Lateral guidance of the vehicle using environmental data detected by other vehicles

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for laterally guiding a vehicle (10), the method comprising: - detecting environmental data of the vehicle (10) when passing through a road section, - obtaining stored environmental data detected by a plurality of other vehicles (10) that have not currently passed through the road section when passing through the road section, - checking the credibility of the stored environmental data based on the detected environmental data; and - laterally guiding the vehicle (10) based on the environmental data that has been credibility checked. The invention also relates to a device (1) for laterally guiding a vehicle (10).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method and a device for transversely guiding a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle, such as a passenger car or a truck.

[0002] In modern vehicles, in particular in motor vehicles, various driver assistance systems are used. These driver assistance systems generally enable, for example, automated control of the movement of the vehicle and / or automated intervention in the operation of the vehicle, for example to adjust the speed or the steering angle. An example is a so-called lane keeping assistant. In a manner known per se, the course of the road (or lane) in front of the vehicle is detected by sensors. For example, automated countersteering when the road boundary is reached ensures that the vehicle does not unintentionally leave the road.

[0003] In order to provide such a function, the surroundings of the vehicle are detected by sensors. This results in so-called environmental data. The environmental data contain evaluable or evaluated information about the environment and in particular about predetermined environmental properties. For example, the information can specify the course and / or coordinates of a road boundary along the road section ahead. A possibility for detecting environmental data is a camera sensor, in which the desired environmental properties can be determined from the detected camera image by image evaluation.

[0004] A typical application area for the driver assistance functions described here and / or the automated driving control of a vehicle based on environmental data is the lateral guidance of a vehicle. This can be understood, for example, as the vehicle being held in a desired position and / or guided in an automated manner in a lateral direction (which usually extends horizontally and transversely to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle). For example, a permissible movement channel can be preset in the lateral direction, which corresponds to the width of the road. Within the scope of the lateral guidance, it can be ensured that this (virtual) movement channel is not left. However, if this is still about to happen, an automated driving steering intervention can be carried out within the scope of the lateral guidance. Solutions and in particular control units and in particular regulators (which can implement such lateral guidance) are available on the market.

[0005] However, in certain cases, sensor detection of environmental data may not always succeed reliably. For example, the sensor may fail, become contaminated or have other faults. For example, if the road is contaminated or there are other environmental conditions that cannot be interpreted or at least cannot be interpreted correctly based on the sensor data, then the environmental characteristics to be detected may not always be identifiable.

[0006] The object of the present invention is therefore to improve the lateral guidance of a vehicle, in particular with regard to sensory surrounding detection, which is not always reliable.

[0007] This technical problem is solved by a method and a device according to the attached independent claims. Advantageous developments are described in the dependent claims. It is to be understood that all the features and embodiments mentioned at the outset can also be provided in or are applicable to the present solution.

[0008] In principle, the solution according to the invention (i.e. the method according to the invention and the device according to the invention) provides that the lateral guidance is not limited to the data detected by the sensors. Instead, the data of other vehicles that have already traveled the same route section in the past should also be taken into account. In particular, so-called cluster data can be used, which contains and stores data of a large number of vehicles over a longer period of time. The stored data (primarily the environmental data) serves as a reference, because it indicates in what form the environment along the current route section has been detected by other vehicles. In this regard, the vehicle's own sensor data, in particular the environmental data, can be compared with the stored environmental data.

[0009] In particular, the stored data can be checked for plausibility based on the own detected sensor data, or in other words verified. It can then generally be determined that the stored environmental data, if a plausibility check is carried out, can be used for (autonomous driving) lateral guidance of the vehicle in addition to or as an alternative to the environmental data detected by the vehicle. If the plausibility check fails and, for example, the stored environmental data deviate significantly from the environmental data detected by the sensor, then the use of these stored environmental data for (autonomous driving) lateral guidance can be abandoned. Alternatively, the vehicle's own sensor data can be used, for example, in order to react to short-term environmental changes.

