DE102014214777A1 - A method of interacting a driver assistance system with a driver of a vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

According to a method for interacting a driver assistance system with a driver of a vehicle, a time (TFA) of the driver's attention is determined depending on the driver's condition. Depending on a detected driving situation of the vehicle (1), at least one possible action (Hi) of the driver assistance system (10) is determined. Depending on the at least one possible action (Hi), a necessary time (T) for assuming control of the vehicle (1) by the driver is determined. Depending on the comparison of the determined necessary time (T) for taking over the control of the vehicle (1) by the driver and the determined time (TFA) of the driver's attention, an interaction of the driver assistance system (10) with the driver is performed.

Description

The invention relates to a method for the interaction of a driver assistance system with a driver of a vehicle, which can be used for example for interacting with the driver in automated driving.

Driver assistance systems for automated driving will in future be able to enable driverless driving of a vehicle. The acceptance of the added value of a driver assistance system for automated driving depends on the possibility of dealing with subjects other than driving while driving. Such occupations can range from telephoning and newspaper reading in a head-up display to completely turning away the foresight on the car, for example by reading or even sleeping. In such a behavior of the driver, while a driver assistance system is capable of autonomously driving the vehicle without any driver intervention, the period of time should be well over ten seconds. A production-ready vehicle with an autonomous driving function should be able to handle all driving situations that require direct intervention below this critical time period. This actually includes all emergency procedures, such as tire bursts, emergency braking for children playing or evasive maneuvers.

On the other hand, can not be completely ruled out that driving situations still occur in which the driver must manually intervene in the control of the vehicle and therefore the driver's attention will continue to be required. This includes, for example, the occurrence of unexpectedly critical driving situations, such as in construction sites, in unclear weather conditions, when driving on roads where the driver assistance system is too uncertain, when parking in tight parking spaces, when approaching toll booths or when entering parking garages with mandatory Manual operation and during roadside checks or during a necessary assistance of the driver for other road users can occur. The possibility of the driver assuming the vehicle, if the situation requires it, will significantly increase the social acceptance of a driver assistance system or of a driverless vehicle, in particular in the first time.

The object of the present invention is to provide a method for the interaction of a driver assistance system with a driver of a vehicle, on the one hand ensures the autonomous driverless driving of the vehicle for a long period of time and on the other hand ensures that a driver, if necessary, the control can take over the vehicle as quickly and safely. A further object of the present invention is to provide a driver assistance system which enables the autonomous, driverless driving of a vehicle over a long period of time and ensures that the driver can assume control of the vehicle again as quickly as possible when a safety-critical situation occurs.

An embodiment of a method for interacting with a driver assistance system of a driver assistance system is specified in patent claim 1. An embodiment of a driving assistance system for carrying out the method is specified in claim 10.

The method provides to determine a condition of the driver. Subsequently, a time of driver's attention as a measure of the driver's attention is determined depending on the driver's previously determined condition. Furthermore, a driving situation of the vehicle is detected. Depending on the detected driving situation, at least one possible action of the driver assistance system is subsequently determined. Depending on the at least one option for action, a necessary time for assuming control of the vehicle by the driver is subsequently determined.

The determined time required for the driver to take control of the vehicle is compared with the determined time of the driver's attention. Depending on the comparison of the determined necessary time for the driver to take control of the vehicle and the determined time of the driver's attention, the interaction of the driver assistance system with the driver is performed.

The method makes it possible to prepare the driver depending on the detected driving situation or depending on the action alternatives of the driving assistance system possible for the detected driving situation on the acquisition of the vehicle, so that he, if necessary, as soon as possible take over the responsibility for the vehicle again , After the driver assistance system has determined, for example, several options for action for a detected driving or traffic situation, a probability with which the driver assistance system selects the option for automatically guiding the vehicle can be determined for each action possibility.

Subsequently, for each course of action depending on a period of time between the time of detecting the driving / traffic situation and the time at which a decision to select the respective course of action is to be made by the driving assistance system, a specific time is determined. The specific time determined for each action option can be weighted, for example, with the associated probability of selecting the action option.

According to one possible embodiment of the method, the necessary time in which the driver must be able to take control of the vehicle, averaged over all possible actions with their associated probability of action, is determined by adding a sum over the weighted specific times of each action is formed. Thus, in the case of driving at higher levels of automation, the method allows a situational calculation of the necessary time in which the driver must be ready to take control of the vehicle again, depending on the prioritized action alternatives of a detected driving / traffic situation.

