WO2020178260A1

WO2020178260A1 - Driving support method

Info

Publication number: WO2020178260A1
Application number: PCT/EP2020/055487
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ashwin Dayal GEORGE
Original assignee: Valeo Schalter Und Sensoren Gmbh
Priority date: 2019-03-06
Filing date: 2020-03-03
Publication date: 2020-09-10
Also published as: DE102019105612A1

Abstract

The present invention refers to a driving support method for driving a vehicle (10) on a first lane (12) of a road (14), wherein a lane widening (18) of the first lane (12) is present at the road (14) ahead, wherein the lane widening (18) results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle (10) to be present at the road (14) ahead, and wherein the method comprises the steps of: a) sensing the environment of the vehicle (10) by at least one environmental sensor; b) determining, if a lane widening (18) is present at the first lane (12) of the road (14) ahead, wherein the lane widening (18) results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle (10) to be present at the road (14) ahead; c) planning a first trajectory for driving the vehicle (10) along a first driving path of the at least two possible driving paths, d) planning a second trajectory for driving the vehicle (10) along a second driving path of the at least two possible driving paths; e) informing a driver of the vehicle (10) about the first trajectory and the second trajectory; f) receiving a driving instruction of the driver of the vehicle (10) for driving the vehicle (10) along the first trajectory or along the second trajectory; and g) driving the vehicle (10) a driving supported manner in consent with the driving instruction received in step f).

Description

Driving support method

The present invention relates to a driving support method. The present invention particularly refers to a driving support method which is capable of giving reliable driving support in an area of lane widening. Apart from that, the present invention relates to a computer program product as well as to a driving support system being adapted for performing such a method.

Driving support methods are well known in the art. For example, it is known to give driving support in order to enhance safety and comfort of a driver of a vehicle. With this regard, there is a plurality of situations in which driving support, such as comprising lane keeping features, is very effective. However, there are still some situations in which driving support may be enhanced.

For example, existing lane keeping systems use information provided by cameras, maps or infrastructure to perceive the environment and to perform several autonomous or assist functions for modern day vehicles.

DE 10 2005 023 185 A1 describes a lane change assistant for motor vehicles, having a monitoring device for monitoring the traffic in front of and in the rear area of your own vehicle and a decision device for deciding whether a safe lane change is possible, characterized by a recommendation device which is designed to calculate the temporal development of vehicle spacings in advance and to issue a recommendation for a lane change if this lane change is possible without danger and if the distance to a preceding vehicle on your own lane will become smaller than a predetermined minimum distance within a predetermined period of time.

US 2016/0176341 A1 describes an in-vehicle system for identifying exit-only lanes and shared exit lanes on a roadway having a first camera for obtaining image data regarding lane markings on the roadway, a second camera for obtaining image data regarding exit signs, a lane marking detection module for detecting lane markings on the roadway, an exit sign detection module for detecting exit signs, and an exit sign analyzer for detecting arrows on the detected exit signs. The in-vehicle system categorizes detected lane markings as one of standard frequency dashed lane markings, high frequency dashed lane markings, and solid lane markings, and identifies an exit-only lane and a shared exit lane in response to the categorizations of the detected lane markings and characteristics of the detected arrows.

US 2016/0272203 A1 describes that, in a case where existence of a branch point in front of a vehicle is not recognized based on position information of the vehicle and map information, when a lane width variation is greater than or equal to a first threshold value larger than a second threshold value, a determination that the branch point exists is made by a determination unit of a vehicle control device. On the other hand, in a case where existence of the branch point is recognized based on the position information of the vehicle and the map information, when the lane width variation is greater than or equal to the second threshold value smaller than the first threshold value, a

determination that the branch point exists is made by the determination unit.

US 9,406,232 B2 describes that a driving support detects for a lane dividing line on a road surface which is travelled upon, by using an image which is taken by a camera and which represents the road surface which is travelled upon and is in front of a vehicle, sets a virtual lane dividing line in a section in which no lane dividing line is drawn, performs a driving support by controlling the vehicle based on the lane dividing line and the virtual lane dividing line, and issues a warning when the vehicle deviates from the virtual lane dividing line. Further, the driving support detects a state of the vehicle, calculates information indicating the state as vehicle information, cancels the driving support when the vehicle information satisfies a predetermined cancel condition, and inhibits the warning when the driving support is cancelled.

