of ice or oil on the road surface, and so forth. A further information collection module 22 is associated with said infrared camera 20 and with said radar or laser scanner 21 , the module in turn included in at least one acquisition board 1 1 , adapted to interpret the information from said sensors and to provide the information set, in conjunction with said speed limit exceeding detection system 30 and said at least one antenna 31 adapted to receive signals related to accident reports or signals produced by V2V or V2I systems, to said control unit 12. Said user interface 13 comprises an audio interface 14 and a video interface 15. The device further comprises a screen and an acoustic warning device. Said screen being adapted to display information such as, for example, images of the road which is being covered and on which possibly obstacles are highlighted and characterized: standing vehicles, pedestrians who are crossing the road, or icons representing other possible dangerous conditions, such as, for example, the presence of vehicles standing in a queue after a bend which is concealed from sight, or information concerning speed limits on the road stretch being covered. In order to restrict the number of movements of the driver's head from the optimal driving position to the position for reading the information on the visor, the information which is not urgent, i.e. which does not concern imminent risk situations, may be transmitted by using the acoustic warning device only. On the other hand, all information concerning imminent risk situations should be communicated as quickly as possible and in the most effective manner possible; the most effective, quick manner for communicating information to drivers, and requiring lesser time for displaying it, is that implying the use of icons displayed on the screen, which are notified to the driver by means of tactile warning through said plurality of movable elements integrated in said grips. The advantage of using a tactile interaction system integrated in the grips is apparent, indeed in such a zone there is always contact between the driver and the peripheral device, and this ensures an efficient notification of the information, along with the greater sensitivity of the hands to tactile stimuli, with respect to other possible body contact areas between the driver and the system. The device object of the present invention notifies relevant information to the driver, or to the operator of the tool or machinery, by means of a mode which avoids the vibrations produced from not being perceived because blacked out by the existing "noise", or avoids the external vibrations, which may occur in some situations of travel or use, from generating false alarms, thus making the driver check the screen or adopting an alert behaviour even when there is not any reason for it. In order to avoid the occurrence of such situations, in the device object of the present invention, the information is notified in virtue of the user's perception of the pressure variations on sensitive zones, such as for example the palm of the hands, instead of exploiting the vibrations of an entire control device, such as the steering wheel in the case of patent US2007008083 to Berg et Al. mentioned above.

The movable elements inserted into the grips indeed operate by generating pressure variations on appropriately chosen points on the palm of the hand. The importance of the positioning of the movable and/or deformable elements has a two-fold relevance: the first (functional) takes into account the shape and size diversity of the hand of potential users of such a system, in addition to a possible different positioning of the hand on the grip, so as to always ensure the contact between palm of the hand and the movable and/or deformable elements; the second (design) which takes into account the distribution of pressures in the contact area between the hand and the grip, so as to determine the points at which a lower pressure is required for equal perception, so as to make the system effective despite requiring less force for handling the movable and/or deformable elements. The combined effect of pressure variation and perceived sensation of the grip shape variation ensures that the information notification may not be misunderstood for any other type of external event which may occur while the motorcycle is being driven.

In greater detail, and with reference to accompanying Fig. 4, said at least one actuator 17 comprises an electric motor 40 associated with a camshaft 41 by means of an appropriately rigid joint 42, said camshaft being further associated with said at least one movable and/or deformable element 18, in turn comprising three buttons 43, 44, 45 preferably placed at a distance of approximately 29 mm from one another in the direction of the axis of said grip, and so that the two outermost buttons are aligned while the third (the middle one) is displaced by a circumference arc subtending an angle of approximately 20°. This arrangement of said buttons is the result of a detailed statistical analysis over the hand-cylinder contact area both in terms of size of the contact area, according to the dimensions of the hand itself, and in terms of shape of the contact area, according to the fact that the hand does not offer a flat contact surface due to the presence of protruding areas, such as the thenar area underneath the thumb joint and the area of the finger joints, and of areas with a concave tendency, indeed as the palm of the hand. The electric motors and the electronic control board are preferably powered by using the battery present on normal motorcycles, and thus at a voltage of 12V. Since the two motors, one for each grip, necessarily behave in the same manner, they will preferably be driven in parallel by the same control board, which will be provided with appropriate means for protecting and symmetrizing the driving currents.

