CN116279449A

CN116279449A - Method, system, vehicle and computer program product for collision avoidance

Info

Publication number: CN116279449A
Application number: CN202310458427.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张雅纯
Original assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Current assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Priority date: 2023-04-25
Filing date: 2023-04-25
Publication date: 2023-06-23

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for avoiding a collision of a vehicle, comprising: -acquiring collision risk data comprising data characterizing the type of other moving objects related to the vehicle; -determining whether a collision is imminent based on the acquired collision risk data; -if a collision is imminent, generating a vehicle maneuver instruction using the collision risk data; -automatically performing a respective vehicle maneuver based on the vehicle maneuver instruction, so as to reduce the risk of collision. Furthermore, the invention relates to a system for avoiding a collision of a vehicle, a vehicle and a computer program product.

Description

Method, system, vehicle and computer program product for collision avoidance

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method for avoiding a collision of a vehicle. Furthermore, the invention relates to a system for avoiding a collision of a vehicle, a vehicle and a computer program product.

Background

With the increasing use of vehicles, vehicle safety issues are becoming increasingly interesting. Each year, severe accidents occur throughout the world, for example, as shown in fig. 1, where one truck hits the tail of another truck, and then the smaller vehicle in the middle of the two trucks is completely crashed, which typically results in the death of all occupants in the vehicle.

Currently, various manufacturers of large vehicles make a lot of efforts in terms of active safety technology of the vehicles, for example, in order to reduce the risk of rear-end collisions, vehicles are often provided with front collision warning systems (Forward Collision Warning, FCW), rear collision warning systems (Rear Collision Warning, RCW), etc. However, these active security techniques fail to respond accordingly.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the invention is to automatically take appropriate measures when a collision is detected, in particular with consideration of the type of vehicle, in order to be able to leave the most dangerous position and thus save the lives of all or part of the occupants.

This object is achieved by a method for avoiding a collision of a vehicle, a system for avoiding a collision of a vehicle, a vehicle and a computer program product.

According to a first aspect of the invention, a method for avoiding a collision of a vehicle is presented, the method comprising:

-acquiring collision risk data comprising data characterizing the type of other moving objects related to the vehicle;

-determining whether a collision is imminent based on the acquired collision risk data;

-if a collision is imminent, generating a vehicle maneuver instruction using the collision risk data;

-automatically performing a respective vehicle maneuver based on the vehicle maneuver instruction, so as to reduce the risk of collision.

The above-described method takes into consideration the type of other moving object related to the vehicle (e.g., the vehicle type), so that it is possible to determine whether or not a collision is likely to occur more accurately, specifically to the traffic condition. For example, if a surrounding vehicle relates to a large vehicle such as a large truck or a large passenger car, the risk is higher or the possibility that the safety of the vehicle is threatened is higher, the judgment should be made under more stringent conditions. Further, the driver does not have to intervene manually, but the vehicle automatically performs the corresponding vehicle maneuver, thereby saving reaction time and thereby further improving safety.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the collision risk data includes:

-front environmental data comprising a size of a front vehicle, a distance to the front vehicle and/or a speed of departure of the front vehicle; and/or

-rear environmental data comprising a size of a rear vehicle, a distance to the rear vehicle and/or a closing speed of the rear vehicle; and/or

-lateral environment data comprising data characterizing the lateral environment of the own lane, such as neighboring lanes and/or objects located on said neighboring lanes.

Within the scope of the invention, the collision risk data can be understood as the following data: from this data, it can be ascertained that if the vehicle remains in the existing driving state, the vehicle will collide, which data can also be referred to as collision determination data. The collision risk data can also be understood as the following data: from this data, it can be ascertained whether the vehicle is able to avoid a collision or at least reduce the loss caused by a collision, in the case of a suitable vehicle maneuver of the vehicle, which data can also be referred to as collision avoidance data.

