WO2019093061A1

WO2019093061A1 - Method and device for assisting driver of vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2019093061A1
Application number: PCT/JP2018/037910
Authority: WO
Inventors: 俊晴菅原; アルトマンホファーハイコ
Original assignee: 日立オートモティブシステムズ株式会社
Priority date: 2017-11-08
Filing date: 2018-10-11
Publication date: 2019-05-16
Also published as: DE102017219813A1; JPWO2019093061A1

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a method and a device for assisting a driver of a vehicle having at least one sensor configured to detect another vehicle at the periphery of the host vehicle, wherein the method is executed by a driving assistance control unit of the host vehicle when a lane change operation to change from a current lane in which the host vehicle is traveling to a target lane is executed, the method comprising: determining an available detection region to be detected by the at least one sensor of the host vehicle; determining a detection region necessary to execute automatic control or semi-automatic control of the lane change operation by the driving assistance control unit of the host vehicle; and controlling the lane change operation of the host vehicle on the basis of the result of a comparison between the determined available detection region and the determined necessary detection region.

Description

Method and apparatus for assisting a driver of a host vehicle

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for assisting a driver of a host vehicle having one or more sensors configured to detect other vehicles around the host vehicle.

An automatic merging system for automatically controlling a vehicle to perform a lane change or to travel on a lane junction reduces the workload of the driver and also reduces the risk of traffic accidents. It is one of the main functions of the objective autonomous driving system. However, if the surrounding area is not detected at all, probably because the detection area is blocked, the obstacle is a controlled vehicle, as the automatic merging system is configured as an example to determine the situation based on the safety requirements It is difficult to use an automatic merging system in a blind merging section which may block the detection area of the (own vehicle) sensor. If the following vehicle not detected comes out of the blind spot at high speed and the vehicle is still controlled to perform a lane change, the following vehicle may need to be slowed significantly or the accident high Hazard levels may exist and need to be reduced.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2014-180986A (Patent Document 1) is a lane based on an obstacle detection means for detecting an obstacle present around a vehicle, a white line detection means for detecting a white line of a lane, and a detection white line. Request detection area calculation means for calculating a request detection area requested when change control is executed, shielding determination means for determining whether the detection area of the obstacle detection means is smaller than the request detection area, obstacle detection Control amount calculating means for calculating a control amount of the vehicle required to make the detection area of the obstacle detection means equal to or larger than the request detection area when the detection area of the means is smaller than the request detection area; The present invention relates to a lane change support system including vehicle control means for controlling a vehicle based on the vehicle.

However, in situations around the blind junction, the system suffers from changing its lateral position to accelerate its own vehicle and / or reduce blind spots, but the system does blind spots at the end of the junction. Sometimes there are times when it is not possible to realize sufficient reduction, and when there is not enough time left for the driver to take over control of the vehicle safely, transfer drive to the driver at the end of the junction There is a need to. Therefore, it is very difficult for the driver to take over control properly and safely in such a situation.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2014-180986A

In order to avoid the above problems, the object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for assisting a driver in the context of automotive line change control or lane merging control, and the reliability and safety of automatic merging system or automotive line change system. Intended to improve the sex aspect.

In order to solve the above objects, according to the invention, a method according to claim 1, an apparatus according to claim 19 and a computer program product according to claim 20 are proposed.

The main advantage of the present invention is that the lane change operation and the automatic control of the lane confluence can be controlled more safely and reliably, and in the case of problems due to blind spot conditions, the control becomes more secure and safer to the driver. It is a migratable thing.

The main aspect of the illustrated embodiment is specifically when no vehicle is detected around the vehicle in the target lane (this indicates that the obstacle may limit the detection area of the sensor of the vehicle) ), The actual detection area (sensor area that can actually be used) is calculated based on the detection information. In addition, preferably, a detection area required for automatic merging can be calculated based on, for example, map data and / or detection information. Furthermore, if the actual sensing area does not include the required sensing area, the driving control can be transferred efficiently, reliably and safely to the driver of the host vehicle.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a method is proposed for assisting a driver of said vehicle having one or more sensors configured to detect another vehicle around said vehicle.

In the illustrated embodiment, the method is executed by the driving support control unit of the host vehicle, for example, when a lane change operation of changing the current lane in which the host vehicle is traveling to the target lane is performed. The method determines an available detection area detected by the one or more sensors of the vehicle and performs automatic or semi-automatic control of the lane change operation by the driving assistance control unit of the vehicle. Determining the required detection area for the vehicle and / or controlling the lane change operation of the vehicle based on the comparison result of the determined available detection area and the determined necessary detection area. May be included.

In an exemplary embodiment, the determined available detection area is greater than or equal to the determined necessary detection area and / or the determined available detection area includes the determined necessary detection area. In this case, the lane change operation of the vehicle may be controlled.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the method also includes issuing a warning message to the driver requesting that the driver take over control of the vehicle, for example by means of a human-machine interface of the vehicle. Good.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the necessary detection area may be determined based on the speed of the host vehicle.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the required sensing area may be determined based on the required estimated length and / or the required estimated time estimated to be necessary to perform the lane change.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the required detection area is based on map data indicating the surrounding environment of the vehicle and / or based on lane marking information detected by one or more sensors of the vehicle. May be determined.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the required sensing area may be determined based on an estimated speed of a virtual vehicle.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the necessary detection area may be determined based on an estimated maximum relative velocity of the virtual vehicle with respect to the host vehicle, the maximum relative velocity being the estimated velocity of the virtual vehicle and / or Or it is preferable to determine based on the said speed of the said own vehicle.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, it may be estimated that the virtual vehicle is traveling in the target lane of the lane change operation outside the determined available detection area.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the estimated speed of the virtual vehicle may be determined based on a speed limit on the target lane.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the estimated speed of the virtual vehicle may be determined based on at least one of current weather conditions, time of day, current season, current traffic conditions.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the estimated speed of the virtual vehicle is based on statistical speed data indicating an average speed on the target lane or a statistically estimated maximum speed of a vehicle traveling on the target lane. May be determined.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the method may further include determining the slowest lane change start point of the current lane ahead of the vehicle, the available detection area being the most If the host vehicle is located at the late lane change start point, it is determined as an estimated available detection area and / or the required detection area is at the slowest lane change start point to perform the lane change operation. Preferably, it is determined as the required detection area required.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the method further comprises estimating the slowest lane change start point of the current lane ahead of the vehicle and the vehicle being located at the slowest lane change start point A second required detection area for determining a second available detection area and for automatically controlling or semi-automatically controlling the lane change operation by the driving support control unit of the host vehicle at the slowest lane change start point And / or comparing the estimated second available detection area with the determined second required detection area based on the result of comparing the estimated second available detection area and the determined second required detection area, It may include controlling a lane change operation.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, if the determined estimated second available detection area is greater than or equal to the determined second required detection area, and / or the determined estimated second use When the possible detection area includes the determined second necessary detection area, control of the lane change operation of the vehicle at the slowest lane change start point may be performed.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the available detection area may be determined based on prestored information indicating an available detection area of a position ahead of the vehicle.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, when the lane change operation is performed, the other vehicle following the vehicle in the target lane is not detected by the one or more sensors of the vehicle. Determining the required detection area, determining the required detection area, and / or comparing the determined available detection area with the determined required detection area based on the result of comparison of the vehicle A step of controlling the lane change operation may be performed.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, when the lane change operation is performed, another vehicle in the target lane following the vehicle is detected by the one or more sensors of the vehicle. The method further determines a relative distance between the vehicle and the detected other vehicle, determines a relative velocity between the vehicle and the detected other vehicle, and the vehicle and the vehicle If the determined relative distance between the detected other vehicle and / or the determined relative speed between the own vehicle and the detected other vehicle satisfies the lane change condition, Preferably, controlling the lane change operation is included.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is proposed a device installable on said vehicle comprising one or more sensors adapted to detect another vehicle around said vehicle, said device being described above or below Preferably, a control unit configured to perform the method of any of the aspects of claim 1 is included.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer program product comprising a computer program comprising computer program instructions adapted to cause a controller or processor to carry out the steps of the method according to any of the above or below aspects. Suggested.

