Collision detection system for a vehicle and computer-implemented method for detecting a collision

Abstract

Collision detection system (100) for a vehicle (10), comprising: a GNSS, global navigation satellite system, receiver configured to receive GNSS data (116); and a controller (34) configured to calculate, by a processor (44), a delta speed (118) based on the GNSS data (116), compare the delta speed (118) to at least one of a range and a threshold, and selectively generate an emergency signal based on the comparison; and a speed determination module (104) configured to receive as input event data (114) and GNSS data (116); wherein the speed determination module (104) is further configured to calculate the delta speed (118) from the GNSS data (116) when the event data (114) indicates that an EDR, Event Data Recorder, low speed event, or close action event has occurred.

Description

The present description relates generally to vehicles and, more particularly, to systems and methods for using global navigation satellite system data to determine the severity of a collision and actions after the collision.Some vehicles are equipped with a telematics system that is capable of emergency call on behalf of the owner when a collision is detected. Some vehicles have methods and systems for detecting emergency collisions that do not require safety deployments such as airbags or pretensioners, but are heavy enough to warrant post-collision actions including making an emergency call via the telematics system. These methods include calculating delta speeds using an accelerometer, determining severity above certain thresholds, and forwarding the event to a telematics device for further actions.Since the incident is not a discrete event, these methods may result in undesirable post-collision actions, e.g., false emergency calls for vehicle actions that do not have any collision and exceed the delta speed thresholds. This may also result in customer sub-collision actions expectancy not being met for collisions that have not exceeded the thresholds.DE 10 2018 106 548 A1 describes a vehicle telematics unit for a vehicle, which includes an electronic processor, a wireless chipset for wirelessly communicating with and from the vehicle, and a bus interface for receiving bus messages from a communication bus in the vehicle. The vehicle telematics unit includes a computer readable memory storing program code that, when executed by the processor, causes the vehicle telematics unit to: monitor for messages received from the bus interface from the communication bus, detect a communication fault of the communication bus based on the monitoring, determine a vehicle motion indicative of a vehicle accident, and initiate communication with a remote device in response to both detecting the communication fault and determining the vehicle motion indicative of an accident.US 2018 / 0 025 636 A1 describes systems, apparatus and methods for detecting a particular driving behavior. Driving behavior is recognized by capturing and characterizing image data and sampling vehicle telemetry data. Real-time characterization techniques include object and shape recognition analyses for recognizing specifically designated content in captured image data. Actions are triggered based on such detection.US 9 457 754 B1 describes a method and a system for identifying vehicle collisions in real-time or at least nearly real-time based on statistical data collected from previous vehicle collisions. A user's wearable computing device may obtain sensor data from sensors in the wearable computing device and compare the sensor data to a statistical model indicative of a vehicle collision. If the portable computing device identifies a vehicle collision based on the comparison, notifications may be sent to emergency contacts and / or emergency personnel to assist the user.Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to improve systems and methods for detecting a severity of a collision. Other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.The object of the invention is achieved by systems and methods for detecting collisions between objects and a vehicle. A collision detection system comprising: a global navigation satellite system, GNSS, receiver configured to receive GNSS data; and a controller configured to calculate, by a processor, a delta speed based on the GNSS data, compare the delta speed to at least one of a range and a threshold, and selectively generate an emergency call signal based on the comparison. The system further comprises a speed determination module configured to receive as input event data and GNSS data. The speed determination module is further configured to calculate the delta speed from the GNSS data when the event data indicates that an EDR, Event Data Recorder, low speed event or a short-range event has occurred.According to an embodiment, the controller is further configured to receive, by the processor, near-mission event data and determine the threshold based on the near-mission event data.According to another embodiment, the controller is configured to generate the emergency call signal when the delta speed is above the threshold.According to another embodiment, the controller is further configured to receive, by the processor, low-speed collision event data and determine the range based on the low-speed collision event data.According to another embodiment, the controller is configured to generate the emergency call signal when the delta speed is outside the range.According to another embodiment, the controller is further