DRIVING ASSISTANCE SYSTEM

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a driver assistance system for a motor vehicle, wherein the driver assistance system is designed to automatically control a longitudinal guidance of the motor vehicle by outputting a target acceleration to the motor vehicle, and to a motor vehicle with the driver assistance system.

[0002] Generic driver assistance systems which are designed to automatically control the longitudinal guidance of a motor vehicle, in particular an automobile, by outputting a target acceleration to the motor vehicle are generally known from the prior art.

[0003] Such driver assistance systems can be part of a so-called adaptive cruise control system, in which a cruise control system takes into account a distance to a vehicle in front as a feedback and control variable in addition to a speed of the vehicle desired by the driver when determining a target acceleration.

[0004] DE 10 2019 214 121 A1, US 2019 / 315355 A1 and DE 10 2019 200 209 A1 each describe generic driver assistance systems.

[0005] DE 10 2019 214 121 A1 describes a method for operating a driver assistance system of an ego vehicle, in particular an ACC system, in which a manipulated variable is used to guide the ego vehicle, the setpoint of which is determined on the basis of relative driving dynamics measured values ​​of the ego vehicle to a vehicle in front, wherein a time gap control is carried out between the ego vehicle and a first vehicle in front and a time gap control is carried out between the ego vehicle and a second vehicle in front, a first manipulated variable request is derived from the first time gap control and a second manipulated variable request is derived from the second time gap control, and the final manipulated variable request is derived from an arbitration of the first and second manipulated variable requests.

[0006] US 2019 / 315355 A1 describes a cruise control device for a vehicle with a target detection unit and a follow-up control unit.The cruise control device includes a determination unit configured to determine, during execution of following control, whether or not a small-vehicle switching state in which a following target is a small-vehicle has occurred; an upper-limit storage unit configured to store, as the upper limit, a target acceleration set before the determination of the small-vehicle switching state by the determination unit under a condition where the determination unit determines that the small-vehicle switching state has occurred; and a target acceleration setting unit configured to set the target acceleration to a value equal to or lower than the upper limit stored in the storage unit until the following control executed for the switched small-vehicle as the following target ends.

[0007] DE 10 2019 200 209 A1 relates to a method for selecting the target object for automatic distance control of a single-track motor vehicle, in which the presence of a second single-track motor vehicle traveling immediately ahead in the same lane and a third single-track motor vehicle traveling immediately ahead of the second single-track motor vehicle is detected by means of an environmental sensor system, wherein the lateral offset of the second single-track motor vehicle and the third single-track motor vehicle relative to the single-track motor vehicle is determined and the target object for the distance control method is selected depending on at least one of the lateral offsets.

[0008] Document 3 800 099 A1 discloses a tilting vehicle comprising a selection operation unit configured to receive a target preceding vehicle selection operation that allows a driver to directly or indirectly select at least one target preceding vehicle from among the preceding vehicles within the detection range of a preceding vehicle detector provided in the tilting vehicle, and wherein the number of the at least one target preceding vehicle is smaller than the number of the preceding vehicles. In the inter-vehicle distance control, a controller of the tilted vehicle controls the acceleration of the host vehicle in the forward direction of the vehicle based on the distance in the front-backward direction of the vehicle between the host vehicle and each of the at least one preceding target vehicle selected directly or indirectly by the driver using the selection operation unit.

[0009] Document EP 3 335 955 A1 discloses a tilting vehicle having an oblique inter-vehicle distance detecting unit and an active driving assistance control unit. The oblique inter-vehicle distance detecting unit is configured to detect the oblique inter-vehicle distance corresponding to the distance between the tilting vehicle and an obliquely adjacent vehicle. The active driving assistance control unit of the tilting vehicle is configured to actively assist the driver by controlling an acceleration controller in accordance with the oblique inter-vehicle distance while maintaining the jerk in the traveling direction smaller than the maximum value of the jerk generateable by the acceleration controller and larger than the minimum value of the jerk generateable by the acceleration controller.In addition, the active driving support control unit controls the acceleration controller so that the relationship between the speed and the elapsed time is non-linear at an early stage of the speed change.

