Methods for operating a driver assistance system of a motor vehicle and motor vehicle

Abstract

Method for operating a driver assistance system of a motor vehicle (10), wherein a lateral guidance function is provided by which the motor vehicle (10) is automatically guided on a lane (17) and the lane (17) is recognized on the basis of lane data (35), wherein for temporally successive decision cycles (70) corresponding lane data (30, 35) are required and the lane data (35) must have redundancy by which two independent descriptions of a path of the lane (17) are given, and an access attempt is made to obtain the lane data (30) required for the respective decision cycle (70) from at least one data source, wherein in the event that the at least one data source provides no or only non-redundant lane data (30) and the access attempt therefore fails, a specified additional data source (37) is checked thereafter.whether this at least provides the lane data (45) missing for redundancy, and if the additional data source (37) provides the missing lane data (45), this data is taken from the additional data source (37) to complete the lane data (35), resulting in the use of the additional data source (37), and user data relating to the use of the additional data source (37) is accumulated in an accumulation memory (50), and for predetermined evaluation events (72) an activation function for controlling an activation state of the additional data source (37) is controlled by means of the accumulated user data of the accumulation memory (50), characterized in that , a) the accumulated user data are calculated by determining: • how much distance and / or travel time was covered using the additional data source (37), and / or • how much distance and / or travel time was covered without alternative only using the additional data source (37), and / or • how much less distance and / or travel time would have been required to make the lateral guidance function impossible without the use of the additional data source (37), and / or • how many traffic situations of a given scenario type were traversed using the additional data source (37) via the lateral guidance function, and / or • what time interval with continuous activation of the cross-guiding function results thanks to the additional data source (37), because decision intervals with missing redundancy were bridged by means of the additional data source (37), and / or b) the activation function provides that a user interface for manually activating and / or adding the additional data source (37) is displayed on an operating unit, whereby the accumulated user data and / or a summary thereof are provided to the user on the user interface, and / or c) the switching function includes the display of a respective total usage time and / or total usage distance that was only covered thanks to the additional data source (37) with the cross-guiding function activated, if the respective predetermined evaluation event (72) is recognized: an end of a respective journey (12) and / or a passage through a respective specified route segment and / or a respective specified situation type, and / or d) the usage data specifies a distance traveled and / or geocoordinates where the usage took place and / or a usage duration.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method for operating a driver assistance system of a motor vehicle. The driver assistance system can automatically perform at least one lateral guidance function in the motor vehicle. For this purpose, the course of a lane in which the motor vehicle is currently traveling is detected, and the motor vehicle is guided along the detected lane by means of the lateral guidance. However, interruptions or temporary failures in the lane detection process may occur, which may then lead to the lateral guidance function having to be stopped or interrupted, i.e., a driver must take over the lateral guidance task. The invention also includes a motor vehicle equipped with the driver assistance system.

[0002] In order for a driver assistance system to activate or operate automated lateral guidance (referred to here as the lateral guidance function), the geometric course of the roadway or lane (in English: track) on which the motor vehicle is currently traveling must be known or mapped for the driver assistance system, at least for the section of road immediately ahead. For this purpose, a geometric course of the left and right lane boundaries can be recorded using environmental monitoring of the motor vehicle, and the course of the lane in between can be reconstructed from this. If one of the lane boundaries is missing, it is also possible to rely on a curb being detected, for example, and interpreting this as a lane boundary.Further information about the lane course can be derived, for example, by detecting the driving trajectory of a preceding motor vehicle (referred to here as a "non-vehicle"), so that this can be used as a further description of the lane course (e.g., the lane center line). The left and right lane markings, a curb, and a driving trajectory each represent an independent "description" of the lane course. Further such independent descriptions exist in the state of the art.

[0003] Overall, it is desirable for a driver assistance system to only offer the lateral guidance function when two independent descriptions of the lane path are available. This would, for example, avoid inferring the lane path based solely on a single description of the left lane boundary. Instead, it would be required, as a redundancy measure, that at least one trajectory of a preceding vehicle or the path of the right lane boundary is also known.

[0004] A driver assistance system of a motor vehicle can use at least one other sensor source, e.g., a radar data source to track a vehicle ahead, in addition to or as an alternative to a camera for lane detection to capture descriptions of the lane path. A driver assistance system can use such data sources (individually or in combination) to improve lateral or longitudinal guidance and / or to provide the described redundancy in the driver assistance system.

[0005] Another data source is swarm data. However, its use is associated with additional costs due to, among other things, license fees and / or additional data transfer between the vehicle and the backend. Therefore, connecting such an additional data source, the use of which may be associated with costs and / or data transfer, generally only makes sense for the efficient operation of a motor vehicle if it can also achieve a corresponding improvement in the lateral guidance function of the driver assistance system. Such an evaluation or assessment can be time-consuming for a motor vehicle user, as they must also concentrate on the surrounding traffic while the lateral guidance function is active in order to be able to take over the guidance task of lateral guidance of the vehicle if necessary.Therefore, a user could not continuously monitor or observe a control indicator that, for example, indicates when a given additional data source (e.g., swarm data) is being accessed in order to gain an impression of its frequency of use. When deciding whether to continue using an additional data source in the future, there is no corresponding knowledge available about its advantage or usefulness for the operation of a particular motor vehicle in a specific region where the vehicle is usually or predominantly used.