configured such that the processor configures the area based on user input data.According to a further embodiment, the controller is further configured to associate an action of putting an emergency call off and / or not putting an emergency call off with the area on the basis of the user input data.According to another embodiment, the controller is further configured to determine, by the processor, at least three ranges based on the low speed collision event data, and wherein the controller is configured to compare the delta speed to the at least three ranges.According to another embodiment, the controller is configured to calculate a lateral speed delta of the vehicle.According to another embodiment, the controller is configured to calculate a delta of a longitudinal speed of the vehicle.The computer-implemented method for detecting a collision comprises: detecting a low-speed EDR event; receiving global navigation satellite system, GNSS, data from a global navigation satellite system; calculating, by a processor, a delta speed based on the GNSS data; comparing, by the processor, the delta speed to a range and / or a threshold; and selectively generating, by the processor, an emergency call signal based on the comparison.According to one embodiment, the method includes receiving, by the processor, near-onset event data and determining the threshold based on the near-onset event data.According to another embodiment, the method includes generating, by the processor, the emergency call signal if the delta speed is above the threshold value.According to another embodiment, the method comprises receiving, by the processor, low-speed collision event data and determining the range based on the low-speed collision event data.According to a further embodiment, the method comprises generating the emergency call signal if the delta speed is outside the range. In various embodiments, the method includes configuring the area based on user input data. In various embodiments, the method comprises associating an action of putting an emergency call off and / or not putting an emergency call off with the area based on the user input data.In various embodiments, the method includes determining at least three ranges based on the low speed collision event data, and wherein the comparing includes comparing the delta speed to the at least three ranges.According to another embodiment, the method includes calculating a delta of a lateral speed of the vehicle.According to another embodiment, the method includes calculating a delta of a longitudinal speed of the vehicle.The exemplary embodiments are described below in connection with the following drawing figures, wherein like numerals designate like elements, and wherein: FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a vehicle with a collision detection system; FIG. 2 is a dataflow diagram showing the collision detection system; and FIGS. 3 and 4 are flowcharts showing collision detection methods.Moreover, there is no intention to be bound by any explicit or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief description, or the following detailed description. As used herein, the term "module" refers to any hardware, software, firmware, electronic control component, processing logic, and / or processor device, alone or in any combination, including, without limitation: application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and memory that executes one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and / or other suitable components that provide the described functionality.Embodiments of the present description may be described herein in terms of functional and / or logical block components and various processing steps. It should be appreciated that such block components may be implemented by any number of hardware, software, and / or firmware components configured to perform the specified functions. For example, an embodiment of the present description may use various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements, digital signal processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, or the like, that may perform a variety of functions under the control of one or more microprocessors or other controllers. Moreover, those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of the present description may be practiced in conjunction with any number of systems, and that the systems described herein are merely exemplary embodiments of the present description.For brevity, conventional techniques relating to signal processing, data transmission, signaling, control, and other functional aspects of the systems (and the individual operating components of the systems) will not be described in detail herein. Moreover, all connection lines shown in the various figures included herein are intended to represent example functional relationships and / or physical couplings between the various elements. It should be appreciated that many alternative or additional functional relationships or physical connections may be present in an embodiment of the present description.Referring to FIG. 1, a vehicle is shown generally at 10 having a collision detection system 100 in accordance with various embodiments. In general, the collision detection system 100 receives measurements of vehicle speed from a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and uses these measurements to detect a severity of short-range collision events and low-speed collision events. The collision detection system 100 then determines different actions after the collision depending on the