Vehicle control apparatus and method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a vehicle control apparatus including an inner side and a controller. A vehicle control apparatus of the present invention may obtain road information on a road on a driving route based on determining that the driving route of a vehicle includes a toll station, identify a target speed based on the road information, and control the vehicle to travel at a target acceleration. The target acceleration may be determined based on the target speed, a current driving speed of the vehicle, and / or a distance from the vehicle to the toll station.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0111400 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on August 24, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control device and a method thereof, and in particular to controlling the driving speed of a vehicle. Background Art

[0004] As autonomous driving or smart cruise control (e.g., adaptive cruise control) is more widely adopted in vehicles, many technological advances have been made in this field of technology. For example, autonomous driving can be further divided into partial autonomous driving, conditional autonomous driving, highly autonomous driving, and / or fully autonomous driving based on its control level.

[0005] Meanwhile, various types of control algorithms (or functions) for driving control of an autonomous vehicle (eg, an autonomously driven vehicle) are being developed. Summary of the invention

[0006] The present disclosure aims to solve the above-mentioned problems arising in the prior art while maintaining the advantages of the prior art unchanged.

[0007] One aspect of the present disclosure provides a vehicle control device for providing a function of identifying a required deceleration based on road attribute information of a road and controlling a driving speed of an autonomous vehicle when a toll booth exists on a driving route of the autonomous vehicle.

[0008] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a vehicle control device for receiving toll booth information including the location of a toll booth and / or road attribute information from a navigation device using a communication device, and using at least part of the received information to identify whether a toll booth exists or a target speed.

[0009] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a vehicle control device for identifying a target speed for driving speed control of an autonomous vehicle based on different methods according to whether a curved road section exists within a specified distance from a toll booth.

[0010] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a vehicle control device for identifying a lane number change rate before and after an autonomous vehicle enters a toll booth when there is no curved road section within a specified distance from the toll booth, and identifying a target speed based on a deceleration weight identified in response to a predetermined safe speed and the lane number change rate.

[0011] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a vehicle control device for identifying a target speed for driving speed control of an autonomous vehicle based on different methods according to whether there is a curved road section after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth when there is a curved road section within a specified distance from the toll booth.

[0012] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a vehicle control device, which is used to set a target speed to a predetermined safety speed and control the driving speed of the autonomous vehicle when there is a curved road section after the autonomous vehicle passes through a toll booth, and when there is a curved road section before the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth, set the smaller value between the exit speed of the curved road section and the predetermined safety speed as the target speed and perform driving control of the autonomous vehicle.

[0013] The technical problems to be solved by the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and any other technical problems not mentioned herein will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure belongs from the following description.

[0014] According to one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure, a vehicle control device may include: a controller and a memory. The memory may store instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the vehicle control device to: obtain road information about roads on the driving route based on determining that the driving route of the vehicle includes a toll station; determine a target speed for driving control of the vehicle based on the road information; and control the vehicle to travel at a target acceleration. The target acceleration may be determined based on at least one of the target speed, the current driving speed of the vehicle, or the distance from the vehicle to the toll station.

[0015] The vehicle control device may further include a communication device. When executed by the controller, the instructions may further cause the vehicle control device to: receive an indication of a location of a toll booth from the navigation device via the communication device; and determine that the driving route includes the toll booth based on the location of the toll booth.

[0016] When the instructions are executed by the controller, the vehicle control device may receive the road information from the navigation device via the communication device to obtain the road information.

[0017] The road information may include information of at least one of the following: a curved road segment in the driving route, or the number of lanes in the driving route.

[0018] The instructions, when executed by the controller, may further cause the vehicle control device to: determine a lane change rate between a first number of lanes before the lane change location and a second number of lanes after the lane change location based on road information indicating that there is no curved road segment in the driving route within a threshold distance from the toll station. The instructions, when executed by the controller, may cause the vehicle control device to further determine the target speed based on an acceleration multiplier. The acceleration multiplier may be based on a posted speed limit and a lane change rate.

[0019] When the instructions are executed by the controller, the vehicle control device may further store a mapping table that maps lane change rate to acceleration multiplier. When the instructions are executed by the controller, the vehicle control device may further: determine that the acceleration multiplier is inversely proportional to the lane change rate; and determine the target speed based on the acceleration multiplier and the posted speed limit.

[0020] The instructions, when executed by the controller, may cause the vehicle control device to determine the target speed by setting the target speed to the posted speed limit based on road information indicating that there is a curved road section after a toll booth and within a toll booth distance threshold.

[0021] When the instructions are executed by the controller, the vehicle control device may determine the target speed in the following manner: based on road information indicating that there is a curved road section before the toll station and within a threshold range from the toll station, the target speed is set to the smaller value of the exit speed of the curved road section and the posted speed limit.

[0022] The target acceleration may be a first target acceleration. When the instructions are executed by the controller, the vehicle control device may further control the vehicle to travel at the first target acceleration based on the distance from the vehicle to the toll booth being within a first threshold distance.

[0023] When the instructions are executed by the controller, the vehicle control device may further control the vehicle to travel at a second target acceleration based on the distance from the vehicle to the toll station being less than a second threshold distance, the second threshold distance being less than the first threshold distance. The second target acceleration may be determined based on at least one of the target speed, the current driving speed of the vehicle, or the control gain.

[0024] According to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, a vehicle control method may include: obtaining, by a controller, road information about a road on a driving route based on determining that a driving route of a vehicle includes a toll station; determining, by the controller, a target speed for driving control of the vehicle based on the road information; and controlling, by the controller, the vehicle to travel at a target acceleration. The target acceleration may be determined based on at least one of the target speed, the current driving speed of the vehicle, or the distance from the vehicle to the toll station.

