Method for operating a vehicle in a fleet that is at least partially autonomous and carries out at least partially autonomous travel along a route, as well as electronic vehicle system and vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for operating an autonomously operated vehicle (1) of a vehicle fleet (3), wherein: - an environment (7) of the vehicle (1) is detected by an environment detection device (8), - an assessment result is determined by evaluating the functionality of the environment detection device (8) to determine whether there is at least a partial impairment with regard to the detection of the environment (7), - if, based on the assessment result, at least a partial impairment of functionality is determined, a support request information (12) is transmitted to at least one other vehicle (4, 17) of the vehicle fleet (3), - the vehicle (1) is supported by the other vehicle (4, 17) while carrying out the at least partially autonomous journey (5) along a current route segment (15) or along a future route segment (16).by providing environmental information concerning the environment (7) from at least one other vehicle (4, 17) to the vehicle (1). The invention further relates to an electronic vehicle system (11) and a vehicle (1).

Description

The present invention relates to a method for operating an at least partially autonomously operated vehicle of a fleet of vehicles, which vehicle performs an at least partially autonomous travel along a route. An environment of the vehicle is detected using at least one environment detection device of the vehicle, and the at least partially autonomous travel travel is carried out on the basis of the detected environment. A judgment result is determined by judging a functionality of the at least one environment detection device as to whether there is an at least partial impairment with regard to a detection of the environment.The invention furthermore relates to an electronic vehicle system having an electronic evaluation unit.The invention further relates to a vehicle having a corresponding electronic vehicle system.For example, for environment recognition in autonomous vehicles, radiation-based sensors such as radar sensors, lidar sensors and / or cameras are used. The quality of the environment recognition in this case depends in particular critically on the quality of the view of the sensors or of cameras on the field of view. The view of the sensors and cameras can be restricted by environmental influences, such as precipitation, rain, dewece, snow, ice or fluidized giesel, but also by contamination on the vehicle surface due to dust, insects, bird's tooth or fluidized gies. However, a stone impact, for example, can also cause damage to a vehicle component, which significantly restricts the view of a sensor or a camera. Thus, the functionality or the free view for a sensor through a viewing window, via which primary light of the sensor is likewise emitted into the field of view and secondary light, in particular from the field of view, is received, can be permanently impaired. This can be caused, for example, by stubborn dirt, by damage and / or aging-related impairment of the properties of the field of view of the sensor.For example, there are already cleaning devices for lidar sensor devices or exterior panes through which a vehicle camera is looking. However, despite the use of a cleaning device on the part of a vehicle, it can be established that contamination or damage of vehicle components cannot be corrected by a cleaning process and causes a significant deterioration of the optical properties of a viewing window of the lidar sensor device or of a camera device. A prompt response must then be made so that there is no risk to an autonomous vehicle itself or to other road users in road traffic.For example, DE 10 2021 002 004 A1 discloses a method for operating vehicles within a platoon convoli. All vehicles of the platoon train may register with a backend, wherein an order of the vehicles in the platoon train is determined by means of the backend, and a vehicle having the highest level of autonomy is determined as a leading vehicle of the platoon train and a vehicle having the same or next lower level of autonomy is determined as a terminating vehicle of the platoon train. Immediately after the formation of the platooning convois, sensor data acquired by means of environmental sensors are transmitted to a central processing unit and / or to the backend, wherein discrepancies between the sensor data acquired by means of different vehicles of the platooning convois are determined by means of the central processing unit and / or the backend, and system limits for operating the platooning convois can be determined on the basis of the discrepancies. Furthermore, by means of the central processing unit and / or the backend, the sensor data are fused to form an environmental representation of the platooning convois, taking into account the system boundaries, and the operation of the vehicles in the platooning convoi is carried out on the basis of the environmental representation.DE 10 2016 003 432 A1 describes a system and a method for coordinating vehicle combination information in order to minimize vehicle fuel consumption. Possible platoon accompaniments of a vehicle are thereby determined. Further, a plurality of transport plans for the vehicle are determined based on a match between respective route data for the vehicle and the platoon accompaniments. For each transport plan, a platooning parameter is then determined, which indicates platooning services. A transport plan is then selected whose platooning parameter meets a decision criterion.Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 2020 / 0 326 728 A1 discloses a control device and a system for controlling a vehicle platoon. In this case, sensor data from individual vehicles of the platoon can be continuously checked and, if faulty sensor data or a faulty sensor is detected, corresponding measures can be taken in order nevertheless to be able to operate the platoon reliably.Furthermore, US 2019 / 0 073 908 A1 discloses a device for planning or forming a vehicle platoon of vehicles. In this case, a vehicle can have dirt on its sensors, so that it is possible by means of the other vehicle of the platoon to attempt by means of cleaning devices to remove these dirt or dirt.An object of the present invention is to be able to carry out autonomous travel travel of an at least partially autonomously operated vehicle of a fleet of vehicles more efficiently, in particular more safely or reliably.This object is achieved by a method, an electronic vehicle system and a vehicle according to the independent patent claims. Meaningful further developments are evident from the dependent patent claims.One aspect of the invention relates to a method for operating an at least partially autonomously operated vehicle of a fleet of vehicles, which vehicle performs an at least partially autonomous travel along a route, whereinan environment of the vehicle is detected in particular by at least one environment detection device of the vehicle,the at least partially autonomous travel is carried out in particular on the basis of the detected environment,a judgment result is determined in particular by judging a functionality of the at least one environment detection device as to whether there is an at least