While certain exemplary aspects have been described above, such aspects are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the broad invention, and the exemplary aspects may include various other features in addition to those described in the above paragraphs. It is to be understood that embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the specific structures and arrangements shown and described above, as variations, combinations, omissions, corrections, and substitutions are possible.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations, modifications and / or combinations of the above aspects may be configured. Thus, it should be understood that further aspects may be practiced other than as specifically described herein. Those skilled in the art will understand, in light of the present disclosure, that the different embodiments described herein can be combined to form other embodiments of the present invention.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method and system for assisting a driver in the situation of automobile line change control or lane junction control, and improve the reliability and safety aspect of the automatic joining system or the automobile line change system. .

1 exemplarily illustrates a vehicle comprising a driving assistance system according to an exemplary embodiment. 4 exemplarily illustrates a flowchart of a control process of a driving assistance system according to an exemplary embodiment. Show different options to indicate lane change intentions to surrounding vehicles. Show different options to indicate lane change intentions to surrounding vehicles. Show different options to indicate lane change intentions to surrounding vehicles. An example of a situation in which the host vehicle is traveling on a road surrounded by three other vehicles is exemplarily illustrated. The correlation mapping of the time required for the lane change / confluence according to the vehicle speed of self-vehicles is illustrated illustratively. A dashed line range area of allowable / possible lane change with respect to inter-vehicle distance (horizontal axis) and collision prediction time (vertical axis) is exemplarily illustrated. An illustrative warning process is shown which lights a warning lamp on the equipment panel of the vehicle and / or activates a warning sound. A flowchart of lane change control processing by the driving support control unit is exemplarily illustrated. An exemplary situation is shown in which the host vehicle is about to change lanes and the vehicles following the target lane can not be detected due to an obstacle (eg, a wall) that limits the actual detection area. FIG. 7 exemplarily illustrates a flowchart of an example process of determining a maximum relative velocity. An equipment panel of a host vehicle that outputs a warning message to a driver is exemplarily illustrated. FIG. 8 exemplarily illustrates a flowchart of another control process of the driving assistance system according to another exemplary embodiment. Fig. 3 exemplarily illustrates a schematic of an exemplary junction such as, for example, a highway. The calculation / determination of the actual detection area is exemplarily illustrated based on the previously acquired data.

In the following, preferred aspects and embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the attached drawings. The same or similar features in different drawings and embodiments are indicated by like reference numerals. It should be understood, however, that the following detailed description of various preferred aspects and preferred exemplary embodiments is not meant to limit the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 exemplarily illustrates a vehicle 100 with a driving assistance system according to an exemplary embodiment, such as, for example, a driving assistance system including an autonomous driving system.

In the sense of the present invention, the autonomous driving system is a driving operation of the vehicle such as cruise control, overtaking operation, lane change operation, turn operation, stop operation, etc. without influence of the driver or by at least extremely little driver influence or control. Is a system configured to control (or at least semi-automatically) automatically.

However, the driving assistance system of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is optionally configured to control various different driving operations or driving operations, for example, configured to control the vehicle completely and autonomously along the target route. Although the exemplary embodiment may be specific, the exemplary embodiment may be specifically directed to control of a lane change driving operation in which the vehicle is operated to continuously transition from one lane of the road to another lane of the road, and in particular Preferably, the present invention relates to a lane merging operation when, for example, a vehicle enters an expressway or the like on an access lane that merges with a expressway lane.

The vehicle 100 may be a vehicle having two, three, four or more wheels, and the vehicle may be driven by a combustion engine, an electric motor, or a combination thereof. The vehicle may be driven by front wheel drive, rear wheel drive or four wheel drive. Illustratively, the vehicle 100 of FIG. 1 is embodied as a car having four wheels including the left front wheel "FL wheel", the right front wheel "FR wheel", the left rear wheel "RL wheel" and the right rear wheel "RR wheel". Be done.

Each of the wheels illustratively comprises a respective brake of four brakes 16FL, 16FR, 16RL and 16RR (including for example brake cylinders, pistons, brake pads etc.), illustratively each wheel speed sensor is , Four brakes 16FL, 16FR, 16RL and 16RR respectively. See the exemplary wheel speed sensors 22FL, 22FR, 22RL and 22RR of FIG.

The driving support system of the vehicle 100 of FIG. 1 includes a steering control unit 8 (steering control unit) configured to control the steering control mechanism 10 and a brake control unit 15 configured to control the brake control mechanism 13. A driving support control unit 1 (driving support control unit) communicably connected to the (brake control unit) and the throttle control unit 19 (throttle control unit) configured to control the throttle control mechanism 20 of the vehicle 100 Exemplarily includes.

Generally, the driving support control unit 1 is configured to output control values and / or control signals to the control units 8, 15 and 19 of the

respective control mechanisms

10, 13 and 20, respectively. , 13 and 20 respectively are configured to receive respective command values or command signals from the driving support control unit 1 by communication, and

control mechanisms

10, 13 and 20 based on the command values. Configured to control the actuator of

In some exemplary embodiments, the driving assistance control unit 1 is configured to control the

respective control mechanisms

10, 13 and 20 autonomously and automatically to control the driving operation performed by the vehicle 100. It may be realized as a controlled autonomous driving control unit.

For example, although not shown, the driving support control unit 1 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), and an input / output unit. For example, as described below, the processing procedure of the vehicle driving support operation may be stored in the ROM.

Furthermore, map data (e.g. navigation map data indicating the geographical arrangement of the road system or other map data) may be stored in the ROM, and specific map data indicating the surroundings of the vehicle 100 may for example be GPS sensors (shown in FIG. Based on satellite navigation systems, such as based on data, rotational speeds of each wheel and / or detected steering angles, it is possible to extract, for example, the position of the vehicle calculated using a position sensor.

Although described later in detail, when the lane change can not be made, the driving support control unit 1 can, for example, change the lane based on the relative distance and relative speed between the vehicle and the surrounding vehicle detected by the external recognition sensor. To calculate the command values supplied to the control units 8, 15 and 19 of the

respective control mechanisms

10, 13 and 20 guiding the vehicle in order to realize the control of the desired driving operation etc. Configured

As described above, the driving support control unit 1 may operate based on sensor information including sensor information on the surrounding area of the vehicle 100. In the example of FIG. 1, the vehicle 100 illustratively includes a plurality of sensors 2, 3 and 5.

For example, the sensors 2, 3, 4 and 5 are provided with a sensor device for detecting or recognizing the outside of the vehicle for detecting the surrounding area of the vehicle 100 and / or detecting an obstacle around the vehicle 100. May be Such sensors may include one or more cameras (including conventional cameras such as CCD cameras, infrared cameras and / or stereo cameras), one or more radars, and / or one or more lidars or laser radars, etc. And may be provided.

