Method for assisting or at least partially automatically guiding a motor vehicle

Abstract

A method for guiding a motor vehicle (1) in an assisted or at least partially automated manner, wherein position data (13) relating to a current or predicted future position of the motor vehicle (1) are determined, based on which surrounding data (6) relating to the vehicle's surroundings are acquired by at least one sensor device (2), at least one driving intervention (8) is determined based on the surrounding data (6), and at least one vehicle system (4) for executing the driving intervention (8) is controlled, wherein the driving intervention (8) is determined based on the surrounding data (6) by a selected software module (9), the selected software module being selected based on the position data (13) from a plurality of software modules (10) potentially available for this purpose.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a method for the assisted or at least partially automated guidance of a motor vehicle, wherein position data relating to a current or predicted future position of the motor vehicle are determined, surroundings data relating to the vehicle surroundings are acquired based on the surroundings data by at least one sensor device, at least one driving intervention is determined based on the surroundings data, and at least one vehicle system is activated for carrying out the driving intervention. The invention also relates to a motor vehicle. Background Art

[0002] Functions for assisting or at least partially automatically guiding a motor vehicle are becoming more and more important. In assisting guidance, the vehicle typically only guides the motor vehicle longitudinally or transversely, while the remaining driving tasks are retained by the driver. Corresponding assistance systems are, for example, distance assistance or lane keeping assistance. In at least partially automatically guiding, that is, in higher levels of automation classified according to the German Highway Administration or according to the levels of SAE J3016, the entire driving operation is controlled by a system on the vehicle side. In partial automation, the vehicle is guided only by the vehicle itself in special driving situations, for example, when parking assistance is used, and the driver must always monitor the driving operation, but this continuous monitoring is no longer required in higher levels of automated driving. In conditional automation, it is necessary for the driver to respond to the system's inquiries within a limited time and, for example, to take over the vehicle guidance again. In highly automated, on the contrary, the vehicle can be transferred to a safer operating state, even when the driver does not respond appropriately to the corresponding system inquiries. In fully automated, the driving task can be performed without any driver involvement, and automated driving can be achieved without a driver.

[0003] As the degree of automation increases, vehicles need to be able to cope with a wide variety of, especially all conceivable traffic situations, surrounding and environmental conditions in the scope of use without human intervention. As a result, very complex programs are required to identify traffic spaces and trajectory planning. Since high safety requirements must also be met, the protection corresponding to complex programs is also very complex. In particular, small changes in the program can already lead to the need to repeat multiple or even all tests to ensure stable program performance. Unexpected changes may also occur, for example, because changes that should achieve better performance in certain operating conditions deteriorate performance in other operating conditions, or no longer pass certain critical tests, so that corresponding changes in the program cannot be made or can only be made at a higher cost.

[0004] From the publication DE 10 2018 221 924 A1 it is known that in an automated driving system the distance to the vehicle ahead is adjusted depending on the geographical location and the type of road being driven. Here, the distance maintained is typically acquired in a statistical manner on the respective road in order to determine a suitable distance for the road being driven. However, changing a single parameter of vehicle guidance is not sufficient to adapt the driving behavior to the various expected traffic situations, surrounding and environmental conditions that may occur during vehicle guidance. Therefore, very complex programs are also required for vehicle guidance. Summary of the invention

[0005] The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a concept which reduces the development and testing costs for a method for the assisted at least partially automated guidance of a motor vehicle, whereby in particular a high degree of automation can also be achieved with reasonable development costs.

[0006] According to the invention, this object is achieved by a method of the type mentioned in the introduction, wherein a driving intervention is determined based on surroundings data by a selected software module which is selected based on position data from a plurality of software modules potentially available for this purpose.