[0010] The advantage is that a large amount of already detected environmental data, which has a high and / or verified accuracy as expected, can be used for the lateral guidance of the vehicle according to the standard (if it is credible). These environmental data can be prioritized over the possibly error-prone and less accurate sensor detection of the own vehicle. On the other hand, it is possible to react to short-term changes in the vehicle environment that have not yet been detected by the vehicle (which has previously traveled the route section) because it is possible to switch to environmental data detected by the vehicle currently traveling over the route section. Such differences between the stored and detected environmental data can lead to a failure of the plausibility check, so that the own environmental data detected by the vehicle are preferably selected according to the standard.

[0011] Overall, a solution is provided in which more precise or less error-prone surroundings data are automatically selected for lateral guidance with a higher probability, which increases the operational safety of the vehicle.

[0012] A method for laterally guiding a vehicle is proposed in detail, having:

[0013] - Detecting the vehicle's surrounding data while driving through the road section,

[0014] - obtaining stored environmental data which have been detected by a plurality of other vehicles (which are not currently traveling on the route section) when traveling on the route section,

[0015] - Check the plausibility of stored environmental data against detected environmental data;

[0016] - Lateral guidance of the vehicle is (preferably exclusively) based on (or using) the (stored) surroundings data that have been checked for plausibility.

[0017] The environmental data may in particular be data relating to the road environment, in particular data relating to the road section ahead. The environmental data may describe and / or indicate the environmental characteristics explained below. The detection is advantageously performed autonomously (or independently of the driver), for example by means of detection sensors. In particular, cameras, ultrasonic sensors, lidar sensors, etc. may be used as detection sensors.

[0018] Any environmental data described herein may be provided with location information. Thus, it may be inferred that the location at which the corresponding environmental information or environmental data has been determined. The data may be a digital data set and / or stored in an electrical or digital storage device.

[0019] The environmental data may be output data of a sensor for detecting the environment, or may be determined from such output data (or also output signals). For example, the environmental data may be data about predetermined environmental properties, wherein these environmental properties are determined from image data (as output data) of a camera sensor. This determination and the storage of the detected environmental data may generally be performed by a control unit or control device of the vehicle. In principle, any method steps or method measures described here may be performed by a control device of the vehicle, as will be explained in more detail below.

[0020] The stored environmental data can be stored in a storage device of the vehicle. For example, the storage device can be a navigation memory, or in other words, a memory of a navigation device. Additionally or alternatively, the environmental data can be stored in a storage device outside the vehicle, for example, on a server (especially a cloud server). The vehicle can then access the server selectively or as needed and request environmental data related to the currently traveling, planned or possible road section. The communication connection with the storage device outside the vehicle and especially the server can generally be non-wired. In particular, the communication connection can be a mobile radio connection or an Internet connection. At least a portion of the environmental data stored outside the vehicle can be temporarily stored in the vehicle. This portion can be environmental data related to the currently traveling, planned or possible road section.

[0021] The stored environmental data can already be pre-evaluated at least in part. For example, it can be a mean value of a predetermined environmental characteristic, which is determined based on all stored environmental data transmitted by the individual vehicles. In principle, such an evaluation of the expected value and / or mean value of the predetermined environmental characteristic based on the overall stored or in other words collected or accumulated environmental data can also be performed in the vehicle itself. The environmental characteristic can be the coordinates of a predetermined environmental feature, for example a center line or a road boundary.

[0022] Thus, raw data and / or already evaluated data can be stored as environmental data.

[0023] The vehicle that detects and provides the stored environmental data cannot currently pass through the road section. On the contrary, it can be a fleet or a whole of vehicles that have passed through the road section in the past. This can be done in a long period of days, weeks or months. Therefore, a collection of environmental data detected in a long period of time for a large number of vehicles is generated, which is used as a knowledge base or knowledge database for environmental detection. This is different from the solution that the data detected by the sensor is only exchanged between vehicles that are currently located in the same environment and pass through a common road section. This real-time data exchange assumes that there are actually other vehicles in the area. If this is not the case, then the improvement of driving safety cannot be achieved. In addition, the following problem may also occur, that is, the other vehicle suffers from the same environmental problems as its own vehicle in the sensor detection, for example, due to heavy snow or dirty streets. Therefore, it is not always ensured that even when the other vehicle is located in the environment, the environmental data detected by it is also better in quality than the environmental data detected by itself.

