Method and device for operating safety function in vehicle

Abstract

To obtain, especially, a comfortable and reliable operation of one or a plurality of safety functions of a vehicle.SOLUTION: A device for operating safety functions 201-204 of a vehicle is configured to perform: identifying a user profile during traveling of the vehicle and allowing the user profile to respectively indicate one user state about the safety functions 201-204; actuating the safety functions 201-204 by a starting profile 220 when the vehicle is started so as to allow the starting profile 220 to respectively indicate one starting state about the safety functions 201-204; identifying that the starting states are different from the user state about the safety functions 201-204; and, in response to the identification, outputting a notification that the safety functions 201-204 are started by the starting profile 220 differently from the user profile to the user of the vehicle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2c

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method and corresponding apparatus configured for operating one or more safety features in a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] A vehicle may be equipped with one or more safety features configured to improve the safety of the vehicle. Exemplary safety features are emergency brake assist, lane keep assist, lane change assist, etc. Operation of individual safety features may be perceived as unpleasant by a user of the vehicle. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] The present specification relates to the technical problem of providing a particularly comfortable and reliable operation of one or more safety functions in a (motorized) vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] The problem is solved by each independent claim. Advantageous embodiments are set out in particular in the dependent claims. It is to be pointed out that the additional features of the claims dependent on an independent claim may form an independent invention from the combination of all the features of the independent claim, either without the features of the independent claim or only in combination with some of the features of the independent claim, which may be made for the subject matter of an independent claim, a divisional application or a subsequent application. This also applies to technical suggestions given in the description, which may form an independent invention from one of the features of the independent claims.

[0005] According to one aspect, an apparatus is described for operating several safety features of a (motorized) vehicle. The several safety features may include one or more safety features. Exemplary safety features include: an emergency braking function configured to cause automated emergency braking of the vehicle; and / or A lane-keeping feature configured to automatically keep the vehicle in the lane in which it is currently traveling; and / or A lane change warning function configured to trigger a warning output when the vehicle deviates from the lane in which it is currently traveling. It is.

[0006] The one or more safety functions can be configured to analyze sensor data of one or more surrounding sensors of the vehicle, for example to recognize obstacles and / or lane markings in the vehicle's surroundings, respectively, and can cause measures depending on the analysis of the sensor data, in particular depending on the recognized obstacles and / or recognized lane markings. The measures can include outputting a warning notification and / or longitudinal steering (longitudinal guidance) and / or lateral steering (lateral guidance) of the vehicle.

[0007] The device is configured to operate the several safety features according to a basic profile when the vehicle is started, when it is first started or after a reset to factory settings, the basic profile representing a basic state for one or more of the several safety features, respectively. The basic state for a safety feature can be configured, for example, such that the safety feature is operated with the maximum possible functional magnitude (functional degree, functional range).

[0008] The device is configured to determine a user profile during the running of the vehicle, the user profile representing a user state for one or more safety features of the several safety features respectively. The user state of the one or more safety features may be different from a respective base state. The user profile can be determined during the running of the vehicle based on one or more user inputs of a user (e.g. provided at a user interface of the vehicle). The one or more user inputs can change the state of at least one safety feature (relative to the base state). For example, the safety feature can be deactivated or the function size of the safety feature can be reduced.

[0009] The device is also configured to activate the several safety features according to a start-up profile when starting the vehicle, the start-up profile representing a start-up state for one or more of the several safety features respectively. The start-up state of the safety features may correspond to a basic state. In some cases, the start-up state of the safety features may be below the basic state (e.g. with a reduced functional magnitude of the safety features or possibly with the safety features deactivated).

[0010] The state of the individual safety functions, in particular the start-up state and / or the user state and / or the basic state, whether a safety function is activated or deactivated, and / or - Functional scale for operating safety functions It is possible to represent

[0011] Then, the activated state having the maximum possible functional magnitude may correspond to the maximum possible state, while the non-activated state may correspond to the minimum possible state. Also, there may be a grading of the "height" of the states according to the functional magnitude.

