Automatic driving control apparatus and method thereof

Abstract

An automatic driving control apparatus includes a sensor device, a driving device, a memory, and a controller. The automatic driving control apparatus recognizes a traffic light ahead of a host vehicle, performs stop control on the host vehicle using a driving device based on recognizing that a lighting state of the traffic light is a first lighting state, and recognizes that the lighting state of the traffic light changes from the first lighting state to a second lighting state using a sensor device. And determine whether to perform a restart control of the host vehicle based on at least one of whether the user watches his or her eyes on the road, an attribute of the driving section, whether the pedestrian passes, or whether a user confirmation input is received, or any combination thereof.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0152001 filed on November 6, 2023, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to an automatic driving control device and method thereof, and more particularly, to a technology for adaptively performing stop control and drive control of a host vehicle. Background Art

[0004] As vehicles with driver assistance functions become more common, various technologies related to autonomous driving have been developed. Depending on the level of control, autonomous driving can be divided into partial autonomous driving, conditional autonomous driving, highly autonomous driving, and / or fully autonomous driving.

[0005] Meanwhile, in the automatic driving control function, various types of control algorithms (or functions) for controlling the driving of the host vehicle have been developed.

[0006] For example, the autonomous driving control device may execute a function of stopping or restarting the main vehicle based on the result of identifying external objects (eg, pedestrians, other vehicles, and / or obstacles) present in front of the main vehicle.

[0007] Meanwhile, when there is a traffic light in front of the host vehicle, if the red light is on as a result of identifying the lighting state of the traffic light, the vehicle must be controlled to stop. At this time, while continuously identifying the lighting state of the traffic light, if it is identified that the green light is on and the red light is off, it can be identified as a situation where the host vehicle must be restarted. In this case, if the automatic driving control device simply restarts the host vehicle based only on the lighting state of the traffic light without considering other external factors (for example, when a pedestrian fails to cross the crosswalk, the attributes and / or area information of the driving section of the host vehicle, or whether the driver is looking forward), it may cause the driver to feel uncomfortable or a dangerous situation may occur. Summary of the invention

[0008] The following summary provides a simplified summary of certain features. This summary is not an extensive overview and is not intended to identify key or critical elements.

[0009] One aspect of the present disclosure provides an autonomous driving control device for using a sensor device to identify information about a traffic light present in front of a main vehicle (e.g., the lighting status of the traffic light), and performing autonomous driving control based on the lighting status of the traffic light to stop or restart the main vehicle.

[0010] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides an automatic driving control device, which is used to determine whether to restart the main vehicle if the lighting state of a traffic light changes to a lighting state indicating that the main vehicle is ready to start when the main vehicle is controlled to stop, based on whether the driver is looking forward, the attributes of the driving section, whether pedestrians are crossing the road, whether the driver confirmation input is received, or at least one of any combination thereof.

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

[0012] A device may include: a sensor device; a drive device; a memory storing at least one instruction; and a controller operatively connected to the sensor device and the memory, wherein the at least one instruction is configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the device to: use the sensor device to identify a stop indicator in front of a vehicle; control the drive device to stop the vehicle based on the state of the stop indicator; use the sensor device and when the vehicle stops, identify a condition for controlling the drive device to restart the vehicle, wherein the condition includes a change in the state of the stop indicator; and based on the condition, determine whether to control the drive device to restart the vehicle based on at least one of the following: a tracking state of the eyes of a user of the vehicle, an attribute of a driving section related to the presence of pedestrians near the vehicle, or a user confirmation input for accelerating the vehicle.

[0013] The sensor device may include a forward-looking camera and an in-cabin camera (ICC), and at least one instruction is configured to, when executed by a controller, cause the device to: use the forward-looking camera to identify the lighting state of a traffic light as at least part of the state of a stop indicator, wherein the in-cabin camera is referred to as ICC.

[0014] The device may further include: an input device, and the at least one instruction is configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the device to: identify whether a user confirmation input is received through the input device.

[0015] The device may also include: a notification device, at least one instruction configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the device to: based on detecting that the lighting state of the traffic light changes to a second lighting state when the driving device is controlled to stop the vehicle, use the notification device to output information indicating the second lighting state of the traffic light to a user as at least part of the state of the stop indicator.

[0016] At least one instruction can be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the device to: use a sensor device to determine whether the user is keeping his eyes on the road; based on determining that the user is not keeping his eyes on the road, use a notification device to output a look-forward notification to the user, the look-forward notification including information informing the user to keep his eyes on the road; and based on determining that the user is not keeping his eyes on the road within a first time from the time point of outputting the look-forward notification, output a look-forward warning, the look-forward warning including a signal for the user to keep his eyes on the road.

[0017] At least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the device to: output a look-ahead warning by activating a look-ahead warning operation, and wherein the look-ahead warning comprises at least one of: activation of a warning light, an audible warning sound, or tactile feedback.

[0018] At least one instruction can be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the device to: use a sensor device to determine whether the user is keeping his eyes on the road; identify attributes of a driving section; based on using the identified attributes to identify that the driving section is not included in the designated area, use the sensor device to determine whether there are pedestrians in front of the vehicle; and based on determining that there are no pedestrians in front of the vehicle, use a drive device to restart the vehicle according to a first acceleration intensity.

[0019] At least one instruction can be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the device to: output a pedestrian notification to a user using a notification device; maintain the vehicle in a stopped state based on determining that there is a pedestrian in front of the vehicle; output a notification indicating a user confirmation input to the user during a specified time period based on determining that the pedestrian has not been identified within a second time from the time point when the pedestrian notification is output; and restart the vehicle using a drive device according to a second acceleration intensity that is less than the first acceleration intensity based on receiving a user confirmation input from the user within the specified time.

[0020] At least one instruction can be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the device to: activate a warning operation to output a warning signal based on failure to detect user confirmation input within a specified time, wherein the warning signal includes at least one of: activation of a warning light, an audible warning sound, or tactile feedback; and deactivate autonomous driving control of the vehicle.

[0021] At least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the device to: deactivate autonomous driving control of the vehicle based on identifying one or more pedestrians in front of the vehicle within a second time from a time point when the pedestrian notification is output.

[0022] At least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the device to: identify a pedestrian in front of the vehicle, and identify the pedestrian in front of the vehicle in an area in front of the vehicle having a width wider than a width of the line, wherein the vehicle is stopped within the line.

[0023] At least one instruction can be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the device to: determine that the driving section is included in the designated area based on the use of identified attributes, output multiple notifications to the user, the multiple notifications including: a first notification about the user confirmation input; and a second notification including information indicating that the driving section corresponds to the designated area during a specified time; and based on receiving the user confirmation input from the user within the specified time, restart the vehicle using the drive device according to a third acceleration intensity that is less than the second acceleration intensity.

[0024] At least one instruction can be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the device to: activate a warning operation to output a warning signal based on failure to detect user confirmation input within a specified time, wherein the warning signal includes at least one of: activation of a warning light, an audible warning sound as an indication to look forward, or tactile feedback; and deactivate autonomous driving control of the vehicle.

[0025] The apparatus may further include: a communication device, at least one instruction configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the apparatus to: use traffic light information received via the communication device to determine whether the state of the stop indicator has changed by identifying a change in the lighting state of the traffic light.

[0026] At least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the device to: reactivate the autonomous driving control based on receiving a resumption request input for the autonomous driving control from a user after deactivating the autonomous driving control.

[0027] A control method may include: identifying a stop indicator in front of a vehicle by a controller and using a sensor device, wherein the stop indicator includes a traffic light; controlling a drive device by the controller and based on the state of the stop indicator to stop the vehicle, wherein the state of the stop indicator includes a first lighting state that is a lighting state of the traffic light; identifying by the controller and using the sensor device that the lighting state of the traffic light changes from the first lighting state to a second lighting state; and determining by the controller whether to control the drive device to restart the vehicle based on one of the following: a tracking state of the eyes of a user of the vehicle, an attribute of a driving section related to the presence of pedestrians near the vehicle, or a user confirmation input for accelerating the vehicle.

