Procedure for ensuring the detection of wrong-way driving, in particular ghost driving, by an ego vehicle

Abstract

Method for ensuring the detection of a wrong-way driving, in particular a ghost driving, of an ego vehicle by a safety device or a safety system of the ego vehicle, wherein a wrong-way driving or a suspicion of a wrong-way driving of the ego vehicle is first detected, wherein The ego-vehicle can additionally detect a characteristic feature on the road it is traveling on, and a wrong-way driving information is generated when such a characteristic feature is detected or recognized, characterized in that A wrong-way driving indicator is generated by detecting the characteristic device in reversed positions, and wrong-way driving information is generated when the wrong-way driving indicator is present.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method for ensuring that a wrong-way driving, in particular a ghost driving, is detected by a safety device or a safety system of the ego vehicle. Furthermore, the invention relates to a computer program product configured to carry out a method according to the invention; a computing unit or a processing device, preferably a control unit or a control device for a vehicle; and a safety device or a safety system for a vehicle, in particular a driver assistance system for a motor vehicle. State of the art

[0002] Active safety is one of the key focuses in the development of current and future automotive systems. Well-known safety or driver assistance systems in the area of ​​active safety for vehicle occupants, i.e., for accident prevention, include the electromechanical power steering (EPS) with automatic steering intervention, the electronic stability program (ESP) for stabilizing the vehicle through braking interventions at the vehicle's dynamic limits, and VOM (Vehicle Dynamic Management), which extends ESP by providing additional steering interventions. A well-known safety feature of such a safety system is, for example, an evasive maneuver assistant for the vehicle.

[0003] A vehicle driving the wrong way on a motorway or federal highway with separate carriageways and multiple lanes or lanes on each carriageway, known as wrong-way driving, is becoming increasingly recognized as a phenomenon in society and is becoming increasingly important. A not uncommon consequence of wrong-way driving is particularly serious accidents (head-on collisions) due to the high relative speeds of the vehicles involved, the probability of which increases the longer the vehicle in question is driving the wrong way. The recognition or detection of wrong-way driving by a vehicle is therefore of great importance. - The first timely detection of wrong-way driving occurs due to the vehicle's map-based navigation (GPS (Global Positioning System) and map information), for which additional information regarding road category, direction identifiers and traffic signs is integrated into the map information.

[0004] If wrong-way driving is detected in this way, deviations of up to 150 m between an electronically stored, virtual road route and the actual road route can occur. Position determination by GPS is also subject to a tolerance that can be 10 to 15 m. Furthermore, road categories in the map information may be incorrectly coded and / or change over time, which is particularly problematic with older map material. Structural and / or temporary changes to the road route and road category may occur. Furthermore, traffic signs designed to prevent wrong-way entry onto a motorway are not always reliably detected by the environmental sensors of the vehicle in question and / or detection of the road category does not always work accurately.

[0005] DE 10 2011 082 600 A1 discloses a method for detecting a vehicle entering a lane or roadway in an impermissible direction of travel. DE 20 2008 017 672 U1 teaches a device for preventing driving against the prescribed direction of travel. DE 10 2007 048 842 A1 discloses a driver assistance system for warning in the event of wrong-way travel. And DE 102 00 785 A1 teaches a motor vehicle with an image recording device for recording images of the roadway the motor vehicle is traveling on or will be traveling on. Task

[0006] It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method for ensuring that an ego vehicle detects wrong-way driving, in particular ghost driving. The method should be able to work with an existing wrong-way driving assistant or similar system to increase its effectiveness. The method should be safe and reliable, and cost-effective to implement. The method should be implementable using sensors already installed in a motor vehicle. Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a corresponding computer program, a computing unit, or a processing device, and a safety device or a safety system for the ego vehicle. Disclosure of the invention

[0007] The object of the invention is achieved by a method for ensuring the detection of wrong-way driving, in particular ghost driving, of an ego vehicle by a safety device or a safety system of the ego vehicle, according to claim 1; by means of a computer program product according to claim 7; by means of a computing unit or a processing device, preferably a control unit or a control device for a vehicle according to claim 8; and by means of a safety device or a safety system for a vehicle, in particular a driver assistance system for a motor vehicle, according to claim 9. Advantageous developments, additional features and / or advantages of the invention emerge from the dependent claims and the following description.