[0006] From DE 10 2018 009 790 A1 and US 2015 / 0193994 A1 it is known how the described swarm data can be recorded and made available to a motor vehicle in order to describe, for example, an average or mean driving trajectory that other vehicles have driven in the past.

[0007] The publication DE 10 2020 214 787 A1 describes a method in which different routes are calculated on the basis of different information sources, which are then compared with each other, for example for validation purposes.

[0008] From DE 10 2019 127 050 A1 it is known to install an environmental sensor in the vehicle which provides environmental data, whereby it is checked whether this data is impaired and, in the event of impairment, data from an external source can be used or data from an external source is used to check the functioning of the environmental sensor.

[0009] However, ISO 26262-5 2018-12-00 Road vehicles - functional safety - part 5: product development at the hardware level still states that, in order to detect errors, it is useful to compare the results and intermediate results from different sources. Different sources can also be understood as different systems performing the same operation.

[0010] The invention is based on the object of being able to investigate the connection of an additional data source for the improvement of the driver assistance system for a given motor vehicle with a specific usage profile.

[0011] The problem is solved by the subject matter of the independent patent claims. Advantageous further developments of the invention are described by the dependent patent claims, the following description, and the figures.

[0012] As one solution, the invention comprises a method for operating a driver assistance system of a motor vehicle. The method is based on the driver assistance system providing a lateral guidance function by means of which the motor vehicle is automatically guided in a manner known per se along a lane or roadway or track, and this lane (i.e. its geometric course in the lane section ahead) is recognized by the driver assistance system on the basis of lane data. The driver assistance system thus maps or describes where the lane extends in front of the motor vehicle. By means of the lateral guidance function, for example, a position of the motor vehicle when driving along the lane can be controlled such that the motor vehicle moves or drives along a lane center line of the lane or at least within or between the lane edges.

[0013] For such a control, or for the lateral guidance function in general, a check can be performed for the next lane section ahead to determine whether "complete" lane data is available so that the lateral guidance function can also be activated for this lane section to be traveled next or within a subsequent time interval (e.g., within the next 5 to 30 seconds). In other words, a check is performed cyclically or at successive time intervals to determine whether "complete" lane data is available for further operation or for activating the lateral guidance function.In other words, the method comprises ensuring that, for successive decision cycles, the associated lane data required for a route section or roadway section assigned to the respective decision cycle are "complete" in the sense that the lane data must exhibit the described redundancy, which provides at least two independent descriptions of a route of the lane. For example, it can be checked whether, using the lane data, both a left lane boundary (left lane marking) and a right lane boundary (right lane marking) for the respective lane edge are described or contained by the lane data.In other words, lane data is "complete" when the lane data exhibits a redundancy that provides two independent descriptions of the lane's path, for example, a description of the left lane boundary (lane marking) and an additional description of the right lane marking, or, as already described, a description of only one lane marking and a description of the trajectory of a vehicle currently traveling ahead. Accordingly, different descriptions can be present, for example, in this example, the path of a lane marking and the path of the trajectory of a vehicle traveling ahead.

[0014] Accordingly, multiple data sources (but at least one) can be provided for this purpose, which must be accessed in connection with the lateral guidance function in order to check whether complete lane data, i.e., lane data with the required redundancy, is available for a given decision cycle. A query or access attempt is therefore made to retrieve the lane data required for the respective decision cycle from at least one data source. The at least one data source is, in particular, an onboard data source located in the motor vehicle, i.e., a vehicle-specific, local, or on-board data source.

[0015] If there is no redundancy in the lane data for a decision cycle, the lateral guidance function must remain deactivated for this upcoming decision cycle or, in other words, the driver must take over the driving task.

[0016] If it turns out that at least one data source, i.e. one or more data sources, does not have the redundancy for decision cycles infrequently, an attempt can be made to connect or make available an additional data source, in particular a data source external to the vehicle, on a trial basis (e.g. for a specified test period with a known end time). However, this means that a comparison must be made as to whether this use of the additional data source is efficient, because, for example, additional effort is associated with communicating with the additional data source. In order to be able to decide whether an additional data source should be used in the future or made permanently available in the vehicle, the additional data source can be made available initially (e.g. for a trial operation) in order to be able to decide afterwards whether it should remain permanently connected.

[0017] In the event that the at least one data source, as already available in the motor vehicle, provides no or only non-redundant lane data, and thus the described attempt to access redundant lane data from the at least one data source has failed or fails, a predefined additional data source is checked to determine whether it provides all the required lane data or at least the lane data missing for redundancy. It can therefore be checked whether the additional data source provides complete or redundant lane data or only the portion of the lane data missing to achieve redundancy, in each case for each decision cycle in which the at least one existing data source does not provide redundancy.

[0018] If the additional data source provides this missing lane data, this missing lane data is taken from the additional data source, for example to complete the lane data, so that there is redundancy in the lane data for this decision cycle too, i.e. the lane data is complete and the lateral guidance function can therefore only be used in this decision cycle thanks to the additional data source. However, this results in the use of the additional data source because, for example, with an additional data source external to the vehicle, the corresponding lane data must be transferred or loaded into the vehicle. This can entail additional effort, such as the use of a radio connection's transmission bandwidth, so it must be checked whether it is worthwhile to have the additional data source available during a journey to the specific vehicle and / or its region of use.A user should not be expected to do this, for example by watching a display that signals for each decision cycle whether the additional data source has been used or not.

