Method for controlling a personal protection device of a vehicle and control unit

Abstract

Method (900) for controlling a personal protection device (116) of a vehicle (100), wherein the method (900) comprises the following steps: Reading (910) environmental information (110) representing a danger zone (104) detected by at least one environmental sensor (108) of the vehicle (100) in an environment of the vehicle (100), wherein the vehicle (100) is outside the danger zone (104) at the time of detection; Processing (920) the environmental information (110) in an environmental grid (112), and Determining a temporal and / or spatial distance between the vehicle (100) and the danger zone (104) using the environmental information (110), (UA 5) Changing the environment grid (112) depending on the distance, a planned or actual trajectory of the vehicle (100) and / or a speed of the vehicle (100) to obtain a modified environment grid (112) (UA2) Processing the environmental information (110) in the modified environmental grid (112) to determine the probability of a collision of the vehicle (100) when entering the danger zone (104) and / or the possible severity of injury to a person with an object in the danger zone (104); (moved from the second step, see also page 9, lines 29 to 32) Generating (930) a control signal (114) to control the personal protection device (116) depending on the probability or severity of the injury.

Description

State of the art

[0001] The invention relates to a device or a method according to the preamble of the independent claims. The present invention also relates to a computer program.

[0002] Modern vehicles can have a pedestrian protection system that can be activated by means of environmental sensors when a critical situation is detected, in order to prevent a collision or, in the event of an unavoidable collision, to reduce the force of the collision.

[0003] German patent application DE 10 2014 008 413 A1 discloses a method for driver assistance systems in which the probability of a collision between a vehicle and an object is determined by means of a simulation. The collision probability is then reduced by interventions in the vehicle's actuators.

[0004] Other documents that take into account the probability of a collision between a vehicle are DE 10 2014 212 898 A1, DE 10 2011 118 149 A1 and DE 10 2011 115 875 A1.

[0005] It is known from document DE 10 2013 211 622 A1 to determine a parameter for the least accident damage for different driving maneuvers in the event of an impending accident. Disclosure of the invention

[0006] Against this background, the approach presented here comprises a method for controlling a personal protection device of a vehicle, a control unit that uses this method, and finally a corresponding computer program according to the main claims. Advantageous further developments and improvements of the device specified in the independent claim are possible through the measures listed in the dependent claims.

[0007] A procedure for controlling a personal protection device of a vehicle is presented, the procedure comprising the following steps: Reading in environmental information representing a danger zone detected by at least one environmental sensor of the vehicle in the vehicle's surroundings, wherein the vehicle is outside the danger zone at the time of detection; Processing environmental information in an environmental grid to determine the probability of a collision of the vehicle upon entering the danger zone and / or the potential severity of injury to a person from an object in the danger zone; and Generating a control signal to activate the personal protection device depending on the probability or severity of the injury.

[0008] A occupant protection system can be, for example, an active, passive, or integrated safety system. This might include restraint devices such as airbags or seatbelt pretensioners, a pedestrian protection system, or adaptive crash structures. The occupant protection system can also be designed to automatically steer or brake the vehicle in the event of an impending collision. An environmental sensor can be, for example, a radar, ultrasonic, or video sensor used to detect the vehicle's surroundings. A hazard zone can be a spatially or temporally defined area in the vehicle's vicinity where there is an increased risk of an accident.For example, the danger zone can be defined by a specific distance between the vehicle and at least one object within the danger zone, such as an object crossing a lane or the vehicle's trajectory, or by a relative speed between the vehicle and the object. Depending on the distance or relative speed, for example, the danger zone can represent a critical or non-critical situation for the vehicle. For instance, the danger zone can constitute a critical situation if the distance falls below a critical threshold or the relative speed exceeds a critical speed threshold, such that a collision between the vehicle and the object is imminent.

[0009] For example, a probability value representing the likelihood can be determined during the processing step. The control signal can then be generated in the generation step if the probability value exceeds a predefined probability threshold. Alternatively or additionally, the potential severity of injury to a person from an object in the danger zone can be determined. This allows for an assessment of how critical an expected impact of a person on the vehicle or of a vehicle occupant inside the vehicle is, thus ensuring the least possible injury scenario for those involved.