[0028] The method may also include: based on detecting that the lighting state of the traffic light changes to a second lighting state when the drive device is controlled to stop the vehicle, outputting information indicating the lighting state of the traffic light to the user using a notification device; determining whether the user is keeping his eyes on the road through a controller and using a sensor device; based on determining that the user is not keeping his eyes on the road, outputting a look-forward notification to the user through the controller, the look-forward notification including information informing the user to keep his eyes on the road; and based on determining that the user is not keeping his eyes on the road within a first time from the time point of outputting the look-forward notification, outputting a look-forward warning including a signal for causing the user to keep his eyes on the road.

[0029] The method may also include: based on determining that the user is looking at the eyes on the road, identifying the attributes of the driving section through a controller; based on using the identified attributes to identify that the driving section is not included in the designated area, determining whether there are pedestrians in front of the vehicle through the controller and using a sensor device; and based on determining that there are no pedestrians in front of the vehicle, restarting the vehicle according to a first acceleration intensity through the controller and using a drive device.

[0030] The method may also include: outputting a pedestrian notification to a user through a controller and using a notification device; maintaining the vehicle in a stopped state through a controller based on determining that there is a pedestrian in front of the vehicle; outputting a notification indicating a user confirmation input to the user through the controller during a specified time period based on determining that the pedestrian is not identified within a second time from the time point when the pedestrian notification is output; and restarting the vehicle through the controller and using a drive device according to a second acceleration intensity that is less than the first acceleration intensity based on receiving a user confirmation input from the user within the specified time.

[0031] The method may also include: outputting multiple notifications to the user through the controller, the multiple notifications including: a first notification regarding the user confirmation input; and a second notification including information indicating that the driving section during the specified time corresponds to a specified area; and based on receiving the user confirmation input from the user within the specified time, restarting the vehicle through the controller and using the drive device according to a third acceleration intensity that is less than the second acceleration intensity.

[0032] These and other features and advantages are described in greater detail below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] 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:

[0034] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing components of an automatic driving control device;

[0035] Figure 2is a conceptual diagram showing components and operations of an automatic driving control device;

[0036] Figure 3 is a flow chart of the automatic driving control method;

[0037] Figure 4 is a flow chart of the automatic driving control method;

[0038] Figure 5 is a flow chart of the automatic driving control method;

[0039] Figure 6 is a flow chart of the automatic driving control method;

[0040] Figure 7 It is a conceptual diagram of the operation of the autonomous driving control equipment;

[0041] Figure 8 is a flow chart of an automatic driving control method; and

[0042] Fig. 9 A computing system related to an automatic driving control method is shown.

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

[0044] Hereinafter, various examples of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the exemplary drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals will be used throughout to represent the same or equivalent components. In addition, detailed descriptions of well-known features or functions may be omitted to avoid unnecessary confusion of the main points of the present disclosure.

[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, but do not limit the corresponding elements and are not related to 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 commonly understood in the field to which the present invention belongs. It should be understood that the terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the present disclosure and the related art, and unless clearly defined herein, will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense.

[0046] Below, we will refer to Figures 1 to 9 Examples of the present disclosure are described in detail.

[0047] Figure 1 is a block diagram of components of an autonomous driving control device.

[0048] The automatic driving control device 100 may include at least one of a sensor device 110, a drive device 120, a memory 130, a controller 140, an input device 150, or a notification device 160, or any combination thereof. Figure 1 The components of the automatic driving control device 100 shown are schematic, and aspects of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, the automatic driving control device 100 may also include Figure 1 Components not shown (e.g., at least one of an interface, a communication device, or a display, or any combination thereof).

[0049] The sensor device 110 may obtain (or recognize) various information for driving the host vehicle.

[0050] For example, the sensor device 110 may include at least one sensor including at least one of a camera, a radio detection and ranging (RADAR), or a light detection and ranging (LiDAR), an ultrasonic sensor, or any combination thereof.

[0051] For example, the sensor device 110 may include a front-view camera and / or an in-car camera (ICC).

[0052] For example, the sensor device 110 may include a forward-looking camera for identifying information about an object (eg, at least one of a traffic light, a pedestrian, or another vehicle, or any combination thereof) included in an area in front of the host vehicle.

[0053] For example, the sensor device 110 may include an ICC for identifying information about an object (eg, at least one of a user (or driver), a passenger, a load, or a seat, or any combination thereof) included in an interior area of ​​the host vehicle.

[0054] The driving device 120 may include at least one device for driving and / or braking the host vehicle.

[0055] For example, the driving device 120 may include at least one braking device (eg, brake) for braking the host vehicle.

[0056] For example, the driving device 120 may include at least one driving device (eg, an actuator, an engine, etc.) for driving the host vehicle.

[0057] The memory 130 may store commands or data. For example, the memory 130 may store one or more instructions that, when executed by the controller 140, cause the automatic driving control device 100 to perform various operations.

[0058] For example, the memory 130 and the controller 140 may be implemented as one chipset. The controller 140 may include at least one of a communication processor or a modem.

[0059] For example, the memory 130 may store various information related to the automatic driving control device 100. For example, the memory 130 may store information about the operation history of the controller 140. For example, the memory 130 may store information about the state and / or operation of a component of the host vehicle (e.g., at least one of the engine control unit (ECU), the sensor device 110, the drive device 120, the memory 130, the input device 150, or the notification device 160, or any combination thereof).

[0060] The controller 140 may be operably connected to at least one of the sensor device 110, the drive device 120, the memory 130, the input device 150, or the notification device 160. For example, the controller 140 may control the operation of at least one of the sensor device 110, the drive device 120, the memory 130, the input device 150, or the notification device 160, or any combination thereof.

[0061] For example, the controller 140 may use the sensor device 110 to identify a traffic light in front of the host vehicle.

[0062] For example, the controller 140 may use the forward-looking camera included in the sensor device 110 to identify information about a traffic light existing in front of the host vehicle. The information about the traffic light may include, for example, the lighting state of the traffic light. For example, the controller 140 may identify at least one light that is turned on among a plurality of lights (e.g., red light, yellow light, and green light) included in the traffic light.

[0063] For example, the controller 140 may use the sensor device 110 to identify that the lighting state of the traffic light is the first lighting state. The first lighting state may be, for example, a state in which a red light is turned on among a plurality of lights included in the traffic light. In other words, the first lighting state may be a lighting state of a traffic light indicating that a vehicle cannot pass through a crosswalk corresponding to the traffic light. In this case, the controller 140 may perform stop control on the main vehicle. In other words, the controller 140 may use the drive device 120 to stop the main vehicle before the main vehicle passes through the crosswalk corresponding to the traffic light based on identifying that the lighting state of the traffic light present in front of the main vehicle is the first lighting state.

[0064] For example, the controller 140 may use the sensor device 110 to identify that the lighting state of the traffic light changes from the first lighting state to the second lighting state. The second lighting state may be, for example, a state in which a green light is turned on among a plurality of lights included in the traffic light. In other words, the second lighting state may be a lighting state of the traffic light indicating that the vehicle can pass through the pedestrian crossing corresponding to the traffic light. In other words, based on identifying that the lighting state of the traffic light present in front of the main vehicle changes from the first lighting state to the second lighting state, the controller 140 may restart (e.g., control the driving device to accelerate the vehicle) the stopped main vehicle so that the main vehicle passes through the pedestrian crossing corresponding to the traffic light. The algorithm for restarting the main vehicle in the controller 140 may refer to the description to be made below in detail. For example, the operation of restarting the main vehicle may refer to the operation of the automatic driving control device 100 to drive the main vehicle again according to the recognition that the driving state, the user state, etc. meet the specified conditions when the main vehicle stops by the stop control of the automatic driving control device 100.

