Vehicle control method, vehicle formation driving system and storage medium

Abstract

The invention discloses a vehicle control method, a vehicle formation driving system and a storage medium. In the invention, the vehicle control method is applied to a vehicle formation comprising a plurality of vehicles, and the plurality of vehicles are arranged and run in sequence; the method comprises the steps of monitoring a driving state and an environment condition of a first vehicle in a vehicle formation, and if an emergency occurs, sending emergency information to a second vehicle behind the first vehicle; after the second vehicle receives the emergency information, whether safe braking can be conducted according to the braking track and the braking mode of the first vehicle or not is judged; if not, the second vehicle starts an autonomous driving control strategy; if yes, safe braking is carried out along with the braking track and the braking mode of the first vehicle. Therefore, the formation vehicles can select proper driving tracks according to own attitude states and environmental conditions in case of emergency, dangerous situations are avoided, and the safety and stability of formation driving are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of autonomous driving technology, and in particular to a vehicle control method, a vehicle platoon driving system and a storage medium. Background Art

[0002] With the development of autonomous driving technology, single-vehicle autonomous driving has been widely promoted and applied, which also provides a basis for the realization of autonomous driving platoon driving, which can effectively improve transportation efficiency. Autonomous driving platoon driving refers to two or more vehicles, based on technologies such as smart sensors, wireless communications and cloud platforms, through data sharing and collaborative decision-making, autonomous driving in the form of a queue in specific scenarios.

[0003] Existing vehicle formation control systems are mainly based on the tracking control of the rear vehicle, that is, the rear vehicle follows the driving track and speed of the front vehicle. However, when an emergency occurs in the lead vehicle or any front vehicle (such as changing lanes, turning or accident), the rear vehicle may not be able to brake in the same way due to inertia or turning characteristics, which may cause lateral slip, tail-spinning of the tractor or other accidents. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control method, a vehicle platoon driving system and a storage medium to ensure that platoon vehicles can select appropriate driving trajectories according to their own posture states and environmental conditions when encountering an emergency, avoid dangerous situations, and improve the safety and stability of platoon driving.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for applying to a vehicle formation including a plurality of vehicles, wherein the plurality of vehicles are arranged and travel in sequence; the method comprises:

[0006] Monitor the driving status and environmental conditions of a first vehicle in a vehicle formation, and if an emergency occurs, send emergency information to a second vehicle behind the first vehicle;

[0007] After receiving the emergency information, the second vehicle determines whether it can brake safely according to the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle;

[0008] If not, the second vehicle starts an autonomous driving control strategy;

[0009] If possible, follow the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle to perform safe braking.

[0010] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a vehicle platoon driving system, comprising: a plurality of vehicles communicating with each other, the plurality of vehicles being arranged and driving in sequence to form a vehicle platoon; the vehicles being used to execute the above-mentioned vehicle control method.

[0011] The present invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is a non-volatile storage medium or a non-transient storage medium, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the vehicle control method as described above are executed.

[0012] In one embodiment, the autonomous driving control strategy includes selecting a safe driving trajectory and speed according to the vehicle's own posture state and driving environment.

[0013] In one embodiment, the safe driving trajectory includes a driving trajectory that avoids obstacles.

[0014] In one embodiment, after the second vehicle starts the autonomous driving control strategy, the step further includes the following steps:

[0015] Sending the selected autonomous driving control strategy to other vehicles in the formation;

[0016] The other vehicles adjust their own driving trajectories and speeds according to the received autonomous driving control strategies.

[0017] In one embodiment, the other vehicles adjusting their own driving trajectory and speed according to the received autonomous driving control strategy also includes: obtaining the safe driving trajectory and speed of each vehicle in the convoy, and collaboratively adjusting the driving trajectory of the convoy vehicles and sending it to each vehicle.

[0018] In one embodiment, the emergency situation includes: sudden braking, change in driving direction, or change in communication signal.

[0019] In one embodiment, determining that it is impossible to follow the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle for safe braking includes one of the following situations: the first vehicle is involved in a traffic accident, lacks energy, has a vehicle failure, or falls into a ditch.

[0020] In one embodiment, determining whether safe braking can be performed according to the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle specifically includes:

[0021] Determining whether the second vehicle can safely perform a direction change or braking action within the collision time between the second vehicle and the first vehicle;

[0022] If possible, safe braking is performed according to the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle.

[0023] Compared with the prior art, the embodiments of the present invention enable the following vehicles to select an appropriate driving trajectory according to their own posture and environmental conditions when the leading vehicle encounters an emergency, thereby avoiding dangerous situations and improving the safety and stability of platoon driving. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] One or more embodiments are exemplarily described by pictures in the corresponding drawings, and these exemplified descriptions do not constitute limitations on the embodiments. Elements with the same reference numerals in the drawings represent similar elements, and unless otherwise stated, the figures in the drawings do not constitute proportional limitations.