[0010] Environmental information within an environmental grid can be understood as the environmental information upon which the environmental grid is based. The environmental grid can represent a division of the vehicle's surroundings into grid cells, each covering a different distance or area in or around the vehicle. The environmental information can represent a parameter in at least one of the grid cells of the environmental grid. An environmental grid can thus be understood as a two- or three-dimensional grid structure consisting of at least two grid cells. The grid cells can be of the same size or of different sizes. The grid cells can be pixels or voxels. The size of each grid cell can be variable.

[0011] The approach presented here is based on the understanding that accident-relevant information can be processed in an occupancy grid during a non-time-critical driving state of a vehicle. This has the advantage that the information processed in this way is already available in a time-critical driving state and can therefore be used to quickly and reliably trigger the functions of the vehicle's occupant protection system. For example, the information already processed from the occupancy grid's data structure can be retrieved in a suddenly occurring time-critical driving state and used directly as an immediately available basis for deciding on the respective options of a possible reaction pattern of the occupant protection system, or it can be combined with further information.This enables efficient use of available computing power for environmental perception and interpretation, thus allowing for the implementation of extremely powerful pre-crash functions.

[0012] According to one embodiment, the method can include a step of modifying the environmental raster using the environmental information to obtain a modified environmental raster. In the processing step, the environmental information can be processed within the modified environmental raster. For example, when modifying the environmental raster, the number or size of raster cells, and thus the resolution of the environmental raster, can be changed. This embodiment allows for efficient use of available computing power.

[0013] According to a further embodiment, the environmental grid can be modified in the modification step using a tree structure, in particular a quadtree and / or octree. A quadtree can be understood as a tree in which each internal node has exactly four children. Here, a root of the tree can represent a square area, which can be recursively divided into four equal quadrants until a desired resolution is reached and the recursion ends at a leaf of the tree. This allows the area represented by the root node to be resolved to an arbitrarily fine resolution. An octree can be understood as a rooted tree whose nodes each have either eight direct children or no children at all. This embodiment allows environmental information in the form of two- or three-dimensional data to be managed in a memory-efficient manner.

[0014] It is advantageous if, during the modification step, the surrounding grid is changed such that the modified surrounding grid has at least a first grid cell and a second grid cell of different sizes, in particular where the size of the first grid cell is an integer multiple of the size of the second grid cell. This allows the resolution of the surrounding grid to be changed quickly and flexibly.

[0015] The procedure may further include a step of determining a temporal and / or spatial distance between the vehicle and the hazard zone using environmental information. In this modification step, the environmental grid can be changed depending on the distance, the planned or actual trajectory of the vehicle, and / or the vehicle's speed. This allows the environmental grid to be modified before the vehicle reaches the hazard zone.

[0016] Advantageously, during the modification step, the number of grid cells in the surrounding grid can be reduced if the distance falls below a certain threshold. This can speed up the probability calculation.

[0017] According to a further embodiment, the method can include a step of determining the stiffness and / or mass of at least one object located in the danger zone using environmental information. In the processing step, a target trajectory can be determined based on the stiffness and / or mass. Accordingly, in the generation step, the control signal can be generated to guide the vehicle onto the target trajectory. A target trajectory can be, for example, a vehicle trajectory that either passes the object or intersects the object's trajectory at the least critical point possible. This can prevent or at least mitigate a collision.

[0018] Furthermore, during the acquisition step, at least one additional piece of environmental information can be acquired. This information represents a snapshot of the environment captured by the environmental sensor at a time different from the time the hazard zone was detected. During the processing step, this additional environmental information can be processed within the environmental grid to determine the probability. For example, the additional environmental information could represent a section of the vehicle's surroundings that, at the time the environmental information was acquired, was already outside the detection range of the environmental sensor. This embodiment effectively extends the detection range of the environmental sensor, allowing the probability to be determined with high reliability and accuracy.