[0065] For example, if it is identified that the lighting state of the traffic light in front of the main vehicle has changed from a first lighting state to a second lighting state, the controller 140 can determine whether to execute restart control of the main vehicle based on whether the user is keeping his or her eyes on the road, the attributes of the driving section, whether there are pedestrians crossing, or whether user confirmation input is received, or at least one of any combination thereof.

[0066] For example, if it is recognized that the lighting state of the traffic light is changed from the first lighting state to the second lighting state when the stop control is performed, the controller 140 may provide the user with information about the lighting state of the traffic light using the notification device 160. The information about the lighting state of the traffic light may include, for example, at least one of information about the second lighting state or information indicating that the host vehicle can be restarted, or any combination thereof.

[0067] For example, the controller 140 may use the sensor device 110 to identify whether the user is keeping his or her eyes on the road. For example, if it is identified that the user is not keeping his or her eyes on the road, the controller 140 may use the notification device 160 to provide a look-ahead notification to the user. The look-ahead notification may include, for example, visual and / or audible content including a notification that the user needs to keep his or her eyes on the road to restart the host vehicle.

[0068] For example, if it is recognized that the user is not keeping his or her eyes on the road, the controller 140 may use the notification device 160 to provide a look-ahead notification to the user. If it is recognized that the user is not keeping his or her eyes on the road within the first time from the time point when the look-ahead notification is provided using the sensor device 110, the controller 140 may use the notification device 160 to activate a look-ahead warning function, which includes at least one of a warning light on (ON), a sound output function about looking ahead, or a tactile function, or any combination thereof. The look-ahead warning function may include, for example, a function of activating a warning light, activating a tactile function of applying vibration to a part of the user's body, and activating a sound notification with a greater intensity than the sound notification provided by the look-ahead notification. For example, if it is recognized that the user is keeping his or her eyes on the road, the controller 140 may end (or turn off) the notification function being output.

[0069] For example, if it is recognized that the user is keeping his or her eyes on the road, the controller 140 may identify the attributes of the driving segment that the host vehicle is traveling on. The attributes of the driving segment may include, for example, at least one of road information or area information (e.g., information about whether the driving segment corresponds to a school area) of the driving segment, or any combination thereof.

[0070] For example, if it is identified based on the recognized attributes that the driving area is not included in the designated area (e.g., school area, construction area, etc.), the controller 140 may use the sensor device 110 to identify whether there is a pedestrian in front of the host vehicle. For example, when a pedestrian is identified in an area with a width wider than the width of the line in the area in front of the host vehicle, the controller 140 may identify that there is a pedestrian, wherein the host vehicle stops within the line. An example of identifying whether there is a pedestrian will be described in detail in the example of identifying whether there is a pedestrian. Figure 7 Described in detail in the description.

[0071] If no pedestrian is identified, for example, the controller 140 may restart the host vehicle using the driving device 120. At this time, the controller 140 may restart the host vehicle based on the first acceleration intensity.

[0072] If a pedestrian is identified, for example, the controller 140 may use the notification device 160 to provide a pedestrian notification to the user, and may use the drive device 120 to maintain the stop control of the main vehicle. The pedestrian notification may include, for example, at least one of the motion information of the pedestrian present in front of the main vehicle or the position information of the pedestrian, or any combination thereof. For example, if it is identified that no pedestrian is identified within a second time from the time point when the pedestrian notification is provided, the controller 140 may provide a notification (e.g., a pop-up notification) to the user regarding the user confirmation input during a specified time. For another example, if a pedestrian is identified during the second time period from the time point when the pedestrian notification is provided (e.g., continuously), the controller 140 may end (or deactivate) the automatic driving control of the main vehicle. The controller 140 may maintain the automatic driving control function in a standby state by deactivating the automatic driving control of the main vehicle. For example, based on receiving a recovery request input (e.g., a pedal input) for the automatic driving control from the user after deactivating the automatic driving control, the controller 140 may reactivate the automatic driving control.

[0073] For example, based on receiving a user confirmation input from the user through the pop-up notification within a specified time, the controller 140 may restart the host vehicle using the driving device 120 based on a second acceleration intensity that is less than the first acceleration intensity.

[0074] For example, based on not receiving a user confirmation input from the user through a pop-up notification within a specified time, the controller 140 may activate a warning function including at least one of a warning light ON, a sound output function regarding looking forward, or a haptic function, or any combination thereof, and may end (or deactivate) the autonomous driving control of the host vehicle. For example, based on receiving a resumption request input (e.g., a pedal input) for the autonomous driving control from the user after deactivating the autonomous driving control, the controller 140 may reactivate the autonomous driving control.

[0075] For example, based on identifying that the driving segment is included in a designated area (e.g., a school area based on an identified attribute), the controller 140 can use the notification device 160 to provide the user with a first notification (e.g., a first pop-up notification) regarding the user confirmation input and a second notification (e.g., a second pop-up notification) including information that the driving segment corresponds to the designated area (e.g., the school area) during a specified time.

[0076] Based on receiving a user confirmation input from the user through the first notification within a specified time, the controller 140 may restart the host vehicle using the driving device 120. At this time, the controller 140 may restart the host vehicle based on the third acceleration intensity. The third acceleration intensity may be an intensity less than the second acceleration intensity. In some embodiments, the controller 140 may perform restart control of the host vehicle based on the third acceleration intensity only when it is recognized that the user is keeping his or her eyes on the road.

[0077] For example, based on not receiving a user confirmation input (e.g., through a first notification) within a specified time, the controller 140 may activate a warning function, the warning function including at least one of a warning light turning on (ON), a sound output function regarding looking forward, or a haptic function, or any combination thereof, and may end (or deactivate) the autonomous driving control of the host vehicle. For example, based on receiving a resumption request input (e.g., a pedal input) for the autonomous driving control from a user after deactivating the autonomous driving control, the controller 140 may reactivate the autonomous driving control.

[0078] Figure 1 The components of the autonomous driving control device 100 shown in the figure are schematic, and aspects of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, the autonomous driving control device 100 may further include a communication device (not shown). The autonomous driving control device 100 may use the communication device to perform vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication.

[0079] For example, the controller 140 can receive traffic light information from the outside (e.g., a server, at least one other vehicle, and / or a traffic light) through a communication device, and can use the received traffic light information to identify the lighting status of the traffic light (e.g., whether the lighting status of the traffic light has changed).

[0080] The input device 150 may include at least one input device (eg, a button, a touch screen, an audio receiver, and / or a camera) configured to receive a user confirmation input from a user.

[0081] For example, the input device 150 may receive a user confirmation input (e.g., pressure input, touch input, voice input, and / or gesture input) to at least one input device from the user. For example, if a user confirmation input to the input device 150 is received, the controller 140 may recognize the user's intention to agree to the restart control of the host vehicle.

[0082] For example, the input device 150 may be disposed in at least one area of ​​the interior of the host vehicle. The input device 150 may be disposed in an area such as at least one of a steering wheel or a pedal device, or any combination thereof.

[0083] The notification device 160 may include at least one display device, at least one tactile device, and / or at least one sound output device.

[0084] For example, notification device 160 may provide the user with at least one of information about the lighting status of a traffic light, a look-ahead notification, a pedestrian notification, a notification about a user confirmation input (e.g., a pop-up notification), or a notification including information that a driving segment corresponds to a designated area (e.g., a school zone), or any combination thereof, through visual, audible, and / or tactile content.

[0085] For example, the notification device 160 may provide the user with a warning function including a notification function with a greater intensity than the above-mentioned notification (eg, a warning function that looks ahead).

[0086] Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating components and operations of an autonomous driving control device.