[0019] Instead, the method accumulates user data relating to the use of the additional data source in an accumulation memory. "Accumulate" here means that for each individual decision cycle in which the additional data source is used, information is collected or added indicating that the additional data source was used. The accumulation memory can, for example, comprise a counter that is incremented each time the additional data source is used. Additionally or alternatively, separate logging of the individual uses can take place, for example, which decision cycle and / or at which geoposition this was carried out. The accumulation memory can be based on a non-volatile storage medium of the motor vehicle, e.g., a flash memory.

[0020] At predetermined evaluation events, for example, when the user of the motor vehicle has the opportunity to evaluate or review the use of the additional data source, an activation function for controlling the activation state of the additional data source is controlled using the accumulated user data from the accumulation memory. This provides a decision-making or control option for controlling future journeys or determining whether the additional data source will continue to be activated or usable in the motor vehicle for the lateral guidance function—i.e., whether it will be used as an additional data source in the manner described in the event of missing or non-redundant lane data.

[0021] The invention offers the advantage that, during a journey, the basis for decision-making is automatically formed as to whether an additional data source, activated for example on a trial basis, has enabled the lateral guidance function to be maintained or operated frequently enough, or at key traffic points or in key traffic or driving situations, and should therefore remain activated in the vehicle as an efficient additional data source. The user does not have to monitor its use during individual driving maneuvers.

[0022] According to one aspect of the invention, the user data stored in the accumulation memory each time the additional data source is used indicates a distance traveled thanks to the additional data source with lateral guidance function, and / or geocoordinates where the use took place, and / or a usage period for which the operation or activation of the lateral guidance function has been extended thanks to the additional data source. From this, it is then possible to calculate, for example, based on a given total distance traveled—for example, a journey of the motor vehicle from a starting point to a destination—in which route section and / or time portion the usability or availability of the lateral guidance function has been extended or increased due to the additional data source.

[0023] Accordingly, according to one aspect of the invention, the following is calculated or indicated by the accumulated payload data. According to one aspect, the accumulated payload data indicates how much distance and / or travel time was covered using the additional data source, i.e., with the lateral guidance function activated. In particular, the accumulated payload data indicates how much distance and / or travel time was covered without alternatives, i.e., only using the additional data source, because this was the only way to provide complete or redundant lane data (either by supplementing or completely providing lane data from the additional data source).

[0024] One aspect of the invention provides that the accumulated useful data indicates how much less distance and / or travel time the lateral guidance function would have been impossible without the use of the additional data source. This corresponds to an extension of the distance and / or travel time when using the lateral guidance function thanks to the additional data source.

[0025] One aspect of the invention provides that the accumulated user data indicates how many traffic situations of a given scenario type were driven through using the additional data source via the lateral guidance function or with the lateral guidance function activated. Such a scenario type can generally describe or specify a specific driving maneuver, for example, crossing an intersection or following the lane in the area of ​​a construction site. Such scenario types have the special feature that an additional data source is only used sporadically or for individual decision cycles. This means that without the additional data source, an interruption in the use of the lateral guidance function would be necessary. However, with the additional data source, the individual "dropouts" in the at least one data source can be bridged.

[0026] In connection with such bridging, one aspect of the invention provides that the accumulated useful data include which time interval or which time period with continuous activation of the lateral guidance function results thanks to the additional data source, only because decision intervals with a lack of redundancy were bridged by means of the additional data source.

[0027] If the accumulated user data and, according to one aspect, also the accumulated or collected support data are stored in the accumulation memory as described, the activation function for the additional data source can, according to a further development, provide that a user interface for manually activating and / or booking the additional data source is displayed to a user on a control unit. "Booking" means that the user can order a rental agreement or a purchase license or rental license for the additional data source. The user is provided with the accumulated user data on the user interface, for example, at least one of the previously described pieces of information regarding the distance and / or travel time that could previously be covered thanks to the additional data source using the activated lateral guidance function.Now, when making decisions or operating the control unit, the user is provided with accumulated statistics on the collected / accumulated use of the swarm data or, in general, the lane data from the additional data source.

[0028] According to one aspect of the invention, the activation function comprises specifying a respective total usage time of the additional data source, specifically at the end of a respective journey and / or after driving through a respective predefined route segment and / or after driving through a respective predefined situation type. In particular, in connection with the situation type, it can be provided that the previously described situation type of crossing an intersection and / or driving through a construction site is subsequently displayed, i.e., when the intersection and / or the construction site is left.Thus, while driving through the route segment and / or while driving and / or while driving through the situation type, the user can concentrate on the traffic in order to be ready to assume the lateral guidance task. Afterwards, when less attention is required, the total usage time and / or total usage distance related to the additional data source can be displayed to the user as part of the activation function. This delayed output reduces user distraction because the user does not have to decide for each individual decision cycle or observe whether the additional data source has been used.

