KR20170016202A - Pedestrian protection apparatus and control method for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a pedestrian protection device and a control method thereof, and a control method of a pedestrian protection device according to an embodiment of the present invention, comprises: a step of using at least one sensor mounted on a vehicle to obtain information on a pedestrian in a sensing area; a step of calculating a safe area for the pedestrian based on the obtained information on the pedestrian; a step of calculating a travelable area, which is an area not overlapping with the safe area, among the sensing areas; and a step of setting a first limit range for a speed of the vehicle and a second limit range for a steering wheel angle based on the travelable area.

Description

[0001] DESCRIPTION [0002] PEDESTRIAN PROTECTION APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD FOR THE SAME [

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pedestrian protection apparatus and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a pedestrian protection apparatus and a control method thereof that prevent a vehicle from traveling to a path where a collision with a pedestrian is expected.

The Autonomous Emergency Braking system is a system that primarily warns the driver when a collision with an obstacle such as a pedestrian is expected and brakes the vehicle secondarily when the driver does not respond to the warning, It has an important role in the safety of

On the other hand, in order for the autonomous emergency braking system to operate correctly, it is required to accurately detect an obstacle such as a pedestrian, and various sensors such as a camera, a radar, and a rider are currently mounted on the vehicle. Prior art documents related thereto are disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Nos. 10-2013-0021990 and 10-2015-0001119.

Such prior arts including the above prior art documents are merely proposed for solving only pedestrian recognition performance improvement and consequent collision prevention. That is, in the prior art, when the vehicle runs on a place crowded with many pedestrians, it is desired to prevent the collision with the pedestrian from proceeding in advance, It is not present at all.

According to embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a pedestrian protection device for defining a path in which a collision with a pedestrian is expected, And a control method therefor.

The problems of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and other problems not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for detecting a pedestrian in a sensing area using at least one sensor mounted on a vehicle, Calculating a safe area for the pedestrian based on the information about the obtained pedestrian; Calculating a travelable area, which is an area not overlapping with the safe area, of the sensing area; And setting a first limit range for the speed of the vehicle and a second limit range for the steering wheel angle based on the travelable area.

The step of acquiring information on the pedestrian may include: detecting at least one object in the sensing area based on a sensing signal output from the sensor; And processing the object as the pedestrian if the object matches the pre-stored pedestrian feature.

The at least one sensor may include at least one of a radar, a driver, and a camera mounted on one side of the vehicle.

Converting a view of a surrounding image of the sensing area generated by the camera to obtain a top view image; And displaying a first graphic object corresponding to the safe area and a second graphic object corresponding to the travelable area on the top view image.

In addition, the information on the pedestrian may include a position, a speed, and a moving direction of the pedestrian.

The step of calculating the safe area for the pedestrian may change at least one of the size and the shape of the safe area based on the changed speed when the speed of the pedestrian is changed.

Further, when the pedestrian is in a stop state, the safe area may be a circle having a radius of the first length centered on the position of the pedestrian.

Further comprising the step of, when the pedestrian is moving, predicting a change in the position of the pedestrian based on the speed and the moving direction of the pedestrian, It can be a circle with a radius of two lengths.

The method may further include controlling the vehicle within the first limit range and the second limit range.

The method may further include outputting an alarm message when the speed of the vehicle is out of the first limit range or when the steering wheel angle of the vehicle is out of the second limit range.

The effects of the pedestrian protection device and the control method according to the present invention will be described as follows.

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present invention, there is an advantage that the entry of the vehicle into the set area can be prevented in advance by previously setting an area where a collision with the pedestrian is expected.

Further, according to at least one of the embodiments of the present invention, the position and movement of the pedestrian are tracked, and the area in which the running of the vehicle is blocked is updated in real time or periodically according to the tracked result, , The position, the speed and the direction), it is possible to secure pedestrian safety above a certain level.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the claims.