Such solutions, however, still give room for improvements. Especially, such solutions give room for improvements with regard to providing a reliable driving support in complex situations.

It is thus an object of the present invention to overcome at least one disadvantage of the prior art. It is particularly an object of the present invention to provide a method which is capable of providing a reliable driving support in complex situations and in particular in situations in which a lane widening occurs and thus in case lane markings are missing or are interrupted in the area of lane widening. These objects are solved at least in part by a driving support method having the features of independent claim 1. These objects are further solved at least in part by a computer program product having the features of independent claim 12 and by a driving support system having the features of independent claim 13. Advantageous embodiments are given in the dependent claims, in the further description as well as in the figures, wherein the described embodiments can, alone or in any combination of the respective embodiments, provide a feature of the present invention unless not clearly excluded.

In particular, the present invention provides a driving support method for driving a vehicle on a first lane of a road, wherein a lane widening of the first lane is present at the road ahead, wherein the lane widening results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle to be present at the road ahead, and wherein the method comprises the steps of:

a) sensing the environment of the vehicle by at least one environmental sensor;

b) determining, if a lane widening is present at the first lane of the road ahead, wherein the lane widening results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle to be present at the road ahead;

c) planning a first trajectory for driving the vehicle along a first driving path of the at least two possible driving paths,

d) planning a second trajectory for driving the vehicle along a second driving path of the at least two possible driving paths;

e) informing a driver of the vehicle about the first trajectory and the second trajectory; f) receiving a driving instruction of the driver of the vehicle for driving the vehicle along the first trajectory or along the second trajectory; and

g) driving the vehicle in a driving supported manner in consent with the driving instruction received in step f).

Such a method may provide significant advantages over solution of the prior art like will be described in greater detail down below.

Such a driving support method is capable of providing reliable driving support in com plex situations. In particular, such a driving support method is capable of providing relia ble driving support in situations where a lane widening occurs and results in at least two potential driving paths located ahead of the vehicle that maybe used by the vehicle. Thus, the present invention provides a driving support method for driving a vehicle, such as for a car. The method may particularly be performed by means of a driving support system which is part of the vehicle or which is comprised by the vehicle, respectively. Further, the method may be part of a process for giving driving support, wherein the driving support may comprise simply giving respective driving instructions, at least in part taking over control of the vehicle or even providing fully autonomous driving.

In particular, the present invention provides a driving support method for driving a vehicle on a first lane of a road, wherein a lane widening of the first lane is present at the road ahead, wherein the lane widening results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle to be present at the road ahead. Therefore, the present method is particularly suited for providing automated or at least assisted driving in case a lane widening appears at the road ahead and thus on a region of the road the vehicle will drive on. With this regard, a lane widening results in at least two possible paths appearing which the vehicle may take.

Therefore, the present method takes into consideration that in case at least two and thus particularly more than one possible path appears, a decision has to be taken which path the vehicle drives on.

In order to take a reliable decision with regard to which of the present paths to take and in turn in order to allow providing a safe and reliable driving support, the method comprises the following steps.

Firstly and according to method step a) the present method comprises the step of sens ing the environment of the vehicle by an environmental sensor. Such a step is generally known in the art. In detail, it is known to use environmental sensors in order to provide information about the environment. Next to three dimensional features it is important to detect ground features, such especially lane markings. Such detected features are im portant for providing driving support and actual driving support systems are well capable of detecting such features by using one or a plurality of environmental sensors.

Examples for such environmental sensors may comprise cameras, for example. Flowev- er it is generally possible to use further classes of environmental sensors apart from a camera. With this regard, it may be preferred using an environmental sensor which is selected from the group consisting of radar-based sensors, lidar-based sensor, and ul trasonic sensors. Thus, the before-named environmental sensors may generally be used for the method according to the invention.

With regard to sensing the environment, this step thus provides information about the environment of the vehicle and particularly about lane markings being present and addi tionally of the further environment of the vehicle referring to three-dimensional features. This information may be sent to a control unit of the driving support system which may use the sensor data as provided and may create and provide different information out of these sensor data as collected in step a) like described in greater detail below.

