Method and apparatus for controlling host vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for controlling a host vehicle, comprising the following steps: receiving a status notification signal from the surroundings of the host vehicle by means of a wireless communication technique, said status notification signal indicating a special operating situation of at least one other vehicle in the surroundings of the host vehicle; a state sensing signal about a target vehicle is obtained by means of an environment sensor of the vehicle, the target vehicle is located in an adjacent lane or an adjacent roadside parking area of the vehicle, and the state sensing signal indicates that an indicator lamp on at least one side of the target vehicle is activated; identifying a starting intention or a lane changing intention of the target vehicle based on the state notification signal and the state sensing signal; and when it is recognized that the target vehicle does not have the starting intention or the lane changing intention, at least one response operation of the vehicle is triggered. The application also proposes an apparatus for controlling a host vehicle and a computer program product.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to a method for controlling a host vehicle, and also relates to an apparatus for controlling a host vehicle and a computer program product. BACKGROUND

[0002] In road traffic, there is a typical limited field of view scenario: when the adjacent vehicle of the host vehicle turns on the hazard warning light, due to the obstruction of the front and rear vehicles or road fixed facilities, the driver or intelligent driving system of the host vehicle cannot observe the complete state of the double-side indicator lights, but can only observe the flashing of the single-side indicator light. Such limited perception scenarios are prone to misjudge the starting or merging intention of the adjacent vehicle, and thus cause the host vehicle to perform unnecessary lane changing or emergency deceleration. Such misjudgment not only interferes with the smoothness of the host vehicle driving, reduces the road traffic efficiency, but also increases the safety hazard in the dense traffic scenario.

[0003] Therefore, how to improve the reliability of driving decision in the above scenario is a problem to be solved. SUMMARY

[0004] The purpose of the present application is to provide a method for controlling a host vehicle, an apparatus for controlling a host vehicle and a computer program product, to at least solve some problems in the prior art.

[0005] According to a first aspect of the present application, a method for controlling a host vehicle is provided, the method comprising the steps of: Step S1, receiving a state notification signal from the surrounding environment of the host vehicle by means of wireless communication technology, the state notification signal indicating a special operating condition of at least one other vehicle in the surrounding environment of the host vehicle; Step S2, acquiring a state perception signal about a target vehicle by means of an environmental sensor of the host vehicle, the target vehicle being located in an adjacent lane or an adjacent roadside parking area of the host vehicle, the state perception signal indicating that the indicator light of at least one side of the target vehicle is activated; Step S3, identifying a starting intention or a lane changing intention of the target vehicle based on the state notification signal and the state perception signal; and Step S4, triggering at least one response operation of the host vehicle in the case where it is identified that the target vehicle does not have a starting intention or a lane changing intention.

[0006] The application particularly includes the following technical concept: by fusing wireless communication technology and environment perception technology, the state of the indicator light of the surrounding vehicle can be cooperatively judged, and the limitations of visual perception ability in specific scenarios can be effectively made up. Especially when only one side of the indicator light of the vehicle in the adjacent area is visible due to visual obstruction, it can also accurately judge whether the vehicle has a starting or lane changing intention, thereby avoiding unnecessary preventive lane changing or deceleration operation of the vehicle. Thus, the decision reliability of the driver or the intelligent driving system in the limited perception scenario is effectively improved, not only the traffic flow is improved, but also the driving safety is significantly improved.

[0007] In one example embodiment, the at least one response operation of the host vehicle includes at least one of the following: outputting first prompt information through a human-computer interaction interface of the host vehicle, the first prompt information being used to indicate that the target vehicle has no starting intention or lane changing intention, and / or to suggest the host vehicle to keep the current lane or speed; controlling the host vehicle to perform a lane keeping operation and / or a speed keeping operation; and / or, sending second prompt information to the surrounding vehicles of the host vehicle by means of wireless communication technology, the second prompt information being used to indicate that the target vehicle has no starting intention or lane changing intention.