partial impairment with regard to a detection of the environment,in particular if an at least partial impairment of the functionality of the at least one environment detection device is ascertained on the basis of the evaluation result, assistance request information is transmitted to at least one further vehicle of the fleet of vehicles,the at least one further vehicle is navigated to a current route section of the route on which the vehicle is currently moving or to a future route section of the route on which the vehicle will move in the future, in particular on the basis of the assistance request information, andIn particular, the vehicle is supported by the further vehicle when carrying out the at least partially autonomous travel travel along the current route section or along the future route section by virtue of the fact that environmental information relating to an environment of the at least one further vehicle is provided to the vehicle.By means of the proposed method, an at least partially autonomously operated vehicle can be operated more efficiently, more safely and reliably. Above all, even if the at least one autonomously operated vehicle is still only able to perform inadequate environmental detection, an at least partially autonomous trip can nevertheless be continued, since measures supporting a vehicle or further vehicles of the fleet of vehicles, i.e. auxiliary measures, can provide the impaired vehicle for this purpose. If the at least partially autonomously operated or driving vehicle has established that its environment detection is insufficient with regard to an at least partially autonomous drive, then further vehicles of the fleet of vehicles can be asked for assistance or assistance, so that the at least partially autonomous travel does not necessarily have to be interrupted, but can nevertheless be continued by assistance of the further vehicles. Above all, the safety of the autonomous vehicle can be increased by supporting the fleet of vehicles, since corresponding auxiliary measures can be provided. Thus, the safety of the occupants of the vehicle and the road users in the environment of the vehicle can be protected from dangerous situations.The proposed method allows vehicles of a fleet of vehicles to be operated more efficiently. In this case, at least one autonomously driving vehicle of the fleet of vehicles can check its current performance of the own environment recognition systems. If a deterioration of the own environment recognition systems is recognized here, these present restrictions of the environment recognition systems can be reported to the fleet of vehicles, in this case in particular to a server of the fleet of vehicles. In this way, a cooperative, optimized behavior of autonomous vehicles within the fleet of vehicles can be triggered, in particular in a predictive manner, so that the driving safety of the vehicle with deteriorated environment recognition systems can be improved to such an extent that it can travel to a suitable parking space or a cleaning facility or workshop at least with the aid of this support. The autonomously operated vehicle may be a partially autonomously operated vehicle or a fully autonomously operated vehicle. For the at least partially autonomous operation of the vehicle, the vehicle can have an electronic vehicle guidance system. With this electronic vehicle guidance system, partially automated or semi-autonomous driving according to levels 1 to 4 can be performed according to the SAE J3016 classification. If the vehicle is a fully autonomous vehicle, then a fully autonomous driving mode according to level 5 classification according to SAE J3016 may be performed using the electronic vehicle guidance system.The fleet of vehicles is a group or a multiplicity of vehicles, which are all communicatively networked, for example, by means of a fleet management server. This fleet management server can be a backend or a corresponding server, so that it can communicatively network the individual vehicles of the vehicle fleet.With the aid of the environment detection device, environment detection of the environment of the vehicle can be carried out. The environment detection device can be designed, for example, as a detection device, sensor device, camera device or detection system. In particular, the environment detection device can be multi-part, so that individual detection units are arranged distributed on the vehicle in order to be able to detect the environment over a large area.By detecting the environment, such environmental information or environmental data can be provided or determined, in particular in the electronic vehicle guidance system, so that the at least partially or completely autonomous travel travel can be carried out on the basis thereof. Therefore, as already explained at the beginning, reliable environment detection is essential. For this purpose, the evaluation result is determined or determined on the system side, for example by means of an electronic evaluation unit. In this case, the functionality, i.e. a functional state, of the environment detection device is checked on the system side. In this case, it is checked whether there is an at least partial impairment or a complete impairment with regard to the environment detection. This is to be understood as meaning that the environment detection device cannot completely or only partially detect the environment. Again, contamination, damage such as software-based damage or hardware-based damage can impair the environment. This can be determined accordingly by the system and if this impairment exceeds a predefined impairment threshold value, for example, then such a state exists with respect to the at least partially autonomously operated vehicle, in which the at least partially autonomous travel can only be carried out to a limited extent or not safely or traffic-safe extent. Thus, support or help is necessary here. This support or help can be requested by means of the support request information generated on the system side. In this case, this assistance request information can be transmitted to the fleet management server and / or the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles by means of communication connections, with the result that assistance can be provided to the assistance-requesting vehicle here.With the aid of the assistance request information, corresponding information or data can be provided or transmitted to the at least one further vehicle of the fleet of vehicles, so that the at least one further vehicle experiences a location, a time and / or a time duration for the assistance. In this case, the at least one further vehicle can be navigated to the current route section of the route on which the vehicle is currently moving, or to a future route section, that is to say a route section lying ahead of the route on which the vehicle will move in the future or immediately following. This is to be considered in each case from the current point in time with respect to the autonomously operated vehicle. In this case, automated navigation or partially automated navigation of the further vehicle can be carried out. The further vehicle can thus move or move along the current or future route section in such a way that the further vehicle itself communicates or can communicate detected environmental information with respect to its environment to the