[0019] According to a further embodiment, the control signal can be generated during the generation step to activate the personal protection device before and / or when the vehicle reaches the danger zone. This ensures timely activation of the personal protection device's functions.

[0020] It is also advantageous if, during the reading step, at least one other piece of environmental information is read in, representing a recording of the environment captured by at least one other environmental sensor of the vehicle. Accordingly, during the processing step, this other environmental information can also be processed within the environmental grid to determine the probability. This embodiment allows the vehicle's environment to be captured as accurately as possible.

[0021] This process can be implemented, for example, in software or hardware, or in a hybrid form of software and hardware, such as in a control unit.

[0022] The approach presented here further creates a control unit that is configured to perform, control, or implement the steps of a variant of the method presented here in appropriate devices. This embodiment of the invention in the form of a control unit also allows the problem underlying the invention to be solved quickly and efficiently.

[0023] For this purpose, the control unit can have at least one processing unit for processing signals or data, at least one storage unit for storing signals or data, at least one interface to a sensor or actuator for reading sensor signals from the sensor or for outputting control signals to the actuator, and / or at least one communication interface for reading or outputting data embedded in a communication protocol. The processing unit can be, for example, a signal processor, a microcontroller, or the like, while the storage unit can be flash memory, an EPROM, or a magnetic storage device.The communication interface can be configured to read or output data wirelessly and / or via wired connections, whereby a communication interface that can read or output wired data can, for example, read this data electrically or optically from or output it into a corresponding data transmission line.

[0024] In this context, a control unit can be understood as an electrical device that processes sensor signals and outputs control and / or data signals accordingly. The control unit can have an interface, which can be implemented in hardware and / or software. In the case of a hardware-based interface, the interfaces can, for example, be part of a so-called system ASIC, which incorporates various functions of the control unit. However, it is also possible that the interfaces are separate integrated circuits or at least partially comprised of discrete components. In the case of a software-based interface, the interfaces can be software modules, which, for example, are located on a microcontroller alongside other software modules.

[0025] In an advantageous embodiment, the control unit controls the vehicle's braking system, steering system, or engine. For this purpose, the control unit can access sensor signals such as ambient sensor signals or brake and steering sensor signals. Control is effected via corresponding actuators such as steering or brake actuators.

[0026] Also advantageous is a computer program product or computer program with program code that can be stored on a machine-readable carrier or storage medium such as a semiconductor memory, a hard disk memory or an optical memory and is used to carry out, implement and / or control the steps of the method according to one of the embodiments described above, in particular if the program product or program is executed on a computer or device.

[0027] Exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings and explained in more detail in the following description. It shows: Fig. 1 a schematic representation of a vehicle with a control unit according to an exemplary embodiment; Fig. 2 a schematic representation of an environmental grid for processing environmental information in a control unit according to an exemplary embodiment; Fig. 3 a schematic representation of an environment grid made of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 a schematic representation of an environment grid made of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 a schematic representation of an environmental grid for processing environmental information in a control unit according to an exemplary embodiment; Fig. 6 a schematic representation of an environment grid made of Fig. 5 with grid cells of different sizes; Fig. 7 a schematic representation of a control unit according to an exemplary embodiment; Fig. 8 a schematic representation of a comparison between a CPU architecture and a GPU architecture; and Fig. 9 a flowchart of a procedure according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0028] In the following description of favorable embodiments of the present invention, the same or similar reference numerals are used for the elements shown in the various figures and acting similarly, without repeating these elements.

