Autonomous control method for a rear vehicle in a convoy

Abstract

The present invention relates to an autonomous control method for a rear vehicle in a vehicle fleet, wherein the vehicle fleet also has a leading vehicle traveling in the same driving direction, the method comprising the following steps: detecting first segment information by means of a front sensor of the rear vehicle detecting forward in the driving direction, controlling the rear vehicle based on the first segment information, detecting second segment information by means of a rear sensor of the leading vehicle detecting backward in the driving direction, transmitting the second segment information to the rear vehicle, and controlling the rear vehicle based on the second segment information when there is an alternative standard.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an autonomous maneuvering method for a following vehicle in a convoy. Background Art

[0002] The topic of autonomous driving is becoming increasingly important. In autonomous driving, the vehicle is controlled or steered based on information such as the course of a section, obstacles on the road or the like detected by means of sensors. Sensors that detect forward in the direction of travel are extremely important for the reliable functioning of the autonomous driving mode, whereby, for example, the position of the vehicle behind can be determined relative to the vehicle ahead and the vehicle behind can be steered accordingly, for example with reference to the vehicle ahead. Summary of the invention

[0003] Against this background, the object of the present invention is to provide a method for autonomous control of a vehicle in an autonomous driving mode in order to increase safety.

[0004] According to the invention, this object is achieved by a method having the features of claim 1 .

[0005] According to the present invention, a method for autonomously manipulating a rear vehicle in a convoy is provided. The rear vehicle and vehicles traveling ahead of the rear vehicle in the same driving direction form a convoy.

[0006] In the method according to the present invention, the first segment information is detected by means of a front sensor of the vehicle behind in the driving direction. The first segment information includes information about the surrounding environment in front of the vehicle in the driving direction, such as data about the distance between the vehicle and the edge of the road, data about the direction of the road ahead, data about the distance to the vehicle ahead, or similar data.

[0007] In the autonomous driving mode, the vehicle referred to as the following vehicle is maneuvered based on the first segment information, that is, a change of direction or steering of the vehicle and / or acceleration or braking of the vehicle is arranged based on the first segment information, for example by a control device arranged to control / actuate corresponding components of the vehicle.

[0008] In addition, the second section information is detected by means of a rear sensor of the preceding vehicle that detects rearward in the driving direction. Therefore, in the driving direction of the following vehicle, a rear sensor for detecting the second section information is provided on the preceding vehicle that is located ahead of the following vehicle. The second section information contains data about the surrounding environment behind the preceding vehicle in the driving direction, such as data about the distance of the vehicle relative to the edge of the road, data about the course of the road, and in particular, data about the position of an object in the field of view of the rear sensor relative to the preceding vehicle and / or relative to the edge of the road. Thus, if the following vehicle is in the field of view of the rear sensor, the position of the following vehicle relative to the preceding vehicle can be detected, and optionally the position of the following vehicle relative to the edge of the road can be detected.

[0009] The second segment information detected by means of the rear sensor is transmitted to the following vehicle. As a result, the following vehicle receives information about its front surroundings in the driving direction, but this information is not detected by the front sensor, but by the rear sensor of the preceding vehicle. As a result, the first segment information and the second segment information constitute at least partially redundant information.

[0010] The term "rear sensor" is to be understood here in particular as a sensor in the usual sense, such as a sensor whose main direction of action is directed backwards with reference to the direction of travel of the respective vehicle, in particular a camera, which is arranged and designed in the side and / or rear area of ​​the vehicle in order to be able to detect or monitor the corresponding area behind the vehicle.

[0011] According to the present invention, when there is an alternative standard, the following vehicle is controlled based on the second section information. That is, based on the second section information, for example, the vehicle direction change or steering and / or the vehicle acceleration or braking are arranged by the above control device.

[0012] Therefore, the concept underlying the present invention can be summarized as follows: in certain cases, as an alternative to the segment information measured by the front sensors of the following vehicle, the segment information of the rear sensors of the preceding vehicle is used to autonomously control the following vehicle. In this case, data exchange is performed by vehicle-to-vehicle communication, wherein at least the data detected by the rear sensors are transmitted to the following vehicle.

[0013] By using the rear sensor data of the preceding vehicle, which at least contains information about the position of the following vehicle relative to the preceding vehicle, additional segment information can be provided to the following vehicle. This improves the reliability of the autonomous driving mode, because in the event that the front sensor of the following vehicle fails due to a malfunction, the data of the rear sensor of the preceding vehicle is still available, and autonomous control can still be performed.

[0014] Advantageous embodiments and further refinements result from the further dependent claims and the description with reference to the drawings.