[0007] It is known within the scope of the invention that for certain local traffic situations, it is significantly easier to implement assisted or at least partially automatic guidance of a motor vehicle than guidance that should be able to handle any traffic situation. It is therefore proposed that, instead of an overall software program for all traffic situations, software modules to be used at certain locations are selected, whereby the individual software modules have a significantly lower complexity than an overall program for guiding a motor vehicle. For example, special software modules can be used for guiding a motor vehicle on highways, for guiding a motor vehicle on state roads, for guiding a motor vehicle through complex intersections, for guiding a motor vehicle through closed smaller villages, etc. As will be explained later, the software modules can also be selected, for example, depending on the weather and / or time of day, so that, for example, separate software modules can also be used for driving at night or during main traffic times or driving in slippery, slick or closed snow layers.

[0008] Since individual software modules can thus be tailored to specific surrounding or environmental conditions and to expected traffic situations, the same guidance quality can be achieved with significantly lower program complexity compared to a guidance program that is suitable for all situations, or the guidance quality can be improved with the same program complexity.

[0009] The software modules are preferably self-contained modules having defined input interfaces for acquiring surrounding data and defined output interfaces for outputting data relevant to driving interventions. As a result, the individual software modules are concise for the surrounding program structure, so that a change in the software module used preferably does not require other program changes. Preferably, only exactly one of the software modules is used in a given case and is only used when the other software modules are selected as the selected software module.

[0010] The software module may include, in particular, functions for identifying traffic spaces from surrounding data and for planning trajectories based thereon. The surrounding data may be sensor data of a sensor device, in particular of a motor vehicle. However, the surrounding data may also be processed data determined by preprocessing such sensor data. For example, the surrounding data may provide an environment model determined from the sensor data, or processing steps may be carried out for scaling, normalizing and preparing for recording sensor data from a plurality of sensors, etc.

[0011] The software modules can be stored in particular on a data carrier or in a database in the motor vehicle. The software modules can be loaded as required, so that, for example, only selected software modules are loaded accordingly. Alternatively, a plurality of software modules can be provided for direct operation, and which of these software modules is used to provide driving intervention can be selected as required. As will be explained later, it is also possible to download some or all of the software modules as required from a device external to the vehicle.

[0012] The sensor device can be, in particular, an imaging sensor device and / or for measuring distances. For example, a camera, a lidar sensor, a radar sensor and / or an ultrasonic sensor can be used as a sensor device or one of the sensor devices. The sensor device, the controlled vehicle system and / or the processing device for running the selected software module can be part of the motor vehicle. Driving intervention can be used, in particular, for fully automatic guidance of the motor vehicle, but only partial guidance of the motor vehicle can also be carried out, for example pure longitudinal guidance or pure lateral guidance. The different degrees of automation used in the case of automated driving methods have already been explained at the beginning.

[0013] By using special software modules for special locations or driving situations associated with these locations, the costs for developing and maintaining programs for guiding an autonomous vehicle can be significantly reduced. In particular, it is known that the complexity of a program that is to determine driving interventions for a variety of situations increases significantly with the number of situations to be considered, which can be avoided by dividing the guidance in different situations among different software modules.

[0014] The individual software modules only need to be designed for individual locations or types of locations and only protected for these. This also enables automated driving vehicles to be brought to market more quickly, since the entire road network does not have to be covered from the outset. Programs for determining driving interventions in certain sections of the road network can be further used as software modules for these sections without having to be redeveloped or adapted for other situations. By dividing the vehicle control over different software modules, these software modules can also be developed independently of one another, by multiple development groups or even by different manufacturers.

[0015] Based on the position data, the type of road and / or the expected traffic conditions at the location can be determined, wherein the selected software module is associated with the expected type of road and / or the expected traffic conditions. In order to realize this classification, map data can be used, for example. In this case, in the map data used, for example, in the navigation system, the road type is typically always assigned to the different sections, that is, information such as whether it is a highway, a state highway or a city center road. In addition, special local traffic conditions can be identified in the map data, such as intersections, entrances, etc. In addition, the expected type of road or the expected traffic conditions can also be related to additional information received, for example, via radio, mobile wireless networks, the Internet, etc. For example, traffic jam reports, the current time, weekdays, etc. can be taken into account in order to predict, for example, weather conditions, such as the time when there is work traffic or night driving, etc.