Further and according to method step b), the method comprises the step of determining, if a lane widening is present at the first lane of the road ahead, wherein the lane widen ing results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle to be present at the road ahead. This step may be the result of method step a) or in other words, the lane widen ing may be detected by sensing the environment of the vehicle by using one or more than one environmental sensors. In more detail, the information as provided in method step a) may be processed in a manner generally known per se in order to detect a lane widening.

With regard to a lane widening, it may be provided in the sense of the present invention that a lane widening particularly comprises or is arranged as at least one of the start of a second lane, wherein the second lane is positioned adjacent to the first lane, and a lane splitting comprising the start of a third lane, wherein the third lane proceeds away from the first lane.

One possible way to detect a lane widening might be to detect and analyse respective lane markings. Lane markings particularly are markings on the road which show the po sition and the course of the lane on the road. Such lane markings may for example be lines or further markings which are situated at the lateral borders of the lane, for exam ple. Such lane markings may give effective support for sensors. In other words, actual sensor set-ups are well suited for detecting such lane markings and for giving respective information for control units of driving support systems in order to reliably provide driving support and particularly to reliably and safely position the vehicle in the lane especially by using a camera as environmental sensor.

Especially when taking into consideration the position, the specific appearance and/or the course of lane markings, a reliable detection of the course of the road and particular ly of lanes proceeding thereon is possible. In turn, by taking into consideration the posi tion, the specific appearance and/or the course of lane markings, a reliable detection of a lane widening is possible.

According to further method step c), the present method comprises the further step of planning a first trajectory for driving the vehicle along a first driving path of the at least two possible driving paths. Correspondingly and according to method step d), the meth od comprises the step of planning a second trajectory for driving the vehicle along a second driving path of the at least two possible driving paths.

The step of planning a trajectory according to these steps may comprise to completely plan the trajectory and thus to provide a full driving profile along the respective path, or it may comprise to solely initially plan the trajectory and thus to provide a general driving direction into the first path, and the second path, respectively. These steps c) and d) may generally be realized as it is known in the art for planning trajectories along lanes of the road.

Further and with regard to the first and the second driving path, it may be provided that the first driving path may be one which proceeds further at the first lane and thus no change of the driving path will appear. The second driving path, however, may be based on the computed steering command of the control unit in accordance to the lane widen ing like described in greater detail below.

Having planned the trajectories like described above, according to method step e), it is provided to inform a driver of the vehicle about the first trajectory and the second trajec tory. Therefore, the present method does not use the planned trajectories directly and without further control, but firstly information about the respective trajectories is given to the driver of the vehicle. Again, this step may comprise to show a detailed trajectory and thus to inform the driver of a full driving profile along the respective path, or it may com- prise to solely inform the driver of a general driving direction into the first path, and the second path, respectively.

This step thus allows the driver to take notice of the planned trajectories and thus allows the driver to confirm one of the trajectories and thus on the other hand to decline further trajectories. In other words, having planned the trajectories, it is the driver who selects the trajectory and who thus selects the path which should be used.

Accordingly, the method comprises according to method step f) the further step of re ceiving a driving instruction of the driver of the vehicle for driving the vehicle along the first trajectory or along the second trajectory. Therefore, the method is based on the fact that the trajectory which should be used for automated driving is chosen in dependence of a decision which is made by a driver of the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle may take his decision based on the information as provided to him in step e) like described above.

Based on the former steps, the method comprises according to method step g) the fur ther step of driving the vehicle in a driving supported manner in consent with the driving instruction received in step f). In other words, the vehicle is driven in a supported man ner and thus e.g. by giving driving instructions or by performing a fully automated driving like described above in such a manner in which the respective trajectory which should be used is selected by a driver of the vehicle.

The method as described before may show significant advantages over the prior art.

In particular, the present method is suited for addressing the problem which may arise in case more than one and thus at least two possible driving paths are present ahead the vehicle and this a decision has to be taken as to which driving path to use.

With this regard, it is known in the art that the further course of the lane ahead and thus for example lane widenings being present on the road ahead are detected by respective environmental sensors. This is important for allowing and improving or on the other side for adjusting or avoiding distinct driving sequences and in particular for choosing the ap propriate path by calculating an appropriate trajectory for the vehicle. According to the prior art, the trajectory which should be used is selected by the driving support system. According to the present invention, the method is based on the fact that the used trajec tory for driving the vehicle through and after the lane widening is not selected based on respective decisions of an automated system, such as a driving support system. This may lead to situations where the driving support system may unintentionally steer to a wrong position on the lane. In contrast to this, it is provided that the trajectory used in case a lane widening appears is selected by the driver of a vehicle.

