Method for controlling emergency parking of an autonomous driving vehicle

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for controlling an emergency stop of an autonomous driving vehicle. The method includes: controlling an emergency stop of an autonomous driving vehicle capable of identifying a stop request from an emergency vehicle, determining whether a current situation is an emergency situation or a general situation, and executing a process corresponding to each situation according to each situation to stop the autonomous driving vehicle.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0062221, filed on May 25, 2020, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present invention relates to a technology for controlling an emergency stop of an autonomous driving vehicle in response to a request from an emergency vehicle. Background Art

[0004] The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.

[0005] Typically, an autonomous vehicle controls various systems in the vehicle including a steering device to recognize the road environment on its own, determine the driving situation, and move from the current position to the target position along a planned driving path.

[0006] Such autonomous vehicles may include: autonomous emergency braking (AEB), forward collision warning system (FCW), adaptive cruise control (ACC), lane departure warning system (LDWS), lane keeping assist system (LKAS), blind spot detection (BSD), rear-end collision warning system (RCW), smart parking assist system (SPAS), etc.

[0007] Passenger transportation services, cargo transportation services, etc. using such autonomous driving vehicles are being developed.

[0008] Currently, a method for parking an autonomous vehicle that is the property of a business owner when an emergency vehicle requires the parking of the autonomous vehicle during travel has not been discussed. In one example, in the case of a privately owned autonomous vehicle, the owner (occupant) can determine whether to park. However, in the case of an autonomous vehicle that is the property of a business owner, since the occupant is a customer from the perspective of the business owner, additional procedures are required.

[0009] The contents described in this background technology section are written to enhance the understanding of the background of the present invention and may include other contents beyond the prior art known to those skilled in the art to which the technology belongs. Summary of the invention

[0010] One aspect of the present invention provides a method for controlling the emergency parking of an autonomous driving vehicle capable of recognizing a parking request from an emergency vehicle, determining whether the current situation is an emergency situation or a general situation, and executing a process corresponding to each situation to stop the autonomous driving vehicle.

[0011] The technical problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the above problems, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs will clearly understand any other technical problems not mentioned herein based on the following description.

[0012] According to a first aspect of the invention, a method for controlling emergency parking of an autonomous driving vehicle comprises: receiving information about an emergency vehicle from the autonomous driving vehicle; obtaining situation information from the emergency vehicle; and determining whether to perform emergency parking of the autonomous driving vehicle based on the obtained situation information.

[0013] In one embodiment, determining whether to perform an emergency stop of an autonomous vehicle may include: when the situation information is information indicating an emergency situation, sending an emergency stop mode activation signal to the autonomous vehicle; and when the situation information is information indicating a general situation, with the consent of an occupant in the autonomous vehicle, sending an emergency stop mode activation signal to the autonomous vehicle.

[0014] In one embodiment, determining whether to perform an emergency parking of the autonomous driving vehicle may further include parking the autonomous driving vehicle at a specific parking location after receiving an emergency parking mode activation signal.

[0015] In one embodiment, parking by the autonomous driving vehicle at a specific parking location may include: when the specific parking location is not found, the autonomous driving vehicle continues to drive toward the destination.

[0016] In one embodiment, with the consent of the occupants in the autonomous vehicle, sending the emergency parking mode activation signal to the autonomous vehicle may include: when the situation information is information indicating a general situation, guiding the occupants in the autonomous vehicle to communicate with the driver or fellow occupants of the emergency vehicle; obtaining the consent of the occupants in the autonomous vehicle for the emergency parking; when the occupants in the autonomous vehicle agree to the emergency parking, sending the emergency parking mode activation signal to the autonomous vehicle; when the occupants in the autonomous vehicle disagree to the emergency parking, sending the destination information and internal image data of the autonomous vehicle to the emergency vehicle.

[0017] In one embodiment, the information about the emergency vehicle may include at least one of a type of the emergency vehicle and image data obtained by photographing the emergency vehicle.

[0018] In one embodiment, receiving information about the emergency vehicle from the autonomous vehicle may include: the autonomous vehicle identifying the emergency vehicle based on at least one of color, warning lights, text, signs, and sirens.

[0019] In one embodiment, receiving information about an emergency vehicle from an autonomous vehicle may include: identifying the emergency vehicle by the autonomous vehicle based on at least one of color, warning lights, text, signs, and sirens, and identifying a parking request by the autonomous vehicle based on a parking instruction voice from the emergency vehicle.

