Travel control method and computer program product for fleet of vehicles

Abstract

The invention relates to a driving control method for a motorcade, the motorcade is provided with a head vehicle located at the forefront and at least one following vehicle following the head vehicle, and the driving control method at least comprises the following steps: acquiring driving parameters of the head vehicle, the driving parameters at least comprise the driving track and the driving speed of the head vehicle; sending the driving parameters to the following vehicle and driving the following vehicle according to the driving parameters; after a lane changing instruction is received, the head vehicle detects the real-time road condition of a target lane, and the head vehicle executes lane changing operation at least under the condition that the following lane changing conditions are met: the available lane changing distance of the target lane is larger than or equal to the required distance. The invention also relates to a corresponding computer program product. All vehicles in the motorcade can be kept in formation driving, so that the integrity and safety of motorcade driving are effectively improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of assisted driving technology, and in particular to a driving control method for a vehicle fleet. The present invention also relates to a corresponding computer program product. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, with the advancement of technology and improvements in living standards, vehicles have become increasingly intelligent. When multiple vehicles share the same starting and ending points, they can often form a convoy, with the lead vehicle leading the way and the following vehicles following in a formation. This convoy reduces fuel consumption for the following vehicles and significantly simplifies driving. This convoy is particularly useful in situations such as group travel and multi-vehicle freight transport.

[0003] However, existing platooning systems cannot maintain the platoon's driving formation. For example, if the lead vehicle slows down for some reason, the following vehicle may trigger an automatic lane change. However, when the lead vehicle changes lanes, the following vehicle may be unable to follow because it does not meet the lane change conditions. This fails to meet the integrity and safety requirements of platooning. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide an improved driving control method for a convoy, which enables all vehicles in the convoy to maintain platooning, thereby effectively improving the integrity and safety of the convoy's driving. The present invention also aims to provide a corresponding computer program product.

[0005] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a driving control method for a convoy is provided, wherein the convoy has a lead vehicle at the front and at least one following vehicle following the lead vehicle, wherein the driving control method comprises at least the following steps:

[0006] S1: Acquire the driving parameters of the lead vehicle, wherein the driving parameters at least include the driving track and driving speed of the lead vehicle;

[0007] S2: sending the driving parameters to the following vehicle and causing the following vehicle to drive according to the driving parameters;

[0008] S3: After receiving the lane change instruction, the leading vehicle detects the real-time road condition of the target lane, wherein the leading vehicle performs the lane change operation only when at least the following lane change conditions are met: the available lane change distance of the target lane is greater than or equal to the required distance.

[0009] Compared to existing technologies, the driving control method for a platoon according to the present invention ensures that following vehicles follow the driving parameters of the lead vehicle, including its trajectory and speed. This effectively ensures that following vehicles always follow the lead vehicle's trajectory and maintain a fixed safe distance from it, thereby maintaining platoon formation for all vehicles in the platoon. Furthermore, when a lane change is required, the lead vehicle only changes lanes if the available lane change distance in the target lane is greater than or equal to the required distance. This allows following vehicles to follow the lead vehicle's lane change, ensuring that the platoon maintains its formation even during lane changes, thereby reliably improving platoon integrity and driving safety.

[0010] Exemplarily, when there is only a leading vehicle located in front of the lead vehicle within the detection range in the target lane, the available lane change distance is greater than the required distance; and / or, when there is only a trailing vehicle located behind the leading vehicle within the detection range in the target lane, the available lane change distance is greater than the required distance; and / or, when there are a leading vehicle located in front of the leading vehicle and a trailing vehicle located behind the leading vehicle within the detection range in the target lane, the available lane change distance is equal to the distance between the leading vehicle and the trailing vehicle.

[0011] Exemplarily, the required distance is calculated based on the number of vehicles in the fleet, vehicle lengths, and a preset vehicle spacing.

[0012] Exemplarily, the lane change condition also includes: when there is a leading vehicle located in front of the lead vehicle and a trailing vehicle located behind the lead vehicle within a detection range in the target lane, the driving speed of the leading vehicle is greater than or equal to the driving speed of the trailing vehicle; and / or, when there is a trailing vehicle located behind the lead vehicle within a detection range in the target lane, the driving speed of the leading vehicle is greater than or equal to the driving speed of the trailing vehicle; and / or, the driving speeds of all vehicles in the convoy are the same.

[0013] Exemplarily, in step S1, the driving parameters of the lead vehicle are uploaded to a cloud server, and in step S2, the cloud server distributes the driving parameters to the following vehicles.