[0008] In one example embodiment, the state notification signal includes at least one of the following information: both sides of the indicator light of at least one other vehicle are activated; the category of the special running condition of at least one other vehicle, the category including: failure, accident and / or temporary parking; and / or, the position information of at least one other vehicle.

[0009] In one example embodiment, the state perception signal includes the indicator light state category of the target vehicle, the indicator light state category including: both sides of the indicator light are activated, only one side of the indicator light is visible and activated, or both sides of the indicator light are visible and only one side of the indicator light is activated; the state perception signal further includes the relative position information between the target vehicle and the host vehicle.

[0010] In one example embodiment, the step S3 includes: matching the received state notification signal with the obtained state perception signal to judge whether the at least one other vehicle corresponding to the state notification signal and the target vehicle corresponding to the state perception signal are the same vehicle.

[0011] In an exemplary embodiment, the matching is performed as follows: if the location information of at least one other vehicle contained in the status notification signal meets the consistency condition with the location information of the target vehicle contained in the status perception signal, then they are determined to be the same vehicle; if only a unique status notification signal is received within a preset time window, and only a status perception signal about a unique target vehicle is obtained within the same preset time window, then they are determined to be the same vehicle; and / or, if the vehicle identifier contained in the status notification signal meets the consistency condition with the vehicle identifier contained in the status perception signal, then they are determined to be the same vehicle.

[0012] In an exemplary embodiment, step S3 includes determining that the target vehicle does not have the intention to start or change lanes under the following circumstances: a status notification signal is received, and the acquired status perception signal indicates that only one side indicator light of the target vehicle is visible and activated; or, a status notification signal is received, and the acquired status perception signal indicates that both side indicator lights of the target vehicle are activated.

[0013] In an exemplary embodiment, step S3 includes: if a status notification signal is received, and the acquired status perception signal indicates that the indicator lights on both sides of the target vehicle are visible, and only the indicator light on the side closer to the vehicle is activated while the indicator light on the other side is not activated, then it is determined that the target vehicle has the intention to start or change lanes.

[0014] According to a second aspect of this application, an apparatus for controlling a vehicle is provided, the apparatus including a memory and a processor, the memory storing computer program instructions, which, when executed by the processor, enable the processor to perform the method according to the first aspect of this application.

[0015] According to a third aspect of this application, a computer program product is provided, comprising computer program instructions, wherein the computer program instructions, when executed by one or more processors, enable the one or more processors to perform the method according to the first aspect of this application. Attached Figure Description

[0016] The principles, features, and advantages of this application will be better understood below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings include: Figure 1 A block diagram of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown, the vehicle including means for controlling the vehicle; Figure 2 A flowchart illustrating a method for controlling the vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of this application is shown; Figure 3 It shows Figure 2 A flowchart of one method step of the method shown; Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating the use of the method according to this application in an exemplary application scenario is shown; Figure 5 A schematic diagram illustrating the use of the method according to this application in another exemplary application scenario is shown; and Figure 6 A schematic diagram illustrating the use of the method according to this application in another exemplary application scenario is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0017] To make the technical problems to be solved, the technical solutions, and the beneficial technical effects of this application clearer, the application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and several exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only for explaining this application and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application.

[0018] Figure 1 A block diagram of a vehicle 1 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown, the vehicle 1 including a device 10 for controlling the vehicle.

[0019] This vehicle 1 supports partial autonomous driving, fully autonomous driving, and also includes a manual driving mode. This vehicle 1 includes a device 10 for controlling itself. This device 10 can be a functional module of an autonomous driving domain controller or implemented as a standalone unit. The device 10 includes a processor 12 and a memory 11. The memory 11 stores computer program instructions, which can be stored in computer-readable storage media such as hard disks, RAM, or flash memory cards. The processor 12 can be a central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), or other general-purpose processor. When the processor 12 executes the computer program instructions in the memory 11, it can implement methods for controlling this vehicle 1. This will be further explained below. The device 10 can be deployed locally on this vehicle 1 or partially or entirely externally (e.g., on a cloud server) to adapt to different application scenarios.

