Method for determining a distance between a vehicle and another vehicle located in a surrounding area of ​​the vehicle, as well as electronic determination system and vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for determining a distance (7) between a vehicle (1) and another vehicle (2) located in a surrounding area (3) of the vehicle (1), wherein - a position (5) of the vehicle (1) is determined by a position determination system (9) and provided to an evaluation unit (12), - a position (6) of the further vehicle (2) is determined with a further position determination system (11) and provided to the evaluation unit (12), - position determination information relating to a position determination method used to determine the position (5) is provided to the electronic evaluation unit (12), - further position determination information relating to a position determination method used to determine the position (6) is provided to the electronic evaluation unit (12), - a comparison result is determined by the electronic evaluation unit (12) by comparing the position determination information, and - the distance (7) is determined based on the positions (5, 6) and the comparison result. Furthermore, the invention relates to an electronic determination system (8) and a vehicle (1, 2).

Description

The invention relates to a method for determining a distance between a vehicle and a further vehicle located in a surrounding region of the vehicle, wherein a position of the vehicle is determined by a position determination system of the vehicle and provided to an electronic evaluation unit in the vehicle, and a position of the further vehicle is determined by a further position determination system and transmitted to the electronic evaluation unit.The invention furthermore relates to an electronic determination system for determining a distance between a vehicle and a further vehicle located in a surrounding region of the vehicle. The electronic determination system has a position determination system for determining a position of the vehicle and for providing the position of the vehicle to an electronic evaluation unit of the electronic determination system. Furthermore, a provision unit is provided, with which a position of the further vehicle can be provided to the electronic evaluation unit.The invention also relates to a vehicle having an electronic determination system.Present-day vehicles have a multiplicity of driver assistance systems in order to be able to operate the vehicle at least partially autonomously or to assist a driver of the vehicle in controlling the vehicle. Above all, for automated driving according to an autonomous driving level 1 to 5, in addition to safe environment recognition, precise position determination of the vehicle is necessary. In particular, driver assistance systems rely on the accuracy of the input data from sensor systems such as environmental sensors or position units. The positioning by means of GPS sensor system or GNSS sensor system often shows inaccuracies which can result, for example, inter alia on account of the path through the atmosphere between vehicle and satellite. Driver assistance systems which additionally use vehicle-vehicle communication (car2x communication) are frequently subject to a double error at the location, since the imprecision is present both in the transmitting vehicle and in the receiving vehicle by separate localization with the aid of the satellite. As a result of the high, in particular double, imprecision, the driver assistance systems can lead to incorrect regulations or reactions.For example, KR 2023 002 46 12 A discloses a method for determining the position of a vehicle on the basis of a sensor fusion. This method can be used primarily for automated driving. In the sensor fusion, external environmental information can be taken into account in the position determination.Furthermore, EP 3 052 963 B1 discloses a method for correcting position data recorded with a position sensor of a motor vehicle using a global navigation satellite system. In this case, a mechanical interaction of the motor vehicle with ground structures when driving over the ground structures can be measured by means of a structure sensor and, by evaluating the measurement data of the structure sensor, the driving over of at least one reference structure for the precise reference position in the geodetic coordinate system of the global navigation satellite system in at least one direction is known, wherein correction data to be used for the correction are determined from a deviation of the position data measured at the time of the driving over with the position sensor from the reference position.Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 10,986,478 B2 discloses an apparatus for a vehicle which has a C-V2X communication unit. A navigation system is coupled to the C-V2X communication unit in order to carry out a position determination of the vehicle on the basis of transmitted signals.An object of the present invention is to improve the determination of a distance between two vehicles on the basis of a respective position of the vehicles.This object is achieved by a method, an electronic determination system and a vehicle according to the independent claims. Meaningful further developments are evident from the dependent patent claims.One aspect of the invention relates to a method for determining a distance between a vehicle and a further vehicle located in a surrounding region of the vehicle, whereina position of the vehicle is determined in particular using a position determination system and is provided to an electronic evaluation unit in the vehicle,- in particular, a position of the further vehicle is determined by a further position determination system and provided to the electronic evaluation unit, characterized in thatin particular, position determination information relating to a position determination method of the position determination system of the electronic evaluation unit used for determining the position of the vehicle is provided,in particular, further position determination information relating to a position determination method of the further position determination system used for determining the position of the further vehicle is provided to the electronic evaluation unit,a comparison result is determined by the electronic evaluation unit in particular by comparing the position determination information with the further position determination information, andin particular, the distance between the vehicle and the further vehicle is determined on the basis of the position of the vehicle, the position of the