[0029] Fig. Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a vehicle 100 with a control unit 102 according to an exemplary embodiment. The vehicle 100 is approaching a hazard zone 104, in which, for example, there is a possibility of a collision between the vehicle 100 and an object 106 located in the hazard zone 104, here a child standing at the edge of the road. The control unit 102 is connected to an environment sensor 108, which is configured to detect the hazard zone 104 in the vicinity of the vehicle 100 and to send environmental information 110 representing the hazard zone 104 to the control unit 102. When the environmental sensor 108 detects the hazard zone 104, the vehicle 100 is outside the hazard zone 104. The control unit 102 is configured to process the environmental information 110 in an environmental grid 112. The environmental grid 112 is in Fig. 1 is schematically represented as a grid superimposed on the danger zone 104. Alternatively, the vehicle 100 can be completely or at least partially surrounded by the environmental grid 112. When processing the environmental information 110 in the environmental grid 112, the control unit 102 determines a probability with which the vehicle 100 will or will not collide with the object 106 when entering danger zone 104. Depending on the determined probability, the control unit 102 generates a control signal 114 to activate a personal protection device 116, which here, by way of example, comprises an airbag 118 and a seat belt tensioner 120.

[0030] Optionally, the control unit 102 is configured to modify the environmental grid 112 using the environmental information 110 before processing the environmental information 110 within the environmental grid 112 to determine the probability. For example, the control unit 102 might change the number or size of the grid cells 122 that make up the environmental grid 112. This allows the resolution of the environmental grid 112 to be changed.

[0031] According to one embodiment, the control unit 102 first determines a spatial or temporal distance between the danger zone 104 and the vehicle 100 using the environmental information 110. The control unit 102 then modifies the environmental grid 112 depending on this spatial or temporal distance. For example, the control unit 102 reduces the resolution of the environmental grid 112 if the distance falls below a predefined threshold. This allows the speed of probability determination to be increased in time-critical situations, i.e., situations in which the vehicle 100 is only a short distance from the danger zone 104 or is already within the danger zone 104.

[0032] Depending on the embodiment, the vehicle 100 is equipped with various environmental sensors for detecting its surroundings, such as radar, ultrasonic, or video sensors. These environmental sensors serve to acquire environmental information relevant to various driver assistance and safety-related functions of the personal protection device 116. The non-ideal sensor signals generated by the environmental sensors should be processed by the control unit 102 to enable the reliable detection and classification of objects, for example, in the form of object lists.

[0033] According to one embodiment, the personal protection device 116 includes so-called pre-crash functions at an interface between active and passive safety systems. These functions can utilize the environmental sensors of the active safety system to detect a potential collision with a relevant object in a critical situation. In the event of an unavoidable collision, activation thresholds on an airbag control unit can be lowered, for example, by means of so-called pre-set functions, in order to improve the reliability and robustness of the deployment decision of the restraint systems of the personal protection device 116. Furthermore, the personal protection device 116 can be configured to activate reversible restraint devices of the passive safety system, also known as pre-fire functions, or irreversible restraint devices of the passive safety system, also known as pre-trigger functions, thereby mitigating the severity of the accident.Furthermore, the personal protection device 116 can be designed to initiate evasive movements, also called pre-crash alignment, or braking interventions in the event of an unavoidable collision, which can positively influence the type and severity of the collision in order to protect the occupants in the vehicle 100 as comprehensively as possible by the available restraint devices.

[0034] A fusion of sensor signals from the participating environmental sensors, also referred to as environmental information, can take place at different levels of the respective sensor signal processing, depending on the implementation. For example, in data-level fusion, the sensor data can be managed in the form of the environmental grid 112, also called the environmental grid. To keep the storage and processing power for the environmental grid 112 at an efficient level, the control unit 102 can use hierarchical tree structures such as quad or octrees, which allow the resolution or size of the grid cells 122, for example, voxels for three-dimensional data, to be dynamically adapted to the represented data and functions. In this way, the environmental information can be stored in a pre-processed representation optimized for the respective functions by the hierarchical environmental grid 112.Pre-calculating accident-relevant information and managing it as attributes in a hierarchical tree structure for integrated safety functions enables particularly rapid functional decisions. For example, the control unit 102 is designed to cyclically pre-calculate collision-relevant parameters, such as the probability of a collision, in a time-non-critical driving state of the vehicle 100, manage the results of this pre-calculation as pre-crash attributes in a hierarchical tree structure, in particular a quad or octree, and use them for function triggering in time-critical situations.