As an example, in FIG. 1, the sensor for recognizing the outside of the vehicle is a camera 2 disposed in front of the vehicle, laser radars 3 and 4 disposed on the right and left sides thereof, and a millimeter wave radar disposed behind the same. By including 5, it is possible to detect the relative distance and relative speed between the vehicle 100 (own vehicle) and the surrounding vehicles.

In the illustrated embodiment, the combination of sensors is used as an example of a sensor structure. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and an ultrasonic sensor, a stereo camera, an infrared camera or a combination thereof may be used together with the above-mentioned sensor, and may be used instead of the above-mentioned sensor. A sensor signal can be supplied to the driving support control unit 1.

Furthermore, as an example, the driver's input to the lane change support input device 11 is supplied to the driving support control unit 1. As an example, the lane change support input device 11 may use, for example, blinkers and / or blinking lights, and the lane change support operation can be determined based on the on / off information. However, the lane change support input device 11 is not limited to the blinker or the blinking signal light, and a dedicated input device may be used.

In general, the lane change assistance input device 11 includes an input interface configured to receive a driver's command for performing a lane change or the like and / or a driver's action indicating the driver's intention.

Summarizing the above, the driving support system according to the exemplary embodiment supports lane change based on a plurality of sensors 2, 3, 4 and 5 for recognizing or recognizing the outside of the vehicle and the information recognized by the sensors From the driving support control unit 1 which calculates command values supplied to the steering control mechanism 10, the brake control mechanism 13, the throttle control mechanism 20, and the actuators of the

control mechanisms

10, 13 and 20 And a brake control unit 15 for controlling the brake control mechanism 13 based on the command value in order to adjust distribution of the braking force to each wheel. And a throttle controller based on the above command value to adjust the torque output of the engine And a throttle control unit 19 for controlling the 20. Furthermore, the driving support system of FIG. 1 includes a warning device 23 as an example.

Furthermore, for example, the driving support control unit 1 may, for example, longitudinal acceleration, lateral acceleration and yaw rate, sensor signals from wheel speed sensors 22FL to 22RR attached to the wheels, and braking force from the driving support control unit 1. A sensor signal is supplied from the composite vehicle system sensor 14 which can detect the command and / or the sensor signal supplied from the steering angle detector 21 via the steering control unit 8.

Furthermore, the output of the brake control unit 15 is connected to a brake control mechanism 13 which may include, by way of example, a pump (not shown) and a control valve, which is independent of the driver's brake pedal operation. Thus, any braking force that can be applied to the wheel can be generated. The brake control unit 15 can estimate the spins, drifts and locks of the vehicle 100 based on the above information, and can generate a braking force on the related wheels to suppress them, thereby the driver's operation or Handling and stability of driving operation can be improved.

The driving support control unit 1 can transmit a brake command to the brake control unit 15 so that an arbitrary braking force can be generated in the vehicle 100. The present invention is not limited to the brake control unit, and other actuators such as a brake by wire can be used.

The brake control system of the driving support system of FIG. 1 is, by way of example, a brake control mechanism 13 for operating the brakes 16FL, 16FR, 16RL and 16RR based on the brake operation control signal and / or the respective brakes 16FL, 16FR, 16RL. And 16RR can be communicated to the brake control unit 15 configured to control the operation of the brakes 16FL, 16FR, 16RL and 16RR based, for example, on the brake operation control signal transmitted from the brake control unit 15 to The brake control mechanism 13 connected is included.

As an example, although the brake control unit 15 outputs an electrical control signal, the brake control mechanism 13 may be realized as an electrical control system having an electrical actuator. However, the brake control mechanism 13 may additionally or alternatively have mechanical, hydraulic and / or pneumatic actuators.

By way of example, vehicle 100 further includes a brake pedal 12 actuatable by the vehicle driver, for example, to affect vehicle control of vehicle 100 or to take over brake control. That is, the vehicle 100 is configured such that the driver can take over control further affecting the control of the vehicle 100 by a dedicated input device such as the brake pedal 12 or the steering wheel 6 or the accelerator pedal 17 of the vehicle 100. Ru.

For example, the driver pedaling operation of stepping on the brake pedal 12 can be amplified (e.g. doubled) by the brake booster (not shown) to generate hydraulic pressure according to the pedal operation by the master cylinder (not shown) . The generated hydraulic pressure may be supplied to the respective brake cylinders of the wheels of the brakes 16FL to 16RR via the brake control mechanism 13. The wheel brakes 16FL to 16RR may be composed of cylinders (not shown), pistons, brake pads and the like. The piston may be propelled by the brake fluid supplied from a master cylinder (not shown), and the brake pad connected to the piston may be pressurized on the disc rotor. The disc rotor is rotatable with the wheels (not shown). Therefore, the brake torque acting on the disc rotor becomes the braking force acting between the wheel and the road. As a result, a desired braking force can be exerted on the wheels in accordance with the driver's brake pedal operation.

As an example, although not shown in detail in FIG. 1, the brake control unit 15 may include, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), and an input / output unit.

The steering control system of the driving support system of FIG. 1 is, by way of example, transmitted to the steering control mechanism 10 from the steering control unit 8 based on the steering operation control signal, for example, based on the steering operation control signal. It includes a steering control mechanism 10 communicably connected to a steering control unit 8 configured to control the operation of the corresponding steering control mechanism 10.

As an example, the steering control unit 8 outputs an electrical control signal, but the steering control mechanism 10 may be realized as an electrical control system having an electrical actuator. However, the steering control mechanism 10 may additionally or alternatively include mechanical, hydraulic and / or pneumatic actuators.

By way of example, the vehicle 100 further comprises a handle 6 actuatable by the vehicle driver, for example to influence the vehicle control of the vehicle 100 or to take over steering control. That is, the vehicle 100 is configured to allow the driver to influence or take over control of the vehicle 100 by the steering wheel 6 of the vehicle 100 or a dedicated input device such as the brake pedal 12 or the accelerator pedal 17 or the like. .

As an example, the steering torque and / or the steering angle input by the driver via the steering wheel 6 can be detected by the steering torque detector 7 and / or the steering angle detector 21, respectively, and the steering control unit 8 can support the assist torque The internal combustion engine can be controlled based on the detected information to generate

Although not shown in detail in FIG. 1, as an example, the steering control unit 8 is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM) And an input / output unit. The steering control mechanism 10 can be operated by a combined force of the driver's steering torque for rotating the front wheels and the assist torque by the internal combustion engine. On the other hand, the reaction force from the road surface can be transmitted to the driver after being transmitted to the steering control mechanism 10 according to the rotation angle of the front wheels.

The steering control unit 8 can generate torque by the internal combustion engine 9 independently of the driver's steering operation, and can control the steering control mechanism 10. Thus, the driving support control unit 1 can control the front wheels to rotate at an arbitrary rotation angle by transmitting a steering force command to the steering control unit 8. However, the present invention is not limited to the use of a steering control, and other actuators such as steering by wire can be used.

The throttle control system of the driving support system of FIG. 1 is, for example, based on a throttle operation control signal transmitted from the throttle control unit 19 to the throttle control mechanism 20 based on, for example, a throttle operation control signal. And a throttle control mechanism 20 communicably connected to a throttle control unit 19 configured to control the operation of the controller.

