Vehicle and method of controlling the same

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vehicle and a control method thereof, the vehicle including: a first sensor; a second sensor; a driving device including at least one motor and configured to operate to clean the first sensor and the second sensor; and a controller configured to, when the controller determines that at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor is contaminated, control the driving device to preferentially clean the first sensor before the second sensor based on predetermined ranking information. The vehicle and the control method thereof facilitate safe autonomous driving by effectively using a limited amount of cleaning liquid to clean the sensors disposed in the vehicle.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a vehicle incorporating a cleaning device and a method for controlling the same. Background Technology

[0002] Typically, vehicle cleaning devices are installed in the front bumper of the vehicle to perform cleaning and remove foreign objects from the vehicle.

[0003] In this context, radar or lidar is a sensor used to detect obstacles in front of the vehicle and is a basic feature of autonomous vehicles.

[0004] Therefore, if a foreign object adheres to the surface of the radar or lidar during driving, and the sensor cannot identify the obstacle in front of the vehicle, the vehicle will not be able to obtain obstacle information, which will increase the risk of accidents during autonomous driving.

[0005] Therefore, cleaning devices can be installed on vehicles to clean the surfaces of radar or lidar.

[0006] On the other hand, considering fuel consumption, the amount of washing liquid that a vehicle can hold is limited, so it is necessary to develop a system for cleaning radar or lidar sensors when they are contaminated.

[0007] The information disclosed in the above background section is intended to help understand the background technology of this invention and should not be construed as an admission that such information constitutes any part of the prior art. Summary of the Invention

[0008] Therefore, one aspect of the present invention is to provide a vehicle and a method for controlling the same, which contributes to safe autonomous driving by effectively using a limited volume of detergent to clean sensors placed in the vehicle.

[0009] According to one aspect of the invention, a vehicle includes: a first sensor; a second sensor; a drive unit including at least one electric motor and configured to operate to clean the first sensor and the second sensor; and a controller configured to, when the controller determines that at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor is contaminated, control the drive unit to clean the first sensor first, based on predetermined ranking information.

[0010] The controller is also configured to control the drive unit to clean the first and second sensors sequentially.

[0011] The controller is also configured to change the output of the drive unit based on the vehicle's speed information.

[0012] The controller is also configured to acquire information on the remaining amount of detergent in the vehicle, and based on the remaining amount information, control the drive unit to spray detergent or pressurized air onto at least one of the first and second sensors.

[0013] The controller is also configured to acquire pollution information from the first sensor and the second sensor respectively, and to change the output of the drive device based on the pollution information.

[0014] The output of the drive unit includes the spray pressure and spray time of the washing liquid sprayed by the drive unit onto at least one of the first and second sensors.

[0015] Each of the first and second sensors includes multiple sensor modules arranged at different locations in the vehicle, and the controller is further configured to acquire pollution information of each of the multiple sensor modules and change the output of the drive unit based on the pollution information of each of the multiple sensor modules and the location information of each of the multiple sensor modules.

[0016] The vehicle also includes a display, and the controller is configured to output pollution information to the display.

[0017] The controller is also configured to increase the output of the drive unit in response to the number of cleaning cycles when the cleaning cycle of at least one of the first and second sensors increases.

[0018] The first sensor includes a lidar sensor, while the second sensor includes a radar sensor.

[0019] According to another aspect of the present invention, a vehicle control method includes the following steps: determining whether at least one of a first sensor and a second sensor is contaminated; and when it is determined that at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor is contaminated, controlling a drive unit to clean the first sensor first, based on predetermined ranking information.

[0020] The step of controlling the drive device to clean the first sensor before the second sensor includes: controlling the drive device to clean the first sensor and the second sensor sequentially.

[0021] The step of controlling the drive unit to clean the first sensor before the second sensor includes: changing the output of the drive unit based on the vehicle's speed information.

[0022] The control method further includes the step of acquiring information on the remaining amount of wash fluid in the vehicle; and the step of controlling the drive unit to clean the first sensor before the second sensor, including: based on the remaining amount information, controlling the drive unit to spray wash fluid or pressurized air onto at least one of the first and second sensors.

[0023] The control method further includes the steps of acquiring contamination information from the first sensor and the second sensor respectively; and the step of controlling the drive device to clean the first sensor first before the second sensor, including: changing the output of the drive device based on the contamination information.

[0024] The output of the drive unit includes the spray pressure and spray time of the washing liquid sprayed by the drive unit onto at least one of the first and second sensors.

