Car patents are usually focused on unique design elements or aerodynamic improvements. But BYD has just published a new patent that addresses an often overlooked safety concern.
The recent patent is for underbody detection of living organisms, using computer vision to capture an image of the vehicle’s underside, which is then stored as a reference image once the vehicle is turned off. It was published by China’s National Intellectual Property Administration on June 12th.
BYD’s recent patent could save lives
The underbody detection patent has some boring jargon to read through, basically learning to identify static components, like suspension parts and the battery enclosure, so it can see what is different when it stands. Namely, living organisms. It will be able to distinguish between harmless environmental changes, like shadows and debris, and movement from a living thing.
While the initial reaction to such a patent is to acknowledge BYD’s overall improvements to its monitoring system, with BYD attempting to create a broader, more intelligent sensing ecosystem across the entire vehicle, I think this specific sensor is pretty standout.
Remember that whole debacle with Kit Kat? I’ve discussed it before, but it was a national story about a Waymo running over a cat in San Francisco. It was used as an argument against autonomous vehicles, with critics claiming they posed a danger to society. Some even claimed the Waymo had driven over the sidewalk to intentionally hit the cat.
While it’s sad to see a cat die, Waymo wasn’t really at fault. At least in my opinion. Footage showed that the cat had lied down in front of the Waymo’s front tire out of range of the sensors. You could say that Waymo doesn’t have enough sensors, but a human wouldn’t have seen this cat either. In fact, humans kill 5.4 million cats a year with their cars.
Keep your cats inside!
Anyway, this new underbody detection patent would prevent another Kit Kat from being run over by a vehicle, whether it’s controlled by a human or is autonomous. This is huge, since there are plenty of stories of kids getting run over – and even people getting run over by their own cars. This is a safety hazard that automakers never really address.
Some would argue they don’t need to address it. How about watching your own kid? But what is the harm in adding more safety measures? Cars already have a ton of sensors and cameras and recordings anyway. Might as well add another if it means saving more cats and kittens from being run over.
BYD’s patent hasn’t been deployed, and there is no vehicle application anyone knows of. But I think this is a real good one. More interesting than that toilet one. Although not as flashy as that inflatable roof rail one.