Determining the time that the driver's attention marks as the time at which the driver can presumably resume control of the vehicle may be calculated as the result of an estimate from a driver monitoring system. Depending on whether the determined time required for the driver to take control of the vehicle is smaller, greater than or equal to the determined time of the driver's attention, an optimized situational HMI (Human Machine Interface) interaction of the driver assistance system with the driver to ensure that the driver is able to regain control of the vehicle in good time or to take action himself.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to figures showing exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Show it:

1 a vehicle having a driver assistance system for interacting with a driver of a vehicle,

2 an embodiment of a method for interacting with a driver assistance system of a driver of a vehicle.

1 shows a vehicle 1 with a driver assistance system 10 for carrying out a method for interaction of the driving assistance system 10 with a driver of the vehicle 1 , The driver assistance system 10 For example, as a system that allows automated driving of the vehicle 1 allows to be trained. The driver assistance system 10 includes, for example, a control computer 11 to perform the method of interaction of the driver assistance system with the driver.

2 3 illustrates in the form of a diagram an embodiment of the method for interaction of the driver assistance system 10 with the driver of the vehicle 1 , In one process step 100 is provided by the driver assistance system 10 the condition of the driver of the vehicle is determined. The condition of the driver may be controlled by a surveillance system, for example by at least one camera 20 , in the interior of the vehicle 1 be determined. Depending on the determined condition of the driver is in a process step 200 a time T _{FA is determined} as a measure of the driver's attention. The driver's attention time T _FA is the time the driver spends taking control of the vehicle, depending on the determined condition of the driver 1 needed.

In one process step 300 is a driving situation, such as a traffic situation in which the vehicle 1 located by the driver assistance system 10 detected. In one process step 400 becomes dependent on the detected driving situation of the driver assistance system 10 at least one option H _i with i = 1, ..., n of the driver assistance system 10 determined for the detected driving situation. The following is the driver assistance system 10 in a process step 500 a necessary time T for assuming control of the vehicle 1 determined by the driver as a function of the at least one possible action H _i .

In one process step 600 is provided by the driver assistance system 10 the determined necessary time T for taking over the control of the vehicle by the driver with the determined time T _FA of the driver's attention compared. Depending on the comparison of the determined necessary time T for the driver to take over the vehicle and the determined time T _FA , which marks the driver's attention, the driver assistance system leads 10 the interaction with the driver through.

According to a possible embodiment of the method, in one method step 510 for each possible alternative H _{i of} the driver assistance system 10 a specific time FT _i with i = 1, ..., n are determined. The specific time FT _i , which is assigned to each possible action H _i , becomes the function of a time period from the time of detecting the driving situation to the time at which the driving assistance system Decision to execute the respective action H _i is taken, determined.

The driver assistance system further determines for each possible alternative action H _i according to which the driver assistance system 10 the vehicle 1 can control, or the need for urgent intervention of the driver of when the driver assistance system has selected the alternative course of action H _i. The necessity of intervention of the driver for a course of action can for example be indicated as a factor F _i ε [0, ..., 1]. If the driver has to intervene with certainty in a selected action alternative H _{i of} the driving assistance system, the associated factor F _i is equal to 1. This will be the case, for example, when the vehicle arrives at the destination, for example when the driver drives the engine of the vehicle Must necessarily switch off the vehicle itself. The specific time FT _i is for each of the options H _i as a function of the previously determined factor F _i or depending on what need or with what urgency the respective action H _i assumption of control of the vehicle 1 required by the driver, determined.

According to a further possible embodiment of the method, the specific times FT _i calculated for each possible alternative H _{i of} the driving assistance system are suitably weighted. The necessary time T for taking over the vehicle 1 by the driver is provided by the driver assistance system 10 determined as a function of the weighted specific times of the possible actions H _i . A possible weighting of the specific times FT _{i is} given below.

For weighting the respective specific time FT _{i of} each possible action H _i , the driver assistance system can 10 For example, a probability p _i with i = 1, ..., n are determined for each possible action H _i . The possibility of an action H _i associated probability p _i is the probability with which the driving assistance system 10 the action alternative H _i for automatically controlling the vehicle in a detected driving situation selects. In the following, possibilities for calculating the probability p _i with which a possible action H _{i is} selected by the driving assistance system are indicated.