[0010] Document DE 11 2018 005 4515 T1 discloses a control device and a control method, whereby the driving operation of a motorcycle can be appropriately supported by the driver.The control device includes a following vehicle determining section for the adaptive cruise control, a vehicle position information obtaining section that obtains relative position information of the following vehicle to the traveling motorcycle, a control variable setting section for the adaptive cruise control, an execution section that makes the motorcycle execute the adaptive cruise control, and a stripe position information obtaining section that obtains relative position information of a stripe boundary to the traveling motorcycle, wherein the following vehicle determining section determines the following vehicle based on the stripe position information obtained in the stripe position information obtaining section.

[0011] In general, conventional generic driver assistance systems, particularly when used in automobiles, are based on the structure described below.

[0012] The conventional driver assistance system typically features a controller with three control instances with individually adapted parameterization. A first control instance, which can be referred to as the "vehicle-in-front controller," is for a direct target object (i.e., the closest object to the vehicle in its travel path). A second control instance, which can also be referred to as the "vehicle-in-front controller," is for the vehicle in front of the vehicle (i.e., the object next to the vehicle in its travel path). A third control instance, which can also be referred to as the "multi-object controller," is for neighboring lane objects and / or objects merging (i.e., objects located in the vehicle's travel path).

[0013] The disadvantage of this is that in the case of two objects driving next to each other in the driving path, such as motorcycles, the second control instance (so-called "car in front control", see above) cannot be used effectively for the second object, since the second control instance assumes a normal minimum distance between two cars.

[0014] Particularly in this case, where there are several motorcycles in front of the motor vehicle in a lane and these motorcycles are driving at a short distance from one another or overlapping / next to one another, harmonious following of the column of motorcycles cannot be achieved with the conventional setup in the case of spontaneous or nervous acceleration behavior typical of motorcycles and / or unwanted or irregular braking can occur due to these usually dynamic motorcycle movements.

[0015] Against the background of this prior art, the object of the present invention is to provide a device which is suitable for overcoming at least the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art.

[0016] The problem is solved by the features of the independent claim. The subclaims contain preferred developments of the invention.

[0017] Accordingly, a driver assistance system for a motor vehicle is provided, wherein the driver assistance system is designed to automatically control a longitudinal guidance of the motor vehicle by outputting a target acceleration to the motor vehicle.

[0018] The driver assistance system can be part of an adaptive cruise control system or the adaptive cruise control system itself.

[0019] The first acceleration controller can also be called the front-man controller (see above) and thus corresponds to the first control instance described above.

[0020] The lane may be an actual physically formed lane and / or a lane formed along a planned trajectory of the motor vehicle.

[0021] The second acceleration controller is also designed to determine a third target acceleration of the motor vehicle based on a predetermined third target distance of the motor vehicle from a predetermined third object that travels in a different lane than the motor vehicle and / or changes from the other lane to the same lane as the motor vehicle.

[0022] The second acceleration controller can also be called a multi-object controller (see above) and thus corresponds to the third control instance described above.

[0023] In addition to the functionality of the conventional multi-object controller, which is intended for adjacent lane objects or objects merging, the second acceleration controller is designed to serve as a front-of-vehicle controller for the second object in the driving path (second single-lane motor vehicle).

[0024] In other words, the driver assistance system has at least two control instances with at least partially individually adapted parameterization. One control instance, corresponding to the conventional first control instance, which can be referred to as the "vehicle-in-front controller," is intended for a direct target object (i.e., the closest object to the motor vehicle in its travel path). A control instance, corresponding to the conventional third control instance, which can also be referred to as the "multi-object controller," is intended for adjacent lane objects or objects merging (i.e., objects that are not in the travel path of the motor vehicle) and, in addition, for the second object traveling next to the first in the travel path.

[0025] The driver assistance system has a first target acceleration determination unit which is designed to determine the target acceleration to be output to the motor vehicle based on the first, second and third target accelerations.

[0026] It is therefore proposed here to use the third control instance or the multi-object controller for the further or second object in the driving path, at least temporarily.

