Method for determining an appropriate cornering speed for a vehicle, an apparatus for carrying out the method, and use of the method

Abstract

A method for determining a cornering speed suitable for a vehicle, for a current user of the vehicle, first, in a first step (48), for at least one specific curve, a ratio of the cornering speed driven by the user in the past in the specific curve to the cornering speed driven by at least one other driver in the past in the same at least one specific curve is determined, then, in a second step, for the current or approaching curve, at least one cornering speed in the past of the current or approaching curve of at least one other driver is used and multiplied by the ratio calculated in the first step, then, in a third step (50), the speed calculated in the second step is output as a recommended speed to the user of the vehicle by an output unit. The method is described.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for determining a cornering speed suitable for a vehicle, a device for carrying out the method and the use of the method according to the preambles of the independent claims. [Background technology]

[0002] Technological approaches already exist to warn drivers of vehicles, especially motorcycles, if they are going too fast for a curve ahead. Determining the critical speed for negotiating an upcoming curve is a challenge. Nevertheless, purely driving dynamics approaches have already been pursued, for example for motorcycles.

[0003] In this regard, a driver assistance system is known from Patent Document 1, in which historical driving data of the driver is stored and examined with respect to the driver's reaction patterns. Based on this historical data, the extent to which further action of the driver is necessary is assessed and then provided to the driver assistance system accordingly.

[0004] Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses a method for outputting a warning signal by a navigation device. In this case, when a driver approaches a dangerous location, the navigation device evaluates how the driver has behaved in the past in such a dangerous location, and outputs a warning signal according to the evaluation result.

[0005] Another warning method is known from US Pat. No. 5,629,999, in which a traffic infrastructure transmitting unit outputs location-specific information, which can be communicated to the driver via a receiving unit in the vehicle, if certain situation-based criteria are met.

[0006] Furthermore, from Patent Document 4, a method is known for assisting the driver of a single-trajectory vehicle to safely navigate curves. In this method, on the one hand, current vehicle data is collected and, on the other hand, historical vehicle data regarding the vehicle's limit states is also taken into account. In addition, navigation data is taken into account. If a danger threshold is exceeded, a warning signal is output. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] US Patent Application Publication No. 2013 / 0054049 [Patent Document 2] German Patent Application Publication No. 102017006798 [Patent Document 3] European Patent Application Publication No. 2189959 [Patent Document 4] German Patent Application Publication No. 102014225625 Summary of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, there is provided a method for determining an appropriate cornering speed of a vehicle, a device for carrying out the method and a use of the method, having the distinctive features of the independent claims. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] According to the present invention, a method for determining a vehicle cornering speed suitable for a user is provided. In a first step, a ratio is calculated from historical data on the traversal of at least one specific curve traversed by the user, and the cornering speed reached in that case is known. To this end, at least one cornering speed of the at least one curve traversed in the past by at least one other driver is calculated as a ratio. The ratio is then multiplied by at least one cornering speed of the approaching or current curve traversed by the user at that cornering speed by another driver in the past. The calculated speed for traversing the curve is output to the vehicle user as a recommended speed.

[0010] A particular advantage of this procedure is that by relating the historical data of the user of a vehicle with the corresponding speed data of the user of another vehicle, individual user behavior can be taken into account when calculating the recommended speed for passing through a curve. This individual behavior can be expressed, for example, in individual skills, the technical boundary conditions of the vehicle used, or the driver's risk awareness. This allows for a higher degree of agreement when considering the recommended speed in relation to the driving behavior of the user of a vehicle.

[0011] Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

[0012] It is advantageous if, for a particular curve, a number of cornering speeds selected in the past by different drivers when passing through this curve are taken into account, and based on this number of cornering speeds an analysis based on the mean, quantiles or standard deviation is carried out and used to determine the ratio in the first step of the method described above.

[0013] Furthermore, it is advantageous if the cornering speed of the current or approaching curve is also taken into account for determining the ratio in the first method step of the method described above, this applies both to the use of cornering speeds previously driven by other drivers on the current or approaching curve and to cornering speeds previously selected for this curve by the current user of the vehicle.

[0014] According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, additional road surface parameters are taken into account for the calculation of the recommended speed for negotiating a curve, in particular the road surface condition in the area of ​​the curve, the angle of the curve, the possible road surface gradient, the number of lanes, the geographical position of the curve, the overall curve density of the route, the road surface width, the curvature profile of the road surface in the curve, the possible cross gradient or the possible administrative speed limit.

