A method for detecting an object in an environment of a vehicle, a vehicle, and a computer program

Abstract

An object 10 in an environment 12 of a vehicle 14 is detected by using vehicle sensor 16 to generate sensor data comprising information of the environment; using an object detection device 18 to detect the object based on the sensor data; classifying the object by a classifier 20; classifying a risk value for the object and comparing it with a threshold value; and transmitting object information to an external device 22 (e.g. an emergency call or traffic control centre, local authority, radio station or car-to-X service) if the threshold value is reached. The object information includes information about classifying the object or risk value. The object’s position or dimensions, the vehicle’s position or the sensor data may also be sent. The object may be an obstacle such as cargo lost by a truck or large stones on a track. The risk value may describe hazardous potential of the object. A removal request may be generated for the object.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of vehicles, in particular automobiles. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for detecting an object in an environment of the vehicle. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a corresponding vehicle and a computer program. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

[0002] Obstacles on driving lanes of a street or road may be a potential hazard for all vehicles driving on the road. The obstacles may also hinder the traffic flow significantly.

[0003] The process of removing an obstacle from a street or road often requires multiple stages of human interaction, each tedious and error-prone itself. A vehicle user must manually inform the local police office or fire station about the impediment found on the street or road. Afterwards, the road needs to be manually scanned to determine the exact location of the obstacle to be removed. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a method, a vehicle, and a computer program for detecting an object, which should be potentially removed, in an environment of the vehicle.

[0005] This object is solved by a method, a vehicle, and a computer program according to the present invention. Advantageous embodiments are presented in the dependent claims, the description, and the drawings.

[0006] A first aspect of the present invention relates to a method for detecting an object, in particular an obstacle or impediment, in an environment, in particular a street or road, of a vehicle, in particular an automobile, wherein the method comprises the following steps:

[0007] A first step is detecting the environment by generating sensor data comprising information about the environment by a vehicle sensor of the vehicle. A second step is detecting an object, the obstacle or impediment, in the environment based on the sensor data via an object detection device. A third step is classifying or determining the object by a classifier. A fourth step is classifying a risk value for the object. A fifth step is comparing the risk value with a threshold value. A sixth step is transmitting object information, which includes the class determined by classifying the object and / or the risk value classified in the fourth step to an external device when or if the threshold value is reached.

[0008] In particular, steps S2, S3, S4, and / or S5 may be performed by a control unit of the vehicle. The risk value describes hazardous potential of the object for the vehicle or other traffic participants.

[0009] In other words, the invention describes a method or system that detects hazardous obstacles on roads and shares this information. The receiver of this information, the external device, may be a local authority, a radio station, or a car-to-x-service. The vehicle, a car or van or truck, may provide rich information about the location of the impediment or the obstacle including but not limited to, for example, precise GPS location, object type and dimension, position on the road, and camera images as, for example, the sensor data. The impediment may be directly classified and based on the classification of the object and current location a specific local authority may be informed. The danger of the impediment for other road users may be classified as well to measure the importance to remove the obstacle.

[0010] An advantage of this invention is that authorities may be automatically informed about hazards on the road and thus can improve traffic safety and traffic flow. A further advantage is that the responsible department is aware of the exact location of the hazard. Classification of the object type, its position on the road, and / or a camera image of the detected obstacle may be carried out to assess the danger of the impediment for traffic participants. Based on the type of classification, specific responsible authorities for the current region may be informed. Collecting obstacle detections over time enables the identification of regions with a high probability of an impediment. Depending on the type of object encountered, subsequent actions may be taken to reduce the risk of further incidents.

[0011] Therefore, in a first advantageous embodiment, the position of the vehicle and / or the object is detected and transmitted to the external device.

[0012] In another embodiment of the present invention, the classification or classifying of the object and / or classification or classifying of the risk value and / or its comparison or comparing with the threshold value is carried out by a control unit of the vehicle, and therefore, directly in the car.