The driver assistance system 10 For example, it is possible to determine a respective risk factor R _i with i = 1,..., n for each of the action alternatives H _{i that are} possible in a driving situation. The respective risk factor R _i indicates a measure of a possible, predicted accident risk if the driver assistance system 10 the risk factor R _i assigned course of action H _i for the automatic driving of the vehicle 1 selects. The the means of action H _i associated risk factors R _i may, for example lying in a range between 0 to 1. Thus, in the method, a continuous calculation of the predicted driving risk takes place from the weighted action alternatives in a given driving situation. The calculated driving risk can be displayed visually on a display of the driver assistance system, for example the display of a combination instrument of the vehicle. To determine the predicted accident risk, all sensor data from the vehicle as well as back-end information from a cloud or vehicle fleet intercommunication (car-to-car communication) can be included.

According to another possible embodiment of the method, the probabilities p _i of the driving assistance system can be calculated 10 For each of the possible action alternatives H _i, a respective attractiveness in the form of an attractiveness factor A _i with i = 1,..., n can be determined. The respective attractiveness factor A _i H _i a course of action, which may for example, assume values between 0 and 1, is a measure of the attractiveness of the selection of the attractiveness factor A _i assigned course of action H _i through the driving assistance system 10 ,

The attractiveness A _i for selecting a course of action H _i by the driver assistance system is determined, inter alia, by the value for achieving the objective of the actual mission, for example, depending on whether the direction of a movement of the vehicle in the direction of one of the possible routes is selected when an option H _{i is selected} to the destination. Furthermore, the value of the attractiveness factor A _i for a possible action H _{i can} depend on a degree of difficulty of the onward journey to a destination if the driver assistance system 10 the vehicle 1 according to the action alternative H _i controls. An increased level of difficulty, for example, has a low value of the attractiveness factor the result can then be, for example, if H _i resetting of the vehicle is necessary in the current traffic when performing a course of action.

The respective Probability p _i, with which the driving assist system in a specific course of action selects H _i, can the attractiveness factor Ai are determined in function of the determined for the course of action H _i risk factor R _i and / or. The necessary time T for taking over control of the vehicle by the driver may then be provided by the driver assistance system 10 as a function of the respective specific time FT _{i of} the options H _i and the respective probability p _i with which the driver assistance system controls the vehicle according to the options H _i . In this case, the weighting of the specific time FT _i for each possible action H _i thus takes place as a function of the respective probability p _i for executing the respective option H _i . The necessary time T for taking over the vehicle 1 by the driver can then be determined, for example, with the formula T = Σ _i (FT _i · p). The necessary time T thus indicates the time in which, averaged over all action alternatives H _i with their respective probability of action p _i , the driver must be able to take over control of the vehicle again.

When, in the comparison of the necessary time T for taking over the control of the vehicle by the driver and the determined time T _FA of the driver's attention from the driving assistance system 10 it is determined that the necessary time T is smaller than the time T _FA (T <T _FA ), the interaction of the driving assistance system 10 performed with the driver so that the driver's attention is increased. Through a suitable interaction of the driver assistance system 10 with the driver, the driver is influenced until the time T _{FA of} the driver's attention is less than or equal to the necessary time T of taking over control of the vehicle by the driver (T ≥ T _FA ). Thus, it can be ensured that the driver can regain control of the vehicle in good time by, for example, taking up an activity in which his attention turns more to the traffic situation again.

To the interaction of the driver assistance system 10 Various types of HMI communication can be available with the driver individually or in combination. The communication can be made optically, for example via a display or by means of a light signal, acoustically, for example by sounding a chime or an alarm tone or by playing a melody, or haptically, for example by vibrating the driver's seat. Preferably, the driver assistance system selects 10 that alternative among the types of communication that best suits the prevailing situation. Depending on the comparison of the time required T to take over the vehicle by the driver with the time T _FA of attention of the driver, the driving support system from a more subtle information can select all modes of communication for increasing the driver's attention to an urgent alarm. Another possibility is to control the actual takeover of the vehicle by the driver through a suitable HMI dialog.

The method allows a driver to be disturbed in his employment during automated driving only when the situation requires, so that a maximum degree of freedom can be obtained from the automated driving technique. For example, if the vehicle is in a traffic jam on a freeway with very little traffic or in a convoy, a distracting occupation of the driver with a longer time span for taking over the vehicle control can be tolerated. The more intelligent the driver assistance system already masters autonomous driving, even in difficult situations, the greater is the estimated time T automatically until the driver has to take the necessary action.