[0020] According to a second aspect of the invention, a method for controlling emergency parking of an autonomous driving vehicle includes: receiving situation information and identification information of the autonomous driving vehicle from an emergency vehicle; and determining whether to perform emergency parking of the autonomous driving vehicle based on the received situation information.

[0021] In one embodiment, determining whether to perform an emergency parking of an autonomous vehicle includes: when the situation information is information indicating an emergency situation, sending an emergency parking mode activation signal to the autonomous vehicle; when the situation information is information indicating a general situation, with the consent of the occupants in the autonomous vehicle, sending an emergency parking mode activation signal to the autonomous vehicle.

[0022] In one embodiment, determining whether to perform an emergency parking of the autonomous driving vehicle may further include parking the autonomous driving vehicle at a specific parking location after receiving an emergency parking mode activation signal.

[0023] In one embodiment, parking by the autonomous driving vehicle at a specific parking location may include: when the specific parking location is not found, the autonomous driving vehicle continues to drive toward the destination.

[0024] In one embodiment, sending an emergency parking mode activation signal to the autonomous vehicle with the consent of the occupants in the autonomous vehicle may include: when the situation information is information indicating a general situation, guiding the occupants in the autonomous vehicle to communicate with the driver or fellow occupants of the emergency vehicle to obtain the consent of the occupants in the autonomous vehicle for the emergency parking; when the occupants in the autonomous vehicle agree to the emergency parking, sending the emergency parking mode activation signal to the autonomous vehicle; when the occupants in the autonomous vehicle disagree with the emergency parking, sending the destination information and internal image data of the autonomous vehicle to the emergency vehicle.

[0025] In one embodiment, the identification information of the autonomous driving vehicle may include at least one of the license plate number of the autonomous driving vehicle and the proprietary license plate number of the autonomous driving vehicle.

[0026] According to a third aspect of the present invention, a method for controlling emergency parking of an autonomous driving vehicle includes: the autonomous driving vehicle identifying surrounding emergency vehicles, the autonomous driving vehicle requesting approval of the emergency parking from a server, and the autonomous driving vehicle determining whether to perform emergency parking based on the approval result from the server.

[0027] In one embodiment, identifying surrounding emergency vehicles by the autonomous vehicle may include identifying the emergency vehicle based on at least one of color, warning lights, text, signs, and sirens.

[0028] In one embodiment, identifying surrounding emergency vehicles by the autonomous vehicle may include: identifying the emergency vehicle based on at least one of color, warning lights, text, signs, and sirens, and identifying a parking request based on a parking instruction voice from the emergency vehicle.

[0029] In one embodiment, determining whether to perform an emergency parking based on the approval result from the server may include: when approval is obtained from the server, the autonomous driving vehicle performs an emergency parking at a specific parking location; when approval is not obtained from the server, the autonomous driving vehicle continues to drive to the destination.

[0030] In one embodiment, emergency parking by an autonomous vehicle at a particular parking location may include displaying information indicating an emergency parking stop, flashing emergency lights, and activating a door opening permission button.

[0031] In one embodiment, continued travel by the autonomous vehicle to the destination may further include transmitting the destination information and internal image data of the autonomous vehicle to the emergency vehicle.

[0032] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a method for controlling emergency parking of an autonomous driving vehicle includes: the autonomous driving vehicle identifying surrounding emergency vehicles, the autonomous driving vehicle performing emergency parking, and the autonomous driving vehicle notifying a server of the emergency parking of the autonomous driving vehicle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] The above features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood through the detailed description presented below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

[0034] Figure 1 is an example of an emergency parking control system for an autonomous driving vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 2A configuration diagram of a server provided in an emergency parking control system of an autonomous driving vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 3 is a flowchart of an emergency parking control method for an automatic driving vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 4 is a flowchart of an emergency parking control method for an automatic driving vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 5 is a flowchart of an emergency parking control method for an automatic driving vehicle according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 6 is a flowchart of an emergency parking control method for an automatic driving vehicle according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; and

[0040] Figure 7 The block diagram is a diagram showing a computing system for implementing an emergency parking control method for an autonomous driving vehicle according to various embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the exemplary drawings. When adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, it should be noted that even when the same or equivalent components are shown on other drawings, they are represented by the same reference numerals. In addition, when describing the embodiments of the present invention, when it is determined that the relevant known configuration or function hinders the understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0042] When describing the components according to the embodiments of the present invention, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b) can be used. These terms are only intended to distinguish the components from other components, and these terms do not limit the properties, order or sequence of the components. Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. It should be further understood that the terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be understood to have the same meaning as their meaning in the context of the relevant technology, and will not be interpreted as idealized or overly formal meanings, unless explicitly defined in this article.