[0024] However, according to the invention it is also possible, for example, to take into account, in addition to the stored surroundings data, surroundings data from other vehicles which are also currently travelling along the same route.

[0025] The plausibility check of the stored environmental data based on the detected environmental data can include comparing these data with one another. In particular, at least one environmental characteristic of the environmental data can be compared with one another.

[0026] If environmental data are mentioned in the plural here, this does not necessarily mean that a plurality of environmental characteristics must be detected. It is also possible to detect only one environmental characteristic, but this environmental characteristic is detected in a position-dependent manner and / or continuously along the road section ahead. Since the position-dependent environmental characteristics are updated multiple times when driving over the road section, a corresponding plurality of individual environmental data are also obtained when driving over the road section (e.g., for each position observed or road section ahead, data about the environmental characteristics present there).

[0027] In particular, deviations of stored environmental data from detected environmental data can be determined during the plausibility check. The greater the deviation, the more likely it is that the stored environmental data are evaluated as untrustworthy. In particular, a maximum permissible deviation threshold value can be defined, which cannot be exceeded for the plausibility check. As will be explained in more detail below, the comparison and / or the deviation can be carried out based on quantitative variables described in the environmental data but described by them, wherein the variables can be in particular the environmental properties already mentioned.

[0028] The lateral guidance of the vehicle can usually be carried out automatically. In particular, the above-mentioned guidance, including possible steering interventions for automatic driving, can be carried out within the permissible movement channel for this purpose. Known control algorithms can be used to determine the impermissible lateral movement of the vehicle based on the current movement parameters and to initiate (automatic driving) countermeasures if necessary. Performing lateral guidance based on environmental data that has been checked for plausibility (or in the following case, based on environmental data detected by the vehicle) can include defining a permissible movement channel and / or at least one insurmountable boundary in the lateral direction based on the environmental data. For example, road markings or road boundaries can be determined based on the environmental data and can define the maximum permissible position of the vehicle in the lateral direction. Accordingly, within the scope of the lateral guidance, it can be monitored whether the vehicle is about to exceed this boundary and can then, for example, be automatically driven to reverse steering.

[0029] An extended scheme provides that the stored environmental data is cluster data. Cluster data can be understood as data detected from a large number of vehicles (for example, more than 10 or more than 100 vehicles) over a period of several days (for example, at least 10 days, at least 30 days or at least 365 days) or during multiple trips along a road section. Multiple vehicles can travel independently of each other, but can still be collectively referred to as a fleet or a cluster. The environmental data detected individually by the vehicles of a fleet or a cluster can be summarized, that is, generally referred to as cluster data, and are preferably correspondingly summarized and / or stored together, for example, in a central database. A common feature of the vehicles is that the vehicles travel over the same road section, which can be determined based on the position information of the environmental data. Therefore, in the cluster data, environmental data exists for multiple trips along the road section. Preferably, the vehicle determines environmental data about preferably common, predetermined environmental characteristics. Cluster data can also be stored outside the vehicle, for example, on the server described above.

[0030] One refinement provides that the surrounding data detected by the vehicle are (preferably only) used or in other words taken into account as surrounding data for lateral guidance if the plausibility check fails (for example because the quality of the detected surrounding data does not meet a required minimum quality).

[0031] Generally speaking, it should be noted that within the scope of the present disclosure, a credibility check can be understood as determining and confirming the quality of the environmental data and / or its persuasiveness, consideration, accuracy or general usability. For this purpose, within the scope of the present invention, the detected environmental data can be used as a reference.

[0032] If the plausibility check of the stored surroundings data fails, this can indicate that, for example, short-term changes have occurred along the route. For safety reasons, a switch can then be made to the surroundings data detected by the vehicle.

