US Patent 7579942 Extra-vehicular threat predictor

An apparatus for facilitating the safe operation of a vehicle comprises a sensor system, a sensor signal to object identifier, and a world model implemented using, for example, a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) algorithm such as a spiking neuron algorithm. Alerts may be provided to the vehicle operator under several conditions, such as the identification of a collision risk between the vehicle and an object, identification of a vehicle risk due to excessive uncertainty in the predicted vehicle path, or identification of an object risk due to excessive uncertainty in a predicted object path.