The present method for example takes into consideration that currently existing lane keeping systems that have one or more sensors mounted at the vehicle, which may be called host vehicle, primarily rely on detecting lane markers provided on the road, such as painted on the road. In absence of lanes or even mis-detected lanes, it may be pos sible, in the region of lane widening, that lane keeping systems are prone to false posi tive steering.

This effect, however, is counteracted or in other words, the occurrence of such situa tions is resolved by the present invention as the selection of the used trajectory is done by the driver of the vehicle. Therefore, a supervision is performed. Thus, a kind of driver feedback mechanism is provided which significantly improves security.

It can thus be avoided that in situations in which a lane widening appears, the system fails to accurately interpret the respective situation or to interpret the situation at a late stage. Especially, in case it is late before the lane widening occurs, significant draw backs may arise, which, however, may be overcome by the present method.

With this regard, it may be avoided that the system inadvertently drives the vehicle to wards an exit of a motorway or towards the median separating the motorway and the ex it. Correspondingly, the present invention may avoid that the system inadvertently drives the vehicle on two adjacent lanes. Therefore, the reliability of a driving support method, such as a lane keeping sequence, may be significantly improved by a method according to the invention. It may thus be allowed that higher true positive rates with regard to steering sequences are reached.

As a result, the driving support may be realized especially effectively and safely. By let ting the driver of the vehicle decide the trajectory which is driven by the driving support system and thus by the vehicle, the number of false steering events that occur when us- ing lane keeping systems is reduced while further improving system availability on roads which have confusing lane markings, construction zones, for example. Smarter lane keeping systems as driving support systems, for example, may thus be reached.

A further advantage can be seen in the fact that the driver of the vehicle is more atten tive which may also improve the reliability and safety of driving sequences.

However, in order to drive the vehicle along the upcoming road even in case the driver of the vehicle gives no input and thus if step f) is omitted, the following method may be performed.

A driving support method may be provided for driving a vehicle on a first lane of a road, wherein a lane widening of the first lane is present at the road ahead, wherein the lane widening results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle to be present at the road ahead, and wherein the method comprises the steps of:

a) sensing the environment of the vehicle by at least one environmental sensor;

b) determining, if a lane widening is present at the first lane of the road ahead, wherein the lane widening results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle to be pre sent at the road ahead;

e) informing a driver of the vehicle about the first trajectory and the second trajectory; and

if no driving instruction of the driver of the vehicle for driving the vehicle along the first trajectory or along the second trajectory is received, performing one out of steps h) and i) and j), wherein

step h) comprises using the most probable trajectory out of the first and second trajecto ry, wherein the probability of the first and the trajectory is determined based on the past trajectory of the vehicle; and wherein

step i) comprises maintaining the vehicle on the first lane; and wherein

step j) comprises ending the present driving sequence. Therefore, in case no response of the driver is received, it may be provided that accord ing to method step h), a probability for the further trajectory is calculated and driving support is based on that probability. This may be realized, for example, by using respec tive algorithms which might take into consideration the past trajectory which might give significant hints for determining the further trajectory.

Alternatively and according to method step i), it may be provided that the vehicle is maintained on the first lane.This embodiment is based on the fact that by maintaining the vehicle on the first lane no active change of the driving sequence is realized. In other words, this embodiment provides that changes of a driving sequence are only realized in case the driver gives the instruction thereto and on the contrary, that the driving support still continues what it was doing before but does not make a change in its control in ab sence of any instructions of the driver. It may thus be provided that the driving support system, or the control unit, respectively, may automatically choose the more probable path based on the past trajectory.

As a further alternative in case no response of a driver is received, the present driving sequence is ended. As the driving support system does not receive any information which is more reliable compared to the information regarding the trajectories the driver is informed about, the driving support system may not perform any active driving se quence. Most preferably, this is possible in case the driver controls the vehicle for safety reasons.

It may further be provided that step e) is performed by giving optical or acoustic infor mation. According to this embodiment, it may generally be provided that the driver of the vehicle is informed about the possible trajectories effectively. With this regard and ac cording to an optical information, it may be provided that the trajectories are shown on a display e.g. of a driver information system, or multi information display, respectively, such as at the center console, the display of a navigation system or on a head up dis play. According to an acoustic information, it may be provided that the driver is informed about the trajectories by using a voice output via the loudspeakers of the infotainment system of the vehicle.