[0020] The device 10 can be connected to multiple sensors 13, 14, 15 and actuators 20, 30 of the vehicle 1 via wired or wireless means through an in-vehicle network (such as CAN bus, FlexRay, MOST, etc.).

[0021] like Figure 1As exemplified, device 10 can be connected to camera 13 of vehicle 1 to receive road environment images captured by camera 13. A trained machine learning model (such as a convolutional neural network (CNN) or a deep learning model) can be built into the memory 11 of device 10 or accessed via a network to process the images captured by camera 13, thereby identifying vehicles in the surrounding environment and detecting the activation status of their indicator lights (e.g., active / inactive), classifying light categories (e.g., hazard warning lights, left / right indicator lights), identifying visual occlusion, and estimating the distance to target vehicles. Furthermore, device 10 can also be connected to other types of environmental sensors, such as lidar sensors, millimeter-wave radar sensors, and ultrasonic radar sensors, to achieve multimodal perception of the road environment.

[0022] The device 10 can also be connected to the communication interface 14 to communicate with other vehicles and roadside infrastructure in the vicinity via wireless communication technologies (such as 5G, C-V2X, DSRC, etc.) to receive status notification signals from other vehicles. These status notification signals are used to indicate special operating conditions of other vehicles in the vicinity. Furthermore, the communication interface 13 can be used to send alerts to following vehicles to help them avoid misjudging the intentions of the target vehicle.

[0023] The device 10 can also be connected to vehicle status sensors 15, such as speedometers, gyroscopes, wheel speed sensors and steering angle sensors, to obtain the motion status information of the vehicle 1 in real time.

[0024] Furthermore, the device 10 can also be connected to the driving actuator 20 of the vehicle 1 to achieve lateral and longitudinal control of the vehicle 1. The driving actuator 20 includes key components such as the power system, transmission system, steering system, and braking system, and can perform corresponding vehicle control actions in response to control commands (such as lane keeping, speed adjustment, steering, or braking commands) issued by the device 10.

[0025] The device 10 can also be connected to the output unit 30 of the vehicle 1, such as an in-vehicle display unit, speaker, or haptic feedback device. With the help of the output unit 30, the true driving intention of the target vehicle can be prompted to the driver through optical, acoustic, and / or haptic means, or specific driving operation suggestions (such as "keep the current lane"). In addition, the output unit 30 may also include external warning devices, such as horns and headlights, so as to issue prompts or warning signals to traffic participants outside the vehicle 1.

[0026] It should be understood that Figure 1The number and types of various sensors or actuators connected to device 10 shown are merely exemplary and are not intended to be limiting. In practical applications, other types or numbers of sensors and actuators can be configured in this vehicle 1 according to specific scenarios and functional requirements.

[0027] It should also be understood that, without departing from the core concept of this application, the connection relationships and functional divisions between modules can be adaptively adjusted according to the actual system architecture, and such adjustments should also fall within the protection scope of this application. For example, the structure of device 10 is not limited to... Figure 1 As shown, it can also be constructed in an integrated manner with part or all of the sensor or actuator shown.

[0028] Figure 2 A flowchart illustrating a method for controlling a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of this application is shown. The method exemplarily includes steps S1, S2, S3, and S4, and can, for example, be implemented using... Figure 1 The device 10 shown is implemented in this case.

[0029] In step S1, a status notification signal is received from the surrounding environment of the vehicle using wireless communication technology. The status notification signal is used to indicate the special operating status of at least one other vehicle in the surrounding environment of the vehicle.