[0025] The vehicle control method may further include: receiving, by the controller, an indication of a location of a toll station from the navigation device via the communication device; and determining, by the controller, that the driving route includes the toll station based on the location of the toll station.

[0026] Acquiring the road information may include: receiving, by the controller, the road information from the navigation device via the communication device.

[0027] The road information may include information of at least one of the following: a curved road segment in the driving route or the number of lanes in the driving route.

[0028] The vehicle control method may further include: determining, by the controller, a lane change rate between a first number of lanes before the lane change location and a second number of lanes after the lane change location based on road information indicating that there is no curved road segment in the driving route within a threshold distance from the toll station. Determining the target speed may include determining the target speed further based on an acceleration multiplier. The acceleration multiplier may be based on a posted speed limit and the lane change rate.

[0029] The vehicle control method may further include: determining, by the controller, that an acceleration multiplier is inversely proportional to the lane change rate; and determining, by the controller, a target speed based on the acceleration multiplier and a posted speed limit.

[0030] Determining the target speed may include setting, by the controller, the target speed to a posted speed limit based on road information indicating a curved road section exists after a toll booth and within a threshold distance from the toll booth.

[0031] Determining the target speed may include setting the target speed to a smaller value of an exit speed of the curved road section and a posted speed limit based on road information indicating that a curved road section exists before the toll booth and within a threshold range from the toll booth.

[0032] The target acceleration may be a first target acceleration. Controlling the vehicle to travel at the first target acceleration is further based on a distance from the vehicle to the toll booth being within a first threshold distance.

[0033] The vehicle control method may further include: based on the distance from the vehicle to the toll station being less than a second threshold distance, controlling the vehicle to travel at a second target acceleration by the controller, the second threshold distance being less than the first threshold distance. The second target acceleration may be determined based on at least one of the target speed, the current driving speed of the vehicle, or the control gain. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent through the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

[0035] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing components of a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0036] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing components of a driving control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0037] Figure 3 is a flow chart of a vehicle control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0038] Figure 4A conceptual diagram showing the operation of a vehicle control device when there is no curved road section before the autonomous vehicle passes through a toll booth and after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0039] Figure 5 A conceptual diagram showing an operation of a vehicle control device when there is a curved road section before an autonomous vehicle passes through a toll booth according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] Figure 6 is an operational conceptual diagram of a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0041] Figure 7 is a flow chart of a vehicle control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0042] Figure 8 A computing system of a vehicle control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0043] With regard to the description of the drawings, the same or similar symbols may be used for the same or similar components. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] Some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the exemplary drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals will be used to indicate the same or equivalent components. In addition, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the main points of the present disclosure, detailed descriptions of well-known features or functions will be excluded.

[0045] When describing components according to embodiments of the present disclosure, terms such as first, second, "A", "B", (a), (b), etc. may be used. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element, without limiting the corresponding elements, and have nothing to do with the order or priority of the corresponding elements. In addition, unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical and scientific terms, should be interpreted as customary in the field to which the present invention belongs. It should be understood that the terms used herein should be interpreted as having meanings consistent with their meanings in the context of the present disclosure and the relevant technology, and unless clearly defined herein, should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense.

[0046] A vehicle control device that can execute a control algorithm to set a target speed for driving control of an autonomous vehicle using information about at least one of a relative distance between an autonomous vehicle and a preceding vehicle (or a front vehicle), a relative speed between the autonomous vehicle and the preceding vehicle (or a front vehicle), and a relative acceleration between the autonomous vehicle and the preceding vehicle (or a front vehicle), or any combination thereof, and to control a headway distance to be maintained at a specific value. As an example, such a control algorithm may include a longitudinal advanced driver assistance system (ADAS).

[0047] For example, the vehicle control device may control the driving speed of the autonomous vehicle by further using various driving information. As an example, the vehicle control device may obtain navigation information about the driving environment of the autonomous vehicle from a navigation device, and may control to reduce the longitudinal driving speed of the autonomous vehicle based on at least one of the position of a specific point in front of the autonomous vehicle, road information, crackdown section information, or speed limit information, or any combination thereof.

[0048] However, when executing driving control of the autonomous vehicle, when the presence of a toll booth is recognized ahead of the autonomous vehicle, when the increase or decrease in the number of lanes on the road is not recognized when the autonomous vehicle enters or passes through a toll booth, when acceleration control is performed, a dangerous situation occurs in which the autonomous vehicle collides with the outside, or the vehicle control device provides an uncomfortable driving feeling to the user.

[0049] The following will refer to Figures 1 to 8 Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail.

[0050] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing components of a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0051] According to one embodiment, the vehicle control device 100 may include: at least one of a communication device 110 , a memory 120 , and a controller 130 , or any combination thereof. Figure 1 The components of the vehicle control device 100 shown in FIG. 1 are illustrative, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, the vehicle control device 100 may further include Figure 1 Components not shown (e.g., at least one or a combination of an interface, a sensor device, or a display).

[0052] According to one embodiment, the communication device 110 may obtain (or identify) various information for driving the autonomous vehicle.

[0053] According to one embodiment, the communication device 110 may assist in establishing a communication channel (e.g., a wireless communication channel) between the vehicle control device 100 and an external device (e.g., a navigation device), and communicate through the established communication channel. For example, the communication device 110 may include one or more communication processors (e.g., an application processor) that operate independently of the controller 130 and support direct (e.g., wired) communication or wireless communication.