[0087] The automatic driving control device corresponding to the host vehicle 201 (e.g., Figure 1 The automatic driving control device 100 in the embodiment may include a front view camera 212, an interior camera 214, a driving device 230 (e.g., Figure 1 , or a controller 250 (e.g., Figure 1 ), or any combination thereof. For example, the front view camera 212 and the interior camera 214 may be included in the sensor device (e.g., Figure 1 For example, the controller 250 may control the internal camera 214 or the drive device 230 (e.g., Figure 1 , a driving device 120), or at least one of any combination thereof.

[0088] Figure 2 The structure of the components shown is schematic, and aspects of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, Figure 2 At least some of the components shown (e.g., the front-view camera 212 and the interior camera 214) may be implemented as Figure 1 The sensor device 110 may be a part of the sensor device 110, or may be implemented as a chip together with the sensor device 110. At least some operations of at least some components described below may be implemented by Figure 1 The controller 140 (or the control of the controller 140) is executed.

[0089] For example, controller 250 may control driving and braking of host vehicle 201 .

[0090] For example, the controller 250 may drive (or restart) or brake the host vehicle 201 using at least one device included in the driving device 230 .

[0091] For example, the controller 250 may use the forward-looking camera 212 to identify a plurality of pieces of information (eg, a light status) regarding a traffic light 290 that exists in front of the host vehicle 201 .

[0092] For example, the controller 250 may identify a light that is turned on among a plurality of lights (eg, a first light 292 , a second light 294 , and a third light 296 ) included in the traffic light 290 .

[0093] For example, based on recognizing that a first light (eg, a red light) 292 among a plurality of lights included in the traffic light 290 is turned on, the controller 250 may recognize that the lighting state of the traffic light 290 corresponds to the first lighting state.

[0094] For example, the controller 250 can use the driving device 230 to stop the main vehicle 201 based on recognizing that the lighting state of the traffic light 290 is the first lighting state. For example, the controller 250 can stop the main vehicle 201 at the stop line 299, thereby performing the stop control so that the main vehicle 201 does not pass through the crosswalk corresponding to the traffic light 290.

[0095] For example, based on recognizing that a third light (eg, a green light) 296 among the plurality of lights included in the traffic light 290 is turned on, the controller 250 may recognize that the lighting state of the traffic light 290 corresponds to the second lighting state.

[0096] For example, the controller 250 may restart the host vehicle 201 using the driving device 230 based on recognizing that the lighting state of the traffic light 290 changes from the first lighting state to the second lighting state. For example, after the host vehicle 201 stops at the stop line 299 based on recognizing the first lighting state, the controller 250 may perform restart control based on recognizing that the lighting state of the traffic light 290 changes to the second lighting state, so that the host vehicle 201 travels in the direction 280 in which the host vehicle 201 passes the crosswalk corresponding to the traffic light 290.

[0097] For example, to restart the host vehicle 201 , the controller 250 may identify whether at least one condition is satisfied.

[0098] For example, if the lighting state of the traffic light 290 changes to a second lighting state, the controller 250 can determine whether to execute restart control of the main vehicle 201 based on at least one of whether the user 205 keeps his or her eyes on the road, the attributes of the driving section, whether pedestrians are crossing, or whether user confirmation input is received, or any combination thereof.

[0099] For example, the controller 250 can use the interior camera 214 to identify whether the user 205 is keeping his or her eyes on the road. The interior camera 214 can receive a vehicle signal (or vehicle information) about the driving state of the host vehicle 201 (e.g., the steering angle and / or driving speed of the host vehicle 201) from, for example, at least one component (e.g., an ECU, a steering angle sensor (SAS), and / or a speed sensor).

[0100] Figure 3 It is a flow chart of the automatic driving control method.

[0101] Autonomous driving control equipment (e.g. Figure 1 The automatic driving control device 100) can execute Figure 3 For example, at least some components (e.g., Figure 1 The sensor device 110, Figure 1 The driving device 120, Figure 1 Memory 130, Figure 1 Controller 140, Figure 1 The input device 150, the notification device 160, or any combination thereof) may be configured to perform Figure 3 operation.

[0102] The operations in S310 to S370 in the example described below may be performed sequentially, but are not necessarily performed sequentially. For example, the order of the operations may be changed, and at least two operations may be performed in parallel. In addition, the operations in conjunction with the above may be briefly described or omitted. Figure 3 Content that corresponds to or repeats the content described.

[0103] In S310, the automatic driving control device may control the speed of the host vehicle.

[0104] For example, the automatic driving control device may stop the host vehicle based on recognizing that the lighting state of the traffic light present in front of the host vehicle is the first lighting state.

[0105] In S320, the automatic driving control device may maintain stop control.

[0106] For example, when the first light-on state is maintained, the automatic driving control device can maintain the stop control of the host vehicle. In other words, the automatic driving control device can continuously stop the host vehicle when the red light in the traffic light is turned on.

[0107] In S330 , the autonomous driving control device may determine whether the color of the traffic light has changed.

[0108] For example, the autonomous driving control device may recognize that the lighting state of a traffic light changes from a first lighting state to a second lighting state (eg, a state in which only the green light is on).

[0109] In S340 , the autonomous driving control device may determine whether the driver is keeping his or her eyes on the road.

[0110] For example, the automatic driving control device can identify whether the driver keeps his or her eyes on the road. According to the change of the lighting state of the traffic light to the second lighting state, the automatic driving control device can identify whether the driver keeps his or her eyes on the road as one of the conditions required for restarting the host vehicle.

[0111] In S350 , the autonomous driving control device may determine (or identify) current road attributes and / or whether there is driver confirmation.

[0112] For example, the autonomous driving control device may identify whether the road on which the host vehicle is currently traveling includes a specified attribute (or area (e.g., a school area)).

[0113] For example, the autonomous driving control apparatus may determine whether a driver configuration input to at least one input device provided in the host vehicle is received.

[0114] In S360, the autonomous driving control device may determine (or identify) whether there are pedestrians and / or whether there is driver confirmation.

[0115] For example, the automatic driving control device can identify whether there is a pedestrian in front of the host vehicle. For example, if a pedestrian is identified in an area in front of the host vehicle whose width is wider than the width of the line, wherein the host vehicle stops within the line, the controller 140 can identify that there is a pedestrian.

[0116] For example, the autonomous driving control apparatus may determine whether a driver configuration input to at least one input device provided in the host vehicle is received.

[0117] In S370, the automatic driving control device may restart the host vehicle.

[0118] For example, if at least one of whether the user keeps his eyes on the road, the attributes of the driving section, whether pedestrians cross, or whether a user confirmation input is received, or any combination thereof satisfies the specified condition, the automatic driving control device may perform restart control of the host vehicle. One or more example features regarding whether the specified condition is satisfied may be used as described above. Figure 1 One or more features in the description are replaced.

[0119] Figure 4It is a flow chart of the automatic driving control method.

[0120] Autonomous driving control equipment (e.g. Figure 1 The automatic driving control device 100) can execute Figure 4 For example, at least some components (e.g., Figure 1 The sensor device 110, Figure 1 The driving device 120, Figure 1 Memory 130, Figure 1 Controller 140, Figure 1 The input device 150, the notification device 160, or any combination thereof) may be configured to perform Figure 4 operation.

[0121] The operations in S410 to S490 in the following examples may be performed sequentially, but are not necessarily performed sequentially. For example, the order of the operations may be changed, and at least two operations may be performed in parallel. Figure 4 Content that corresponds to or repeats the content described.

[0122] In S410 , the automatic driving control device may perform a host vehicle stop control operation and a stop state maintaining operation.

[0123] For example, the automatic driving control device may stop the host vehicle based on recognizing that the lighting state of the traffic light present in front of the host vehicle is the first lighting state.