[0030] Wireless communication technologies include, for example, Wi-Fi, 5G, C-V2X, DSRC, Bluetooth, and radio frequency communication. The status notification signal can be sent directly by other vehicles in special operating conditions, or it can be forwarded through infrastructure such as roadside units, or it can be sent by other vehicles that observe the special operating condition (such as vehicle malfunction or accident).

[0031] The status notification signal includes at least one of the following information: At least one other vehicle's dual indicator lights are activated; At least one category of special operating conditions of other vehicles, such as malfunction, accident, or temporary stop, which is usually accompanied by the activation of warning lights, can increase the confidence in the intent judgment; Location information of at least one other vehicle. This location information may include, for example, absolute coordinates (such as GPS location), or semantic location descriptions (such as parking space number, nearby buildings) or relative location descriptions (such as "30 meters east of the intersection").

[0032] In addition, status notification signals may also include vehicle identification information (such as unique identification code, license plate number), vehicle model or color, etc., to help the vehicle quickly locate the vehicle from which the signal originates.

[0033] In step S2, the environmental sensors of the vehicle acquire a state perception signal about the target vehicle, which is located in the adjacent lane or adjacent roadside parking area of ​​the vehicle. The state perception signal indicates that an indicator light on at least one side of the target vehicle is activated.

[0034] When performing environmental perception, this vehicle primarily focuses on target vehicles within the adjacent area, as their lane-changing or starting intentions directly influence the vehicle's driving decisions. The adjacent area mainly includes the vehicle's adjacent driving lane and areas with consecutive parked vehicles on the roadside. In traffic congestion, vehicles in adjacent lanes may have their indicator lights partially or completely obscured by the vehicle in front or behind due to close following distance, preventing the vehicle from fully observing their light status. In scenarios with tightly parked vehicles on the roadside, due to the narrow spacing between parked vehicles, when the vehicle passes by, the indicator lights on the side of the parked vehicle furthest from the driving lane are often obscured by another vehicle behind, causing the vehicle to only observe the light signals on the side closest to the driving lane.

[0035] State perception signals primarily include visual perception signals. For example, an onboard camera can capture images of the road environment and identify surrounding vehicles and the activation status of their indicator lights. The determination of indicator light activation status can be made using specific image recognition algorithms based on their illumination patterns (such as flashing frequency and brightness cycle), or by processing image sequences using a trained machine learning model (such as a convolutional neural network). In addition to visual signals, state perception signals can also fuse data from other sensors such as radar and lidar to achieve multimodal environmental perception.

[0036] In one embodiment, the state perception signal includes the indicator light state category of the target vehicle, which may include, for example: both indicator lights are activated (i.e., hazard lights flashing), only one indicator light is visible and activated (i.e., the other side may be obstructed), or both indicator lights are visible and only one indicator light is activated (i.e., both indicator lights are within visual perception range). Furthermore, the state perception signal may further include a description of visual occlusion, such as the type of obstruction (front / rear vehicles, buildings, guardrails, green belts, etc.) or the degree of occlusion (partial occlusion, completely invisible).

[0037] The term "indicator lights" as used herein primarily includes, for example, turn signals / signal lights mounted at the front and rear of the vehicle. In some cases, this may also include turn signals located on the sides of the vehicle or other related indicator lights.

[0038] The "active state" of an indicator light typically manifests as flashing, which is a common way to indicate a turn or hazard warning. It should be understood that, depending on different vehicle designs or regional regulations, the active state may also include constant illumination or other dynamic lighting modes.

[0039] In another embodiment, the state perception signal may further include relative position information between the target vehicle and the current vehicle, such as relative distance and azimuth. If the system uses a monocular camera, the distance can be estimated using the structure-of-motion method; if a stereo vision system (containing at least two cameras) is used, the distance can be calculated directly based on the parallax principle.

[0040] In another embodiment, the state perception signal may further include motion state information of the target vehicle (such as whether it is stationary or moving). This information can serve as an auxiliary basis for determining whether the target vehicle intends to start.