[0054] For example, the communication device 110 may include a wireless communication module (e.g., a cellular communication module, a short-range wireless communication module, or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) communication module), or a wired communication module (e.g., a local area network (LAN) communication module or a power line communication module). A corresponding communication module among these communication modules may communicate with an external device through a first network (e.g., a short-range communication network such as Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) Direct, or Infrared Data Association (IrDA)) or a second network (e.g., a long-range communication network such as a traditional cellular network, a fifth generation (5G) network, a next generation communication network, the Internet, or a computer network (e.g., a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN)). Such several types of communication modules may be integrated into one component (e.g., a single chip), or may be implemented as multiple components (e.g., multiple chips) independent of each other. In addition, the communication device 110 and the controller 130 may be implemented as a single chip.

[0055] For example, the communication device 110 may transmit and receive various data based on communication with an external device.

[0056] As an example, the communication device 110 may receive toll station information from the navigation device. The toll station information may include, for example, location information of each of at least one toll station adjacent to the autonomous vehicle. The controller 130 may identify the location of a toll station existing on the driving route of the autonomous vehicle based on the toll station information.

[0057] As an example, the communication device 110 may receive navigation information about the driving condition of the autonomous vehicle from the navigation device. The navigation information may include, for example, road attribute information about the road from the current position of the autonomous vehicle to a specific point after the autonomous vehicle passes through a toll booth. The road attribute information may include, for example, information about whether there is a curved road section or the number of lanes (e.g., quantity) in the driving route, or any combination thereof.

[0058] According to one embodiment, the memory 120 may store commands or data. For example, the memory 120 may store one or more instructions that, when executed by the controller 130, cause the vehicle control device 100 to perform various operations.

[0059] For example, the memory 120 and the controller 130 may be implemented as one chipset. The controller 130 may include at least one of a communication processor or a modem.

[0060] For example, the memory 120 may store various information associated with the vehicle control device 100. As an example, the memory 120 may store information about the operation history of the controller 130. As an example, the memory 120 may store information associated with the state and / or operation of a component of the autonomous vehicle (e.g., at least one of the engine control unit (ECU), the communication device 110, or the controller 130, or any combination thereof).

[0061] For example, the memory 120 may store at least one mapping table. As an example, the memory 120 may store a mapping table regarding a lane number change rate (e.g., a ratio between the number of lanes before the change and the number of lanes after the change) and an acceleration multiplier (e.g., weight). The acceleration multiplier may be applied (e.g., by multiplication) to a value to determine an appropriate (e.g., safe) acceleration. The acceleration may be positive (e.g., an increase in speed) or negative (e.g., a decrease in speed). The mapping table may store, for example, a state in which the acceleration multiplier is set to be inversely proportional to the magnitude of the lane number change rate.

[0062] According to one embodiment, the controller 130 may be operably connected to the communication device 110 and / or the memory 120. For example, the controller 130 may control the operation of the communication device 110 and / or the memory 120.

[0063] For example, the controller 130 may identify whether there is a toll booth on the autonomous vehicle's driving route.

[0064] As one example, the controller 130 may identify whether there is a toll booth on a driving route that the autonomous vehicle is expected to travel based on toll booth information including location information of at least one toll booth.

[0065] As one example, the controller 130 may receive toll booth information from the navigation device using the communication device 110. The controller 130 may use the received toll booth information to identify whether there is a toll booth on the driving route of the autonomous vehicle.

[0066] For example, when a toll booth exists, the controller 130 may identify road attribute information about a road on the driving route.

[0067] As an example, when there is a toll booth on the driving route that the autonomous vehicle is expected to travel, the controller 130 may identify road attribute information of the road before the autonomous vehicle passes through (or enters) the toll booth and / or road attribute information of the road from the autonomous vehicle to a specific point after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth.

[0068] As one example, the controller 130 may receive road attribute information from the navigation device using the communication device 110 .

[0069] As an example, the road attribute information may include information on whether there is a curved road segment or the number (e.g., quantity) of lanes in the driving route, or any combination thereof. The controller 130 may identify the lane number change rate based on the number of lanes in the driving route included in the road attribute information.

[0070] For example, the controller 130 may identify a target speed for driving control of the autonomous vehicle based on the road attribute information.

[0071] For example, the controller 130 may identify whether there is a curved road section within a specified distance from a toll booth present at a point ahead of the autonomous vehicle based on the road attribute information. In other words, the controller 130 may identify whether there is a curved road section within a specified road section on the driving route from the toll booth (e.g., a road section within a first distance before the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth and / or a road section within a second distance after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth).

[0072] As an example, when it is identified based on the road attribute information that there is no curved road section within a specified distance from the toll station, the controller 130 may determine the lane number change rate before and after the autonomous vehicle enters the toll station. As an example, when it is identified that there is no curved road section in a certain section between the autonomous vehicle and the toll station (for example, within a specified distance from the toll station), the controller 130 may identify the target speed based on a predetermined safe speed (for example, 80 km / h), the lane number change rate, and an acceleration multiplier identified in response to the lane number change rate. The safe speed may be a marked speed limit associated with the road leading to the toll station. The controller 130 may identify, for example, an acceleration multiplier corresponding to the lane number change rate based on a mapping table stored in the memory 120. The acceleration multiplier may be set to be inversely proportional to, for example, the size of the lane number change rate.

[0073] As one example, when identifying the presence of a curved road section within a specified distance from a toll booth based on the road attribute information, the controller 130 may identify whether the curved road section exists after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth.