[0015] According to the implementation mode, the relevant replacement criteria are met in one or more of the following situations:

[0016] - The front sensor of the rear vehicle fails due to a fault during operation;

[0017] - The vehicle behind detects the vehicle ahead;

[0018] - A control signal generated by a preceding vehicle is detected by a following vehicle.

[0019] According to this embodiment, the following vehicle is controlled only based on the second section information detected by the rear sensor of the preceding vehicle. Here, only the second section information is used to make a decision according to the alternative criterion. This can especially meet the requirements of the alternative criterion if the front sensor of the following vehicle fails. For example, if the front sensor no longer provides any data within a predetermined time period, or the data provided are contradictory, it means that the front sensor has failed or has failed due to operation. The alternative criterion can also be met if the preceding vehicle is detected by the following vehicle. In this variant, if the data of the preceding vehicle is recognized by the following vehicle, only the data of the preceding vehicle is automatically used. In addition, the alternative criterion can also be met by the control signal generated by the preceding vehicle. Here, the preceding vehicle transmits the second section information detected by it with the help of the rear sensor to the following vehicle to a certain extent.

[0020] In the present invention, "control is performed only by the second section information detected based on the rear sensor of the preceding vehicle" should be understood as replacing the first section information with the second section information as an alternative, wherein of course, other section information such as existing speed limit information provided by vehicle-to-vehicle communication and / or vehicle-to-infrastructure communication is not excluded or can be used equivalently.

[0021] According to another embodiment, the second section information is transmitted to the following vehicle only when there is an alternative criterion. That is, the data exchange of the second section information between the preceding vehicle and the following vehicle is activated only when there is an alternative criterion.

[0022] According to another specific embodiment, the detection of the preceding vehicle is performed by the following vehicle.

[0023] Optionally, the rear vehicle is manipulated in such a way that if a rear vehicle is detected, the rear vehicle can form a convoy with the preceding vehicle. This may include, for example, changing the direction and / or speed of the rear vehicle so that the rear vehicle is arranged behind the preceding vehicle.

[0024] According to this embodiment of the method, a convoy is first formed. Here, one of the vehicles is operated in an autonomous driving mode, wherein first segment data is detected by means of a front sensor. Here, if another vehicle arrives near the autonomous vehicle, the autonomous vehicle detects or recognizes the approaching other vehicle. Then, the autonomous vehicle is arranged behind the recognized vehicle in the driving direction based on the first segment information, i.e., the vehicle is operated based on the segment information so that it forms the rear vehicle.

[0025] In particular, the detection can be performed based on an evaluation of the first segment information. In this case, the segment information is evaluated, for example, by means of a software program present on the control device, which is configured to identify a vehicle located in the sensor field of view from a data set detected by means of the preceding sensor. This has the advantage that the preceding vehicle can be detected without having to detect / acquire additional data.

[0026] According to one embodiment, the detection of the preceding vehicle includes the detection of the preceding vehicle's identification signal. For example, a transmitting device for transmitting an electromagnetic signal or an optical signal containing information that the vehicle has a rear sensor may be provided on the preceding vehicle, and the transmitting device is configured to transmit the information detected by the rear sensor. The identification signal may also be included in the first section information, for example, the above-mentioned software program may be configured to additionally identify that the preceding vehicle has a rear sensor from the data set detected by the front sensor of the following vehicle.

[0027] According to one embodiment of the method, a camera, such as a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) camera or a charge coupled device (CCD) camera, is used as a front sensor and / or a rear sensor. This has the advantage that a large number of different information can be determined in a simple manner from the detected segment information by means of image processing algorithms.

[0028] According to one embodiment, the following vehicle is only manipulated based on the second segment information if a safety criterion is present in addition to the alternative criterion. For example, whether the distance between the preceding vehicle and the following vehicle is within a predetermined range, for example between 3 meters and 30 meters, can be used as a safety criterion. In this way, it can be ensured that the following vehicle is manipulated with sufficient reliability / safety based on the second segment information.

[0029] As long as it is applicable, the above-mentioned design solutions and other structural forms can be combined with each other at will. Other possible design solutions, other structural forms and implementations of the present invention also include combinations that are not explicitly listed in the features of the embodiments of the present invention described above or below. In particular, a person skilled in the art can add individual aspects as improvements or supplements to the corresponding basic forms of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The present invention is further explained according to the embodiments given in the schematic diagram.

[0031] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a convoy including a leading vehicle and a trailing vehicle, wherein the trailing vehicle is controlled according to the method of the present invention; and

[0032] Figure 2 is a flow chart of an embodiment of the method according to the present invention.