Thus, it is possible to determine not only whether a collision is imminent, but also to provide available data for subsequent collision avoidance in order to generate an optimal vehicle steering command.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the preconditions for determining whether a collision is imminent can be adapted accordingly to the type of other moving object associated with the vehicle.

It is understood that the case where at least one of the front vehicle and the rear vehicle is a large vehicle is more dangerous than the case where both the front vehicle and the rear vehicle are small vehicles. For example, if the rear vehicle is a large truck, the speed difference threshold set for a collision (rear-end collision accident) may be relatively small. If both the front and rear vehicles are large trucks, the speed difference threshold set may be smaller in order to avoid a severe accident that could occur with a front-to-back pinch ("sandwich biscuit") resulting in death of the whole person.

Thereby, the preconditions of the determination can be adjusted specifically to traffic conditions, more precisely to surrounding vehicles, in order to improve the accuracy of the determination and the safety of driving.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that it is determined whether a collision is imminent, on the basis of the following preconditions:

-at least one of the front vehicle and the rear vehicle is a large vehicle; and/or

-a speed difference between the front vehicle and the rear vehicle and/or a speed difference between the front vehicle and the vehicle is greater than a respective first speed difference threshold; and/or

-the distance between the vehicle and the rear vehicle and/or the distance between the vehicle and the front vehicle is smaller than a respective distance threshold; and/or

The manipulation time is smaller than a manipulation time threshold.

The actuation time is the time available before the collision, which can be derived, for example, from the distance value and the speed value; the steering time threshold value refers to the time required for the vehicle to activate the respective actuator (and thus, for example, drive over a certain road section). Thus, when judging whether a collision is about to occur, the size of the vehicles, the relative speed between the vehicles, the distance between the vehicles and the available operating time are comprehensively considered, so that dangerous conditions can be recognized as early as possible and corresponding measures can be taken to avoid more dangerous situations.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is provided that a collision is judged to be imminent when both the front vehicle and the rear vehicle are large vehicles and the speed difference between the front vehicle and the rear vehicle is greater than the respective first speed difference threshold. Alternatively or additionally, the imminent collision is determined based on only the speed difference when the speed difference is greater than a second speed difference threshold, wherein the second speed difference threshold is greater than the first speed difference threshold. That is, if the front and rear vehicles are large vehicles, a relatively small speed difference may cause a collision or a serious accident; conversely, if the speed difference is very large, then either a large or a small vehicle may result in a collision, in other words, the weight of the type of other moving object associated with the vehicle is zero.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that, when generating the vehicle control command, the available collision avoidance space is determined on the basis of the acquired collision risk data. Here, the collision avoidance space refers to an available space that enables collision avoidance or at least reduces collision loss (e.g., casualties, loss of property of a vehicle), which includes, for example, a front available space of the vehicle (e.g., a distance of the vehicle from the front vehicle) and/or a lateral available space of the vehicle (e.g., an available space on an adjacent lane). It is to be understood that the respective available time or the time available for the respective vehicle actuation can also be determined from the aforementioned available space. It is conceivable that the vehicle can reduce or even eliminate the risk of collision with the rear vehicle by accelerating when no preceding vehicle is detected or when the preceding vehicle is located at a greater distance. It is also conceivable that the vehicle can avoid a rear-end collision accident by changing the lane when there is no vehicle on the left and right lanes.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that, when a vehicle control command is generated, driving state information of the rear vehicle and/or of the front vehicle can additionally be acquired. For example, the turn signal lights of the rear vehicle and/or the front vehicle may be detected. Thus, if the aforementioned vehicle is turned to one side, the vehicle can be turned to the other side accordingly, thereby avoiding a dangerous state that remains after the corresponding vehicle manipulation instruction is executed.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that, when generating the vehicle control command, it is determined whether the determined collision avoidance space satisfies a safety condition, wherein if the safety condition is satisfied, a vehicle control command corresponding to the collision avoidance space is generated, and if the safety condition is not satisfied, a vehicle control command corresponding to a higher safety is selected.