[0016] In particular, with regard to the type of road or traffic situation, a distinction can be made between standard situations and special situations. In standard situations, for example, a software module suitable for a number of different but relatively simple driving situations, i.e., an "all-rounder", can be used. For special situations, i.e., for example, cluttered intersections, driving in inner cities, off-road driving, driving on slippery or dark roads, etc., special software modules can be used.

[0017] It is possible to use the same software modules for specific traffic situations and / or specific road types in principle. However, it may also be advantageous in some cases to use special software modules for specific locations, i.e., for example, specific individual intersections, etc., or for driving in closed areas, such as in parking lots.

[0018] The driving intervention can be determined by a processing device of the motor vehicle, wherein before the driving intervention is determined, the selected software module is retrieved from a device external to the vehicle via a wireless communication connection. For example, this can be via a mobile wireless network, but also via another network, such as via a Car2X connection. The device external to the vehicle can be, for example, a backend server of the vehicle manufacturer or another server.

[0019] The software modules may be generally available free of charge or may be available free of charge to users of a certain vehicle type or to users of vehicles of a certain vehicle manufacturer. Alternatively, they may only be available to vehicles or users for which a corresponding license has been obtained. It is feasible here that, in principle or when a corresponding license exists, all software modules present on devices external to the vehicle are provided to the motor vehicle, i.e., they may be downloaded, for example, as required. However, it is also feasible that the corresponding license applies only to a partial collection of software modules or to a single software module. Here, for example, it is feasible to provide data packages for certain operating situations, i.e., for example, only for driving on highways or state roads or also only for driving in city traffic. However, it is also feasible to release the use of all software modules for a vehicle or a certain user for a certain area. For example, a data package "Automatic driving in Ingolstadt" may be provided, which provides all modules required for automatic driving in Ingolstadt.

[0020] When connecting to a device external to the vehicle or when accessing a corresponding software module, the corresponding motor vehicle or the user of the motor vehicle can be identified or authorized, for example to ensure that the user is authorized to use the software module or to allow the motor vehicle to use the software module. The corresponding identification or authorization can also be used to carry out a payment process, for example if the user voluntarily wants to purchase a certain software module or software module group in the case of route planning or in a certain driving situation.

[0021] In principle, it is possible to retrieve the selected software module from the device outside the vehicle only when the selected software module is selected for the current position. However, in order to achieve a quick response of the motor vehicle to changing driving situations in an auxiliary or at least partially automatic manner and independently of the quality of the wireless communication connection, it can be advantageous to predict the future driving operation of the motor vehicle or plan the route to be traveled in the future, for example with the help of a navigation system. Corresponding solutions are in principle known from the prior art and will not be explained in detail. In this case, the corresponding software module can already be retrieved from the device outside the vehicle and stored in the local memory of the motor vehicle before the corresponding predicted future position is reached. The software module can be permanently retained here, or it is also possible to retrieve the software module again when the driving route is replanned, for example in order to always have the latest version available and to ensure that the corresponding license exists.

[0022] A future driving route can be planned or predicted for a motor vehicle, wherein the predicted future position is located on the driving route. As already mentioned above, a route planning is carried out, for example to a defined destination, which is known in principle in the prior art. Here, the route planning can also be carried out interactively. In conventional navigation systems, this is used, for example, to choose between particularly fast, particularly energy-saving or scenic routes. As will be explained in more detail later, it is also possible to consider how far a software module adapted to the planned route is prepared to achieve an assisted or at least partially automatic guidance on the driving route that is as continuous as possible. For example, such route planning can be carried out before the start of the journey or also during the journey.

[0023] In principle, it is also known to determine the expected route without a predefined destination. For example, a prediction can be made with respect to the road section to be traveled in the future based on the current driving situation and a statistical evaluation of previous trips of the same motor vehicle or the same user. This prediction of the road to be traveled in the future and thus the future position on the driving route can be used in particular to check in advance whether a software module suitable for guiding the motor vehicle in an assisted or at least partially automatic manner is available at the corresponding position, or, for example, whether a suitable software module should be called up from a device external to the vehicle, whether the user should be asked whether the corresponding permission should be obtained, information that the motor vehicle must be guided without assistance, more precisely manually, is output to the user, external assistance is requested, such as remote control of the vehicle or an external driver getting in the vehicle, etc.