[0033] According to a further embodiment, the environmental data relate to different environmental characteristics and a separate plausibility check is performed for each environmental characteristic. Thus, lateral guidance of the vehicle can be performed based on environmental characteristics that have been checked for plausibility. Conversely, environmental characteristics that have not been checked for plausibility can be detected by the vehicle, so that a mixture of stored environmental characteristics and detected environmental characteristics can also be used for lateral guidance of the vehicle based on the result of the plausibility check. This increases safety and accuracy, because each characteristic can be checked individually to see whether it actually reflects the current state.

[0034] In general, it can be provided that the environmental characteristic detected by means of the environmental data or determined from the environmental data is one of the following:

[0035] - road markings or road boundaries on the left side as seen from the vehicle (i.e. in the direction of travel);

[0036] - road markings or road boundaries on the right side as viewed from the vehicle;

[0037] - at least one road edge of a road.

[0038] A road can also be understood here as simply a multi-lane street or a single lane of a multi-lane road. The road markings can correspondingly be lane markings. Usually, the road markings can be center lines or side lines, which can be applied to the road surface in a conventional manner. The road boundary can be a physical barrier (which can at least partially prevent leaving the road) or can represent a collision barrier leaving the road, for example in the form of a bollard, a guide post or a guardrail.

[0039] The outer road edge may correspond to a street edge and / or a transition area to, for example, an unpaved environment.

[0040] The extension provides that information about the routes traveled by other vehicles is also stored. This information is preferably used to check the credibility of the stored environmental data using the environmental data detected by the vehicle. For example, the environmental data can only be observed by vehicles that travel along the same or similar route (or road section). For example, it can be checked whether the route traveled by the vehicle is consistent with the route or road course actually ahead according to the environmental data detected by the (own) vehicle. If this is not the case, the environmental data of these corresponding vehicles may not be taken into account, or more precisely, the environmental data detected by these vehicles cannot be checked for credibility.

[0041] Route information may be stored in or defined based on location coordinates and / or GPS data or other location determining data.

[0042] According to another embodiment, the quality of the stored environmental data is determined for the credibility check with the aid of the detected environmental data. In particular, it can be determined to what extent the environmental data is consistent and / or deviates from the detected environmental data. The quality of the stored environmental data can then be determined based on this. The greater the consistency or the smaller the deviation, the higher the quality may be. In particular, a quantifiable value can be determined as the quality, or in other words, as a quality standard. As explained below, this value can be compared with a minimum quality, which can also be defined as a quantifiable value, and the credibility of the environmental data can only be checked if the minimum quality is met.

[0043] In this case, it can be provided in particular that the quality is determined on a defined and preferably forward section (i.e., along this section) based on a comparison of the stored environmental data and the detected environmental data. The position information of the forward section can be determined based on the currently detected vehicle position and the known detection area of ​​the vehicle sensor. For example, within the scope of the present invention, it is generally possible to determine the road section ahead being observed, for example, whether the detected environmental data is detected in the range of 0 to 20 m, 0 to 40 m, or 0 to 60 m ahead of the vehicle (along the direction of travel). Environmental data with the same position information can be determined from the stored environmental data, and these environmental data can be compared with the detected (ahead) environmental data along the forward route and in particular in a defined forward section of, for example, 0 to 20 m or 0 to 40 m. This represents an effective method for timely determining inadmissible deviations of the stored and detected environmental data.

[0044] The present invention can also provide for determining the minimum quality that the stored environmental data must meet so that the environmental quality is considered to be credible or is assessed to be credible. Here, the minimum quality can be determined according to at least one of the following parameters (and more precisely, according to one of the following parameters).

[0045] -The length of the road section in front of the vehicle, in which the environmental data detected are compared with the environmental data stored. For example, it can be considered that the detection range in front of the environmental data is 0 to 20m, 0 to 40m or 0 to 60m. The larger the road section in front or the road section length in front of the observation, the lower the requirement for minimum quality. This is based on the following conception, that is, the detection in the area far ahead or far away from the vehicle is usually not as accurate as the detection in the area near the vehicle. The smaller the road section size or length mentioned, the higher the requirement for the minimum quality to be met. In general, the minimum quality can define and especially quantify the minimum consistency to be met or the maximum deviation allowed with the environmental data stored and recorded. The high requirement for the minimum quality may be synonymous with the small deviation allowed or the high required consistency. The low requirement for the minimum quality may be synonymous with the high deviation allowed and the low consistency.