[0008] In the method according to the invention, a wrong-way trip or a suspicion of wrong-way trip by the ego vehicle is first determined. Subsequently, the ego vehicle can also detect a characteristic device on the road being traveled on. Upon detection or recognition of such a characteristic device, wrong-way trip information can be generated if the information received corresponds to a wrong-way trip. In this case, it may be sufficient to merely detect the characteristic device without having to detect, i.e., recognize, the direction of the characteristic device. Further recognition of the characteristic device can be achieved, for example, by assigning a wrong-way trip feature (direction, name of the device, etc.) to the characteristic device.And according to the invention, a wrong-way feature is generated by a side-reversed detection of the characteristic device and, if the wrong-way feature is present, the wrong-way information is generated.

[0009] In the method, the ego vehicle can detect a rear wrong-way feature of the characteristic device looking ahead in its direction of travel and / or a front wrong-way feature of the characteristic device looking back, wherein wrong-way information is generated if the rear and / or front wrong-way feature is present. Furthermore, a wrong-way feature can be generated and, based on this, the wrong-way information can be generated if, looking ahead and / or back, the characteristic device is detected with the sides swapped and / or reversed. - If the wrong-way information is present, a warning is preferably issued to a driver of the ego vehicle and / or a driver of a third-party vehicle and / or an intervention is preferably initiated on their vehicle.

[0010] For example, the rear wrong-way characteristic on the road currently being traveled is sensed by a forward-looking sensor system of the ego vehicle or detected by the ego vehicle's vehicle electronics. Similarly, the front wrong-way characteristic on the road currently being traveled can be sensed by a rear-looking sensor system of the ego vehicle or detected by the ego vehicle's vehicle electronics. This means that if the rear wrong-way characteristic is present, the wrong-way information is generated based on information from the forward-looking sensor system, whereas if the front wrong-way characteristic is present, the wrong-way information is generated based on information from the rear-looking sensor system.

[0011] The rear wrong-way feature can be a forward-looking detection of the characteristic device from the rear on the road being traveled. Similarly, the front wrong-way feature can be a backward-looking detection of the characteristic device from the front on the road being traveled. The characteristic device on the road being traveled by the ego vehicle can be a duplicate set of identical traffic signs, a position of a traffic sign, a toll structure, a special bridge system, a traffic control device, an information device, a guardrail, a lane marking, and / or a road layout, etc. In embodiments, if the wrong-way feature is present, the generation of the wrong-way information can be verified by the presence of at least one second wrong-way feature.

[0012] For example, if the rear wrong-way feature is present, the generation of the wrong-way information can be validated by the presence of a front, i.e., second, wrong-way feature. This can be applied, for example, to a single duplicate set of traffic signs. In such a case, the method operates very quickly. Conversely, if a front wrong-way feature is present, the generation of the wrong-way information can be validated by the presence of a rear wrong-way feature. Furthermore, the presence of a rear wrong-way feature can be verified by the presence of a second rear wrong-way feature. This is, of course, also applicable to the presence of two front wrong-way features.

[0013] Such a combination of two wrong-way characteristics can be applied analogously to the side-swapped and / or reversed (right instead of left or left instead of right) detection of two characteristic devices. A combination of a front and / or rear wrong-way characteristic with a wrong-way characteristic resulting from the side-swapped and / or reversed detection of a characteristic device is of course also applicable. -The method can only be implemented if a corresponding road category or other indication of the accessibility of the structurally demarcated lane(s) in only one direction, such as a roadway with multiple lanes or an entrance to this roadway, has been determined and / or detected. Furthermore, the characteristic device on the road traveled by the ego vehicle is preferably a device that is permanently fixed in relation to the road; i.e.another road user is not considered as a facility.

[0014] The warning to the driver of the ego vehicle and / or the other vehicle can be issued visually, acoustically, haptically and / or via radio, e.g. C2X (Car-to-X Communication) or others. The intervention on / in the ego vehicle and / or on / in the other vehicle can be a steering intervention and / or a braking intervention, which can be negated by the driver in question if necessary. In the case of a steering intervention, this can also be referred to as oversteering or countersteering. - Furthermore, a higher-level method for detecting wrong-way driving can be based on information from map-based navigation, in particular based on GPS with map information, and / or on video-based information.