[0043] Figure 1 An example of an emergency parking control system for an autonomous driving vehicle to which various embodiments of the present invention are applied.

[0044] like Figure 1As shown, an emergency parking control system for an autonomous driving vehicle to which various embodiments of the present invention are applied may include: an emergency vehicle 10 , an autonomous driving vehicle 20 , and a server 30 .

[0045] The emergency vehicle 10 includes a police car, a fire truck, an ambulance, etc., and refers to a vehicle that operates in compliance with regulations prescribed by law. Such an emergency vehicle 10 is a vehicle driven by a driver, not an automatic driving vehicle.

[0046] The autonomous driving vehicle 20 includes a private autonomous driving vehicle and a commercial autonomous driving vehicle owned by a businessman. However, in various embodiments of the present invention, a commercial autonomous driving vehicle owned by a businessman will be described as an example.

[0047] When there is a vehicle that is continuously sensed within a certain distance (hereinafter, referred to as a following vehicle), the automatic driving vehicle 20 may record the image and sound of the following vehicle in a memory (not shown).

[0048] The autonomous driving vehicle 20 may output images and sounds of the following vehicle and provide the images and sounds to the occupants.

[0049] The autonomous driving vehicle 20 may transmit the image and sound of the following vehicle recorded in the memory to the server 30 .

[0050] The server 30 is capable of communicating with the emergency vehicle 10 and the autonomous driving vehicle 20, and in particular has remote control authority over the autonomous driving vehicle 20. As an example, the server 30 can operate the autonomous driving vehicle 20 in an emergency parking mode by sending an emergency parking mode start signal to the autonomous driving vehicle 20. For reference, the emergency parking mode refers to a function in which the autonomous driving vehicle 20 in motion determines a safe parking position by itself and parks at the determined parking position. In this regard, the safe parking position is a specific parking position that indicates a position that does not adversely affect the travel of subsequent vehicles, such as a shoulder of a road, a shelter, an open space, a rest area, etc.

[0051] Figure 2 A configuration diagram of a server provided in an emergency parking control system for an autonomous driving vehicle to which various embodiments of the present invention are applied.

[0052] like Figure 2 As shown, the server 30 provided in the emergency parking control system of the autonomous driving vehicle to which the various embodiments of the present invention are applied may include: a processor 210, a memory 220, and a communication circuit 230. In addition, the server 30 may further include a display 240 for implementing a user interface.

[0053] The processor 210 can control the overall operation of the server 30. The processor 210 may include a single processor core (single core) or multiple processor cores. For example, the processor 210 may include multiple cores such as dual cores, quad cores, hexa cores, etc. According to the embodiment, the processor 210 may further include a cache memory located inside or outside the processor 210. According to the embodiment, the processor 210 may be composed of one or more processors. For example, the processor 210 may include at least one of an application processor, a communication processor, and a graphics processing unit (GPU).

[0054] All or part of the processor 210 may be electrically connected or connected, or operably connected or connected to other components in the server 30 (e.g., memory 220, communication circuit 230, or display 240). The processor 210 may receive instructions from other components of the server 30, interpret the received instructions, and perform calculations or process data in response to the interpreted instructions. The processor 210 may interpret and process messages, data, instructions, or signals received from the memory 220, communication circuit 230, or display 240. The processor 210 may generate new messages, data, instructions, or signals based on the received messages, data, instructions, or signals. The processor 210 may provide the processed or generated messages, data, instructions, or signals to the memory 220, communication circuit 230, or display 240.

[0055] The processor 210 may process data or signals generated in the program. For example, the processor 210 may request the memory 220 to execute or control instructions, data or signals of the program. The processor 210 may record (or store) or update instructions, data or signals of the memory 220 that execute or control the program.

[0056] The memory 220 may store instructions, control instruction codes, control data, or user data for controlling the server 30. For example, the memory 220 may include at least one of an application program, an operating system (OS), middleware, and a device driver.

[0057] The memory 220 may include at least one of a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory. The volatile memory may include: a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), a phase change RAM (PRAM), a magnetic RAM (MRAM), a resistive RAM (RRAM), a ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), etc. The non-volatile memory may include: a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, etc.

[0058] The memory 220 may further include non-volatile storage media, such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), an embedded multimedia card (eMMC), and a universal flash memory (UFS).

[0059] The memory 220 may store various logics, algorithms, and programs required in the following processes: recognizing a parking request from an emergency vehicle, determining whether the current situation is an emergency situation or a general situation, and executing a process corresponding to each situation.

