CN109658717B

CN109658717B - Method, apparatus, device and storage medium for controlling vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN109658717B
Application number: CN201811488768.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘思杨; 陈尚义
Original assignee: Beijing Baidu Netcom Science and Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Baidu Netcom Science and Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-12-06
Filing date: 2018-12-06
Publication date: 2020-08-11
Anticipated expiration: 2038-12-06
Also published as: CN109658717A

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method, an apparatus, a device, and a computer-readable storage medium for controlling a vehicle are provided. The method comprises receiving a control signal from a traffic directing device, the control signal indicating properties of a vehicle for which the control signal is intended and an operation to be performed; determining whether the target vehicle is a vehicle for which the control signal is directed, based on the attribute; in response to determining that the target vehicle is the vehicle for which the control signal is intended, determining an expected time for the target vehicle to travel to the location of the traffic directing device; and in response to the expected time being less than a threshold time, causing the target vehicle to perform an operation to be performed, the threshold time being associated with the operation to be performed. The method can enable the vehicle to receive the remotely sent control signal and execute the operation to be executed under the condition of short time from the traffic guidance equipment.

Description

Method, apparatus, device and storage medium for controlling vehicle

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of intelligent transportation, and more particularly, to a method, apparatus, device, and computer-readable storage medium for controlling a vehicle.

Background

In some complex traffic conditions (e.g., traffic jams), assistance from traffic police is often required to groom the traffic. With the development of unmanned technology, unmanned vehicles are becoming a part of vehicles traveling on roads. However, it is difficult for the unmanned vehicle to accurately receive the command signal of the traffic police and to respond in time. Therefore, how to make vehicles running on the road timely and accurately respond to the traffic guidance signal becomes the focus of current attention.

Disclosure of Invention

According to an example embodiment of the present disclosure, a scheme for controlling a vehicle is provided.

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for controlling a vehicle is provided. The method comprises receiving a control signal from a traffic directing device, the control signal indicating properties of a vehicle for which the control signal is intended and an operation to be performed; determining whether the target vehicle is a vehicle for which the control signal is directed, based on the attribute; in response to determining that the target vehicle is the vehicle for which the control signal is intended, determining an expected time for the target vehicle to travel to the location of the traffic directing device; and in response to the expected time being less than a threshold time, causing the target vehicle to perform an operation to be performed, the threshold time being associated with the operation to be performed.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for providing vehicle information is provided. The device comprises a receiving module, a control module and a display module, wherein the receiving module is configured to receive a control signal from traffic guidance equipment, and the control signal indicates the attribute of a vehicle and an operation to be performed; a first vehicle determination module configured to determine whether the target vehicle is a vehicle for which the control signal is directed based on the attribute; a first expected time determination module configured to determine an expected time for the target vehicle to travel to the location of the traffic directing device in response to determining that the target vehicle is the vehicle for which the control signal is directed; and an execution module configured to cause the target vehicle to execute the operation to be performed in response to the expected time being less than a threshold time, the threshold time being associated with the operation to be performed.

In a third aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus is provided that includes one or more processors; and storage means for storing the one or more programs which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out the method according to the first aspect of the disclosure.

In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored which, when executed by a processor, implements a method according to the first aspect of the present disclosure.

It should be understood that the statements herein reciting aspects are not intended to limit the critical or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The above and other features, advantages and aspects of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent by referring to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like or similar reference characters designate like or similar elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a process for controlling a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of a process for determining an expected time according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for providing vehicle information in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a computing device capable of implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While certain embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it is to be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but rather are provided for a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the disclosure are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

In describing embodiments of the present disclosure, the terms "include" and its derivatives should be interpreted as being inclusive, i.e., "including but not limited to. The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on". The term "one embodiment" or "the embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The terms "first," "second," and the like may refer to different or the same object. Other explicit and implicit definitions are also possible below.

