Patent US6784792 is a technology implemented on the front of a vehicle to detect if the high impact that a car faces was caused by a pedestrian. The patent is able achieve this in two steps. The first is using sensors on the bumpers and front edge of engine hood to understand the pressure and deformations of the impact. They are compared to a database of trends that tend to happen when a human is the object that is hit. The second is to detect the velocity and acceleration of the vehicle during and after the impact. Then it is referred to database to see if it is aligned to a typical pedestrian collision. Sounds like a smart system but is it really going to make our lives any better?
At the end of the day, someone was bored. This complicated device is unnecessary. If you can't identify whether the object you have collided into is a human being, you definitely should not be driving in the first.
I guess this invention could be useful in terms of litigation when collisions with pedestrians are involved, as both parties would deny being at fault (supposing the pedestrian is still alive), or be useful to rule someone as guilty if he was involved in a hit-and-run without eyewitnesses. However, the cost of implementation may probably be too great for the benefit retrieved out of it. Also, I question the accuracy of this invention, which could lead to wrong judgments being made due to inaccurate data.
ReplyDeleteI think that the only real application of this invention would be if you're driving at night in foggy conditions where you can't see what's in front of you. If you hit a small animal, there wouldn't be any need to stop, whereas if you hit or clip a human, this device will let you know that you should stop to ensure that the individual is ok. In any other conditions, one should always stop and ensure everything is okay before continuing to drive, regardless of what is hit. I think something that would be more useful is just a sensor to tell you if you've hit something or not--it doesn't have to be specifically for humans.
ReplyDeleteHmm, this patent to me seems really cool actually. I wonder if it has ever been implemented? I agree with you, however, in that this may be a difficult design to make pertinent in our lives. Maybe if the innovator collaborates with vehicle companies, he/she may be able to turn this seemingly "silly patent" into a success.
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