vehicle and in particular to the environment detection device of the vehicle and / or the electronic vehicle guidance system.In other words, environment detection systems of the further vehicle can support the impaired environment detection system of the at least one operated vehicle or can carry out the detection for the latter. Thus, corresponding support can be carried out here, so that the at least partially impaired or partially defective or partially failed surroundings detection system of the vehicle can be compensated.In particular, the proposed method can be a computer-implemented method.In one exemplary embodiment, it is provided that a signal strength and / or a signal quality of at least one signal, which is received or transmitted by the at least one environment detection device for detecting the environment, is checked. On the basis of the checked signal strength and / or the checked signal quality of the at least one signal, it can be established whether there is an at least partial impairment of the at least one environment detection device with regard to a detection of the environment. With the aid of the environment detection device, which can have a plurality of sensors or sensor elements such as receiving elements and transmitting elements, environment detection can be carried out. In this case, signals are firstly transmitted into the environment and corresponding signals are in turn received from the environment. On the basis of this transmission and reception of signals, the environment detection can be carried out. This can be done, for example, on the basis of radar, lidar, ultrasound or other types of sensors. For the environment detection, a good or sufficient signal quality and / or signal strength is required. If the signal strength and / or signal quality is no longer sufficient to carry out an intended environment detection, in particular with regard to autonomous driving operation of the vehicle, it can be established on the system side in this regard that there is a corresponding impairment with regard to the environment detection device.For example, a checking device and / or a corresponding electronic circuit can be used to correspondingly analyze a transmitted or received signal or a plurality of transmitted or received signals. The signal strength and / or the signal quality can be taken into account in the determination of the evaluation result.In one exemplary embodiment, it is provided that the signal strength and / or the signal quality of the at least one signal are checked as a function of predefinable threshold values, the threshold values being predefined on the basis of the current route section, the future route section, an environmental condition of the environment, a traffic situation in the environment and / or vehicle information relating to the vehicle. Depending on where the vehicle is currently moving and in particular which level of autonomy the vehicle performs with regard to the travel being carried out, corresponding threshold values can be defined or established. A situation-appropriate or situation-dependent determination or establishment of the respective threshold values can thus be carried out on the system side. If the vehicle is to move at least partially autonomously in a congested environment, this should be taken into account in the determination of the threshold values, since the functionality of the environment detection device should be high here. If the vehicle carries out autonomous travel along a route with traffic elimination and there are, for example, few road users, this can likewise be taken into account in defining the threshold values.The aforementioned influencing variables with regard to the determination of the threshold value can be taken into account jointly or individually. In addition, the threshold values can be defined depending on the type and / or type of environment detection device. This can achieve checking the signal strength and / or the signal quality in such a way that this matches the current situation with respect to the vehicle.In one exemplary embodiment, it is provided that, using the environmental information relating to the environment of the at least one further vehicle, an environmental region of the current route section or of the future route section detected by the at least one further vehicle is provided, wherein this environmental information is transmitted from the at least one further vehicle to the vehicle. Consequently, the at least one further vehicle or a plurality of other vehicles of the fleet of vehicles can support, in particular compensate, the impaired environment detection device of the vehicle. Therefore, instead of the environmental information of the own environment detection device, the vehicle can be provided with environmental information of detection units of the other vehicles, in particular to the electronic vehicle guidance system of the vehicle. This means that in the case of impaired or even failed environment detection of the own vehicle, this impairment can be compensated for by environment detection systems of other vehicles of the fleet of vehicles.Thus, in particular the electronic vehicle guidance system of the vehicle can nevertheless reliably provide information regarding the environment, so that the at least partially autonomous travel travel can be at least partially maintained.In particular, the at least one further vehicle can be navigated, instructed and / or controlled in such a way that it moves along the current or future route section in such a way that the regions of the current or future route section can be detected which can only be detected insufficiently by the environment detection device of the vehicle.Furthermore, it is possible to check which individual sensors of the environment detection device are functionally impaired. If, for example, the sensors which are arranged in the front region of the vehicle are defective or impaired, a compensation would have to be effected here to the effect that the region in front of the vehicle is detected by the at least one further vehicle. If the environmental detection device is impaired in such a way that a rear region of the vehicle cannot be detected, this region should be detected accordingly with the aid of the at least one vehicle in order to be able to correspondingly support the vehicle which is operated at least partially autonomously.In one exemplary embodiment, it is provided that, on the basis of a scope of the at least partial impairment of the functionality of the at least one environment detection device, an area is defined with respect to a current position of the vehicle, within which the assistance request information is transmitted in order to be received by vehicles of the fleet of vehicles which are located within the area. Depending on the extent, extent, urgency and / or risk potential with regard to the impairment of the functionality of the environment detection device, it is possible to define which priority the vehicle fleet is supporting. If, for example, the environment detection device is impaired or is in a non-functional state with regard to its functionality or functionality entirely, that is to say completely, a high priority or urgency is to be assumed here. Accordingly, the range with respect to the current position of the vehicle should be chosen such that vehicles of