[0015] In that case, it is furthermore advantageous if the road surface parameters are taken into account in such a way that, for determining the ratio in the first method step, only curves that, in terms of the road surface parameters, have a certain degree of similarity with the approaching or current curve in relation to the user of the vehicle are taken into account. In this way, the reliability and usefulness of the speed recommended for driving around a curve according to the above-mentioned method, and therefore also the acceptance of such a recommended speed, are much higher.

[0016] According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the age of the data relating to the cornering speed in the curve in question, which are used to determine the ratio in the above-described manner, is also taken into account, so that older data are taken into account less than more recent data when determining the ratio, for example by taking into account an age factor of the corresponding speed data.

[0017] According to another particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, in order to calculate the cornering speed suitable for the current or approaching curve, in addition to the ratio of the cornering speeds according to the first method step of the method described above, additional vehicle-specific data are also taken into account, such as the cornering maneuvers actually performed by the vehicle, the vehicle's tilt position, possible intervention of the vehicle's assistance systems, and parameters characterizing the driver's behavior.

[0018] This consideration allows for possible modifications to the output value of the cornering speed appropriate for the vehicle in question. Depending on the availability of vehicle data of other drivers, corresponding vehicle data can also be used to determine the ratio in the first method step, as only cornering speeds by other drivers of specific curves whose vehicle data have a profile that is similar to a certain degree to the vehicle data of the user of the vehicle in question are taken into account.

[0019] According to the present invention, there is additionally provided a driver assistance system, in particular for a single-track motor vehicle, having means for carrying out the method according to the present invention as described above. In that case, the driver assistance system can additionally comprise a control device in addition to an optical or acoustic display unit for indicating the calculated appropriate cornering speed, which can comprise, for example, a data storage device for storing historical data on the user's cornering speed for a predetermined curve or on the cornering speeds of other drivers. Furthermore, a transceiver unit is provided, for example, for receiving such data and / or for storing such data in an external data storage system.

[0020] The driver assistance system described above can be used advantageously for single-track vehicle driving. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] 4 is a schematic flow chart of a method for generating cornering data. [Figure 2]3 is a schematic flow chart of a method for calculating a cornering speed suitable for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawings and explained in more detail in the following description of the figures.

[0023] In FIG. 1, a method for generating cornering data to be used as a basis for carrying out the method for calculating an appropriate cornering speed according to the invention is shown diagrammatically.

[0024] In a first method step 12, the data acquisition method 10 is initiated at a suitable time during the operation of the vehicle. In a second method step 14, vehicle data, in particular vehicle speed data, are collected by sensors in the vehicle or in the driver's area while the vehicle is traveling. The collected vehicle data are then linked in a third method step 16 to data from the vehicle's navigation system, for example, so that the collected vehicle data can be linked with local position data and stored in a map. In a fourth method step 18, it is checked whether the vehicle is currently negotiating a curve.

[0025] If this is not the case, the method returns to the second method step 14 and the data acquisition method 10 is executed again. If it is detected in the fourth method step 18 that the vehicle is currently negotiating a curve, the vehicle data collected during the curve drive are assigned to the curve and correspondingly stored as a data pair in the fifth method step 20. The data are then stored in the sixth method step 22.

[0026] The steps of the method according to the invention for providing a suitable cornering speed for a vehicle are illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 2. Method steps that are the same as in Figure 1 are given the same reference numerals.

[0027] In a first method step 42, the method 40 for determining a cornering speed suitable for a vehicle is started. In a second method step 44, similar to the second method step 14 according to FIG. 1, vehicle data of a vehicle driven by a user is periodically or continuously collected by sensors in the vehicle or in the driver's area. In a third method step 46, the collected vehicle data is correlated with local data, for example, by a navigation system. In a fourth method step 48, if an approaching curve is recognized based on the existing local data, it is first checked whether historical vehicle data of the host vehicle or the currently observed vehicle for the curve in question already exists and / or whether vehicle data regarding the approaching or current curve is available or has been received from an external data source.

[0028] Furthermore, the ratio does not have to correspond to the currently approaching curve, and is calculated from historical data relating to the traversal of at least one particular curve already traversed by the user in the past, in which case the cornering speed achieved is known, and for this purpose at least one other driver's past cornering speed for the same at least one curve is taken into account.