As discussed above, smart vehicles need to have the ability to sense traffic direction signals. Some current unmanned vehicles can determine the command gesture of the traffic police through image recognition technology such as gesture recognition, or can recognize the sound and semantics of the traffic through voice recognition and natural language processing. However, such a solution has a great limitation, for example, in a traffic jam environment, the image information directed by the traffic police may not be received by the sensing device of the unmanned vehicle, possibly due to the image being blocked by the leading vehicle. Alternatively, in a noisy traffic environment, it is difficult for an unmanned vehicle to extract voice information of a traffic police from voice information containing a large amount of background noise.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a solution for controlling a vehicle is presented. In this approach, a computing device on the target vehicle receives a control signal from the traffic directing device, where the control signal may indicate a range of attributes of the vehicle for which the control signal is intended and an operation to be performed. Further, based on the received attributes, the computing device determines whether the target vehicle is the vehicle for which the control signal is intended and, if so, the expected time for the target vehicle to travel to the location of the traffic directing device. Subsequently, the computing device causes the target vehicle to perform the action to be performed when the expected time is less than a threshold time associated with the action to be performed. The scheme of the disclosure can enable the target vehicle to receive the signal from the traffic guidance equipment based on a wireless communication mode and carry out corresponding operation, thereby improving the accuracy of the vehicle for receiving the traffic guidance signal.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example environment 100 in which various embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. In this example environment 100, one or more vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 110-4, and 110-5 are traveling on a roadway 102. Also shown in the example environment 100 are roadside equipment 120 and traffic directors 130. For example, the traffic director 130 may transmit a traffic directing signal via a portable traffic directing device 150-2. Alternatively, the traffic director 130 may transmit the traffic directing signal via the traffic directing device 150-1 located on the roadside apparatus 120. For convenience of description, the plurality of vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 110-4, and 110-5 are collectively referred to as a vehicle 110, and the plurality of traffic directing devices 150-1 and 150-2 are collectively referred to as a traffic directing device 150. It should be understood that these illustrated facilities and objects are examples only, and that the presence of objects that may be present in different traffic environments will vary depending on the actual situation. The scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

In the example of FIG. 1, vehicle 110 may be any type of vehicle that may carry people and/or things and that is moved by a powered system such as an engine, including but not limited to a car, truck, bus, electric vehicle, motorcycle, recreational vehicle, train, and the like. One or more vehicles 110 in environment 100 may be vehicles with some autonomous driving capabilities, such vehicles also referred to as unmanned vehicles. Of course, another vehicle or vehicles 110 in environment 100 may also be vehicles without autopilot capabilities. As shown in FIG. 1, taxis 110-1 and 110-3, trucks 110-2 and 110-4, and an ambulance 110-5 are shown in environment 110. It should be understood that the type of vehicle shown in FIG. 1 is illustrative only. The scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

Vehicle 110 may be communicatively coupled to computing device 140. Although shown as a separate entity, computing device 140 may be embedded in vehicle 110. Computing device 140 may also be an entity external to vehicle 110 and may communicate with vehicle 110 via a wireless network. Computing device 140 may be implemented as one or more computing devices containing at least a processor, memory, and other components typically found in a general purpose computer to perform the functions of computing, storage, communication, control, and the like.

The computing device 140 may also be communicatively coupled to the traffic directing device 150 to receive control signals from the traffic directing device 150 related to traffic directing to perform certain operations, such as, for example, advancing, stopping advancing, parking sideways, changing lanes, slowing down and jogging, turning left, turning right, turning left pending turn and turning right pending turn, and the like.

It should be understood that the environment 100 shown in FIG. 1 is merely one specific example. More, fewer, or different objects may be present in environment 100, depending on the circumstances. For example, the arrangement of one or more of the road on which the vehicle is traveling, the type, location, and number of vehicles, the location, and number of roadside devices, and the location, and number of traffic directors may not be the same.