As an example, although the throttle control unit 19 outputs an electrical control signal, the throttle control mechanism 20 can be realized as an electrical control system having an electrical actuator. However, the throttle control mechanism 20 may additionally or alternatively include mechanical, hydraulic and / or pneumatic actuators. The throttle control mechanism 20 may further include a drive system of the vehicle 100 including, for example, a combustion engine and / or an electrically driven internal combustion engine.

By way of example, the vehicle 100 further includes an accelerator pedal 17 actuatable by the vehicle driver to, for example, affect vehicle control or take over throttle control of the vehicle 100. That is, the vehicle 100 is configured to enable the driver to influence or take over control of the vehicle 100 by a dedicated input device such as the accelerator pedal 17 or the steering wheel 6 or the brake pedal 12 of the vehicle 100.

As an example, the depression amount of the driver's accelerator pedal 17 can be detected by the stroke sensor 18 and can be input to the throttle control unit 19. Further, although not shown in detail in FIG. 1, the throttle control unit 19 is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM) as in the driving support control unit 1. And an input / output unit. The throttle control unit 19 is capable of adjusting the throttle opening according to the accelerator pedal depression amount in order to control the drive system of the throttle control mechanism 20. Thereby, the vehicle 100 can accelerate according to the driver's accelerator pedal operation. Furthermore, the throttle control unit can control the throttle opening independently of the driver's accelerator pedal operation. Therefore, the driving support control unit 1 can transmit an acceleration command to the throttle control unit in order to realize an arbitrary acceleration in the vehicle 100.

In summary, when the autonomous driving system executes the control of the vehicle line merging as an example according to the above-described control operation, the brake control mechanism and the throttle control mechanism control the vehicle 100 (to The vehicle can be guided to a position where it is possible to change lanes by adjusting according to the conditions of surrounding vehicles in the vicinity of the vehicle. Also, system control steering for lane change can be realized by executing control of the steering control mechanism.

FIG. 2 exemplarily illustrates a flowchart of control processing of a driving assistance system according to an exemplary embodiment. Specifically, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of control processing of automatic merging processing according to a processing command of a control program or a control program part, for example, stored in the memory of the driving support control unit 1 or the like.

First, the driving support control unit 1 determines whether lane change / automatic merging is necessary (step S201). For example, the driving support control unit 1 can determine that the lane change is necessary based on one or more of the following determination criteria. That is, a lane change is required to follow the navigation route as determined by the vehicle's navigation system, for example, the driver has made a lane change intention or request based on the input to the lane change assistance input device 11 A lane change is necessary to indicate that other vehicles ahead of the host vehicle (vehicle 100) need to change lanes in order to meet the target speed condition, eg at highway entrances etc. It is necessary to change lanes in order to merge into the current lane, the current lane is about to disappear, or lane change is necessary because it is inappropriate due to road conditions, obstacles etc. It is a criterion that a lane change is required to enter the designated lane to turn prior to the turn operation.

If the determination in step S201 is YES, the process proceeds to step S202. If the determination is NO, lane change / automatic merging is not necessary, and the process returns.

In the process of step S202, as exemplarily shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C, the driving assistance control unit 1 executes a process of notifying the surrounding other vehicle of the intention of changing the lane of the vehicle 100 (own vehicle).

Figures 3A, 3B and 3C show different options to surrounding vehicles to indicate the intent of a lane change.

First, as shown exemplarily in FIG. 3A, there is a method of indicating the intention of lane change to surrounding vehicles such as the other vehicle 101 by turning on blinkers (flashing signal lights) in the own vehicle 100.

Additionally or alternatively, by controlling the host vehicle 100, the host vehicle 101 moves along the boundary between the current lane and the adjacent lane that the driver wishes to change, as exemplarily shown in FIG. 3B. There is a way to

In order to realize the above control, the driving support control unit 1 may first detect the lane by using the information of the camera 2 disposed in front of the vehicle. The driving support control unit 1 may then calculate the target steering angle or the steering support torque required for the above movement. The target steering angle or torque can be transmitted to the steering control unit 8. Thereby, the vehicle can be controlled to move along the border with the adjacent lane.

Additionally or alternatively, as a method of notifying the other vehicle such as the vehicle 101 of the lane change intention of the host vehicle 100, as illustrated in FIG. 3C, in step S202, the vehicle is transmitted to the other vehicle There is also a way to send a lane change intention for

As described above, since the driver's lane change intention can be clearly transmitted to the other vehicle from the own vehicle 100 by the process of step S202, the other vehicle such as the vehicle 101 in FIGS. 3A to 3C is the lane of the own vehicle. The intention to change can be recognized, which enables lane change to be performed smoothly.

Returning to FIG. 2, next, the driving support control unit 1 determines whether or not one or more following vehicles around the host vehicle 101 can travel in the target lane for the intended lane change. (Step S203). If YES, the process proceeds to step S204; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S210.

That is, based on sensor information acquired from sensors 2, 3, 4 and / or 5 in step S203, one or more vehicles around vehicle 100 are next or behind vehicle 100 (backward). It is checked whether it can be detected that the target lane (that is, the target lane of the vehicle 100 after the route change of the vehicle 100 is changed) and that the vehicle 100 is traveling inside.

As described above, when it is detected in step S203 that at least one subsequent vehicle is traveling in the target lane of the intended lane change around the host vehicle 101, the process continues to step S204.

In step S204, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the driving support control unit 1 detects the front portion of the vehicle, the camera 2, the laser radars 3 and 4, which detects the side portion of the vehicle, and the rear of the vehicle. The relative distance and the relative velocity between the vehicle 100 and the detection surrounding vehicle are determined or calculated based on the information of the sensor such as the millimeter wave radar 5 which detects the portion.

FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates an example of a situation in which the host vehicle 100 is traveling on a road surrounded by three

other vehicles

101, 102 and 103.

As an example, in FIG. 4, the vehicle 100 travels in the left lane of the road and is surrounded by three

other vehicles

101, 102 and 103. The vehicle 103 is, for example, traveling in the same lane as the host vehicle 100 in front of the host vehicle. The vehicle 101 travels the other lane next to the vehicle 100 (a possible target lane when the lane change is to be controlled) by way of example, and the vehicle 102 is also another lane by way of example (ie lane change) Is a possible target lane in the case of a control target), but travels behind the host vehicle 100.

In FIG. 4, reference numerals A2, A3, A4 and A5 indicate, as an example, the front (detection area A2 of sensor 2) and the rear (detection area A5 of sensor 5) of vehicle 100, and the left of vehicle 100 (sensor 3 The detection areas of sensors 2, 3, 4, and 5 for detecting an obstacle (for example, a vehicle) in detection area A3) and the right (detection area A4 of sensor 4) are related. Therefore, of the vehicles around vehicle 100, vehicle 102 is disposed in sensor area A5, so that vehicle 102 can be detected by sensor 5, and vehicle 101 is disposed in sensor area A4. Since the vehicle 103 can be detected by the sensor 4 and the vehicle 103 is disposed in the sensor area A2, the vehicle 103 can be detected by the sensor 2.

For example, in the situation of FIG. 4, the result of step S203 is YES, and the driving assistance control unit 1 calculates the relative distance and speed between the host vehicle and the vehicle 102 in step S204, and the host vehicle and the vehicle 101 The relative distance between and the speed is also possibly calculated, and it is assumed that both are located in the possible target lane if a lane change is desired or intended.

