Driving assistance system and driving assistance method for vehicle

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a driver assistance system for a vehicle, the driver assistance system comprising a first control unit and a second control unit, the second control unit configured to receive instructions for performing an action from the first control unit, at least one first sensor unit configured relative to the first control unit, the second control unit configured to perform the action and send information about the performance of the action to the first control unit, and the first control unit configured to verify the reliability of the information received from the second control unit based on sensor data of the at least one first sensor unit.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a driving assistance system for a vehicle, a vehicle equipped with such a driving assistance system, a driving assistance method for a vehicle, and a recording medium for executing the driving assistance method. In particular, the present disclosure relates to gradually verifying the reliability of a controller for a driving assistance system in a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Driver assistance systems for automated driving are becoming increasingly important. Automated driving can be performed at different levels of automation. Examples of automation levels are assisted driving, partially automated driving, highly automated driving, and fully automated driving. These automation levels have been defined by the Federal Association of Transport Systems (Bundesanstalt fuer Strassenwesen) (BASt) (see the BASt publication "Forschung kompakt (Research Compact)", November 2021). For example, a level 4 vehicle operates fully autonomously in urban driving.

[0003] Driver assistance systems for autonomous driving use sensors that visually perceive the environment, both in the range visible to the human eye and in the range not visible to the human eye. These sensors can be, for example, cameras, radar and / or LiDAR. These, along with high-definition maps, are the main signal sources for driver assistance systems for autonomous driving.

[0004] For automated driving, the upper controller of a driver assistance system can issue expectations and commands to the lower controller of the driver assistance system, trusting that the lower controller will return the correct value or perform the correct action. However, when a high level of safety integrity is required, this may not be sufficient and may even lead to dangerous road traffic situations. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a driving assistance system for a vehicle that can improve the reliability of the driving assistance system, a vehicle equipped with such a driving assistance system, a driving assistance method for a vehicle, and a recording medium for executing the driving assistance method. In particular, an object of the present disclosure is to improve the safety integrity of the driving assistance system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] These problems are solved by the subject matter of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments are set out in the subclaims.

[0007] According to an independent aspect of the present disclosure, a driving assistance system for a vehicle, in particular an automobile, is presented, the driving assistance system comprising a first control unit and a second control unit, the second control unit configured to receive instructions for performing an action from the first control unit, at least one first sensor unit configured relative to the first control unit, the second control unit configured to perform the action and send information about the performance of the action to the first control unit, and the first control unit configured to verify the reliability of the information received from the second control unit based on sensor data of the at least one first sensor unit.

[0008] According to the present invention, the first control unit uses its own sensor data to verify whether the information provided by the second control unit for performing the above-mentioned action is reliable. For example, the second control unit can inform the first control unit that the calculated curvature radius matches the traveled curvature radius. The first control unit then verifies this information. If the first control unit concludes that the information provided by the second control unit is unreliable because it does not match the sensor data, the first control unit can take appropriate measures. Such measures can be, for example, an emergency stop and / or a warning to the driver. This can improve the safety integrity of the driver assistance system.

[0009] The information provided by the second control unit may then be suitable for describing the execution of said actions. The information provided by the second control unit may, for example, indicate that said actions have been executed as instructed. Additionally or alternatively, the information provided by the second control unit may include data and / or values ​​verifiable by the first control unit regarding the executed actions. The data and / or values ​​regarding the executed actions may, for example, indicate a specified and / or set cornering radius of curvature.

[0010] Control units are provided to control operations, components, etc. and are used in a variety of ways in vehicles. For example, a first control unit may be provided to determine the position of the vehicle on the roadway and control a second control unit based thereon. In this example, the second control unit may be provided to set the radius of curvature for cornering. For this purpose, the second control unit may, inter alia, control the steering of the vehicle via a suitable actuator.

[0011] However, the first control unit and the second control unit are not limited to this example and may be other control units of a vehicle that cooperate with each other to perform actions, for example, as part of automated driving.

[0012] The first control unit and the second control unit may each have at least one processor unit, which is a programmable arithmetic device, i.e., a mechanical or electronic circuit, that controls other elements according to instructions given to it and thereby executes an algorithm (process).

[0013] The first control unit and the second control unit may be implemented in a common software and / or hardware module, or alternatively, the first control unit and the second control unit may be implemented in separate software and / or hardware modules.

[0014] The term "verification of authenticity" refers to the verification of data and / or information by the first control unit and / or the second control unit to verify whether these data and / or information are reliable, i.e. whether they are plausible, reasonable and understandable. If the data and / or information are reliable, the result is a positive confirmation of authenticity (positive confirmation of authenticity). However, if the data and / or information are not reliable, the result is a negative confirmation of authenticity (negative confirmation of authenticity).