1 shows a block diagram of a pedestrian protection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a flowchart showing a control method of a pedestrian protection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3A and 3B show an example of a pedestrian detection result performed by the pedestrian protection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4A and 4B illustrate an example in which a pedestrian protection device according to an embodiment of the present invention calculates a safe area of a pedestrian.
FIG. 5 shows a result of calculating a safe area for each of the pedestrians shown in FIG. 3B, using the method described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 6 shows an example in which the pedestrian protection device according to the embodiment of the present invention restricts the speed and running direction of the vehicle based on the travelable area shown in Fig. 5 (b).

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to designate identical or similar elements, and redundant description thereof will be omitted. The suffix "module" and " part "for the components used in the following description are given or mixed in consideration of ease of specification, and do not have their own meaning or role. In the following description of the embodiments of the present invention, a detailed description of related arts will be omitted when it is determined that the gist of the embodiments disclosed herein may be blurred. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. , ≪ / RTI > equivalents, and alternatives.

Terms including ordinals, such as first, second, etc., may be used to describe various elements, but the elements are not limited to these terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, . On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between.

The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In the present application, the terms "comprises", "having", and the like are used to specify that a feature, a number, a step, an operation, an element, a component, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a pedestrian protection apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, a pedestrian protection apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a sensor unit 110, an information storage unit 120, a pedestrian detection unit 130, an output unit 140, a driving unit 150 And a control unit 160. [0033]

The sensor unit 110 senses various objects existing in the vicinity of the vehicle and outputs a corresponding sensing signal. At this time, the sensing signal may be a signal that the sensor unit 110 outputs as a result of sensing the sensing area.

The sensor unit 110 includes at least one sensor. For example, the sensor unit 110 may include at least one of a camera 112, a radar 114, and a driver 116. However, the type of the sensor is not limited thereto, and it is not particularly limited as long as it is an ultrasonic sensor or any other sensor capable of detecting an object.

Particularly, the camera 112 photographs the periphery of the vehicle and generates a peripheral image. For example, the camera 112 may be mounted on a front side of the vehicle to generate a forward image of the vehicle. For example, the camera 112 may be mounted on one side of the vehicle in front, rear, left, and right sides to generate a forward image, a rear image, a left image, and a right image. ). ≪ / RTI > By such a synthesizing process, it is possible to generate the same surround view image as when the vehicle is turned from top to bottom.

The information storage unit 120 stores various information related to the vehicle. Specifically, the information storage unit 120 may store characteristic information for each object. The control unit 160 compares the object feature information stored in the information storage unit 120 with the object detected by the sensor unit 110 so that the object detected by the sensor unit 110 is classified can do. In addition, the information storage unit 120 may store information on the specifications (e.g., full height, full width, and total length) of the vehicle.

The information storage unit 120 may store the sensing signal output by the sensor unit 110 either permanently or temporarily.

In addition, the information storage unit 120 may store various programs for operating the controller 160, and input / output data.

The information storage unit 120 may provide at least a part of the stored information to the control unit 160 in response to a request from the control unit 160, which will be described later.

In addition, the information storage unit 120 may store an alarm message according to circumstances to be output by the output unit 140, which will be described later.

In addition, the information storage unit 120 may store the view conversion information. Here, the view conversion information refers to information that converts information about a view, such as information for converting a peripheral image generated by the camera 112 into a top-view image, or information for mutual conversion between a three-dimensional space and a two- And may be information for converting or projecting information on the view.

The information storage unit 120 may be a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a programmable read- A flash memory type, a hard disk type, a card type information storage unit 120, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and the like And media.

The pedestrian detection unit 130 detects a pedestrian around the vehicle based on a sensing signal provided from the sensor unit 110. [ The pedestrian detection unit 130 may include a comparison module 132, a pedestrian information calculation module 134, and a pedestrian tracking module 136.

The comparison module 132 compares the object corresponding to the sensing signal provided from the sensor unit 110 with the characteristic information for each object stored in the information information storage unit 120 and outputs the object detected by the sensor unit 110 It is possible to judge the type of the pedestrian, that is, the pedestrian.

The pedestrian information calculation module 134 can calculate information on the detected pedestrian when the pedestrian is detected by the comparison module 132. [ For example, the pedestrian information calculation module 134 can calculate information on the size, position, speed, moving direction and the like of the pedestrian.