It may further be provided that step f) is performed by detecting a vocal input of the driv er or by detecting a input of the driver by a gesture or by detecting an input of the driver by acting on a button or a touch screen. With this regard, and especially by using the voice of the driver or by using a gesture, the driver may select the trajectory which should be used while still paying attention to the road so that these embodiments may be realized in an especially secure manner. By using an input via a button or a touch screen, such as a touch-sensitive display, the driver may select the trajectory to use with an input device which is present in most vehicles. Thus, according to this embodiment, an implementation may be realized in an especially easy manner.

It may further be provided that step b) is performed by detecting the width of the first lane. This embodiment is based on the fact that especially in the region of a lane widen ing, lane markings are missing at least for a limited distance. Missing lane markings, however, often are the reason that the width of the first lane is increasing, as the dis tance between the lane markings being detected on the left side of the road and the lane markings being detected o the right side of the road increased due to the lane widening and the missing lane marking. Therefore, detecting the width of the first lane may be an effective measure for detecting a lane widening and therefore as basis for planning a trajectory along such lanes.

It may further be provided that step b) is performed by using a history of the lane width of the first lane. This embodiment may help to detect a lane widening in an especially re liable manner especially in combination with the embodiment according to which step b) is performed by detecting the width of the first lane. This may be mainly due to the fact that the detected width of the lane may be analyzed with regard to a lane widening ahead in an especially reliable and secure manner.

It may further be provided that step e) is performed by taking into consideration a proba bility of the trajectory. In other words, the most probable paths can be determined and afterwards, the driver may be informed about respective trajectories. The determination of the most probable paths may be realized by suitable algorithms which may for exam ple work based on the current position and the position of the destination which might be entered into a navigation system. Taking into consideration a probability of the trajectory may generally provide a more reliable result which may significantly improve an auto mated driving sequence especially in case more than two trajectories are possible and calculated. Apart from that, the number of trajectories the driver is informed about may be reduced as only those trajectories with the highest probability may be used for in- forming the driver accordingly. This may reduce the time which is required for the driver to select the respective trajectory, so that high comfort is combined with a high safety. Apart from that, the trajectory may be selected in good time before the lane widening is reached, so that a sufficient reaction time is given before the lane widening is reached and thus the selected trajectory may be used in a secure behavior.

Especially with regard to the embodiment using the step of performing step e) by taking into consideration a probability of the trajectory, but not restricted thereto, it may further be provided that step e) takes into consideration the previous trajectory of the vehicle and a potential prospective steering command. The prospective steering command may be computed by a driving support system, for example, based on the current position and the perceived reference point due to the lane widening or the final destination, which may be entered into the navigation system. Based on navigation system infor mation, potential trajectories in general and particularly the most probable trajectories may be determined especially effectively and reliably as the course of the vehicle to reach the destination is known.

In a more general embodiment and, again, especially with regard to the embodiment us ing the step of performing step e) by taking into consideration a probability of the trajec tory, but not restricted thereto, it may further be provided that step e) takes into consid eration the history of the path traversed by the host vehicle. In other words, the path which was used previously can give effective information for determining possible trajec tories and in particular the most probable trajectory. For example, in case the vehicle changes lanes in order to be as close as possible to a lane which starts new at the lane widening, this may be an indication for a desired path along the new started lane.

However, it may be provided that not only step e) is performed by taking into considera tion a probability of the trajectories, but also the trajectories as such may be calculated by taking into consideration a respective probability. For example, it may be provided that the first trajectory is calculated based on the past trajectory of the host vehicle which might lead to a trajectory at which the vehicle is maintained on the first lane. On the other hand, it might be provided that the second trajectory is calculated based on the probability as a result of the lane widening which might lead to a trajectory at which the vehicle changes to the second lane or to the third lane. Again, the trajectories may be calculated based on respective algorithms as it is generally known in the art. With regard to giving driving support and thus particularly with regard to step g), it may further be provided that driving support comprises a lane centring functionality. Even though the step of providing driving support is not generally restricted like described above, this step defines that driving support particularly may comprise a lateral control step, or adjusting the position of the vehicle on the lane, respectively. With this regard, a lane centring or lane keeping functionality may comprise adjusting the position of the vehicle on the lane in the course of supported driving, such as autonomous driving, or it may further comprise giving information for adjusting the position of the vehicle on the lane which may concern driving support in case a driver still has control of the vehicle. Apart from that, lane centring in the sense of the present invention should particularly mean that the vehicle is positioned or should be positioned within the lane and particu larly in the lateral center of the lane.