further vehicle and the comparison result.The proposed method makes it possible to carry out an improved distance determination or distance measurement between two vehicles on the basis of a respective position of the vehicle. Furthermore, the proposed method can be used to improve the relative positioning accuracy between two vehicles. This is particularly advantageous when using the distance between the vehicles and in particular the positions of the vehicles with respect to one another with regard to the use of driver assistance systems, driver assistance functions and / or autonomous driving modes.The proposed method furthermore allows a higher degree of automation to be realized by using higher-value driving functions, since a more accurate or improved distance determination between vehicles can be carried out. Thus, improved accuracy in the longitudinal determination or distance determination between vehicles can be achieved. As a result of the more accurate distance, incorrect reactions can be avoided by driver assistance systems, since, for example, improved positioning or lateral positioning between the vehicles is possible.A further advantage of the present invention is that existing systems, such as sensor systems, position determination systems or other sensor units, can continue to be used in the systems, since the respective information, such as the position determination information of the respective position determination systems, can be compared by the system to the effect that the respective advantages or disadvantages of the respective position determination systems are taken into account in the distance determination.The vehicles may be at least partially autonomous driving vehicles, fully autonomous driving vehicles, or highly automated vehicles. The vehicles can have corresponding driver assistance systems, with which driving functions can be carried out at least partially automatically or fully automatically. The distance or relative distance between the two vehicles determined on the system side can be used, for example, for an ACC function (Adaptive Cruise Control) for carrying out an adaptive cruise control, that is to say by means of a cruise control. For this purpose, an improved and in particular more accurate distance determination can be carried out with the aid of the proposed method.The electronic evaluation unit can be used to process the corresponding information regarding the positions of the vehicles and the respective methods for determining the positions. The electronic evaluation unit can be, for example, a computing unit or an evaluation system. The two position determination systems can include a wide variety of technologies with which positions, in particular positions of vehicles, can be determined.The positioning systems may be, for example, global navigation satellite system (GNSS), global positioning system (GPS), differential global positioning system (DGPS), map matching systems, camera-based positioning systems, or other positioning systems. The two position determination systems can each have the same position determination technology or each have different position determination technologies from one another.Above all, the vehicle may have the position determination system, such as the first position determination system. The further, i.e. the second, position determination system can be designed externally to the vehicles.For example, the further position determination system can be at least partially integrated in the further vehicle.For the distance determination, according to the invention, possible inaccuracies, tolerances and / or other deviations of the position determination systems are taken into account. This is achieved in that information corresponding to the position determination methods used or applied by the position determination systems, i.e. the position determination information, is provided or transmitted to the electronic evaluation unit. The electronic evaluation unit can thus compare the two position determination methods of the two position determination systems with one another in order to take account of and, in particular, calculate out possible tolerances, deviations, discrepancies or other negative interference variables for the distance determination. The comparison result generated on the system side therefore allows the distance between the two vehicles to be improved, in particular determined more accurately, on the basis of the positions of the vehicles.If, for example, it is determined during the comparison of the position determination information that the two position determination systems use the same position determination methods, the two positions of the vehicles can be used substantially directly for the distance determination. In the case of identical position determination methods, the same tolerances, error sources or other interference factors can be present, so that they do not become important or can mutually cancel out during the distance determination.However, if it is determined with the comparison result that these are two different position determination methods, this can be taken into account in the distance determination. Here, either averaging can be carried out. It is likewise conceivable to check which of the two position determination methods have the greatest tolerance values or inaccuracies or measurement uncertainties, so that calculation of the "worse" position determination method can be taken into account.In one exemplary embodiment, it is provided that a vehicle-to-vehicle communication connection is established between the vehicle and the further vehicle, wherein the position of the further vehicle and the further position information are transmitted to the electronic evaluation unit via the vehicle-to-vehicle communication connection. As a result, vehicles which are located within a common surrounding area can exchange information with one another. In this case, in particular the position information, such as the position determination information and the position per se, can be interchanged. The vehicle-to-vehicle communication link may be a C2X communication link. Other types of communication links, such as "vehicle-2 vehicle communication link" or "V2V communication link", are also conceivable. Other types of communication, such as WLAN, Bluetooth, mobile radio standards or other wireless types of communication can likewise be used. For example, the vehicles can have corresponding communication units in order to be able to transmit or transmit the positions and in particular the position determination information.In one exemplary embodiment, it is provided