[0033] The accompanying drawings should help to further understand the embodiments of the present invention. They intuitively illustrate the embodiments and are helpful in explaining the principles and schemes of the present invention in conjunction with the description. Other embodiments and many listed advantages are shown in the accompanying drawings. It is not necessary to show the elements in proportion.

[0034] Unless otherwise stated, identical elements, features and components in the figures that are identical, have the same function and have the same purpose are respectively provided with the same reference numerals. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] Figure 1 An example of a convoy V is shown, which has a first vehicle 1 traveling in a driving direction F and a second vehicle 2 also traveling in the driving direction F. Figure 1 As can be seen in FIG, the first vehicle 1 is positioned behind the second vehicle 2 along the driving direction F, and thus constitutes a rear vehicle along the driving direction F. The second vehicle 2 is positioned in front of the first vehicle 1 along the driving direction F, and thus constitutes a front vehicle ahead of the first vehicle 1 along the driving direction F. In addition, Figure 1 The convoy V shown as an example in FIG. 1 also includes a third vehicle 3 and a fourth vehicle 4, which are respectively ahead of the second vehicle 2 in the driving direction F. The second vehicle 2 is the rear vehicle relative to the third vehicle 3. The third vehicle 3 is the leading vehicle relative to the second vehicle 2 and is the rear vehicle relative to the fourth vehicle 4. The fourth vehicle 4 is the leading vehicle relative to the third vehicle 3.

[0036] exist Figure 1 2 shows a road 100 with three adjacent lanes 100A, 100B and 100C, each of which is delimited by a side lane limit 101. Vehicles 1, 2, 3 and 4 of a convoy V are all traveling one after another in the same lane. Figure 1 , the vehicle is shown traveling in the middle lane 100B. Figure 1 2 also shows, by way of example, another fifth vehicle 5 which is traveling on the side lane 100C.

[0037] In the following, only the second vehicle 2 is used as the leading vehicle and the first vehicle 1 is used as the trailing vehicle for reference. However, all features are generally applicable to the trailing vehicle and the leading vehicle in the convoy V.

[0038] like Figure 1 As shown, the following vehicle 1 has a front sensor 11, which has a field of view 12 that is detected forward in the driving direction F. The front sensor 11 can be formed in particular by a camera, such as a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) camera or a charge coupled device (CCD) camera. The front sensor 11 is used to detect first section information S1, for example, the distance d1 of the following vehicle 1 relative to the lateral driving path limit 101, or the distance d12 of the following vehicle relative to the preceding vehicle 2, or generally the relative position of the following vehicle 1 relative to the preceding vehicle 2.

[0039] The first segment information S1 detected by means of the front sensor 11 is transmitted to a control device 13 of the following vehicle 1, which is configured to control the following vehicle 1 based on the first segment information S1. The control device 13 comprises in particular a data memory and a processor, which is configured to execute software routines stored in the data memory. These software routines are configured to analyze and evaluate the first segment information and arrange for the processor to generate corresponding control signals for controlling vehicle running gear components and drive components such as vehicle brakes, steering gear or engine.

[0040] Figure 1 , the following vehicle 1 has a communication interface 14, which is provided for receiving data from a communication interface 24 of the preceding vehicle 2 and for selectively transmitting data to the latter. The communication interfaces 14, 24 are each implemented in the form of a wireless interface, in particular as a radio interface such as a wireless local area network (WLAN) interface or a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) interface.

[0041] The second vehicle, the preceding vehicle 2, has a rear sensor 21 and optionally a front sensor (not shown). The rear sensor 21 has a field of view in the direction of travel F to the rear, i.e., a field of view 22 in the direction of the first vehicle 1. The rear sensor 21 can be formed in particular by a camera, such as a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) camera or a charge coupled device (CCD) camera. The rear sensor 21 is used to detect second segment information S2, such as the distance d2 of the preceding vehicle 2 relative to the lateral driving path limit 101, or the distance d12 of the preceding vehicle relative to the following vehicle 1, or generally the relative position of the following vehicle 1 relative to the preceding vehicle 2. The second segment information S2 is thus at least partially identical to the first segment information S1.

[0042] The second segment information S2 detected by the rear sensor 21 is transmitted to the communication interface 14 of the rear vehicle 1 via the communication interface 24 of the preceding vehicle 2. As a result, the second segment information S2 is available to the control device 13 of the rear vehicle 1, wherein the control device 13 is configured to control the rear vehicle 1 based on the second segment information S2.

[0043] According to the method of the invention, if an alternative criterion is present, the following vehicle 1 is then controlled based on the second segment information S2 .