[0024] If a software module is selected based on a predicted future position, it is particularly feasible that the software module is only used to process surrounding data or to determine driving interventions when the motor vehicle reaches this position or enters an area associated with this position, for example when the distance from the position is less than a preset minimum distance or when the road type associated with the position, such as an intersection, state road, motorway, etc., is reached.

[0025] For a predicted future position or a plurality of predicted future positions on the driving route, the corresponding selected software modules can be selected, wherein the motor vehicle is always guided at least partially automatically along the driving route when all selected software modules are retrieved from a device external to the vehicle and / or stored locally in the motor vehicle, or the at least partially automatically guided vehicle is only started when a waiting condition is satisfied, the satisfaction of which is related to the current and / or predicted connection quality of the wireless communication connection. In particular, the driving route can be planned or predicted before the start of the driving or at least before the start of the assisted or at least partially automatically driving operation. If the waiting is carried out until all selected software modules are retrieved or stored locally, it is ensured that all required software modules are available regardless of the connection quality of the wireless communication connection, and thus the vehicle can be guided assisted or at least partially automatically along the entire driving route or at least along the sections of the driving route for which the corresponding software modules are available. Conversely, if it is known that a good connection quality is also predicted when guiding along a section of the driving route, the driving operation can be started before all software modules are retrieved or stored locally. The remaining software modules can then be downloaded during the driving operation.

[0026] In the case that only a group of the available software modules among the potentially available software modules can be used to guide the motor vehicle, the driving route can be planned based on the available software modules. For example, in certain driving situations, it is possible that the wireless communication connection to the device outside the vehicle is disconnected, so that only the locally stored software modules can be used to guide the motor vehicle. It is also possible that for a certain motor vehicle or a certain user, there is no license for part of the potentially available software modules, etc., so that the software module cannot be used or can only be used to a limited extent. In this case, for example, the driving route can be planned in such a way that suitable software modules are preferably provided over the entire driving route or at least over the largest possible part of the driving route to enable auxiliary or at least partially automatic guidance of the motor vehicle. In other words, when planning the driving route, positions can be avoided where no software modules are provided or suitable software modules are only provided conditionally (the software modules, for example, only enable driving at walking speed or driving operation limited in other ways).

[0027] As is known in principle from the field of navigation systems, different factors can be taken into account when planning a driving route, so that, for example, an attempt can be made simultaneously to achieve the lowest possible fuel consumption and the shortest possible route time consumption, wherein, for example, different weights can be assigned to different optimization factors based on user input. Accordingly, within the scope of the method according to the invention, it is possible to let the user select the extent to which a longer distance, driving duration or higher fuel consumption is acceptable in order to achieve the highest possible degree of assisted or at least partially automatic guidance of the motor vehicle. For example, different planned routes can be shown to the user, wherein, for example, sections in which manual guidance is expected to be required in the future can be highlighted in color.

[0028] In cases where not all software modules are available (e.g. because of a lack of corresponding licenses), it is also possible to offer the user the option of purchasing corresponding licenses directly via a user interface of the motor vehicle. For example, the user can be given the choice of accepting a detour and wanting to use a shorter driving route (wherein the assisted or at least partially automatic guidance of the motor vehicle must then be abandoned on parts of the road) or obtaining a corresponding license (with which the assisted or at least partially automatic guidance of the motor vehicle is also possible on the direct driving route, either completely or for a larger part of the route).

[0029] Alternatively or additionally, it is also possible to take into account the predicted connection quality for the wireless communication connection when planning the driving route. For example, it is possible that for at least one section of the optimal driving route, there is no optimal software module for determining the driving intervention because the software module is not stored locally and the wireless connection to the vehicle-external device in which the software module is stored is disrupted at the current vehicle position. In some cases, it is possible to plan the driving route in such a way that before reaching a position where no suitable software module is available, an area with a predicted high connection quality is passed so that the corresponding software module can be downloaded in time.