[0074] When there is a curved road section on the driving route after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth, the controller 130 may set the target speed to a predetermined safety speed (e.g., 80 km / h) and may control the autonomous vehicle to travel. In other words, when it is recognized that there is a curved road section after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth, the controller 130 may determine that the curved road section has a very low impact on the safety of the autonomous vehicle passing through the toll booth and may set the target speed to the predetermined safety speed.

[0075] When there is a curved road section on the driving route before the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth, the controller 130 may set the value of either the exit speed of the curved road section or the predetermined safety speed as the target speed for driving control (e.g., acceleration control) of the autonomous vehicle. For example, the controller 130 may set the smaller value between the exit speed of the curved road section and the predetermined safety speed as the target speed, and may control the autonomous vehicle to travel.

[0076] For example, controller 130 may control the autonomous vehicle to travel based on a first target acceleration that may be positive or negative. The first target acceleration may be identified based on at least one of the autonomous vehicle's real-time driving speed, the target speed, or the distance from the autonomous vehicle's current location to the toll station, or any combination thereof, starting from a point at which the autonomous vehicle's remaining distance to the toll station is less than or equal to a first threshold distance (e.g., 600 m to 1000 m).

[0077] As an example, when the distance between the autonomous vehicle and the toll booth is less than or equal to a first threshold distance, the controller 130 may determine a first target acceleration based on at least some of the above-mentioned acceleration control parameters, and may perform acceleration control of the autonomous vehicle based on the first target acceleration.

[0078] For example, controller 130 may control the autonomous vehicle based on a second target acceleration, where the second target acceleration is identified from a point where the remaining distance of the autonomous vehicle to reach the toll station is less than or equal to a second threshold distance (e.g., 300 m) that is less than the first threshold distance to a point after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll station (e.g., a point where the autonomous vehicle passes 165 m through the toll station) based on at least one of the real-time driving speed, the target speed, or the control gain of the autonomous vehicle, or any combination thereof.

[0079] As an example, when the distance between the autonomous vehicle and the toll booth is less than or equal to the second threshold distance, before the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth, the controller 130 may perform acceleration control of the autonomous vehicle based on the second target acceleration.

[0080] As an example, after the autonomous vehicle passes through a toll booth, when the distance between the autonomous vehicle and the toll booth is less than or equal to a third threshold distance (eg, 165 m), the controller 130 may perform acceleration control of the autonomous vehicle based on the second target acceleration.

[0081] As one example, the controller 130 may reduce the driving speed of the autonomous vehicle at the second target acceleration to a greater deceleration rate (eg, a more negative acceleration) than at the first target acceleration.

[0082] Figure 1The components of the vehicle control device 100 shown are illustrative, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, the vehicle control device 100 may further include a sensor device (not shown).

[0083] For example, the sensor device may include at least one sensor including at least one of a camera, radio detection and ranging (RADAR), or light detection and ranging (LiDAR), or any combination thereof.

[0084] For example, the sensor device may directly sense road attribute information about the road on which the autonomous vehicle is traveling.

[0085] For example, the sensor device may identify information about the driving condition of the autonomous vehicle (eg, at least one of a real-time driving speed, a driving acceleration, or a driving direction, or any combination thereof).

[0086] The above-mentioned operations of the sensor device may be performed by the control of the controller 130 .

[0087] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing components of a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0088] According to one embodiment, a vehicle control device (e.g., Figure 1 The vehicle control device 100 may include at least one of a toll station existence determination device 210, a toll station front and rear state determination device 220, and a longitudinal controller 230, or any combination thereof.

[0089] Figure 2 The components shown are illustrative, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. Figure 2 At least some of the components shown in FIG. 1 may be implemented as Figure 1 In other words, at least some operations of at least one component to be described below may be implemented by the controller 130 of the embodiment of the present invention or may be implemented as one chip together with the controller 130. Figure 1 The controller 130 (or the control of the controller 130) is executed.

[0090] For example, the toll booth existence determination device 210 may identify whether a toll booth exists.

[0091] As one example, the toll booth existence determination device 210 may identify whether there is a toll booth on the driving route of the autonomous vehicle.

[0092] As an example, the toll station existence determination device 210 may identify toll station information including position information of a toll station existing in front of the autonomous vehicle on the driving route based on the toll station information obtained by means of the navigation device. The toll station existence determination device 210 may identify, for example, a toll station existing on the driving route of the autonomous vehicle based on the toll station information.

[0093] For example, the toll booth front-back state determination device 220 may identify road information in a designated area before and after the toll booth.

[0094] As an example, the toll booth pre- and post-state determination device 220 may identify the number (eg, quantity) of lanes on a road in the vicinity of the toll booth. The toll booth pre- and post-state determination device 220 may identify, for example, a rate of change in the number of lanes.

[0095] As an example, the toll booth pre- and post-state determining device 220 may verify whether the toll booth identified by means of the toll booth existence determining device 210 exists.

[0096] As an example, when verifying the existence of a toll booth, the toll booth front-rear state determination device 220 may identify road attribute information within a specified distance from the toll booth based on the location of the toll booth.

[0097] As an example, the toll booth front-rear state determination device 220 may identify whether there is a curved road section within a specified distance from the toll booth based on the road attribute information before the autonomous vehicle enters the toll booth.

[0098] As an example, the toll booth pre- and post-state determination device 220 may identify whether there is a curved road section after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth or before the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth based on the road attribute information.

[0099] As one example, the toll booth front-rear state determination device 220 may identify a safe speed based on the road attribute information, and may identify a target speed based on the safe speed.