the fleet of vehicles are not too far away from the current position. This has the advantage that such vehicles are requested to the fleet of vehicles according to the assistance, which vehicles can quickly provide the assistance. In particular, it is possible to define here the time duration within which at least one vehicle of the fleet of vehicles is to support the vehicle. Thus, in this case, situation-adjusted support matching the respective circumstances can be carried out on vehicles of the fleet of vehicles.If, in turn, the functionality of the environment detection device is slightly impaired, a lower priority can be assumed here, so that a larger search area with respect to vehicles of the fleet of vehicles can be selected for support here, since the urgency is not so high here.In particular, depending on how urgent or how important immediate support of the vehicle is, the area or search area can be defined, so that such vehicles are requested to the fleet of vehicles accordingly for support which are located in the immediate vicinity or at a short distance from the vehicle.For example, the region can be defined here on the basis of the current position such that a dimension of the region and / or a radius or a distance is taken into account here. For example, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles, in particular of the fleet of vehicles, can be informed of the current position of the vehicle.Furthermore, depending on which extent or which extent the impairment has, it can be established whether a vehicle or a plurality of vehicles of the fleet of vehicles are necessary for assistance.In one exemplary embodiment, it is provided that, on the basis of the determined at least partial impairment, the functionality of the at least one environment detection device, a speed of the vehicle, a driving behavior of the vehicle and / or a route guidance is adapted. Thus, early measures, in particular safety measures, can already be taken preventively here by the vehicle itself, in order to be able to increase the safety of the vehicle and in particular occupants and of the other road users with respect to the environment. In this case, the extent or the extent of the functional impairment can again be taken into account. If, for example, it is determined that the environment detection can be carried out insufficiently or no longer at all, then a stopping maneuver, in particular an emergency stopping maneuver, should be carried out immediately for safety purposes. If the impairment is only partial, the speed, the driving behavior and the route guidance can be adapted such that the vehicle can be moved safely until the further vehicle arrives. In this case, for example, the route guidance can be adapted such that it matches with respect to the navigated further vehicle in order to be able to connect the vehicle to the further vehicle as quickly as possible.In particular, further safety measures can be prepared depending on the determined impairment of the functionality.In addition, on the basis of the determined at least partial impairment of the functionality of the at least one environment detection device, a stopping possibility along the route can be determined. Depending on the extent to which the impairment has, it can be decided by the system that it is necessary with regard to safety to bring the vehicle into a safe state, in particular as quickly as possible. In this case, a corresponding stopping possibility, stopping location or an intermediate destination along the route can be determined, so that the vehicle can stop or park at least temporarily here. This can be carried out on the one hand until the further vehicle could be navigated to the vehicle. For example, the holding possibility can be a meeting point of the vehicle and of the further vehicle here, so that the two continue to drive together subsequently. Otherwise, the holding possibility can be a repair location or repair position, where a repair can be made with respect to the environment detection device.In one exemplary embodiment, it is furthermore provided that, on the basis of the assistance request information, the at least one further vehicle is navigated in such a way that the at least one further vehicle and the vehicle move together along the current or future route section. Specifically, the further vehicle is navigated or moved in such a way that the further vehicle is positioned or moved in relation to the vehicle in such a way that such a surroundings detection can be carried out by the further vehicle in order to be able to support the vehicle in this regard with regard to the surroundings detection. Above all, the further vehicle can be navigated in such a way that the regions in the environment that are not detectable or are only partially detectable by the environment detection device of the vehicle can be detected.For example, the at least one further vehicle can move in front of, behind or laterally with respect to the vehicle.In addition, a cooperative connection can be established between the at least one further vehicle and the vehicle. As soon as the further vehicle approaches or is navigated toward the vehicle, a corresponding cooperative connection, which can be established by means of a communication connection, can be established, so that a corresponding data exchange can be carried out between the vehicles in order to be able to support the vehicle by the data transmission.In one exemplary embodiment, it is furthermore provided that, on the basis of the assistance request information, the at least one further vehicle is navigated in such a way that the at least one further vehicle moves directly in front of the vehicle, as a result of which a surroundings detection of a surrounding region in front of the vehicle is carried out by the at least one further vehicle for the vehicle as an assistance measure. For the at least partially autonomous forward movement of the vehicle, the area in front of the vehicle is very important. By positioning or moving the further vehicle in front of the vehicle, it is possible to detect the area located in front of the vehicle by the further vehicle, so that this can be used to remedy this. Instead of the surrounding area in front of the vehicle by the environment detection device of the vehicle, this area is now detected by a detection system such as an environment detection system of the further vehicle. The vehicle and in particular the electronic vehicle guidance system of the vehicle thus nevertheless receives sufficient information regarding the environment in order to be able to continue the travel at least partially.As an assistance measure, the further vehicle can be used to carry out a following travel, that is to say an ACC-system-side movement. The vehicle can thus follow the further vehicle on the system side accordingly. For this purpose, a communication exchange can be carried out between the two vehicles.A further aspect of the invention relates to an electronic vehicle system having an electronic evaluation unit, wherein the electronic vehicle system is designed to carry out a method according to the preceding aspect or an advantageous refinement thereof. In particular, a method according to the preceding aspect can be carried out with the electronic vehicle system just described.For example, the electronic vehicle system may be an electronic