[0041] In step S3, the starting intention or lane change intention of the target vehicle is identified based on the status notification signal and the status perception signal.

[0042] Here, the specific category of the intent to be identified is related to the state and / or location of the target vehicle: when the target vehicle is in an adjacent lane (such as waiting at a red light or in a traffic jam), the intent mainly refers to the intent to change lanes; when the target vehicle is a stationary vehicle parked on the side of the road, the intent mainly refers to the intent to start.

[0043] In one embodiment, data fusion can be performed on status notification signals and status perception signals, and then the vehicle can be directly determined to have the intention to start or change lanes based on the fused information.

[0044] In another embodiment, preliminary intent judgment results can be generated based on state notification signals and state awareness signals respectively, and then a comprehensive judgment can be made based on the two intent judgment results. For example, different weights can be assigned to the two judgment results, and the weight ratio can be dynamically adjusted according to the actual scenario. In scenarios with limited perception conditions such as severe weather or low visibility, the weight of the judgment result based on the state notification signal can be appropriately increased to improve the robustness of the system.

[0045] This will be discussed in the following text. Figure 3 The examples further illustrate this.

[0046] In step S4, if it is detected that the target vehicle does not have the intention to start or change lanes, at least one response operation of this vehicle is triggered.

[0047] In one embodiment, the response operation may include outputting a first prompt message through the vehicle's human-machine interface. This first prompt message indicates that the target vehicle has no intention to start or change lanes, and / or suggests that the vehicle maintain its current lane or speed. The output method of the first prompt message may include at least one of visual, auditory, or tactile prompts. The human-machine interface may include, for example, a head-up display, instrument panel, central control screen, speaker, or haptic feedback device.

[0048] In another embodiment, the response operation may further include controlling the vehicle to perform lane keeping and / or speed maintaining operations. Specifically, a command may be sent to the lane keeping assist system to maintain the current lane, and if the advanced driver assistance system or autonomous driving system has generated a lane change or deceleration command due to misjudgment, the command may be revoked.

[0049] In another embodiment, the response operation may further include sending a second notification message to surrounding vehicles using wireless communication technology. This second notification message indicates that the target vehicle has no intention to start or change lanes. The surrounding vehicles primarily refer to vehicles following behind the vehicle, as their driving decisions are significantly influenced by this intention recognition result, but may also include other nearby vehicles. The second notification message can be sent, for example, via broadcasting or directional point-to-point communication.

[0050] Figure 3 It shows Figure 2 A flowchart of one method step of the method shown is provided. In this embodiment, Figure 2 The method shown further includes sub-steps S31 to S34.

[0051] In sub-step S31, the received status notification signal is matched with the acquired status perception signal, and at least one other vehicle corresponding to the status notification signal is associated with the target vehicle corresponding to the status perception signal.

[0052] Specifically, it can be checked in several ways whether other vehicles in special operating conditions and the target vehicle that detected the activation indicator light are related to the same vehicle. In one embodiment, matching can be based on location information. If the location information of at least one other vehicle contained in the status notification signal and the location information of the target vehicle contained in the status perception signal meet a consistency condition, they are determined to be the same vehicle. For example, if the status notification signal contains GPS coordinate information of a parked vehicle, a first distance is calculated based on the vehicle's GPS coordinates and the received GPS coordinates. This first distance is then compared with a second distance measured by environmental sensors between the vehicle and a parked vehicle with an activated indicator light. If the difference between the two distances is less than a deviation threshold, the consistency condition is met, meaning they involve the same vehicle.

[0053] In another embodiment, matching can be based on a time window. For example, if only a unique status notification signal is received within a preset time window, and only a status perception signal about a unique target vehicle is obtained within the same preset time window, then they are determined to be the same vehicle.

[0054] In another embodiment, matching can also be based on vehicle identifiers. For example, if the vehicle identifier contained in the status notification signal and the vehicle identifier contained in the status perception signal meet a consistency condition (e.g., the received license plate number matches the detected license plate number), then they are determined to be the same vehicle.