[0030] When an intervention condition is met (the intervention condition indicates that the software module selected for at least one position on the driving route cannot be used and / or none of the potentially available software modules is optimally suitable for the position), a prompt device can be activated to prompt the user that manual guidance of the motor vehicle is required at the position, and / or an assistance request can be sent to a device outside the vehicle or another vehicle, and / or a preset return software module can be selected for the position.

[0031] The activation of the prompting device can be used to prompt the user that he must manually guide the vehicle in good time because no suitable software module is available for the road section ahead. If the software module cannot be used, for example due to lack of permission, it is also possible with this prompt that the user obtains the corresponding permission. However, it is particularly preferred that the corresponding prompt can already be made during route planning. For example, when showing the planned route, the road section in which manual driving operation is required is indicated in a specific color that is different from the road section with assisted or at least partially automatic guidance. As already explained above, it is also possible that the user can choose between different routes. In this case, it can also be indicated that manual guidance is required on a specific driving route or on parts of it.

[0032] For example, the assistance request can request remote control of the motor vehicle by means of one or more vehicle-external devices. In this case, it is possible, for example, that an operator who remotely controls the vehicle is available at the corresponding vehicle-external device. However, it is also possible that the vehicle-external device reserves an algorithm for guiding the motor vehicle in certain situations, which algorithm cannot be executed in the motor vehicle itself for certain reasons, for example due to high computing power.

[0033] The assistance request can also be a request for the driver to enter the vehicle itself. For example, the vehicle can be guided to a certain position within the scope of the driving route traveled by the vehicle, the driver gets on the vehicle at this position, and the driver takes over the vehicle guidance in the section of the driving route where no suitable software module is available.

[0034] The return software module can be in particular a software module which is suitable in principle for guiding the motor vehicle in many driving situations, but which, since it is not optimally suited, can only be limited to certain limits, such as driving at a limited maximum speed of the motor vehicle, such as walking speed. In particular, when using the return software module, the user is given the possibility to guide the vehicle himself in order to more quickly pass a correspondingly dangerous driving route section.

[0035] The monitoring software module can be used to evaluate quality conditions, the fulfillment of which is dependent on driving interventions determined by the selected software module and / or on diagnostic information provided by the selected software module. The use of software modules for specific locations or road types or traffic conditions enables stable and high-quality guidance with relatively simple software modules. Nevertheless, it can be advantageous to additionally monitor the software module for diagnostic purposes by means of the monitoring software module. For example, the monitoring software module can recognize when driving interventions are suddenly carried out or when undesirable or even dangerous driving situations occur. Additional sensor data, such as data from distance sensors, can also be evaluated.

[0036] If the quality conditions are not met, for example, corresponding information can be collected and provided to the manufacturer of the software module or the motor vehicle. Here, it can be assessed whether better control is not actually possible in the driving situation or whether the software module can be further developed and improved. It is also potentially possible to select another software module or to ask the user to manually assume driving operation if the quality conditions are not met.

[0037] In order to further improve the quality of monitoring by the monitoring software module, the software module can provide diagnostic information to the monitoring software module via a defined interface. For example, the diagnostic information can be the recognition accuracy of objects detected in the surroundings of the motor vehicle, the results of the intermediate steps of the recognition of traffic space or trajectory planning, the object type of the objects detected in the vehicle surroundings, the distance to the object, etc. These parameters can be checked by the monitoring software module, for example, to check the correct functioning of the software module.

[0038] In addition, the selected software module is selected according to a predefined driving destination and / or a current or predicted driving direction of the motor vehicle. This consideration may be performed in the case of the driving route planning explained above or independently of this.

[0039] In addition to the method according to the invention, the invention relates to a motor vehicle which is configured to carry out the method according to the invention. Preferably, the motor vehicle comprises a sensor device for acquiring sensor data and / or a position acquisition device for acquiring a current position or identifying a predicted future position that has already been reached or an associated area. The motor vehicle can have a processing device which runs a corresponding selected software module and is thus configured to determine a driving intervention as a function of the surroundings data. The processing device can be configured to select the selected software module from the potentially available software modules as a function of the position data.