[0029] According to one aspect of the invention, the activation function can also provide for an automated decision, controlled by a cost function, as to whether the additional data source and / or a predetermined geographical region, in which, for example, a programmed destination is located, is or remains activated in the motor vehicle for the operation of the lateral guidance function for a future journey or journeys. For example, deactivating the lateral guidance function can be assigned a cost value and using the additional data source a further benefit value (negative cost value). The cost function can then provide cost minimization, by means of which it can be automatically decided whether the switching state of the additional data source, such that it remains activated in the motor vehicle for at least one future journey, leads to a minimization of the output value of the cost function or is kept below a threshold value.This can also be done on a route-dependent and / or regional basis, for example, using the described road map, which indicates where no historical trajectory data is available. The cost function can also take into account that while the vehicle user does not benefit from the additional data source, the vehicle's own trajectory data makes it worthwhile to connect the additional data source in order to supplement the vehicle's own trajectory data.

[0030] The invention also includes further developments which result in additional advantages.

[0031] The respective decision cycles involve the decision as to whether the redundancy in the lane data for the ahead lane section assigned to the decision cycle is present for activating the lateral guidance function and / or for its continuation (if the lateral guidance function is already activated), so that the lateral guidance function can also be activated for the ahead lane section assigned to this decision cycle. According to a further development, this only occurs if the lane data exhibits the aforementioned redundancy for this decision interval. The decision cycle, of course, does not affect the currently traveled lane section; rather, a look-ahead is available, and a check is carried out for a ahead lane section, which could be at a distance of, for example, five meters to 500 meters.If no redundancy is available in the lane data despite using the additional data source, a procedure can be carried out to transfer the driving task to the user as driver and / or an automated stop or halt of the motor vehicle can be initiated.

[0032] Since the accumulation memory now automatically records each time the additional data source is used, the decision cycles can be correspondingly short, as it is not necessary for a user to be able to recognize or record the respective use. The respective duration of a decision cycle can therefore be in a range of 10 ms to 5 s. If the additional data source is only used for a single decision cycle between two other decision cycles, in which redundant lane data can be generated using at least one data source alone, in order to bridge the decision cycle between these two decision cycles, then the additional data source has only been used for a single decision cycle, for example for a time range of 10 ms to 5 s.This need not be recorded or recognized by the user, as this usage is also specified or described in the accumulation memory by the user data. Thus, it only needs to be decided retrospectively, during the evaluation event, whether the additional data source has provided a benefit or advantage. Thus, the activation function should be used to adjust the activation status of the additional data source so that the additional data source remains available for future journeys.

[0033] The additional data source can, in particular, be a vehicle-external data source, meaning it is located outside the motor vehicle, for example, configured as an internet server, and its use then accordingly comprises a data transfer via a radio connection to the motor vehicle, in particular to the at least one control unit that provides the lateral guidance function. This may result in additional charges and / or the use of a transmission bandwidth of the radio connection, which is why the described accumulated usage data is necessary to be able to control whether the additional data source is "worthwhile," i.e., whether it contributes to the actual efficient operation of the lateral guidance function and whether this is not offset by the additional effort required for data transmission.

[0034] A supplementary data source can be used that calculates missing lane data from historical trajectory data from previous driving events or journeys by other vehicles in the lane. Such historical trajectory data from multiple other vehicles is also referred to as swarm data, as already described above. The vehicle then generates its own trajectory data, and if a predefined activation criterion is met, such trajectory data is sent to the supplementary data source to supplement the historical trajectory data. Thus, the vehicle itself also contributes to supplementing or completing the historical trajectory data.In the aforementioned accumulation memory for the payload data, support data is also collected, which logs the successful transmission of the user's own trajectory data, thus indicating that the user's own trajectory data could actually be contributed to the additional data source, meaning the activation criterion was met. The collected support data from the accumulation memory is then used to control the activation function for the additional data source. The collected support data is then used to calculate how many data sets with user-defined trajectory data were uploaded, for example, for which geographical areas and / or how frequently this could occur. Thus, the collected support data is used to check whether the additional data source benefits from being connected to the vehicle.Additionally or alternatively, the collected support data can be used to map a road map where no data is available, i.e., where no historical trajectory data is available, where user-supplied trajectory data has been uploaded, and / or where the activation criteria were violated (for example, because a user manually blocked the transmission of user-supplied trajectory data). This allows the activation of the additional data source to be controlled to determine whether future use of the additional data source will improve or whether it can support additional road sections or geographical areas because the user's own vehicle can contribute its own trajectory data, which can then be used as historical trajectory data by the additional data source to provide lane data redundancy.Thus, the activation of the additional data source can also be controlled depending on whether the required historical trajectory data can be obtained or generated by the vehicle itself for future operation of the vehicle by generating its own trajectory data and storing it in the additional data source.

[0035] If the additional data source lacks the remaining lane data required for redundancy for a geographical area or geoposition, this is mapped internally in the vehicle as missing data for that geoposition or geographical area. In other words, the vehicle itself maps or records the road sections or routes for which the additional data source cannot provide lane data. In addition, status data is received and stored from the additional data source, indicating the road sections for which lane data have become newly available. This can then at least partially eliminate the need for mapping the missing data or make it invalid.If it is then questionable for a decision stage whether the additional data source should be used, i.e., checking whether the additional data source provides at least the lane data missing for redundancy should be carried out for a decision cycle, this can involve first determining internally within the vehicle by checking the missing data and the stored status data whether lane data is available in the additional data source. In other words, the vehicle can manage whenever the additional data source could not provide lane data or for which geographical area this was the case. Additionally, it can be logged whenever the additional data source signals, based on the status data, that it has been supplemented or that additional lane data is newly available.This prevents unsuccessful data communication with the additional data source itself, since the missing data and the status data can be used internally to determine whether the additional data source will not be able to provide lane data for the current geoposition of the vehicle or a road section ahead. The status data can be transmitted to the vehicle, for example, as a so-called push message, thus eliminating the need to actively query the vehicle for status data.