[0124] For example, while maintaining the first light-on state, the automatic driving control device may maintain the stop control of the host vehicle. In other words, the automatic driving control device may continuously stop the host vehicle when the red light in the traffic light is on.

[0125] In S420, the automatic driving control device may identify whether a green light among a plurality of lights of a traffic light is turned on.

[0126] For example, if the green light of a traffic light is turned on, the automatic driving control device can recognize that the lighting state of the traffic light has changed from a first lighting state to a second lighting state.

[0127] In S430 , the autonomous driving control device may provide a traffic light change notification.

[0128] For example, based on recognizing that the lighting state of the traffic light is changed to the second lighting state when the stop control is executed, the automatic driving control device can provide the user with information about the lighting state of the traffic light using the notification device.

[0129] In S440 , the autonomous driving control device may identify whether the user is keeping his or her eyes on the road.

[0130] For example, the autonomous driving control device may use a sensor device (eg, ICC) to continuously monitor whether the user is keeping their eyes on the road.

[0131] For example, if the user keeps his or her eyes on the road (eg, S440 -Yes), the automatic driving control device may execute S450 .

[0132] For example, if the user does not keep his or her eyes on the road (eg, S440 -No), the autonomous driving control device may execute S445.

[0133] In S445, the autonomous driving control device may provide a look-ahead notification to the user.

[0134] For example, the look ahead notification may include at least one visual and / or audible content to guide the user to keep their eyes on the road.

[0135] In S455 , the automatic driving control device may identify whether the user keeps his or her eyes on the road within the first time from the time point when the look-ahead notification is provided.

[0136] For example, if the user keeps his or her eyes on the road (eg, S440 -Yes), the automatic driving control device may execute S450 .

[0137] For example, if the user does not keep his or her eyes on the road (eg, S455-No), the autonomous driving control device may execute S465.

[0138] In S465, the automatic driving control device may activate a look-ahead warning function.

[0139] For example, the automatic driving control device may activate a forward-looking warning function, which includes at least one of a warning light on, a sound output function regarding forward-looking, or a tactile function, or any combination thereof. The forward-looking warning function may include at least one notification function with a greater intensity than the forward-looking notification function.

[0140] In S450, the automatic driving control device may identify whether the driving section of the host vehicle corresponds to the designated section.

[0141] For example, if the driving section of the host vehicle corresponds to the designated section (eg, S450-Yes), the automatic driving control device may execute S460.

[0142] For example, if the driving section of the host vehicle does not correspond to the designated section (eg, S450-No), the automatic driving control device may execute S475.

[0143] In S460 , the automatic driving control device may identify a condition regarding a designated road section, and may determine whether to perform restart control based on whether the condition is satisfied.

[0144] For example, if it is recognized that the driving section is included in the designated section (e.g., school area), the automatic driving control device may determine whether to perform restart control (e.g., by performing the restart control described below according to the Figure 6 for example).

[0145] In S475, the automatic driving control device can identify whether there is a pedestrian in front of the main vehicle.

[0146] For example, if a pedestrian is identified in front of the host vehicle (eg, S475-Yes), the automatic driving control device may execute S477.

[0147] For example, if it is identified that there are no pedestrians in front of the host vehicle (eg, S475-No), the automatic driving control device may execute S485.

[0148] In S477, the automatic driving control device may provide pedestrian notification to the user and may perform stop control maintenance.

[0149] For example, the automatic driving control device may use a notification device to provide a pedestrian notification to the user including information that there is a pedestrian in front of the host vehicle, and may maintain stop control of the host vehicle.

[0150] In S485, the automatic driving control device may automatically restart the host vehicle based on the first acceleration intensity.

[0151] For example, the autonomous driving control device may automatically restart the host vehicle based on the first acceleration intensity regardless of whether user confirmation input is received.

[0152] In S479, the automatic driving control device may identify whether the pedestrian crosses the crosswalk corresponding to the traffic light within the second time.

[0153] For example, based on identifying that a pedestrian crosses the crosswalk corresponding to the traffic light within the second time (eg, S479-Yes), the automatic driving control device may execute S490.

[0154] For example, based on recognizing that the pedestrian did not cross the crosswalk corresponding to the traffic light within the second time (e.g., S479-No), the automatic driving control device can execute S480.

[0155] In S480, the autonomous driving control device may release (or deactivate) the autonomous driving mode.

[0156] In S490 , the automatic driving control device may determine whether to perform restart control based on whether a user confirmation input is received.

[0157] Based on recognizing that a pedestrian has crossed the crosswalk corresponding to the traffic light within the second time, the automatic driving control device may determine whether to execute restart control (for example, by performing the restart control according to the method described below). Figure 5 for example).

[0158] Figure 5 It is a flow chart of the automatic driving control method.

[0159] Autonomous driving control equipment (e.g. Figure 1 The automatic driving control device 100) can execute Figure 5 For example, at least some components (e.g., Figure 1 The sensor device 110, Figure 1 The driving device 120, Figure 1 Memory 130, Figure 1 Controller 140, Figure 1 The input device 150, the notification device 160, or any combination thereof) may be configured to perform Figure 5 operation.

[0160] The operations in S510 to S545 in the following examples may be performed sequentially, but are not necessarily performed sequentially. For example, the order of the operations may be changed, and at least two operations may be performed in parallel. Figure 5 Content that corresponds to or repeats the content described.

[0161] In S510, the autonomous driving control device may provide a user confirmation notification.

[0162] For example, based on the above Figure 4 In S479, it is identified that a pedestrian crosses the crosswalk within the second time, and in S510, the automatic driving control device can provide a user confirmation notification.

[0163] In S520, the automatic driving control device may identify whether a user confirmation notification is received.

[0164] For example, based on receiving a user confirmation input (eg, S520 -Yes), the automatic driving control device may execute S530 .

[0165] For example, based on not receiving the user confirmation input (eg, S520-No), the autonomous driving control device may execute S525.

[0166] In S530, the automatic driving control device may perform restart control based on the second acceleration intensity.

[0167] For example, the autonomous driving control device may restart the host vehicle based on a second acceleration intensity that is less than the first acceleration intensity.

[0168] In S525 , the automatic driving control device may identify whether a third time has passed from the time point when the user confirmation notification is activated.

[0169] For example, if a user confirmation input is received (eg, S525-Yes), the automatic driving control device may execute S535.

[0170] For example, the autonomous driving control device may activate a user confirmation warning operation. For example, the user confirmation warning operation may include a second type of notification (e.g., feedback or signal with a higher intensity than the user confirmation notification).

[0171] In S545, the autonomous driving control device may release (or deactivate) the autonomous driving mode.

[0172] Figure 6 It is a flow chart of the automatic driving control method.

[0173] Autonomous driving control equipment (e.g. Figure 1 The automatic driving control device 100) can execute Figure 6 For example, at least some components (e.g., Figure 1 The sensor device 110, Figure 1 The driving device 120, Figure 1 Memory 130, Figure 1 Controller 140, Figure 1 The input device 150, the notification device 160, or any combination thereof) may be configured to perform Figure 6 operation.

[0174] The operations in S610 to S645 in the following examples may be performed sequentially, but are not necessarily performed sequentially. For example, the order of the operations may be changed, and at least two operations may be performed in parallel. Figure 6 Content that corresponds to or repeats the content described.

[0175] In S610 , the autonomous driving control device may provide a traffic light change notification and / or a designated area notification to the user.

[0176] For example, based on the above Figure 4 In S450 , it is identified that the driving section of the main vehicle is included in a designated area (eg, a school area), and in S610 , the automatic driving control device may provide at least one notification.

[0177] For example, based on recognizing that the driving section is included in the school area, the autonomous driving control device can use the notification device to provide a traffic light change notification and / or a designated area notification. Providing such a notification function is illustrative, and the notification function provided by the autonomous driving control device is not limited thereto. For example, the autonomous driving control device can provide the user with a first notification regarding the user confirmation input and a second notification including information that the driving section during the specified time corresponds to the school area.