that, with the position determination information, additionally accuracy information of the used position determination method of the position determination system is provided and taken into account in determining the distance. In addition or instead, with the further position determination information, further accuracy information of the used position determination method of the further position determination system can be additionally provided and taken into account in determining the distance. Thus, it is possible in particular to inform the electronic evaluation unit which accuracy, standard errors, measurement uncertainties and / or susceptibility to faults the position determination methods used of the position determination systems have. The electronic evaluation unit can thus take this accuracy information into account in the determination or calculation of the distance, so that in particular the distance can be determined more accurately, more accurately and / or more accurately.With the accuracy information, a respective accuracy with respect to the ascertained position of the vehicles can be provided. An amount of accuracy may be referred to as an accuracy level, for example. In this case, it is possible, for example, to provide which measurement uncertainties or tolerances or inaccuracies the respective determined positions can have. This can be taken into account in the determination of the distance between the two vehicles, for example by computing out the measurement uncertainty with a factor or weighting factor, in order to be able to determine primarily the relative positioning and thus the relative distance between the vehicles as precisely as possible.In one exemplary embodiment, it is provided that a plausibility check of the position of the vehicle and / or of the position of the further vehicle is carried out on the basis of the comparison result. This plausibility check can be carried out, for example, by the electronic evaluation unit on the system side. In this case, it is possible to check, for example, whether the details of the positions of the two vehicles are plausible, that is to say whether these are to be used in a trusted manner. If, for example, it is determined during the comparison of the position determination methods that one of the position determination methods used can have a very high measurement uncertainty or a very high range of fault tolerance, it can be checked with the plausibility check whether or not the position can be used for determining the distance. If it is optionally determined during the plausibility check that the position of a vehicle or of both vehicles is defective, the distance can be determined reliably only to a limited extent. Thus, it can be communicated here primarily to the driver assistance systems which require the distance information that the determined distance could be an error-prone distance value. If, in turn, a high degree of a possible deviation is ascertained with the plausibility check, it can be established by the system that reliable distance determination cannot currently be carried out on the basis of the current positions of the two vehicles.In one exemplary embodiment, it is provided that, depending on the plausibility check carried out, the position of the vehicle is determined again on the basis of the position of the further vehicle. Additionally or instead, the position of the further vehicle can be determined again on the basis of the position of the vehicle as a function of the plausibility check carried out. Thus, upon determination that at least one position of the two vehicles may be defective and thus exceed a predefined measurement uncertainty tolerance, a renewed determination or determination of the affected vehicle position may be carried out. In this case, a corresponding signal, in particular an electronic signal, can be transmitted to the vehicle concerned with the aid of the electronic evaluation unit, such that the position of the vehicle concerned can be ascertained anew. In order to be able to check this renewed determination in advance here, the position which was not objectionable during the plausibility check can be taken into account here as a reference or as a comparison. In particular, the plausibility check can be carried out continuously, and this can be carried out in particular for as long as the two determined positions of the vehicles have not been objectionable to the plausibility check. This can ensure that sufficient accuracy of the positions of the vehicles is available for determining the distance, so that the distance can be determined as accurately as possible.In one exemplary embodiment, it is furthermore provided that a position of an infrastructure device which is positioned in the surrounding area and position determination information relating to a position determination method used to determine the position of the infrastructure device are provided to the position determination system and / or the further position determination system. The infrastructure device can be, for example, a traffic system, a traffic light system (traffic light), a traffic guidance system or other digitally networked items in road traffic. By providing or transmitting the positions and the position determination information with respect to the infrastructure device to the position determination systems, the individual position determination systems can determine the respective position of the vehicles better, in particular more accurately. The position of the infrastructure installation can be used primarily as a reference position for determining the position of the vehicles. Since such an infrastructure device can be a stationary object or an immovable object, such as a traffic light, in particular, the position of the infrastructure device can be considered as a reference position. Thus, the individual positions of the vehicles can be determined more accurately in each case taking this reference position into account. In this case, the respective position determination information with respect to the infrastructure device can likewise be used in turn in order to be able to carry out the determination of the positions of the vehicles more efficiently, in particular more accurately. This results in the advantage that the provided positions of the vehicles for the distance determination have already been determined more accurately and thus more precisely in advance. This has an advantageous effect in determining the distance.In one exemplary embodiment, it is provided that the position of the infrastructure device and / or the position determination information relating to the