[0013] In still another embodiment of the present invention, the transmission or transmitting to the external device is performed, wherein the external device is configured as an emergency call control center, for example, a local police department and / or a traffic control center.

[0014] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a removal request is generated for the object.

[0015] In still another embodiment of the present invention, the sensor data is transmitted to the external device.

[0016] In an embodiment of the present invention, the dimensions of the object are determined.

[0017] In a corresponding embodiment of the present invention, the determined dimensions are transmitted to the external device.

[0018] A second aspect of the present invention relates to a vehicle adapted to perform a method according to the first aspect of the present invention.

[0019] Advantageous embodiments of the method are to be regarded as advantageous embodiments of the vehicle and vice versa.

[0020] A third aspect of the present invention relates to a computer program. The computer program may be loaded into a memory of an electronic computing device and may include program means for performing steps of the method according to the first aspect when the computer program is executed in the electronic computing device or a control device, respectively.

[0021] Advantages and advantageous embodiments of the first and second aspects of the present invention are to be regarded as advantages and advantageous embodiments of the third aspect of the present invention, and vice versa.

[0022] A fourth aspect of the present invention relates to an electronically readable storage medium. The electronically readable storage medium includes electronically readable control information stored thereon, the control information including at least one computer program as presented above, and is configured such that, when the storage medium is used in an electronic computing device, it is capable of carrying out a method presented herein in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention.

[0023] Advantages and advantageous embodiments of the fourth aspect of the invention are to be regarded as advantages and advantageous embodiments of both the third, second, and first aspect of the invention, and vice versa in each case.

[0024] The electronically readable storage medium may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions encoded thereon which, responsive to execution by a processor coupled to at least one memory device, are operable to extract one or more steps of the method presented herein in accordance with the present invention.

[0025] Further advantages, features, and details of the invention derive from the following description of preferred embodiments as well as from the drawings. The features and feature combinations previously mentioned in the description as well as the features and feature combinations mentioned in the following description of the figures and / or shown in the figures alone can be employed not only in the respectively indicated combination but also in any other combination or taken alone without leaving the scope of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and together with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system and / or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described below, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying figures.

[0027] The drawings show in:

[0028] Fig. 1 a schematic diagram of a method for detecting an object in an environment of a vehicle; and

[0029] Fig 2 in a schematic side view the vehicle in the environment.

[0030] In the figures the same elements or elements having the same function are indicated by the same reference signs. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration". Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

[0032] While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawing and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure.

[0033] The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion so that a setup, device or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus preceded by “comprises” or “comprise” does not or do not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.

[0034] In the following detailed description of the embodiment of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawing that forms part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration a specific embodiment in which the disclosure may be practiced. This embodiment is described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0035] Fig. 1 shows in a schematic diagram a method for detecting an object 10 in an environment 12 of a vehicle 14 comprising the following steps:

[0036] A first step includes detecting the environment 12 by generating sensor data comprising information about the environment 12 by a vehicle sensor 16. A second step includes detecting the object 10 in the environment 12 based on the sensor data via an object detection device 18. A third step includes classifying the object 10 by a classifier 20. A fourth step includes classifying a risk value for the object 10. A fifth step includes comparing the risk value with a threshold value. A sixth step includes transmitting object information, which may include the class determined by classifying the object 10, and / or the risk value to an external device 22 when or if the threshold value is reached.

[0037] The method may be performed as shown in Fig. 1, wherein box B1 represents sensing the environment with the vehicle sensor 16, in particular an ADAS (advanced driver-assistance system) sensor. Box B1 represents the first step of the method.

[0038] The vehicle sensor 16 may be a camera, a lidar, and / or a radar. Box B2 shows detecting an impediment, here the object 10, via a detector, in particular the object detection device 18. Therefore, box B2 represents the second step of the method.