[0046] - an environmental property (or a type of environmental property) which is detected as environmental data (or within the scope of environmental data) and compared. It can be considered here with what accuracy the respective property can be fully detected. For example, it may be easier to detect a road boundary or a road marking than to detect a road edge (e.g. a transition from asphalt to nature). The higher the theoretically detectable accuracy of the environmental property, the higher the requirements for a minimum quality that must be met. The lower the accuracy, the lower the requirements for the minimum quality may be.

[0047] - detection conditions during the detection of the environmental data, wherein in particular the environmental data detected by the vehicle can be adapted. The detection conditions can be determined by vehicle sensors. The detection conditions can be, for example, brightness, precipitation, field of view, general visibility conditions or road dirt. The detection conditions can be stored as a component of the environmental data and / or as additional information. If the detection conditions are classified as strict, i.e. a highly accurate detection of the environment cannot be achieved, which can be determined automatically by a control unit of the vehicle and / or evaluated accordingly, then correspondingly low requirements for the minimum quality may apply. Conversely, if the detection conditions are not strict, the requirements for the minimum quality can be increased.

[0048] -The area in which the vehicle is located. This area can be, for example, a geographical area defined on the basis of geographical features and / or map data. However, it can also be an area with a predetermined number of kilometers. It can be determined for this area to what extent stored environmental data exist for this purpose and / or what quality the environmental data in the area (historically) has. If the area is characterized by a small amount of stored environmental data and / or a low quality of the environmental data, then the requirements for the minimum quality to be met can be correspondingly reduced, since a high detection uncertainty can generally be assumed. Conversely, in the case of a large amount of stored environmental data in the area and / or a high quality, the requirements for the minimum quality can be increased.

[0049] - Historical quality of the stored environmental data. In this case, the previously determined quality of the environmental data can be considered independently of the relationship to a specific area and, for example, in relation to the currently observed vehicle and / or route. If the quality is relatively high, the minimum quality requirement can be increased and in other cases reduced.

[0050] -Characteristics of the comparison performed to determine the quality. Here, for example, the commonly expected accuracy of the comparison method used and / or the (e.g. statistical) accuracy parameter determined here can be considered. Generally, for less accurate or error-prone methods, the requirements for minimum quality can be reduced. For example, in a comparison based on the least squares error, different (especially lower) requirements for the minimum quality to be met than in the correlation between the stored and detected environmental data that is usually considered may be applicable. With the least squares method, it is well known that constant deviations in the data (e.g. parallel misalignment of the detected and stored road course) may lead to high deviations, which can be evaluated as less accurate. This constant deviation can have a smaller impact on the correlation, and the correlation can therefore preferably be associated with a higher requirement for minimum quality. Another example of a comparison method is to determine the Hausdorff distance, in which, as in the correlation, high minimum quality requirements may be applicable.

[0051] Depending on the number of parameters considered, the minimum quality can be a multidimensional characteristic curve or can be determined according to such a characteristic curve, wherein the dimensions are determined, for example, by the number of parameters. The parameters can be weighted or weightable. The weighting can be adjusted flexibly. In this way, for example, the minimum quality can be determined according to a linear combination of several possibly weighted single values, wherein the single values ​​are respectively determined as single parameters and / or are determined based on single parameters. The single values ​​can be scale values ​​obtained according to the current value of the corresponding parameter (for example a rating scale of historical quality from 0 (unusable) to 10 (very good)).

[0052] It can also be generally provided that the stored environmental data are only considered applicable to a limited extent. When the maximum permissible age is exceeded, these environmental data can preferably be evaluated as not credible without taking into account other (eg quality) properties, that is to say automatically.