[0015] The method for ensuring the detection of wrong-way driving can be used in a driver assistance system of the vehicle to increase road safety. - The computer program product according to the invention has program code means configured to carry out a method according to the invention when the program code means run on a processing device and / or are stored on a computer-readable data carrier. - The computing unit or processing device according to the invention, preferably the control unit or the control device, is configured such that a method according to the invention can be carried out and / or a computer program according to the invention can be executed.

[0016] The safety device or safety system according to the invention for the vehicle, in particular a driver assistance system for the motor vehicle, is configured such that a method according to the invention can be carried out. Furthermore, the safety device or the safety system can comprise a computer program product according to the invention and / or a computing unit according to the invention or a processing device according to the invention. Such a safety device in a driver assistance system can be implemented, for example, in a wrong-way assistant.

[0017] An existing method for detecting wrong-way travel by an ego vehicle can be supplemented by the method according to the invention for ensuring detection of wrong-way travel by the ego vehicle, thus making it more reliable. The method according to the invention can be integrated into an existing wrong-way travel assistant or work together with a corresponding method to increase its efficiency. The method according to the invention can operate safely and reliably and is cost-effective to implement, since the method can be implemented using sensors already installed in a motor vehicle. Embodiments of the invention

[0018] Map-based navigation, usually GPS in conjunction with electronic map information, forms the basis for determining the current location of a moving or stationary motor vehicle, with additional information integrated into the map information. Furthermore, the motor vehicle has access to video-based or other information, such as traffic sign recognition, environmental sensor technology, road category detection, etc. This means that a system in the motor vehicle has determined that the structurally demarcated lane(s) is only passable in one direction of the road, which can be derived, for example, from the road category or class.- One objective is to reliably detect wrong-way driving of a motor vehicle, hereinafter referred to as ego-vehicle, in order to initiate a warning or an intervention for the wrong-way driver (vehicle driver, ego-vehicle), and / or to initiate a warning or an intervention for potential accident opponents (vehicle driver, other vehicle) of the wrong-way driver.

[0019] In the current state of the art, methods for detecting wrong-way travel by an ego-vehicle generally involve two steps. First, the road category relevant to wrong-way travel (motorway, federal highway, divided carriageway with more than one lane, etc.) is identified as reliably as possible, and second, the road category is identified as reliably as possible when the ego-vehicle is moving in the wrong direction on this road category. Current systems and algorithms present barriers to both of these steps, which must be overcome to detect wrong-way travel with sufficient certainty. In particular, interventions in a vehicle based on a detected wrong-way travel must be detected with a high degree of certainty, as errors can lead to further problematic situations. These barriers affect current navigation systems as well as the environment detection of ego-vehicles.

[0020] The disadvantages of current navigation systems are high inaccuracies or tolerances in the road layout, which can be up to 150 m (catch radius). Furthermore, GPS positioning can be inaccurate due to weather and / or other factors, which can be up to 15 m. This results in a risk of confusing a road. Furthermore, road categories are sometimes incorrectly coded or change over time. Furthermore, structural and / or temporary changes to a road layout and road category can occur. This, in turn, results in a risk of confusion due to incorrect road category assignment. The disadvantages of current environmental sensor technology are, in particular, errors and tolerances in the recognition of traffic signs, e.g., due to the quality of the traffic signs (reflection (decrease in reflection), erosion, etc.) and weather conditions (rain, oblique sun, pollution, drifting snow, fog, etc.).As a result, traffic signs, for example those preventing entry onto motorways, are sometimes not reliably recognized.

[0021] One aim is to improve the reliable recognition of the road category (single-lane traffic) with relevance for wrong-way driving and / or the reliable recognition of a movement of the ego vehicle in the wrong direction, i.e. to provide useful additional plausibility checks for the above probabilities of detection. - This is done by evaluating at least one feature of a characteristic device on the traveled lane of the road for wrong-way driving, i.e. travel of the ego vehicle on a corresponding road category in the opposite direction. - In this way, a double, i.e. parallel arrangement of traffic signs to the left and right of the road with the same direction (e.g. traffic signs for a speed limit) can be evaluated. Such a constellation can be recorded and, if necessary, detected by video systems, for example.