[0027] Particularly in the case described above, where there are several motorcycles in a lane in front of the motor vehicle and these motorcycles are driving at a short distance from one another or overlapping / next to one another, this can achieve harmonious following of the column of motorcycles even in the case of spontaneous or nervous acceleration behavior typical of motorcycles and / or avoid unwanted or irregular braking of the motor vehicle due to these usually dynamic motorcycle movements.

[0028] This can also be achieved according to the above structure of the controller or the driver assistance system, in particular due to the dual function of the multi-object controller, without having to provide the first control instance or the front-car controller including parameterization twice.

[0029] A solution is therefore proposed that can be implemented with relatively little additional validation and application effort based on the conventional controller design described above.

[0030] According to the present invention, the predetermined first and the predetermined second object are each a single-track motor vehicle, in particular a motorcycle.

[0031] The first and the second acceleration controller can be designed to each use a substantially same parameterization to determine the first and the second target acceleration.

[0032] This means that, in the case of convoy travel, the parameterization and target distance of the multi-object controller can correspond to the parameterization and target distance of the vehicle-in-front controller. The driver assistance system can have a third acceleration controller configured to determine a fourth target acceleration of the motor vehicle based on a predetermined fourth target distance of the motor vehicle from a predetermined fourth object traveling in the same lane as the motor vehicle and in front of the predetermined first and the predetermined second single-lane motor vehicle.

[0033] Thus, the control instance corresponding to the conventional second control instance, which can also be referred to as "pre-in-front controller", can also be provided, whereby this is intended for the vehicle in front of the vehicle (ie the object next to the next nearest to the motor vehicle in its driving path).

[0034] The driver assistance system may comprise a second target acceleration determination unit configured to determine a fifth target acceleration of the motor vehicle based on the first and fourth target accelerations.

[0035] The first target acceleration determining unit may be configured to determine the target acceleration to be output to the motor vehicle based on the fifth target acceleration.

[0036] This means that the first target acceleration determination unit can be preceded by a second target acceleration determination unit which receives as inputs the controlled variables or accelerations determined by the front-vehicle controller and the front-of-vehicle controller and, based thereon, outputs a further controlled variable to the first target acceleration determination unit.

[0037] The first target acceleration determining unit may be configured to determine the target acceleration to be output to the motor vehicle based on a minimum selection.

[0038] The first target acceleration determination unit can therefore output the smallest received control variable or acceleration to the motor vehicle as the control variable.

[0039] The second acceleration controller may be configured to determine the second target acceleration only when no predetermined third object is present.

[0040] This means that the condition for the multi-object controller to act as a second front-runner controller in its dual function can be that the multi-object controller currently has no neighboring lane object to control.

[0041] Furthermore, a motor vehicle, in particular an automobile, comprising the driver assistance system described above is provided.

[0042] What has been described above with reference to the driver assistance system also applies analogously to the motor vehicle and vice versa.

[0043] The motor vehicle may have an object recognition unit connected to the driver assistance system, which is designed to recognize the predetermined single-track motor vehicles in an environment of the motor vehicle.

[0044] Below is an embodiment with reference to Figure 1 and 2 described. Fig. 1 schematically shows, for explanatory purposes, a driving situation with a motor vehicle and two objects driving ahead at substantially the same height, and Fig. 2 shows a driver assistance system of the motor vehicle according to the embodiment.

[0045] In Figure 1A lane 1 is shown, in which a motor vehicle 2 is located with two objects moving in front of the motor vehicle 2 in the direction of travel F, each of which is a single-track motor vehicle, more precisely a motorcycle 3, 4. There are no motor vehicles in another lane 6, which runs parallel to lane 1.

[0046] Motor vehicle 2 has the Figure 2 schematically illustrated driver assistance system 5, which is designed to automatically regulate a longitudinal guidance of the motor vehicle 2 and thus a speed of the motor vehicle 2 in the direction of travel F by outputting a target acceleration a6 to the motor vehicle 2.