[0040] Furthermore, the motor vehicle according to the invention can be improved by further features explained with respect to the method according to the invention, which have the advantages described here, and vice versa. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] Further advantages and details of the present invention can be found in the following drawings and the accompanying embodiments. Schematically:

[0042] Figure 1 An exemplary embodiment of a motor vehicle according to the invention is shown, with which an exemplary embodiment of a method according to the invention is carried out.

[0043] Figure 2 The method according to the present invention is shown in reference Figure 1 Data processing in the explained embodiments, and

[0044] Figure 3 A flow chart showing another embodiment of the method according to the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] Figure 1 A motor vehicle 1 is shown which is designed for automatic or at least assisted driving. For this purpose, the motor vehicle 1 has a processing device 3 which processes surrounding data acquired by at least one sensor device 2 of the motor vehicle 1 and determines driving interventions therefrom for controlling vehicle systems 4 of the motor vehicle 1. The motor vehicle can be guided substantially without driving interventions, but can also be guided in such a way that, for example, only longitudinal or transverse guidance of the motor vehicle 1 takes place.

[0046] exist Figure 1 , a relatively simple driving situation is schematically shown in which the motor vehicle 1 follows the vehicle 5. However, if automatic or at least assisted driving interventions are to be implemented in complex driving situations, for example when driving through intersections in inner city areas, and if a variety of different driving situations are to be handled, i.e., in addition to driving in inner cities, also on motorways and state roads, or in closed villages, or also in different light and weather conditions, relatively complex programming of the processing device 3 is required for stable guidance in all these driving situations. In order to avoid this, as described below with reference to Figure 2 As explained more precisely, different software modules are used in motor vehicle 1 , from which one is selected as required to process the surroundings data acquired by sensor device 2 and to determine the driving interventions to be carried out.

[0047] As in Figure 2 As shown in FIG. 1 , surroundings data 6 provided by sensor device 2 are processed by selected software module 9 to determine driving intervention 8, according to which vehicle system 4 is controlled. Software module 9 is selected by selection algorithm 14 from a plurality of potentially available software modules 10, which are stored, for example, in a database 11 of motor vehicle 1 itself or in a device 16 external to the vehicle, and can be retrieved from the device external to the vehicle via a communication device 15 of motor vehicle 1.

[0048] In order to determine which of the potentially available software modules 10 is particularly suitable for the current driving operation or for driving operation in a future time period, position data 13 are provided by a navigation system 12 or another position acquisition device, based on which a selected software module 9 is selected by a selection algorithm 14 from the potentially available software modules 10. In the following, it is first assumed that the position data 13 relate to the current position of the motor vehicle 1. However, it is also possible that the position data 13 relate to a predicted future position, as will be described later with reference to Figure 3 As explained in detail.

[0049] Individual potentially available software modules can each be associated with a location or region in which the software module is to be used. However, it is particularly preferred that the potentially available software modules 10 are associated with different road types and / or traffic conditions. For example, with the aid of map data (which are road types) that can be preset for the respective location and optionally based on additional information (such as weather conditions, time (from which, for example, traffic conditions can be derived), construction sites and / or traffic jam reports, etc.), the selection algorithm 14 can determine the expected current road type and the expected current traffic conditions and select a suitable software module from the software modules 10 that is particularly suitable for this road type and traffic conditions based on this.

[0050] The selected software module 9 can then be loaded into the memory of the processing device 3 and can receive the surroundings data 6 via a defined input interface and output the driving intervention 8 to the vehicle system 4 via a defined output interface. In this way, in the method described or in the motor vehicle 1, it is possible to select a software module 9, 10 adapted to the specific driving situation for vehicle control. In this way, high-quality vehicle control can be achieved with the software modules 9, 10 even at a relatively low complexity.

[0051] In some cases, it is possible that only a group of the available software modules 10 is available from the potentially available software modules 10. This can be the case, for example, when only some of the potentially available software modules 10 are stored in the motor vehicle 1 itself and other software modules 10 are stored in a device 16 outside the vehicle, and the wireless communication connection 9 is disrupted. If one of the unavailable software modules 10 is selected as the selected software module 9 in this case, this software module may not be available. As a result, no potential software modules 9, 10 may be available that would allow reliable control of the motor vehicle 1 without problems. This situation can be responded to in different ways.