[0178] In S620, the automatic driving control device may identify whether a user confirmation notification is received.

[0179] For example, in response to providing a first notification regarding a user confirmation input, the autonomous driving control device may identify whether a user confirmation input is received (eg, from a user via an input device).

[0180] For example, if a user confirmation input is received (eg, S620 -Yes), the automatic driving control device may execute S630 .

[0181] For example, if no user confirmation input is received (eg, S620-No), the autonomous driving control device may execute S625.

[0182] In S630, the automatic driving control device may perform restart control based on the third acceleration intensity.

[0183] For example, the autonomous driving control device may restart the host vehicle based on a third acceleration intensity that is less than the second acceleration intensity.

[0184] In S625 , the automatic driving control device may identify whether a fourth time has passed from the time point when the user confirmation notification is activated.

[0185] For example, if a user confirmation input is received (eg, S625-Yes), the automatic driving control device may execute S635.

[0186] For example, the automatic driving control device may activate a user confirmation warning operation. For example, the user confirmation warning operation may include a notification function with a higher intensity than the user confirmation notification.

[0187] In S645, the autonomous driving control device may release (or deactivate) the autonomous driving mode.

[0188] Figure 7This is a conceptual diagram of the operation of the autonomous driving control device.

[0189] According to the lighting state of the traffic light 790 and / or the position of the pedestrian 760, the automatic driving control device (e.g., Figure 1 The automatic driving control device 100) can drive (or restart) or brake (or stop) the main vehicle 750.

[0190] For example, if the first light 792 (e.g., a red light) is turned on among a plurality of lights (e.g., a first light 792, a second light 794, and a third light 796) included in the traffic light 790, the automatic driving control device can perform stop control on the main vehicle 750.

[0191] For example, based on identifying that a third light 796 (e.g., a green light) among multiple lights included in the traffic light 790 is turned on and the first light 792 is turned off when stop control is performed on the main vehicle 750, the automatic driving control device can identify that the lighting state of the traffic light 790 has changed from the first lighting state to the second lighting state.

[0192] For example, if the lighting state of the traffic light 790 changes to the second lighting state, the automatic driving control device can identify whether the user is keeping his or her eyes on the road. If it is recognized that the user is keeping his or her eyes on the road, the automatic driving control device can identify whether there is a pedestrian 760 in front of the host vehicle 750.

[0193] For example, if a pedestrian 760 is identified in an area in front of the host vehicle 750 within a range having a width wider than the width D of the line, wherein the host vehicle 750 is stopped within the line, the automatic driving control device can recognize that there is a pedestrian 760 .

[0194] For example, if a pedestrian 760 is identified within a specified area in front of the main vehicle 750 (which has a length obtained by adding a specified value a to each of the two sides of the width D of the line), the automatic driving control device can recognize that there is a pedestrian 760.

[0195] Figure 8 It is a flow chart of the automatic driving control method.

[0196] Autonomous driving control equipment (e.g. Figure 1 The automatic driving control device 100) can execute Figure 8 For example, at least some components (e.g., Figure 1 The sensor device 110, Figure 1 The driving device 120, Figure 1 Memory 130, Figure 1 Controller 140, Figure 1The input device 150, the notification device 160, or any combination thereof) may be configured to perform Figure 8 operation.

[0197] The operations in S810 to S840 in the following examples may be performed sequentially, but are not necessarily performed sequentially. For example, the order of the operations may be changed, and at least two operations may be performed in parallel. Figure 8 Content that corresponds to or repeats the content described.

[0198] In S810 , the autonomous driving control device may identify a traffic light in front of the host vehicle using a sensor device.

[0199] For example, the autonomous driving control device may use a sensor device to identify the lighting status of a traffic light in front of the host vehicle.

[0200] For example, the automatic driving control device can use the traffic light information received through the communication device to identify the lighting state of the traffic light (or whether the lighting state has changed).

[0201] In S820, the automatic driving control device may perform stop control of the host vehicle based on recognizing that the lighting state of the traffic light is the first lighting state.

[0202] For example, if a third light (e.g., Figure 2 If the first light 292 (or red light) in the figure is turned on, the automatic driving control device can identify that the lighting state of the traffic light is the first lighting state. In this case, the automatic driving control device can be at the stop line corresponding to the crosswalk (for example, Figure 2 The main vehicle is stopped before the stop line 299) so that the main vehicle does not pass through the pedestrian crossing corresponding to the traffic light.

[0203] In S830, the automatic driving control device may identify whether the lighting state of the traffic light is changed to the second lighting state.

[0204] For example, if the lighting state of the traffic light changes from the first lighting state to the second lighting state (eg, S830 -Yes), the automatic driving control device may execute S840.

[0205] For example, if the lighting state of the traffic light has not changed from the first lighting state to the second lighting state (eg, S830-No), the automatic driving control device may execute S820.

[0206] In S840, the autonomous driving control device may determine whether to execute restart control of the main vehicle based on at least one of whether the user keeps his or her eyes on the road, the attributes of the driving section, whether pedestrians are crossing, or whether user confirmation input is received, or any combination thereof.

[0207] For example, the automatic driving control device may determine whether to restart the host vehicle based on whether at least some of the above-mentioned states satisfy specified conditions. One or more features of determining whether to execute the restart control of the host vehicle based on whether the specified conditions are satisfied may be described in the above-mentioned Figures 1 to 6 One or more features of the description may be used to replace the above.

[0208] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an automatic driving control device may include a sensor device, a drive device, a memory storing at least one instruction, and a controller operably connected to the sensor device and the memory. For example, at least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the automatic driving control device to: use the sensor device to identify a traffic light in front of a main vehicle, based on identifying that the lighting state of the traffic light is a first lighting state, use the drive device to perform stop control of the main vehicle, use the sensor device to identify that the lighting state of the traffic light changes from the first lighting state to the second lighting state, and determine whether to perform restart control of the main vehicle based on at least one of whether a user keeps his or her eyes on the road, the attributes of the driving section, whether a pedestrian crosses, or whether a user confirmation input is received, or any combination thereof.

[0209] According to one aspect, the sensor device may include a front-view camera and an in-vehicle camera (ICC). For example, at least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the autonomous driving control device to use the front-view camera to identify the lighting state of the traffic light.

[0210] According to one aspect, the automatic driving control device may further include an input device. For example, at least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the automatic driving control device to: identify whether a user confirmation input is received through the input device.

[0211] According to one aspect, the automatic driving control device may further include a notification device. For example, at least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the automatic driving control device to: when recognizing that the lighting state of the traffic light changes to the second lighting state when performing stop control, use the notification device to provide information about the lighting state of the traffic light to the user.

[0212] According to one aspect, at least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by a controller, cause the autonomous driving control device to: use a sensor device to identify whether a user is keeping his or her eyes on the road, use a notification device to provide a look-forward notification to the user when it is identified that the user is not keeping his or her eyes on the road, and activate a look-forward warning function when it is identified that the user is not keeping his or her eyes on the road within a first time from the time point when the look-forward notification is provided using the sensor device.

[0213] According to one aspect, at least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by a controller, cause the autonomous driving control device to: activate a forward-looking warning function when it is identified that the user is not keeping his or her eyes on the road within a first time from the time point when a forward-looking notification is provided, the forward-looking warning function including at least one of a warning light turning on (ON), a sound output function, or a tactile function, or any combination thereof.

[0214] According to one aspect, at least one instruction can be configured to, when executed by a controller, cause the autonomous driving control device to: use a sensor device to identify whether a user is keeping his or her eyes on the road, when it is identified that the user is keeping his or her eyes on the road, identify attributes of a driving section, when it is identified based on the identified attributes that the driving section is not included in a designated area (e.g., a school area), use the sensor device to identify whether there are pedestrians in front of the main vehicle, and when it is identified that there are no pedestrians, use the drive device to restart the main vehicle based on a first acceleration intensity.