The pedestrian tracking module 136 may track the pedestrian until the detected pedestrian leaves the sensing area of the sensor unit 110. [ Further, the pedestrian tracking module 136 can track any one pedestrian independently of the other pedestrians when there are a plurality of detected pedestrians.

The output unit 140 outputs various information related to the vehicle or the pedestrian to a signal of a form recognizable by the user. In particular, the output unit 140 may output an alarm message indicating a risk of collision with a pedestrian in at least one manner. For example, the output 140 may include a sound module 142 and a display module 144. The sound module 142 outputs the alarm message as an audible signal, and the display module 144 can output the alarm message as a visual signal.

The driving unit 150 can control the driving of the vehicle. The driving unit 150 may include a speed adjusting module 152 and a steering adjusting module 154.

The speed adjusting module 152 can increase or decrease the speed of the vehicle or keep it within a predetermined range under the control of the controller 160, which will be described later. For example, the speed adjustment module 152 may adjust the speed of the vehicle by driving the braking device provided in the vehicle to decelerate the vehicle, or adjust the amount of fuel supplied to the engine.

The steering control module 154 can maintain the traveling direction of the vehicle (e.g., the heading angle) within a predetermined range under the control of the controller 160, which will be described later. For example, the steering control module 154 may control a motor of an MDPS (Motor Driven Power Steering) provided in the vehicle to control the steering wheel of the vehicle not to be rotated over a predetermined angle.

The control unit 160 controls the overall operation of the pedestrian protection apparatus 100. [ The control unit 160 processes signals, data, and information input and output through the sensor unit 110, the information storage unit 120, the pedestrian detection unit 130, the output unit 140, and the driving unit 150 . In addition, the controller 160 can provide appropriate information or functions to the user by driving an application program stored in the information storage unit 120. [

The control unit 160 may include a view transformation module 162, a safe region calculation module 164, and a travelable region calculation module 166. [

The view conversion module 162 may convert the view of the information corresponding to the sensing signal generated by the sensor units 110 and 110.

For example, the view conversion module 162 may convert a plurality of images (e.g., a front image, a rear image, a left image, and a right image) generated by a camera 112 mounted on one side of the vehicle, So as to generate an arousal view image as if looking down the vehicle from the top.

As another example, the position of an object in the sensing area sensed by the radar 114 or the like can be projected onto a top view plane corresponding to the sensing area. This will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings.

The safe area calculation module 164 can calculate the safe area for each pedestrian based on the information about the pedestrian detected by the pedestrian detection part 130. [ Here, the safe area is defined as an area for blocking the collision between the vehicle and the pedestrian, and means an area where entry of the vehicle is restricted.

The travelable area calculation module 164 calculates a travelable area that is an area where the vehicle is allowed to travel based on the safe area for each pedestrian calculated by the safety area calculation module 164. For example, when the safety area calculation module 164 calculates a part of the sensing area as the above-described safe area based on the sensing signal of the sensor unit 110 (110) that has performed object sensing on the sensing area, The possible area calculation module 164 may calculate a small part of the remaining area excluding the safe area among the corresponding detection areas as the travelable area.

On the other hand, the pedestrian protection apparatus 100 described above with reference to Fig. 1 can be mounted on a vehicle.

2 is a flowchart showing a control method of the pedestrian protection apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the controller 160 may generate a sensing signal for an object in the sensing area using at least one sensor included in the sensing unit 110 (S210).

The control unit 160 detects at least one object in the sensing area from the vehicle based on the sensing signal output from the sensor unit 110 using the comparison module 132, An object matched with the pedestrian characteristic can be detected as a pedestrian. At this time, it is needless to say that a plurality of pedestrians located in the detection area can be detected at the same time.