[0053] The invention also relates to a device (or system, combination) for laterally guiding a vehicle, comprising:

[0054] A detection device and a control device for detecting environmental data of a vehicle, wherein the control device is designed to:

[0055] - based on the detected surrounding data, checking the plausibility of stored surrounding data which has been detected by a plurality of other vehicles while driving through the route;

[0056] - Lateral guidance of the vehicle based on plausibility-checked surrounding data.

[0057] The detection device may be a sensor device or a sensor according to the variants described here and usually provided in a vehicle, with which environmental data can be detected.

[0058] The control device can be arranged in a distributed manner in the vehicle, and can, for example, include or access a plurality of separate control components and / or control units. However, the control device can also be a single structural and / or functionally integrated control unit of the vehicle. The environmental data can be accessed by accessing a vehicle bus connected to the control device and the detection device. The detected environmental data can be processed by the control device and / or the detection device, for example, in order to determine the environmental characteristics to be detected as described herein. In order to access the stored environmental data, the control device can access a storage device external to the vehicle (for example, via a mobile radio connection), or can read the environmental data from a (temporary) memory of the vehicle, for example, if the environmental data is temporarily stored in the vehicle after being read from a memory external to the vehicle. Therefore, the control device can generally be designed to read, request and / or receive the stored environmental data, especially from a storage device external to the vehicle. In order to check the credibility of the stored environmental data, for example, any of the above-mentioned types of comparisons can be performed, and / or the quality of the stored environmental data, preferably also the minimum quality to be met, can be determined by the control device.

[0059] In order to carry out lateral guidance of the vehicle, the control device can provide known control functions and in particular use the environmental data to determine a lateral position that should not be exceeded and / or to define a permissible (virtual) movement channel. In addition, the control device can compare the current lateral position of the vehicle with a corresponding movement channel or a common movement boundary and initiate automated driving countermeasures, in particular automated driving steering interventions, if the channel is about to be left or the boundary is exceeded.

[0060] In general, the device may include any additional features and any additional components in order to provide and / or perform all functions, operating states, defects, steps and measures described herein. The device may generally be designed to perform any type of method described herein. In particular, all expansions and embodiments of method features may also be applicable to the same device features or be arranged therein.

[0061] Next, the present invention will be described based on the schematic drawings:

[0062] Figure 1A vehicle is shown, comprising a device according to an embodiment of the invention, wherein the device performs a method according to an embodiment; and

[0063] Figure 2 Shown by Figure 1 Flow chart of a method executed by a device.

[0064] In the following, the same reference symbols may be used across the figures for features having similar or identical effects.

[0065] Figure 1 A vehicle 10 is shown, which is traveling along a street 12 (or route) in a driving direction F. The vehicle 10 comprises an apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the invention. The apparatus 1 comprises a control device 14, which is configured as a single control unit in the example shown. The control unit 14 is wirelessly connected to a server outside the vehicle and more precisely to a cloud server 16 via a mobile radio connection.

[0066] The device 1 further comprises a detection device 15, which in the example shown is a camera sensor. The camera sensor is arranged in the vehicle 10 so that it detects a street section ahead and outputs image data of the street according to the detection frequency. The image data can be evaluated in the camera sensor itself or by the control device 14, i.e. so as to determine the environmental characteristics predetermined therein.

[0067] These environmental features are the left road boundary LF and the right road boundary RF, viewed from the perspective of the vehicle and in the driving direction F. In the illustrated case, the road is equivalent to a single lane of the vehicle 10. The left road boundary LF is the median, the right road boundary RF is the shoulder. The right road boundary RF can also be marked by a transition area from the street 12 to the environment or nature.

[0068] The control device 14 is also designed to determine the current vehicle position, for example based on GPS data or other position detection data. The environmental characteristics LF, RF can be stored based on or related to the position. This can be done in a storage device (not shown) of the control device 14.

[0069] In general, it should be pointed out that the control device 14 may include at least one processor device, in particular a computer processor. The computer processor may execute program instructions stored, for example, in a storage device (also not shown) of the control device 14. By executing these program instructions, the control device may be caused to perform or cause all functions and / or steps and / or measures described herein.