severity.As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 10 generally includes a chassis 12, a body 14, front wheels 16, and rear wheels 18. the body 14 is disposed on the chassis 12 and substantially encloses components of the vehicle 10. The wheels 16-18 are each rotatably connected to the chassis 12 near a corner of the superstructure 14.In various embodiments, the vehicle 10 is an autonomous vehicle, and the collision detection system 100 is installed in the autonomous vehicle 10 (hereinafter referred to as the autonomous vehicle 10). The autonomous vehicle 10 is, for example, a vehicle that is automatically controlled to transport passengers from one location to another. The vehicle 10 is shown as a passenger car in the embodiment shown, but it should be understood that any other vehicle including motor bicycles, trucks, off-road vehicles (SUVs), recreational vehicles (RVs), watercraft, aircraft, etc., may also be used.As shown, the vehicle 10 generally includes a propulsion system 20, a transmission system 22, a steering system 24, a braking system 26, a sensor system 28, an actuator system 30, at least one data storage device 32, at least one controller 34, and a communication system 36. The transmission system 22 is configured to transmit power from the propulsion system 20 to the vehicle wheels 16- 18 according to selectable speed ratios. According to various embodiments, the transmission system 22 may include a step-variable transmission, a continuously variable transmission, or another suitable transmission. The brake system 26 is configured to provide a braking torque to the vehicle wheels 16- 18. The brake system 26 may include friction brakes, brake-by-wire, a regenerative brake system such as an electric machine, and / or other suitable brake systems, in various embodiments. The steering system 24 affects a position of the vehicle wheels 16- 18.The sensor system 28 includes one or more sensors 40 a- 40 nthat sense observable conditions of the external environment and / or the internal environment of the autonomous vehicle 10. The sensors 40 a- 40 nmay include various types of sensors, such as, but not limited to radars, lidars, global positioning systems, optical cameras, thermal cameras, ultrasonic sensors, inertial measurement units, pressure sensors, acceleration sensors, and / or other sensors. The actuator system 30 includes one or more actuator devices 42 a- 42 nthat control one or more vehicle functions, such as, but not limited to, the propulsion system 20, the transmission system 22, the steering system 24, and the brake system 26. In various embodiments, the vehicle features may further include interior and / or exterior vehicle features, such as doors, a trunk, and cabin features such as air, music, lighting, etc. (not numbered).The data storage device 32 stores data for use in automatically controlling the vehicle 10. In various embodiments, the defined maps may be predefined by and obtained from a remote system. For example, the defined maps may be compiled by the remote system and transmitted to the vehicle 10 (wirelessly and / or wired) and stored in the data storage device 32. As can be appreciated, the data storage device 32 may be part of the controller 34, separate from the controller 34, or part of the controller 34 and part of a separate system.In various embodiments, the communication system 36 supports communication between devices, systems, and components supported by an operating environment (e.g., via physical communication links and / or wireless communication links) of the vehicle 10, as needed. the communication system 36 is configured to wirelessly communicate information to and from other entities 48, such as, but not limited to, other vehicles ("V2V" communication), infrastructure ("V2I" communication), remote systems, satellites, and / or personal devices. In various embodiments, the communication system 36 is a wireless communication system configured to communicate over various long-range communication protocols (e.g., low-power wide area network (LPWAN), long-range radio (LoRan), cellular, etc.) and / or short-range communication protocols (e.g., dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) channel), Bluetooth, infrared, near-field communication, ultraband, zigbee, etc.).In various embodiments, communication system 36 is configured to wirelessly communicate emergency messages and / or emergency calls to entities 48, such as a remote emergency call system, based on the methods and systems discussed in greater detail below. In various embodiments, the communication system 36 is configured to communicate (e.g., unidirectionally or bidirectionally) with entities 48 such as a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), based on the methods and systems described in more detail below.In various embodiments, the communication system 36 is communicatively coupled to the controller 34 via a vehicle network, such as a network connection or a vehicle bus. Examples of suitable network connections include a controller area network (CAN), a media-oriented system transfer (MOST), a local interconnection network (LIN), an Ethernet, and other suitable connections such as those conforming to the known standards and specifications of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and / or Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), to name a few.In various embodiments, the controller 34 includes at least one processor 44 and a computer readable storage device or medium 46. the processor 44 may be any custom or commercially available