Lane Keeping Control System with Driver State and Lane Validation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Lane keeping assistance systems (LKAS) face challenges in accurately recognizing lanes under environmental conditions like snow, rain, and misrecognizing guardrails, leading to malfunction and inability to autonomously start or cancel the system, especially when drivers are drowsy or distracted.

Innovation Solution

An apparatus and method that includes a driving information detecting unit, control start judging unit, control cancellation judging unit, and lane keeping controlling unit to detect lane information and vehicle state, autonomously starting or canceling lane keeping control based on predefined reference values and compensating for misrecognized lanes, ensuring safe lane keeping even when drivers are in abnormal states.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If LKAS uses camera-based lane detection, then lane keeping assistance can be provided, but lane recognition accuracy deteriorates under environmental factors such as snow, rain, guardrails, and brake impressions

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvelane keeping assistance capabilityVSAvoidlane recognition accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a lane recognition determination unit that acts as an intermediary between the camera-based lane detector and the steering controller. This unit validates lane recognition results by checking multiple conditions (lane line continuity, curvature consistency, position relative to vehicle path) before accepting the detected lane, thereby filtering out false detections caused by environmental factors like guardrails, brake impressions, and adverse weather conditions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If LKAS autonomously starts and cancels based on driver state, then safety is improved for drowsy drivers, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesafety for drowsy driversVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the autonomous start/cancel function with the existing lane keeping control system by integrating a driver state monitor and control start/cancel judgment units into the same control apparatus. This unified approach allows the system to autonomously activate or deactivate lane keeping assistance based on detected driver drowsiness without requiring separate independent systems, thereby improving safety while limiting the increase in complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

3Reliability

If LKAS provides continuous steering control, then lane deviation is prevented, but driver sense of difference and discomfort increase when lane information is misrecognized

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvelane deviation preventionVSAvoiddriver discomfort and dangerous situations
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the lane recognition determination unit continuously evaluates the validity of detected lane information and provides feedback to the steering controller. When lane information is determined to be unreliable (due to misrecognition of guardrails, brake impressions, etc.), the system adjusts or suspends steering control to prevent inappropriate corrections that would cause driver discomfort or dangerous situations, while maintaining lane deviation prevention when lane information is valid.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP2876015B1Apparatus and method for controlling lane keeping of vehicle
Publication Date: 2022.08.24 HYUNDAI MOBIS CO LTD
  • EP2876015B1 patent drawingFigure 1
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AI summary

A lane keeping assistance system (LKAS) is a system that detects a lane through a sensor and prevents a vehicle from deviating from the lane by changing positional information of the detected lane to a torque value. Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for controlling lane keeping of a vehicle that start or cancel a lane keeping function based on driving state of the vehicle.