[0100] For example, when it is identified that there is no curved road section within a specified distance from the toll station, the toll station front and rear state determination device 220 may identify the lane number change rate before and after the autonomous vehicle enters the toll station. For example, the toll station front and rear state determination device 220 may identify the target speed based on an acceleration multiplier corresponding to the lane number change rate before and after the autonomous vehicle enters the toll station, and a predetermined safety speed. As an example, the toll station front and rear state determination device 220 may identify the target speed based on multiplying the safety speed by the acceleration multiplier.

[0101] For example, when it is recognized that there is a curved road section within a specified distance from the toll station, the toll station front and rear state determination device 220 may recognize whether there is a curved road section before the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll station and after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll station. For example, when there is a curved road section after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll station, the toll station front and rear state determination device 220 may set a predetermined safety speed as a target speed, and may control the autonomous vehicle to travel. For example, when there is a curved road section before the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll station, the toll station front and rear state determination device 220 may set a smaller value between the real-time exit speed of the autonomous vehicle from the curved road section and the predetermined safety speed as a target speed, and may control the autonomous vehicle to travel.

[0102] As one example, the toll booth front-rear state determination device 220 may identify the distance from the real-time current position of the autonomous vehicle to the toll booth, and transmit the identified distance to the longitudinal controller 230 .

[0103] As an example, the toll booth front-rear state determination device 220 may transmit the target speed identified based on at least a portion of the road attribute information to the longitudinal controller 230 .

[0104] For example, when there is a valid control target (eg, a toll booth), the longitudinal controller 230 may identify the longitudinal acceleration of the autonomous vehicle based on the type of the control target, the road information, and / or the position information.

[0105] As one example, longitudinal controller 230 may collect information for passing through toll booths present on a driving route of the autonomous vehicle, and may identify the longitudinal acceleration rate based on at least some of the collected information.

[0106] The longitudinal controller 230 may identify the target acceleration using, for example, at least one of the real-time driving speed of the autonomous vehicle, the target speed, the distance to the toll booth, or the control gain, or any combination thereof.

[0107] Longitudinal controller 230 may use the target acceleration identified based on different parameters to, for example, perform acceleration control of the autonomous vehicle according to the size of the gap between the autonomous vehicle and the toll booth.

[0108] Figure 3 is a flowchart of a vehicle control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0109] According to one embodiment, a vehicle control device (e.g., Figure 1 The vehicle control device 100) can execute Figure 3 For example, at least some components (e.g., Figure 1 The communication device 110, memory 120 and / or controller 130) may be configured to perform Figure 3operation.

[0110] The operations in S310 to S340 in the following embodiments may be performed sequentially, but not necessarily sequentially. For example, the order of the operations may be changed, and at least two operations may be performed in parallel. Figure 3 Content that corresponds to or repeats the above content.

[0111] According to one embodiment, in S310 , the vehicle control device may verify whether a toll booth exists.

[0112] For example, the vehicle control device may identify whether there is at least one toll booth ahead of the autonomous vehicle on the driving route of the autonomous vehicle based on the toll booth information received from the navigation device.

[0113] For example, the vehicle control device may identify the distance between the identified toll booth and the ego vehicle.

[0114] According to one embodiment, in S320 , the vehicle control device may identify a road attribute of a location of a toll booth.

[0115] For example, the vehicle control device may identify road information before the autonomous vehicle passes a toll booth on the driving route and / or road attribute information about the road after the autonomous vehicle passes the toll booth based on the road attribute information received from the navigation device.

[0116] For example, the road attribute information may include information on at least one of the presence or absence of a curved road segment, the location of a curved road segment, or the number (eg, quantity) of lanes in the driving route, or any combination thereof.

[0117] According to one embodiment, in S330 , the driving control device may calculate a safe speed according to road properties.

[0118] For example, the vehicle control device may identify a safe speed and / or a target speed based on the road attribute information, using at least one of or any combination of whether there is a curved road section before the autonomous vehicle passes through a toll station, whether there is a curved road section after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll station, or the rate of change of the number of lanes before and after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll station.

[0119] According to one embodiment, in S340 , the vehicle control device may input information about a control target.

[0120] For example, the vehicle control device may send a signal to a longitudinal controller (e.g., Figure 2 The longitudinal controller 230 of the autonomous vehicle transmits information about the identification of a control target (e.g., a toll booth) (e.g., at least one of a target speed, a location of the toll booth, a spacing between the autonomous vehicle and the toll booth, or a lane number change rate in an area near the toll booth, or any combination thereof).

[0121] For example, the vehicle control device may identify a target acceleration based on at least part of the information transmitted to the longitudinal controller, and may perform acceleration control of the autonomous vehicle based on the target acceleration.

[0122] Figure 4 A conceptual diagram showing an operation of a vehicle control device when there is no curved road section before and after the autonomous vehicle passes through a toll booth according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0123] Reference Figure 4 According to one embodiment, a vehicle control device (e.g., Figure 1 The vehicle control device 100 may identify the target speed based on the amount of change in the number of lanes (eg, quantity) in a road section before and after the autonomous vehicle 401 passes through the toll booth 450, with the aid of a weight.

[0124] According to one embodiment, the vehicle control device may recognize that the number of lanes in the first road section 410 increases before the autonomous vehicle 401 passes through the toll booth 450 .

[0125] For example, the vehicle control device may recognize that the number of lanes increases from 2 to 5 in the first road section 410 . Therefore, the vehicle control device may recognize that the rate of change of the number of lanes is greater than 2 in the first road section 410 .