Within the scope of the present invention, the safety conditions can be understood as: in the event of a possible collision, if the safety conditions are met, the collision can be completely avoided or at least no person is dying. Conversely, if the safety conditions are not met, there is insufficient time and/or space available for the collision to occur inevitably and thus some loss will result.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a value of a loss measure is determined, which characterizes a loss expected when the respective vehicle control command is executed, wherein, if a plurality of groups of vehicle control commands are available, a group of vehicle control commands is selected which corresponds to the minimum value of the loss measure.

In the event of a collision of the vehicle, significant losses, in particular life and property losses, are incurred. Here, a loss metric is defined that characterizes the aforementioned loss, in particular loss of life and property. The smaller the value of the loss metric, the safer the corresponding vehicle control command, i.e. the lower the risk of collision. Preferably, the loss metric has a value of zero. However, in the case where the loss is unavoidable, for example, the distance to the vehicle ahead is small, and at the same time, the space on the lanes on the left and right sides is also small, it is possible to compare the losses corresponding to the different measures and select the measure with the smaller loss.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the generated vehicle steering command is such that, if the distance of the vehicle from the preceding vehicle is greater than a respective threshold value: the steering wheel rotates to a relative angle in a safety direction; and/or automatic park (AUTO HOLD) mode automatic release/park automatic shift to drive mode; and/or the engine is automatically accelerated to the relevant speed. The vehicle is thereby automatically driven away from the current position and the collision area with the vehicle behind is reduced as much as possible, for example. Alternatively or additionally, if there is more secure space on an adjacent lane of the vehicle, the generated vehicle maneuver instruction causes: the steering wheel rotates to a relative angle in a safety direction; and/or automatic park mode automatic release/park shift automatic switch to drive mode; and/or the engine is automatically accelerated to the relevant speed. Here, the safety direction means: when the vehicle is moving in this safety direction, collisions can be avoided or at least collision losses reduced. Thereby, the vehicle is driven away from the current lane and thus collision with a rear vehicle on the current lane is avoided. However, if collision cannot be avoided because the steering time is too short, the generated vehicle steering instruction causes the steering wheel to rotate by a relevant angle in the safety direction; and/or pushing the vehicle from the current position to a safer direction using the collision force exerted by the rear vehicle. Thus, even if a collision is unavoidable, casualties can be reduced by turning the vehicle in a safer direction. For example, in one case, the occupant is present only in the front row position of the vehicle, and the relevant angle and the collision force with the rear vehicle are calculated such that the front or front row position of the vehicle is not impacted and thus the occupant is not severely damaged, although the rear or rear row position of the vehicle is completely destroyed by the collision.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the body dimensions, the speed and/or the position on the own lane of the vehicle, the rear vehicle and/or the front vehicle are taken into account and/or the occupants in the vehicle are taken into account when calculating the relevant angle and/or the relevant speed and/or using the collision force. It will be appreciated that the impact location of the rear vehicle plays an important role in the resulting loss. It is conceivable that it is very advantageous if the vehicle and the rear vehicle deviate greatly in lateral position such that the rear vehicle collides with only a small part of the area of the vehicle and/or if the direction of inclination (or pose) of the vehicle is at a suitable angle to the direction of the lane such that no occupants are present in the part of the area that is destroyed by the collision.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a subcritical condition is determined, the subcritical threshold corresponding to which deviates from the critical threshold corresponding to the collision by a predetermined value, wherein when the subcritical condition is reached, a reminder is given by optical and/or acoustic means.

In this way, the driver, in particular the driver of the rear vehicle, can be alerted, for example by means of a light, even when in a state of less danger, so that appropriate measures can be taken before a dangerous state is entered.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a system for avoiding a collision of a vehicle is presented, the system comprising:

-a data acquisition module arranged for acquiring collision risk data comprising data characterizing the type of other moving objects related to the vehicle, wherein the data acquisition module comprises for example detection means, such as radar and cameras, mounted on the front and/or rear and/or sides of the vehicle;

-a control module arranged for analysing the collision risk data acquired by the data acquisition module in order to determine whether a collision is imminent and to generate a corresponding vehicle maneuver instruction;

-an execution module arranged for executing vehicle handling instructions from the control module.