[0215] According to one aspect, at least one instruction can be configured to, when executed by a controller, cause the autonomous driving control device to: provide a pedestrian notification to a user using a notification device, and when a pedestrian is identified, maintain stop control of the main vehicle using a drive device; when it is identified that a pedestrian is not identified within a second time from the time point when the pedestrian notification is provided, provide a notification to the user about a user confirmation input during a specified time period; and when a user confirmation input is received from the user within the specified time, restart the main vehicle using the drive device based on a second acceleration intensity that is less than the first acceleration intensity.

[0216] According to one aspect, at least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by a controller, cause the autonomous driving control device to: activate a warning function when no user confirmation input is received from the user within a specified time, the warning function including at least one of a warning light turning on (ON), a sound output function, or a tactile function, or any combination thereof, and deactivate autonomous driving control of the main vehicle.

[0217] According to one aspect, at least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the autonomous driving control device to: deactivate autonomous driving control of the host vehicle when a pedestrian is continuously identified within a second time from a time point when the pedestrian notification is provided.

[0218] According to one aspect, at least one instruction can be configured to, when executed by a controller, cause the autonomous driving control device to: identify the presence of a pedestrian when a pedestrian is identified in an area in front of the main vehicle, in an area wider than the width of the line, wherein the main vehicle stops within the line.

[0219] According to one aspect, at least one instruction can be configured to, when executed by a controller, cause the autonomous driving control device to: when identifying that the driving section is included in a designated area (e.g., a school area) based on the identified attributes, provide a first notification to the user regarding a user confirmation input and a second notification including information that the driving section corresponds to the designated area (e.g., a school area) during a specified time; and when receiving a user confirmation input from the user within the specified time, restart the main vehicle using a drive device based on a third acceleration intensity that is less than the second acceleration intensity.

[0220] According to one aspect, at least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by a controller, cause the autonomous driving control device to: activate a warning function when no user confirmation input is received from a user within a specified time, the warning function including at least one of a warning light turning on (ON), a sound output function regarding looking forward, or a tactile function, or any combination thereof, and deactivate autonomous driving control of the main vehicle.

[0221] According to one aspect, the autonomous driving control device may further include a communication device. For example, at least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the autonomous driving control device to: further use the traffic light information received through the communication device to identify whether the lighting state of the traffic light has changed.

[0222] According to one aspect, at least one instruction may be configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the autonomous driving control device to: reactivate the automatic driving control when a resumption request input of the automatic driving control is received from a user after the autonomous driving control is deactivated.

[0223] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an automatic driving control method may include using a sensor device through a controller to identify a traffic light in front of a main vehicle, the controller using a drive device to perform stop control of the main vehicle based on identifying that the lighting state of the traffic light is a first lighting state, the controller using a sensor device to identify that the lighting state of the traffic light changes from the first lighting state to the second lighting state, and the controller determining whether to perform restart control of the main vehicle based on at least one of whether a user keeps his or her eyes on the road, the attributes of the driving section, whether pedestrians cross, or whether user confirmation input is received, or any combination thereof.

[0224] According to one aspect, the automatic driving control method may further include, when it is identified that the lighting state of a traffic light changes to a second lighting state when stop control is performed, the controller using a notification device to provide information about the lighting state of the traffic light to a user, the controller using a sensor device to identify whether the user is keeping his or her eyes on the road, when it is identified that the user is not keeping his or her eyes on the road, the controller using the notification device to provide the user with a look-forward notification, and when it is identified using the sensor device that the user is not keeping his or her eyes on the road within a first time from the time point of providing the look-forward notification, activating a look-forward warning function.

[0225] According to one aspect, the automatic driving control method may further include, when it is identified that the user is fixing his or her eyes on the road, the controller identifying the attributes of the driving section, when it is identified based on the identified attributes that the driving section is not included in a designated area (e.g., a school area), the controller using a sensor device to identify whether there are pedestrians in front of the main vehicle, and when it is identified that there are no pedestrians, the controller using a drive device to restart the main vehicle based on a first acceleration intensity.

[0226] According to one aspect, the automatic driving control method may also include the controller using a notification device to provide a pedestrian notification to a user, and when a pedestrian is identified, the controller using a drive device to maintain stop control of the main vehicle, when it is identified that the pedestrian is not identified within a second time from the time point when the pedestrian notification is provided, providing a notification about the user confirmation input to the user through the controller during a specified time, and when the user confirmation input is received from the user within the specified time, the controller using the drive device to restart the main vehicle based on a second acceleration intensity that is less than the first acceleration intensity.

[0227] According to one aspect, the automatic driving control method may also include, when it is identified based on the identified attributes that the driving section is included in the designated area, providing the user with a first notification about the user confirmation input and a second notification including information that the driving section corresponds to the designated area (e.g., a school area) within the specified time by the controller, and when the user confirmation input is received from the user within the specified time, restarting the main vehicle by the controller using the drive device based on a third acceleration intensity that is less than the second acceleration intensity.

[0228] According to one aspect, the automatic driving control method may also include activating a warning function by the controller when no user confirmation input is received from the user within a specified time, the warning function including at least one of a warning light turning on (ON), a sound output function about looking forward, or a tactile function, or any combination thereof, and ending the automatic driving control of the main vehicle by the controller.

[0229] Fig. 9 A computing system for an automatic driving control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0230] Reference Fig. 9 The computing system 1000 regarding the autonomous driving 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 device (storage) 1600 and a network interface 1700, which are interconnected via a bus 1200.

[0231] 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 device 1600. The memory 1300 and the storage device 1600 may include various types of volatile or non-volatile storage media. For example, the memory 1300 may include a read-only memory (ROM) 1310 and a random access memory (RAM) 1320.

[0232] Therefore, the operation of the method or algorithm described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in the specification can be directly implemented using a hardware module, a software module, or a combination of a hardware module and a software module, which is executed by the processor 1100. The software module can reside on a storage medium (i.e., the memory 1300 and / or the storage device 1600), such as RAM, flash memory, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disk, removable disk, and CD-ROM.

[0233] 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.

[0234] The effects of the automatic driving control device and method thereof according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.

[0235] According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the autonomous driving control device can divide the control area for stopping into a general control area, a first area based on a first required deceleration and acceleration, a second area based on a second required deceleration and acceleration, and a complete stop area, and can control the main vehicle to perform deceleration control and stopping control on the main vehicle, thereby providing the function of performing optimal stopping control for each area.

[0236] In addition, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the driving conditions, the relative relationship with the vehicle in front, etc. change when the stop control is performed, the automatic driving control device can flexibly and smoothly change the required deceleration and acceleration, and can perform the stop control, so as to minimize the sense of difference provided to the user during the stop control.

[0237] In addition, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the automatic driving control device can independently control the stop control without using a separate braking device, thereby reducing the production cost and manufacturing cost required to produce the device for stop control.

[0238] Furthermore, various effects directly or indirectly determined by the present disclosure can be provided.

[0239] Although the present disclosure has been described above with reference to exemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawings, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, but various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as claimed in the claims.