Next, the control unit 160 can acquire information on the detected pedestrian based on the sensing signal output from the sensor unit 110 using the pedestrian information calculation module 134 (S220). At this time, the information on the pedestrian is not particularly limited as long as it is related to the pedestrian such as the size and position of the detected pedestrian (e.g., the lateral distance and the longitudinal distance with respect to the vehicle), the speed,

Meanwhile, during steps S210 and S220, the control unit 160 may track the detected pedestrian in real time or periodically using the pedestrian tracking module 136. [

Next, the control unit 160 may convert the view of the pedestrian information obtained through step S220 using the view conversion module 162 (S230). For example, based on the position of the pedestrian relative to the vehicle (for example, the lateral distance and the longitudinal distance of the pedestrian with respect to the vehicle), the control unit 160 controls the two-dimensional top view plane It is possible to calculate the coordinate values (i.e., x-coordinate and y-axis coordinate) of the pedestrian and project the calculated coordinate values on the top view plane. However, it is to be understood that S230 is not essential and may be omitted depending on the embodiment.

If step S220 or step S230 is performed, the controller 160 calculates a safe area for the pedestrian based on the information about the pedestrian (S240). At this time, the safe area is an area included in the above-described sensing area in the description of step S210.

For example, the pedestrian in the stop state can move at the same probability with respect to all directions centering on the current position of the pedestrian. In this case, the control unit 160 may center the current position of the stopped pedestrian, A circle whose distance is a radius can be calculated as a safe area for a pedestrian stopping.

In another example, in the case of a moving pedestrian, the position of the pedestrian is continuously changed, and the controller 160 can predict the future position of the moving pedestrian based on the current position, speed, and moving direction. Accordingly, the control unit 160 can calculate a circle having a predetermined second distance as a radius around the predicted position as a safe area for a moving pedestrian.

At this time, in the above two examples, the second distance may have a value larger than the first distance.

On the other hand, when the speed or moving direction of the pedestrian is changed, the controller 160 may change at least one of the size and the shape of the safe area based on the changed parameters. For example, as the speed of the pedestrian increases, the control unit 160 can increase the size of the safe area. As another example, when the pedestrian moves in one direction, the control unit 160 can calculate the bar-shaped safe area that is elongated along the moving direction.

Then, the control unit 160 may calculate the travelable area, which is an area that is not overlapped with the safety area calculated through step S240 (S250). At this time, the controller 160 may set all the remaining areas of the sensing area except for the safe area as the travelable area. Alternatively, of all the remaining areas of the detection area other than the safe area, an area in which the vehicle can continuously travel from the present position (width of the vehicle) is formed as the travelable area.

Next, the control unit 160 may set a limiting range to at least one of the vehicle speed and the steering wheel angle based on the travelable area (S260). Specifically, based on the size and shape of the travelable region, the control unit 160 can set a first limit range for the speed of the vehicle or a second limit range for the steering wheel angle.

For example, the smaller the travelable area, the less the speed of the vehicle may be, so that the upper limit of the first limit range may be lowered.

As another example, the wider the travelable area, the wider the second limiting range.

As another example, when the travelable area is a bar shape (for example, a straight road without a pedestrian) on which the width of the vehicle is formed, the controller 160 can set only the second restriction area without setting the first restriction area have.

Next, the control unit 160 may control the driving of the vehicle within the set limit through step S260 using the driving unit 150 (S270).

Specifically, the driving unit 150 can maintain the speed of the vehicle within the first limit range under the control of the control unit 160. [ For example, even if the driver of the vehicle continues to depress the accelerator pedal, if the speed of the vehicle reaches the upper limit of the first limit range, then the acceleration command by the accelerator pedal can be ignored thereafter.

In addition, the driving unit 150 can maintain the traveling direction of the vehicle within the second limit range under the control of the control unit 160. [ For example, when the steering wheel angle reaches the lower limit or the upper limit of the second limit range by the driver of the vehicle, the driving unit 150 can stop the driving direction control operation of the vehicle based on the steering wheel angle.

As another example, when the steering wheel angle reaches the lower limit or the upper limit of the second limit range by the driver of the vehicle, the driver 150 adjusts the rotational force and the rotational direction of the motor of the MDPS (Motor Driven Power Steering) , The current steering wheel can be forcibly rotated in the opposite direction.