For example, the speed of the vehicle 100 can be estimated based on the information of the wheel speed sensors 22FL to 22RR. For example, the maximum speed of the information of the four wheel speed sensors can be selected to be set as the estimated vehicle speed. The method of estimating the vehicle speed is not limited thereto, and other methods using the average value of the wheel speed sensor can be used.

The relative position and the relative speed of the other vehicle are, for example, with the center of gravity of the vehicle 100 as the origin, for example, the X axis is set toward the front of the vehicle 100 (for example, along the axial direction of the vehicle 100) Can be represented by a co-vertical (e.g. co-motion) coordinate system in which is set on the left side of the host vehicle 100.

For example, the relative distance Xi between the center of gravity of the vehicle 100 and the surrounding vehicles (i = 1, 2, 3,..., I) in the x-axis direction at time t (for example, vehicle 101 is X1, vehicle 102 is X2, And the vehicle 103 is X3) and the relative velocity Vi (for example, the vehicle 101 is V1, the vehicle 102 is V2, and the vehicle 103 is V3) can be expressed by the following equation.

For example, the suffix i represents the i-th vehicle, eg i = 1 for vehicle 101, i = 2 for vehicle 102 and so on. Furthermore, the relative velocity Vi of the i-th vehicle is defined, for example, such that the velocity in the direction in which the i-th surrounding vehicle approaches the host vehicle 100 is positive.

Returning to FIG. 2, when the relative position and the relative velocity of the other vehicle are determined in step S204, the driving support control unit 1 changes the lane based on the determined relative position and relative velocity in step S206, for example. In this case, preferably, the process proceeds to the process of calculating the collision risk for each of the detected surrounding vehicles or at least the detected surrounding vehicles in the lane change target lane.

As an example, in order to calculate the time T1 required for the lane change, the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 100 required for the lane change / merging can be calculated as shown in FIG. It is applied to the predetermined correlation mapping of V0 versus time T1.

FIG. 5 exemplarily illustrates correlation mapping of time T1 required for lane change / merging according to the vehicle speed V0 of the host vehicle 100.

The correlation mapping exemplarily shown in FIG. 5 is set such that the time T1 required to change the lane is shorter as the vehicle speed V0 of the host vehicle 100 is higher. As a result, the time T1 required for lane change (or lane merging) is short at high speed and the time T1 is long at low speed, so the time T1 required for lane change is correctly calculated according to the vehicle speed V0 of the host vehicle 100. It is possible.

Such correlation mapping may be determined in advance, and in other exemplary embodiments may be used to determine an estimated time T1 required to change lanes according to the vehicle speed V0 of the vehicle 100. It is. On the other hand, the time required to change lanes may be calculated based on the vehicle speed ahead of the host vehicle and further based on the detected lane width (for example, based on the detection view of the camera 2 ahead of the vehicle).

Next, an inter-vehicle distance Xi ^ gap to the i-th vehicle around the host vehicle 100 at time t + T1 and a same time t + T1 representing a collision risk at time t (after time T1 required for lane change) when lane change is performed The estimated time to collision or the collision prediction time Ti ^ ttc is calculated based on the calculation time T1 required for the lane change by the following equation.

In the above equation, L0 represents the full length (front-back direction) of the host vehicle 100, and Li represents the length of the vehicle i around the host vehicle 100.

Therefore, for the i-th vehicle, the inter-vehicle distance Xi ^ gap at time t + T1 is the start time t of the lane change operation and the estimated time T1 of the lane change operation, and further at time t + T1 at which the lane change is expected to be completed. The estimated gap distance after the completion of the lane change (or lane merging) between the i-th vehicle and the host vehicle 100 in consideration of the expected relative distance Xi from the vehicle 100 to the i-th vehicle is shown. For example, the predicted relative distance Xi from the host vehicle 100 to the i-th vehicle at time t + T1 may be estimated based on the relative distance Xi and the relative velocity Vi of the i-th vehicle relative to the host vehicle 100 calculated in step S204. Good.

Furthermore, as an example, the estimated collision prediction time Ti ^ ttc at the same time t + T1 represents the estimation of the time until a collision occurs between the i-th vehicle and the vehicle 100 after the lane change is completed.

Next, the driving support control unit 1 calculates for each of the surrounding vehicles or at least for each of the surrounding vehicles traveling in the target lane of the desired lane change by the equations (2) and (3). Based on the calculated calculated inter-vehicle distance Xi ^ gap (t + T1) and the predicted collision time Ti ^ ttc (t + T1), it is determined whether or not the lane change can be performed (step S207 in FIG. 2).

As an example, if it can be determined that a lane change is possible, the calculated inter-vehicle distance Xi ^ gap (t + T1) is larger (or more) than the relative distance threshold Xi ^ gap_a (hereinafter referred to as a first predetermined value) And the calculated collision prediction time Ti ^ ttc (t + T1) is larger than (or more than) a threshold Ti ^ ttc_a (hereinafter referred to as a second predetermined value) for the collision prediction time.

For example, FIG. 6 exemplarily illustrates a dashed line area of allowable / possible lane change for a pair of inter-vehicle distance Xi ^ gap (horizontal axis) and collision prediction time Ti ^ ttc (vertical axis).

The determination criterion for step S207 in FIG. 2 is that the relative distance for each surrounding vehicle i in at least the target lane and the collision prediction time have sufficient time for all surrounding vehicles i, that is, the first one described above. Preferably, based on the second and third thresholds Xi ^ gap_a and Ti ^ ttc_a, it is possible to set that the lane change is feasible if the following equation is satisfied. Alternatively, for example, if the condition expressed by equation (4) below is not satisfied or not satisfied, it is determined in step S207 that the lane change is not feasible.

Here, based on the example of FIG. 4 with two vehicles 101 (i = 1) and 102 (i = 2) in the target lane as an example, X1 ^ gap_a is an example of a vehicle 101 ahead in the target space. The threshold value of the relative distance (hereinafter referred to as a first predetermined value) for determining whether the lane change can be performed, and X2 ^ gap_a is, by way of example, for the rear or following vehicle 102 in the target space. This is a threshold for a relative distance (hereinafter referred to as a third predetermined value) for determining whether lane change is feasible.

For example, it is desirable that the first and third predetermined values of the distance at which the lane change is considered not to be performed are given regardless of the relative speed at which the driver is within the relative distance (changing the lane) (For example, 7 m as a first predetermined value, and 10 m as a third predetermined value).

Note that these predetermined threshold values can be determined in advance but need not be fixed, and can be changed according to the vehicle speed V0 of the host vehicle 100 or by the driver in some exemplary embodiments. For example, the first and / or third threshold may be calculated based on the vehicle speed V0 based on the predetermined function (s), eg, whereby the first and / or third threshold is high The first and / or third thresholds may be determined smaller than the low vehicle speed V0 of the host vehicle 100.

On the other hand, based on the example of FIG. 4 with two vehicles 101 (i = 1) and 102 (i = 2) in the target lane as an example, the time parameter T1 ^ TTC_a is, as an example, a vehicle ahead in the target space The threshold value of the collision prediction time (hereinafter referred to as a second predetermined value) for determining whether the lane change is possible with respect to 101, and the time parameter T2 ^ TTC_a is whether the lane change is possible for the following vehicle in the target space This is a threshold value of the collision prediction time (hereinafter referred to as a fourth predetermined time) to be determined.

Preferably, the second and fourth predetermined threshold values are time parameters that the driver feels in a dangerous situation (for example, 5s as a second predetermined value) when the calculated time (s) are within the collision prediction time. And 6s as a fourth predetermined value).