In some embodiments, the traffic director 130 may send a control signal to the roadside device 120 to cause the roadside device 120 to send a traffic directing signal through the traffic directing device 150-1 to cause a particular vehicle to perform a particular operation. In some embodiments, the traffic director 130 may transmit the control signal to the roadside apparatus 120 through a cloud server. For example, traffic directing device 150-1 may issue a traffic directing signal to indicate that a vehicle traveling from the west to the east is traveling at a reduced speed. In some embodiments, the traffic director 130 can send traffic directing signals directly through the portable traffic directing device 150-2 to cause a particular vehicle to perform a particular operation. For example, the traffic director 130 may instruct a taxi driving from the west to the east to stop sideways to receive a check via the traffic directing device 150-2. It should be understood that the above traffic directing signals are merely exemplary and that any other suitable directing signals may be issued by traffic director 130 depending on the actual traffic conditions.

In particular, the vehicle 110 shown in FIG. 1 may be an unmanned vehicle, for example, the vehicle 110 may be an unmanned logistics vehicle. In some embodiments, the traffic director 130 may send traffic directing signals to particular unmanned vehicles 110 depending on the road conditions so that the unmanned vehicles 110 may perform particular actions. For example, the traffic director 130 may send control signals to cause a particular unmanned vehicle 110 to change a previously determined lane to intelligently break traffic based on road congestion. Alternatively, the traffic director 130 may issue control signals to cause a particular unmanned vehicle to stop alongside, for example, to check cargo information in an unmanned logistics vehicle.

The process of controlling the vehicle will be described in more detail below with reference to fig. 2. FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a process 200 for controlling a vehicle, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Process 200 may be implemented by computing device 140 of FIG. 1, where computing device 140 may be embedded in vehicle 110-1 or a stand-alone device external to vehicle 110-1. For ease of discussion, process 200 will be described in conjunction with fig. 1.

At block 202, the computing device 140 receives control signals from the traffic directing device 150 indicating attributes of the targeted vehicle and the operation to be performed. In some embodiments, the computing device 140 may receive the control signal broadcast from the traffic directing device 150 via a wireless receiving module in the computing device 140.

In some embodiments, the traffic director 130 may select an attribute of the vehicle for which the control signal is intended on the traffic directing device 150-2 and determine a range for the attribute. The traffic director 130 may determine an attribute of the targeted vehicle via an input device (e.g., touch screen, mouse, keyboard, etc.) on the traffic directing device 150-2 and determine a range of the attribute. In some embodiments, the traffic director 130 may also send information to the server indicating the range of vehicle attributes for which the control signal is intended and send this information to the traffic directing equipment 150-1 located in the roadside equipment 120 for use in generating the control signal.

In some embodiments, the attributes of the vehicle may include at least one of: the type of vehicle, the brand of the vehicle, the model of the vehicle, the location of the vehicle, the license plate number of the vehicle, the speed of the vehicle, and the like. In some examples, the control signal may be specific to a particular type of range of vehicles. In some examples, the vehicle type may include an operation type of the vehicle, such as a taxi, a bus, a private car, an ambulance, and so forth. In some examples, the vehicle type may include a power type of the vehicle, such as an electric vehicle, a fuel vehicle, a diesel vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, a solar vehicle, and so forth. In some examples, the vehicle type may include a type of use of the vehicle, such as a passenger vehicle, a cargo vehicle, a private vehicle, and so forth. It should be understood that other vehicle type classifications may also be used.

In some embodiments, the control signal may be specific to a particular range of locations of the vehicle. In one example, the control signal may be for a vehicle traveling west to east of the intersection. In one example, the control signal may be for a vehicle traveling west to east from west at an intersection and located in a left turn lane. In one example, the control signal may be for a vehicle located traveling in a particular lane (e.g., a bus lane), for example. In some embodiments, the specific location range may be represented as the section information, i.e., including a start location of the section and an end location of the section. In some embodiments, the control signal may also be specific to a particular speed range of the vehicle. For example, the control signal may be for a vehicle traveling on the road 102 with a speed exceeding a prescribed speed threshold.