[0070] In the context of the present disclosure, it is generally possible, without being limited to further details of the embodiments, to determine and store the determined environmental characteristics and in particular the position information of the road boundaries LF, RF, in particular in the transverse direction, in an absolute and / or vehicle-external coordinate system. For this purpose, GPS coordinates or other global coordinates can be used, for example. Thus, for each vehicle position, preferably, but in principle also independently of this, the coordinates of the detected road boundaries LF, RF can be determined and stored in an absolute (for example global) coordinate system.

[0071] Also shown is a route R that the vehicle will travel in the depicted state. As the vehicle 10 travels along the street 12 , the route R can be determined based on the actual vehicle position of the vehicle.

[0072] The solution shown assumes that a plurality of other vehicles have already traveled along a similar route R in the past along the street 12 and have also detected the same environmental characteristics LF, RF. It is also assumed that these vehicles transmit corresponding environmental data to a vehicle-external storage device 16. As generally explained above, the environmental data can be stored there, for example, in a position-dependent manner. The driving route R actually traveled by the respective vehicle can also be stored.

[0073] If the currently observed vehicle 10 is traveling along the street 12, then the surrounding data currently detected by the detection device 16 or the control device 14 can be determined. However, it is also possible to determine the stored surrounding data of vehicles that have previously traveled along the street 12 in the area (i.e., in the same section) from the storage device 16. In this case, for example, the relevant surrounding data can be determined based on the route R traveled and / or the vehicle position, which should be as consistent as possible with the position and route R of the vehicle 10 currently traveling along the street 12.

[0074] Next, the stored environmental data are compared with the currently detected environmental data. Specifically, each observed environmental characteristic LF, RF is compared individually with the corresponding stored environmental characteristic. If it is determined here that the stored environmental data, more precisely the environmental characteristics, do not correspond to the currently detected environmental data (this can be determined by the control device 14 by carrying out corresponding comparison and evaluation steps), then the stored environmental data can be evaluated as untrustworthy. Alternatively, the currently detected environmental data and preferably only the detected environmental data can be used for lateral guidance. Conversely, if the degree of trustworthiness is determined, then the stored environmental data and preferably only the stored environmental data can be used for lateral guidance.

[0075] exist Figure 2In step S0, which can be performed continuously and is an optional component of the method according to the invention, a large amount of environmental data detected by the vehicle group or fleet is stored in a vehicle-external storage device 16 in a position-dependent manner. In step S1, a street 12 is driven through with a specific vehicle 10. In this case, the vehicle 10 also continuously detects environmental data and in particular detects the same environmental characteristics LF, RF (which the vehicle has also detected), whose environmental data are stored in the vehicle-external storage device 16.

[0076] In step S2, stored surroundings data are read or requested by control device 14 as a function of the current position of vehicle 10. Subsequently, at least one or any combination of the plausibility check measures explained below may be carried out.

[0077] First, it can be optionally determined whether the routes R of the vehicles that generated the corresponding stored surrounding data coincide with the route R ahead of the currently observed vehicle 10. For this purpose, information about the route R can be stored as a component of the stored surrounding data during the detection of the stored surrounding data and determined by the control device 14. The current route R can be determined, for example, based on known image evaluation algorithms, in particular as the center line between the left and right road boundaries LF, RF. Figure 2 In step S2a, a comparison of the route ahead R according to the stored environment data (or also the cluster data) and the detected route ahead R is performed. If sufficient agreement is determined, the environment data can be evaluated as reliable. Agreement can be expressed, for example, as a deviation in the horizontal plane and / or in the position coordinates of the corresponding route R, or can be determined based thereon.

[0078] Additionally or alternatively, in step S2b, the respectively determined environmental characteristics LF, RF can be compared with the currently detected environmental characteristics LF, RF. For this purpose, for example, the coordinate values ​​of the left road boundary LF can be recorded over a certain distance, which is detected, for example, by the detection device 16. In addition, for the same road section, the coordinate values ​​of the road boundary LF can be determined from the stored environmental area. Figuratively speaking, two maps can be generated in this way, and the correlation and / or distance between these maps can be evaluated.