Furthermore, these predetermined threshold values can be determined in advance but need not be fixed, and can be changed according to the vehicle speed V0 of the host vehicle 100 or by the driver in some exemplary embodiments. For example, the second and / or fourth threshold may be calculated based on the vehicle speed V0 based on the predetermined function (s), for example whereby the second and / or fourth threshold is high The second and / or fourth threshold values may be determined smaller than the low vehicle speed V0 of the host vehicle 100.

According to the determination criterion of the above equation (4), for example, when the lane change is made in a state where the collision prediction time is determined to be short (ie, each relative velocity is large) even if the relative distance is large, ie, If it is possible to pass the vehicle 100 to the following vehicle immediately after the lane change, it is preferable that it is still determined in step S207 that the lane can not be changed for safety reasons.

Even when the relative speed determined is negative, that is, when the i-th vehicle disappears and the distance from the host vehicle 100 increases, the relative distance is short, and preferably the gap between the vehicles after the lane change is small. In order to avoid this, it is possible to judge that the lane change can not be performed in step S207.

For example, if it is determined in step S207 that the lane change is executable according to the above determination (if step S207 returns YES), the process proceeds to step S209 in FIG. Is executed by control of

On the other hand, if the determination in S207 is NO (ie,), the process proceeds to step S208, and a warning is issued to the driver of the host vehicle 100.

The lane change appropriateness determination is not limited to that of FIG. 6 (or the above equation 4), and in the other exemplary embodiments, the definition set on the horizontal axis of FIG. It may be done.

In step S208, when step S207 returns to NO, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the driving support control unit 1 executes a warning process for issuing a warning to the driver of the host vehicle.

FIG. 7 exemplarily illustrates a warning process of lighting a warning on the device panel of the host vehicle 100 and / or activating a warning sound. Light and / or sound alerts can be varied in brightness and volume respectively depending on the level of risk calculated.

First, as shown in FIG. 7, the display size of the warning lamp of the warning device 23 (also refer to FIG. 1) and the volume of the warning sound change according to the collision risk calculated in step S206 as shown in FIG. As it is possible, for example, the driver is informed that the lane change is not possible (step S208). For example, since the displayed warning light and / or the warning volume can be changed according to the collision risk, it is possible to predict when the driver can change lanes.

On the other hand, when returning to FIG. 2 and step S207 returns to YES, the desired lane change is performed by the control of the driving assistance control unit 1 in step S209.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, for example, the driving support control unit 1 can execute processing of control for lane change.

FIG. 8 exemplarily illustrates a flowchart of lane change control processing by the driving support control unit 1.

First, as exemplarily shown in FIG. 8, a target route for lane change is based on, for example, acquired lane sign information, such as based on a lane sign detected in front of the host vehicle 100 by the camera 2, for example. , Calculated in step S901. Similarly, or additionally, the target route for the lane change may be determined based on navigation information including map information regarding the lane position of the road ahead of the detected vehicle position.

In step S902, based on the target route determined in step S901, a steering assist torque is calculated to follow the target route, and the steering assist torque is a steering control mechanism based on the target steering assist torque determined in step S902. The steering control unit 8 is instructed to control 10, and the vehicle 100 executes the lane change based on the control of the driving support control unit 1.

In step S903, the driving support control unit 1 determines whether the lane change has ended. If the process S 903 returns to YES, the control process for the lane change ends. If the process S903 returns to NO, the process returns to the process S901.

In the above, returning to FIG. 2, when the driving support control unit 1 detects that at least one or more subsequent vehicles around the host vehicle 101 are traveling in the target lane for the intended lane change (YES in step S203) I explained the process of).

Next, the process in the case where it is not detected that the following vehicle around the host vehicle 101 is traveling in the target lane of lane change intended by the driving support control unit 1 (step S203 returns to NO) Do.

That is, if it is determined in step S203 that a subsequent vehicle is not detected in the lane change target lane, that is, if no subsequent vehicles are detected in the lane change target lane, a detection region is calculated in step S210. . This is illustrated exemplarily in FIG.

FIG. 9 exemplarily shows a situation in which the host vehicle 100 executes a lane change, and the following vehicle 101 in the target lane can not be detected due to an obstacle (for example, a wall) that limits the actual detection area.

Specifically, in the example of FIG. 9, the actual detection area available via the sensor (s) of the host vehicle 100 can not be detected because the dashed line area is due to an obstacle (for example, a wall) In this situation, the dashed area is limited in that it is not included in the actual detection area. The actual detection area is also called the actually available detection area, and is compared with the maximum available detection area (available when there is no obstacle that limits the detection area of the sensor of the host vehicle 100). Ru. The actually available detection area corresponds to the detection area that is maximally available when there are no obstacles in the detection area, but the detection area that is actually available is that the detection area is inside the detection area When limited by an obstacle (for example, in the case of a 2D sensor such as a radar), it may be smaller than the maximum available detection area.

For example, the actual detection area can be calculated based on the radial maximum distance to one or more obstacles detected by the sensor of the host vehicle 100 as an example. However, the method of calculating the actual detection area is not limited to the above method. For example, in the case of a 3D sensor (for example, a stereo camera or a laser radar device), the detected road surface area can be set as an actual detection area. Also, the actual detection area can be represented as an occupied grid map.

Next, returning to FIG. 2, in step S211, the maximum relative velocity is calculated based on an exemplary process as illustrated in FIG. 10, for example.

FIG. 10 exemplarily illustrates a flowchart of an example process of determining the maximum relative velocity.

As an example, the maximum relative velocity is calculated in step S1101 in FIG. 10, and the velocity of the vehicle 100 is determined / calculated based on the rotational velocity of each wheel, for example, as described above.

In step S1102, the maximum speed of the other virtual vehicle is at least one of the current road speed limit, time, season, road surface conditions, and / or accumulated speed data in this area (such as statistical vehicle speed data). Determined / calculated based on In addition, the estimation method of the maximum speed of a virtual vehicle is not limited to the above-mentioned aspect. For example, the maximum speed of the vehicle may be determined based on or in response to the current road segment speed limit, and may be adjusted by a threshold (e.g. depending on traffic conditions, seasonal conditions, road conditions etc. Such as the following vehicle including the possibility of exceeding the speed limit by a certain percentage of speed).

That is, the current speed of the vehicle 100 is determined in step S1101, and the maximum speed of the possibly undetected following vehicle (virtual vehicle) traveling on the target lane of the lane change in step S1102 is, for example, And / or based on statistical speed data available for the current road portion.

Based on the maximum speed of the virtual vehicle determined in step S1102 or the host vehicle speed determined in step S1101, the maximum relative speed between the host vehicle 100 and another virtual vehicle is calculated or determined in step S1103. .

For example (if the number below is just an example value) and the vehicle is on a ramp road with a vehicle speed of 80 km / h and this ramp road joins the expressway at a speed limit of 100 km / h, the vehicle The maximum relative speed between 100 and the other virtual vehicle is the difference between the vehicle speed and the determined maximum speed of the virtual vehicle assumed to be traveling at the speed limit on the object lane on the freeway It can be determined to be 20 km / hour based on. For example, if 10 km / hour is considered as the limit of safety (if it is assumed that the virtual vehicle may have exceeded the speed limit by 10 km / hour), the vehicle 100 and another virtual vehicle The maximum relative speed between them is the difference between the own vehicle speed and the determined maximum speed of the virtual vehicle assumed to be traveling at the speed limit on the object lane on the freeway, taking into account the safety limits It can be determined to be 30 km / hour based on. Also, the maximum relative speed can be further adjusted for safety reasons, depending on the time of day, traffic conditions to be expected, seasonal conditions, statistical data, etc.