[0055] It should be noted that the matching process involved in sub-step S31 is not absolutely necessary. In some cases, this sub-step can be omitted to reduce computational overhead or simplify the judgment process.

[0056] In sub-step S32, it is checked whether there is a contradiction between the status notification signal and the status perception signal corresponding to the same target vehicle. Specifically, this can be determined by comparing the indicator light activation status reflected by the two signals.

[0057] In one embodiment, if a status notification signal is received, and the acquired status perception signal indicates that only one side of the indicator light on the target vehicle is visible and activated, then the signals are considered to be consistent. This situation conforms to the typical characteristics of visual occlusion, and the indicator light on the other side is likely also activated.

[0058] In another embodiment, if a status notification signal is received and the acquired status perception signal indicates that both indicator lights on the target vehicle are activated, then the signals are considered to be consistent. In this case, the communication signal and visual perception mutually verify each other, forming a double verification.

[0059] In another embodiment, if a status notification signal is received, and the acquired status perception signal indicates that the indicator lights on both sides of the target vehicle are visible, and only the indicator light on the side closer to the vehicle is activated while the indicator light on the other side is not activated, then it is determined that there is a contradiction between the signals.

[0060] In another embodiment not shown, if the vehicle does not receive a status notification signal, but the acquired status perception signal indicates that only one side indicator light of the target vehicle is visible and activated, it can also be considered that there is a contradiction between the signals.

[0061] If the process is determined to be consistent in step S32, then the process can proceed to sub-step S33 to confirm that the target vehicle does not have the intention to start or change lanes.

[0062] If the decision is contradictory, proceed to sub-step S34 to perform further decision-making. A contradictory situation may indicate that the target vehicle is actually issuing a clear turning intention signal (such as activation of a single-side turn signal), rather than a hazard warning state implied by a status notification signal. In another scenario, a contradictory situation may also indicate that a reliable judgment of the target vehicle's true intention cannot currently be made with sufficient confidence. In sub-step S34, when perception conditions are favorable and the confidence level of the visual perception result is high, for example, the state perception signal can be prioritized to determine that the target vehicle intends to start or change lanes, and corresponding warning or avoidance measures can be triggered. Furthermore, the driver is notified through the human-machine interface that the target vehicle's intention is uncertain, requesting manual judgment and intervention. In addition, to reduce potential risks, appropriate defensive maneuvers can be triggered in conflict situations, such as a preventative lane change or deceleration in a direction away from the target vehicle.

[0063] Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating the use of the method according to this application in an exemplary application scenario is shown.

[0064] In this scenario, vehicle 1 is traveling on road 50 with a row of longitudinal roadside parking spaces 51. The vehicles in parking spaces 51 are densely packed, and one target vehicle 2 has its hazard warning lights (double flashers) activated, for example, due to a malfunction. As shown in the environmental perception range 100 of vehicle 1, due to obstruction from another vehicle behind, the driver or sensors of vehicle 1 cannot observe the indicator lights on the side of target vehicle 2 furthest from the driving lane (right side), but can only see the indicator lights flashing on the side closest to the driving lane (left side). This visual obstruction can easily lead vehicle 1 to misjudge the driving intentions of target vehicle 2, mistakenly believing that target vehicle 2 is about to start moving and exit parking space 51 to the left, and then merge into vehicle 1's current lane.

[0065] In this embodiment, target vehicle 2 broadcasts a status notification signal indicating that it is in a "special operating condition" (such as a malfunction) to the surrounding area via wireless communication 60. Vehicle 1 receives this signal via its wireless communication interface and simultaneously acquires a status perception signal about target vehicle 2 using its onboard environmental sensors. The status perception signal indicates that only the left indicator light of target vehicle 2 is active, while its right indicator light is invisible due to being obscured by a vehicle behind it. Furthermore, vehicle 1 also acquires the relative distance information between the two vehicles using environmental sensors.