[0036] As already explained, a further development stipulates that the two independent descriptions of the lane path required for redundancy require a combination of two of the following: a sensor-detected left lane boundary, a sensor-detected right lane boundary, a sensor-detected curb corner, and a driving trajectory of a preceding other vehicle. "Sensor-detected" here means that the respective lane boundary (a marking on the road) and / or a curb and / or a preceding other vehicle is detected by a camera and / or a radar and / or a lidar (to name only examples of sensors) from the motor vehicle itself in a conventional manner using downstream object detection, and in particular, the relative geometric position relative to the motor vehicle is recorded.

[0037] Using the state data source, historical swarm data of driving trajectories of other vehicles previously driving in the lane are then determined. Unlike the sensor-detected driving trajectory of a preceding other vehicle that is currently in front of the vehicle, historical swarm data refers to driving trajectories driven by other vehicles that are no longer currently in the respective road section. For example, they may have been in the lane more than 30 minutes, more than an hour, or more than a day ago.

[0038] For use cases or application situations that may arise during the method and which are not explicitly described here, it may be provided that, in accordance with the method, an error message and / or a request to enter user feedback is issued and / or a default setting and / or a predetermined initial state is set.

[0039] As a further aspect, the invention comprises a solution in a motor vehicle having a processor circuit configured to carry out an embodiment of the method according to the invention. The calculation of the usage statistics or the accumulated user data can be implemented, for example, in a single control unit or in a network of multiple control units. For example, a front camera of the motor vehicle can be used as a control unit, in which the processor circuit can also carry out the described object recognition, for example, for lane markings. Activating the monitoring of the additional data source can, for example, be enabled remotely for a user via an application program of a mobile device, for example a smartphone, by providing corresponding activation via an app (application program) of such a mobile device.For this purpose, the processor circuit can comprise at least one microprocessor and / or at least one microcontroller and / or at least one FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) and / or at least one DSP (Digital Signal Processor). Furthermore, the processor circuit can comprise program code configured to implement the embodiment of the method according to the invention when executed by the processor circuit. The program code can be stored in a data memory of the processor circuit. The processor circuit of the processor circuit can comprise, for example, at least one circuit board and / or at least one SoC (System on Chip).

[0040] The motor vehicle according to the invention is preferably designed as a motor vehicle, in particular as a passenger car or truck, or as a passenger bus or motorcycle.

[0041] As a further solution, the invention also encompasses a computer-readable storage medium comprising program code which, when executed by a processor circuit of a computer or computer network, causes the processor circuit or computer network to carry out an embodiment of the method according to the invention. The storage medium can, for example, be provided at least partially as a non-volatile data memory (e.g. as a flash memory and / or as an SSD - solid state drive) and / or at least partially as a volatile data memory (e.g. as a RAM - random access memory). The storage medium can be arranged in the processor circuit in its data memory. However, the storage medium can also be operated, for example, as a so-called app store server on the Internet. The computer or computer network can provide a processor circuit with at least one microprocessor.The program code may be provided as binary code or assembler and / or as source code of a programming language (e.g. C) and / or as a program script (e.g. Python).

[0042] The invention also encompasses combinations of the features of the described embodiments. The invention therefore also encompasses implementations that each comprise a combination of the features of several of the described embodiments, unless the embodiments are described as mutually exclusive.

[0043] Exemplary embodiments of the invention are described below. Shown are: Fig. 1 a schematic representation of an embodiment of the motor vehicle according to the invention that can carry out an embodiment of the method according to the invention; Fig. 2 a schematic representation of a perspective view of a traffic scene, as it is suitable for an environment sensor of the motor vehicle of Fig. 1 can arise and can be captured by it; Fig. 3 a schematic representation of a perspective view of another traffic scene, as it is suitable for an environment sensor of the motor vehicle of Fig. 1 can arise and can be captured by it; Fig. 4 a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the method according to the invention.

[0044] The exemplary embodiments explained below are preferred embodiments of the invention. In the exemplary embodiments, the described components of the embodiments each represent individual features of the invention that can be considered independently of one another, each of which also develops the invention independently of one another. Therefore, the disclosure is intended to encompass combinations of the features of the embodiments other than those shown. Furthermore, the described embodiments can also be supplemented by further features of the invention already described.

[0045] In the figures, the same reference symbols designate elements with the same function.

[0046] Fig. Figure 1 shows a bird's eye view of a motor vehicle 10 that may be traveling or driving along a road network 11 on a journey 12. A perspective view of the depicted driving scene 13 from the viewpoint of an environment sensor 14 of the motor vehicle 10 is shown in Fig. 2, to which reference is also made here. For the journey 12, the motor vehicle 10 can be guided on a road 16 of the road network 11 along a lane 17 of the road 16 by means of an automated driver assistance function 15, e.g. an autopilot or an autonomous driving function. In order to keep or guide the motor vehicle 10 in the lane 17, a driving trajectory 18 can be calculated in advance by the driver assistance function 15, which determines, for road sections or road areas 19 ahead of the motor vehicle 10, along which driving line (lateral guidance) and at which driving speed (longitudinal guidance) the motor vehicle 10 should be kept or guided in the lane 17.In order to implement, realize or execute the determined travel trajectory 18, the driver assistance function 15 can control an actuator 20 of the motor vehicle 10, by means of which a motorized steering system (lateral guidance) and, depending on the embodiment, additionally an engine control and / or braking system (longitudinal guidance) can be controlled in order to thereby guide the motor vehicle 10 according to the travel trajectory 18.