[0047] For this purpose, the driver assistance system 5 has three acceleration controllers 51, 52, and 53. The first acceleration controller 51 is referred to below as the front-of-vehicle controller. The second acceleration controller 52 is referred to below as the multi-object controller. The third acceleration controller 53 is referred to below as the front-of-vehicle controller.

[0048] The front-man controller 51 and the front-man controller 53 are connected via a second target acceleration determination unit 55 to a first target acceleration determination unit 54, to which the multi-object controller 52 is also connected.

[0049] The front passenger regulator 51 is in the Figure 1 situation described in order to be based on: a predetermined target distance s1 of the motor vehicle 2 to the first motorcycle 3, which travels on the same lane 1 as the motor vehicle 2 and directly in front of the motor vehicle 2, an actual distance i1 of the first motorcycle 3 to the motor vehicle 2, and predetermined front-car controller parameters r1 to determine a front-driver controller acceleration a1 of the motor vehicle 2 and to output it to the second target acceleration determination unit 55.

[0050] The multi-object controller 52 is in the Figure 1 situation shown, since there is no motor vehicle on the other lane 6, designed to be based on: the predetermined target distance s1 of the motor vehicle 2 to the second motorcycle 4, which is traveling in the same lane 1 as the motor vehicle 2 and at the level of the first motorcycle 3 in front of the motor vehicle 2, an actual distance i2 of the second motorcycle 4 to the motor vehicle 2, and the predetermined front-vehicle controller parameters r1 of the front-vehicle controller 51, and to output it to the first target acceleration determination unit 54.

[0051] The front-man controller 51 and the multi-object controller 52 are therefore in the Figure 1 illustrated case or in this driving situation, in order to use the same or the same front-car controller parameters r1 to determine the front-car controller acceleration and the first multi-object controller acceleration a1, a2.

[0052] The same applies to the target distance s1, which is used by the front-car controller 51 and the multi-object controller 52 to determine the front-car controller acceleration and the multi-object controller acceleration a1, a2.

[0053] The motor vehicle 2 has an object recognition unit (not shown) connected to the driver assistance system 5, which is designed to recognize the motorcycles 3, 4 in the surroundings of the motor vehicle 2, to determine the first and the second actual distance i1, i2 and to output them to the driver assistance system 5.

[0054] However, the multi-object controller 52 determines the first multi-object controller acceleration a2 only or exclusively when there is no predetermined object, here another motor vehicle, on the further lane 6 in the vicinity of the motor vehicle 2.

[0055] However, if another motor vehicle is located on the further lane 6 in the vicinity of the motor vehicle 2 or moves from this lane 6 into lane 1 (both not shown), the multi-object controller 52 is designed to be based on: a predetermined target distance s2 of the motor vehicle 2 to the other motor vehicle, an actual distance i3 to the other motor vehicle, and predetermined multi-object controller parameters r2, to determine a second multi-object controller acceleration a3 of the motor vehicle 2 and to output it to the first target acceleration determination unit 54.

[0056] The front-of-car controller 53 is designed to, in a situation (not shown) in which another motor vehicle is traveling in front of the two motorcycles 3, 4, based on: a predetermined target distance s3 of the motor vehicle 2 to the other motor vehicle traveling in front of the two motorcycles 3, 4, an actual distance i4 to the other motor vehicle traveling in front of the two motorcycles 3, 4, and the predetermined front-car controller parameter r1, to determine a front-of-car controller acceleration a4 of the motor vehicle 2 and to output it to the second target acceleration determination unit 55.

[0057] The second target acceleration determination unit 55 is configured to determine a target acceleration a5 of the motor vehicle 2 based on the front vehicle controller acceleration a1 and the front vehicle controller acceleration a4 and to output it to the first target acceleration determination unit 54.