vehicle guidance system or driver assistance system. In particular, the electronic vehicle system serves to enable at least partially autonomous or fully autonomous journeys of the vehicle.For example, the electronic vehicle system may be communicatively connected to a fleet management system or fleet management server.A further aspect of the invention relates to a vehicle having an electronic vehicle system according to the preceding aspect or an advantageous development thereof.The vehicle may be a passenger car, truck or bus. In particular, the vehicle is designed as a highly automated vehicle, such as an at least partially or fully autonomously operated vehicle.The vehicle may be part of a fleet of vehicles, such that it may be referred to as a fleet vehicle.The vehicle and further vehicles of the fleet of vehicles may be communicatively networked to one another via a fleet system such as a backend or a server.The proposed method can be a computer-implemented method.Advantageous embodiments of one aspect are to be regarded as advantageous embodiments of one aspect or all other aspects of the invention. This is also understood in the opposite manner.In particular, the electronic vehicle system and / or the vehicle may have (technical) means for being able to execute or carry 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 vehicle 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 vehicle 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 a schematic illustration of an at least partially autonomously operated vehicle which is located during an at least partially autonomous travel; FIG. 2 schematically shows an assistance measure of the vehicle from FIG. 1 when a surroundings detection of the vehicle can no longer be carried out sufficiently; and FIG. 3 shows a schematic illustration of a sequence for supporting the vehicle in the event of a functional impairment of a surroundings detection device of the vehicle.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 a schematic illustration of a vehicle 1. This vehicle 1 can be an at least partially autonomously operated or completely autonomously operated vehicle. For this purpose, the vehicle 1 can have at least one electronic vehicle guidance system 2. With the aid of this electronic vehicle guidance system 2, an autonomous driving mode according to an levels of autonomy 1 to 5 can be provided.The vehicle 1 can be in particular part of a fleet of vehicles 3. The fleet of vehicles 3 consists of further vehicles 4 in addition to the vehicle 1.The vehicle 1 can be located on an at least partially autonomous travel route 5 along a route 6 or a route profile. Thus, at least some commands, interventions and / or controls can be automated or autonomous here.In order to be able to carry out such an at least partially autonomous travel travel 5, the vehicle 1 and in particular the electronic vehicle guidance system 2 requires information, here an information input. In this case, it is important in particular to detect the environment with respect to an environment 7. For this purpose, the vehicle 1 can have at least one environment detection device 8 or a plurality of such devices. With the aid of this environment detection device 8, the environment 7 can be detected. By means of the environment detection device 8, which can have a plurality of transmitting and receiving elements, for example, a sensory detection of the environment 7 can be carried out. This is essential for an autonomous driving mode, so that the current traffic situation around the vehicle 1 is known on the system side.In order to be able to ensure the reliability and, in particular, freedom from faults in the environment detection, a functionality or a functional state of the environment detection device 8 can be checked. In this case, the functionality or the state of the environment detection device 8 or further detection systems of the vehicle 1 can be carried out continuously or repeatedly. In this case, for example, the signal strength is checked when at least one signal is received and / or transmitted. With this at least one signal 9, which can be a transmission and / or reception signal, environment recognition data such as environment information can be obtained or evaluated. Furthermore, a signal quality of the signal 9 can be checked. Further properties with respect to the signal 9 and / or other properties of the environment detection device 8 can likewise be checked here. The check can be carried out, for example, by means of an electronic evaluation unit 10 of an electronic vehicle system 11.For example, the environmental data can be evaluated or evaluated to determine whether the vehicle 1 can participate in road traffic with sufficient certainty on the basis of this acquired information and with sufficient certainty in the current given environmental conditions with respect to the environment 7 at the current location and or with a predictive route section with predictive environmental conditions. It is thus possible to check on the basis of the current situation or condition whether sufficient detection of the current situation and of the further situation can take place during the further movement of the vehicle 1. In particular, it can be checked repeatedly for the vehicle 1 whether sufficiently good environment recognition data could be generated in order to be able to carry out sufficiently accurate locating of objects, distance measurements and speed measurements of surrounding objects, for example, in this environment, that is to say in the environment 7, for driving safety. In other words, it is judged here on the system side whether or not the environment detection device has an intended function for an at least partially autonomous travel trip.Furthermore, the checking of the signal 9 can be checked on the basis of predetermined threshold values or signal requirements. In this case, for example, a threshold value for the signal strength of the received and / or transmitted signal relating to environment recognition data and / or threshold values for the signal quality for the environment recognition data relating to objects in the environment 7 can be adapted or established depending on the situation. In this case, for example, a current and / or planned route section of the route 6 can be taken into account. Furthermore, the time of day is to be assessed. If it is, for example, at night, the detection is in any case worse than, for example, during the day, so that the functionality is particularly important here. As a further criterion, ambient conditions such as weather conditions can be taken into account. If, for example, low visibility conditions occur in the environment 7 due to heavy snow or rain showers, then the environment detection is to be prioritized higher here. Furthermore, it can be taken into account which goods are transported with the vehicle 1. The number of passengers of the vehicle 1 can also be taken into account. Furthermore, a current traffic situation can be taken into account in the determination of the threshold values. For example, such a traffic situation may be driving in a traffic jam, possibly in a "stop-and-go driving situation".For example, a fundamentally poorer temporary restriction of the environment detection can furthermore be present on account of weather conditions or other adverse conditions. Thus, the threshold value