[0126] For example, based on a memory device (e.g., Figure 1 The vehicle control device may recognize that the acceleration multiplier is 0.9 when the lane number change rate is greater than 2. Such numerical values ​​are illustrative, and embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0127] According to one embodiment, the vehicle control device may recognize that the number of lanes in the second road section 420 is reduced after the autonomous vehicle 401 passes through the toll booth 450 .

[0128] For example, the vehicle control device may recognize that the number of lanes is reduced from 5 to 3 in the second road section 420. Therefore, the vehicle control device may recognize that the lane number change rate is less than 1 in the second road section 420.

[0129] For example, when the lane number change rate is less than 1, the vehicle control device may recognize that the acceleration multiplier is 1 based on the mapping table stored in the memory. Such numerical values ​​are illustrative, and embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0130] although Figure 4Although not shown in the figure, the acceleration multiplier corresponding to the lane number change rate being greater than or equal to 1 and less than 2 may be between 1 and 0.9 (e.g., 0.95). In other words, the acceleration multiplier stored in the mapping table may be set to be inversely proportional to the lane number change rate. Meanwhile, the above numerical values ​​are illustrative, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0131] Figure 5 A conceptual diagram showing an operation of a vehicle control device when there is a curved road section before an autonomous vehicle passes through a toll booth according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0132] Reference Figure 5 According to one embodiment, when there is a curved road section 510 before the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth 550, the vehicle control device (e.g., Figure 1 The vehicle control device 100) may set the target speed based on the following embodiments.

[0133] For example, when the autonomous vehicle is traveling at the first point 501-1, the vehicle control device may recognize that there is a toll booth 550 on the driving route. In other words, the vehicle control device may recognize that the driving route of the autonomous vehicle includes a route in which the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth 550 from the first point 501-1 through the curved road section 510.

[0134] For example, the vehicle control device may perform acceleration control of the autonomous vehicle at the second point 501-2 included in the curved road segment 510. For example, the vehicle control device may perform driving control of the autonomous vehicle based on a curved road segment target speed identified based on at least one of the curvature of the curved road segment, the segment length, the driving performance of the autonomous vehicle, or the actual driving speed, or any combination thereof.

[0135] For example, the vehicle control device may identify the exit speed of the autonomous vehicle at the curved road segment exit point 515. As an example, the vehicle control device may identify the exit speed of the autonomous vehicle at the curved road segment exit point 515 in real time.

[0136] For example, the vehicle control device may compare the curve section exit speed with the safety speed at the third point 501-3 after the autonomous vehicle exits (or leaves) the curve section 510. As an example, the vehicle control device may compare a predetermined safety speed (e.g., 80 km / h) with the curve section exit speed.

[0137] As an example, when the curve section exit speed is less than a predetermined safety speed, the vehicle control device may set the curve section exit speed as the target speed.

[0138] As an example, when the exit speed of the curved road section is greater than a predetermined safety speed, the vehicle control device may set the predetermined safety speed as the target speed.

[0139] Figure 6 is an operational conceptual diagram of a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0140] Reference Figure 6 According to one embodiment, when identifying whether there is a toll booth 650, the vehicle control device (e.g., Figure 1 The vehicle control device 100) can perform acceleration control of the autonomous vehicle based on various information.

[0141] According to one embodiment, when there is a toll station 650 on the driving route of the autonomous vehicle, the vehicle control device may set a target speed based on at least one of the toll station information or the road attribute information or any combination thereof, and may perform acceleration control of the autonomous vehicle based on a target acceleration, wherein the target acceleration is identified based on at least one of the target speed, the real-time driving speed of the autonomous vehicle, the distance to the toll station 650, or the control gain or any combination thereof.

[0142] According to one embodiment, when recognizing the presence of toll booth 650 , the vehicle control device may recognize the target acceleration of acceleration control for acceleration control duration s1 . For example, the vehicle control device may control the autonomous vehicle based on driving direction 690 of the autonomous vehicle passing through toll booth 650 .

[0143] For example, during a period from a first point 610 at a first threshold distance (e.g., 600 m to 1000 m) from a toll station 650 to a second point 620 at a second threshold distance (e.g., 300 m) from the toll station 650, the vehicle control device may determine the acceleration based on the first target acceleration a. req1 To perform acceleration control of the autonomous vehicle, the first target acceleration is based on the following equation 1.

[0144] [Equation 1]

[0145]

[0146] For example, the vehicle control device may be based on the first target acceleration a req1 To perform acceleration control of the autonomous vehicle, the first target acceleration is based on the target speed V tar , the real-time driving speed V of the autonomous vehicle sub and the distance S between the autonomous vehicle and the toll booth 650 distance to identify.

[0147] For example, during a second duration s2 from a second point 620 at a second threshold distance (e.g., 300 m) from the toll booth 650 to the toll booth 650 and a third duration s3 from the toll booth 650 to a third point 630 at a third threshold distance (e.g., 165 m) from the autonomous vehicle, the vehicle control device may control the autonomous vehicle based on the second target acceleration a.req2 To perform acceleration control of the autonomous vehicle, the second target acceleration is based on the following equation 2.

[0148] [Equation 2]

[0149] a req2 =(V tar -V sub )×gain

[0150] For example, the vehicle control device may be based on the second target acceleration a req2 To perform acceleration control of the autonomous vehicle, the second target acceleration is based on the target speed V tar , the real-time driving speed V of the autonomous vehicle sub The control gain may be, for example, a parameter configured to calculate a greater target acceleration. The control gain may be a predetermined value, which may be, for example, a set value that can be changed by a user and / or a developer.