[0012] The device is configured to determine that for at least one of the safety features, a start-up state is different from a user state. This may be especially the case if standards, e.g. legal standards and / or vehicle manufacturer standards, require that each individual safety feature has a predefined minimum state (e.g. a predefined minimum functional magnitude) upon start-up of the vehicle. A user input may cause the user state of the safety feature to fall below the minimum state of the safety feature.

[0013] The apparatus is also configured, in response to the identification, to output (via a user interface of the vehicle) a notification to a user of the vehicle that the at least one safety feature has been activated according to the activation profile as distinct from the user profile.

[0014] By initiating some safety functions with an initiation profile which possibly differs from the user profile and which possibly corresponds to a given (safety) standard, and by outputting a notification regarding the differences to the user profile, it is possible to bring about a particularly reliable and comfortable operation of some safety functions.

[0015] The device may be configured to respond to user input following output of a notification, to operate certain safety features according to a user profile.

[0016] In some cases, for some of the safety features, the start-up state may be different from the user state, and the device may be configured to allow the user to operate the safety features according to a user profile with only one user input following the output of a notification.

[0017] A user of the vehicle may thus be able to comfortably change from the start-up profile back to the user profile after starting the vehicle (possibly with only one user input in the vehicle's user interface), thus making it possible to further improve the comfort of operation of some safety functions of the vehicle.

[0018] The device can be configured to identify a start-up profile based on a user profile and based on a (safety) standard. The standard can, for one or more of several safety features, respectively, describe a required minimum state of each safety feature at the start of the vehicle. The required minimum state of a safety feature can be: Whether the safety features must be enabled when the vehicle is started, and / or The minimum functional size required for safety functions to be operational at vehicle start It is possible to represent

[0019] For each individual safety function among several safety functions, it is possible to check whether the user state of the safety function exceeds the required minimum state based on the standard based on the user profile. If the user state exceeds the required minimum state, the user state can be used as the starting state of the safety function for the starting profile. On the other hand, if the user state does not exceed the required minimum state, the required minimum state based on the standard can be used as the starting state of the safety function for the starting profile. Thus, it is possible to provide a particularly reliable and comfortable operation of the safety function.

[0020] According to another aspect, there is described a (road vehicle) motor vehicle (in particular a car or a lorry or a bus or a motorcycle) comprising an apparatus as described herein.

[0021] According to another aspect, a method for operating a number of safety features of a (motorized) vehicle is described. The method includes identifying a user profile during at least one journey of the vehicle, the user profile representing a user state for one or more of the number of safety features. The method further includes activating the number of safety features according to a start-up profile upon start-up of the vehicle, the start-up profile representing a start-up state for one or more of the number of safety features.

[0022] The method further includes determining that a start state for at least one safety feature of the number of safety features is different from a user state, and in response to the determination, outputting a notification to a user of the vehicle that the at least one safety feature has been started with a start profile different from the user profile.

[0023] According to another aspect, a software (SW) program is described, the software program being configurable to execute in a processor (e.g., in a vehicle controller) and thereby to perform the methods described herein.

[0024] According to another aspect, a storage medium is described. The storage medium can include a software program configured to execute on a processor and thereby perform the methods described herein.

[0025] It should be noted that the methods, devices and systems described herein can be used alone or in combination with other methods, devices and systems described herein. Furthermore, aspects of the methods, devices and systems described herein can be combined with each other in various ways. In particular, the features of the claims can be combined in various ways. Also, features shown in parentheses should be understood to be optional features.

[0026] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to examples. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0027] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates exemplary components of a vehicle. [Figure 2a] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary base profile of one or more safety features. [Figure 2b] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary user profile of one or more safety features. [Figure 2c] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary activation profile of one or more safety features. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method for operating one or more safety features of a vehicle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0028] As explained at the beginning, this specification relates to the reliable and convenient operation of one or more safety features of a vehicle. In this regard, Fig. 1 shows an exemplary vehicle 100 having one or more surrounding sensors 102 each configured to detect sensor data (also called surrounding data) related to the surroundings of the vehicle 100. The exemplary surrounding sensors 102 are cameras, radar sensors, lidar sensors, ultrasonic sensors, etc.