[0060] Such memory 220 may further store logic for obtaining the consent of the occupants of the autonomous vehicle 20 for emergency parking under normal circumstances.

[0061] The communication circuit 230 may support the establishment of a wireless communication connection with the emergency vehicle 10 and the autonomous driving vehicle 20 and communication through the established connection. Such a communication circuit 230 may include, for example, a cellular communication circuit, a short-range wireless communication circuit, or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) communication circuit. The communication circuit 230 may communicate with the emergency vehicle 10 and the autonomous driving vehicle 20 through a short-range communication network such as Bluetooth, WiFi Direct, or Infrared Data Association (IrDA), or a telecommunication network such as a cellular network, the Internet, or a computer network utilizing one of them. The above-mentioned various types of communication circuits may be implemented as one chip or may be implemented as separate chips.

[0062] The display 240 may output content, data or signals. The display 240 may display image data processed by the processor 210. The display 240 may be formed as an integrated touch screen by being coupled to a plurality of touch sensors (not shown) capable of receiving touch inputs, etc. When the display 240 is formed as a touch screen, the plurality of touch sensors may be provided on the display 240 or below the display 240.

[0063] Figure 3 Flowchart of an emergency parking control method for an automatic driving vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0064] The autonomous driving vehicle 20 can pick up passengers and go to the destination. In this regard, the emergency vehicle 10 can request the autonomous driving vehicle 20 to stop. The emergency vehicle 10 can request the autonomous driving vehicle 20 to stop using wireless communication. However, in the first embodiment of the present invention, a case will be described in which the driver or fellow passenger of the emergency vehicle 10 requests the autonomous driving vehicle 20 to stop by voice via a speaker. For example, the driver or fellow passenger of the emergency vehicle 10 can say "Vehicle No. 3456, stop!" via the speaker.

[0065] In process "301", the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can identify the emergency vehicle 10 through various sensors (e.g., front / rear / left / right cameras, ultrasonic sensors, radar sensors, lidar sensors, GPS receivers, microphones, etc.), and identify the parking request from the emergency vehicle 10 by identifying the speech content of the driver or fellow passengers of the emergency vehicle 10. For example, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can identify the emergency vehicle 10 using the external features of the emergency vehicle 10 (color, warning lights, text, signs, etc.). In another example, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can identify the emergency vehicle 10 using the external features of the emergency vehicle 10 (color, warning lights, text, signs, etc.), and identify the parking request from the emergency vehicle using sound (sirens, parking instruction voices of emergency vehicle passengers, etc.).

[0066] In process "302", the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may send information about the emergency vehicle 10 identified in process "301" to the server 30. For example, the information about the emergency vehicle 10 may be information indicating that the emergency vehicle 10 is a police car, a fire truck, or an ambulance. In this regard, the information about the emergency vehicle 10 may further include image data of the emergency vehicle 10 taken. Such image data of the emergency vehicle 10 may be stored in the server 30, and the administrator of the server 30 may utilize the image data of the emergency vehicle 10 as event information of the autonomous driving vehicle 20. In another example, the information about the emergency vehicle 10 may be information necessary to identify the emergency vehicle 10. In this case, the identification of the emergency vehicle 10 may be performed by the server 30, and the server 30 may send the result of the identification to the autonomous driving vehicle 20.

[0067] The parking request from the emergency vehicle 10 may be a request based on an emergency situation, or a request based on a general situation. In the first embodiment of the present invention, each situation can be identified and distinguished, and processing suitable for each situation can be performed.

[0068] The server 30 may request situation information from the emergency vehicle 10 through wireless communication (303). That is, the server 30 may inquire whether the emergency vehicle 10's parking request for the autonomous driving vehicle 20 is a parking request based on an emergency situation or a parking request based on a general situation.

[0069] In process "304", the server 30 may receive situation information from the emergency vehicle 10. In this regard, a display (not shown) provided in the emergency vehicle 10 may display a situation information request from the server 30 to allow the driver or fellow passenger of the emergency vehicle 10 to identify the situation information request, and display a button for emergency input and a button for general situation input. Therefore, the driver or fellow passenger of the emergency vehicle 10 may provide situation information to the server 30 by touching the emergency button or the general situation button. As an example, the emergency situation may include: a situation where a criminal is riding in the autonomous driving vehicle 20, a situation where an emergency patient occurs in the autonomous driving vehicle 20, and the like.

[0070] The server 30 may determine whether the situation information received from the emergency vehicle 10 is information indicating an emergency situation or information indicating a general situation ( 305 ).