position determination method used for determining the position of the infrastructure device is taken into account when determining the position of the vehicle. In addition or instead, the position of the infrastructure device and / or the position determination method relating to the position determination method used for determining the position of the infrastructure device is taken into account in the determination of the position of the further vehicle. If the vehicles are located in a surrounding area of the infrastructure device, a corresponding data exchange can be carried out between the vehicle and the infrastructure device via connections using communication technology. For example, the infrastructure device can transmit the position information or the position and / or the position determination information to vehicles located in the environment via a car 2X communication link. On the basis of this position information of the infrastructure device, the respective vehicles can carry out a more precise or more precise position determination of their own, since the position of the infrastructure device can be taken into account as a reference position or as a reference position.For example, by means of the position determination information, a respective vehicle and its systems can check whether the infrastructure device uses a same or similar position determination method as the vehicle itself. If this is the case, the position determination of the vehicle can be improved in the simplest way. If the respective vehicle and the infrastructure device use different position determination methods, then a correction of the position of the vehicle can be carried out again on the basis of the respective advantages and / or disadvantages of the position determination method.In one exemplary embodiment, it is provided that the determined distance between the vehicle and the further vehicle is provided to a vehicle system of the vehicle and / or a vehicle system of the further vehicle. It is likewise conceivable for the determined distance to be transmitted or provided to further vehicles which have communication units in the surrounding area. For example, the vehicle systems may be driver assistance systems or autonomous driving systems. On the basis of the distance determination between the vehicles, the vehicle can, for example, carry out an at least partially autonomous follow-up travel, i.e. an ACC travel, with respect to the further vehicle. Above all, the distance determined according to the invention can be used to control the vehicles more safely, since the distance in the case of a braking process of one of the vehicles is decisive when the respective other vehicle and in what strength has to brake, in order for example not to cause a rear-end collision to arise.Furthermore, the distance can be made available to further vehicle functions such as driver assistance functions.A further aspect of the invention relates to an electronic determination system for determining a distance between a vehicle and a further vehicle located in a surrounding region of the vehicle, havinga position determination system for determining a position of the vehicle and for providing the position of the vehicle to an electronic evaluation unit of the electronic determination system, and- in particular a provision unit for providing a position of the further vehicle of the electronic evaluation unit, characterized in thatthe position determination system is designed, in particular, to provide position determination information relating to a position determination method used for determining the position of the vehicle to the electronic evaluation unit,in particular, the provision unit is designed to provide further position determination information relating to a position determination method used for determining the position of the further vehicle to the electronic evaluation unit,the electronic evaluation unit is configured in particular to determine a comparison result by comparing the position determination information with the further position determination information, andIn particular, the electronic determination system has a distance determination unit, with which the distance between the vehicle and the further vehicle can be determined on the basis of the position of the vehicle, the position of the further vehicle and the comparison result.The electronic determination system can achieve an improvement in the relative positioning accuracy between vehicles. Above all, the distance between two vehicles can be determined more accurately or better with the electronic determination system according to the invention.In particular, a method according to the preceding aspect or an advantageous development thereof can be carried out with the electronic determination system.The advantages mentioned at the beginning relating to the method of the preceding aspect can likewise be advantages of the electronic determination system just described.In particular, the electronic determination system can be an electronic device, a server unit, or a distributed system.The systems or components of the electronic determination system can be networked to one another and can therefore be configured centrally or decentrally.For example, the electronic determination system can be part of the vehicle. It is likewise conceivable for the electronic determination system to be at least partially integrated in the vehicle. In particular, there is communicative coupling or networking between the vehicle and the electronic determination system.Above all, the distance determination unit can be supplied with the corresponding information in order to be able to carry out an efficient distance determination of the distance between the vehicles.For example, the position determination system can be at least partially integrated in the vehicle. The provision unit can be designed, for example, as a further position determination system and can be configured such that it can be integrated or installed in a further vehicle. It is likewise conceivable for the provision unit to likewise be integrated in the vehicle and, in turn, for the position information with respect to the further vehicle to be transmitted via communication units.A further aspect of the invention relates to a vehicle having an electronic determination system according to the preceding aspect or an advantageous development thereof.The vehicle can be, for example, an at least partially or completely autonomously operated vehicle. In particular, the vehicle is a motor vehicle, such as a passenger car or truck.Advantageous embodiments of one aspect of the present