[0025] Each of the first and second sensors includes multiple sensor modules arranged at different locations in the vehicle, and the control method further includes the steps of: acquiring pollution information of each of the multiple sensor modules; and changing the output of the drive device based on the pollution information of each of the multiple sensor modules and the location information of each of the multiple sensor modules.

[0026] The control method also includes the following step: outputting pollution information to a display.

[0027] The step of controlling the drive device to clean the first sensor before the second sensor includes: increasing the output of the drive device in response to the number of cleaning cycles when the number of cleaning cycles for at least one of the first and second sensors increases.

[0028] The first sensor includes a lidar sensor, while the second sensor includes a radar sensor. Attached Figure Description

[0029] These and / or other aspects of the invention will become apparent and more readily understood by describing the embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0030] Figure 1 This is a control block diagram of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating the connection relationships between vehicle configurations according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating a first sensor and a second sensor according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 4A and Figure 4B This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the first and second sensors according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 5This is a diagram illustrating the operation of a drive device controlled by a controller according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 6 This is a diagram illustrating a case where a drive device is controlled by a controller according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 7 This is a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 8 This is a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0038] Throughout this specification, the same reference numerals denote the same elements. Not all elements of all embodiments of the invention will be described, and descriptions of parts commonly known in the art or overlapping in embodiments will be omitted. Terms used throughout this specification, such as “part,” “module,” “component,” “block,” etc., may be implemented in software and / or hardware, and multiple “parts,” “modules,” “components,” or “blocks” may be implemented by a single element, and a single “part,” “module,” “component,” or “block” may also include multiple elements.

[0039] It should also be understood that the term “connection” or its derivatives refer to both direct and indirect connections, and indirect connections include connections via wireless communication networks.

[0040] It should also be understood that, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, when used in this specification, the words “comprising” and / or “including” indicate the presence of the stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and / or groups thereof.

[0041] In the instruction manual, it should be understood that when a component is referred to as being "above / below" another component, it may be directly above / below the other component, or there may be one or more intermediate components.

[0042] Ordinal terms such as "first" and "second" can be used to explain various components, but these components are not limited by the terms. These terms are only used for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

[0043] As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0044] The reference numerals used for the method steps are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the order of the steps. Therefore, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the order may be performed in other ways.

[0045] The operating principles and implementation methods of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0046] Figure 1 This is a control block diagram of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating the connection relationships between vehicle configurations according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0047] Reference Figure 1 According to an exemplary embodiment, a vehicle may include a first sensor 101, a second sensor 102, a drive unit 103, a display 105, and a controller 104.

[0048] The first sensor 101 and the second sensor 102 can be configured to detect obstacles around the vehicle.

[0049] Specifically, the first sensor 101 can be configured as a lidar, while the second sensor 102 can be configured as a radar.

[0050] The first sensor may include multiple lidar sensors (101-FR, 101-FL).

[0051] A lidar sensor (101-FR, 101-R) can refer to a sensor that accurately depicts the surrounding environment by emitting laser pulses, receiving light reflected from surrounding objects, and measuring the distance to the objects.

[0052] The second sensor may include multiple radar sensors.

[0053] Radar (102-FR, 102-FL, 102-RR, 102-RL) can refer to a sensor that detects the distance, direction, height, etc. of an object by emitting electromagnetic waves (ultra-high frequency, wavelength 10cm to 100cm) towards the object and receiving the electromagnetic waves reflected from the object.

[0054] The drive unit 103 can be configured to clean the first sensor and the second sensor.

[0055] In detail, the drive unit 103 may include electric motors M1, M2, M3 and M4 for spraying detergent placed in the vehicle to the first sensor and the second sensor.

[0056] When it is determined that at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor is contaminated, the controller 104 may, based on predetermined ranking information, control the drive to clean the first sensor first before the second sensor.

[0057] Because lidar has higher accuracy than radar, the ranking information can be set to prioritize cleaning lidar before radar.

[0058] The controller 104 can control the sequential cleaning of the first and second sensors. Sequential cleaning means that they are not cleaned simultaneously.

[0059] When the controller 104 cleans the first sensor and the second sensor simultaneously, shadowed areas and non-sensing areas may appear. To prevent this, the controller can control the drive to not clean the first sensor and the second sensor simultaneously.

[0060] The controller 104 can change the output of the drive unit based on the vehicle's speed information. Specifically, the drive unit can output injection pressure and injection volume of washing fluid in proportion to the vehicle speed.

[0061] The controller 104 can acquire information about the remaining amount of washer fluid in the vehicle, and based on this information, spray washer fluid or air pressure onto at least one of the first and second sensors. That is, when the remaining amount of washer fluid in the vehicle is low, the spraying efficiency is low, therefore the controller can control the air pressure sprayed by the drive unit.