can be set upward here on the system side, since this is necessary in this situation.For example, such threshold values can be taken into account as a specification for respective environment recognition systems such as radar, lidar or cameras depending on the vehicle. For example, the threshold values can be communicated via a server in data communication with the vehicle 1, for example for current environmental conditions or the respective location. For example, a repetitive check can take place as to whether the vehicle 1 exceeds or falls below threshold values during the environment recognition.For example, the current signal strength for receiving and / or transmitting environment data and / or signal qualities for environment recognition data can be provided with the aid of the electronic evaluation unit in order to be able to check whether threshold values with respect to a given driving safety are exceeded or undershot.Furthermore, for example, a current visibility range of a radiation-based sensor of the environment detection device 8 can be determined for the purpose of detecting the environment. In this case, sensor beams with known intensity can be emitted by means of the beam-based sensor, reflections of the sensor beams being reflected by means of the sensor and a reflection intensity being evaluated, a measured distance and the reflection intensity being linked to one another. In this way, a current reduction in the visibility range of a radiation-based sensor by an autonomous vehicle can be detected independently. For this purpose, a threshold value for a required visibility range can be provided, for example, and this can be taken into account in turn during the checking. It is thus possible to ascertain with the most varied checking possibilities whether or not the functionality of the environment detection device 8 is impaired. Depending on the setting of the threshold values, different stages of the impairment can be determined. In this case, it is possible to distinguish, for example, between a partial impairment or a complete defect.In addition to checking with respect to signal 9 for the environment detection, software-based or hardware-based errors, damage and / or adverse effects on environment detection device 8 may also be checked.If it has been established on the system side that the environment detection device 8 does not have sufficient functionality in order to provide corresponding environmental data, above all for the autonomous travel 5, the further vehicles 4 of the fleet of vehicles 3 can be requested for assistance. For this purpose, for example, assistance request information 12 can be generated by means of the electronic evaluation unit 10 and transmitted accordingly to the fleet of vehicles 3. In this case, this assistance request information 12 can be transmitted to the individual vehicle 4 of the fleet of vehicles 3 and / or to a fleet management system 13.In other words, the at least partially autonomously operated vehicle 1 can recognize that generatable environmental data have deteriorated for the environment detection device 8 to such an extent that measures must be taken on the vehicle 1 immediately or at least promptly, i.e., within a predefined time period or within a perimeter around the current position of the vehicle 1 and / or for road sections lying ahead, in order to ensure traffic safety for continued travel. Depending on which impairment or which damage with respect to the environment detection device 8 is present, it is possible to determine, on the basis of the current position of the vehicle 1 and in particular of the route 6, in which vicinity or in which region a corresponding assistance request is transmitted. Depending on urgency, it is thus possible to define how quickly support is required.For example, one measure may be that the vehicle 1 continues to drive at a reduced speed according to the currently generatable environmental data by the environment detection device 8, and thus sufficient traffic safety can continue to be ensured. Furthermore, the vehicle 1 can generate an adapted route guidance with respect to the route 6 in accordance with its currently deteriorated performance of its environment recognition system, such as the environment detection device 8. However, a measure can also be that the vehicle 1 is pulled out of the traffic and can no longer continue to drive under these conditions. In this case, for example, an emergency stop maneuver or another emergency braking maneuver can be generated by the system and carried out subsequently, for example, since the vehicle 1 can no longer be operated safely.A further possibility is that driving tasks are transferred at least partially to a user 14, in particular a vehicle driver.A further measure can be, for example, that the vehicle 1 is specifically joined to the further vehicles 4 of the fleet 3 of vehicles at least on a current route section 15 and or on a future route section 16 for cooperation. In this case, environment recognition systems of the further vehicles 4 can support the vehicle 1 in the event of reliable detection of the environment 7. Thus, for example, sufficient traffic safety for continued travel of the vehicle 1 can be achieved in such a way that highly prioritized transport of, for example, persons of the vehicle 1 up to a destination can be carried out in such a way that a predefined time window for a destination arrival time of the vehicle 1 at the destination can be observed. For the support of at least one of the further vehicles 4, one or more of these vehicles can be navigated to the current route section 15 or to the future route section 16 on the basis of the support request information 12. This can be performed depending on how the relation between the vehicle 1 and the vehicles 4 is. If a distance between at least one vehicle 17 of fleet of vehicles 3 and vehicle 1 is short, then this may be navigated directly to current route section 15. If the distance is substantially greater here, the further vehicle 17 can be navigated to the future route section 16. Furthermore, this also depends on the extent to which the functionality of the environment detection device 8 is impaired or disturbed.In other words, the vehicle 1 can be supported in such a way that the vehicle 1 cooperates with the at least one further vehicle 17. In this case, it is to be understood that the vehicle 1 and the at least one further vehicle 17 are combined spatially according to requirements with a respectively adapted route guidance and time planning in order to support the individual vehicle 1 of the fleet of vehicles 3 in a targeted manner with a currently detected restricted environment detection device by means of current powerful environment detection systems of the further vehicles 4 of the fleet of vehicles 3 for at least individual route sections. In this way, it may be possible for the first time that the vehicle 1 can reach destinations such as parking space, workshop, cleaning facility, originally intended destination and so on in a predefined time window.FIG. 2 below shows a schematic plan view of the vehicle 1. In this case, the at least one further vehicle 17 has now been navigated to the current or future route section 15, 16. Depending on which functional impairment or which impairment with regard to the environment detection is present, it is possible here for the