[0066] By fusing and analyzing the status notification signal and the status perception signal, vehicle 1 determines that the indicator light on the right side of target vehicle 2 is highly likely to be active. Therefore, it can be determined that target vehicle 2 has activated its hazard warning lights as a warning, but has no intention of merging into the lane where vehicle 1 is located.

[0067] If vehicle 1 is in manual driving mode, the driver can receive an initial warning message via the in-vehicle human-machine interface (such as the vehicle screen), such as: "A vehicle with hazard lights flashing is parked on the right ahead, indicating no intention to move. It is recommended to maintain the current lane." If vehicle 1 is in automatic driving mode, the driver can be directly controlled to perform lane keeping and / or speed maintenance operations.

[0068] By employing the methods described above, this solution can accurately identify the true driving intention of target vehicle 2, effectively preventing vehicle 1 from taking unnecessary preventative measures due to visual misjudgment. This improves driving smoothness and safety.

[0069] Figure 5 A schematic diagram illustrating the use of the method according to this application in another exemplary application scenario is shown.

[0070] like Figure 5 As shown, with Figure 4 The difference is that the target vehicle 2, located in the parking space 51 to the right of this vehicle 1, did not turn on its hazard warning lights (double flashers). Instead, only the left indicator light was active, indicating that it did indeed intend to start moving and merge into the lane where this vehicle was located.

[0071] In this embodiment, vehicle 1 did not receive any status notification signal from target vehicle 2 indicating that it was in a special operating condition. Simultaneously, using environmental perception signals, vehicle 1 observed that the indicator light on the left side of target vehicle 2 was activated.

[0072] In this situation, although the indicator light on the right side of target vehicle 2 cannot be observed by this vehicle due to being obstructed by vehicles behind, since no status notification signal indicating that target vehicle 2 is in a special operating condition has been received, based on safety principles, it can still be determined that target vehicle 2 intends to change lanes. Accordingly, this vehicle 1 can take defensive strategies, such as slowing down or changing lanes to the left in a safe lane, to avoid potential collision risks.

[0073] It should be noted that, although Figure 4 and Figure 5 The example shown is a longitudinal parking space, but the parking direction of roadside parking spaces is not limited to this. In practical applications, the parking direction specified for parking spaces can be at a certain angle to the direction of road extension (such as an angled parking space) or a lateral parking space. This solution is also applicable to such scenarios.

[0074] Figure 6 A schematic diagram illustrating the use of the method according to this application in another exemplary application scenario is shown.

[0075] In this scenario, vehicle 1 is traveling on a multi-lane road 50 (e.g., three lanes), where traffic is heavy, speeds are slow, and distances between vehicles are small. In the lane adjacent to the right of vehicle 1, the target vehicle 2 in front of it has stopped due to a rear-end collision and has activated its hazard warning lights (i.e., hazard lights).

[0076] Because the distance between vehicles in the right lane is small, from the perspective of vehicle 1, target vehicle 2 is obscured by the vehicle behind it, causing the driver or onboard sensors of vehicle 1 to only be able to observe the flashing indicator light on its left side. Based solely on this environmental perception result, it is very easy to misjudge the lane-changing intention of target vehicle 2.

[0077] In this embodiment, with Figure 4 Similarly, in the scenario shown, vehicle 1 receives a status notification signal indicating that target vehicle 2 has been involved in an accident, and simultaneously identifies that its left-side indicator light is activated through a status perception signal. By fusing these two types of signals, vehicle 1 can reasonably infer that the right-side indicator light of target vehicle 2, which is obscured, is also activated, meaning that the target vehicle has turned on its hazard warning lights to warn others, but has no intention of changing lanes to the left.