[0014] Exemplarily, the lane change instruction is automatically generated when the driving speed of the vehicle in the current lane ahead of the lead vehicle is lower than a speed threshold; and / or the lane change instruction is manually input by the driver of the lead vehicle.

[0015] Exemplarily, the driving control method further includes step S0: forming a convoy based on a convoy application of a plurality of vehicles, determining the order of the lead vehicle and the following vehicles, wherein the VIN code and basic vehicle parameters of each vehicle are obtained.

[0016] Exemplarily, the driving control method further includes step S4: when the following vehicle encounters an emergency situation, causing the following vehicle to perform an emergency obstacle avoidance operation, and then adjusting the driving parameters of the following vehicle so that the following vehicle returns to a preset position in the fleet.

[0017] Exemplarily, in step S1, the driving parameters also include the acceleration vector and / or steering wheel angle of the lead vehicle; and / or, in step S3, the lead vehicle and the following vehicle jointly detect the real-time road condition of the target lane; and / or, all vehicles in the fleet are driven in the same assisted driving mode or automatic driving mode.

[0018] According to a second aspect of the present invention, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by one or more processors, the processors are capable of executing the driving control method according to the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, so that the principles, features and advantages of the present invention can be better understood. The accompanying drawings include:

[0020] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a driving condition of a vehicle fleet according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0021] Figure 2 A schematic flow chart of a driving control method for a vehicle fleet according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and beneficial technical effects to be solved by the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and multiple exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0023] This specification provides method operation steps as described in the embodiments or flow charts, but based on routine or non-creative work, more or fewer operation steps may be included. The order of steps listed in the embodiments is only one way of executing the steps among many, and does not represent the only execution order.

[0024] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a driving condition of a fleet 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown. Figure 2 A schematic flow chart of a driving control method for a fleet 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0025] like Figure 1As shown, convoy 100 includes a lead vehicle 10 at the front and at least one, and particularly multiple (only two are shown here) following vehicles 20. When there are multiple following vehicles 20, these following vehicles 20 are arranged in a specific order and travel behind lead vehicle 10. All vehicles in convoy 100 can have at least partially identical routes, particularly identical starting and ending points. In particular, all vehicles in convoy 100 operate in the same assisted driving mode or automated driving mode, which simplifies the unified management of convoy 100.

[0026] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the driving control method for the fleet 100 according to the present invention includes at least the following steps:

[0027] S1: Acquire driving parameters of the lead vehicle 10, for example, using onboard sensors of the lead vehicle 10, such as GPS and inertial sensors. The driving parameters include at least the driving trajectory and speed of the lead vehicle 10. These driving parameters can accurately reflect the real-time position of the lead vehicle 10 and the driving operation at a specific location. Of course, other driving parameters deemed meaningful by those skilled in the art may also be considered, such as the acceleration vector and / or steering wheel angle of the lead vehicle 10.

[0028] S2: Sending the driving parameters of the lead vehicle 10 to all the following vehicles 20 and causing them to drive according to the driving parameters of the lead vehicle 10. This ensures that the following vehicles 20 strictly follow the driving trajectory of the lead vehicle 10, thereby avoiding undesired lane changes by the following vehicles 20 and keeping the distances between adjacent vehicles in the convoy 100 substantially constant.

[0029] S3: After receiving the lane change instruction, the real-time road condition of the target lane L2 is detected, wherein the lead vehicle 10 performs the lane change operation only when at least the following lane change conditions are met: the available lane change distance D1 of the target lane L2 is greater than or equal to the required distance D2.

[0030] In this case, after the lead vehicle 10 completes the lane change operation, the following vehicle 20 can safely change lanes when reaching the lane change position according to the driving trajectory of the lead vehicle 10, so that the fleet 100 can maintain the queue even when changing lanes, thereby reliably improving the integrity and driving safety of the fleet 100.

[0031] For example, when a vehicle is ahead of the lead vehicle 10 in the current lane L1 and its speed falls below a speed threshold, a lane change command is automatically generated in the lead vehicle 10. This effectively prevents the convoy 100 from driving in the same lane at a low speed for extended periods due to obstacles ahead of the lead vehicle 10. The speed threshold can be customized by the driver of the lead vehicle 10. Alternatively, the lane change command can be manually input by the driver of the lead vehicle 10.