at least one further vehicle 17 to be positioned or moved accordingly.If the functional impairment is designed such that a surrounding area 18 in front of the vehicle 1 cannot be detected reliably and, in particular, not completely, the further vehicle 17 can be classified in front of the vehicle 1, as illustrated by way of example in dashed lines. Thus, by means of a surroundings detection unit of the further vehicle 17, the surrounding area 18 can be detected accordingly in front of the vehicle 1. This correspondingly detected information can in turn be made available or transmitted via communication paths in the vehicle 1 and in particular to the evaluation unit 10.In particular, the vehicle 1 can in turn communicate to the further vehicle 17 or to other further vehicles 4, for example via a "car2car communication" and via a central server which is in data exchange with the fleet of vehicles 3, such as the fleet management system 13, that the vehicle 1 itself has present a current relevant impairment of its environment recognition system and which accordingly requires assistance measures in order to be able to continue driving. The further vehicle 17 or further vehicles can provide a corresponding remedy by assuming the environment detection for the vehicle 1. For example, it can first be checked by the further vehicles 4 or by the fleet management system 13 whether the traffic safety of the vehicle 1 can be improved by using the environment recognition systems of at least one of the further vehicles 4, so that it can in particular continue to travel and, if appropriate, be brought to an intermediate destination or to a suitable parking space or to a cleaning installation.For example, vehicle 1 may thus ascertain that at least one environment sensor of environment detection device 8 for environment recognition in the front area, such as environment area 18, currently has restrictions that relate to driving safety, so that vehicle 1 must drive more slowly than it could drive with a fully functional environment recognition system. The vehicle 1 and a further vehicle located in the vicinity of the vehicle 1, such as the further vehicle 17 from the same fleet of vehicles 3, can be cooperatively behaved, for example via a four-lane freeway, in such a way that the further vehicle 17 can cut in front of the vehicle 1 and the further vehicle 17 takes over driving-ahead environment recognition tasks for the front region of the vehicle 1. In this configuration, the vehicle 1 can thus possibly participate in road traffic with sufficient certainty at all or travel at a high speed than it could travel without assistance from the further vehicle 17.It is likewise conceivable that the detection of the rear region of the vehicle 1 is insufficient, then a further vehicle 20 of the further vehicles 4 can again be organized behind the vehicle 1 in order to be able to carry out sensory environmental detections there and in turn provide this to the vehicle 1.For example, a further vehicle of the further vehicles 4 can furthermore already be located on the future route section 16 or be navigated thereto in comparison with the current route section 15. Thus, the future route section 16 or another route section ahead can already be detected in advance by the at least one further vehicle 4 in a predictive manner. This can in turn be communicated to the vehicle 1 in general, in addition to the fleet of vehicles 3. In other words, the initially executed forward travel of the further vehicle 17 for the vehicle 1 on the further route can be adopted in a predictive manner by a different vehicle of the fleet of vehicles 3 for a further route section. Such cooperation of the vehicles and, if appropriate, further vehicles of the fleet of vehicles 3 can be carried out in accordance with a central vehicle route time plan of the vehicles 4 from the fleet of vehicles 3.Thus, for example, an optimization algorithm and / or an artificial intelligence can support that predictive route guides, schedules and cooperative behavior of the vehicles from the fleet of vehicles 3 are optimized in order to carry out cooperative driving of the vehicles with optionally adapted route guides of the respective vehicles. In this case, the objective can be set such that, in the case of current sensor restrictions in individual vehicles of fleet of vehicles 3 which relate to driving safety, the driving safety for all vehicles from fleet of vehicles 3 is optimized or executed sufficiently safely for participation in road traffic by means of cooperative behavior. Furthermore, time losses in planned destination arrivals of the vehicles of fleet of vehicles 3 in the case of cooperative behavior can be minimized and, if appropriate, respective urgency of the vehicles can be taken into account. The travel routes of the vehicles of fleet of vehicles 3 to be additionally carried out for cooperative assistance of a vehicle can be minimized with sensor restrictions. Furthermore, a prioritization of vehicles from fleet of vehicles 3 can be carried out with regard to urgency of the trip. This can be used in particular for vehicles in which sensor restrictions are present, in order to request vehicles from fleet of vehicles 3 for assistance by a cooperative behavior. A further objective may be that a prioritization of vehicles from fleet of vehicles 3 can be carried out with regard to urgency of the journeys. Here, the requested vehicles of the fleet of vehicles can be used to support vehicles which have sensor restriction by their own environment recognition. Furthermore, for this purpose, cooperative fleet behavior can be carried out with respect to vehicles with sensor restrictions and vehicles without sensor restrictions.In the following FIG. 3, an exemplary sequence for a reliable and safe operation of the vehicle 1 is explained in the event of a restriction with regard to the environment recognition.In an optional step S 1, the functionality or a functional state of the environment detection device 8 can be continuously checked. For this purpose, a wide variety of input variables can be taken into account. In particular, the respective situation of the vehicle 1 is taken into account here.In a subsequent step S 2, it is possible to correspondingly assess the extent to which the functional impairment has advanced. In this case, it can be determined what urgency is present in order to request corresponding assistance of the further vehicles 4. In this case, certain requirements, conditions or the already mentioned threshold values can be taken into account. Furthermore, it can be taken into account here if the environment detection device 8 has completely failed.In a subsequent optional step S 3, appropriate measures can be initiated upon determination that there is an at least partial or complete impairment of the functionality. In this case, firstly interventions in the current driving behavior of the vehicle 1 can be made, in order to be able to increase the safety beforehand here. Furthermore, the route guidance can be adapted here, for example. It is likewise conceivable that an emergency call is made here, for example, or emergency braking or emergency stop is carried out in the worst case.In an optional subsequent step S 4, the assistance request information 12 can be generated, which can be communicated to the vehicle fleet 3 via communication connections. In