[0071] In the case of information indicating an emergency situation, the server 30 transmits an emergency parking mode activation signal to the autonomous driving vehicle 20 (306). Then, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 operates in the emergency parking mode in response to the emergency parking mode activation signal received from the server 30 (307).

[0072] In process 307, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may search for a safe parking location and park the vehicle, displaying that the parking is an emergency parking through a display, flashing the emergency signal light, and turning on the door opening permission button to enable the occupant to deactivate the locking state of the door. In this regard, when a safe parking location is not searched, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may travel to the destination without stopping.

[0073] In process 308, if the information indicates a general situation, the server 30 can guide the autonomous driving vehicle 20 to communicate (e.g., exchange text messages) with the emergency vehicle 10. As an example, the server 30 can ask the occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 whether the occupant wants to exchange text messages (e.g., KakaoTalk, etc.) with the driver or fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle 10.

[0074] In process "308", when the information indicates a general situation, the server 30 can guide the autonomous driving vehicle 20 to communicate with the emergency vehicle 10 (e.g., call the emergency vehicle 10). As an example, the server 30 can ask the occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 whether the occupant wants to call the driver or fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle 10 (e.g., a voice call or a video call). In this regard, a display (not shown) provided in the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can display the phrase "Do you want to call the driver or fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle 10?" and can also display a "yes" button and a "no" button. The occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can notify the server 30 whether to call the driver or fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle 10 by touching the "yes" button or the "no" button. In another example, when there is no occupant in the autonomous driving vehicle 20, the server 30 can perform process "306" without asking whether to call the driver or fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle 10.

[0075] When the occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 touches the "Yes" button in the process "308", that is, when the occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 accepts the call from the driver or the fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle 10, the server 30 may set up a channel between the emergency vehicle 10 and the autonomous driving vehicle 20 (309). When the channel (voice channel or video channel) is established between the emergency vehicle 10 and the autonomous driving vehicle 20, the occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may make a call with the driver or the fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle 10.

[0076] In the process "310", the server 30 may ask the occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 whether to perform an emergency stop. In this regard, the display of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may display a phrase "Do you agree to the emergency stop?" and may also display an "Agree" button and a "Disagree" button. The occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may notify the server 30 whether to agree to the emergency stop by touching the "Agree" button or the "Disagree" button. That is, the server 30 may receive a response message from the autonomous driving vehicle 20 (311).

[0077] When the content of the response message received from the autonomous driving vehicle 20 includes the consent of the emergency parking (312), the server 30 may send an emergency parking mode start signal to the autonomous driving vehicle 20 (313). When the content of the response message received from the autonomous driving vehicle 20 includes the disagreement of the emergency parking (312), the server 30 may no longer participate in the driving of the autonomous driving vehicle 20, and may provide the destination information of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 to the emergency vehicle 10 (314). In this regard, the server 30 may further provide the image data of the interior of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 captured to the emergency vehicle 10. Such internal image data and destination information of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may be directly provided to the emergency vehicle 10 by the autonomous driving vehicle 20. For reference, since the autonomous driving vehicle 20 is operated under the management of the server 30, the server 30 can obtain the internal image of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 at any time. That is, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can send the internal image data to the server 30.

[0078] Figure 4 Flowchart of an emergency parking control method for an automatic driving vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[0079] The autonomous driving vehicle 20 may pick up passengers and drive to a destination. The emergency vehicle 10 may request the server 30 to stop the autonomous driving vehicle 20 (401). In this regard, the emergency vehicle 10 may send identification information (e.g., vehicle license plate number, vehicle exclusive license plate number, etc.) of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 to the server 30.

[0080] The emergency vehicle 10 may transmit situation information to the server 30 (402). In this regard, a display (not shown) provided in the emergency vehicle 10 may display a button for emergency input and a button for general situation input. Therefore, the driver or fellow passenger of the emergency vehicle 10 may provide situation information to the server 30 by touching the emergency button or the general situation button. As an example, the emergency situation may include a situation where a criminal is riding in the autonomous driving vehicle 20, a situation where an emergency patient occurs in the autonomous driving vehicle 20, and the like.

[0081] The server 30 may determine whether the situation information received from the emergency vehicle 10 is information indicating an emergency situation or information indicating a general situation ( 403 ).

[0082] In the case of information indicating an emergency situation, the server 30 transmits an emergency parking mode activation signal to the autonomous driving vehicle 20 (404). Then, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 operates in the emergency parking mode in response to the emergency parking mode activation signal received from the server 30 (405).