[0029] The (control) device 101 of the vehicle 100 can be configured for evaluating surrounding data, for example in order to recognize one or more objects (e.g. other vehicles) in the surroundings of the vehicle 100. The device 101 can also be configured for generating automated longitudinal steering (longitudinal guidance) and / or lateral steering (lateral guidance) of the vehicle 100 based on the surrounding data, in particular based on one or more detected objects. For this purpose, it is possible to control (activate) one or more longitudinal steering actuators and / or lateral steering actuators 103 of the vehicle 100 (e.g. drive motors, braking devices and / or steering devices).

[0030] One or more safety features of the vehicle 100 can be provided and / or operated by the (control) device 101. An exemplary safety feature is an emergency brake assist, which is configured to cause automated emergency braking of the vehicle 100 in response to a recognized obstacle. Another exemplary safety feature is a lane keep assist, which is configured to automatically steer the vehicle 100 back into its lane when it is recognized that the vehicle 100 is deviating from its lane. Another exemplary safety feature is a lane change warning when the vehicle 100 deviates from its lane and / or when an obstacle, e.g. another vehicle, is recognized in an adjacent lane.

[0031] The vehicle 100 can be configured such that, at the first start of the vehicle 100, several safety functions are activated by default in order to allow the vehicle 100 to operate as safely as possible. In Fig. 2a, a basic profile 200 is shown, which represents the activation state of the different safety functions 201, 202, 203, 204. The divisions indicate that each safety function 201, 202, 203, 204 is activated. The first start of the vehicle 100 can be performed according to the basic profile 200, so that all safety functions 201, 202, 203, 204 out of several safety functions 201, 202, 203, 204 are activated. The state of the individual safety functions 201, 202, 203, 204 according to the basic profile 200 can be called the basic state.

[0032] It may be possible for a user of the vehicle 100 to deactivate one or more safety features 201, 204 and / or change, in particular reduce, the functional size of one or more safety features 202, 203 during operation of the vehicle 100. The change in the state of the safety features 201, 202, 203, 204 may occur via the user interface 104 of the vehicle 100. For example, the issuance of an audible, visual and / or haptic advice of the safety features 201, 202, 203, 204 may be unpleasant for the user, which may lead the user to completely deactivate the safety features 201, 204 or reduce the functional size of the safety features 202, 203.

[0033] The state of each safety function 201, 202, 203, 204 provided by the user, also referred to herein as user state, can be defined in a user profile 210 (see FIG. 2b) where it can be indicated for each safety function whether each safety function 201, 202, 203, 204 is activated or deactivated and / or whether and how the function size of each safety function 201, 202, 203, 204 is reduced.

[0034] Typically, the operation of the safety features 201, 202, 203, 204 leads to an improvement in safety. Also, in some cases, it may be legally prescribed that the safety features 201, 202, 203, 204 are activated by default at the start of a journey of the vehicle 100. A start-up profile 220 (see FIG. 2c) for the start-up of the vehicle 100 may be provided, which represents the states of the individual safety features 201, 202, 203, 204 that occur at the start-up of the vehicle 100. The states may be referred to as start-up states.

[0035] The start-up profile 220 can be specified based on the user profile 210. Also, standards, such as vehicle manufacturer rules or specifications, can be used for each individual safety feature 201, 202, 203, 204, indicating whether each safety feature 201, 202, 203, 204 should be activated upon start-up of the vehicle 100, and possibly at what functional scale the safety feature 201, 202, 203, 204 should be activated.

[0036] The (activation) state of each safety function 201, 202, 203, 204 in the activation profile 220 may be specified by one or more of the following rules: · the state of the safety functions 201, 202, 203, 204 is not changed relative to the (basic) state of the basic profile 200 and the state of the basic profile 200 is maintained; when the state of the safety functions 201, 202, 203, 204 is changed with respect to the (basic) state of the basic profile 200, the state of the safety functions 201, 202, 203, 204 depending on the (user) state provided by the user based on the user profile 210 and on the required minimum state set in the standard; when the state of the safety functions 201, 202, 203, 204 is changed relative to the (basic) state of the basic profile 200 and the (user) state provided by the user according to the user profile 210 is used when the (user) state exceeds the minimum state required according to the standard; and / or When the state of the safety functions 201, 202, 203, 204 is changed relative to the (basic) state of the basic profile 200 and the (user) state brought about by the user based on the user profile 210 is below the minimum required state based on the standard, the minimum required state based on the standard is used.