According to a third aspect of the invention, a vehicle is proposed in which a system according to the second aspect of the invention is integrated.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a computer program product, such as a computer readable program medium, is proposed, which computer program product comprises or stores computer program instructions which, when being executed by a processor, are capable of implementing the method according to the invention.

Drawings

The invention is described in detail below with the aid of further features and advantages in accordance with a number of drawings. All the features described or shown herein constitute the subject matter of the invention per se or in any combination, irrespective of their generalization in the claims or their reference and of their presentation or diagram in the specification or drawings.

The drawings show:

fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a typical collision.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic flow chart of the method according to the invention.

Fig. 3a and 3b show a simplified schematic diagram of a vehicle 10 integrated with a system according to the invention in side view and in top view, respectively.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5a and 5b show schematic diagrams according to a further embodiment of the invention in side view and in top view, respectively.

In the drawings, the same elements are provided with the same reference numerals, wherein repeated reference numerals and descriptions of the elements are omitted as necessary. The figures only schematically illustrate the subject matter of the invention.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a typical collision. In the illustrated figures, the front vehicle 20' is shown on the left, for example a large truck in a parked state; the vehicle 10 is shown in the middle, for example in a parked state or traveling slowly forward; on the right is shown a rear vehicle 20", which is also a large truck and is driven at a relatively high speed towards the vehicle 10 in relation to the vehicle 10. Here, the collision between two vehicles is shown in a polygonal star shape.

In fig. 1, from top to bottom: (I) The rear vehicle 20″ is driven toward the vehicle 10 at a higher speed relative to the vehicle 10; (II) the rear vehicle 20″ collides with the vehicle 10, i.e., first collision; (III) the vehicle 10 collides with the front vehicle 20', i.e., a second collision, under the influence of the collision force of the rear vehicle 20 "; (IV) the rear vehicle 20″ continues to travel forward, and a third collision occurs. In this case, the vehicle 10 is pinched back and forth by the large trucks 20',20″ with little possibility of occupant survival.

For traffic accidents such as these, how to reduce casualties as much as possible, at least to avoid worst case occurrence, is a problem to be solved. For this purpose, on the one hand, such dangerous situations are detected early and precisely, and on the other hand, appropriate measures are taken actively or automatically.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic flow chart of a method 100 according to the invention.

In step S01, collision risk data is acquired. The collision risk data include, in particular, data that characterize the type of other moving objects associated with the vehicle. It will be appreciated that in addition to speed, for example, the type of vehicle (especially large trucks) is also critical to the risk of collision. It is therefore advantageous to adapt the preconditions accordingly in accordance with data characterizing, for example, the vehicle type when subsequently determining whether a collision is imminent.

Subsequently, in step S03, it is determined whether a collision is imminent based on the acquired collision risk data. In making the determination, the vehicle size or vehicle type (e.g., whether the preceding vehicle and/or the following vehicle is a large vehicle), the speed difference between the vehicles, the distance between the vehicles, the available steering time, and the like are considered individually or in combination.

Here, it is possible that both the front vehicle 20 'and the rear vehicle 20″ are large vehicles, and the speed difference between the front vehicle 20' and the rear vehicle 20″ is large, for example, greater than a first predetermined threshold, it can be determined that a collision is imminent, as shown in fig. 1.

Another possibility is that the speed difference, for example the speed difference of the front vehicle 20' and the rear vehicle 20", is so large that a collision will result even if the front and rear vehicles are small vehicles. In contrast, in step S03, the weight of the vehicle type may be set to zero, and the determination may be made based on only the comparison of the speed difference with the second predetermined threshold. Here, it is apparent that the second predetermined threshold value is greater than the first predetermined threshold value.