[0035] The dynamic pre-calculation and storage of pre-crash-relevant environmental information in an environmental grid 112 surrounding the vehicle 100 enables the enlargement of a virtual opening angle of the environmental sensors installed in the vehicle 100, since, for example, static objects that are outside the current detection range of the environmental sensors at a possible time of collision have already been detected before the time of collision.

[0036] According to a further embodiment, the control unit 102 is configured to process at least one other environmental information provided by an environmental sensor different from the environmental sensor 108 for determining the probability in the environmental grid 112. For example, the reliability and quality of environmental detection can be improved by fusing different orthogonal environmental sensors at the data level and by integrating them temporally in the environmental grid 112. The influence of sensor noise and measurement inaccuracies can also be reduced in this way.

[0037] The following described Fig. Figures 2 to 4 show an environmental grid in the form of a hierarchical environmental grid, which provides data with variable accuracy depending on the cell size of the grid cells.

[0038] Fig. Figure 2 shows a schematic representation of an environmental grid 112 for processing environmental information in a control unit according to an exemplary embodiment, such as a control unit as previously described by reference to Fig. Figure 1 describes the system. A first cell zone 200, consisting of a plurality of grid cells 122, a second cell zone 202, also consisting of a plurality of grid cells 122, and a third cell zone 204, also consisting of a plurality of grid cells 122, are shown. The second cell zone 202 is located between the first cell zone 200 and the third cell zone 204. Each of the three cell zones 200, 202, and 204 represents a specific object in the vehicle's environment, and each object may be assigned a different criticality with regard to a collision risk. For example, the control unit is configured to determine the criticality of the objects based on their respective mass or stiffness. The control unit determines the mass or stiffness, for instance, using environmental information provided by the vehicle's environmental sensor.

[0039] The vehicle's current direction of travel is indicated by a thick arrow. Possible trajectories of the vehicle are indicated by three thinner arrows.

[0040] Fig. Figure 3 shows a schematic representation of an environment grid 112 made of Fig. 2. The surrounding grid 112 has a smaller number of grid cells 122 than the one in Fig. The three shown environmental grids are also present. Furthermore, grid cells 122 are significantly larger than those in Fig. The 3 grid cells shown here are four times larger as an example. The resolution of the surrounding grid 112 is therefore lower than that of the one in Fig. 3 shown environment grids.

[0041] Fig. Figure 4 shows a schematic representation of an environment grid made up of Fig. 2. The grid cells 122 are significantly larger than in Fig. 3, for example, four times as large. This also indicates that in Fig. The 4 shown environmental grids 112 have a significantly lower number of grid cells 122 than in Fig. 3 up.

[0042] Depending on the time constraints, the decision-making process can be based on a coarser resolution of the environmental grid 112. Due to the hierarchical structure of the environmental grid 112, each resolution level can be used for a legitimate functional decision. In this process, the information from several small grid cells is merged and summarized into larger grid cells. This facilitates faster functional evaluation based on environmental information.

[0043] Fig. Figure 5 shows a schematic representation of an environmental grid 112 for processing environmental information in a control unit according to an exemplary embodiment. An intersection is shown as a hazard zone 104, with the vehicle 100 entering the hazard zone 104. The critical situation represented by the hazard zone 104 serves, for example, to adjust trigger thresholds for a preset function of the pedestrian protection device. Furthermore, possible trajectories of the vehicle 100 as it passes the intersection are shown, including, for example, at least one target trajectory 500 that leads the vehicle 100 out of the hazard zone 104 in such a way that a collision with another vehicle 502, here a vehicle entering the intersection from the right, is avoided or at least mitigated.The control unit is designed, for example, to determine the target trajectory 500 depending on the mass or stiffness of objects located in the area of ​​the intersection and to control the pedestrian protection device in such a way that the vehicle 100 follows the target trajectory 500, for example by automatically actuating corresponding steering or braking actuators of the vehicle 100.