[0037] At one or, in particular, at all starts of the vehicle 100, the individual safety features 201, 202, 203, 204 can be activated according to the start-up profile 220. Also, the user can be informed via the user interface 104 of the vehicle 100 that a start-up profile 220 different from the user profile 210 has been used to set the state of one or more safety features 201, 202, 203, 204. The user can then be enabled via the user interface 104 to select the user profile 210 instead of the start-up profile 220 and to cause a corresponding change in the state of one or more safety features 201, 202, 203, 204.

[0038] Based on consumer protection requirements (such as, for example, Euro NCAP), it may possibly be necessary that at the start of each new journey of the vehicle, a certain number of one or more safety functions 201, 202, 203, 204 (such as, for example, emergency brake assist, lane keep assist, lane change warning, etc.) are automatically activated again, even when the user has previously deactivated one or more of the safety functions 201, 202, 203, 204 during the journey. The deactivation of a safety function 201, 202, 203, 204 may for example be caused by the safety function being perceived by the user as annoying, particularly intrusive, and / or by the safety function not functioning reliably due to currently existing ambient conditions (such as, for example, snowfall and / or a snow-covered road surface).

[0039] As mentioned above, the user of the vehicle 100 can be informed when one or more safety features are reactivated at vehicle start-up, and the user can be offered the possibility to directly restore the last set state (i.e. user state) of one or more safety features (according to the user profile 210).

[0040] The driver's individual settings can be stored in the user profile 210 at each operation. If at least one of the individual settings is automatically changed at the start of the next trip, the driver can be informed about this via a notification (e.g., on the display of the user interface 104). If the driver interacts with the notification, the driver can reconfigure the individual settings of the last trip (according to the user profile 210) in a few operating steps (e.g., in one operating step).

[0041] 3 shows a flow chart of a (possibly computer-implemented) method 300 of operating several safety features 201, 202, 203, 204 of a (motorized) vehicle 100. The number of safety features may include one or more, two or more, three or more, or four or more safety features.

[0042] The method 300 comprises determining 301 a user profile 210 during the running of the vehicle 100, the user profile 210 representing a user state for one or more safety features 201, 202, 203, 204, respectively. The user profile 210 can be determined based on one or more user inputs detected, for example, via a user interface 104 of the vehicle 100. The user can then change the state of one or more safety features 201, 202, 203, 204, for example deactivating a safety feature 201, 204 or reducing the functional size of a safety feature 202, 203. Each individual safety feature 201, 202, 203, 204 can have a base state at first start-up or after resetting the factory settings. One or more user inputs can result in a user state for one or more safety features that is different from the respective base state.

[0043] The method 300 also includes activating 302 the number of safety features 201, 202, 203, 204 according to a start-up profile 220 upon start-up of the vehicle 100, the start-up profile 220 representing a start-up state for each of one or more of the number of safety features 201, 202, 203, 204. The start-up states of the safety features 201, 202, 203, 204 include: · It may correspond to the base state (if no changes have been made by the user); Corresponds to the minimum conditions required to start the vehicle 100; or · It may correspond to a user state (if the user state exceeds the required minimum state and / or if the user state is between the base state and the minimum state).

[0044] The method 300 further includes identifying 300 that a start state is different from a user state for at least one of the safety features 201, 202, 203, 204. In response to the identifying 303, a notification may be output to a user of the vehicle 100 that the at least one safety feature 201, 202, 203, 204 was started by the start profile 220 differently than the user profile 210 (step 304). Also, the user may be allowed to cause some of the safety features 201, 202, 203, 204 to be started by the user profile 210 by a (possibly only one) user input.

[0045] The measures described herein make it possible to bring about a particularly more reliable and more comfortable operation of one or more safety functions 201 , 202 , 203 , 204 in the vehicle 100 .

[0046] It should be noted that the invention is not limited to the embodiments shown, and in particular that the specification and drawings are merely illustrative of the principles of the proposed methods, devices and systems.