[0025] Figure 1 is a specific flow chart of the vehicle control method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the following will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in the various embodiments of the present invention, many technical details are provided in order to enable the reader to better understand the present application. However, even without these technical details and various changes and modifications based on the following embodiments, the technical scheme claimed in the present application can be implemented.

[0027] In the following description, certain specific details are set forth for the purpose of illustrating various disclosed embodiments to provide a thorough understanding of the various disclosed embodiments. However, those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specific details. In other cases, well-known devices, structures, and techniques associated with the present application may not be shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments.

[0028] Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification and claims, the word "comprise" and variations such as "include" and "have" should be construed in an open, inclusive sense, ie, should be interpreted as "including, but not limited to."

[0029] The following will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings to provide a clearer understanding of the purpose, features and advantages of the present invention. It should be understood that the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, but are only intended to illustrate the essential spirit of the technical solution of the present invention.

[0030] References throughout the specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" indicate that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any manner in one or more embodiments.

[0031] As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It should be noted that the term "or" is generally employed in its sense including "and / or" unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0032] In the following description, in order to clearly show the structure and working mode of the present invention, many directional words will be used for description, but the words "front", "back", "left", "right", "outside", "inside", "outward", "inward", "up", "down", etc. should be understood as convenient terms and should not be understood as restrictive terms.

[0033] Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0034] The first embodiment of the present invention relates to a vehicle control method, which is applied to a vehicle formation including multiple vehicles, wherein the multiple vehicles in the vehicle formation are arranged and travel in sequence; the vehicles in the vehicle formation can communicate with each other, namely V2V communication, and the vehicles communicate with each other using short-range radio technology (DSRC); for example, the vehicles communicate with each other through an on-board unit OBU (vehicle-to-vehicle), and the on-board unit can obtain information about the surrounding environment through on-board sensors, such as the speed, vehicle position, driving status warning and other information of the surrounding vehicles. The vehicles can realize real-time exchange of various information through V2V communication, and the exchanged information includes but is not limited to text, pictures, audio and video.

[0035] In addition, the vehicle platoon driving system architecture may also include a cloud platform, a roadside unit, and a V2X (Vehicle to Everything) wireless communication part, which refers to the technology for vehicles to exchange and communicate information with the surrounding environment (including other vehicles, pedestrians, road infrastructure, and networks, etc.), including: V2I (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure), V2C (Vehicle-to-Cloud), and the above-mentioned V2V wireless communication.

[0036] The vehicles in a vehicle formation include the lead vehicle and the following vehicles; the lead vehicle is generally the frontmost vehicle in the formation, and the following vehicles are the other vehicles behind the lead vehicle in the vehicle formation. During driving, the following vehicles can be switched to the lead vehicle as needed; the lead vehicle is the decision maker of the entire formation behavior (including formation creation, formation dissolution, vehicles joining the formation, and vehicles leaving the formation, etc.), and controls and makes decisions on the formation behavior. The following vehicles are all other vehicles behind the lead vehicle in the formation, and have the ability to maintain a reasonable safe distance from the vehicle in front.

[0037] The specific process of the vehicle control method of this embodiment is as follows: Figure 1Among them, the pilot vehicle in the vehicle formation leads the entire formation to travel according to the set driving path, and the driving path can be the navigation path of the pilot vehicle from the departure point to the destination. The vehicle control method of this embodiment is applied to the on-board controller of the vehicle in the vehicle formation.

[0038] Step 100, monitoring the driving state and environmental conditions of the first vehicle, and sending emergency information to a second vehicle behind the first vehicle if an emergency occurs;

[0039] Step 200, after receiving the emergency information, the second vehicle determines whether it can brake safely according to the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle;

[0040] If not, step 300, the second vehicle starts the autonomous driving control strategy;

[0041] If yes, step 400, follow the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle to perform safe braking.

[0042] It can be seen that when the front vehicle encounters an emergency, the rear vehicle can choose an appropriate driving trajectory according to its own posture and environmental conditions to avoid dangerous situations and improve the safety and stability of platoon driving.

[0043] Specifically, vehicles in a vehicle formation (whether it is a pilot vehicle or a follower vehicle) will collect information about the road ahead through vehicle sensors during driving. Taking any first vehicle in a vehicle formation as an example, the first vehicle can be a pilot vehicle or a follower vehicle, and the second vehicle is the follower vehicle behind the first vehicle. All vehicles in a vehicle formation are equipped with vehicle sensors, including but not limited to cameras, lidars, millimeter-wave radars, IMUs, GPS, etc. During normal driving of a vehicle formation, the follower vehicles behind the pilot vehicle all use tracking mode, that is, they follow the driving track of the pilot vehicle.