[0015] Preferably, the first control unit is superior to the second control unit. The term "superior" here means that the first control unit transmits instructions to the second control unit, in particular instructions for the execution of the above-mentioned actions. In other words, the second control unit executes the decisions of the first control unit and provides feedback to the first control unit.

[0016] Preferably, the instruction to perform the action includes setting a radius of curvature for cornering. In other words, the "action" performed or to be performed by the second control unit is setting a radius of curvature. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the action may be, for example, any other action that is to be performed or is performed as part of automated driving.

[0017] The driver assistance system preferably comprises at least one second sensor unit associated with the second control unit, which may be different from the at least one first sensor unit, in particular the at least one first sensor unit and the at least one second sensor unit may comprise or be different types of sensors.

[0018] Preferably, the at least one first sensor unit and the at least one second sensor unit are selected from the group comprising or consisting of at least one LiDAR system, at least one radar system, at least one camera, at least one ultrasonic system, at least one laser scanner, at least one GPS sensor and at least one inertial or acceleration sensor.

[0019] The vehicle preferably includes environmental sensing means, which may include at least one LiDAR system and / or at least one radar system and / or at least one camera and / or at least one ultrasonic system and / or at least one laser scanner, capable of providing ambient data (also referred to as "environmental data") reflecting the area surrounding the vehicle.

[0020] In some embodiments, the at least one first sensor unit is a sensor unit of an environment sensing means of the vehicle, such as at least one camera. Additionally or alternatively, the at least one second sensor unit may be an inertial sensor or an acceleration sensor.

[0021] Preferably, the second control unit is configured to verify the reliability of the execution of the action based on sensor data from the at least one second sensor unit. The second control unit may further be configured to generate information about the execution of the action based on a result of the reliability verification performed by the second control unit. In this way, a first stage of the reliability verification can be performed by the second control unit, and a subsequent second stage of the reliability verification can be performed by the first control unit. Thus, a high level of safety integrity for the driver assistance system can be provided.

[0022] The driver assistance system is preferably arranged to initiate a driving maneuver, in particular an emergency stop, if the reliability check performed by the first control unit is negative. A negative reliability check indicates that the information of the second control unit is unreliable and may be incorrect. An emergency stop can avoid endangering the vehicle and other road users.

[0023] An emergency stop is a driving maneuver in which a vehicle autonomously or automatically performs an emergency stop maneuver, such as bringing the vehicle to an emergency stop on a roadside. In such an automatic emergency stop maneuver, the vehicle's forward and lateral steering is performed automatically. The driver assistance system thus assumes control of the vehicle until it comes to a stop. To this end, the driver assistance system controls, for example, the drive, transmission, hydraulic service brakes, and steering.

[0024] Additionally or alternatively, if the reliability check performed by the first control unit is negative, information, in particular a warning, may be issued to the driver of the vehicle, for example indicating that the autonomous driving functions have been switched off and that the driver must take over control of the vehicle.

[0025] According to yet another independent aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a vehicle, particularly an automobile, having a driving assistance system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] The term vehicle includes cars, trucks, buses, trailer homes, motorcycles, etc., used to transport people, goods, etc. In particular, the term passenger transport motor vehicles is included.

[0027] The driving assistance system is preferably provided for automatic driving of a vehicle.

[0028] Within the scope of this specification, the term "automated driving" refers to driving with automatic forward or lateral steering, or autonomous driving with automatic forward and lateral steering. Automated driving can, for example, be relatively long drives on a highway or time-limited drives as part of parking or maneuvering. The term "automated driving" includes automated driving with any level of automation. Exemplary levels of automation are assisted driving, partially automated driving, highly automated driving, and fully automated driving. These levels of automation have been defined by the Federal Association of Transport Systems (BASt) (see the BASt bulletin "Forschung kompakt (Research Compact)", November 2012).

[0029] In assisted driving, the driver continuously performs forward or lateral control while the system assumes other functions within certain limits. In partially automated driving (TAF), the system assumes forward and lateral control for certain periods and / or in special situations, but the driver must constantly monitor the system, as in assisted driving. In highly automated driving (HAF), the system assumes forward and lateral control for certain periods without the driver needing to constantly monitor the system, but the driver must be able to take over control of the vehicle within a certain time. In fully automated driving (VAF), the system automatically manages driving in all situations for certain specialized use cases, and for these use cases the driver is no longer required.

[0030] The four automation levels mentioned above correspond to SAE Levels 1-4 in the SAE J3016 standard (SAE - Society of Automotive Engineering). For example, Highly Automated Driving (HAF) corresponds to Level 3 in the SAE J3016 standard. SAE J3016 also defines SAE Level 5 as the highest automation level not included in the BASt definition. SAE Level 5 corresponds to driverless driving, where the system can automatically handle any situation as if it were a human driver throughout the entire journey, essentially eliminating the need for a driver.