[0151] Figure 7 is a flowchart of a vehicle control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0152] According to one embodiment, a vehicle control device (e.g., Figure 1 The vehicle control device 100) can execute Figure 7 For example, at least some components (e.g., Figure 1 The communication device 110, memory 120 and / or controller 130) may be configured to perform Figure 7 operation.

[0153] The operations in S710 to S740 in the following embodiments may be performed sequentially, but not necessarily sequentially. For example, the order of the operations may be changed, and at least two operations may be performed in parallel. Figure 7 Content that corresponds to or repeats the above content.

[0154] According to one embodiment, in S710 , the vehicle control device may identify whether there is a toll booth.

[0155] For example, the vehicle control device may identify at least one of whether there is a toll booth or a remaining distance to the toll booth ahead of the autonomous vehicle on the driving route of the autonomous vehicle, or any combination thereof, using toll booth information received from the navigation device via the communication device.

[0156] According to one embodiment, in S720, the vehicle control device may identify road attribute information about roads on the driving route.

[0157] For example, the vehicle control device may receive road attribute information of an area near a toll booth on a driving route from the navigation device via the communication device.

[0158] For example, the road attribute information may include information on at least one of the presence or absence of a curved road segment, the location of a curved road segment, and the number of lanes in the driving route, or any combination thereof.

[0159] According to one embodiment, in S730 , the vehicle control device may identify a target speed for driving control of the autonomous vehicle based on the road attribute information.

[0160] For example, the vehicle control device may identify the target speed using at least one of the presence or absence of a curved road segment, the location of the curved road segment, the lane number change rate in the driving route, the acceleration multiplier corresponding to the lane number change rate, the curved road segment exit speed, or any combination thereof.

[0161] According to one embodiment, in S740, the vehicle control device may control the autonomous vehicle based on a target acceleration identified based on at least one of a target speed, a real-time driving speed of the autonomous vehicle, or a distance to a toll booth, or any combination thereof.

[0162] For example, vehicle controls may decelerate the autonomous vehicle based on the target acceleration.

[0163] For example, the vehicle control device may decelerate the autonomous vehicle based on a first target acceleration from a point where the remaining distance of the autonomous vehicle to reach the toll station is less than or equal to a first threshold distance (e.g., 600m to 1000m), where the first target acceleration is identified based on at least one of the autonomous vehicle's real-time driving speed, the target speed, or the distance to the toll station, or any combination thereof.

[0164] For example, the vehicle control device may decelerate the autonomous vehicle based on a second target acceleration from a point where the remaining distance of the autonomous vehicle to reach the toll station is less than or equal to a second threshold distance (e.g., 300 m) that is less than the first threshold distance to a point after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll station (e.g., a point where the autonomous vehicle passes 165 m through the toll station), the second target acceleration is identified based on at least one of the real-time driving speed of the autonomous vehicle, the target speed, or a control gain, or any combination thereof. The control gain may be, for example, a parameter configured to calculate a greater target acceleration. The control gain may be a predetermined value, which may be a set value that can be changed by a user and / or developer.

[0165] For example, the detailed embodiment of the vehicle control device identifying the target speed can be replaced by the above Figure 1 Description.

[0166] Figure 8A computing system of a vehicle control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0167] Reference Figure 8 The computing system 1000 regarding the vehicle control method may include: at least one processor 1100, a memory 1300, a user interface input device 1400, a user interface output device 1500, a storage 1600 and a network interface 1700 connected to each other via a bus 1200.

[0168] The processor 1100 may be a central processing unit (CPU) or a semiconductor device that processes instructions stored in the memory 1300 and / or the storage 1600. The memory 1300 and the storage 1600 may include various types of volatile or non-volatile storage media. For example, the memory 1300 may include a ROM (Read Only Memory) 1310 and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 1320.

[0169] Therefore, the operations of the methods or algorithms described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in the specification may be directly implemented in a hardware module, a software module, or a combination of a hardware module and a software module executed by the processor 1100. The software module may reside in a storage medium (i.e., the memory 1300 and / or the storage 1600) such as a RAM, a flash memory, a ROM, an EPROM, an EEPROM, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, and a CD-ROM.

[0170] An exemplary storage medium may be coupled to the processor 1100. The processor 1100 may read information from the storage medium and may write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integrated with the processor 1100. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In another case, the processor and the storage medium may reside in a user terminal as separate components.

[0171] Effects of the vehicle control device and method thereof according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.

[0172] According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the vehicle control device can identify a toll booth existing in front of the autonomous vehicle, and can set a safe target speed based on the road environment in the area near the toll booth (for example, an area within a specified distance before the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth and after the autonomous vehicle passes through the toll booth), thereby performing efficient and highly safe driving speed control.

[0173] Furthermore, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the vehicle control device can safely control the autonomous vehicle at a level that does not interfere with the traffic flow of surrounding vehicles adjacent to the autonomous vehicle.

[0174] In addition, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, even after the autonomous vehicle passes through a toll booth, the vehicle control device can continuously control the driving speed of the vehicle without suspending the automatic driving control and / or SCC control, thereby providing users with a safe and highly continuous vehicle driving control function.

[0175] Furthermore, various effects directly or indirectly determined by the present disclosure can be provided.

[0176] Although the present disclosure has been described above with reference to exemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawings, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and various modifications and variations may be made to the present disclosure by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as claimed in the following claims.