this case, in addition to the current situation of the vehicle 1, position data and / or route guidance data relating to the vehicle 1 can be communicated to the fleet of vehicles 3. This allows situation-oriented assistance of the vehicle 1 to be initiated and, in particular, to be carried out.In a subsequent optional step S 5, at least the one further vehicle 17 or a plurality of further vehicles 4 for supporting the vehicle 1 can be navigated in the direction of the current position of the vehicle 1 or a future position of the vehicle 1. With the aid of these further vehicles 4, the defective or impaired environment detection device 8 can be supported or replaced. In other words, the further vehicles 4 are navigated toward the vehicle 1 in such a way that the tasks of the environment detection device 8 of the vehicle 1 are taken over by detection units of the further vehicles 4. This can be carried out until the vehicle 1 has reached its destination or could be moved safely to a holding possibility. It is likewise conceivable that adverse effects have occurred on account of temporary software or hardware-related events with respect to the environment detection device 8. As soon as it was possible to establish on the basis of a continuous further check that the environment detection is again sufficient, the further vehicles 4 can again end the assistance.List of reference characters1 Vehicle 2 Electronic vehicle guidance system 3 Vehicle fleet 4 Further vehicles of the vehicle fleet 5 At least partially autonomous travel travel 6 Route 7 Environment 8 Environment detection device 9 Signal 10 Electronic evaluation unit 11 Electronic vehicle system 12 Assistance request information 13 Fleet management system 14 User 15 Current route section 16 Future route section 17 Further vehicle of the vehicle fleet 18 Environment area in front of the vehicle 19 Environment detection system 20 Further vehicle of the vehicle fleet S 1 to S 5 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 citedDE 10 2021 002 004 A1

[0006] DE 10 2016 003 432 A1

[0007] US 2020 / 0 326 728 A1

[0008] US 2019 / 0 073 908 A1

[0009]

Claims

Method for operating an at least partially autonomously operated vehicle (1) of a fleet of vehicles (3), which vehicle performs an at least partially autonomous travel trip (5) along a route (6), wherein - an environment (7) of the vehicle (1) is detected using at least one environment detection device (8) of the vehicle (1), - the at least partially autonomous travel trip (5) is performed on the basis of the detected environment (7), wherein - a judgment result is determined by judging a functionality of the at least one environment detection device (8) to the effect whether an at least partially impairment with respect to a detection of the environment (7) is present, characterized in that - if an at least partially impairment of the functionality of the at least one environment detection device (8) is determined on the basis of the judgment result, an item of assistance request information (12) is transmitted to at least one further vehicle (4, 17) of the fleet of vehicles (3), - on the basis of the assistance request information (12), the at least one further vehicle (4, 17) is navigated to a current route section (15) of the route (6) on which the vehicle (1) is currently moving or to a future route section (16) of the route (6) on which the vehicle (1) will move in the future, wherein - the vehicle (1) is assisted by the further vehicle (4, 17) when the at least partially autonomous movement travel (5) is carried out along the current route section (15) or along the future route section (16) by virtue of environmental information relating to the environment (7) being provided from the at least one further vehicle (4, 17) to the vehicle (1).Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that a signal strength and / or a signal quality of at least one signal (9) which is received or transmitted by the at least one environment detection device (8) for detecting the environment (7) is checked, it being possible to determine, on the basis of the checked signal strength and / or the checked signal quality of the at least one signal (9), whether there is an at least partial impairment of the at least one environment detection device (8) with respect to a detection of the environment (7).Method according to Claim 2, characterized in that the signal strength and / or the signal quality of the at least one signal (9) are checked as a function of predefinable threshold values, wherein the threshold values are predefined on the basis of the current route section (15), the future route section (16), an environmental conditions of the environment (7), a traffic situation in the environment (7) and / or vehicle information relating to the vehicle (1).Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the surrounding area relating to the surrounding area (7) of the at least one further vehicle (4, 17) is used to provide a surrounding area of the current route section (15) or of the future route section (16) detected by the at least one further vehicle (4, 17), wherein this surrounding area information is transmitted from the at least one further vehicle (4, 17) to the vehicle (1).Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, on the basis of a scope of the at least partial impairment of the functionality of the at least one environment detection device (8), an area is defined with respect to a current position of the vehicle (1), within which the assistance request information (12) is transmitted in order to be received by vehicles (4) of the vehicle fleet (3) which are located within the area.Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a speed of the vehicle (1), a driving behavior of the vehicle (1) and / or a route guidance is adapted on the basis of the determined at least partial impairment of the functionality of the at least one environment detection device (8), in particular a holding possibility along the route (6) is determined on the basis of the determined at least partial impairment of the functionality of the at least one environment detection device (8).Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, on the basis of the assistance request information (12), the at least one further vehicle (4, 17) is navigated in such a way that the at least one further vehicle (4, 17) and the vehicle (1) move together along the current or future route section (15, 16), in particular a cooperative connection is established between the at least one further vehicle (4, 17) and the vehicle (1).Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, on the basis of the assistance request information (12), the at least one further vehicle (4, 17) is navigated in such a way that the at least one further vehicle (4, 17) moves directly in front of the vehicle (1), as a result of which an environment detection of an environment region (18) in front of the vehicle (1) is carried out by the at least one further vehicle (4, 17) for the vehicle (1) as an assistance measure.Electronic vehicle system (11) having an electronic evaluation unit (10), wherein the electronic vehicle system (11) is designed to carry out a method according to one of the preceding claims.Vehicle (1) comprising a vehicle electronic system (11) according to claim 9.

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