Finally, the above-described device allows to efficiently and quickly notify information to the driver, thus reducing the possibility of misunderstandings and false alarms, in virtue of the working principle. The device may be used both with a wide range of sensors present on the motorcycle, and with very simple detection systems, thus exploiting the univocity of the information to be communicated.

Furthermore, the integration of the device in the grips allows a very reduced impact on the motorcycle, as it does not require any particular changes to the handlebar and to the grips, and at the same time it originates no impediment to the driver while driving.

The arrangement of such a system on the motorcycle is a further safety form for the driver because in case of accident it is totally independent from the motorcycle. The described tactile interaction device may be obviously advantageously applied in all domains in which reliable information transmission is required in unfavorable environments and circumstances, for different reasons, to the use of sight and hearing such as, for example, the domain of industrial tools and vehicles, and construction tools, such as pneumatic drills, diggers, etc.

In conclusion, the above-disclosed tactile information system represents an unquestionably useful element, capable of making communication of information on imminent risk situations more efficient and safe in a very simple manner.

Claims

1. A tactile interaction device comprising at least one actuator (17) and at least one movable and/or deformable element (18) associated therewith, contained in a grip adapted to be conveniently grasped by the user, said at least one movable and/or deformable element (18) being adapted to exert pressure variations on sensitive zones which are easily perceived by the user.

2. A device according to claim 1 , characterized in that said at least one movable and/or deformable element (18) is adapted to exert pressure variations on the palms of the user's hands.

3. A device according to claims 1 -2, characterized in that said at least one actuator (17) is chosen from the group comprising actuators of electric, electromechanical, pneumatic or hydraulic type.

4. A device according to claims 1 -3, characterized in that said at least one actuator (17) comprises an electric motor (40) associated with at least one movable and/or deformable element (18) by means of appropriate connecting means.

5. A device according to claim 1 , characterized in that said appropriate connecting means comprise a camshaft (41 ) associated with said at least one movable and/or deformable element (18) and an appropriate rigid joint (42) adapted to connect said camshaft (41 ) to said electric motor (40).

6. A device according to claims 1 - 5, characterized in that said at least one movable and/or deformable element (18) comprises three buttons (43, 44, 45).

7. A device according to claim 6, characterized in that said three buttons (43, 44, 45) are placed at a distance of approximately 29 mm from one another, in the direction of the axis of said grip and so that the two outermost buttons are aligned while the third (the middle one) is displaced by a circumference arc subtending an angle of approximately 20°.

8. A device according to claims 1 -7, characterized in that it further comprises at least one sensor (10), at least one acquisition board (1 1 ) associated with at least one sensor (10), a set (16) of operating and working parameters programmed by the manufacturer, a control unit (12) associated with a user interface (13) and with a driving module (19) adapted to drive said at least one actuator (17).

9. A device according to claim 8, characterized in that said at least one sensor (10) comprises a speedometer.

10. A device according to claims 8-9, characterized in that said at least one sensor (10) comprises remote obstacle detecting means.

1 1 . A device according to claims 8-10, characterized in that said at least one sensor (10) comprises signal receiving means.

12. A device according to claim 10, characterized in that said remote obstacle detecting means comprise devices chosen from the group comprising: infrared cameras (20), radars and laser scanners (21 ).

13. A device according to claim 1 1 , characterized in that said signal receiving means comprise at least one antenna (31 ) for receiving signals from broken- down vehicles or vehicles involved in accidents or from V2V communication systems or V2I communication systems.

14. A device according to claim 13, characterized in that said signals related to signalling accidents comprise signals belonging to the group consisting of signals transmitted by vehicles involved in accidents, signals transmitted by broken-down vehicles, signals transmitted by vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) type communication systems, signals transmitted by vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) type communication systems.

15. A device according to claims 10-14, characterized in that said at least one acquisition board (1 1 ) comprises a further information collection module (22) associated with said remote obstacle detecting means and adapted to interpret the information from said remote obstacle detecting means and to provide the information set to said control unit (12).

16. A device according to claims 8-15, characterized in that said user interface (13) comprises an audio interface (14) and a video interface (15).

17. A device according to claim 16, characterized in that it comprises a screen and an acoustic warning device.