[0079] For example, mathematical comparison methods, such as the method of least squares or general correlation, can be used to determine the consistency (or deviation) between stored and detected environmental data and preferably for each individual environmental characteristic, whereby the quality G of the stored environmental data can be determined, wherein the higher the quality, the smaller the deviation and / or the greater the consistency with the actually detected environmental data or environmental characteristics.

[0080] This quality G can then be used in step S3 in order to carry out the actual plausibility check.

[0081] For this purpose, it is preferred to first determine a minimum quality M to be met, which can be performed at any time and, for example, also before step S2b. In the manner generally explained above, the minimum quality M makes it possible to determine, depending on the situation, what quality G can actually be expected for the current driving scenario and / or the general operating situation. If a high accuracy for detecting the surrounding data cannot be expected for the observed position or, in general, for the observed operating situation, the minimum quality M to be met can be selected to be correspondingly small. If the opposite is true, the minimum quality M to be met can be correspondingly high.

[0082] In step S4 it is determined whether the comparison of the quality determined in step S3 with the minimum quality M to be met or the comparison of the route R in step S2a resulted in the stored surroundings data being plausible. If this is not the case, it is determined in step S4 that a lateral guidance of the vehicle should be carried out by the control device 14 based on the surroundings data detected by the vehicle 10 itself. If, on the other hand, the stored surroundings data are evaluated as plausible, the lateral guidance is carried out taking into account the stored surroundings data and preferably only based on the stored surroundings data and not on the currently detected surroundings data.

[0083] Reference numerals

[0084] 1 device

[0085] 10 Vehicles

[0086] 12 Street

[0087] 14 Control Device

[0088] 15. Detection device

[0089] 16 Storage devices outside the vehicle

[0090] F Driving direction

[0091] LF Left road boundary

[0092] RF right road boundary

[0093] G Quality

[0094] MMinimum Quality

[0095] R Route

Claims

1. A method for laterally guiding a vehicle (10), the method comprising: - detecting environmental data of the vehicle (10) when driving over a road section, - obtaining stored environmental data which have been detected by a plurality of other vehicles (10) which are not currently traveling through the route section when traveling through the route section, - checking the credibility of the stored environmental data according to a deviation threshold of the detected environmental data and the deviation of the stored environmental data from the detected environmental data; - Lateral guidance of the vehicle (10) based on the plausibility-checked surroundings data.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The stored environment data is cluster data.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: If the plausibility check fails, the surrounding data detected by the vehicle (10) are used as surrounding data for the lateral guidance.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The environmental data relate to different environmental characteristics, and each environmental characteristic is subjected to an independent plausibility check.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that At least one of the following environmental characteristics is detected using the environmental data: - the road marking (LF) or road boundary on the left as seen from the vehicle; - the road marking (RF) or road boundary on the right as seen from the vehicle; - At least one external road edge.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Information about the route (R) travelled by other vehicles is also stored and is used to check the plausibility of the stored surroundings data using the surroundings data detected by the vehicle (10).

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that determining the quality (G) of the stored environmental data for plausibility checking using the detected environmental data, In this case, the quality (G) is determined on a defined route section based on a comparison of stored environmental data with detected environmental data.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that A minimum quality (M) that the stored environmental data must meet is determined, thereby checking the credibility of the stored environmental data.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that: The minimum quality (M) is determined based on at least one of the following parameters: - the length of a road section ahead of the vehicle (10), within which the environmental data detected are compared with the stored environmental data; - an environmental characteristic which is detected and compared as environmental data; - detection conditions during detection of environmental data; - the area where the vehicle (10) is located; - the nature of the comparisons performed to determine quality; -Historical quality of stored environmental data.

10. A device (1) for laterally guiding a vehicle (10), comprising: A detection device (15) for detecting environmental data of a vehicle (10) and a control device (14), wherein the control device is designed to: - checking the plausibility of stored environmental data detected by a plurality of other vehicles (10) while travelling over the route section based on the detected environmental data and a deviation threshold value for the deviation of the stored environmental data from the detected environmental data; - Laterally guiding the vehicle (10) based on the plausibility-checked surroundings data.

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