[0047] In order to determine a course of the driving trajectory 18, a course or a geometric position of the lane 17 in the road area 19 ahead can be determined by a processor circuit 21 in the motor vehicle 10. For this purpose, the environment sensor 14 can be used, based on whose sensor data 22 the road 16 can be described or detected. For this purpose, the environment sensor 14 can be aligned with the road area 19 ahead with a detection range 23. The environment sensor 14 can, for example, comprise a camera and / or a lidar and / or a radar, to name just a few examples. Based on the sensor data 22, the processor circuit 21 can, for example by means of object recognition, recognize a relative position of a left lane boundary 24 of the lane 17 from the perspective of the motor vehicle and / or a right lane marking 25 from the perspective of the motor vehicle 10 and / or curbs 26 as a further boundary of the lane 17.From the left lane boundary 24 and the right lane marking 25 or the curbs 26 replacing the right lane marking 25, the driving trajectory 18 for sections 27 in the road area 19 ahead can be determined by a correspondingly redundant description of the lane 17 in the form of the left lane boundary 24 on the one hand and the right lane marking 25 or the curbs 26 on the other hand, since this makes it known that the lane 17 must lie between them and thus the motor vehicle 10 must be driven in the band described thereby by means of its driving trajectory 18 (which may also include or include consideration of objects in the lane 17). However, it may be that the lane 17 in the road area 19 ahead cannot be detected consistently and redundantly based on the sensor data 22 of the environment sensor 14.

[0048] The environment sensor 14 represents a possible data source D of the motor vehicle 10 for lane data 30, which can be determined by means of the object recognition O from the sensor data 22.

[0049] Fig. 1 symbolizes this for sections 31 along the direction of travel of the journey 12 on the road section ahead, in which no redundant description of the course of the lane 17 can be determined, since, for example, as shown in Fig. 1, there is neither a right lane boundary 25 nor a curb 26 due to parked vehicles 34, but rather, for example, unmarked parking spaces.

[0050] In order to nevertheless obtain redundant lane data 35 here as well, which offer two independent descriptions of the course of the lane 17, i.e. a combination, for example, of a lane edge in the form of a lane boundary 24, 25 or a curb 26 or a lane center line of the lane 17, an additional data source 37 can be accessed, for example by a selection module 36 of the processor circuit 21, which can, for example, be provided externally on the Internet 38 and can be connected to the processor circuit 21 via a radio connection 39 and a communication module 40 of the motor vehicle 10. The radio connection 39 can, for example, be maintained to a mobile radio network 41 or a WLAN network, via which an Internet connection 42 can then lead to the additional data source 37. The communication module 40 can accordingly be a mobile radio module or a WLAN radio module.The processor circuit 21 can be connected to the processor circuit 21 via a data connection 44, for example an Ethernet. In the event that redundant lane data 35 cannot be determined from the lane data 30 alone, the selection module 36 can access additional lane data 45 via the radio connection 39, which can be provided by the additional data source 37. The additional data source 37 can, for example, be formed by an internet data server 38. The additional lane data 35 can, for example, have been formed from historical trajectory data 46, in particular averaged or modeled historical trajectory data from several other vehicles, as is known per se from the prior art. In the method shown in . Fig. In the example shown in Figure 1, the selection module 36 for the sections 31 can also access the historical trajectory data 46 from the additional data source 37 in addition to the lane data 30 relating to the left lane boundary 24 in order to obtain the lane center line as a redundant description of the course of the lane 17, which can be described by the historical trajectory data 46. In Fig. 1 shows that historical driving trajectories can of course also describe further driving maneuvers, such as driving along driving trajectories 51 along an oncoming lane and / or driving trajectories 51 of a turning maneuver.

[0051] The redundant lane data 35 can thus be generated or completed using the additional lane data 45. Fig. 1 shows how this can also be done for relatively short sections 31, for example in a length range of 2 meters to 15 meters, while surrounding sections 27 can lead to redundant lane data 35 by means of the in-vehicle data source D.

[0052] The selection module 36 can be designed such that the use of the vehicle's own data source or several vehicle-specific data sources D is maximized and the additional data source 37 is only used in the case where its lane data 35 is queried, if otherwise no redundant lane data 35 can be provided for the lateral guidance function Q of the driver assistance function 15.

[0053] This decision can be made, for example, by the selection module 36 periodically or cyclically in predetermined decision cycles 70.

[0054] Whenever the additional data source 37 is used, i.e., when its lane data 45 is necessary to form redundant lane data 35 for a section 31, this use can be logged in an accumulation memory 50. At predetermined evaluation events, for example, after or upon completion of a journey 12 and / or upon passing or after passing an intersection 52 or generally a driving situation 53, a connection function can then be activated, which can, for example, consist of informing or clarifying to the user that a specific route or driving situation 53, such as passing an intersection 52, could only be accomplished or was possible using the lateral guidance function Q because redundant lane data 35 could be formed or generated using the additional lane data 45 from the additional data source 37.Thus, during the driving situation 53, the user does not need to observe a corresponding display to recognize the use.