This can also be made configurable within certain limits by the driver by the driver can personally influence the takeover time and thus sooner or later is referred to the assumption of control of the vehicle. For example, the driver may personally influence the takeover time by stating that he does not wish to take control of the vehicle within a certain period of time, such as within the next 30 minutes. If the driver assistance system now determines that the determined necessary time T for assuming control of the vehicle is less than the time T _FA of the driver's attention, the driver is not influenced by the driver assistance system. A possible alternative action in a certain traffic situation can not be executed by the driver assistance system in this case. The vehicle then stops, for example, in a parking lot until the traffic situation has improved again.

The method makes it possible, on the one hand, to offer the driver the greatest possible benefit of a driver assistance system for driverless driving and, on the other hand, not to leave a safe operating state through a continuous risk assessment. A situation-based, adapted HMI strategy for the preparation of the driver to take over the driving task, the greatest possible security gain is achieved. The perception of an intelligent control or the adaptation of the driver assistance system and the associated positive user experience increase the comfort and increase the acceptance of such a system.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

 vehicle

10

 Driving Assistance System

11

 tax calculator

20

 camera

100, ..., 700

steps

Claims (11)

A method of interacting a driver assistance system with a driver of a vehicle, comprising: determining a driver's condition; determining a driver's attention time (T _FA ) based on the driver's condition as a measure of the driver's attention; Driving situation of the vehicle ( 1 ), - determining at least one possible action (H _i ) of the driver assistance system ( 10 ) depending on the detected driving situation, - determining a necessary time (T) to take control of the vehicle ( 1 ) by the driver as a function of the at least one possibility of action (H _i ), - comparison of the determined necessary time (T) for assuming control of the vehicle ( 1 ) by the driver with the determined time (T _FA ) of the driver's attention, - performing the interaction of the driving assistance system ( 10 ) with the driver as a function of the comparison of the determined necessary time (T) for assuming control of the vehicle ( 1 ) by the driver and the determined time (T _FA ) of the attention of the driver. Method according to claim 1, comprising: determining a plurality of different options for action (H _i ) as a function of the detected driving situation, determining a time (FTi) specific to each action option (Hi) as a function of a time span from the time of detection of the Driving situation up to the point in time for the selection of the respective possibility of action (H _i ) by the driving assistance system ( 10 ), - determining the necessary time (T) to take control of the vehicle ( 1 ) by the driver as a function of the specific times (FT _i ) of the options for action (H _i ). Method according to claim 2, comprising: determining the respective specific time (FT _i ) for each of the options for action (H _i ) depending on whether the respective possibility of action (H _i ) entails assuming control of the vehicle (H _i ) 1 ) required by the driver. Method according to one of claims 2 or 3, comprising: determining a respective weighting for each of the specific times (FT _i ), determining the necessary time (T) for assuming control of the vehicle ( 1 ) by the driver depending on the weighted specific times of action (Hi). Method according to one of claims 2 to 4, - determining a respective probability (p _i ) for each of the options (Hi) as the probability with which the driver assistance system ( 10 ) carries out the respective action (H _i ), - determining the time required (T) to take over the vehicle ( 1 ) by the driver as a function of the respective specific time (FT _i ) of the possibilities of action (H _i ) and the respective probability (p _i ) of the possibilities of action (Hi). Method according to claim 5, comprising: determining respective risk factors (R _i ) for each of the possible actions (H _i ), the respective risk factor (R _i ) indicating a measure of a possible accident risk if the driver assistance system (R) 10 ) Which the risk factor (R _i) assigned course of action (H _i) for driving the vehicle ( 1 ) Selects, - determining the respective probability (p _i) for each of the possible actions (H _i) in response to the action of the respective capacity (H _i) associated risk factor (R _i). Method according to one of claims 5 or 6, comprising: determining respective attractiveness factors (A _i ) for each of the action options (H _i ), the respective attractiveness factor (A _i ) being a measure of the attractiveness of the selection of the attractiveness factor (A _i ) associated action possibility (H _i ) by the driving assistance system ( 10 ) Indicating - determining the respective probability (p _i) for each of the possible actions (H _i) in response to the (of each course of action H _i) attractiveness associated factor (A _i). Method according to one of claims 1 to 7, comprising: determining the state of the driver by at least one camera ( 20 ) in the interior of the vehicle ( 1 ). Method according to one of claims 1 to 8, comprising: performing the interaction of the driving assistance system ( 10 ) with the driver when the driver assistance system ( 10 ) determines that the time required (T) for taking over the vehicle ( 1 ) by the driver is less than the determined time (T _FA ) of the attention of the driver. Driver assistance system comprising: a control computer ( 11 ) for carrying out the method according to one of claims 1 to 9. Driving assistance system according to claim 10, wherein the driving assistance system ( 10 ) is designed for automated driving.

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