[0044] The mass or stiffness of objects in the environment is stored, for example, as a result of environmental sensors. Static maps or Car2X information can serve as additional data sources. In the event of an unavoidable collision with one or more objects, the control unit can initiate a pre-crash alignment, whereby the vehicle is guided into an improved impact position by means of an optimized emergency trajectory (the target trajectory) to reduce the severity of injuries to all involved. The necessary decision strategy can be based on ethical considerations (a stroller with a mother has a higher priority than garbage cans at the roadside) as well as on optimizing the impact geometry, i.e., steering the vehicle into an optimized collision position (for example, a side impact into the front of the car instead of into the passenger compartment).

[0045] To control a preset function, the control unit can, for example, be configured to detect critical situations, such as a critical intersection with cross traffic, well before entering the intersection by merging all available environmental information, in particular environmental information from various vehicle sensors 100. Critical points of the intersection are pre-calculated and marked by the control unit in the environmental grid 112. When passing the points calculated as critical, the control unit modifies, for example, the thresholds of the preset function on an airbag control unit to improve the deployment, and in particular the deployment time, of the passive restraint system.

[0046] Fig. Figure 6 shows a schematic representation of an environment grid 112 made of Fig. 5 with differently sized grid cells 122. The surrounding grid 112, for example, has a plurality of grid cells 122 as well as an additional grid cell 600, which is significantly larger than the grid cells 122. For example, the additional grid cell 600 is six times as large as the grid cells 122. According to the in Fig. In the embodiment shown in Figure 6, the additional grid cell 600 represents an area relevant for the preset function in right-hand traffic. A critical driving area 602 of the intersection is represented by a plurality of grid cells 122. A road edge area 604 located outside the intersection with objects of high mass or stiffness is also represented by a plurality of grid cells 122.

[0047] Fig. Figure 7 shows a schematic representation of a control unit 102 according to an exemplary embodiment, for example, a control unit as previously described by reference to the Fig. The control unit 102 is described in sections 1 to 6. It comprises a reading unit 710 for reading the environmental information 110. A processing unit 720 is connected to the reading unit 710 and is configured to process the environmental information 110 within the environmental grid. As a result of this processing, the processing unit 720 generates a probability value 725, which represents the probability of a collision involving the vehicle when entering the hazard zone represented by the environmental information. A generation unit 730 is configured to receive the probability value 725 from the processing unit 720 and, using this probability value, generate the control signal 114 to activate the vehicle's occupant protection device.

[0048] According to one embodiment, the 720 processing unit is implemented with a graphics processing unit (GPU) for parallel data processing. The performance of the environmental raster can be significantly increased by using such a GPU to manage environmental information and perform the sometimes complex pre-calculations. Due to its structure, the environmental raster benefits from the parallel data processing of the GPU. In the simplest case, each of the N processing cores of the GPU manages one of the raster cells. This allows for a theoretical acceleration by a factor of N compared to a CPU solution optimized for serial processing.

[0049] Fig. Figure 8 shows a schematic representation of a comparison between a CPU architecture 800 and a GPU architecture 802.

[0050] Fig. Figure 9 shows a flowchart of a process 900 according to an exemplary embodiment. The process 900 can, for example, be used in conjunction with a preceding one based on the Fig. The control unit described in sections 1 to 7 is used. Procedure 900 for controlling a vehicle's personal protection device comprises a step 910 in which the environmental information representing the danger zone is read in. In a further step 920, the environmental information is processed in the environmental grid to determine the probability of a collision when the vehicle enters the danger zone. Finally, in a step 930, the control signal for activating the personal protection device is generated based on the probability determined in step 920.

[0051] Steps 910, 920, and 930 can be performed continuously.

[0052] According to one embodiment, in step 930 the control signal is generated to activate passive safety restraint devices not only upon contact of the vehicle with a collision object, but also before the actual moment of collision. Relevant for optimizing individual occupant protection systems to reduce the severity of occupant injuries are not only the mass, stiffness, and relative speed of the other vehicle involved in the collision, but also the position of the occupants and the activation of the restraint devices that is tailored to the moment of collision. For example, due to an automatically activated emergency braking function or an automatically initiated evasive maneuver, the occupants experience a forward displacement in a highly critical situation, depending on the timing and duration of longitudinal or lateral deceleration of the vehicle. The activation times or the adaptive control of the restraint devices must be adjusted accordingly.Depending on the complexity of the model, such an adaptation may require complex calculations, which, according to this example, are performed before the critical situation occurs and stored in the environment grid, and can therefore be immediately retrieved or refined when a critical situation with an unavoidable collision occurs.