[0044] The preceding vehicle 2 itself may also have a control device 23, which is configured to control the preceding vehicle based on first segment information detected by means of an optional front sensor (not shown) of the preceding vehicle 2 and / or based on second segment information S2 detected by a rear sensor (not shown) of a third vehicle 3 and received via a communication interface directly at the preceding vehicle 3.

[0045] Figure 2 The process of the method according to the present invention is presented in a schematic and exemplary manner.

[0046] In step M1, the following vehicle 1 is controlled. In step M2, it is checked whether activation of the autonomous driving mode of the vehicle is authorized. In this case, for example, it is checked whether the road 100 on which the vehicle 1 is located is suitable or provided for the autonomous driving mode and / or whether the vehicle driver has authorized the operation of the autonomous driving mode. In this case, for example, it can be checked whether the limit 101 of the driving path can be detected with the help of the front sensor 11 of the vehicle 1. If the result of this detection step is negative ("No"), the vehicle is manually controlled by the vehicle driver, as symbolically shown in block M3.

[0047] If the result in step M2 indicates “yes”, the vehicle 1 is authorized to activate the autonomous driving mode.

[0048] In step M4, it is checked whether the vehicle 1 constitutes the rear vehicle 1 of the convoy V. Here, for example, a detection of the preceding vehicle 2 can be performed. This detection can be performed, for example, based on an evaluation of the first section information S1. For example, the data detected by means of the front sensor 11 can be retrieved by the control unit 13 to determine whether there is information indicating that the vehicle 2 is present in the field of view 12 of the front sensor 11. As an alternative or additional measure, it can also be pre-defined that the detection includes the detection of an identification signal S3 of the preceding vehicle 2. For example, the preceding vehicle 2 can continuously send an electromagnetic signal S3 via a transmitting device (not shown) that can be used to identify the preceding vehicle 2 and can be detected by the following vehicle 1, for example, via the communication interface 14.

[0049] If no preceding vehicle 2 is detected (“None”), then Figure 2As symbolically shown in block M6, the vehicle 1 is controlled based on the first segment information S1 detected by means of the front sensor 11. As a result, as shown in block M7, the vehicle 1 is controlled in the autonomous driving mode. As the autonomous driving mode, the vehicle 1 is usually controlled based on the first segment information S1 or the second segment information S2, for example, by means of the control device 13.

[0050] If the preceding vehicle 2 is detected (“Yes”), based on the first segment information S1 detected by the front sensor 11, the vehicle 1 continues to be operated as the following vehicle 1 in principle. Optionally, the vehicle 1 may be operated to form a convoy V with the preceding vehicle (step M4a). Figure 1 The fifth vehicle 5 can detect the fourth vehicle 4 by receiving the corresponding identification signal S3 of the fourth vehicle 4 and / or according to the section information detected by the front sensor (not shown) of the fifth vehicle 5, and drive behind the fourth vehicle 4 or between the third vehicle 3 and the fourth vehicle 4. In addition, as described above, the second section information S2 in the convoy V is detected by the rear sensor 21 of the front vehicle 2. Figure 1 In the case of the convoy V shown, the rear vehicle 1 travels behind the front vehicle 2 in the travel direction F, and the field of view 12 of the front sensor 11 of the rear vehicle 1 overlaps the field of view 22 of the rear sensor 21 of the front vehicle 2 in an overlap area O. Therefore, the first segment information S1 and the second segment information S2 are at least partially redundant.

[0051] In addition, if Figure 2 As shown symbolically in , in step M5, a check is performed to determine whether an alternative criterion exists. The alternative criterion can be satisfied, in particular, by a failure of the front sensor 11 of the rear vehicle 1 during operation due to a fault. As an alternative, the alternative criterion can also be satisfied by the detection of the leading vehicle 2 by the rear vehicle 1 or by a control signal generated by the leading vehicle 2, the control signal containing information for the rear vehicle 1, indicating that the leading vehicle 2 has detected the second segment information S2 with the aid of the rear sensor 21, and is configured to provide the second segment information S2 to the communication interface 24. If an alternative criterion does not exist, for example because the front sensor 11 of the rear vehicle 11 is functioning normally, the result of the check in step M6 is "none", and the rear vehicle 1 will continue to be controlled based on the first segment information S1 detected by the front sensor 11 (box M6). As a result, the vehicle 1 is controlled in autonomous driving mode (box M7)

[0052] If there is an alternative criterion, for example, due to a failure of the front sensor 11 of the following vehicle 1, the result of the check in step M5 is "yes", and the following vehicle 1 is controlled based on the second section information S2 detected by the rear sensor 21 of the leading vehicle 2 and transmitted to the following vehicle. This is symbolically illustrated by a block M8. When the second section information S2 is transmitted, the information is transmitted to the communication interface 14 of the following vehicle 1 via the communication interface 24 of the leading vehicle 2, and is thereby input into the control device 13 of the following vehicle 1, which controls the following vehicle 1 based on the second section information S2. Optionally, the second section information S2 is transmitted to the following vehicle 1 only when there is an alternative criterion. As an alternative, the transmission can be performed continuously as long as the leading vehicle 2 and the following vehicle 1 form a convoy V.