Next, referring back to FIG. 2, in step S212, a detection area necessary for lane change and / or merging is calculated or determined based on the maximum relative velocity determined in step S211.

For example, the length required for lane change along an adjacent lane (target lane) can be calculated based on the maximum relative velocity determined in step S212. This required length can be calculated according to the relative velocity. For example, the higher the relative velocity, the longer the required length is determined, and the lower the relative velocity, the shorter the required length. Furthermore, this required length can be determined based on the determined / estimated time T1 required for the lane change / merging as described above.

Then, as an example, the required sensing area estimated to be necessary to be able to execute lane change safely, ie the sensing area considered to be a lane change / merging requirement, has been determined It may be calculated or determined based on the length, and further determined based on map data and / or lane marking information detected by the sensor of the vehicle 100.

As an example, since the necessary detection area can be calculated / decided based on, for example, map data and / or the shape of the adjacent lane (target lane) based on the lane sign information acquired by the sensor of the host vehicle 100, the example The above algorithm is also applicable to merging or changing lanes regardless of the curve shape of the road curve. However, the method of calculating the actual detection area is not limited to the above method. For example, the required detection area can be calculated based on the adjacent lane and the next lane of the adjacent lane.

In step S213, the driving support control unit 1 determines whether the necessary detection area determined in step S212 is included in the actual detection area determined in step S210. For example, in step S213, it is determined whether the required detection area determined in step S212 is smaller or at least equal to the actual detection area determined in step S210.

That is, the driving support control unit 1 determines in step S213 whether the detection area requirement (detection area condition) is satisfied in the current lane change state or the merging state.

If step S213 returns to NO, the process proceeds to step S214, where the driving is transferred to the driver of the host vehicle 100. For example, the driver is instructed to take over control of the host vehicle 100, or at least control of the host vehicle 100 is controlled by a visual and / or auditory alert or a transition command output by a human-machine interface attached to the vehicle. It is warned that manual control needs to be migrated.

For example, FIG. 11 exemplarily illustrates the device panel of the host vehicle that outputs a warning message to the driver.

This warning message includes, in addition to the output of the warning message, a display by indicating the reason for the need to take over control of the vehicle by the driver if the driver needs to take over the driving control, It can be understood why manual control is needed, eg information as to why the level of automation is decreasing and / or by which time the driver needs to initiate manual control of the vehicle.

When step S213 returns to YES, the process proceeds to step S209, and the driving support control unit 1 performs lane change as described above as an example in connection with, for example, FIG.

The main aspects of the present invention will be described in connection with steps S210 to S214 of FIG.

That is, to summarize the above, due to the limitation of the detection area actually available, for example, due to an obstacle in the detection area, the other vehicle (following vehicle) in the target lane of the desired lane change / merge operation If not detected at all, the necessary detection area required to safely carry out a lane change is safe, for example even if the following vehicle is approaching at high speed from outside the actual detection area in a blind merge situation The purpose is to realize merging.

Furthermore, if the required sensing area is not included in the actual sensing area, the driving control is instead transferred to the driver. This aspect allows the driver to easily and safely control the vehicle even before the start of a lane change or merging situation, for example by helping the driver avoid sudden occurrence of a control transition at the end of the merging area. It has the advantage of being able to take over.

FIG. 12 exemplarily illustrates a flowchart of another control process of the driving assistance system according to another exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 12 exemplarily illustrates an automatic merging process that can be stored in the memory of the driving support control unit 1, and the driving support control unit 1 may be configured to execute the corresponding control processing.

Steps S1301 to S1314 in FIG. 12 are, for example, the same as S201 to S214 in FIG. 2 described above.

If step S1313 returns to NO, information and / or map information is detected in step S315, for example, the slowest junction start point (or slowest lane change point) detected by, for example, the camera 2 of the host vehicle 100 or other forward sensors. Calculated or determined based on

The slowest merging start point indicates, as an example, a position from which the vehicle 100 can safely merge or safely change lanes.

Then, in step S1316, the actual detection area at the confluence start point is estimated based on the current actual detection area and the determined confluence start point.

In step S1317, the necessary detection area at the merging start point is calculated or determined based on the necessary length, map data and / or lane marking information detected by the sensor of the vehicle 100 (for example, similar to step S211) But with regard to the latest determined confluence start point).

In S1318, the driving support control unit 1 determines whether the necessary detection area at the joining start point is included in the actual detection area at the joining start point (for example, although it is determined similar to step S212) For the slowest merging start).

If step S1318 returns to YES, the process proceeds to step S1319 to continue the merging operation (or the lane change operation).

In step S1319, the vehicle is controllable to reduce the blind area in the actual detection area estimated at the latest merging start point. This has the advantage of increasing the possibility of performing automatic merging or car line changes.

If step S1318 returns to NO, the process proceeds to step S1314 where operation control is transferred to the driver in a manner similar to step S214 above.

If, as a result of the processing of steps S1315-S1319, the detection requirement (detection condition) for merging (that is, the determination of step S1318) is satisfied at least at the merging start point or the latest merging start point, the vehicle performs merging operation or lane The execution of the change operation can continue.

FIG. 13 exemplarily illustrates, for example, a schematic of an exemplary merging portion of a highway.

Here, in the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 12, while entering the merging part, while the actual detection area available to the sensor of the vehicle 100 is interrupted by a wall or similar obstacle as an example, As an example, when the subject vehicle 100 is at the beginning of the joining portion, the driving support control unit 1 of the subject vehicle 100 compares the necessary detection area of the latest joining start point as an example with the actual detection area of the joining start point. This has the advantage that the automatic merging operation / lane changing operation can be performed depending on the situation.

FIG. 14 exemplarily illustrates the calculation / determination of an actual detection area based on previously acquired data.

The upper part of FIG. 14 shows, as an example, processing of storing actual detection information regarding the vehicle position in the database at time A. The lower part of FIG. 14 shows, as an example, a process of extracting actual detection information stored in advance at time B (later than time A). Such a database may be provided on the vehicle, or such database may be located at a remote location, for example at a service provider's database center, such center and / or database being You may communicate with the driving assistance control part 1 via wireless communication.

For example, in order for the own vehicle 100 to accurately estimate the actual detection area at the slowest convergence start point, the actual detection information and / or Or visibility information (e.g. low / medium / high visibility) can be extracted.

Also, this information can be displayed to the driver via the human-machine interface. Such information is very useful to the driver, because the driver can prepare to take over control of the vehicle 100 before reaching the merging point or at least before reaching the slowest junction start point. It has the advantage of

As described above, although the database can be implemented on the vehicle 100 in the illustrated embodiment, the location and specific configuration of the database are not limited, and the database is not limited to the data center in the other illustrated embodiment as described above. It can be implemented. When the database is attached to the data center, the same information can be used by other vehicles by wireless information using, for example, Car-to-X communications (Car-to-X communications or C2X).

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the present invention as described above and the accompanying drawings may be implemented as a method (e.g. computer implemented process or other process), a control apparatus (apparatus, machine, system, computer program product and / or other apparatus Or a combination thereof.