[0083] In process "405", the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can search for a safe parking location and park. When parking, the display shows that the parking is an emergency parking, the emergency lights flash, and the door opening permission button is turned on to enable the occupants to disable the locking state of the door.

[0084] In process 406, with information indicating the general situation, the server 30 can guide the autonomous vehicle 20 to communicate (e.g., exchange text messages) with the emergency vehicle 10. As an example, the server 30 can ask the occupant of the autonomous vehicle 20 whether the occupant wants to exchange text messages with the driver or fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle 10.

[0085] In process "406", with information indicating the general situation, the server 30 can guide the autonomous driving vehicle 20 to communicate with the emergency vehicle 10 (e.g., call the emergency vehicle 10). As an example, the server 30 can ask the occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 whether the occupant wants to call the driver or fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle 10 (e.g., voice call or video call). In this regard, a display (not shown) provided in the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can display the phrase "Do you want to call the driver or fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle 10?" and can also display a "Yes" button and a "No" button. The occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can notify the server 30 whether to call the driver or fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle 10 by touching the "Yes" button or the "No" button. In another example, when there is no occupant in the autonomous driving vehicle 20, the server 30 can perform process "404" without asking whether to call the driver or fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle 10.

[0086] When the occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 touches the "Yes" button in process "406", that is, when the occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 accepts the call from the driver or the fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle 10, the server 30 may set up a channel between the emergency vehicle 10 and the autonomous driving vehicle 20 (407). When the channel (voice channel or video channel) is established between the emergency vehicle 10 and the autonomous driving vehicle 20, the occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may talk to the driver or the fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle 10.

[0087] In the process "408", the server 30 may ask the occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 whether to perform an emergency stop. In this regard, the display of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may display a phrase "Do you agree to the emergency stop?" and may also display an "Agree" button and a "Disagree" button. The occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may notify the server 30 whether to agree to the emergency stop by touching the "Agree" button or the "Disagree" button. That is, the server 30 may receive a response message from the autonomous driving vehicle 20 (409).

[0088] When the content of the response message received from the autonomous driving vehicle 20 includes the consent of the emergency parking (410), the server 30 may send an emergency parking mode start signal to the autonomous driving vehicle 20 (411). When the content of the response message received from the autonomous driving vehicle 20 includes the disagreement of the emergency parking (410), the server 30 may no longer participate in the driving of the autonomous driving vehicle 20, and may provide the destination information of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 to the emergency vehicle 10 (412). In this regard, the server 30 may further provide the image data of the interior of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 captured to the emergency vehicle 10. Such internal image data and destination information of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may be directly provided to the emergency vehicle 10 by the autonomous driving vehicle 20. For reference, since the autonomous driving vehicle 20 operates under the management of the server 30, the server 30 can obtain the internal image of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 at any time. That is, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can send the internal image data to the server 30.

[0089] Figure 5 Flowchart of an emergency parking control method for an automatic driving vehicle according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[0090] The autonomous driving vehicle 20 may travel on the road to pick up passengers as a commercial vehicle for transporting passengers, or may travel to a destination while loading cargo as a commercial vehicle for transporting cargo. In this regard, the emergency vehicle 10 may request the autonomous driving vehicle 20 to stop.

[0091] In process "501", the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can identify the emergency vehicle 10 through various sensors (e.g., front / rear / left / right cameras, ultrasonic sensors, radar sensors, lidar sensors, GPS receivers, microphones, etc.). In addition, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can identify the parking request from the emergency vehicle 10 by identifying what the driver or fellow occupants of the emergency vehicle 10 say. For example, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can identify the emergency vehicle 10 using the external features of the emergency vehicle 10 (color, warning lights, text, signs, etc.). In another example, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can identify the emergency vehicle 10 using the external features of the emergency vehicle 10 (color, warning lights, text, signs, etc.), and use the sound (sirens, parking instruction voices of emergency vehicle occupants, etc.) to identify the parking request from the emergency vehicle.

[0092] The autonomous driving vehicle 20 may request the server 30 to approve whether to park (502), and receive a result from the server 30 (503).

[0093] The autonomous driving vehicle 20 may perform emergency parking when parking is approved (505), and may continue to travel to the destination when parking is not approved (506). In this regard, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may send destination information and interior image data to the emergency vehicle 10 (507). Such destination information and interior image data may be sent by the server 30 to the emergency vehicle 10. For reference, since the autonomous driving vehicle 20 operates under the management of the server 30, the server 30 may obtain the interior image of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 at any time. That is, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may send the interior image data to the server 30.