It should be understood that the above ranges of vehicle attributes are merely illustrative. The traffic director 130 can determine the range of vehicles for which control commands are required based on the actual needs of the traffic service.

In some embodiments, the traffic director 130 may also select an operation to be performed on the traffic directing device 150-2 for the vehicle for which the control signal is intended. The traffic director 130 may select the operation to be performed indicated by the control signal from a preset set of operations to be performed via an input device (e.g., a touch screen, a mouse, a keyboard, etc.) on the traffic directing device 150-2. In some embodiments, the traffic director 130 may also send information to the server indicating the operation to be performed as indicated by the control signal and send this information to the traffic directing equipment 150-1 located in the roadside equipment 120 for use in generating the control signal. In some embodiments, the control signal may include at least one of the following information: the sending time, the position of the traffic directing equipment and the operation to be performed.

In some embodiments, similar to the instructions of the actual traffic direction, the operation to be performed may include at least one of: the method comprises the following steps of advancing, stopping advancing, parking beside, changing lanes, decelerating and slowly traveling, turning left, turning right, waiting for turning left, waiting for turning right and the like.

At block 204, based on the attributes, the computing device 140 determines whether the target vehicle 110-1 is the vehicle for which the control signal is intended. In some embodiments, to determine whether the target vehicle 110-1 is the vehicle for which the control signal is intended, the computing device 140 may first obtain a value for the attribute of the target vehicle 110-1. For example, the property of the vehicle for which the control signal is intended may be: the type of vehicle (taxi) and the location of the vehicle (drive east from west). At this time, the computing device 140 may obtain the value of the location attribute and the value of the type attribute of the target vehicle 110-1.

In some embodiments, the computing device 140 may then determine a range of the property from the control signals and determine whether the value of the property of the target vehicle 110-1 falls within the range of values of the property indicated by the control signals. For example, for the example of a taxi driving east-west, the range of attributes may be expressed as, the type of vehicle: taxi and vehicle location: travel from west to east. The computing device 140 may determine a value for the direction of travel of the target vehicle 110-1 (westward to east) and a value for the type of the target vehicle 110-1 (taxi). The computing device 140 may then compare the value of the attribute of the target vehicle 110-1 to a range of the attribute for which the control signal is intended, and if within the range, consider the target vehicle 110-1 to be the vehicle for which the control signal is intended; if not, the target vehicle 110-1 is deemed not to be the vehicle for which the control signal is intended, and the control signal may be ignored. For example, for vehicle 110-2 in FIG. 1, which belongs to a truck traveling from east to west, which does not belong to the vehicle for which the control signal is intended, it may ignore the control signal.

If it is determined at block 204 that the target vehicle 110-1 is the vehicle for which the control signal is intended, the method 200 proceeds to block 206 where the computing device 140 determines an expected time for the target vehicle 110-1 to travel to the location of the traffic directing device. Still considering the example of a taxi traveling east-west, computing device 140 may determine that the value of the attribute of target vehicle 110-1 falls within the range of the attribute indicated by the control signal. The specific process of block 206 will be described below with reference to fig. 3, which illustrates a flowchart of a process 300 for determining an expected time in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

At block 302, based on the control signal, the computing device 140 determines the position of the traffic directing device 150. In some embodiments, the control signal generated from the traffic directing device 150 may also include location information of the traffic directing device 150. The location information may include the longitude, latitude, altitude, etc. of the traffic directing device 150. The computing device 140 can determine the location of the traffic directing device 150 from the received control signals.

In some embodiments, the computing device 140 may determine the location of the traffic directing device 150 based on map information stored on the target vehicle 110-1 or map information stored on a cloud server. In some embodiments, the computing device 140 may also obtain identification information of the traffic directing device 150 from the control signal and send the identification information to a server located in the cloud to obtain a location corresponding to the identification information.