[0062] The controller 104 can acquire pollution information from each of the first and second sensors.

[0063] Contamination information may include the amount of foreign matter present in each sensor.

[0064] The controller 104 can change the output of the drive device based on contamination information. Specifically, when the amount of foreign matter is large, the output of the drive device can be increased, and when the amount of foreign matter is small, the output of the drive device can be decreased.

[0065] The output of the drive unit 103 may include the spray pressure and spray time of the washing liquid sprayed by the drive unit.

[0066] Meanwhile, as described above, each of the first sensor 101 and the second sensor 102 may include multiple sensor modules arranged at different locations in the vehicle.

[0067] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the first sensor may include a lidar sensor. The lidar sensor may include a lidar sensor module 101-FR disposed at the front and a lidar sensor module 101-RR disposed at the rear.

[0068] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the second sensor 102 may include a radar sensor. The radar sensor may include a radar sensor module 102-FR disposed on the right front side, a radar sensor module 102-FL disposed on the left front side, and radar sensor modules 102-RR and 102-RL disposed on the rear side.

[0069] On the other hand, the number of sensor modules and the location of each sensor module described herein are merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention and are not limited thereto.

[0070] The controller can acquire pollution information from each of the multiple sensor modules.

[0071] The controller can change the output of the drive device based on the pollution information and the position information of each of the multiple sensor modules.

[0072] For example, when contamination occurs in the front lidar sensor module 101-FL or 101-FR among the multiple modules included in the same first sensor 101, the controller can control the drive device to clean the front lidar sensor modules 101-FL and 101-FR.

[0073] In addition, the controller can assign priority to each of the multiple sensor modules contained in each sensor.

[0074] For example, when the vehicle is traveling at high speed, the sensors at the front of the vehicle have a significant impact on driving. Therefore, even if contamination occurs in the rear lidar sensor module 101-R and the rear radar sensor module 102-R, the controller can control the drive unit to prioritize cleaning the lidar sensor modules 101-FL and 101-FR and the radar sensor modules 102-FR and 101-FL located at the front before the rear lidar and radar sensor modules.

[0075] In addition, the controller 104 can output pollution information to a display.

[0076] The display 105 is configured as an output screen and may be configured as a cathode ray tube (CRT), digital light processing (DLP) panel, plasma display panel (PDP), liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, electroluminescent (EL) panel, electrophoretic display (EPD) panel, electrochromic display (ECD) panel, light-emitting diode (LED) panel, or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel, but is not limited to these.

[0077] As the number of cleaning cycles increases, the controller 104 can increase the output of the drive device in response to the number of cleaning cycles. That is, the number of cleaning cycles increases because foreign matter on the sensor is not removed, and as the number of cleaning cycles increases, the controller can clean the sensor by increasing the output value of the drive device.

[0078] On the other hand, such as Figure 2 As shown, the motor installed in the drive unit 103 can be controlled bidirectionally, thereby enabling the cleaning of two sensors, each of which can be connected via hoses and a CAN network. Additionally, although not shown, the controller may include an integrated cleaning controller and a microcontroller unit (MCU).

[0079] The controller 104 can be implemented as a memory (not shown) and a processor (not shown), the memory storing data of a program for an algorithm or a program for reproducing the operation of components in the vehicle, and the processor using the data stored in the memory to perform the aforementioned operations. In this case, the memory and processor can be implemented as separate chips. Alternatively, the memory and processor can be implemented as a single chip.

[0080] Corresponding to Figure 1 and Figure 2 The performance of the vehicle components shown can be adjusted by adding or removing at least one component. Furthermore, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the relative positions of the components can be altered to correspond to the performance or structure of the system.

[0081] Figure 1 and Figure 2 The components shown refer to software and / or hardware components such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

[0082] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating a first sensor and a second sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4A and Figure 4B This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the first and second sensors according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0083] Reference Figure 3 and Figure 4A The first sensor may include a front lidar 101-F and a rear lidar 101-RR. Specifically, Figure 4A The range of this lidar for acquiring location information around the vehicle is shown as Z-4A.

[0084] LiDAR can accurately obtain the speed and direction of movement, as well as the distance to the target object.

[0085] In addition, for autonomous vehicles to drive themselves, they must be able to recognize their surroundings and perform tasks such as location identification and mapping, just like a driver would look around and drive the vehicle. LiDAR can serve this purpose.

[0086] Reference Figure 3 and Figure 4B The second sensor may include the front radar 102-FR, the front side radar 102-FL, and the rear side radar 102-R.