Claims

1. An apparatus (101) for operating several safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204) of a vehicle (100), the apparatus (101) comprising: - identifying a user profile (210) during the travel of said vehicle (100), said user profile (210) representing a user state with respect to one or more safety features (201, 202, 203, 204) of said several safety features (201, 202, 203, 204), - activating said several safety features (201, 202, 203, 204) according to a start-up profile (220) at the start-up of said vehicle (100), said start-up profile (220) representing a respective start-up state for one or more of said several safety features (201, 202, 203, 204), - to identify for at least one safety function (201, 202, 203, 204) of said several safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204) that a start-up state is different from a user state, - in response to said identification, outputting a notification to a user of said vehicle (100) that said at least one safety feature (201, 202, 203, 204) has been activated by said activation profile (220) differently than said user profile (210).

1. An apparatus (101) comprising:

2. The device (101) of claim 1, characterized in that the device (101) is configured to operate the certain safety features (201, 202, 203, 204) in accordance with the user profile (210) in response to a user input followed by output of a notification.

3. for a number of safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204) of said number of safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204), said start-up state is different from said user state, The device (101) is configured to allow the user to operate the plurality of safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204) according to the user state by only one user input following the output of a notification.

3. Apparatus (101) according to claim 1 or 2.

4. - the user profile (210) is determined during operation of the vehicle (100) based on one or more user inputs of a user; and said one or more user inputs modifying the state of at least one safety feature (201, 202, 203, 204); Apparatus (101) according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The state of one safety function (201, 202, 203, 204), in particular the start-up state, the user state and / or the basic state, - the safety features (201, 202, 203, 204) are activated or deactivated, and / or - the functional scale for activating said safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204); The device (101) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it represents

6. The several safety features (201, 202, 203, 204) an emergency braking function configured to cause automated emergency braking of the vehicle (100); and / or - a lane keeping function configured to automatically keep the vehicle (100) in the lane in which it is currently traveling; and / or A lane change warning function configured to cause a warning output when the vehicle (100) deviates from the lane in which it is currently traveling. The device (101) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises

7. said device (101) being adapted to determine said initiation profile (220) on the basis of said user profile (210) and on the basis of a standard; - a standard for one or more of the safety features (201, 202, 203, 204) represents a minimum state of each of the safety features (201, 202, 203, 204) required at the start of the vehicle (100); and said required minimum state of the safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204) whether the safety features (201, 202, 203, 204) need to be activated when starting the vehicle (100), and / or the minimum functional size required for said safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204) to be activated when starting said vehicle (100); Represents Apparatus (101) according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The device (101) performs, for each of the safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204) - checking whether the user status of the safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204) based on the user profile (210) exceeds the minimum required status based on the standard; and - to use said user status as the triggering status of said safety features (201, 202, 203, 204) for said triggering profile (220) if said user status exceeds the required minimum status; and / or - if said user conditions do not exceed the required minimum conditions, then use said minimum conditions as the start-up conditions of said safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204) for said start-up profile (220); 8. The apparatus (101) according to claim 7, characterized in that it is configured

9. said device (101) is configured to activate said several safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204) according to a basic profile (200) at the initial start of operation of said vehicle (100) or after a reset to factory settings, - said basic profile (200) represents a basic state for said one or more safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204) of said several safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204), respectively; and The base states of the individual safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204) correspond to or exceed each triggering condition. Apparatus (101) according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A method (300) for operating several safety features (201, 202, 203, 204) of a vehicle (100), the method (300) comprising: - identifying (301) a user profile (210) during the travel of said vehicle (100), said user profile (210) representing a user state with respect to one or more safety features (201, 202, 203, 204) of said several safety features (201, 202, 203, 204), - activating (302) said several safety features (201, 202, 203, 204) according to a start-up profile (220) at the start-up of said vehicle (100), said start-up profile (220) representing a start-up state for one or more of said several safety features (201, 202, 203, 204), - identifying (303) for at least one safety function (201, 202, 203, 204) of said several safety functions (201, 202, 203, 204) that a start-up state is different from a user state; and - in response to said identification (303), outputting (304) a notification to a user of said vehicle (100) that said at least one safety feature (201, 202, 203, 204) has been activated by said activation profile (220) differently than said user profile (210). The method (300), comprising:

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