On the other hand, when the driver reaches the limit value of at least one of the first restriction range and the second restriction range, the control unit 160 can output the alarm message to the driver using the output unit 140. [

Alternatively, when the driver operates the vehicle so as to deviate from at least one of the first restriction range and the second restriction range, the control unit 160 can output an alarm message to the driver using the output unit 140. [ At this time, the controller 160 determines which one of the plurality of different alarm messages to output to the driver based on the amount of the vehicle speed out of the first limit range or the steering wheel angle of the vehicle out of the second limit range Can be selected. For example, when the speed of the vehicle is out of the first limit range by a first value, a first warning message in visual form is selected and output, and when the speed of the vehicle is equal to or greater than the first limit (second value) When out of order, a second alarm message in acoustical and visual format can be selected and output.

On the other hand, if the surrounding image for the sensing area generated by the camera 112 is included in the sensing signal generated through step S210, the controller 160 converts the view of the surrounding image, The first graphic object corresponding to the safe area calculated through step S240 and the second graphic object corresponding to the travelable area calculated through step S250 are displayed on the top view image through the display module 144 Can be displayed.

3A and 3B show an example of a pedestrian detection result performed by the pedestrian protection apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the sensing area where the sensor unit 110 performs sensing of the object is an area within a predetermined range from the front of the vehicle 1.

3A, the camera 112 of the sensor unit 110 may photograph the front of the vehicle 1 to generate a front image 310 as shown in FIG. At this time, the pedestrian detecting unit 130 detects at least one pedestrian present in the sensing area based on the sensing signals of the sensor unit 110 including the front image 310, under the control of the controller 160 . 3A illustrates a case where eight pedestrians (P ₁ -P ₈ ) are detected.

In addition, the pedestrian detection unit 130 can calculate the information of the detected pedestrians (P ₁ -P ₈ ). Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the pedestrian-is the information (P _{1 P8),} it is assumed to be included in the pedestrian (P ₁ -P _8), each of the position, speed and direction of travel. At this time, the pedestrian detecting unit 130 may calculate a vector corresponding to the velocity and the moving direction of the pedestrians P ₁ -P ₈ .

Next, FIG. 3B illustrates the result of projecting the position of each of the pedestrians P ₁ -P ₈ shown in FIG. 3A onto the two-dimensional top view plane 320. The top view plane 320 may be a plane consisting of an X axis orthogonal to the center line of the vehicle 1 and a Y axis parallel to the center line of the vehicle 1 with a position of the vehicle 1 as the origin O . However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that the origin O, the X axis, and the Y axis of the top view plane 320 may be defined differently according to other criteria.

Specifically, the position of each of the pedestrians (P ₁ -P ₈ ) shown in FIG. 3A can be converted to one coordinate in the top view plane 320 shown in FIG. 3B. That is, the positions of the _eight pedestrians P ₁ -P ₈ shown in FIG. 3A can correspond to the _eight coordinates (C ₁ -C ₈ ) shown in FIG. 3B in order.

For example, the coordinates of C ₁ of P ₁ is (x _1, y _1), the coordinates of C ₂ of P ₂ is (x _2, y _2), a C ₃ of the P ₃ coordinates (x _3, y _3), coordinates of C ₄ of the P ₄ is the _{(x 4, y 4),} P -coordinate of C ₅ of ₅ (x _5, y _5), the coordinates of C6 of P ₆ are _{(x 6, y 6),} P 7 The coordinates C ₇ can be projected onto the top view plane 320 as (x ₇ , y ₇ ) and C _{8 as} the coordinates of P ₈ (x ₈ , y ₈ ).

In addition, the controller 160 may convert the velocity and the moving direction of each of the pedestrians P ₁ -P ₈ into a vector of the top view plane 320. For example, the vector of the top view plane 320 (see FIGS. 4A and 4B) corresponding to the movement of the pedestrian may be information including the X-axis direction velocity and the Y-axis direction velocity.

The pedestrian coordinates (C ₁ - C ₈ ) of the sensor unit 110 are assumed to be sensed only in the sensing area in front of the vehicle 1, Only the region S corresponding to the actual sensing region can be located.

4A and 4B show an example in which the pedestrian protection apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention calculates the safe area of a pedestrian. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the position and vector of the pedestrian are transformed to correspond to the top view plane as described above with reference to Fig. 3B.