invention are to be regarded as advantageous embodiments of all other aspects. This applies in the opposite manner as well.In particular, the electronic determination system and / or the vehicle can have means for carrying out or carrying out the method according to the invention.For use cases or application situations which can arise in the method and which are not explicitly described here, provision can be made for an error message and / or a request for inputting a user feedback to be output and / or for a default setting and / or a predetermined initial state to be set according to the method.The invention also includes developments of the electronic determination system according to the invention and of the vehicle according to the invention, which have features as have already been described in connection with the developments of the method according to the invention. For this reason, the corresponding developments of the electronic determination system according to the invention and of the vehicle according to the invention are not described again here.The invention also includes the combinations of the features of the described embodiments.Embodiments of the invention will be described below. The following shows: FIG. 1 shows an exemplary traffic situation in which two vehicles exchange information with regard to their positionings via Car2X; FIG. 2 shows a position determination system with which a distance between the two vehicles from FIG. 1 can be determined on the basis of their positions; FIG. 3 shows an exemplary sequence of determining the distance between the vehicles when the positions of both vehicles have been determined using the same position determination method; FIG. 4 shows an exemplary sequence of the distance determination for the case that the position of the ego vehicle is more accurate than the position determination of the further vehicle; FIG. 5 shows a further exemplary sequence for the case that the position determination with respect to the further vehicle is more accurate than the position determination of the ego vehicle; and FIG. 6 shows an exemplary traffic situation in which infrastructure devices are used to improve the position determinations of the individual vehicles.The exemplary embodiments explained below are preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention. In the exemplary embodiments, the described components each represent individual features of the invention that are to be considered independently of one another and that develop the invention in each case also independently of one another and are therefore also to be considered as part of the invention individually or in a combination other than the combination shown. Furthermore, the described exemplary embodiments can also be supplemented by further features of the invention that have already been described.In the figures, elements having the same function are each provided with the same reference numerals.FIG. 1 shows, for example, a traffic situation along a roadway. In this case, for example, a vehicle 1 can carry out a following journey or an adaptive speed regulation on the basis of a vehicle driving ahead, such as a further vehicle 2 in the environment 3 of the vehicle 1. In this case, the vehicle 1 can capture the further vehicle 2 and obtain information for adaptive cruise control or ACC control, for example, via a communication connection such as a vehicle-to-vehicle communication connection 4. For this purpose, the position 5 of the vehicle 1 and the position 6 of the vehicle 2 are primarily relevant. However, it can occur here that the two vehicles 1, 2 each have an imprecision in the position determination, as a result of which an incorrect position determination can take place with respect to an error response with respect to the following travel. For example, owing to the wrong assessment of the distance to the further vehicle 2, unnecessary braking processes or acceleration processes can occur, although these are not suitable in this situation and can therefore represent a risk.For this purpose, the present invention can be used to perform the accuracy with regard to the position determination and thus the distance determination, since the relative accuracy or assignment of the vehicles 1, 2 is improved to the effect of checking which positioning technologies the vehicles 1, 2 use and this can be correspondingly offset during the distance determination.FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the two vehicles 1, 2 in order to explain here the improved positioning accuracy between the two vehicles 1, 2 and in particular the improved distance determination of a distance 7 between the vehicles 1, 2.For example, an electronic determination system 8 can be used for determining the distance 7 between the vehicles 1, 2. This electronic determination system 8 can be either completely integrated in the vehicle 1. It is likewise conceivable for the electronic determination system 8 to be a distributed or decentralized system which can have different units at different locations, which in turn are communicatively coupled to one another and to the vehicle 1 and / or to the vehicle 2. It is also conceivable that the determination system 8 is designed as a distributed system and is at least partially integrated or arranged in the vehicles 1, 2 and / or in external systems or data clouds.For example, the determination system 8 has at least one position determination system 9. The position determination system 9 can be, for example, a DGPS system, GPS system, GNSS system or another position determination system.In particular, the position 5 of the vehicle 1 can be determined with the aid of the position determination system 9. For example, a, in particular electronic, provision unit 10 can furthermore be provided, with which the position 6 of the further vehicle 2 can be provided.The provision unit 10 can be designed, for example, as a communication unit and transmit or provide information with respect to the position 6 via communication connections such as the communication connection 4. The position 6 of the further vehicle 2 can in turn be determined or determined by a further position determination system 11. This further position determination system 11 can be part of either the vehicle 2 or the electronic determination system 8. It is likewise conceivable for position 6 to be determined by systems external to the vehicle and in turn to be made available to determination system 8.The positions 5, 6 of the vehicles 1, 2 are provided or transmitted in particular to an electronic evaluation unit 12 of the determination system 8. With the aid of the