processor, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), an auxiliary processor among multiple processors associated with the controller 34, a semiconductor-based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip or chipset), a macroprocessor, any combination thereof, or generally any device for executing instructions. The computer readable storage device or media 46 may include volatile and nonvolatile memories, e.g., read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), and keep alive memory (KAM). KAM is a persistent or non-volatile memory that can be used to store various operating variables while the processor 44 is off. The computer readable storage device(s) or media 46 may / may be implemented using any number of known storage devices, such as programmable read-only memories (PROMs), electrically PROM (EPROMs), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROMs), flash memory, or other electrical, magnetic, optical, or combined storage devices capable of storing data, some of which represent executable instructions, used by the controller 34 in controlling the vehicle 10.The instructions may include one or more separate programs, each of which includes an ordered listing of executable instructions for implementing logical functions. The instructions, when executed by the processor 44, receive and process signals from the sensor system 28 and / or the communication system 36, perform logic, computations, methods, and / or algorithms for automatically controlling the components of the vehicle 10, and generate control signals for the actuator system 30 to automatically control the components of the vehicle 10 based on the logic, computations, methods, and / or algorithms. Although only one controller 34 is shown in FIG. 1, embodiments of the vehicle 10 may include any number of controllers 34 that communicate via any suitable communication medium or combination of communication media and that cooperate to process the sensor signals, perform logic, computations, methods, and / or algorithms, and generate control signals to automatically control features of the vehicle 10.In various embodiments, one or more instructions of the controller 34 are embodied in the collision detection system 100 described herein and, when executed by the processor 44, enable detection of the severity of a collision between the vehicle 10 and objects surrounding the vehicle 10 and selective communication via the communication system 36 with remote units 48, as will be discussed in more detail below.Referring to FIG. 2, and with continued reference to FIG. 1, a dataflow diagram illustrates the controller 34 including one or more components of the collision detection system 100, according to various embodiments. As can be appreciated, in various embodiments, the controller 34 may include one or more modules and / or sub-modules that operate in conjunction to detect the severity of a collision between the vehicle 10 and objects and to selectively communicate with remote units 48. Inputs to the controller 34 may be received from the sensor system 28, the communication system 36, other control modules (not shown) of the vehicle 10, and / or determined by other sub-modules (not shown) of the controller 34. In various embodiments, the controller 34 includes a user configuration module 102, a speed determination module 104, a collision severity determination module 106, and a parameter data store 108.The user configuration module 102 receives as input user input data 110. The user input data 110 indicates configuration parameters input by a user for making an emergency call for various near-end collision events. The user input data may include, for example, one or more thresholds and one or more actions associated with the thresholds. In various embodiments, the thresholds may be associated with the longitudinal speed and / or the lateral speed. The user configuration module 102 stores the user input data 110 as parameter data 112 in the parameter data store 108.The speed determination module 104 receives as input event data 114 and GNSS data 116. If the event data 114 indicates that a low speed EDR (Event Data Recorder) event or a near-end event has occurred, the speed determination module 104 calculates a delta speed 118 from the GNSS data. In various embodiments, the delta speed may be a longitudinal delta speed of the vehicle. In various embodiments, the delta speed may be a lateral delta speed of the vehicle.The collision severity determination module 106 receives as input the event data 114 and the delta speed 118. The collision severity determination module 106 compares the delta speed 118 to one or more ranges and / or thresholds to determine when the event severity is sufficient to trigger an emergency call. The collision severity determination module 106 determines the thresholds based on the event data 114. For example, if the event data 114 indicates that the event type is a short-range event, the collision severity determination module 106 retrieves the parameter data 112 from the parameter datastore 108 that defines the threshold. In another example, if the event data 114 indicates that the event is a low speed EDR event, the collision severity determination module 106 retrieves the parameter data 112 from the parameter datastore 108 defining the longitudinal and width thresholds. The collision severity determination module 106 then compares the delta speed 118 to the threshold(s) and initiates the emergency call by generating a call signal 120.Referring to Figures S. 3 and 4 and with continued reference to Figures. FIGS. 