[0087] like Figure 4B As shown, radar can detect a wider range of objects than lidar. In particular, radar can be equipped with a front radar to detect obstacles in a wider forward area (Z-4B).

[0088] Reference Figure 4A and Figure 4B The controller can determine the priority between a first sensor containing LiDAR and a second sensor containing LiDAR. According to an exemplary embodiment, sensor accuracy is determined to be an important factor in autonomous driving, and the controller can determine that the first sensor containing LiDAR has a higher priority than the second sensor.

[0089] For example, when contamination occurs in the first and second sensors, the controller can clean the first sensor first before cleaning the second sensor, thereby removing the contamination from the first sensor.

[0090] on the other hand, Figure 3 , Figure 4A and Figure 4B The operations shown are merely an exemplary embodiment for describing the operations of the present invention, and there are no limitations on the operations used for cleaning the sensor.

[0091] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating the operation of a drive device controlled by a controller according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 This is a diagram illustrating a case where a drive device is controlled by a controller according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0092] Reference Figure 5 The drive unit may include electric motors M1 and M2.

[0093] The electric motor included in the drive unit can spray washing liquid onto both sensors. More specifically, the drive unit can be used... Figure 5 The circuit shown enables the motor to rotate in either the forward or reverse direction. The drive unit can use, for example... Figure 5 The H-bridge FET circuit shown.

[0094] On the other hand, the controller can use PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control to regulate the motor's RPM. The controller can change the drive unit's output based on the vehicle's speed information.

[0095] Reference Figure 5 and Figure 6 The controller can adjust the motor RPM based on the speed range information.

[0096] For example, since vehicles require higher injection pressure to overcome air resistance when traveling at high speeds, the controller can increase the RPM of the electric motor.

[0097] On the other hand, by utilizing jet pressure lower than high speed, the controller can effectively utilize the washing liquid at low speeds.

[0098] The controller can acquire pollution information from each of the first and second sensors.

[0099] Contamination information can refer to information that determines how much foreign matter is present in each sensor.

[0100] The controller can adjust the spray pressure and spray time of the washing liquid based on the contamination information.

[0101] Specifically, when the pollution level is high, a stronger injection pressure is required.

[0102] The controller can control the drive unit to spray the washing liquid at a higher pressure. Conversely, when the contamination level is low, a higher spray pressure is not required. The controller can reduce the amount of washing liquid by using a lower spray pressure, and can effectively remove contaminants from the sensor.

[0103] In addition, the controller can adjust the detergent spraying time based on the amount of contamination information.

[0104] In cases of high contamination, the controller can increase the spraying time by controlling the drive unit. Conversely, for low contamination, the controller can reduce the amount of washing liquid by decreasing the spraying time.

[0105] When the number of cleaning cycles of at least one of the first and second sensors increases, the controller can increase the output of the drive unit in response to the number of cleaning cycles.

[0106] Specifically, if contaminants are not completely removed from the sensor after the first cleaning, the controller can control the spray pressure and spray time.

[0107] Specifically, the controller can increase the motor RPM for re-requesting immediately after a stain removal attempt. For immediate re-requesting after a stain removal attempt, the controller can also adjust the detergent spraying time.

[0108] on the other hand, Figure 5 and Figure 6 The operations described herein are merely exemplary embodiments used to describe the cleaning of the sensor of the present invention, and the cleaning of the sensor of the present invention is not limited to these operations.

[0109] Figure 7 and Figure 8 This is a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0110] Reference Figure 7 The controller can determine whether the first sensor and the second sensor are contaminated (1001). When both the first sensor and the second sensor are contaminated, the first sensor and the second sensor can be cleaned sequentially (1002).

[0111] On the other hand, when only the first sensor is contaminated (1003), the controller can control the cleaning of only the first sensor (1004). Additionally, when only the second sensor is contaminated, the controller can clean the second sensor (1005, 1006).

[0112] Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating the operation of changing the spray pattern of the washing liquid according to the situation.

[0113] When it is determined that the vehicle's washer fluid is insufficient (1011), the controller can spray air pressure onto each sensor (1012). Alternatively, when the washer fluid is not insufficient (1013), the controller can spray washer fluid onto each sensor.

[0114] However, when the vehicle speed increases (1014), the contamination level of the sensor increases (1016), or the number of times the sensor is cleaned increases (1017), the controller can control the drive unit to increase the injection pressure and injection time (1015).

[0115] According to the vehicle and control method of the exemplary embodiment, sensors placed in the vehicle can be cleaned by effectively utilizing a limited volume of detergent, thereby promoting safe autonomous driving.