At block 304, the computing device 140 obtains the current speed and the current location of the target vehicle 110-1. In some embodiments, the computing device 140 may obtain the current speed of the target vehicle 110-1 through the OBD interface of the target vehicle 110-1. In some embodiments, computing device 140 may obtain the current location of target vehicle 110-1 through an on-board or off-board positioning system of target vehicle 110-1. In some embodiments, the current location may include longitude, latitude, and altitude information where the target vehicle 110-1 is currently located.

At block 306, based on the determined location, the current speed, and the current location, the computing device 140 determines an expected time for the target vehicle 110-1 to travel to the location of the traffic directing device. In some embodiments, the computing device 140 may determine a distance to the traffic conductor 150 based on the location of the traffic conductor 150 and the current location, and determine the expected time based on the distance and the current speed. In some embodiments, the computing device 140 may also utilize map information stored on the target vehicle 110-1 or stored on a cloud server to determine an exact distance from the current location to the location of the traffic directing device 150 and utilize the distance and the current speed to determine the expected time.

With continued reference to fig. 2, at block 208, the computing device 140 may determine whether the calculated expected time is less than a threshold time, wherein the threshold time is associated with an operation to be performed. It is considered that when the target vehicle 110-1 is far from the traffic guidance control device 150, if the target vehicle 110-1 directly performs an operation to be performed (e.g., parking beside), it may cause a sudden lane change and parking, thereby affecting normal traffic. However, merely judging the difference in the distances is not enough to indicate whether the target vehicle 110-1 is performing the target operation. For example, when the target vehicle cannot advance due to traffic congestion although it is close to the traffic guidance device 150, it will be unable to perform the operation to be performed. Therefore, by comparing the expected time when the target vehicle 110-1 travels to the traffic directing device 150 with the predetermined threshold time, the solution of the present disclosure may avoid the target vehicle 110-1 from directly performing the operation to be performed in a situation where the distance is long, and may also consider the current running state of the target vehicle 110-1, so that the target vehicle 110-1 may more accurately perform the operation to be performed.

In some embodiments, the computing device 140 may set different threshold times for different operations to be performed. For example, the threshold time corresponding to an operation to be performed that "stops traveling" may be relatively small such that the target vehicle 110-1 performs the belt-performing operation when approaching the traffic directing device 150. In contrast, the threshold time for the operation to be performed for "lane change" may be relatively long, so that the target vehicle 110-1 may be prepared for lane change in advance. With such dynamic settings, the computing device 140 may cause the target device 110-1 to perform band execution operations more accurately.

If it is determined at block 208 that the expected time is less than the threshold time, the method 200 proceeds to block 210 where the computing device 140 causes the target vehicle 110-1 to perform the operation to be performed. In some embodiments, the computing device 140 may send the operation to be performed to a control module on the target vehicle 110-1 to cause the target vehicle 110-1 to perform the operation to be performed. In some embodiments, the target vehicle 110-1 may use the operation to be performed as the target instruction, and in combination with the current perception information, ensure the safety of the target vehicle 110-1 in performing the operation to be performed. In some embodiments, in performing the operation to be performed, the target vehicle 110-1 may also alert other vehicles that the target vehicle 110-1 is performing a particular operation to be performed through an output device (e.g., a display, lights, voice, projection, etc.) located on the target vehicle 110-1.

If it is determined at block 208 that the expected time is greater than or equal to the threshold time, the method 200 proceeds to block 212 where the computing device 140 provides information regarding the operation to be performed using the output device of the target vehicle 110-1. In some embodiments, when the computing device 140 receives the control signal, but it is determined that the time required for the target vehicle 110-1 to travel to the traffic directing device 150 is still longer, the computing device 140 may alert the driver (if not an unmanned vehicle) or passenger of the target vehicle 110-1 via an output device of the target vehicle 110-1 that the target vehicle 110-1 needs to perform a particular operation to be performed as directed. For example, taking taxi 110-1 in fig. 1 as an example, target vehicle 110-1 may prompt the passenger in the taxi to: the vehicle is stopped at the front side to be checked.