[0022] This can take advantage of the fact that traffic signs also provide a typical pattern from behind, as they may also always have a certain color. In Germany, this is the so-called traffic gray (A: RAL 7042, B: RAL 7043). A parallel arrangement of traffic signs and other characteristics such as a lack of reflection, etc. can also be taken into account. Furthermore, radar sensors can be used to detect double-running. - For ego vehicles with a rear-view camera, for example, such a constellation can also be evaluated after driving over a double traffic sign. The rear-view camera can also recognize asymmetrical characteristics, such as traffic signs positioned on one side, as a sign of wrong-way driving, since traffic signs that are currently read in the opposite direction of travel directly indicate wrong-way driving.Even if a near-field system is typically used for a reversing system, double traffic signs can be checked for plausibility in conjunction with a feature of the characteristic device (double traffic sign) captured by a front camera.

[0023] Furthermore, characteristic features or structures can be recorded and possibly recognized, e.g., by a front sensor system, such as a front camera, and / or by a rear or rear-view sensor system, such as a rear-view camera of the ego vehicle. Data fusion from front and rear / rear-view sensors of a feature of a characteristic feature that is only used on the specified road categories is of course also possible. Side cameras can also be integrated for this purpose, provided they capture the described features. Such features, which are only used on these road categories, include toll structures, special bridge systems, traffic control and information devices, or a combination of such features. Other suitable characteristic features include guardrails, road markings, side posts, reflectors, colored markings, the course of the road itself, etc.- Based on a secure recording and / or recognition of road category and wrong-way driving, a warning or intervention can be initiated for a driver of the ego vehicle and / or a warning or intervention for potential accident opponents (driver, other vehicle) of the wrong-way driver.

Claims

[1] Method for ensuring the detection of a wrong-way driving, in particular a ghost driving, of an ego vehicle by a safety device or a safety system of the ego vehicle, wherein firstly a wrong-way driving or a suspicion of a wrong-way driving of the ego vehicle is determined, wherein the ego vehicle can additionally detect a characteristic device on the road being travelled on and, if such a characteristic device is detected or recognised, wrong-way information is generated, characterized by , that a wrong-way feature is generated by a reversed detection of the characteristic device and if the wrong-way feature is present, the wrong-way information is generated. [2] Method according to the preceding claim, characterized bythat the ego vehicle can detect a rear wrong-way feature of the characteristic device looking ahead in its direction of travel and / or a front wrong-way feature of the characteristic device looking back and if the wrong-way feature is present, the wrong-way information is generated. [3] Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that when the wrong-way information is available, a warning is issued to a driver of the ego vehicle and / or a driver of a third-party vehicle and / or an intervention is initiated on their vehicle. [4] Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized bythat the characteristic feature on the road being travelled is a double arrangement of identical traffic signs, a position of a traffic sign, a toll structure, a special bridge system, a traffic control device, an information device, a crash barrier, a road marking and / or a course of the road, or the combination of such features, and from this the wrong-way information is generated. [5] Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that if the wrong-way driving feature is present, the generation of the wrong-way driving information is made plausible by the presence of at least a second wrong-way driving feature. [6] Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by , that: • the characteristic facility on the road travelled by the ego vehicle is a facility permanently fixed in relation to the road; • the procedure is only carried out if a corresponding road category is determined and / or detected; • the procedure is only carried out if driving on the road or one or more structurally demarcated lanes in only one direction is determined and / or detected; • the warning is given to the driver of the ego vehicle and / or the other vehicle visually, acoustically, haptically and / or radio-controlled; • the intervention on the ego vehicle and / or the other vehicle is a steering intervention and / or a braking intervention, which can possibly be negated by the driver in question; and / or • a higher-level procedure for detecting wrong-way driving is based on information from map-based navigation, in particular based on GPS and map information, and / or on video-based information. [7] Computer program product with program code means which are designed to carry out a method for securing the detection of a wrong-way trip according to one of claims 1 to 6, when the program code means run on a processing device or are stored on a computer-readable data carrier. [8] Computing unit or processing device, preferably control unit or control device for a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle, which is designed in such a way that a method for ensuring detection of wrong-way driving according to one of claims 1 to 6 can be carried out by the computing unit or the processing device and / or a computer program product according to claim 7 can be executed. [9] Safety device or safety system for a vehicle, in particular driver assistance system for a motor vehicle, characterized bythat the safety device or the safety system is set up in such a way that a method for securing the detection of wrong-way driving according to one of claims 1 to 6 can be carried out, the safety device or the safety system has a computer program product according to claim 7, and / or a computing unit or a processing device according to claim 8.