electronic evaluation unit 12, the relative positioning accuracy between the vehicles 1, 2 and in particular the distance 7 can in turn be determined or determined.For example, the vehicles 1, 2 can transmit or transmit the used detection technology or determination technology that was used, i.e., for example, DGPS (differential GPS, higher accuracy by local error detection and error correction), GPS / GNSS, map matching / camera-based corrected position, via the vehicle-to-vehicle communication link. Above all, position determination information relating to a position determination method used for determining the position 5 of the vehicle 1 can be provided to the electronic evaluation unit 12. In other words, the evaluation unit 12 can be informed here of the technology on the basis of which the position 5 was determined or determined.Furthermore, further position determination information relating to a position determination method used for determining the position 6 of the further vehicle 2 can be provided to the evaluation unit 12. On the basis of the provided or transmitted position determination information, a comparison or an analysis and in particular a determination of a comparison result can be carried out on the system side. In this case, it is possible in particular to establish which position determination technology was used and which inaccuracies, tolerances, measurement uncertainties or other properties they have. This is therefore important since this additional information provides not only the pure position data or position information but also such comprehensive information in order to be able to determine or determine the distance 7 and in particular the positioning of the two vehicles 1, 2 with respect to one another more accurately or more precisely. On the basis of the comparison result and the positions 5, 6, the distance 7 can be determined or determined, for example, by means of a distance determination unit 13 of the determination system 8. The determined distance 7 can be provided or transmitted, for example, to a vehicle system 14 of the vehicle 1 and / or to a vehicle system 15 of the vehicle 2. The vehicle systems 14, 15 may be driver assistance systems or autonomous driving systems, which may be operated more efficiently with the aid of the improved distance 7.With the respective position determination information, in addition to the type or technology of the used position determination method, a respective accuracy information with respect to the used position determination method can additionally be provided. Extensive information regarding the methods used for position determination can thus be communicated to the evaluation unit 12. In this case, advantages, properties, tolerances, accuracy, measurement uncertainties, susceptibility to errors, or other influences with regard to the position determination can be provided. This can be used advantageously to determine the positioning of the two vehicles 1, 2 with respect to one another and in particular the distance 7.For example, the vehicles 1, 2 can be spaced apart from one another by up to 1 kilometer and the corresponding information can again be exchanged via the vehicle-to-vehicle communication connection 4. If the two positions 5, 6 were determined using the same position determination method as GPS, for example, it can be assumed that the same or similar inaccuracies could be present in the case of both position determinations. Thus, for example, in the case of the same position determination technology, the distance 7 can be simply determined by calculation or positions 5, 6. In the same positioning technology as GPS or GNSS, a potential error in position determinations can be eliminated, since both signals in GPS transmission and satellite determination can have approximately the same error. The difference signal is therefore less error-prone, since the same errors "shorten out".If one of the positions 5, 6 has now been determined by means of a different technology, then an optimization value can be calculated out, if appropriate, during the distance determination, so that both vehicles 1, 2 use the same input with regard to the position determination and the error can thus be calculated out again.In particular, the position determination of the positions 5, 6 can be determined by means of various position technologies, such as GPS, motion sensors, front sensor fused, DGPS, etc., and exchanged between the vehicles or between the systems. A comparison of the used positioning technologies of the vehicles 1, 2 can then be carried out, such that a calculation or an error-dependent handling of the position data of the vehicles 1, 2 can be carried out depending on the technology determined. As a result, a relative positioning and in particular a distance determination can be improved. This can in turn be used advantageously for driver assistance systems. In this case, for example, driver assistance systems which are configured for traffic jam reactions or ACC situations can be operated better.FIG. 3 illustrates an example with reference to a flow chart in which the positions 5, 6 have been determined using the same technology or using the same position determination method.In a step S 11, the two positions 5, 6 can be determined using a respective position determination system 9, 11. Both position determination systems 9, 11 have GPS as the position determination method.In an optional subsequent step S 12, the position 6 and in particular the respective information regarding the position determination regarding the position 6 and analogously the information regarding the position 5 can be transmitted or provided to the evaluation unit 12. In this case, data can be exchanged, in particular, via Car2X communications.In a subsequent step S 13, the position determination methods for determining the two positions 5, 6 can be compared or matched.In a subsequent step S 14, it can be established or provided as a comparison result that both positions 5, 6 have been determined using the same technology or position determination method and the determined positions 5, 6 therefore have or can have substantially the same error. In other words, the error is thus rovers because the same technology has been used.In an optional step S 15, a direct distance calculation of the distance 7 can be carried out on the basis of the two positions 5, 6.FIG. 4 illustrates a further conceivable sequence with regard to the distance determination by means of a flow chart. Here, the example or exemplary embodiment assumes that positions 5, 6 have been determined using different position determination methods.In a step S 21, the