Subsequently, in step S05, if a collision is imminent, a vehicle manipulation instruction is generated.

Finally, in step S07, based on the generated vehicle steering instruction, a corresponding vehicle steering is automatically performed in order to reduce the risk of collision.

The system at least comprises a data acquisition module, a control module and an execution module.

The data acquisition module is configured to acquire collision risk data including data characterizing a type of other moving object associated with the vehicle. As shown in fig. 3a, the data acquisition module includes a front detection device 11 and a rear detection device 12 (e.g., front camera and front radar and rear camera and rear radar) mounted at the front and/or rear of the vehicle 10 and configured to detect front and rear environmental data. In addition, as shown in fig. 3b, the data acquisition module further comprises lateral detection devices 13 and 14 (for example, a front left radar, a rear left radar, a front right radar and a rear right radar) which are mounted on the left and right sides of the vehicle 10 and are designed to detect lateral environmental data, for example, adjacent lanes and/or objects located on the adjacent lanes, in order to determine whether there is available or sufficient collision avoidance space on the sides.

The control module is configured to analyze the collision risk data acquired by the data acquisition module to determine whether a collision is imminent and to generate corresponding vehicle maneuver instructions.

The execution module is configured to execute vehicle maneuver instructions from the control module. It is conceivable that these execution modules are actuators that are present on the vehicle themselves, such as steering wheels, automatic transmissions, engines, etc.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram according to an embodiment of the invention.

In the event of an impending collision, if the vehicle 10 is sufficiently distant from the vehicle 20' in front or there is sufficient steering time, the vehicle 10 can avoid the impending collision by lane change. The previously determined lateral collision avoidance space is used here to advantage, for example, adjacent traffic lanes or emergency traffic lanes.

As shown in fig. 4, if the left-hand traffic lane is a safer space, the steering wheel is rapidly rotated to the left by a relevant angle and the engine is automatically accelerated to a relevant speed in a short time. Conversely, if the right-hand traffic lane or emergency lane is a safer space, the steering wheel is rapidly rotated to the right by the relevant angle and the engine is automatically accelerated to the relevant speed in a short time. For a vehicle in a parked state, the automatic parking mode/gear is also automatically released and automatically switched to the driving mode.

Preferably, the lateral relative position of the vehicle 10 with respect to the front vehicle 20' and/or the rear vehicle 20″ is also taken into account when determining the safety direction, in order to reduce losses as much as possible.

When the rear vehicle 20 "approaches at a high speed, it is often unavoidable due to too short a time for a collision, as shown in fig. 5a, that the rear vehicle 20" has collided with the vehicle 10.

In this case, in order not to make a further collision (as shown in fig. 1) or in order at least to reduce the losses caused by the collision, the steering wheel can be rotated rapidly by a relevant angle in the safety direction (for example to the left) in order to reduce the collision area as much as possible. At the same time, the collision force exerted by the rear vehicle 20″ can also be fully utilized to push the vehicle 10 from the current position into a safer direction, as shown in fig. 5 b.

Alternatively, in this case, the engine is automatically accelerated to the relevant speed in a short time while the steering wheel is rotated quickly in the safety direction, so as to match the collision force applied to the vehicle 10 by the rear vehicle 20″ so that the vehicle 10 escapes to the collision avoidance space as quickly as possible.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein, these embodiments are presented for purposes of illustration only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A method (100) for avoiding a collision of a vehicle (10), the method comprising:

-acquiring collision risk data comprising data characterizing the type of other moving objects (20', 20 ") related to the vehicle (10);

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the collision risk data comprises:

-front environmental data comprising a size of a front vehicle (20 '), a distance from the front vehicle (20 ') and/or a speed of departure of the front vehicle (20 '); and/or

-rear environmental data comprising a size of a rear vehicle (20 "), a distance to the rear vehicle (20") and/or a closing speed of the rear vehicle (20 "); and/or