[0116] Furthermore, the disclosed embodiments can be implemented in the form of a recording medium storing computer-executable instructions. These instructions can be stored as program code, and when executed by a processor, can generate program modules to perform the operations of the disclosed embodiments. The recording medium can be implemented as a computer-readable recording medium.

[0117] Computer-readable recording media include various recording media that store instructions that can be decoded by a computer, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic tape, magnetic disk, flash memory, optical data storage devices, etc.

[0118] Although exemplary embodiments of the invention have been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications, additions, and substitutions can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, exemplary embodiments of the invention are not described for limiting purposes.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising: First sensor; Second sensor; The drive unit includes at least one electric motor and is configured to operate to clean the first sensor and the second sensor; as well as The controller is configured as follows: It is determined that at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor is contaminated; Based on the vehicle speed and the position of each sensor in the vehicle, a cleaning priority is determined between the first sensor and the second sensor; Based on the determined cleaning priority, the drive device is controlled to clean the first sensor first, before cleaning the second sensor. The controller is further configured to, Obtain information on the remaining amount of detergent in the vehicle; and When the number of cleaning cycles of at least one of the first and second sensors increases, it is determined that foreign matter in the sensor has not been removed, and the output of the drive device is increased in response to the number of cleaning cycles, even when it is determined that the washing liquid is insufficient based on the remaining amount information.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, The controller is also configured to control the drive device to clean the first sensor and the second sensor sequentially.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, The controller is also configured to change the output of the drive unit based on the vehicle's speed information.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, The controller is also configured to control the drive device to spray the washing liquid or pressurized air onto at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor based on the remaining amount information.

5. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, The controller is also configured to acquire contamination information from the first sensor and the second sensor respectively, and to change the output of the drive device based on the contamination information.

6. The vehicle of claim 5, wherein, The output of the drive device includes the spray pressure and spray time of the washing liquid sprayed by the drive device onto at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor.

7. The vehicle according to claim 5, wherein, Each of the first and second sensors includes multiple sensor modules arranged at different locations on the vehicle, and The controller is also configured to acquire pollution information of each of the plurality of sensor modules, and to change the output of the drive device based on the pollution information of each of the plurality of sensor modules and the position information of each of the plurality of sensor modules.

8. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a display. wherein, The controller is also configured to output pollution information to the display.

9. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein, The first sensor includes a lidar sensor, while the second sensor includes a radar sensor.

10. A method for controlling a vehicle, comprising the following steps: Determine whether at least one of the first and second sensors has been contaminated; Based on the vehicle speed and the position of each sensor in the vehicle, a cleaning priority is determined between the first sensor and the second sensor; as well as Based on the determined cleaning priority, the control drive prioritizes cleaning the first sensor before cleaning the second sensor. The step of the control drive device prioritizing the cleaning of the first sensor before cleaning the second sensor includes: Obtain information on the remaining amount of detergent in the vehicle; and When the number of cleaning cycles of at least one of the first and second sensors increases, it is determined that foreign matter in the sensor has not been removed, and the output of the drive device is increased in response to the number of cleaning cycles, even when it is determined that the washing liquid is insufficient based on the remaining amount information.

11. The control method according to claim 10, wherein, The step of the control drive device prioritizing the cleaning of the first sensor before cleaning the second sensor includes: The drive device is controlled to clean the first sensor and the second sensor in sequence.

12. The control method according to claim 10, wherein, The step of the control drive device prioritizing the cleaning of the first sensor before cleaning the second sensor includes: The output of the drive unit is changed based on the vehicle's speed information.

13. The control method according to claim 10, wherein, The step of the control drive device prioritizing the cleaning of the first sensor before the second sensor includes: Based on the remaining amount information, the drive device is controlled to spray the washing liquid or pressurized air onto at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor.

14. The control method according to claim 10 further includes the step of acquiring pollution information from the first sensor and the second sensor respectively; in, The step of the control drive device prioritizing the cleaning of the first sensor before the second sensor includes: The output of the drive device is changed based on pollution information.

15. The control method according to claim 14, wherein, The output of the drive device includes the spray pressure and spray time of the washing liquid sprayed by the drive device onto at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor.

16. The control method according to claim 15, wherein, Each of the first and second sensors includes multiple sensor modules arranged at different locations on the vehicle, and The control method further includes the following steps: Obtain pollution information from each of the plurality of sensor modules; and The output of the drive device is changed based on the pollution information and the position information of each of the plurality of sensor modules.

17. The control method according to claim 10, further comprising the following steps: Pollution information is output to the display.

18. The control method according to claim 10, wherein, The first sensor includes a lidar sensor, while the second sensor includes a radar sensor.

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