[0094] Figure 6 Flowchart of an emergency parking control method for an automatic driving vehicle according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[0095] In process "601", the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can identify the emergency vehicle 10 through various sensors (e.g., front / rear / left / right cameras, ultrasonic sensors, radar sensors, lidar sensors, GPS receivers, microphones, etc.). In addition, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can identify the parking request from the emergency vehicle 10 by identifying what the driver or fellow occupants of the emergency vehicle 10 say. For example, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can use the external features of the emergency vehicle 10 (color, warning lights, text, signs, etc.) to identify the emergency vehicle 10. In another example, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 can use the external features of the emergency vehicle 10 (color, warning lights, text, signs, etc.) to identify the emergency vehicle 10, and use sounds (sirens, parking instruction voices of emergency vehicle occupants, etc.) to identify the parking request from the emergency vehicle.

[0096] In process “601”, emergency parking of the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may be requested via wireless communication from the emergency vehicle 10.

[0097] Then, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may perform an emergency stop (602). In this regard, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may stop at a safe parking position. In this regard, the safe parking position is a specific parking position (which means a position that does not adversely affect the travel of subsequent vehicles), such as a road shoulder, a shelter, an open space, a rest area, etc.

[0098] Thereafter, the autonomous driving vehicle 20 may notify the server 30 of the emergency stop (603).

[0099] Figure 7 The block diagram is a diagram showing a computing system for implementing an emergency parking control method for an autonomous driving vehicle according to various embodiments of the present invention.

[0100] refer to Figure 7The above-mentioned emergency parking control method of the autonomous driving vehicle according to various embodiments of the present invention can also be implemented by a computing system. The computing system 1000 may include at least one processor 1100, a memory 1300, a user interface input device 1400, a user interface output device 1500, a storage device 1600, and a network interface 1700 connected via a system bus 1200.

[0101] The processor 1100 may be a central processing unit (CPU) or a semiconductor device that processes commands stored in the memory 1300 and / or the storage device 1600. The memory 1300 and the storage device 1600 may include various types of volatile or non-volatile storage media. For example, the memory 1300 may include a ROM (Read Only Memory) 1310 and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 1320.

[0102] Therefore, the operation of the method or algorithm described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be directly implemented as a hardware or software module executed by the processor 1100, or a combination thereof. The software module can reside on a storage medium (i.e., memory 1300 and / or storage device 1600), for example, RAM, flash memory, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, register, hard disk, solid state drive (SSD), removable disk, and CD-ROM. The exemplary storage medium is connected to the processor 1100, and the processor 1100 can read information from the storage medium and can write information to the storage medium. In another method, the storage medium can be integrated with the processor 1100. The processor and the storage medium can reside in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The ASIC can reside in a user terminal. In another method, the processor and the storage medium can reside in a user terminal as separate components.

[0103] The above description is merely an example of the technical idea of ​​the present invention, and those skilled in the art may make various modifications and changes without departing from the essential features of the present invention.

[0104] Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical ideas of the present invention, but to illustrate the present invention, and the scope of the technical ideas of the present invention is not limited by the embodiments. The scope of the present invention should be interpreted as being covered by the scope of the attached claims, and all technical ideas falling within the scope of the claims should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

[0105] The method for controlling the emergency parking of an autonomous driving vehicle can identify a parking request from an emergency vehicle, determine whether the current situation is an emergency situation or a general situation, and execute corresponding procedures according to each situation to stop the autonomous driving vehicle.

[0106] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to exemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited thereto and various changes and modifications may be made to the present invention by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as claimed in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for controlling an emergency stop of an autonomous driving vehicle, the method comprising: receiving, by the server, information about the emergency vehicle from the autonomous vehicle; The server obtains situation information from the emergency vehicle; The server determines whether to perform emergency parking of the autonomous driving vehicle based on the acquired situation information. Among them, determining whether to perform emergency parking of the autonomous driving vehicle includes: When the situation information indicates an emergency situation, sending an emergency stop mode activation signal to the automated driving vehicle; When the situation information indicates a general situation, with the consent of an occupant in the autonomous vehicle, sending an emergency parking mode activation signal to the autonomous vehicle; With the consent of an occupant of the autonomous vehicle, sending an emergency stop mode initiation signal to the autonomous vehicle includes: directing an occupant of the automated vehicle to communicate with a driver or fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle when the situation information indicates a general condition; Obtaining consent from occupants of the autonomous vehicle for an emergency stop; When an occupant in the autonomous vehicle agrees to the emergency stop, sending an emergency stop mode activation signal to the autonomous vehicle; When an occupant in the autonomous driving vehicle disagrees with the emergency stop, the destination information and interior image data of the autonomous driving vehicle are sent to the emergency vehicle.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Determining whether to perform an emergency stop of the autonomous vehicle further includes: The autonomous driving vehicle, which receives the emergency parking mode activation signal, parks at a specific parking location.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: Parking by an autonomous vehicle at a specific parking location includes: When no specific parking location is found, the autonomous vehicle continues to drive toward the destination.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The information about the emergency vehicle includes at least one of a type of the emergency vehicle or image data obtained by photographing the emergency vehicle.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Receiving information about emergency vehicles from an autonomous vehicle includes: The emergency vehicle is identified by the autonomous vehicle based on at least one of color, warning lights, text, logos, and sirens.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Receiving information about emergency vehicles from an autonomous vehicle includes: identifying, by the autonomous vehicle, the emergency vehicle based on at least one of a color, a warning light, text, a logo, and a siren; The parking request is recognized by the autonomous vehicle based on the parking instruction speech from the emergency vehicle.