[0052] If it is determined during the planning of the driving route that no suitable software module is available for a certain position or a certain section of the driving route, the driving route can be planned based on the actually available software modules 9, 10. For example, a detour can be made to avoid driving through such a road section. Additionally or alternatively, the route can be adapted so that a road section with a predicted good connection quality is driven through before reaching the corresponding road section, in order to enable the corresponding software module to be called up by the communication device 15.

[0053] Another possible response to the absence of a suitable software module for the current or predicted future position is to send an assistance request to a vehicle-external device 16 or another vehicle-external device (not shown). This can be used to remotely control the motor vehicle 1 via the vehicle-external device or the other vehicle-external device. For example, here, an assistant can remotely control the motor vehicle with the help of a screen and a control unit provided there. It is also possible that the vehicle-external device 16 can perform more complex software algorithms than the processing device 3, so that the corresponding remote control can be selected in certain operating situations. In principle, it is also possible to send the assistance request to an external driver, for example to his mobile phone, so that the driver can get in the vehicle at a defined position on the driving route and drive the vehicle through a dangerous road section.

[0054] It is also possible that, in the absence of an optimally suitable software module 9, 10, a fallback software module 20 is selected, which can be, for example, a software module suitable for controlling the motor vehicle 1 in a variety of driving situations. Since the fallback software module is not optimally suitable for guiding the motor vehicle, the motor vehicle can be operated with certain restrictions. For example, the maximum driving speed can be limited to walking speed, etc.

[0055] The correct operation of the corresponding selected software module 9 can be monitored by the monitoring software module 7. For this purpose, the monitoring software module 7 can evaluate the driving instructions 8 on the one hand, for example to detect sudden driving interventions. On the other hand, diagnostic information 18 can be evaluated, which can be provided to the selected software module 9 via a defined interface. The diagnostic information can relate, for example, to recognition accuracy, results of intermediate steps, object categories, distances, etc.

[0056] If it is recognized that the selected software module 9 does not function optimally, the collected data can be provided to the manufacturer of the software module 9 via the communication device 15 in order to improve the software module 9 for the manufacturer. In addition, in cases where the quality condition is not met, the selection algorithm 14 can possibly also be triggered to select another one of the software modules 10 as the selected software module 9. If no other suitable software module 10 is available, a corresponding prompt can be output to the user interface 17 via the prompt device 21 in order to prompt the user that manual guidance of the motor vehicle 1 is required, or an assistance request can be sent to the or another vehicle-external device 16 in order to request an external driver or remote control of the motor vehicle 1 as explained above.

[0057] Figure 3A flow chart of another method for guiding a motor vehicle in an assisted or at least partially automatic manner is shown, wherein, in the illustrated embodiment, a driving route is calculated before the start of driving or at least before the start of guiding the motor vehicle in an assisted or at least partially automatic manner, and selected software modules are respectively selected for a plurality of predicted future positions of the driving route. In this case, first, in step S1, the position of the motor vehicle is acquired, for example, by a navigation system. In step S2, the desired destination is acquired, for example, based on a user input by a user on a user interface. In step S3, it is checked which of the potentially available software modules is stored locally in the motor vehicle, for example in a database. Furthermore, in step S4, a potentially available software module is determined that can be used without further restrictions when communication with a device outside the vehicle is realized. Furthermore, in step S5, a software module is also determined that is potentially available, but that additional permissions or the like are required in order to use the software module.

[0058] In step S6, possible routes to the destination acquired in step S2 are then determined. In this case, as is known from the field of navigation systems, different possible routes are determined, wherein optimization is performed with respect to different criteria, i.e., for example, with respect to time requirements, with respect to distance, with respect to fuel consumption, etc. When determining the route, it can be used as an additional condition that software modules suitable for as many road sections as possible for the determined driving route or for positions on the determined driving route are available locally, available without requiring a license and / or fully available. In step S7, different routes are offered to the user via an operator interface for selection. In step S8, it is checked whether all software modules selected for the different positions of the selected driving route are stored locally in the motor vehicle. If this is the case, the method can be carried out directly with step S13, in which the auxiliary or at least partially automatic guidance of the motor vehicle is started.

