FIELD OF INVENTION

[0001] This invention is a system for detecting an accident and for performing emergency control actions in a two-wheeler.

BACKGROUND

[0002] In India, one person dies every four minutes due to road accidents. Two- wheelers account for approximately 25% of total deaths due to road accidents. In most of the cases, lives can be saved if sufficient emergency care is provided in a reasonable time. It will be of great help if the accident is immediately intimated to the riderDs emergency contact numbers.

[0003] Korean Patent KR20140106338 discloses an accident notifying apparatus for motorcycles wherein an accident recognition device is contained within a helmet, and whenever a helmet impact beyond a predetermined threshold is detected, the accident recognition device will transmit a wireless signal to a mobile phone which in turn will recognize that an accident has occurred and will dial an emergency contact number. But such a system requires the rider to be wearing a helmet including the accident recognition device.

[0004] Taiwanese Patent TW201139192 discloses an accident detecting sensor mounted on the vehicle which upon detecting an accident will activate indicator lamps, warning alarms and will also transmit a wireless signal to a mobile phone to dial an emergency number. But such an accident detecting sensor is expensive and will increase the cost and complexity of the vehicle.

[0005] Connected vehicles have good information exchange between a user and the vehicle. Vehicles that include wireless connectivity modules such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi can exchange information from the vehicle to personal digital assistants such as Smartphone or tablet PCs and will be beneficial if accident identification and emergency contact dialing can be done without using additional sensors. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to reference like features and components.

[0007] Fig. 1. shows a side view of a three-wheeled vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0008] Figure 1 illustrates the components of the connected two-wheeler.

[0009] Figure 2 illustrates the steps involved in the set-up of sensor calibration.

[00010] Figure 3 illustrates the steps of detection of Fall/ Accident.

[00011] Figure 4 illustrates actions taken by the PDA on detection of Fall.

[00012] Figure 5(a) and 5(b) illustrates the lean angle of the vehicle for accident detection.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[00013] In this invention, an accident is detected by a connected two-wheeler with the help of accelerometer and gyroscope sensors of a vehicle-mounted Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). The connected two-wheeler with the vehicle-mounted PDA triggers an emergency action as soon as the PDA detects the accident. The emergency action by the PDA involves sending an SMS to the emergency contact and an emergency call to the contact. The data acquisition for latitude and longitude of the vehicle location is performed and transmitted by the vehicle mounted PDA. The latitude and longitude data of the current location is fetched from the GPS device which is embedded inside the PDA. The emergency contact can take immediate actions to save the riderDs life after the accident.

[00014] RiderDs safety factor is increased and ensures that the emergency contact person is well informed about the riderDs safety. The invention also includes calibration of the accelerometer sensor at the time of mounting on the vehicle. The new design is suitable for all two-wheeled vehicles. [00015] Accident detection is possible with an accelerometer, gyro sensors or roll over sensor in-built in a two-wheeler. The connected vehicle can transmit the sensor information to the personal digital assistant (PDA) which in turn contacts the emergency person for help.

[00016] This invention is an accident detection and control system for a two-wheeled vehicle, said accident detection and control system comprising, HMI display, atleast one GPS device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), an accelerometer sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a Bluetooth device, a user interface screen, and a service system. The two-wheeled vehicle and the Personal Digital Assistant communicate to each other via a Bluetooth communication protocol, and a fall detection process is carried out in the Personal Digital Assistant with a service application running on background. The system includes at least one accelerometer sensor and at least one gyroscope sensor that are available in the PDA. For detection of fall utilizes components of the PDA for data collection and processing required actions. The detection of fallen state is based on a lean angle of the two-wheeled vehicle computed by the accelerometer and gyroscope sensors in the PDA. The PDA is a Smartphone. The PDA is a tablet PC. The GPS device and Bluetooth device is integrated with the two-wheeled vehicle either via speedometer integration or ECU integration, the user interface screen, accelerometer sensors and gyroscope sensors are included within the Personal Digital Assistant and all live data of the two-wheeled vehicle including vehicle speed, engine speed, gear position, fuel level, and odometer are shared with the PDA.

[00017] In this invention, a method of the accident detection and control system, comprising the steps of, fixing the position of the PDA and capturing PDA position by an application in the PDA, Prompting for calibration of in-built sensors by the application on the PDA by pressing a button in the PDA, after mounting said PDA on the vehicle, calibrating the accelerometer and gyroscopic sensors present inside the PDA based on the mounting position, analyzing the vehicle mounted PDA and vehicle state parametersD data for fall detection, calculating a lean angle by the PDA from accelerometer and gyroscope signals if an engine is in running condition, increasing the frequency of calculation of the lean angle at the instant of the panic braking, storing the lean angle and waiting for a predetermined duration for the lean angle to exceed a predetermined threshold and if still the lean angle exceeds the predetermined threshold after the predetermined duration then detecting of a fall event, and triggering the PDA to sense the lean angle frequently after application of brake by a user. Further, detecting panic braking based on deceleration rate of the vehicle speed, communicating to the PDA about the panic braking detected via any wireless communication, taking required action on detection of fall includes the following steps: obtaining the latitude and longitude data from the satellite by the PDA using the GPS device, storing location data of the two-wheeled vehicle into a message, and sending an SMS to the emergency contact number, and activating an emergency call to the same number. The PDA is capable of sending emergency SMS to multiple emergency contact numbers and to immobilize the engine based on fall detection. The process involves data acquisition from vehicle mounted sensors including vehicle speed sensor and crankshaft position sensor, and sensors in-built on the PDA containing the accelerometer and gyroscope.