With the solution herein for controlling vehicles, control signals from traffic directing equipment can be obtained by reliable signal transmission (e.g. V2X), thereby avoiding the drawbacks of inaccuracy and instability due to image recognition or voice recognition techniques. In addition, the scheme also considers the time of the target vehicle traveling to the traffic guidance equipment, so that the traffic instruction is prevented from being executed prematurely, and the target vehicle can execute the traffic control instruction more accurately.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 400 for controlling a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 400 may be included in the computing device 140 of fig. 1 or implemented as the computing device 140. As shown in fig. 4, the apparatus 400 includes: a receiving module 410 configured to receive a control signal from a traffic directing device, the control signal indicating a property of a targeted vehicle and an operation to be performed. The apparatus 400 further comprises: a first vehicle determination module 420 configured to determine whether the target vehicle is the vehicle for which the control signal is directed based on the attribute. Further, the apparatus 400 includes a first expected time determination module 430 configured to determine an expected time for the target vehicle to travel to the location of the traffic directing device in response to determining that the target vehicle is the vehicle for which the control signal is directed. The apparatus 400 further includes an execution module 440 configured to cause the target vehicle to perform an operation to be performed in response to the expected time being less than a threshold time, the threshold time being associated with the operation to be performed.

In some embodiments, wherein the first vehicle determination module 420 comprises: an acquisition module configured to acquire a value of an attribute of a target vehicle; a range determination module configured to determine a range of the attribute from the control signal; and a second vehicle determination module configured to determine that the target vehicle is the vehicle for which the control signal is directed in response to determining that the value falls within the range of the attribute.

In some embodiments, wherein the attributes include at least one of: the model of the vehicle, the location of the vehicle, the number of the vehicle, and the speed of the vehicle.

In some embodiments, wherein the first expected time determination module 430 comprises: a position determination module configured to determine a position of the traffic directing device based on the control signal;

a speed and position acquisition module configured to acquire a current speed and a current position of a target vehicle; and a second expected time determination module configured to determine an expected time based on the determined location, the current speed, and the current location.

In some embodiments, the apparatus 400 further comprises: a providing module configured to provide information relating to an operation to be performed using an output device of the target vehicle in response to the expected time being greater than or equal to a threshold time.

In some embodiments, wherein the operation to be performed comprises at least one of: advancing, stopping advancing, parking beside, changing lanes, decelerating and slowly traveling, turning left, turning right, turning left to wait to turn and turning right to wait to turn.

Fig. 5 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an example device 500 that may be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 500 may be used to implement computing device 140 of fig. 1. As shown, device 500 includes a Central Processing Unit (CPU)501 that may perform various appropriate actions and processes in accordance with computer program instructions stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM)502 or loaded from a storage unit 508 into a Random Access Memory (RAM) 503. In the RAM 503, various programs and data required for the operation of the device 500 can also be stored. The CPU501, ROM 502, and RAM 503 are connected to each other via a bus 504. An input/output (I/O) interface 505 is also connected to bus 504.

A number of components in the device 500 are connected to the I/O interface 505, including: an input unit 506 such as a keyboard, a mouse, or the like; an output unit 507 such as various types of displays, speakers, and the like; a storage unit 508, such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, or the like; and a communication unit 509 such as a network card, modem, wireless communication transceiver, etc. The communication unit 509 allows the device 500 to exchange information/data with other devices through a computer network such as the internet and/or various telecommunication networks.