[0177] Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure are not intended to limit the technical spirit of the present disclosure, and are provided for illustrative purposes only. The scope of the present disclosure should be interpreted based on the appended claims, and all technical ideas within the scope equivalent to the claims should be included in the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A vehicle control device, in, include: Controller; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the vehicle control device to: obtaining road information about roads on the driving route based on determining that the driving route of the vehicle includes a toll booth; determining a target speed for driving control of the vehicle based on the road information; and The vehicle is controlled to travel at a target acceleration, wherein the target acceleration is determined based on at least one of the target speed, a current driving speed of the vehicle, or a distance from the vehicle to the toll booth.

2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein: Also includes: Communications equipment, Wherein, when the instruction is executed by the controller, the vehicle control device further causes: receiving, via the communication device, from a navigation device an indication of the location of the toll booth; and Based on the location of the toll booth, it is determined that the driving route includes the toll booth.

3. The vehicle control device according to claim 2, wherein: The instructions, when executed by the controller, cause the vehicle control device to obtain the road information by receiving the road information from the navigation device via the communication device.

4. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein: The road information includes information about at least one of the following: a curved road segment in the driving route, or The number of lanes in the driving route.

5. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein: When the instructions are executed by the controller, the vehicle control device further causes: determining a lane change rate between a first number of lanes before a lane change position and a second number of lanes after the lane change position based on the road information indicating that there is no curved road section in the driving route within a threshold distance from the toll booth, and Wherein, when the instructions are executed by the controller, the vehicle control device further determines the target speed based on an acceleration multiplier, wherein the acceleration multiplier is based on a posted speed limit and the lane change rate.

6. The vehicle control device according to claim 5, wherein: When the instructions are executed by the controller, the vehicle control device further stores a mapping table that maps the lane change rate to the acceleration multiplier, and Wherein, when the instruction is executed by the controller, the vehicle control device further causes: determining the acceleration multiplier to be inversely proportional to the lane change rate; and The target speed is determined based on the acceleration multiplier and the posted speed limit.

7. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein: When the instruction is executed by the controller, the vehicle control device determines the target speed in the following manner: The target speed is set to a posted speed limit based on the road information indicating that a curved road section exists after the toll booth and within a threshold distance from the toll booth.

8. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein: When the instruction is executed by the controller, the vehicle control device determines the target speed in the following manner: The target speed is set to a smaller value of the following based on the road information indicating that a curved road section exists before the toll station and within a threshold distance from the toll station: The exit speed of the curved road section, and Posted speed limit.

9. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein: The target acceleration is a first target acceleration, and wherein the instructions, when executed by the controller, cause the vehicle control device to control the vehicle to travel at the first target acceleration further based on the distance from the vehicle to the toll booth being within a first threshold distance.

10. The vehicle control device according to claim 9, wherein: When the instructions are executed by the controller, the vehicle control device further causes: Based on the distance from the vehicle to the toll station being less than a second threshold distance, the vehicle is controlled to travel at a second target acceleration, the second threshold distance being less than the first threshold distance, wherein the second target acceleration is determined based on at least one of the target speed, the current driving speed of the vehicle, or a control gain.

11. A vehicle control method, comprising: obtaining, by the controller, road information about roads on the driving route based on determining that the driving route of the vehicle includes a toll booth; determining, by the controller, a target speed for driving control of the vehicle based on the road information; as well as The controller controls the vehicle to travel at a target acceleration, wherein the target acceleration is determined based on at least one of the target speed, a current driving speed of the vehicle, or a distance from the vehicle to the toll booth.

12. The vehicle control method according to claim 11, wherein: Also includes: receiving, by the controller, from a navigation device via a communication device, an indication of the location of the toll booth; and The controller determines, based on the location of the toll booth, that the driving route includes the toll booth.

13. The vehicle control method according to claim 12, wherein: Obtaining the road information includes: The road information is received by the controller from the navigation device via the communication device.

14. The vehicle control method according to claim 11, wherein: The road information includes information about at least one of the following: a curved road segment in the driving route, or The number of lanes in the driving route.

15. The vehicle control method according to claim 11, wherein: Also includes: determining, by the controller, a lane change rate between a first number of lanes before a lane change position and a second number of lanes after the lane change position based on the road information indicating that there is no curved road section in the driving route within a threshold distance from the toll booth, and Wherein, determining the target speed includes: further determining the target speed based on an acceleration multiplier, wherein the acceleration multiplier is based on a posted speed limit and the lane change rate.

16. The vehicle control method according to claim 15, wherein: Also includes: determining, by the controller, that the acceleration multiplier is inversely proportional to the lane change rate; and The target speed is determined by the controller based on the acceleration multiplier and the posted speed limit.

17. The vehicle control method according to claim 11, wherein: Determining the target speed includes: The target speed is set by the controller to a posted speed limit based on the road information indicating that there is a curved road section after the toll booth and within a threshold distance from the toll booth.

18. The vehicle control method according to claim 11, wherein: Determining the target speed includes: The target speed is set to a smaller value of the following based on the road information indicating that a curved road section exists before the toll booth and within a threshold distance from the toll booth: The exit speed of the curved road section, and Posted speed limit.

19. The vehicle control method according to claim 11, wherein: The target acceleration is a first target acceleration, and wherein controlling the vehicle to travel at the first target acceleration is further based on the distance from the vehicle to the toll booth being within a first threshold distance.

20. The vehicle control method according to claim 19, wherein: It also includes: based on the distance from the vehicle to the toll station being less than a second threshold distance, the controller controls the vehicle to travel at a second target acceleration, the second threshold distance being less than the first threshold distance, wherein the second target acceleration is determined based on at least one of the target speed, the current driving speed of the vehicle, or a control gain.

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