[0053] The vehicle's environmental sensors can have a limited opening angle and successively detect the vehicle's surroundings during normal driving operation, with the corresponding environmental information being dynamically stored in the environmental grid in step 920. If the vehicle undergoes an abrupt change of direction, for example due to a skidding process, pre-calculated environmental data stored in the environmental grid, which is now no longer within the current detection range of the environmental sensors, can be used to trigger a system reaction, in particular to control restraint devices.

Claims

[1] Method (900) for controlling a personal protection device (116) of a vehicle (100), the method (900) comprising the following steps: Reading (910) environmental information (110) which represents a danger zone (104) in an environment of the vehicle (100) detected by at least one environmental sensor (108) of the vehicle (100), wherein the vehicle (100) is located outside the danger zone (104) at the time of detection; Processing (920) the environmental information (110) in an environmental grid (112), and Determining a temporal and / or spatial distance between the vehicle (100) and the danger zone (104) using the environmental information (110), (UA 5) Changing the environmental grid (112) depending on the distance, a planned or actual travel trajectory of the vehicle (100) and / or a speed of the vehicle (100) in order to obtain a changed environmental grid (112) (UA2) Processing the environmental information (110) in the modified environmental grid (112) to determine a probability of a collision of the vehicle (100) when entering the danger zone (104) and / or a possible severity of injury to a person with an object in the danger zone (104); (moved from the second step, see also page 9, lines 29 to 32) Generating (930) a control signal (114) for controlling the personal protection device (116) depending on the probability or severity of injury. [2] Method according to claim 1, characterized by that a distance of the vehicle to an object in the danger zone can be determined (page 2, lines 24 to 28). [3] Method (900) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by in that in the step of changing the environment grid (112) is changed using a tree structure, in particular using a quad and / or octree. [4] Method (900) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by in that in the step of changing the environmental grid (112) is changed such that the changed environmental grid (112) has at least a first grid cell (600) and a second grid cell (122) of different sizes, in particular wherein a size of the first grid cell (600) is equal to an integer multiple of a size of the second grid cell (122). [5] Method (900) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by in that in the step of changing, a grid cell number of the surrounding grid (112) is reduced if the distance falls below a distance threshold value. [6] Method (900) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized bya step of determining a stiffness and / or a mass of at least one object (106) located in the danger zone (104) using the environmental information (110), wherein in the processing step (920) a desired trajectory (500) is determined as a function of the stiffness and / or the mass, wherein in the generating step (930) the control signal (114) is generated in order to guide the vehicle (100) onto the desired trajectory (500). [7] Method (900) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by in that in the step of reading (910) at least one further item of environmental information is read in, which represents a recording of the environment recorded by the environmental sensor (108) at a time different from a time of detection of the danger zone (104), wherein in the step of processing (920) the further environmental information is further processed in the environmental grid (112) in order to determine the probability. [8] Method (900) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by in that in the generating step (930) the control signal (114) is generated in order to control the personal protection device (116) before and / or when the vehicle (100) reaches the danger zone (104). [9] Method (900) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by in that in the step of reading (910) at least one other item of environmental information representing a recording of the environment detected by at least one other environmental sensor of the vehicle (100) is read in, wherein in the step of processing (920) the other item of environmental information is further processed in the environmental grid (112) in order to determine the probability. [10] Control device (102) with units (710, 720, 730) which are designed to carry out and / or control the method (900) according to one of the preceding claims. [11] Computer program designed to execute and / or control the method (900) according to one of claims 1 to 9. [12] A machine-readable storage medium on which the computer program according to claim 11 is stored.

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