[0053] The result of step M8 is an autonomous driving mode (block M7), in which the following vehicle 1 is controlled based on the second section information S2. Optionally, a check is previously performed in step M9 as to whether a safety criterion is met. The safety criterion can be constituted in particular by the distance d12 between the preceding vehicle 2 and the following vehicle 1, and the safety criterion is met when the distance d12 is within a predetermined range, for example between 3 meters and 30 meters. As an alternative, the safety criterion can be constituted by the field of view 24 of the rear sensor 21, and the safety criterion is met if the rear sensor 21 provides data from at least a predetermined partial area of ​​the field of view 24. If the result of the check in step M9 is "yes", that is, if the safety criterion is met, the following vehicle 1 is controlled based on the second section information S2 in the autonomous driving mode (block M7). If the result of the check in step M9 is "no", that is, if the safety criterion is not met, a change M10 to the manual driving mode is implemented, and the vehicle is manually controlled by the vehicle driver as symbolically illustrated in block M3.

[0054] Although the present invention has been fully described above based on preferred embodiments, the present invention is not restricted to these embodiments but can be modified in many ways.

[0055] Reference numerals list

[0056] 1 The first car, the car behind

[0057] 2 The second car, the one driving ahead

[0058] 3-5 The third to fifth car

[0059] 11 Front sensor of the following vehicle

[0060] 12 Field of view of the front sensor

[0061] 13 Controls for the following vehicle

[0062] 14 Communication interface of the following vehicle

[0063] 21 Rear sensor of the vehicle ahead

[0064] 22 Field of view of rear sensor

[0065] 23 Controls for the vehicle ahead

[0066] 24 Communication interface of the preceding vehicle

[0067] 100 Road

[0068] Lane 100A-C

[0069] 101 Lane Limits

[0070] d1 Distance between the rear vehicle and the lane boundary

[0071] d2 Distance between the preceding vehicle and the lane boundary

[0072] d12 Distance between the vehicle in front and the vehicle behind

[0073] F Driving direction

[0074] O Overlapping area

[0075] S1 First Segment Information

[0076] S2 Second segment information

[0077] S3 Identification signal of the vehicle ahead

[0078] V Team

Claims

1. A method for autonomously maneuvering a rear vehicle (1) in a convoy (V), the convoy also having a preceding vehicle (2) travelling in the same direction of travel (F), the method comprising the following steps: - detecting first section information (S1) by means of a front sensor (11) of the rear vehicle (1) that detects forward in the driving direction (F); - controlling the following vehicle (1) based on the first section information (S1); - detecting the second section information (S2) by means of a rear sensor (21) of the preceding vehicle (2) for detecting rearwards in the driving direction (F); - transmitting the second section information (S2) to the following vehicle (1); and - if there is an alternative criterion, the following vehicle (1) is controlled based on the second segment information (S2), and The following vehicle (1) is only controlled if the safety criterion is met in addition to the replacement criterion based on the second segment information (S2).

2. The method according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The relevant alternative criteria are met in one or more of the following cases: - the front sensor (11) of the rear vehicle (1) fails due to a fault during operation; - the vehicle (2) travelling ahead is detected by the vehicle (1) travelling behind; - A control signal generated by a preceding vehicle (2) is detected by a following vehicle (1).

3. The method according to claim 1, It is characterized in that Only when there is an alternative criterion, the second section information (S2) is transmitted to the following vehicle (1).

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, It is characterized in that The vehicle (2) travelling ahead is additionally detected by the vehicle (1) travelling behind.

5. The method according to claim 4, It is characterized in that The detection is performed based on an analysis of the first segment information (S1).

6. The method according to claim 4, It is characterized in that The detection includes detecting an identification signal (S3) of a preceding vehicle (2).

7. The method according to claim 4, It is characterized in that The method for controlling the rear vehicle (1) is that if the rear vehicle is detected, the rear vehicle and the front vehicle (2) form a convoy (V).

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, It is characterized in that A camera is used as a front sensor (11) and / or a rear sensor (21).

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