[0039] In box B3 the classification of the impediment is performed wherein the class corresponds to the type of the object 10. In box B4 the classification of the danger for road users and therefore the classification of the risk value for the object 10 is performed. So box B3 corresponds to the third step of the method and box B4 corresponds to the fourth step of the method.

[0040] Box B5 represents a combination logic which compares the risk value with the threshold value and furthermore can incorporate further information for example from box B6, which represents a localization of the vehicle 14 and therefore the object 10, so that the position of the vehicle and / or the object is detected and also transmitted to the external device 22 which is performed in box B7, which represents the information generated and / or combined to be transmitted to the external device 22, in particular the specific authority which is responsible for the region of the location of the object 10.

[0041] Fig. 2 shows the vehicle 14 in the environment 12 where an object 10 is present in front of the vehicle 14 on the road, for example, cargo lost by a truck in the middle of the road on a highway. By the method and the vehicle 14 shown also with the computer program capable of performing the method with program means for executing the steps of the method, it is now possible to inform the local police department since the lost freight poses a danger for vehicles 14 driving on the road and significantly reduces traffic flow.

[0042] Another example is that the method detects large stones on a sidetrack and the vehicles 14 currently driving on the roads of a national park. However, the objects 10 are not located on the road (environment 12) and are not blocking drivable space in normal operation. The method may inform the national park responsible to remove the impediments and to check the surroundings for impending danger that may occur in the future.

[0043] As shown in Fig. 2, the classification of the object 10 and the classification of the risk value and / or its comparison with the threshold value is carried out by a control unit 24 of the vehicle 14. The external device 22 may be configured as an emergency call control center, for example local police department, and / or traffic control center.

[0044] By the method according to the invention it is also possible that a removal request is generated for the object 10, wherein the removal request is transmitted to the external device 22 to inform the local authority, for example, that the object 10 should be removed or not. The sensor data of the vehicle sensor 16 may also be transmitted to the external device 22, especially if the sensor data comprises information about the dimension of the object 10 so that this dimension may be also determined. Or if the vehicle sensor 16 comprises a camera so that the sensor data may be an image, it is helpful to provide an image of the object 10 so that the authority may identify the object for themselves to have another control instance.

[0045] With the shown method, vehicle, and the corresponding computer program it is possible to inform local authorities about hazardous obstacles on or along the road. Therefore, an overall increased safety level for persons driving in vehicles along the road is provided. Reference Signs 10 object 12 environment 14 vehicle 16 vehicle sensor 18 object detection device 20 classifier 22 external device 24 control unit B1 first box B2 second box B3 third box B4 fourth box B5 fifth box B6 sixth box B7 seventh box

Claims

1. A method for detecting an object (10) in an environment (12) of a vehicle (14), comprising the following steps:- detecting the environment (12) by generating sensor data comprising information about the environment (12) by a vehicle sensor (16);- detecting the object (10) in the environment (12) based on the sensor data via an object detection device (18);- classifying the object (10) by a classifier (20);- classifying a risk value for the object (10);- comparing the risk value with a threshold value; and- transmitting object information, which includes information about classifying the object and / or information about classifying the risk value, to an external device (22) if the threshold value is reached.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in thatthe position of the vehicle (14) and / or the object (10) is detected and transmitted to the external device (22).

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in thatthe classification of the object (10) and / or the classification of the risk value and / or its comparison with the threshold value is carried out by a control unit (24) of the vehicle (10).

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in thatthe transmission to an external device (22) configured as an emergency call control centre and / or traffic control centre is performed.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in thata removal request is generated for the object (10).

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in thatthe sensor data is transmitted to the external device (22).

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in thatthe dimensions of the object (10) are determined.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in thatthe determined dimensions are transmitted to the external device (22).

9. A vehicle (14) adapted to perform a method according to any one of the preceding claims.

10. A computer program which is directly loadable into a memory of an electronic computing device, comprising program means for executing steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 when the computer program is executed.

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