1-2 illustrate methods 200, 300 that may be performed by collision detection system 100, according to various embodiments. As will be appreciated in the light of the description, the order of operation within the methods 200, 300 is not sequential execution as in FIGS. The sequence of steps illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 may be performed in one or more varying orders as applicable and in accordance with the present description.As further seen, the methods 200, 300 of FIGS. In addition, the timing of FIGS. 3 and 4 may be scheduled to run at predetermined time intervals during operation of the vehicle 10 and / or to run based on predetermined events.In one example, method 200 utilizes the speed of GNSS data during low speed EDR events. The method may begin at 205. A low speed EDR event is detected at 210 according to conventional methods. The GNSS data is received at 220. The delta velocity is calculated from the GNSS data at 230. The delta speed is then compared to the user-defined collision preferences at 240.If the delta speed falls above a first threshold (e.g., 23 km / h / 18 km / h) set by the user-defined collision preferences at 240, an emergency call is made at 250.If the delta speed falls above a first threshold (e.g., 15 km / h / 11 km / h) set by the user-defined collision preferences at 240, an emergency call is made at 260.If the delta speed falls over a third range (e.g., 11 km / h) set by the user-defined collision preferences at 240, an emergency call is not placed at 270.Thereafter, the method may end at 280.In another example, the method 300 utilizes the velocity from the GNSS data during short-range events. The method may begin at 305. A short-range deployment event is detected at 310 according to conventional methods. Next, at 320, it is determined whether the vehicle is a high-performance vehicle. If the vehicle is not a high-performance vehicle at 320, the emergency call is placed at 330. If the vehicle is a high performance vehicle at 320, the GNSS data is received at 340; and the delta speed is calculated from the GNSS data at 350. The delta speed is then compared to a near-onset threshold at 360.If the delta speed is above the short-range threshold at 360, the emergency call is placed at 330. If the delta speed is below the short-range threshold at 360, the emergency call is not placed at 370. Thereafter, the method may end at 380.Thus, using GNSS velocity measurements reduces the likelihood that the collision detection system 100 will detect false positive collisions and place false emergency calls to remote systems.

Claims

A collision detection system (100) for a vehicle (10) comprising: a global navigation satellite system, GNSS, receiver configured to receive GNSS data (116); and a controller (34) configured to calculate, by a processor (44), a delta speed (118) based on the GNSS data (116), compare the delta speed (118) to at least one of a range and a threshold, and selectively generate an emergency call signal based on the comparison; and a speed determination module (104) configured to receive, as input, event data (114) and GNSS data (116); wherein the speed determination module (104) is further configured to calculate the delta speed (118) from the GNSS data (116) when the event data (114) indicates that an EDR, Event Data Recorder, low speed event or a short-range event has occurred.The collision detection system (100) of claim 1, wherein the controller (34) is further configured to receive, by the processor (44), near-mission event data and determine the threshold based on the near-mission event data.The collision detection system (100) of claim 1, wherein the controller (34) is configured to generate the emergency call signal when the delta speed (118) is above the threshold.The collision detection system (100) of claim 1, wherein the controller (34) is further configured to receive, by the processor (44), low-speed collision event data and determine the range based on the low-speed collision event data.The collision detection system (100) of claim 1, wherein the controller (34) is configured to generate the emergency call signal when the delta speed (118) is outside the range.The collision detection system (100) of claim 3, wherein the controller (34) is further configured to configure, by the processor (44), the area based on user input data (110).The collision detection system (100) of claim 6, wherein the controller (34) is further configured to associate an action of making an emergency call and / or not making an emergency call with the area based on the user input data (110).The collision detection system (100) of claim 1, wherein the controller (34) is further configured to determine, by the processor (44), at least three ranges based on the low speed collision event data, and wherein the controller (34) is configured to compare the delta speed (118) to the at least three ranges.The collision detection system (100) of claim 1, wherein the controller (34) is configured to calculate a lateral speed delta of the vehicle (10).A computer-implemented method (200) for detecting a collision, comprising: detecting (210) a low speed EDR event; receiving (220) global navigation satellite system (GNSS) data from a global navigation satellite system; calculating (230), by a processor (44), a delta speed (118) based on the GNSS data (116); comparing (240), by the processor (44), the delta speed (118) to at least one of a range and a threshold; and selectively generating (250), by the processor (44), an emergency call signal based on the comparison.

Images