Vehicle Sensor Checking via Digital Map Feature Comparison
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle surroundings detection systems lack a reliable method to continuously check the efficiency and accuracy of sensors, leading to potential unsafe automated driving scenarios due to sensor degradation or limitations, such as fog or dirt affecting camera or radar sensors.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a digital map with stored features of stationary objects, accessed from a central storage unit, compares expected and actual sensor data to detect deviations, enabling timely recognition of sensor degradation and adjusting the vehicle's automation level or transferring control to the driver for safe operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If sensor data is continuously monitored and compared with digital map features to detect degradation, then measurement precision and reliability are improved, but device complexity increases due to additional processing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-stores features of stationary objects (traffic signs, road markings, buildings) in a digital map before the vehicle reaches those locations. This preliminary preparation allows for immediate comparison with sensor data when the vehicle approaches, enabling rapid degradation detection without requiring complex real-time processing of all possible objects.
Solution Approach 2:
A central storage unit (server) acts as an intermediary between the vehicle's sensor system and the digital map database. The server stores and manages the digital map features, receiving requests from vehicles and providing comparison data. This intermediary architecture distributes processing complexity away from the vehicle itself, reducing on-board computational requirements while maintaining high measurement precision.
2Loss of information
If a central storage unit external to the vehicle is used to store digital map features, then loss of information is reduced and data availability is improved, but device complexity increases due to external communication requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The central storage unit serves multiple functions: it stores digital map features for multiple vehicles, updates the digital map with new information from various sources, and provides data to any vehicle that requests it. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise require separate systems in each vehicle, reducing overall complexity while improving data availability for all users.
3Reliability
If the projection horizon is extended to detect sensor degradation earlier, then reliability is improved, but use of energy increases due to longer range processing
Solution Approach 1:
The system focuses computational resources on specific local areas of interest rather than processing the entire field of view uniformly. By identifying and prioritizing features of stationary objects that are critical for safety (traffic signs, road markings) within the projection horizon, the system achieves high reliability for degradation detection while minimizing energy consumption by avoiding unnecessary processing of irrelevant areas.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for checking at least one surroundings detection sensor of a vehicle involves localizing the vehicle on a digital map and identifying features of stored stationary objects of the surroundings of the vehicle in the digital map, of which it is expected that they are recognized by the surroundings detection sensor. The surroundings of the vehicle are detected by the surroundings detection sensor and it is concluded that there has been a degradation of the surroundings detection sensor when the features to be recognized according to expectations are not recognized by the surroundings detection sensor or when features actually detected by the surroundings detection sensor deviate greatly from the features to be recognized according to expectation. The digital map with the stored features of the stationary objects is retrieved for a predetermined projection horizon of a central storage unit external to the vehicle.