3. The method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the preconditions for determining whether a collision is imminent can be adapted accordingly depending on the type of other moving objects (20', 20 ") associated with the vehicle (10), for example the vehicle type.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein it is determined whether a collision is imminent, based on the following preconditions:

-at least one of the front vehicle (20') and the rear vehicle (20 ") is a large vehicle; and/or

-the speed difference between the front vehicle (20 ') and the rear vehicle (20 ") and/or the speed difference between the vehicle (10) and the rear vehicle (20") and/or the speed difference between the front vehicle (20') and the vehicle (10) is greater than a respective first speed difference threshold; and/or

-the distance between the vehicle (10) and the rear vehicle (20 ") and/or the distance between the vehicle (10) and the front vehicle (20') is smaller than a respective distance threshold; and/or

The manipulation time is smaller than a manipulation time threshold.

5. The method according to claim 1 to 4,

wherein, when the front vehicle (20 ') and the rear vehicle (20') are both large vehicles and a speed difference between the front vehicle (20 ') and the rear vehicle (20') is greater than a corresponding first speed difference threshold value, it is determined that a collision is imminent; or alternatively

Wherein when the speed difference is greater than a second speed difference threshold, the collision is determined to be imminent based only on the speed difference, wherein the second speed difference threshold is greater than the first speed difference threshold.

6. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, upon generation of a vehicle maneuver instruction, an available collision avoidance space is ascertained based on the acquired collision risk data, wherein the collision avoidance space comprises a front available space of the vehicle (10), for example a distance of the vehicle (10) to the front vehicle and/or an available space sideways of the vehicle (10), for example an available space on an adjacent lane.

7. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein driving state information, such as turn signals, of the rear vehicle (20 ') and/or of the front vehicle (20') can additionally be acquired when a vehicle maneuver instruction is generated.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein at the time of generating the vehicle manipulation instruction, it is determined whether the determined collision avoidance space satisfies a safety condition, wherein if the safety condition is satisfied, a vehicle manipulation instruction corresponding to the collision avoidance space is generated, and if the safety condition is not satisfied, a vehicle manipulation instruction corresponding to higher safety is selected.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein a value of a loss metric is determined, the loss metric characterizing a loss expected to occur when executing the respective vehicle maneuver instruction, wherein, if multiple sets of vehicle maneuver instructions are available, a set of vehicle maneuver instructions corresponding to a minimum value of the loss metric is selected.

10. The method according to any one of claim 1 to 9,

wherein the generated vehicle steering command causes that if the distance of the vehicle (10) from the preceding vehicle (20') is greater than a respective threshold value and/or if there is a safer space on an adjacent lane of the vehicle (10)

-the steering wheel is rotated by a related angle towards the safety direction; and/or

-automatic park mode automatic release/automatic shift of park gear to drive mode; and/or

-the engine is automatically accelerated to a relevant speed; or alternatively

Wherein if collision cannot be avoided, the generated vehicle control instruction causes

-pushing the vehicle (10) from a current position to a safer direction with a collision force exerted by the rear vehicle.

11. Method according to claim 10, wherein the body dimensions, speeds and/or positions on the own lane of the vehicle (10), the rear vehicle (20 ") and/or the front vehicle (20') are taken into account and/or the occupants within the vehicle (10) are taken into account when calculating the relevant angle and/or the relevant speed and/or utilizing the collision force.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein a subcritical condition is determined, the subcritical threshold corresponding to which deviates from the critical threshold corresponding to the collision by a predetermined value, wherein when the subcritical condition is reached, a reminder is made by optical and/or acoustic means.

13. A system for avoiding a collision of a vehicle, the system comprising:

-a control module arranged for analysing the collision risk data acquired by the data acquisition module in order to determine whether a collision is imminent and to generate corresponding vehicle handling instructions;

14. A vehicle in which the system of claim 13 is integrated.

15. A computer program product, such as a computer readable program medium, comprising or storing computer program instructions which, when executed by a processor, are capable of implementing a method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.