The control unit 160 can calculate a circle having a predetermined radius as a safe area based on a point calculated based on the position and motion vector of each pedestrian.

At this time, the controller 160 can calculate the center of the safe area for each of the pedestrians using the following equation (1).

In Equation 1, x is a pedestrian's X coordinate, y is the Y coordinate of the pedestrian, x a "is the pedestrian X-axis velocity, y 'is the Y-axis speed of the pedestrian, k is the center of the weight, r ^x is won X axis coordinates, and r ^y means Y axis coordinates of the center of the circle. In this case, the unit of k is a time, a fixed constant, or a variable that is added or subtracted by the controller 160 according to the speed of the pedestrian.

First, FIG. 4A illustrates a safety zone 410 calculated in the form of a circle with respect to a pedestrian P _n that is stationary. C _{n, which} is a coordinate of the top view plane corresponding to the position of the pedestrian stopping, is represented by (x _n , y _n ), and the vector V _n can be expressed by (x _n ', y _n '). Here, x _n 'is an X-axis direction speed of the pedestrian (P _n), y _n' may be the Y-axis direction speed of the pedestrian (P _n). At this time, since the speed of the pedestrian P _{n that} is stationary is zero, V _n will be calculated as (0, 0).

Substituting this into Equation ( ₁ ), the coordinates of the center (r ₁ ) of the safe area 410 becomes C _n which is the same as the position of the pedestrian (P _n ). At this time, the controller 160 may calculate the safety zone 410 having the radius of the first length R1.

Next, FIG. 4B illustrates a safe area 420 calculated in the shape of a circle with respect to the moving pedestrian P _t . _{Ct, which} is a coordinate of the top view plane corresponding to the position of the moving pedestrian, is represented by (x _t , y _t ), and the vector V _t can be expressed by (x _t ', y _t '). Here, x _t 'is the X-axis direction velocity of the pedestrian (P _t ) and y _t ' may be the Y-axis direction velocity of the pedestrian (P _t ). For example, the vector of each of the pedestrians (P ₁ -P ₈ ) shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B may be calculated as V ₁ to V ₈ .

Substituting this into Equation 1, the center r ₂ of the safe area 420 moves by kx _t 'from the position C _t of the pedestrian P _n to the X axis and moved by ky _t ' along the Y axis (X _t + _k x _t ', y _t + _k y _t '). At this time, the controller 160 may calculate the safe area 420 having the radius of the second length R2.

On the other hand, the first length R1 and the second length R2 of FIG. 4A may be the same value.

Alternatively, the second length R2 may be a value greater than the first length R1. More specifically, as the speed of the pedestrian increases, the pedestrian may move to a wider area for the same time. Therefore, when the speed of the pedestrian increases, the safe area may be enlarged by the corresponding size.

5 shows a result of calculating the safe area for each of the pedestrians shown in FIG. 3B, using the method described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, by the pedestrian protection apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention . For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the radii of the safety zones for each pedestrian are all the same, and the X and Y axes are omitted.

According to (a) of Figure 5, all of the pedestrian (see FIG marks P ₁ -P ₈ of 3a) coordinates (C ₁ -C ₈₎ and the vector of the case that is the movement, of the pedestrian (P ₁ -P ₈₎ ( V ₁ -V ₈ ). As described above, the center of the safe areas 501-508 may be located at a distance corresponding to the vector (V ₁ -V ₈ ) from the coordinates (C ₁ -C ₈ ). At this time, one of the safety areas may overlap or be separated from the other safety areas.

According to FIG. 5B, the calculated travelable area 510 is illustrated based on the safety areas 501-508 shown in FIG. 5A. Specifically, the controller 160 may calculate the travelable area 510 within the area overlapping with the safety areas 501-508 among the area S corresponding to the sensing area.

As described above, the information storage unit 120 may be a state in which the specification information of the vehicle 1 is stored in advance. Accordingly, the control unit 160 searches the area where the vehicle 1 can pass, of the areas overlapping with the safety areas 501-508, based on the full length and the full width of the vehicle, (510).

