Collision avoidance in transportation
In transportation, collision avoidance is the maintenance of systems and practices designed to prevent vehicles (such as aircraft, motor vehicles, ships, cranes and trains) from colliding with each other. Examples include:
- Airborne collision avoidance systems for aircraft
- Automatic Identification System for collision avoidance in water transport
- Collision avoidance (spacecraft)
- Collision avoidance system in automobiles[1]
- Positive train control
- Tower Crane Anti-Collision Systems
Technology
Many collision avoidance systems need two[2] things:
- The position of all other vehicles
- The position of the vehicles relative to other vehicles
The first step in collision avoidance is perception, which can use sensors like LiDAR, visual cameras, thermal or IR cameras, or solid-state devices. They are divided upon the part of the electromagnetic spectrum they use. There are two types of sensors, passive and active sensors. Examples of active sensors are LiDAR, Radar and Sonar. Examples of passive sensors are cameras and thermal sensors.[3]
Uses
In aviation

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles use collision avoidance systems to operate safely.[4] TCAS is a collision avoidance system that is widely used.[5] It is a universally accepted last resort meant to reduce the chance of collisions.[6]
In autonomous driving
Collision avoidance is also used in autonomous cars.[1] The aim of a collision avoidance system in vehicles is to prevent collisions, primarily caused by negligence or blind spots, by developing safety measures.[7]
In trains
Automatic Train Protection, an important function of a train control system, helps prevent collisions by managing the speed of the train.[8]
In ships and other water transport
Automatic identification systems are used for collision avoidance in water transport.[9]
Examples of usage
- Kavach - collision avoidance system used in the Indian Railways.[10]
Types
Depending on when they are deployed, collision avoidance systems can be classified into two types, passive and active.[11]
Passive methods
Methods of collision avoidance like seatbelts and airbags are primarily designed to reduce injury to the driver. They are passive methods of collision avoidance. This includes rescue systems that notify rescue centers of an accident.[11]
Active methods
With the addition of camera and radar sensing technologies, active collision avoidance methods can assist or warn the driver, or take control in dangerous situations.[11]
See also
References
- ^ a b Hu, Xinyuan; Ye, Naijia (2024-01-22). "Design of Active Collision Avoidance Algorithm for Driverless Cars Based on Machine Vision". 2023 IEEE 6th International Conference on Information Systems and Computer Aided Education (ICISCAE): 1042–1047. doi:10.1109/ICISCAE59047.2023.10392527.
- ^ Mukunth, Vasudevan (2024-08-12). "The technologies that keep vehicles from bumping into each other | Explained". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ Yasin, Jawad N; Mohamed, Sherif A S; Haghbayan, Mohammad-Hashem; Heikkonen, Jukka; Tenhunen, Hannu; Plosila, Juha (2020-06-04). "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs): Collision Avoidance Systems and Approaches". IEEE. doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3000064. ISSN 2169-3536. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
- ^ Tang, Jun; Lao, Songyang; Wan, Yu (2021-09-01). "Systematic Review of Collision-Avoidance Approaches for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles". IEEE Systems Journal. 16 (3): 4356–4367. doi:10.1109/JSYST.2021.3101283. ISSN 1937-9234.
- ^ He, Donglin; Yang, Youzhi; Deng, Shengji; Zheng, Lei; Su, Zhuolin; Lin, Zi (2023-10-15). "Comparison of Collision Avoidance Logic between ACAS X and TCAS II in General Aviation Flight". 2023 IEEE 5th International Conference on Civil Aviation Safety and Information Technology (ICCASIT): 568–573. doi:10.1109/ICCASIT58768.2023.10351533.
- ^ Sun, Jiayi; Tang, Jun; Lao, Songyang (2017). "Collision Avoidance for Cooperative UAVs With Optimized Artificial Potential Field Algorithm". IEEE Access. 5: 18382–18390. doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2017.2746752. ISSN 2169-3536.
- ^ Rammohan, A.; Chavhan, Suresh; Chidambaram, Ramesh Kumar; Manisaran, N.; Kumar, K. V. Pavan (2022), Hassanien, Aboul Ella; Gupta, Deepak; Khanna, Ashish; Slowik, Adam (eds.), "Automotive Collision Avoidance System: A Review", Virtual and Augmented Reality for Automobile Industry: Innovation Vision and Applications, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–19, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-94102-4_1, ISBN 978-3-030-94102-4, retrieved 2024-08-18
- ^ Oh, Sehchan; Yoon, Yongki; Kim, Yongkyu (2012-06-21). "Automatic Train Protection Simulation for Radio-Based Train Control System". IEEE. doi:10.1109/ICISA.2012.6220965. ISBN 978-1-4673-1401-5. ISSN 2162-9048.
- ^ Chen, Dejun; Dai, Chu; Wan, Xuechao; Mou, Junmin (2015-09-03). "A research on AIS-based embedded system for ship collision avoidance". IEEE. Wuhan, China. doi:10.1109/ICTIS.2015.7232141. ISBN 978-1-4799-8694-1. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
- ^ "Explained: Kavach, the Indian technology that can prevent two trains from colliding". The Indian Express. 2022-03-04. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
- ^ a b c Zhao, Zhiguo; Zhou, Liangjie; Zhu, Qiang; Luo, Yugong; Li, Keqiang (2017-10-05). "A review of essential technologies for collision avoidance assistance systems". Advances in Mechanical Engineering. 9 (10): 168781401772524. doi:10.1177/1687814017725246. ISSN 1687-8140.