The processing unit 501 performs the various methods and processes described above, such as the process 300. For example, in some embodiments, process 200 and/or process 300 may be implemented as a computer software program tangibly embodied in a machine-readable medium, such as storage unit 508. In some embodiments, part or all of the computer program may be loaded and/or installed onto the device 500 via the ROM 502 and/or the communication unit 509. When the computer program is loaded into RAM 503 and executed by CPU501, one or more of the steps of process 300 described above may be performed. Alternatively, in other embodiments, CPU501 may be configured to perform process 200 and/or process 300 in any other suitable manner (e.g., by way of firmware).

The functions described herein above may be performed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. For example, without limitation, exemplary types of hardware logic components that may be used include: a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an Application Specific Standard Product (ASSP), a system on a chip (SOC), a load programmable logic device (CPLD), and the like.

Program code for implementing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of this disclosure, a machine-readable medium may be a tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. A machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a machine-readable storage medium would include an electrical connection based on one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Under certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a vehicle, comprising:

receiving a control signal from a traffic directing device, the control signal indicating attributes of a vehicle for which an operation is to be performed;

determining, based on the attribute, whether a target vehicle is a vehicle for which the control signal is intended;

in response to determining that the target vehicle is the vehicle for which the control signal is directed, determining an expected time for the target vehicle to travel to the location of the traffic directing device; and

in response to the expected time being less than a threshold time, causing the target vehicle to perform the operation to be performed, the threshold time being associated with the operation to be performed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the target vehicle is the vehicle for which the control signal is directed based on the attribute comprises:

obtaining a value of the attribute of the target vehicle;

determining a range of the attribute from the control signal; and

in response to the value falling within the range of the attribute, determining that the target vehicle is the vehicle for which the control signal is directed.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the attribute comprises at least one of: the model of the vehicle, the location of the vehicle, the number of the vehicle, and the speed of the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an expected time for the target vehicle to travel to the location of the traffic directing device comprises:

determining the position of the traffic directing device based on the control signal;

acquiring the current speed and the current position of the target vehicle; and

determining the expected time based on the determined position, the current speed, and the current position.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing, with an output device of the target vehicle, information related to the operation to be performed in response to the expected time being greater than or equal to the threshold time.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the operation to be performed comprises at least one of:

advancing, stopping advancing, parking beside, changing lanes, decelerating and slowly traveling, turning left, turning right, turning left to wait to turn and turning right to wait to turn.

7. An apparatus for controlling a vehicle, comprising:

a receiving module configured to receive a control signal from a traffic directing device, the control signal indicating an attribute of a targeted vehicle and an operation to be performed;

a first vehicle determination module configured to determine whether a target vehicle is a vehicle for which the control signal is directed based on the attribute;

a first expected time determination module configured to determine an expected time for the target vehicle to travel to the location of the traffic directing device in response to determining that the target vehicle is the vehicle for which the control signal is directed; and

an execution module configured to cause the target vehicle to execute the operation to be performed in response to the expected time being less than a threshold time, the threshold time being associated with the operation to be performed.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first vehicle determination module comprises:

an acquisition module configured to acquire a value of the attribute of the target vehicle;

a range determination module configured to determine a range of the attribute from the control signal; and

a second vehicle determination module configured to determine that the target vehicle is the vehicle for which the control signal is directed in response to the value falling within the range of the attribute.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the attribute comprises at least one of: the model of the vehicle, the location of the vehicle, the number of the vehicle, and the speed of the vehicle.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first expected time determination module comprises:

a position determination module configured to determine the position of the traffic directing device based on the control signal;

a speed and position acquisition module configured to acquire a current speed and a current position of the target vehicle; and

a second expected time determination module configured to determine the expected time based on the determined position, the current speed, and the current position.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:

a providing module configured to provide information related to the operation to be performed using an output device of the target vehicle in response to the expected time being greater than or equal to the threshold time.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the operation to be performed comprises at least one of:

13. An electronic device, the electronic device comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing one or more programs that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to implement the method of any of claims 1-6.

14. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored which, when being executed by a processor, carries out the method according to any one of claims 1-6.