[0029] The resulting ratio is then multiplied by a cornering speed corresponding to the historical vehicle data for the approaching or current curve for the user. The calculated speed for traversing the curve is then output optically or haptically to the driver in a fifth method step 50 as the appropriate cornering speed, or possibly associated with a system intervention, for example a braking intervention.

[0030] In that case, it is advantageous if, for a particular curve, a number of cornering speeds selected by different drivers in the past when traversing this curve are taken into account, and based on this number of cornering speeds an analysis based on the mean, quantiles or standard deviation is carried out and used to determine the ratio in the first step of the method.

[0031] To perform the fourth method step 48, if there is no host vehicle data for the approaching curve, a ratio is determined between the self-selected cornering speed and the cornering speed selected by the other person based on the data set associated with the curve where both the self-selected cornering speed and the cornering speed selected by the other person are present. The resulting ratio is then multiplied by the average cornering speed selected by the other person for the approaching curve. Additionally, the time sequence of the used curve-specific vehicle data and the road surface parameters of the curve can also be taken into account in the calculation according to the fourth method step 48. This is done as already described above.

[0032] In an alternative embodiment, the determination of the ratio in the fourth method step 48 of the method according to the invention can be made available once and calculated on a model basis, rather than being performed anew for each data set. Such a model calculation can be performed, for example, by adding a self-learning system. For example, to create this model, a number of historical data relating to the cornering speeds of the vehicle's own user and other drivers are taken into account and used for the calculation.

[0033] The present invention also provides a vehicle assistance system having means for performing at least the method for determining an appropriate cornering speed according to Fig. 2, and possibly also for performing the method for acquiring data according to Fig. 1. To this end, the driver assistance system ideally comprises a control device including such means for performing the method according to the present invention. Furthermore, the driver assistance system comprises, for example, a data storage area and / or means for transmitting and receiving external data. Furthermore, the driver assistance system comprises, for example, a haptic, acoustic, or optical output system, by means of which the vehicle user can be informed of an appropriate or recommended cornering speed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 10 Data Acquisition Method 12 First Method Step 14 Second Method Step 16 Third Method Step 18 Fourth Method Step 20 Fifth Method Step 22 Sixth Method Step 40 How to determine cornering speed 42 First Method Step 44 Second Method Step 46 Third Method Step 48 Fourth Method Step 50 Fifth Method Step

Claims

1. A method for determining a cornering speed suitable for a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: for a current user of a host vehicle, first, in a first step (48), determining for at least one specific curve a ratio of a cornering speed previously driven by the user at the specific curve to a cornering speed previously driven by at least one other driver other than the user at the same at least one specific curve; then, in a second step, for a current or approaching curve, using at least one past cornering speed of at least one other driver for the current or approaching curve and multiplying it by the ratio calculated in the first step; then, in a third step (50), outputting the speed calculated in the second step as a recommended speed to the user of the host vehicle by an output unit.

2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein for a particular curve, a large number of past cornering speeds of the other drivers at that curve are used, and an analysis of the mean, quantiles, or standard deviation of the cornering speeds for the particular curve is used as the basis for determining the ratio in the first step.

3. 3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that for an approaching or current curve, the determination of the ratio in the first step includes both the past cornering speeds of the other drivers and the cornering speed of the current user of the host vehicle.

4. In addition, road surface parameters of the approaching or current curve are taken into account together to calculate the recommended cornering speed, 3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the road surface parameters are at least one of the following: road surface condition, number of lanes, curvature profile, road surface width, angle of curvature, overall curvature of the course, cross slope, possible road surface incline, geographical location, and administrative speed limit.

5. 5. A method according to claim 4, characterized in that the consideration of the road surface parameters is carried out in such a way that for the calculation of the ratio in the first step only road surfaces are taken into account which, in terms of road surface parameters, are similar to the current or approaching curve to a predetermined extent.

6. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein when determining the ratio in the first step, the age of past data regarding the cornering speed of the at least one specific curve considered to determine the ratio is also taken into account so that older data is taken into account less than newer data.

7. 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising taking into account at least one of the following factors for calculating the appropriate cornering speed for the current or approaching curve: the actual curve being traversed, the vehicle's tilt position, possible intervention of vehicle assistance systems, and the driver's behavior.

8. A driver assistance system for a vehicle, comprising means for carrying out the method according to claim 1 or 2.

9. A single-track vehicle comprising a driver assistance system according to claim 8.

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