positions 5, 6 can be determined separately from one another. In this embodiment, the position 5 of the vehicle 1 may have been determined by means of a DGPS system (Differential Global Positioning System) in combination with a correction by means of map matching. In contrast, the position 6 of the further vehicle 2 may have been determined by means of GPS, as a determination method.In an optional step S 22, the position 6 of the vehicle 2 and the information relevant with regard to the determination of the position 6 are transmitted to the evaluation unit 12. The information regarding the position 5 of the vehicle 1 is provided by a labeling method.In a step S 23, the position determination methods used can be compared by means of the electronic evaluation unit 12. In this embodiment, it can be assumed that the position determination of the position 5 of the vehicle 1 is more accurate than the position determination with respect to the position 6 of the vehicle 2 on the basis of the position determination technology used.In a step S 24, for example, for the distance calculation with respect to the vehicle 1, the "raw value" of the position data of the position 6, which were determined here by means of GPS, can be used to shorten a potential error with respect to the vehicle 2.In an optional step S 25, it is now possible, in turn, to calculate back to the exact position in order to determine the distance 7. For this purpose, the difference between the technology "GPS" and the technology "DGPS+map matching" from the vehicle with respect to the vehicle 1 can now be included again. Thus, the dispersion with respect to the GPS determination of the position 6 can be taken into account here, so that potential errors with respect to the position determination of the vehicle 2 can be included and thus do not adversely affect the distance determination.In a further embodiment, FIG. 5 describes a sequence by means of a flow chart in which the two positions 5, 6 were again determined using different position determination methods. In this embodiment, it can be assumed that the position determination of the position 6 of the vehicle 2 is more accurate than the position determination of the position 5 of the vehicle 1.In a step S 31, the position 5 may have been determined by means of GPS as a position determination method. The position 6 of the vehicle 2, on the other hand, may have been determined using DGPS as the position determination method.In a step S 32, the corresponding data regarding the position determination of the positions 5, 6 and the associated information regarding the used position determination methods can in turn be transmitted to the evaluation unit 12.Subsequently, in an optional step S 33, a comparison or determination of the comparison result with respect to the position determination methods can be carried out with the aid of the evaluation unit 12.In a subsequent optional step S 34, the "GPS raw value" transmitted with respect to the position 6 can be used for the distance calculation in order to shorten the error of the position determination of the position 5 of the vehicle 1.In a step S 35, the "DGPS value" with respect to the position 6 of the vehicle 2 can be used to improve the own positioning of the vehicle 1, in particular the difference between DGPS is carried out here as a method and GPS is carried out here as a method, and the distance or the distance 7 can be used along a map for positioning or ascertainment.FIG. 6 illustrates a possibility for improving the individual position determinations with respect to the respective positions 5, 6 of the vehicles 1, 2. In this case, one infrastructure device 16 or a plurality of infrastructure devices 17 can be used as a reference variable or reference variable for the respective position determination. These infrastructure devices 16, 17 can be, for example, traffic lights, sign bridges, traffic guidance systems or other traffic systems which are arranged in a fixed position. These thus have a substantially precise position of their own, since they do not move. These can thus be used as a reference or as a reference position, so that the vehicles 1, 2 can respectively check their position determination or plausibilize them. For this purpose, information can in turn be transmitted to vehicles in the area of the respective infrastructure devices 16, 17 via V2X or Car2X communications. In this case, in addition to the position transmission, the position determination methods used for determining the position 18 of the infrastructure devices 16, 17 can also be provided.Car2X infrastructure elements, such as infrastructure devices 16, 17, can thus additionally be used to improve the positioning accuracy of vehicles 1, 2 or other vehicles. These infrastructure devices 16, 17 can be considered as stationary V2X transmitters, since they know their own position 18 essentially quite precisely, which does not change, and can thus additionally determine the error, which is transmitted to the environment, with the aid of GPS sensor systems or other position determination methods, in order to make the vehicles or other means of transport available. Above all, such infrastructure devices 16, 17 can have fixedly programmed in their respective position and additionally determine the GPS error or in accordance with the determination technology used, for example, with the aid of GPS. This error and the exact position 18 of the infrastructure device 16, 17 are transmitted to the environment with the aid of communication options. The vehicles 1, 2 in the environment 3 can receive this information and check their own positioning accordingly and, if appropriate, correct it.When using GNSS, GPS or other satellite-based position systems, the respective location on the earth with respect to the satellite is decisive whether, for example, regional potential errors can be present. The respective permanently installed infrastructure device 16, 17 thus knows its position 18 and the error which prevails on account of its position. This can thus be transmitted or communicated to the vehicles 1, 2 and / or the determination system 8, so that the respective position 5, 6 of the vehicles 1, 2 can be corrected or checked. This greatly improves the subsequent distance determination of the distance 7, since a basic error can thus have been calculated out.List of reference characters1 Vehicle 2 Further vehicle 3 Surrounding area 4 Vehicle-to-vehicle communication link 5 Position of the vehicle 6 Position of the further vehicle 7 Distance between the vehicles 8 Electronic determination system 9 Position determination system 10 Provision unit 11 Further position determination system 12 Electronic evaluation unit 13 Distance determination unit 14 Vehicle system of the vehicle 15 Vehicle system of the further vehicle 16, 17 Infrastructure device 18 Position of the infrastructure device S 11 to S 15 Steps S 21 to S 25 Steps S 31 to S 35 StepsReferences included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedKR 2023 002 46 12 A