[0078] Based on the above judgment, vehicle 1 notifies the driver that target vehicle 2 does not intend to change lanes, or, in autonomous driving mode, vehicle 1 can directly control vehicle 1 to perform lane keeping operation.

[0079] Although specific embodiments of this application are described in detail herein, they are given for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of this application. Various substitutions, modifications, and alterations can be conceived without departing from the spirit and scope of this application.

Claims

1. A method for controlling the vehicle (1), the method comprising the following steps: Step S1: Receive a status notification signal from the surrounding environment of the vehicle (1) using wireless communication technology. The status notification signal indicates the special operating status of at least one other vehicle in the surrounding environment of the vehicle (1). Step S2: Using the environmental sensors of this vehicle (1), obtain a state perception signal about the target vehicle (2), the target vehicle (2) is located in the adjacent lane or adjacent roadside parking area of ​​this vehicle (1), and the state perception signal indicates that an indicator light on at least one side of the target vehicle (2) is activated. Step S3: Based on the status notification signal and the status perception signal, identify the starting intention or lane change intention of the target vehicle (2); as well as Step S4: If it is detected that the target vehicle (2) does not have the intention to start or change lanes, trigger at least one response operation of the vehicle (1).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, At least one of the following response operations of this vehicle (1): The first prompt information is output through the human-machine interface of this vehicle (1). The first prompt information is used to indicate that the target vehicle (2) has no intention to start or change lanes, and / or to suggest that this vehicle (1) maintain the current lane or speed. Control the vehicle to (1) perform lane keeping and / or speed keeping operations; and / or Using wireless communication technology, a second prompt message is sent to the vehicles surrounding the vehicle (1), the second prompt message being used to indicate that the target vehicle (2) has no intention to start or change lanes.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, The status notification signal includes at least one of the following information: At least one other vehicle's dual indicator lights are activated; At least one category of special operating conditions of another vehicle, said category including: breakdown, accident and / or temporary parking; and / or Location information of at least one other vehicle.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, The state perception signal includes the indicator light state category of the target vehicle (2), and the indicator light state category includes: both indicator lights are activated, only one indicator light is visible and activated, or both indicator lights are visible and only one indicator light is activated. The state perception signal also includes the relative position information between the target vehicle (2) and the vehicle (1).

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, Step S3 includes: matching the received status notification signal with the acquired status perception signal to determine whether at least one other vehicle corresponding to the status notification signal and the target vehicle (2) corresponding to the status perception signal are the same vehicle.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, The matching is performed in the following manner: If the location information of at least one other vehicle contained in the status notification signal meets the consistency condition with the location information of the target vehicle (2) contained in the status perception signal, then it is determined to be the same vehicle. If only one status notification signal is received within the preset time window, and only one status perception signal about the single target vehicle (2) is obtained within the same preset time window, then it is determined to be the same vehicle; and / or If the vehicle identifier contained in the status notification signal and the vehicle identifier contained in the status perception signal meet the consistency condition, they are determined to be the same vehicle.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein, Step S3 includes determining that the target vehicle (2) does not have the intention to start or change lanes under the following circumstances: Upon receiving a status notification signal, and upon obtaining a status perception signal indicating that only one side indicator light of the target vehicle (2) is visible and activated; or Upon receiving the status notification signal, and with the acquired status perception signal indicating that both indicator lights on both sides of the target vehicle (2) are activated.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, Step S3 includes: If a status notification signal is received, and the acquired status perception signal indicates that the indicator lights on both sides of the target vehicle (2) are visible, and only the indicator light on the side closer to the vehicle (1) is activated while the indicator light on the other side is not activated, then it is determined that the target vehicle (2) has the intention to start or change lanes.

9. An apparatus (10) for controlling the vehicle (1), the apparatus (10) comprising a memory (11) and a processor (12), the memory (11) storing computer program instructions which, when executed by the processor (12), enable the processor (12) to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions, wherein, When executed by one or more processors, the computer program instructions enable the one or more processors to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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