7. A method for controlling an emergency stop of an autonomous driving vehicle, the method comprising: receiving situation information and identification information of the autonomous vehicle from the emergency vehicle; determining whether to perform an emergency stop of the automated driving vehicle based on the received situation information; Among them, determining whether to perform emergency parking of the autonomous driving vehicle includes: When the situation information indicates an emergency situation, sending an emergency stop mode activation signal to the automated driving vehicle; When the situation information indicates a general situation, with the consent of an occupant in the autonomous vehicle, sending an emergency parking mode activation signal to the autonomous vehicle; With the consent of an occupant of the autonomous vehicle, sending an emergency stop mode initiation signal to the autonomous vehicle includes: directing an occupant of the automated vehicle to communicate with a driver or fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle when the situation information indicates a general condition; Obtaining consent from occupants of the autonomous vehicle for an emergency stop; When an occupant in the autonomous vehicle agrees to the emergency stop, sending an emergency stop mode activation signal to the autonomous vehicle; When an occupant in the autonomous driving vehicle disagrees with the emergency stop, the destination information and interior image data of the autonomous driving vehicle are sent to the emergency vehicle.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The identification information of the autonomous driving vehicle includes at least one of the license plate number of the autonomous driving vehicle or the proprietary license plate number of the autonomous driving vehicle.

9. A method for controlling an emergency stop of an autonomous driving vehicle, the method comprising: The autonomous vehicle identifies surrounding emergency vehicles; The autonomous vehicle requests approval of emergency parking from the server; The autonomous driving vehicle determines whether to perform an emergency stop based on an approval result from the server; receiving, by the server, information about the emergency vehicle from the autonomous vehicle; The server obtains situation information from the emergency vehicle; The server determines whether to perform emergency parking of the autonomous driving vehicle based on the acquired situation information; Among them, determining whether to perform emergency parking of the autonomous driving vehicle includes: When the situation information indicates an emergency situation, sending an emergency stop mode activation signal to the automated driving vehicle; When the situation information indicates a general situation, with the consent of an occupant in the autonomous vehicle, sending an emergency parking mode activation signal to the autonomous vehicle; With the consent of an occupant of the autonomous vehicle, sending an emergency stop mode initiation signal to the autonomous vehicle includes: directing an occupant of the automated vehicle to communicate with a driver or fellow occupant of the emergency vehicle when the situation information indicates a general condition; Obtaining consent from occupants of the autonomous vehicle for an emergency stop; When an occupant in the autonomous vehicle agrees to the emergency stop, sending an emergency stop mode activation signal to the autonomous vehicle; When an occupant in the autonomous driving vehicle disagrees with the emergency stop, the destination information and interior image data of the autonomous driving vehicle are sent to the emergency vehicle.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: Identify surrounding emergency vehicles including: The emergency vehicle is identified based on at least one of a color, a warning light, text, a logo, and a siren.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein: Identify surrounding emergency vehicles including: identifying the emergency vehicle based on at least one of a color, a warning light, text, a logo, and a siren; A parking request is identified based on a parking instruction sound from the emergency vehicle.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein: Determining whether to perform emergency parking based on the approval result from the server includes: When approval is obtained from the server, the autonomous vehicle performs emergency parking at a specific parking location; When no approval is obtained from the server, the autonomous driving vehicle continues to drive toward the destination.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: Emergency parking at specific parking locations includes: Displaying a message indicating an emergency stop; Flashing emergency lights; Press the door open permission button.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein: Continuing to the destination further includes: Send the autonomous vehicle’s destination information and interior image data to emergency vehicles.

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