[0240] Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure are not intended to limit the technical spirit of the present disclosure, but are only for illustrative purposes. The scope of the present disclosure should be interpreted on the basis of 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 device, in, include: Sensor device; Drive device; a memory storing at least one instruction; and a controller operatively connected to the sensor device and the memory, wherein the at least one instruction is configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the device to: identifying a stop indicator in front of the vehicle using the sensor device; controlling the drive device to stop the vehicle based on the state of the stop indicator; using the sensor device and while the vehicle is stopped, identifying a condition for controlling the drive device to restart the vehicle, wherein the condition includes a change in the state of the stop indicator; and Based on the condition, determining whether to control the driving device to restart the vehicle is based on at least one of the following: a tracking state of the eyes of the user of the vehicle, properties of the travel segment related to the presence of pedestrians in the vicinity of the vehicle, or A user-confirmed input is provided to accelerate the vehicle.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The sensor device includes a front-view camera and an in-vehicle camera, and The at least one instruction is configured, when executed by the controller, to cause the device to: The forward-looking camera is used to identify the lighting state of the traffic light as at least a part of the state of the stop indicator, wherein the in-vehicle camera is referred to as ICC for short.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein: Also includes: an input device, The at least one instruction is configured, when executed by the controller, to cause the device to: It is identified whether the user confirmation input is received through the input device.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein: Also includes: a notification device, The at least one instruction is configured, when executed by the controller, to cause the device to: Based on detecting that the lighting state of the traffic light changes to a second lighting state when the drive device is controlled to stop the vehicle, information indicating the second lighting state of the traffic light is output to the user using the notification device as at least a part of the state of the stop indicator.

5. The device according to claim 4, wherein: The at least one instruction is configured, when executed by the controller, to cause the device to: determining, using the sensor device, whether the user is keeping the eyes on a road; Based on determining that the user is not keeping the eyes on the road, outputting a look-ahead notification to the user using the notification device, the look-ahead notification including information informing the user to keep the eyes on the road; as well as Based on determining that the user has not kept the eyes on the road within a first time from a time point when the look-ahead notification is output, a look-ahead warning is output, the look-ahead warning including a signal for the user to keep the eyes on the road.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein: The at least one instruction is configured, when executed by the controller, to cause the device to: The look ahead warning is output by activating a look ahead warning operation, and the look ahead warning includes at least one of: a warning light activation, an audible warning sound, or tactile feedback.

7. The device according to claim 4, wherein: The at least one instruction is configured, when executed by the controller, to cause the device to: determining, using the sensor device, whether the user is keeping the eyes on a road; identifying the attribute of the travel segment; Based on recognizing that the travel section is not included in a designated area using the recognized attributes, determining whether there is a pedestrian in front of the vehicle using the sensor device; as well as Based on determining that there is no pedestrian in front of the vehicle, the vehicle is restarted using the driving device according to a first acceleration intensity.

8. The device according to claim 7, wherein: The at least one instruction is configured, when executed by the controller, to cause the device to: outputting a pedestrian notification to the user using the notification device; Based on determining that there is a pedestrian in front of the vehicle, maintaining the vehicle in a stopped state; outputting a notification to the user during a specified time indicating that the user confirms the input based on determining that the pedestrian is not recognized within a second time from a time point when the pedestrian notification is output; as well as Based on receiving the user confirmation input from the user within the specified time, the vehicle is restarted using the driving device according to a second acceleration intensity that is less than the first acceleration intensity.

9. The device according to claim 8, wherein: The at least one instruction is configured, when executed by the controller, to cause the device to: Based on failure to detect the user confirmation input within the specified time, activating a warning operation to output a warning signal, wherein the warning signal includes at least one of: activation of a warning light, an audible warning sound, or tactile feedback; and Deactivating automated driving control of the vehicle.

10. The device according to claim 8, wherein: The at least one instruction is configured, when executed by the controller, to cause the device to: Based on identifying one or more pedestrians in front of the vehicle within the second time from the time point when the pedestrian notification is output, automatic driving control of the vehicle is deactivated.

11. The device according to claim 7, wherein: The at least one instruction is configured, when executed by the controller, to cause the device to: The pedestrian in front of the vehicle is identified, and the pedestrian in front of the vehicle is identified in an area in front of the vehicle having a width wider than a width of a line, wherein the vehicle is stopped within the line.

12. The device according to claim 8, wherein: The at least one instruction is configured, when executed by the controller, to cause the device to: Based on determining that the travel section is included in the designated area using the identified attributes, outputting a plurality of notifications to the user, the plurality of notifications comprising: A first notification regarding the user confirmation input; and a second notification including information indicating that the travel section corresponds to the designated area during the designated time; and Based on receiving the user confirmation input from the user within the specified time, the vehicle is restarted using the driving device according to a third acceleration intensity that is less than the second acceleration intensity.

13. The device according to claim 12, wherein: The at least one instruction is configured, when executed by the controller, to cause the device to: Based on failure to detect the user confirmation input within the specified time, activating a warning operation to output a warning signal, wherein the warning signal includes at least one of: activation of a warning light, an audible warning sound as an indication to look ahead, or tactile feedback; and Deactivating automated driving control of the vehicle.

14. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein: Also includes: a communication device, The at least one instruction is configured, when executed by the controller, to cause the device to: Using the traffic light information received via the communication device, it is determined whether the state of the stop indicator has changed by identifying a change in the lighting state of the traffic light.

15. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein: The at least one instruction is configured, when executed by the controller, to cause the device to: The autonomous driving control is reactivated based on receiving a resumption request input of the autonomous driving control from the user after deactivating the autonomous driving control.

16. A control method, in, include: identifying, by a controller and using a sensor device, a stop indicator in front of the vehicle, wherein the stop indicator comprises a traffic light; controlling a drive device to stop the vehicle by the controller based on a state of the stop indicator, wherein the state of the stop indicator includes a first lighting state that is a lighting state of the traffic light; recognizing, by the controller and using the sensor device, that the lighting state of the traffic light changes from the first lighting state to a second lighting state; and Determining, by the controller, whether to control the driving device to restart the vehicle based on at least one of the following: a tracking state of the eyes of the user of the vehicle, properties of the travel segment related to the presence of pedestrians in the vicinity of the vehicle, or A user-confirmed input is provided to accelerate the vehicle.

17. The control method according to claim 16, wherein: Also includes: outputting information indicating the lighting state of the traffic light to the user using a notification device based on detecting that the lighting state of the traffic light changes to the second lighting state when the drive device is controlled to stop the vehicle; determining, by the controller and using the sensor device, whether the user is keeping the eyes on a road; Based on determining that the user is not keeping the eyes on the road, outputting a look-forward notification to the user through the controller, the look-forward notification including information informing the user to keep the eyes on the road; and Based on determining that the user has not kept the eyes on the road within a first time from a time point when the look-ahead notification is output, a look-ahead warning is output, the look-ahead warning including a signal for the user to keep the eyes on the road.

18. The control method according to claim 17, wherein: Also includes: Based on determining that the user is gazing the eyes at the road, identifying, by the controller, the attribute of the driving section; Based on recognizing that the travel section is not included in a designated area using the recognized attributes, determining, by the controller and using the sensor device, whether there is a pedestrian in front of the vehicle; and Based on determining that there is no pedestrian in front of the vehicle, the vehicle is restarted according to a first acceleration intensity by the controller and using the driving device.

19. The control method according to claim 18, wherein: Also includes: outputting a pedestrian notification to the user by the controller and using the notification device; Based on determining that there is a pedestrian in front of the vehicle, maintaining the vehicle in a stopped state by the controller; outputting, by the controller, to the user during a specified time a notification indicating that the user confirms the input based on determining that the pedestrian is not recognized within a second time from a time point when the pedestrian notification is output; and Based on receiving the user confirmation input from the user within the specified time, the vehicle is restarted, by the controller and using the driving device, according to a second acceleration intensity that is less than the first acceleration intensity.

20. The control method according to claim 19, wherein: Also includes: Outputting a plurality of notifications to the user through the controller, the plurality of notifications comprising: A first notification regarding the user confirmation input; and a second notification including information indicating that the travel section corresponds to the designated area during the designated time; and Based on receiving the user confirmation input from the user within the specified time, the vehicle is restarted, by the controller and using the driving device, according to a third acceleration intensity that is less than the second acceleration intensity.

Images