Development of selective warning system for pedestrian safety around hybrid & electric vehicles

Abstract

The emergence of electric vehicles has been changing our lives by decreasing our reliance on internal combustion motors. Paradoxically, an ancillary benefit of an electric vehicle (EV) is that its engine does not make nearly as much noise as an internal combustion engine; however, this can be dangerous for pedestrians as they may not be able to hear a car coming. Therefore, regulations have been enacted in the US and EU to implement artificial alerts in EVs to warn pedestrians of their proximity. To preserve both the low sound emissions of EVs and pedestrian safety, we propose a directional alert system to alert drivers to pedestrians, and vice versa. The combined technology of an image-based pedestrian detection system and a selective warning sound is immediately possible in EV manufacturing. This study shows the feasibility of such a system to make the roads safer for both drivers and pedestrians.