[0031] According to a further independent aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a driving assistance method for a vehicle, in particular an automobile, comprising: transmitting, by a first control unit, a command to perform an action to a second control unit; performing, by the second control unit, the action; transmitting, by the second control unit, information about the performance of the action to the first control unit; and verifying, by the first control unit, the reliability of the received information based on sensor data of at least one first sensor unit provided for the first control unit.

[0032] This driving assistance method may implement aspects of the driving assistance system described herein.

[0033] According to yet another independent aspect of the present disclosure, a software (SW) program is presented that can be adapted to run on one or more processors and thereby perform the driving assistance methods described herein.

[0034] According to yet another independent aspect of the present disclosure, a storage medium is presented that can include a software program configured to execute on one or more processors to perform the driving assistance method for a vehicle described herein.

[0035] According to yet another independent aspect of the present disclosure, software is presented having program code that executes a driving assistance method when the software runs on one or more software-controlled devices.

[0036] Embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated in the figures and are described in detail below. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0037] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic diagram of a driver assistance system for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a vehicle equipped with a driving assistance system for autonomous driving according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 illustrates a flowchart of a driving assistance method for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0038] In the following, the same elements and elements with the same function will be given the same reference numerals unless otherwise specified.

[0039] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a driver assistance system 100 for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] The driving assistance system 100 comprises a first control unit 110 and a second control unit 120, the second control unit 120 being configured to receive instructions for the execution of an operation from the first control unit 110, at least one first sensor unit 130 being provided to the first control unit 110, the second control unit 120 being configured to execute the operation and to transmit information about the execution of the operation to the first control unit 110, and the first control unit 110 being configured to verify the reliability of the information received from the second control unit 120 based on sensor data of the at least one first sensor unit 130.

[0041] In some embodiments, the driver assistance system 100 includes at least one second sensor unit 140 that is associated with the second control unit 120. The at least one second sensor unit 140 may be different from the at least one first sensor unit 130. In particular, the at least one first sensor unit 130 and the at least one second sensor unit 140 may include or be different types of sensors.

[0042] For example, the at least one first sensor unit 130 may be a sensor unit of an environment sensing means of the vehicle 10, such as a camera. Additionally or alternatively, the at least one second sensor unit 140 may be an inertial sensor or an acceleration sensor.

[0043] Typically, the first control unit 110 and the second control unit 120 are connected to each other by a bidirectional communication connection, via which the first control unit 110 and the second control unit 120 can exchange data, in particular data related to instructions for the execution of the above operations and data related to information about the execution of the above operations. The bidirectional communication connection can be a wired communication connection or a wireless communication connection.

[0044] The driver assistance system 100 according to the invention therefore comprises at least two control units (also called "controllers"), one superior to the other, providing a step-by-step verification of reliability.

[0045] In particular, a higher-level control unit requests that a lower-level control unit take a particular action. The subordinate control unit then signals whether it believes that no errors occurred in identifying / performing the action(s), which may be the first stage of a reliability check performed by the subordinate control unit.

[0046] Once the higher-level control unit receives the corresponding information from the lower-level control unit, a new check of reliability is carried out by the higher-level control unit. Only if both control units positively confirm the reliability of the process is the process (e.g., automatic operation) also carried out or continued.

[0047] However, if the higher-level control unit does not affirmatively confirm trustworthiness, the lower-level control unit is not trusted and the process (e.g., automated driving) is aborted according to predefined safety mechanisms. In particular, an emergency stop of the vehicle can be performed, or control of the vehicle can be handed over from the driver assistance system to the driver.

[0048] Advantageously, the authenticity check is based on different sensing means, for example a lower level control unit can check authenticity using inertial sensing means and a higher level control unit can check authenticity using optical sensing means.

[0049] An exemplary detailed implementation of the general principles described above is described below.

[0050] In the case of a driver assistance system incorporating two or more control units, the most significant control unit may be the one that knows and / or is able to determine the absolute position of the vehicle on the road and requests the less significant control unit to negotiate the curve by setting the curvature.

[0051] Next, the lower-level control unit uses an inertial sensor or the like to check whether the calculated radius of curvature matches the radius of curvature that was actually traveled.

[0052] Next, the upper control unit verifies whether the radius of curvature set by the lower control unit matches the radius of curvature actually traveled, based on the absolute position, using an optical sensor or the like.

[0053] If the radii do not match, automated driving may be aborted, which may include, for example, an emergency stop of the vehicle, a warning to the driver, or returning control of the vehicle to the driver.