[0032] For example, Figure 1 As shown, the required distance D2 is calculated based on the number of vehicles in the convoy 100, the vehicle length L, and the preset inter-vehicle distance D3. The vehicle length L can be the average length of all vehicles in the convoy 100. The total vehicle length can be obtained by multiplying the number of vehicles by the vehicle length L. However, it is also possible to calculate the total vehicle length by summing the vehicle lengths L of the individual vehicles in the convoy 100. The inter-vehicle distance D3 is the safe distance between adjacent vehicles in the convoy 100. In particular, the required distance D2 can be calculated using the following formula:

[0033]

[0034] Where N is the number of vehicles, L i is the length of each vehicle, D3 is the preset distance between vehicles,

[0035] Therefore, a sufficient required distance D2 can be set to avoid collisions between vehicles in the convoy 100 , especially the lead vehicle 10 and the rearmost following vehicle 20 , and vehicles in the target lane L2 and to avoid collisions between adjacent vehicles of the vehicle 100 .

[0036] For example, Figure 1 As shown, when a leading vehicle 30 located ahead of the lead vehicle 10 and a trailing vehicle 40 located behind the lead vehicle 10 are within the detection range in the target lane L2, the available lane change distance D1 is equal to the distance between the leading vehicle 30 and the trailing vehicle 40. The leading vehicle 10 only performs a lane change when the available lane change distance D1 is greater than or equal to the required distance D2. In particular, the lead vehicle 10 and the trailing vehicle 20 jointly detect the real-time road conditions in the target lane L2. This ensures a sufficient detection range and avoids situations where the trailing vehicle 40 in the target lane L2 cannot be detected due to the excessive length of the convoy 100. Furthermore, when only the leading vehicle 30 located ahead of the lead vehicle 10 is within the detection range in the target lane L2, the available lane change distance D1 is greater than the required distance D2. Similarly, when only the trailing vehicle 30 located behind the lead vehicle 10 is within the detection range in the target lane L2, the available lane change distance D1 is also greater than the required distance D2.

[0037] For example, in step S3, the lane change conditions to be satisfied may additionally include: when a leading vehicle 30 located ahead of the lead vehicle 10 and a trailing vehicle 40 located behind the lead vehicle 10 are present within the detection range in the target lane L2, the speed of the leading vehicle 30 is greater than or equal to the speed of the trailing vehicle 40. In this case, it can be determined that the trailing vehicle 40 in the target lane L2 has no tendency to accelerate and overtake the leading vehicle 30. This reliably prevents a collision between the following vehicle 20 in the convoy 100 and the trailing vehicle 40 in the target lane L2.

[0038] For example, in step S3, the lane change condition to be satisfied may also include: when there is a following vehicle 40 located behind the lead vehicle 10 within the detection range in the target lane L2, the driving speed of the lead vehicle 10 is greater than or equal to the driving speed of the following vehicle 40. This can further prevent the following vehicle 20 in the convoy 100 from colliding with the following vehicle 40 when changing lanes.

[0039] For example, in step S3, the lane change condition may also include: the driving speeds of all vehicles in the convoy 100 are the same, that is, equal to the driving speed of the lead vehicle 10, which can keep the formation of the convoy 100 intact and avoid queue jumping.

[0040] For example, Figure 1 As shown, in step S1, the acquired driving parameters of the lead vehicle 10 are uploaded to the cloud server C via wireless communication. In step S2, the cloud server C distributes the driving parameters to each of the following vehicles 20. Cloud server C also enables platooning collaborative decision-making and multi-vehicle dynamic path optimization for the convoy 100, significantly improving the safety and reliability of group driving collaboration. Alternatively, information exchange between the individual vehicles in the convoy 100 can be achieved through the Internet of Vehicles.

[0041] For example, Figure 2 As shown, the driving control method according to the present invention further includes step S0: based on the platooning applications of multiple vehicles, the order of the lead vehicle 10 and the following vehicles 20 is determined. The VIN code and basic vehicle parameters of each vehicle are obtained. The basic vehicle parameters may particularly include vehicle length L. The VIN code enables the binding of the corresponding vehicle with the basic vehicle parameters and the vehicle's driving parameters. Step S0 is particularly performed before or during the driving process.

[0042] For example, Figure 2As shown, the driving control method according to the present invention further includes step S4: when the following vehicle 20 encounters an emergency situation during driving, such as a rapidly approaching vehicle cutting in line or a flying foreign object, the following vehicle 20 performs an emergency obstacle avoidance maneuver, such as deceleration or lane change, to ensure driving safety. The driving parameters of the following vehicle 20 are then adjusted so that the following vehicle 20 returns to a preset position in the convoy 100. Thus, even if the following vehicle 20 temporarily leaves the convoy 100 due to emergency obstacle avoidance, it can quickly return to the preset position in the convoy 100 while ensuring driving safety, thereby achieving a balance between the integrity and safety of the convoy 100.