[00018] Most vehicles are equipped with a brake system for slowing or stopping movement of the vehicle in a controlled manner. The brake system can be actuated by hydraulic, pneumatic, or mechanical pressure generated by an operator of the vehicle depressing a foot pedal, pulling a hand lever, and the like.

[00019] Figure 1 is the two-wheeled vehicle 1 with in-built connectivity device that communicates with a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) 3 via Bluetooth communication. The Personal Digital Assistant 3 shall have a Bluetooth device 6, user interface screen 25, an in-built GPS device 2, accelerometer sensors 4 and gyroscope sensors 5. There can be at least one accelerometer sensor and at least one gyroscope sensor that is available in the PDA. Detection of fall from the vehicle shall use the above-mentioned components for data collection and processing to take actions. The data from the vehicle and data from the Personal Digital Assistant 3 shall be included for detection of fall detection process. There is a two-way wireless communication between the vehicle and the Personal Digital Assistant 3 via a Bluetooth communication protocol. All live data of the vehicle like vehicle speed, engine speed, gear position, fuel level, odometer, shall be shared to the Personal Digital Assistant 3. The fall detection process shall be carried out in the Personal Digital Assistant 3 with a dedicated application running as background service software. The Bluetooth device 6 integrated with the vehicle can be in any form via speedometer integration or ECU integration.

[00020] Detection of fallen state of a rider and vehicle is based on the lean angle of the two-wheeled vehicle, as in Figure 5(a) and Figure 5(b). Real-time calculation of lean angle is based on the accelerometer 4 and gyroscope 5 sensors in-built inside the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) 3 that is mounted on a vehicle. Panic braking by the user triggers the PDA 3 to sense the lean angle frequently. The engine ON condition is checked so that the application confirms that the vehicle is in running condition. If the lean angle is found to exceed the threshold 24, the PDA 3 triggers an emergency call and emergency SMS to the emergency contact saved in the PDA 3.

[00021] Figure 2 shows the set-up of the sensor calibration. The vehicle mounted PDA 3 and vehicle state parametersD data are analyzed for fall detection. The accelerometer 4 and gyroscopic sensors 5 inside the PDA 3 are calibrated based on the mounting position 10 of the PDA 3. Once the PDA 3 is mounted on the vehicle 7, an application on the PDA 3 prompts for calibration of in-built sensors 8 by the press of a button in the PDA 3. After that, the position of the PDA 3 is fixed, and the PDA 3 application captures the position 11. The vehicle and the PDA 3 connection is established via Bluetooth or USB protocol.

[00022] Figure 3 shows the fall/accident detection. The detection of an accident involves acquisition and processing of data from the vehicle-mounted sensors such as vehicle speed sensor and crankshaft position sensor, and the sensors in-built within the PDA 3 such as accelerometer 4 and gyroscope 5. The PDA 3 calculates the lean angle from the accelerometer and gyroscope signals and decides if the engine is found to be in running condition 13. Panic braking 12 is detected at the vehicle end based on the rate of deceleration of the vehicle speed. The vehicle communicates panic braking detection to the Personal Digital Assistant 3 via a communication means to the Personal Digital Assistant 3. At the instant of panic braking 12, the PDA 3 increases the frequency of calculation of the lean angle 17. The lean angle 17 is stored in a memory of the PDA 3 and the PDA 3 waits for a predetermined duration 16 (3s in a preferred embodiment) if the lean angle exceeds a predetermined threshold 18 during the wait time after 3s, then a fall event is detected and a fall detection trigger 14 is generated.

[00023] Figure 4 shows the PDA actions taken on detection of the fall 19. The PDA 3 uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) device to obtain the latitude and longitude data from the satellite 20. The location data of the vehicle is stored into a message 21. After that, an SMS is sent to the emergency contact number 22, and an emergency call is activated to the same number 23.

[00024] The PDA 3 can be a Smartphone or a tablet PC. The PDA 3 can send the emergency SMS to multiple emergency contact numbers. The PDA 3 can also immobilize the engine based on fall detection. These and other modifications are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[00025] Figure 5(a) shows the normal riding posture 24 of the vehicle and posture of the vehicle between the moment before fall 25. As illustrated in Figure 5(b) the lean angle limit is tuned to a particular vehicle and programmed inside the Personal Digital Assistant 3 as a threshold value. The lean angle is calculated by comparing the reference position of the PDA mounting on the two wheeler as in Figure 5(a) and the position of PDA in a position as shown in Figure 5(b). A fall event will further trigger for necessary actions to alert emergency persons with detailed information such as a location of the vehicle or speed of the vehicle before the D FallD event etc.