With regard to further advantages and technical features of the method, it is referred to the computer program product, the driving support system, the figures and the further description.

The present invention further relates to a computer program product for driving a vehicle on a first lane of a road, wherein a lane widening of the first lane is present at the road ahead, wherein the lane widening results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle to be present at the road ahead, wherein the computer program product is adapted to perform a method according to the further description at least in part.

Like described in detail above with regard to the method, the method and thus the computer program product significantly improves driving support sequences in that a lane widening scenario may be detected at a very early stage on roads and in that the desired path at and after the lane widening is used.

The computer program product and the method performed therewith use supervision by the driver of the vehicle in that the trajectory which guides the vehicle through or at least in the respective path is used in case the driver gives an instruction thereto.

This allows improving the safety and reliability of driving support systems in such comparably complex scenarios without the requirement of using complex equipment, such as vehicle to vehicle communication, vehicle to infrastructure scenarios or even map based systems. Further, system availability is improved.

Generally, a computer program product for outputting control commands for a driving support system of a vehicle is further described, wherein the computer program product is adapted to execute a method at least in part, for example completely, as described above.

In particular, the computer program product described here is intended to comprise program parts which are loaded in a processor of a computer-based evaluation device, such as a driving support system, and are set up to carry out the above-mentioned procedure.

Thus the computer program product has programs or at least program parts which can be loaded in a processor of a computer-based evaluation device and can be stored, for example, in a memory which can, for example, be part of a driving support system. On the basis of these programs or program parts it can be allowed that the procedure described above for issuing control commands for a vehicle can be executed.

With regard to further advantages and technical features of the computer program product, it is referred to the method, the driving support system, the figures and the further description.

The present invention further relates to a driving support system for driving a vehicle on a first lane of a road, wherein a lane widening of the first lane is present at the road ahead, wherein the lane widening results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle to be present at the road ahead, wherein the driving support system comprises at least one environmental sensor for sensing the environment and a control unit, wherein information such as sensor data from the at least one environmental sensor is transferable to the control unit and wherein the control unit is adapted to perform a method according to the further description at least in part, such as by using a computer program product as described before.

The driving support system may be part of a vehicle as it is generally known in the art. It preferably comprises one or a plurality of environmental sensors which are adapted for sensing the environment. Such an environmental sensor may, for example, be a camera or the like. However it may also be provided that the environmental sensor is selected from the group consisting of radar-based sensors, lidar-based sensor, and ultrasonic sensors.

Apart from the above, a control unit is provided which receives sensor data from the at least one environmental sensor. The control unit is capable, based on the sensor data, of calculating a trajectory and driving the vehicle through that trajectory in an automated manner and thus, for example, in a fully autonomous way. Especially, the control unit may be capable of providing a lane centering functionality or lane keeping functionality, respectively. Alternatively or additionally, it may be provided that the control unit is pro vided for giving information to a driver based on the information from the environmental sensor.

It is further provided that the control unit is adapted for performing a method as de scribed in detail above and thus according to the further description. Thus, as the driving support system, or its control unit, respectively, is capable of performing the method as described before, supervision by the driver of the vehicle is used in that the trajectory which guides the vehicle through or at least in the respective path is used in case the driver gives an instruction thereto.

This allows for improving the safety and reliability of driving support systems in such comparably complex scenarios without the requirement of using complex equipment, such as vehicle to vehicle communication, vehicle to infrastructure scenarios or even map based systems. Further, system availability is improved.

With regard to further advantages and technical features of the driving support system, it is referred to the computer program product, the method, the figures and the further description.

These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter. Individual features disclosed in the embodiments can constitute alone or in combination an aspect of the present invention. Features of the different embodiments can be carried over from one embodiment to another embodiment. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a first scenario for explaining the present invention; and

Fig. 2 shows a further scenario for explaining the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a first scenario for explaining the present invention.