[0005] EP 3 052 963 B1

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 10,986,478 B2

[0007]

Claims

Method for determining a distance (7) between a vehicle (1) and a further vehicle (2) located in a surrounding region (3) of the vehicle (1), wherein - a position (5) of the vehicle (1) is determined by means of a position determination system (9) and provided to an electronic evaluation unit (12) in the vehicle (1), - a position (6) of the further vehicle (2) is determined by means of a further position determination system (11) and the electronic evaluation unit (12) is provided, characterized in that - position determination information relating to a position determination method of the position determination system (9) used for determining the position (5) of the vehicle (1) is provided to the electronic evaluation unit (12), - further position determination information relating to a position determination method of the further position determination system (11) used for determining the position (6) of the further vehicle (2) is provided to the electronic evaluation unit (12), a comparison result is determined by the electronic evaluation unit (12) by comparing the position determination information with the further position determination information, and the distance (7) between the vehicle (1) and the further vehicle (2) is determined on the basis of the position (5) of the vehicle (1), the position (6) of the further vehicle (2) and the comparison result.Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that a vehicle-to-vehicle communication link (4) is established between the vehicle (1) and the further vehicle (2), wherein the position (6) of the further vehicle (2) and the further position determination information item are transmitted to the electronic evaluation unit (12) via the vehicle-to-vehicle communication link (4).Method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that - the position determination information is additionally used to provide accuracy information of the position determination method used for the position determination system (9) and is taken into account in the determination of the distance (7), and / or - the further position determination information is additionally used to provide further accuracy information of the position determination method used for the further position determination system (11) and is taken into account in the determination of the distance (7).Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a plausibility check of the position (5) of the vehicle (1) and / or of the position (6) of the further vehicle (2) is carried out on the basis of the comparison result.Method according to Claim 4, characterized in that - the position (5) of the vehicle (1) is determined again on the basis of the position (6) of the further vehicle (2) as a function of the plausibility test which has been carried out, and / or - the position (6) of the further vehicle (2) is determined again on the basis of the position (5) of the vehicle (1) as a function of the plausibility test which has been carried out.Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a position (18) of an infrastructure device (16, 17) which is arranged in the surrounding area (3) and position determination information relating to a position determination method used for determining the position (18) of the infrastructure device (16, 17) are provided to the position determination system (9) and / or the further position determination system (11).Method according to Claim 6, characterized in that - the position (18) of the infrastructure device (16, 17) and / or the position determination information relating to the position determination method used for determining the position (18) of the infrastructure device (16, 17) is taken into account in the determination of the position (5) of the vehicle (1), and / or - the position (18) of the infrastructure device (16, 17) and / or the position determination information relating to the position determination method used for determining the position (18) of the infrastructure device (16, 17) is taken into account in the determination of the position (6) of the further vehicle (2).Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the determined distance (7) between the vehicle (1) and the further vehicle (2) is provided to a vehicle system (14) of the vehicle (1) and / or a vehicle system (15) of the further vehicle (2).Electronic determination system (8) for determining a distance (7) between a vehicle (1) and a further vehicle (2) located in a surrounding region (3) of the vehicle (1), having - a position determination system (9, 11) for determining a position (5) of the vehicle (1) and for providing the position (5) of the vehicle (1) to an electronic evaluation unit (12) of the electronic determination system (8), and - a provision unit (10) for providing a position (6) of the further vehicle (2) to the electronic evaluation unit (12), characterized in that - the position determination system (9, 11) is designed to provide position determination information relating to a position determination method used for determining the position (5) of the vehicle (1) to the electronic evaluation unit (12), - the provision unit (10) is designed to provide a position determination information item relating to a position determination method used for determining the position (5) of the vehicle (1), a further item of position determination information concerning a position determination method used for determining the position (6) of the further vehicle (2) to be provided to the electronic evaluation unit (12), - the electronic evaluation unit (12) is designed to determine a comparison result by comparing the position determination information with the further position determination information, and - the electronic determination system (12) has a distance determination unit (13), with which the distance (7) between the vehicle (1) and the further vehicle (2) can be determined on the basis of the position (5) of the vehicle (1), the position (6) of the further vehicle (2) and the comparison result.Vehicle (1, 2) comprising an electronic determination system (8) according to claim 9.

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