[0044] The type of vehicle sensor installed on the first vehicle determines the different information about the road ahead collected by it, such as the camera collects image information, the radar collects point cloud information, and the IMU and GPS collect position trajectory information; if the first vehicle has multiple sensors, the first vehicle can use multi-sensor fusion technology to perform fusion judgment on the front to detect the situation ahead, such as performing image recognition on the image of the road ahead collected by the camera to determine whether a traffic accident or ground collapse has occurred on the road ahead.

[0045] In this embodiment, the driving state and environmental conditions of the first vehicle are monitored in real time through vehicle sensors and communication systems. When the first vehicle is detected to brake suddenly, turn or other emergency situations, the second vehicle is notified immediately. The type of vehicle sensor installed on the second vehicle determines the difference in the road ahead information collected by it, such as the camera collects image information, the radar collects point cloud information, and the IMU and GPS collect position trajectory information; if there are multiple vehicle sensors, the second vehicle can use multi-sensor fusion technology to fuse the road ahead information to determine whether a car accident or ground collapse occurs. After receiving the emergency information, the second vehicle analyzes its own posture state and control ability in real time through its own sensors and control system, that is, analyzes the current vehicle speed, steering angle, road conditions, etc., to determine whether it can brake safely according to the trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle. For example, the first vehicle suddenly brakes to start driving, and there is no special situation around the second vehicle. The second vehicle can follow the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle for safe braking. If the second vehicle can brake safely, it will send a safe braking signal to other vehicles to follow the safe braking. Or the emergency situation of the first vehicle is that it slows down or turns to avoid an obstacle due to a traffic jam ahead. The second vehicle detects its own condition and follows the first vehicle to slow down or turn, so it can drive normally without any collision or rear-end accident. At this time, the second vehicle follows the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle to brake safely.

[0046] In addition, emergency situations include: sudden braking, change of driving direction or change of communication signal. Specifically, emergency situations may be one of the following situations: first, sudden change of vehicle speed, lane change, reversal, tail-spinning, missing or abnormal communication signal, etc. This situation may be caused by the following circumstances, such as car accidents, obstacles (such as animals, rocks or accumulations on the road), collapse, river, pits that may cause vehicles to fall into, vehicle failure (damaged wheels, no oil or electricity, damage to the vehicle communication system, etc.), etc.

[0047] In addition, after the second vehicle receives the emergency information, it analyzes its own posture state and control ability in real time through its own sensors and control system, that is, it analyzes the current vehicle speed, steering angle, road conditions, etc. If it cannot brake safely following the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle, that is, a rear-end collision, collision or other accidents will occur, the second vehicle will activate the autonomous driving control strategy. For example, the first vehicle changes lanes, but the vehicle sensor on the second vehicle detects that there is a vehicle traveling on the road where lane change is required. Immediate lane change will cause a collision. This time, the second vehicle slows down or stops and waits for the vehicle on the road where lane change is required to pass before changing lanes.

[0048] It is determined that it is impossible to follow the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle to perform safe braking, including one of the following situations: the first vehicle is in a traffic accident, lacks energy, has a vehicle failure, or falls into a ditch.

[0049] Furthermore, the autonomous driving control strategy includes selecting a safe driving trajectory and speed according to the vehicle's own posture state and driving environment.

[0050] In addition, the safe driving trajectory includes a driving trajectory that avoids obstacles.

[0051] Furthermore, after the second vehicle starts the autonomous driving control strategy in step 300, the following steps are also included:

[0052] Step 500, sending the selected autonomous driving control strategy to other vehicles in the formation;

[0053] Step 600: Other vehicles adjust their own driving trajectories and speeds according to the received autonomous driving control strategies.

[0054] In addition, other vehicles adjust their own driving trajectories and speeds according to the received autonomous driving control strategy, which also includes: Step 700, obtaining the safe driving trajectory and speed of each vehicle in the platoon, and collaboratively adjusting the driving trajectory of the platoon vehicles and sending it to each vehicle.

[0055] In addition, determining whether safe braking can be performed according to the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle specifically includes:

[0056] Determining whether the second vehicle can safely perform a direction change or braking action within the collision time between the second vehicle and the first vehicle;

[0057] If possible, safe braking is performed according to the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle.

[0058] During the driving of the vehicle formation in this embodiment, information is shared and coordinated between the front vehicle and the rear vehicle to achieve reasonable handling of emergency situations. When the front vehicle is in an emergency, the rear vehicle is warned to use the tracking following mode with caution and brakes safely by itself, which improves the safety and reliability of the vehicle formation. In this way, the vehicle formation can achieve efficient and safe driving.