In detail, figure 1 shows a vehicle 10 which is a car. The vehicle 10 travels on a first lane 12 which is part of a road 14. It is further shown that in addition to the first lane 12, the road 14 comprises an neighboring lane 16. Further, figure 1 shows that ahead the vehi cle 10, a lane widening 18 is provided on the road 14 such, that a second lane 20 starts. The second lane 20 is a further neighboring lane with regard to the first lane 12 and the second lane 20 is positioned directly adjacent to the first lane 12. All lanes are defined by respective lane markings 22.

Due to the lane widening 18, there are two possible paths the vehicle 10 may take. These different paths are indicated by the arrows 24, 26. In order to follow the first path according to arrow 24, the trajectory maintains the vehicle 10 in the first lane 12. In order to follow the second path according to arrow 26, the trajectory guides the vehicle 10 on to the second lane 20.

The present invention is suited for addressing such a situation and thus a situation in which more than one possible path is provided the vehicle 10 may take.

The desired path to take, however, is important for allowing and improving or, on the other hand, for adjusting or avoiding distinct driving sequences. In turn, knowing about the path to take is important for giving driving support to a driver, for giving a warning to a driver, for giving further driving assistance or even to allow fully automated driving.

In order to allow the above, the vehicle 10 comprises a driving support system. The driv ing support system is capable of dealing with such a situation. It comprises a control unit, wherein the information from at least one environmental sensor is transferable to the control unit and wherein the control unit is adapted to perform a method like de scribed below. The method comprises the following steps:

a) sensing the environment of the vehicle 10 by at least one environmental sensor; b) determining, if a lane widening 18 is present at the first lane 12 of the road 14 ahead, wherein the lane widening 18 results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle 10 to be present at the road 14 ahead;

c) planning a first trajectory for driving the vehicle 10 along a first driving path of the at least two possible driving paths,

d) planning a second trajectory for driving the vehicle 10 along a second driving path of the at least two possible driving paths;

e) informing a driver of the vehicle 10 about the first trajectory and the second trajectory; f) receiving a driving instruction of the driver of the vehicle 10 for driving the vehicle 10 along the first trajectory or along the second trajectory; and

g) driving the vehicle 10 in a driving supported manner in consent with the driving in struction received in step f).

Therefore, and to summarize, in case the environmental sensor or the plurality of envi ronmental sensors detect a lane widening 18, such as by detecting an increase of the lane width, the trajectories potentially to be used may be indicated to the driver of the vehicle 10. This may be realized, for example, by optical information and the information given may under circumstances be the same scenario as shown in figure 1. Therefore, the driver may select one of the trajectories which are indicated by the arrows 24, 26 and the vehicle 10 may be driven accordingly in a driving supported manner.

The present invention thus uses a supervision from the driver of the vehicle 10 in that the trajectory which guides the vehicle through or at least in the respective path is used in case the driver gives an instruction thereto.

If, however, no response of a driver of the vehicle 10 is received, the method may com prise the following steps: a) sensing the environment of the vehicle 10 by at least one environmental sensor; b) determining, if a lane widening 18 is present at the first lane 12 of the road 14 ahead, wherein the lane widening 18 results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle 10 to be present at the road 14 ahead;

e) informing a driver of the vehicle 10 about the first trajectory and the second trajectory; and

if no driving instruction of the driver of the vehicle 10 for driving the vehicle 10 along the first trajectory or along the second trajectory is received, performing one out of steps h) and i) and j), wherein

step h) comprises using the most probable trajectory out of the first and second trajecto ry, wherein the probability of the first and the trajectory is determined based on the past trajectory of the vehicle 10; and wherein

step i) comprises maintaining the vehicle 10 on the first lane 12; and wherein

step j) comprises ending the present driving sequence.

Figure 2 shows a further scenario which explains the present invention. Generally, the scenario of figure 2 is comparable to the scenario of figure 1 so that in the following fo cus is given to the differences to figure 1.

According to the scenario of figure 2, the lane widening 18 comprises an exit 28 which results in a third lane 30 to start at the lane widening 18. Therefore, one of the two paths proceeds in the first lane 12 like indicated by arrow 24 and the second path proceeds in the third lane 30 like indicated by arrow 26.