For example, the travelable area 510 shown in Fig. 5B does not overlap with the safety areas 501-508 among the area S of the top view plane corresponding to the sensing area, May be an ensured width and length.

6 shows an example in which the pedestrian protection device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention restricts the speed and running direction of the vehicle based on the travelable area 510 shown in Fig. 5 (b) .

Referring to FIG. 6, the control unit 160 can set a restriction range to any one of the speed and the running direction of the vehicle 1 based on the travelable area 510. The limitation on the running direction of the vehicle 1 can be realized by limiting the steering wheel angle. At this time, the controller 160 can continuously update the predetermined limit range for each of the speed and running direction of the vehicle 1 in accordance with the motion of the vehicle 1.

For example, the closer the vehicle 1 is to the safe zone, the less the upper limit for the speed of the vehicle 1 can be.

As another example, the narrower the width of the travelable area 510, the smaller the limitation on the steering wheel angle can be.

The control unit 160 provides the driving unit 150 with a first limiting range for the speed of the vehicle 1 and a second limiting range for the steering wheel angle so that the driving unit 150 reduces the speed of the vehicle 1 Or to block further changes in the steering wheel angle.

For example, as shown in the figure, the control unit 160 controls the driving unit 150 so that the center of the vehicle 1 is located at the first position 601, the second position 602 And the third position 603 in this order.

Of course, when no pedestrian is detected or the distance between the vehicle 1 and the safe area is greater than a predetermined value, the possibility of collision with the pedestrian is very small or absent. In this case, It is apparent to those skilled in the art that a limitation on the driving direction may not be set.

The embodiments of the present invention described above are not only implemented by the apparatus and method but may be implemented through a program for realizing the function corresponding to the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention or a recording medium on which the program is recorded, The embodiments can be easily implemented by those skilled in the art from the description of the embodiments described above.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Therefore, it is to be understood that the present invention may be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the accompanying drawings, and all or some of the embodiments may be selectively combined so that various modifications may be made.

100: Pedestrian protection device
110:
120: Information storage unit
130: Pedestrian detection unit
140:
150:
160:

Claims (10)

Using at least one sensor mounted on a vehicle to obtain information on a pedestrian in a sensing area;
Calculating a safe area for the pedestrian based on the information about the obtained pedestrian;
Calculating a travelable area, which is an area not overlapping with the safe area, of the sensing area; And
Setting a first limit range for the speed of the vehicle and a second limit range for the steering wheel angle based on the travelable area;
And a control unit for controlling the pedestrian protection device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step of acquiring information on the pedestrian comprises:
Detecting at least one object in the sensing area based on a sensing signal output from the sensor; And
Processing the object as the pedestrian if the object matches the pre-stored pedestrian feature;
And a control unit for controlling the pedestrian protection device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the at least one sensor comprises:
And at least one of a radar, a driver, and a camera mounted on one side of the vehicle. The method of claim 3,
Converting a view of a peripheral image of the sensing area generated by the camera to obtain a top view image; And
Displaying a first graphic object corresponding to the safe area and a second graphic object corresponding to the travelable area on the top view image;
Further comprising the steps of: The method according to claim 1,
The information on the pedestrian may be,
The position, the speed and the moving direction of the pedestrian. 6. The method of claim 5,
The step of calculating the safe area for the pedestrian may include:
And changes at least one of a size and a shape of the safe area based on the changed speed when the speed of the pedestrian is changed. 6. The method of claim 5,
When the pedestrian is in a stopped state,
The safe area may include:
Wherein the pedestrian has a radius of a first length centered on the position of the pedestrian. 6. The method of claim 5,
And predicting a change in the position of the pedestrian based on the speed and the moving direction of the pedestrian when the pedestrian is moving,
The safe area may include:
And a radius of the second length is centered on the predicted position. The method according to claim 1,
Controlling the vehicle within the first limit range and the second limit range;
Further comprising the steps of: The method according to claim 1,
Outputting an alarm message when the speed of the vehicle is out of the first limit range or the steering wheel angle of the vehicle is out of the second limit range;
Further comprising the steps of:

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