[0059] If not all software modules are stored locally, a check can be made in step S9 whether licenses already exist for all selected software modules. If this is not the case, the user is asked in step S10 to confirm the purchase of the corresponding licenses. If the user does not want to do this, the method can be repeated starting from step S6 and another route can be determined. Otherwise, a download of the selected software modules that are not yet locally available can be started from a device outside the vehicle.

[0060] In step S11, it is checked whether a sufficient connection quality is possible for the route planned in step S6 and selected in step S7 to download the selected software modules for the road section to be traveled later while driving. If the connection quality is sufficient, the waiting condition is not met in step S11, and the method can be carried out directly in step S13. Otherwise, in step S12, it is first waited until all selected software modules have been downloaded from the device external to the vehicle and stored locally in the motor vehicle, and then the driving operation is started in step S13.

[0061] right Figure 3 The discussion assumes that all sections of the route can always be driven with the appropriate selected software module, at least with the corresponding permission. Figure 2 As explained, the driver is asked to guide the vehicle himself in the corresponding section, a request for assistance in remote control of the vehicle or external driver entry can be issued, or a return software module can be used to implement at least one limited operation of the motor vehicle without driving intervention.

Claims

1. A method for the assisted or at least partially automated guidance of a motor vehicle (1), wherein: Determining position data (13) relating to a current or predicted future position of a motor vehicle (1), acquiring surroundings data (6) relating to the vehicle's surroundings based on the position data by at least one sensor device (2), determining at least one driving intervention (8) based on the surroundings data (6), and controlling at least one vehicle system (4) for executing the driving intervention (8), characterized in that the driving intervention (8) is determined based on the surroundings data (6) by a selected software module (9), the selected software module being selected from a plurality of potentially available software modules (10) based on the position data (13), wherein the motor vehicle (1) Planning or predicting a future driving route, wherein the predicted future position is located on the driving route, selecting correspondingly selected software modules (9) for a predicted future position or multiple predicted future positions on the driving route, wherein, when all selected software modules (9) are retrieved from a device (16) external to the vehicle and / or stored locally in the motor vehicle (1), the motor vehicle (1) is always guided at least partially automatically along the driving route, or the at least partially automatic guidance of the motor vehicle is only started when a waiting condition is met, and the satisfaction of the waiting condition is related to the current and / or predicted connection quality of the wireless communication connection (19).

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Based on the position data (13), an expected road type and / or an expected traffic situation at the position is determined, wherein the selected software module (9) is associated with the expected road type and / or the expected traffic situation.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: A driving intervention (8) is determined by a processing device (3) of a motor vehicle (1), wherein before the driving intervention (8) is determined, the selected software module (9) is retrieved from a device (18) external to the vehicle via a wireless communication connection (19).

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: When only a group of available software modules (10) among the potentially available software modules (10) are available, a driving route is planned based on the available software modules (10).

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that When an intervention condition is met, a prompting device (21) is activated to prompt a user that manual guidance of the motor vehicle (1) is required at the position, and / or an assistance request can be sent to a device (16) outside the vehicle, and / or a preset return software module (20) can be selected for the position, wherein the intervention condition indicates that a software module (9) selected for at least one position on the driving route is not available and / or that none of the potentially available software modules (10) is optimally suitable for the position.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: A quality condition is evaluated by a monitoring software module (7), the fulfillment of which is dependent on a driving intervention (8) determined by a selected software module (9) and / or a diagnostic information (18) provided by the selected software module (9).

7. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The selected software module (9) is additionally selected as a function of a predefined driving destination and / or a current or predicted driving direction of the motor vehicle (1).

8. A motor vehicle, characterized in that: The motor vehicle is configured to carry out a method according to any of the preceding claims.

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