Again, the driver may select one of the trajectories which are indicated by the arrows 24, 26 and the vehicle 10 may be driven accordingly in a driving supported manner. Reference signs list

10 vehicle

12 first lane

14 road

16 neighboring lane

18 lane widening

20 second lane

22 lane marking

24 arrow

26 arrow

28 exit

30 third lane

Claims

Patent claims

1. Driving support method for driving a vehicle (10) on a first lane (12) of a road (14), wherein a lane widening (18) of the first lane (12) is present at the road (14) ahead, wherein the lane widening (18) results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle (10) to be present at the road (14) ahead, and wherein the method comprises the steps of:

a) sensing the environment of the vehicle (10) by at least one environmental sensor;

b) determining, if a lane widening (18) is present at the first lane (12) of the road (14) ahead, wherein the lane widening (18) results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle (10) to be present at the road (14) ahead;

c) planning a first trajectory for driving the vehicle (10) along a first driving path of the at least two possible driving paths,

d) planning a second trajectory for driving the vehicle (10) along a second driving path of the at least two possible driving paths;

e) informing a driver of the vehicle (10) about the first trajectory and the second trajectory;

f) receiving a driving instruction of the driver of the vehicle (10) for driving the vehicle (10) along the first trajectory or along the second trajectory; and g) driving the vehicle (10) in a driving supported manner in consent with the driving instruction received in step f).

2. Driving support method for driving a vehicle (10) on a first lane (12) of a road (14), wherein a lane widening (18) of the first lane (12) is present at the road (14) ahead, wherein the lane widening (18) results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle (10) to be present at the road (14) ahead, and wherein the method comprises the steps of:

b) determining, if a lane widening (18) is present at the first lane (12) of the road (14) ahead, wherein the lane widening (18) results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle (10) to be present at the road (14) ahead; c) planning a first trajectory for driving the vehicle (10) along a first driving path of the at least two possible driving paths,

e) informing a driver of the vehicle (10) about the first trajectory and the second trajectory; and

if no driving instruction of the driver of the vehicle (10) for driving the vehicle (10) along the first trajectory or along the second trajectory is received, performing one out of steps h) and i) and j), wherein

step h) comprises using the most probable trajectory out of the first and second trajectory, wherein the probability of the first and the trajectory is determined based on the past trajectory of the vehicle (10); and wherein

step i) comprises maintaining the vehicle (10) on the first lane (12); and wherein step j) comprises ending the present driving sequence.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that step e) is performed by giving an optical or acoustic information.

4. Method according to any of claims 1 or 3, characterized in that step f) is performed by detecting a vocal input of the driver or by detecting an input of the driver by a gesture or by detecting an input of the driver by acting on a button or a touch screen.

5. Method according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that in step b) is

performed by detecting the width of the first lane (12).

6. Method according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that step b) is

performed by using a history of the lane width of the first lane (12).

7. Method according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that step e) is

performed by taking into consideration a probability of the trajectories.

8. Method according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that step e) takes into consideration the previous trajectory of the vehicle (10) and a potential prospective steering command.

9. Method according to any of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that step e) takes into consideration the history of the path traversed by the vehicle (10).

10. Method according to any of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the lane widening (18) comprises at least one of the start of a second lane (20), wherein the second lane (20) is positioned adjacent to the first lane (12), and a lane splitting comprising the start of a third lane (30), wherein the third lane (30) proceeds away from the first lane (12).

1 1. Method according to any of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that at least one of the first trajectory and the second trajectory is calculated by taking into consideration a probability for the first trajectory or the second trajectory.

12. Computer program product for driving a vehicle (10) on a first lane (12) of a road (14), wherein a lane widening (18) of the first lane (12) is present at the road (14) ahead, wherein the lane widening (18) results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle (10) to be present at the road (14) ahead, characterized in that the computer program product is adapted to perform a method according to any of claims 1 to 1 1 at least in part.

13. Driving support system for driving a vehicle (10) on a first lane (12) of a road (14), wherein a lane widening (18) of the first lane (12) is present at the road (14) ahead, wherein the lane widening (18) results in at least two possible driving paths for the vehicle (10) to be present at the road (14) ahead, wherein the driving support system comprises at least one environmental sensor for sensing the environment of the vehicle (10) and comprises a control unit, wherein information from the at least one environmental sensor is transferable to the control unit and wherein the control unit is adapted for performing a method according to any of claims 1 to 1 1 at least in part.