[0054] FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a vehicle 10 equipped with a driver assistance system 100 for automated driving according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0055] The vehicle 10 has a driver assistance system 100 for automated driving, in which the vehicle 10 is automatically steered in the forward and / or lateral directions. The driver assistance system 100 is thus responsible for steering the vehicle. For this purpose, the driver assistance system 100 controls the drive 20, the transmission 22, the service brakes (e.g., hydraulic) 24, and the steering 26 via intermediate units of the vehicle 10, which are not shown in FIG. 2 .

[0056] To plan and execute automated driving, ambient data from ambient sensing means monitoring the vehicle's surroundings is received by the driver assistance system 100. In particular, the vehicle may have at least one ambient sensor 12 arranged to receive ambient data representative of the vehicle's surroundings. The at least one ambient sensor 12 may, for example, comprise one or more LiDAR systems, one or more radar systems, one or more laser scanners, and / or one or more cameras.

[0057] FIG. 3 shows a schematic flow chart of a driving assistance method 300 for a vehicle, in particular an automobile, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0058] The driving assistance method 300 may be implemented by suitable software and may be executable by one or more processors (such as a CPU).

[0059] This driving assistance method 300 includes, in block 310, a first control unit sending an instruction to a second control unit to perform an action, in block 320, performing the action by the second control unit, in block 330, sending information about the performance of the action to the first control unit, and in block 340, verifying the reliability of the received information based on sensor data of at least one first sensor unit provided for the first control unit.

[0060] According to the present invention, the first control unit uses its own sensor data to verify whether the information provided by the second control unit for performing the above-mentioned actions is reliable. For example, the second control unit can inform the first control unit that the calculated curvature radius matches the traveled curvature radius. The first control unit then verifies this information. If the first control unit concludes that the information provided by the second control unit is unreliable because it does not match the sensor data, the first control unit can take appropriate measures. Such measures can be, for example, an emergency stop and / or a warning to the driver. This can improve the safety integrity of the driver assistance system.

[0061] Although the present invention has been illustrated and described in more detail by preferred exemplary embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, and those skilled in the art can derive other modifications therefrom without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, it is clear that there are many possible modifications. Likewise, it is also clear that the embodiments given as examples are merely examples in nature and should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection, possible applications, or configurations of the present invention in any manner. Rather, the foregoing description of the specification and the illustrations enable those skilled in the art to specifically implement the exemplary embodiments, and those skilled in the art who have acquired knowledge of the disclosed inventive concept can make various modifications, for example, with respect to the function and arrangement of individual elements given in the exemplary embodiments, without departing from the scope of protection defined by the claims and their legal equivalents (e.g., further explanation in the specification).

Claims

1. A driving assistance system (100) for a vehicle (10), comprising: a first control unit (110) and a second control unit (120), the second control unit (120) being configured to receive instructions from the first control unit (110) for the execution of operations for autonomous driving; at least one first sensor unit (130) provided for the first control unit (110); the second control unit (120) is arranged to perform the operations and to transmit information about its performance of the operations to the first control unit (110); The first control unit (110) is arranged to verify the authenticity of the information received from the second control unit (120) based on sensor data of at least one of the first sensor units (130). Driver assistance system.

2. The driver assistance system (100) of claim 1, wherein the first control unit (110) is superior to the second control unit (120).

3. 3. The driving assistance system (100) of claim 1 or 2, further comprising at least one second sensor unit (140) provided to the second control unit (120), wherein the at least one second sensor unit (140) is different from the at least one first sensor unit (130).

4. 4. The driving assistance system (100) of claim 3, wherein the second control unit (120) is configured to confirm the reliability of the execution of the operation based on sensor data of at least one of the second sensor units (140), and the second control unit (120) is further configured to generate the information about the execution of the operation based on a result of the reliability confirmation performed by the second control unit (120).

5. 5. A driving assistance system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which is arranged to initiate an emergency stop driving maneuver if the reliability check performed by the first control unit (110) is negative.

6. 6. A driving assistance system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said instruction for the execution of an action relates to setting a radius of curvature for cornering.

7. 7. A driving assistance system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, which is provided for performing automatic driving.

8. A vehicle (10) comprising a driving assistance system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. A vehicle driving assistance method (300), comprising: sending (310) by the first control unit to the second control unit an instruction for performing an action for autonomous driving; performing (320) the action by the second control unit; transmitting (330) by the second control unit to the first control unit information about its execution of the operation; verifying (340) by the first control unit the authenticity of the received information based on sensor data of at least one first sensor unit associated with the first control unit; A driving assistance method including:

10. 10. A storage medium containing a software program adapted to be executed on one or more processors, thereby performing the driving assistance method (400) of claim 9.

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