[0043] The present invention further relates to a computer program product comprising a computer program. When the computer program is executed by one or more processors, the processors are capable of executing the driving control method according to the present invention for the fleet 100. The computer program product may be stored in an electronic control unit of each vehicle in the fleet 100.

[0044] The above explanation of the embodiments only describes the present invention within the framework of the examples. Of course, the individual features of the embodiments can be freely combined with one another as long as it makes technical sense, without departing from the framework of the present invention.

[0045] Other advantages and alternative embodiments of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the present invention in its broader sense is not limited to the specific details, representative configurations, and exemplary embodiments shown and described. Rather, various modifications and substitutions may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the basic spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A driving control method for a vehicle fleet (100), wherein the vehicle fleet (100) comprises a leading vehicle (10) located at the front and at least one following vehicle (20) following the leading vehicle (10), characterized in that: The driving control method comprises at least the following steps: S1: Acquiring the driving parameters of the lead vehicle (10), wherein the driving parameters at least include the driving track and driving speed of the lead vehicle (10); S2: sending the driving parameters to the following vehicle (20) and causing the following vehicle (20) to drive according to the driving parameters; S3: After receiving the lane change instruction, the real-time road condition of the target lane (L2) is detected, wherein the leading vehicle (10) performs the lane change operation only when at least the following lane change conditions are met: the available lane change distance (D1) of the target lane (L2) is greater than or equal to the required distance (D2).

2. The driving control method according to claim 1, wherein: When there is only a preceding vehicle (30) located ahead of the lead vehicle (10) within the detection range in the target lane (L2), the available lane change distance (D1) is greater than the required distance (D2); and / or When there is only a following vehicle (40) located behind the leading vehicle (10) within the detection range in the target lane (L2), the available lane change distance (D1) is greater than the required distance (D2); and / or When a leading vehicle (30) located in front of the leading vehicle (10) and a trailing vehicle (40) located behind the leading vehicle (10) exist within a detection range in the target lane (L2), the lane change available distance (D1) is equal to the distance between the leading vehicle (30) and the trailing vehicle (40).

3. The driving control method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The required distance (D2) is calculated based on the number of vehicles in the fleet (100), the vehicle length (L) and the preset vehicle spacing (D3).

4. The driving control method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that: The lane change conditions also include: When a leading vehicle (30) located in front of the leading vehicle (10) and a trailing vehicle (40) located behind the leading vehicle (10) exist within a detection range in the target lane (L2), the driving speed of the leading vehicle (30) is greater than or equal to the driving speed of the trailing vehicle (40); and / or When a following vehicle (40) is located behind the leading vehicle (10) within a detection range in the target lane (L2), the driving speed of the leading vehicle (10) is greater than or equal to the driving speed of the following vehicle (40); and / or All vehicles in the fleet (100) travel at the same speed.

5. The driving control method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that: In step S1, the driving parameters of the lead vehicle (10) are uploaded to a cloud server (C), and in step S2, the cloud server (C) distributes the driving parameters to the following vehicles (20).

6. The driving control method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that: Automatically generating the lane change instruction when the driving speed of the vehicle in front of the lead vehicle (10) in the current lane (L1) is lower than a speed threshold; and / or The lane change instruction is manually input by the driver of the lead vehicle (10).

7. The driving control method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that: The driving control method further comprises step S0: forming a fleet (100) based on a fleet application of a plurality of vehicles, determining the order of the lead vehicle (10) and the following vehicles (20), wherein the VIN code and basic vehicle parameters of each vehicle are obtained.

8. The driving control method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that: The driving control method further comprises step S4: when the following vehicle (20) encounters an emergency situation, causing the following vehicle (20) to perform an emergency obstacle avoidance operation, and then adjusting the driving parameters of the following vehicle (20) so that the following vehicle (20) returns to a preset position in the fleet (100).

9. The driving control method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that: In step S1, the driving parameters also include the acceleration vector and / or steering wheel angle of the lead vehicle (10); and / or In step S3, the leading vehicle (10) and the following vehicle (20) jointly detect the real-time road condition of the target lane (L2); and / or All vehicles in the fleet (100) are driven in the same assisted driving mode or automatic driving mode.

10. A computer program product comprising a computer program, characterized in that When the computer program is executed by one or more processors, the processors are capable of executing the travel control method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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