[0059] The step division of the above methods is only for the purpose of clear description. When implemented, they can be combined into one step or some steps can be split and decomposed into multiple steps. As long as they include the same logical relationship, they are all within the scope of protection of this patent; adding insignificant modifications to the algorithm or process or introducing insignificant designs without changing the core design of the algorithm and process are all within the scope of protection of this patent.

[0060] A second embodiment of the present invention relates to a vehicle platoon driving system, comprising: a plurality of vehicles communicating with each other, the plurality of vehicles being arranged and driving in sequence to form a vehicle platoon; the vehicles in the vehicle platoon are used to execute the vehicle control method in the first embodiment.

[0061] The vehicle platoon driving system may also include a cloud platform, a roadside unit and a V2X (Vehicle to Everything) wireless communication part, which refers to the technology for vehicles to exchange and communicate information with the surrounding environment (including other vehicles, pedestrians, road infrastructure and networks, etc.), including: V2I (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure), V2C (Vehicle-to-Cloud) and the above-mentioned V2V wireless communication.

[0062] Since the first embodiment corresponds to this embodiment, this embodiment can be implemented in conjunction with the first embodiment. The relevant technical details mentioned in the first embodiment are still valid in this embodiment, and the technical effects that can be achieved in the first embodiment can also be achieved in this embodiment. In order to reduce repetition, they are not repeated here. Accordingly, the relevant technical details mentioned in this embodiment can also be applied in the first embodiment.

[0063] A third embodiment of the present invention relates to a computer-readable storage medium, which is a non-volatile storage medium or a non-transient storage medium, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the vehicle control method in the first embodiment are executed.

[0064] Those skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the steps in the above-mentioned embodiment method can be completed by instructing the relevant hardware through a program, and the program is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions to enable a device (which can be a single-chip microcomputer, chip, etc.) or a processor to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), disk or optical disk and other media that can store program codes.

[0065] Preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above in detail, but it should be understood that aspects of the embodiments can be modified, if necessary, to employ aspects, features and concepts of the various patents, applications and publications to provide further embodiments.

[0066] These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above detailed description.In general, in the claims, the terms used should not be considered limited to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which these claims are entitled.

[0067] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above embodiments are specific embodiments for implementing the present invention, and that in actual applications, various changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A vehicle control method, characterized in that: Applied to a vehicle formation including a plurality of vehicles, the plurality of vehicles are arranged and travel in sequence; the method comprises: Monitor the driving status and environmental conditions of a first vehicle in a vehicle formation, and if an emergency occurs, send emergency information to a second vehicle behind the first vehicle; After receiving the emergency information, the second vehicle determines whether it can brake safely according to the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle; If not, the second vehicle starts an autonomous driving control strategy; If possible, follow the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle to perform safe braking.

2. The vehicle control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The autonomous driving control strategy includes selecting a safe driving trajectory and speed according to the vehicle's posture state and driving environment.

3. The vehicle control method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The safe driving trajectory includes a driving trajectory for avoiding obstacles.

4. The vehicle control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: After the second vehicle starts the autonomous driving control strategy, the following steps are also included: Sending the selected autonomous driving control strategy to other vehicles in the formation; The other vehicles adjust their own driving trajectories and speeds according to the received autonomous driving control strategies.

5. The vehicle control method according to claim 4, characterized in that: The other vehicles adjusting their own driving trajectories and speeds according to the received autonomous driving control strategy also includes: obtaining the safe driving trajectory and speed of each vehicle in the platoon, and collaboratively adjusting the driving trajectory of the platoon vehicles and sending it to each vehicle.

6. The vehicle control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The emergency situations include: sudden braking, change of driving direction or change of communication signal.

7. The vehicle control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: It is determined that it is impossible to follow the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle to perform safe braking, including one of the following situations: the first vehicle is in a traffic accident, lacks energy, has a vehicle failure, or falls into a ditch.

8. The vehicle control method according to claim 7, characterized in that: Determining whether safe braking can be performed according to the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle specifically includes: Determining whether the second vehicle can safely perform a direction change or braking action within the collision time between the second vehicle and the first vehicle; If possible, safe braking is performed according to the braking trajectory and braking method of the first vehicle.

9. A vehicle platoon driving system, characterized in that: include: A plurality of vehicles communicating with each other, wherein the plurality of vehicles are arranged and travel in sequence to form a vehicle formation; The vehicle is used to execute the vehicle control method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium is a non-volatile storage medium or a non-transient storage medium, and a computer program is stored thereon, wherein: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the vehicle control method steps as described in any one of claims 1 to 8 are executed.

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