[0055] The processor circuit 21 can, for example, be a component of a camera module 60. Alternatively or additionally, the processor circuit 21 can be arranged outside a camera module and / or provided as a distributed processor circuit partially within the camera module 60 and partially outside the camera module 60 in the motor vehicle. It can also be provided that the processor circuit 21 is arranged outside the motor vehicle 10, for example, in a backend server that supports the motor vehicle 10 with computing power and / or data.

[0056] Fig. 3 illustrates a further exemplary driving situation 53, which may, for example, involve driving on a country road with a missing lane marking 24' (in the example shown, a missing center lane marking). However, a right lane marking 25 may, for example, be present. In order to continue to obtain the redundant lane data 35 due to the missing lane marking 24' and only the present right lane marking 25, the selection module 36 can, for example, access the historical trajectory data 46 and (as represented by hatching) access the historical trajectory data 46 that, in the past, were driven along the incompletely marked lane 17 by other vehicles (no longer present in the current driving situation 53), such as the motor vehicle 10 itself.

[0057] Fig. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a method for providing redundant lane data for a driver assistance system, i.e., lane data that describes a lane 17 to be traveled using at least two independent descriptions of the route of the lane 17, which can then be provided to the lateral guidance function Q so that the latter can plan the travel trajectory 18 in the manner described and carry out the lateral guidance of the motor vehicle 10 based thereon, i.e., the automated steering by means of the actuator system 20. For this purpose, at least one data source D is initially used, which can be arranged, in particular, internally in the motor vehicle 10.In general, to distinguish between the data source D and the additional data source 37, it can be assumed that the at least one data source D is a predetermined set of data sources or is a predetermined data source that is assumed to be permanently connected in the motor vehicle 10 or that it should remain connected. With the additional data source 37, on the other hand, it is a matter of deciding whether this additional data source 37 can be used efficiently for the operation of the specific motor vehicle 10 in its specific operating environment where it is used by the user, because the additional data source 37 can, for example, provide suitable lane data 45 for providing the redundant lane data 35.The redundant lane data 35 are required regularly or cyclically for a respective lane section ahead, for example for the respective lane section ahead in the range of 50 m to 500 m, which may each have a length or travel time that may be in a range of 20 m to 200 m, to name just a few examples.

[0058] In step S10, the processor circuit can access the at least one data source D, for example, read in the described lane data 30 and attempt to extract or determine the required lane data with two independent descriptions of the route of the lane 17. This is referred to as an access attempt.

[0059] If it turns out that no redundant description of the route can be extracted from the lane data 30 obtained, for example, from sensor data or generally from the resulting lane data of at least one data source D (in Fig. 4 symbolized by a minus sign in the test step S11), this is considered a failed or unsuccessful access attempt and in a step S12 an attempt is made to obtain the missing lane data 45 from the additional data source 37. If, however, it is recognized in step S11 that redundant lane data 35 can already be determined using the at least one data source D (in Fig. 4 represented by a plus symbol), one can return to step S10 for the next decision cycle 70.

[0060] In step S12 (failed access attempt), the additional data source 37 can be queried as to whether the missing lane data 45 is available for the road section for which redundant lane data is currently missing, for example, a description of historical trajectory data 46, by which a description of, for example, the lane center of lane 17 can be formed or represents this. Fig. 1, this corresponds to sections 31, for which the missing lane data 45 from the historical trajectory data 46 can be used as a description of a lane center of lane 17. Thus, redundant lane data 35 are available for this decision cycle 70. This can be checked or determined in step S13. If redundant lane data 35 (plus symbol in Fig. 4), the decision cycle 70 can be successfully completed and the lateral guidance function Q can remain activated. At the same time, the necessary use of the additional data source 37 can be logged in the accumulation memory 50. If, however, no redundant lane data 35 can be generated using the additional data source 37 (minus symbol in Fig. 4) in step S13, an interruption or termination 71 of the lateral guidance function Q can be initiated, i.e. the user of the motor vehicle 10 must take over the lateral guidance himself as the driver.

[0061] At predetermined evaluation events 72, the content of the accumulation memory 50 can be evaluated by controlling a connection function based on the usage events or uses stored therein. For example, this can be used to control whether access to the additional data source 37 is retained for at least one future trip or for several future trips of the motor vehicle 10 or whether it is permanently used without the selection module 36 as an additional data source equivalent to the at least one data source D in the motor vehicle 10 for determining the redundant lane data 35.For example, this can be done automatically using the described cost function, which then controls the activation or the activation state of the additional data source 37, for example by supplementing a list of the at least one data source D with an address or general access data to the additional data source 37, so that the next time the motor vehicle 10 is started, the additional data source 37 is used as a further data source D in the motor vehicle 10, so that step S11 in the method can be omitted. Additionally or alternatively, for example, a signal light can indicate whether overall use in the motor vehicle 10 has taken place during the previous trip or during a driving situation 53.