Thus, embodiments of the present invention are generally hardware embodiments, software embodiments (firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.) as a whole, or embodiments combining software and hardware aspects commonly referred to herein as a "system". It may take the form of Additionally, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer readable medium having computer executable program code embodied in the medium.

Embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods and apparatus. Note that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and / or combinations of each block in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer executable program code.

Computer-executable program code may be provided to a processing device, such as a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, or the control of another programmable data processing device to create a particular machine, such as a computer or other program. The program code to be executed via the data processing apparatus creates means for implementing the functions / actions / outputs specified in the flowchart, block diagram, block, diagram and / or description. These computer executable program code may be stored in computer readable memory, which may be directed to a computer or other programmable data processing device to function in a further specific manner, and stored in computer readable memory. The program code creates a product that includes instruction means for implementing the functions / operations / outputs specified in the flowcharts, block diagrams, blocks, diagrams and / or specifications. Computer-executable program code may be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device that causes a sequence of operating steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable device to create a computer-implemented process. The program code executing on the programmable device implements the steps of implementing the functions / actions / outputs specified in the flowchart, block diagram, block, diagram and / or description. Alternatively, computer program execution steps or actions may be combined with steps or actions performed by an operator or human to carry out embodiments of the present invention.

It should be noted that while logic flow has been described herein to represent various aspects of the present invention, it should not be construed to limit the present invention to any particular logic flow or logic implementation. The described logic may be divided into different logic blocks (e.g. programs, modules, functions or subroutines) without changing the overall result or deviating from the true scope of the present invention. Often, logic elements are added, modified, omitted, performed in a different order, or different logic structures (e.g., logic gates) without changing the overall result or departing from the true scope of the present invention. , Looping primitives, conditional logic, and other logical structures).

Although specific illustrative embodiments are described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, such embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the broad invention, and various others in addition to those described in the above paragraphs. The embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the specific structure and arrangement shown and described because changes, combinations, omissions, corrections, and substitutions are possible. Those skilled in the art should understand that various adaptations, modifications and / or combinations of the above-described embodiments can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. For example, unless specifically stated otherwise, the process steps described herein may be performed in a different order than the order described herein, and one or more steps may be combined, separated or performed simultaneously. Those skilled in the art, in light of the present disclosure, may combine different embodiments of the invention described herein to form other embodiments of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... driving assistance control part, 2 ... camera, 3 ... laser radar, 4 ... laser radar, 5 ... millimeter wave radar, 6 ... steering wheel, 7 ... steering torque detector, 8 ... steering control part, 9 ... internal combustion engine, 10 ... steering control mechanism, 11 ... lane change support input device, 12 ... brake pedal, 13 ... brake control mechanism, 14 ... composite vehicle system sensor, 15 ... brake control unit, 16 FL ... brake, 16 FR ... brake, 16 RL ... brake, 16 RR ... brake ... 17 ... accelerator pedal ... 18 ... stroke sensor 19 ... throttle control part 20 ... throttle control mechanism, 21 ... steering angle detector, 22FL ... wheel speed sensor, 22FR ... wheel speed sensor, 22RL ... wheel speed sensor, 22 RR ... wheel speed sensor, 23 ... warning device, 100 ... Vehicle, 101 ... vehicle, 102 ... vehicle, 103 ... vehicle.

Claims

A method of assisting a driver of said vehicle having one or more sensors configured to detect another vehicle around said vehicle, said method comprising: The method is executed by the driving support control unit of the host vehicle when the lane change operation for changing from the lane to the target lane is performed,
Determine the available detection area detected by the one or more sensors of the vehicle;
Determining a detection area required to execute automatic control or semi-automatic control of the lane change operation by the driving support control unit of the host vehicle;
Controlling the lane change operation of the vehicle based on a comparison between the determined available sensing area and the determined necessary sensing area.
If the determined available detection area is greater than or equal to the determined necessary detection area and / or if the determined available detection area includes the determined required detection area The method of claim 1, wherein the lane change operation is controlled.
Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the human-machine interface of the subject vehicle issues a warning message to the driver requesting that the driver take over control of the subject vehicle.
The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the required sensing area is determined based on the speed of the vehicle.
The said required detection area is determined based on the required estimated length and / or required estimated time estimated as required to perform the said lane change operation | movement. Method.
The required detection area is determined based on map data indicating the surrounding environment of the host vehicle and / or based on lane sign information detected by one or more sensors of the host vehicle. The method according to claim 4 or 5.
The method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the required detection area is determined based on an estimated speed of a virtual vehicle.
The necessary detection area is determined based on the estimated maximum relative velocity of the virtual vehicle with respect to the host vehicle, and the estimated maximum relative velocity is determined based on the estimated velocity of the virtual vehicle and the velocity of the host vehicle. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that:
The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein it is estimated that the virtual vehicle is traveling in the target lane of the lane change operation outside the determined available detection area.
The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the estimated speed of the virtual vehicle is determined based on a speed limit on the target lane.
The estimated speed of the virtual vehicle is determined based on at least one of current weather conditions, time, current season, and current traffic conditions. Method described in Section.
The estimated speed of the virtual vehicle is determined based on statistical speed data indicating an average speed on the target lane or a statistically estimated maximum speed of a vehicle traveling on the target lane. A method according to any one of the claims 7-11.
Furthermore, determining the slowest lane change starting point of the current lane ahead of the host vehicle;
The available detection area is determined as an estimated available detection area when the host vehicle is located at the slowest lane change start point, and the necessary detection area is for performing the lane change operation. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is determined as the required detection area required at the slowest lane change start point.
further,
The slowest lane change start point of the current lane ahead of the vehicle is determined;
Determining an estimated second available detection area in which the vehicle is located at the slowest lane change start point;
Determining a second necessary detection area for automatically controlling or semi-automatically controlling the lane change operation by the driving support control unit of the host vehicle at the slowest lane change start point;
Controlling the lane change operation of the vehicle at the slowest lane change start point based on a comparison result between the estimated second available detection area and the determined second necessary detection area A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises
If the determined estimated second available detection area is greater than or equal to the determined second required detection area, and / or the determined estimated second available detection area is determined The method according to claim 14, wherein control of the lane change operation of the vehicle at the slowest lane change start point is performed when the second required detection area is included.
The available detection area is determined based on information stored in advance, which indicates an available detection area of a position in front of the host vehicle. Method described in Section.
Determining the available detection area if the other vehicle following the vehicle is not detected by the one or more sensors of the vehicle in the target lane when the lane change operation is performed; Determining the required detection area, and controlling the lane change operation of the vehicle based on the comparison result of the determined available detection area and the determined necessary detection area. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is carried out.
If another vehicle in the target lane following the vehicle is detected by the one or more sensors of the vehicle when the lane change operation is performed, the method further comprising:
Determine the relative distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle detected;
Determine the relative speed between the vehicle and the other vehicle detected;
When the determined relative distance between the host vehicle and the detected other vehicle and / or the determined relative speed between the host vehicle and the detected other vehicle satisfy a lane change condition The method according to claim 17, comprising controlling the lane change movement of the vehicle.
A device installable on said vehicle comprising one or more sensors adapted to detect another vehicle around said vehicle, said device comprising the method according to any one of claims 1-18. An apparatus comprising a controller configured to execute.
A computer program product comprising a computer program comprising computer program instructions for causing a control unit or processor to carry out the steps of the method according to any one of the preceding claims.