[0058] The first target acceleration determination unit 54 is configured to determine the target acceleration a6 to be output to the motor vehicle based on a minimum selection from the first multi-object controller acceleration a2 or the second multi-object controller acceleration a3 and the target acceleration a5 determined by the second target acceleration determination unit 54. List of reference symbols

[0059] 1Lane 2Motor vehicle 3First motorcycle 4Second motorcycle 5Driving assistance system 51Front-of-car controller 52Multi-object controller 53Front-of-car controller 54First target acceleration determination unit 55Second target acceleration determination unit 6Further lane a1Front-of-vehicle controller acceleration a2First multi-object controller acceleration a3Second multi-object controller acceleration a4Front-of-vehicle controller acceleration a5Target acceleration determined by the second target acceleration determination unit a6Target acceleration to be output to the motor vehicle Direction of travel i1Actual distance of the first motorcycle i2Actual distance of the second motorcycle i3Actual distance of the other motor vehicle in the other lane i4Actual distance of the other motor vehicle in front of the two motorcycles r1Front vehicle controller parameter r2Multi-object controller parameter s1Target distance of the motor vehicle to the first or second motorcycle s2Target distance of the motor vehicle to the other motor vehicle in the other lane s3Target distance of the motor vehicle to the other motor vehicle in front of the two motorcycles

Claims

1. A driving assistance system (5) for a motor vehicle (2), the driving assistance system (5) being configured to perform automated longitudinal control of the motor vehicle (2) by outputting a target acceleration (a6) to the motor vehicle (2), the driving assistance system (5) being characterized by: a first acceleration controller (51) configured to, based on a predetermined first target distance (s1) of the motor vehicle (2) to a predetermined first single-track motor vehicle (3) traveling in a same lane (1) as the motor vehicle (2) and directly in front of the motor vehicle (2), and based on a first actual distance (i1) to the first single-track vehicle (3), determine a first target acceleration (a1) of the motor vehicle (2), and a second acceleration controller (52) configured to: based on a predetermined second target distance (s1) between the motor vehicle (2) and a predetermined second single-track motor vehicle (4) traveling in the same lane (1) as the motor vehicle (2) and at the height of the predetermined first single-track motor vehicle (3), and based on a second actual distance (i2) to the second single-track motor vehicle (4), a second target acceleration (a2) of the motor vehicle (2), and based on a predetermined third target distance (s2) between the motor vehicle (2) and a predetermined third object traveling in a different lane (6) than the motor vehicle (2), and / or changing from the different lane (6) to the same lane (1) as the motor vehicle (2), determine a third target acceleration (a3) of the motor vehicle (2), and a first target acceleration determination unit (54) configured to determine the target acceleration (a6) to be output to the motor vehicle (2) based on the first, the second and the third target acceleration (a1, a2, a3).

2. The driving assistance system (5) according to claim 1, wherein the first and the second acceleration controller (51, 52) are configured to each use substantially a same parameterization (r1) to determine the first and the second target acceleration (a1, a2).

3. The driving assistance system (5) according to any of the preceding claims, the driving assistance system (5) comprising a third acceleration controller (53) configured to, based on a predetermined fourth target distance (s3) of the motor vehicle (2) from a predetermined fourth object traveling in the same lane (1) as the motor vehicle (2) and in front of the predetermined first and predetermined second single-track motor vehicle (3, 4) determine a fourth target acceleration (a4) of the motor vehicle.

4. The driving assistance system (5) according to claim 3, wherein the driving assistance system (5) comprises a second target acceleration determination unit (55) configured to determine a fifth target acceleration (a5) of the motor vehicle (2) based on the first and the fourth target accelerations (a1, a4), and the first target acceleration determination unit (54) is configured to determine the target acceleration (a6) to be output to the motor vehicle (2) based on the fifth target acceleration (a5).

5. The driving assistance system (5) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the first target acceleration determination unit (54) is configured to determine the target acceleration (a6) to be output to the motor vehicle (2) based on a minimum selection.

6. The driving assistance system (5) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the second acceleration controller (52) is configured to determine the second target acceleration (a2) only when the predetermined third object is not present.

7. A motor vehicle (2) comprising a driving assistance system (5) according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The motor vehicle (2) according to claim 7, wherein the motor vehicle (2) comprises an object recognition unit coupled to the driving assistance system (5), which is configured to recognize the predetermined single-track motor vehicles (3, 4) in the environment of the motor vehicle (2).