[0062] If a user has activated a lateral guidance function with swarm data (historical trajectory data from the additional data source), they can now be shown information about the use of the swarm data after each trip, in addition to the existing statistics that can be collected (e.g., kilometers driven, fuel consumption). This information can be calculated from the accumulation memory and can include, among other things: ▪ • How much distance / time was covered with lateral guidance function + swarm data ▪ • How much additional distance / time was covered ONLY thanks to swarm data ▪ • How much less distance / time could have been driven without swarm data ▪ • How many<Szenario X> (Driving situations of a specific scenario type) were automatically or controlled using swarm data (e.g. how many intersections) ▪ • How much information (own trajectory data sets) was uploaded to the cloud to the additional data source ▪ • At which points the vehicle has driven, swarm data is now available through such journeys thanks to its own trajectory data ▪ • Where swarm data was now used for control where swarm data was not available before ▪ • Where data could not be uploaded in order not to violate data protection guidelines (e.g. because traffic density was too low)

[0063] The calculation of information / statistics from the accumulation memory can be performed, for example, in the front camera module. The user can optionally enable the calculation / accumulation (e.g., via mobile phone / HMI).

[0064] If certain thresholds / swarm data supplements are available (e.g. swarm data is now available for road Z, a push message can optionally be generated via the vehicle's telematics system, mobile phone or web app).

[0065] Overall, the examples show how an analysis and representation of a driver assistance system can be provided.

Claims

[1] A method for operating a driver assistance system of a motor vehicle (10), wherein a lateral guidance function is provided by which the motor vehicle (10) is automatically guided along a lane (17) and the lane (17) is recognized on the basis of lane data (35), wherein for successive decision cycles (70) respective associated lane data (30, 35) are required and the lane data (35) must have a redundancy by which two independent descriptions of a route of the lane (17) are given, and an access attempt is made to obtain the lane data (30) required for the respective decision cycle (70) from at least one data source, wherein in the event that the at least one data source provides no or only non-redundant lane data (30) and the access attempt therefore fails, a predetermined additional data source (37) is checked thereupon,whether it provides at least the lane data (45) missing for redundancy, and if the additional data source (37) provides the missing lane data (45), these are taken from the additional data source (37) to complete the lane data (35), thereby resulting in use of the additional data source (37), and in an accumulation memory (50) useful data relating to the use of the additional data source (37) are accumulated and, at predetermined evaluation events (72), a connection function for controlling a connection state of the additional data source (37) is controlled by means of the accumulated useful data of the accumulation memory (50), characterized by , that a) the accumulated user data is calculated by determining: • how much distance and / or travel time was covered in a controlled manner using the additional data source (37), and / or • how much distance and / or travel time was covered without alternative using only the additional data source (37), and / or • how much less distance and / or travel time the lateral guidance function would have been impossible without the use of the additional data source (37), and / or • how many traffic situations of a given scenario type were passed through using the additional data source (37) by means of the lateral guidance function, and / or • which time interval with continuous activation of the lateral guidance function results thanks to the additional data source (37), because decision intervals with missing redundancy were bridged by means of the additional data source (37), and / or b) the activation function provides that a user interface for manually activating and / or booking the additional data source (37) is displayed to a user on an operating unit, the accumulated user data and / or a summary thereof being provided to the user on the user interface, and / or c) the activation function comprises displaying a respective total usage time and / or total usage distance, which was only covered thanks to the additional data source (37) with the lateral guidance function activated, if the respective predetermined evaluation event (72) is detected: an end of a respective journey (12) and / or a passage through a respective predetermined route segment and / or a respective predetermined situation type, and / or d) the user data indicates a distance travelled and / or geo-coordinates where the use took place and / or a duration of use. [2] Method according to claim 1, wherein an activation and / or continuation of the lateral guidance function for the respective decision cycle (70) only takes place if the lane data (35) have the redundancy for this decision cycle (70). [3] Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a respective duration of the decision cycles (70) is in a range of 10 milliseconds to 1 second. [4] Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the additional data source (37) is arranged externally to the vehicle and its use comprises a data transfer via a radio connection (39). [5] Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the additional data source (37) used is one which calculates the missing lane data (45) from historical trajectory data (46) of driving events previously occurring on the lane (17), and in the motor vehicle (10) own trajectory data are generated and, if a predetermined activation criterion is met, are sent to the additional data source (37) to supplement the historical trajectory data (46), and in the accumulation memory (50) support data, by which the successful transmission of the own trajectory data is logged, are collected, and by means of the collected support data the activation function is controlled, wherein from the collected support data • calculates how many data sets with own trajectory data have been uploaded, and / or • is mapped on a road map where no historical trajectory data (46) is available and / or where own trajectory data was uploaded and / or where the activation criterion was violated. [6] Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein if the remaining lane data (45) for a geoposition are missing in the additional data source (37), this is mapped internally in the vehicle as missing data for the geoposition and status data are received and stored from the additional data source (37), which state data indicate on which road section (31) lane data (45) have become newly available, and checking whether the additional data source (37) provides at least the lane data (45) missing for the redundancy comprises first determining internally in the vehicle by checking the missing data and the stored status data whether lane data (45) are now present in the additional data source (37). [7] Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the two independent descriptions of the route of the lane (17) required for redundancy require a combination of two of the following: a sensor-detected left lane boundary (24), a sensor-detected right lane boundary (25), a sensor-detected curb detection, a driving trajectory (18) of a preceding other vehicle, and by means of the additional data source (37) historical swarm data of driving trajectories (46) of other vehicles (34) previously driven in the lane (17) are provided. [8] Motor vehicle (10) comprising a processor circuit (21) which is designed to carry out a method according to one of the preceding claims.

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