DE102017103391A1 - Method for improving the user-friendliness of a vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for improving the user-friendliness of a motor vehicle for a driver leading the vehicle. In accordance with the method, control signals are derived from sensor signals carried by the vehicle by means of a sensor integrated in the vehicle by means of which actuators of elements of the vehicle operation and / or elements of the vehicle equipment influencing the well-being of the driver are controlled to change the operating state or their settings. According to the invention, the derivation of the control signals takes place with the aid of historical data held in memory means, namely data on previously recorded sensor signals of the sensors carried by the vehicle. For this purpose, corresponding parameters are respectively detected by the sensors in a time-cyclically activated manner for the vehicle, and resulting data are stored in memory means in association with the respective time of detection. In the derivation of the control signals, the data recorded earlier are related to the sensor signals resulting from the instantaneous detection of the same parameters or to the current time of day.

Description

The invention relates to a method for improving the user-friendliness in the use of a vehicle, in particular from the viewpoint of an increase in traffic safety and a positive influence on the well-being of a driver who is equipped to carry out the method. An improvement in the well-being of the driver certainly also contributes to increasing road safety, at least indirectly. The invention relates both to motor vehicles with an internal combustion engine and to vehicles with alternative drives, in particular electric cars, for which a rapidly growing spread is to be assumed in the near future.

According to accident statistics, driving errors and other human misconduct are by far the most frequent cause of accidents. Only in about 1% of all cases are accidents due to technical failure or maintenance defects (see, for example, Report of the Federal Statistical Office "Accident Development on German Roads 2015" at www.destatis .com). Therefore, the automotive industry has long been endeavored, in addition to a constant improvement in the reliability of technical elements, assemblies and systems to develop solutions that help drivers in avoiding driving errors. This begins with solutions to avoid the so-called blind spot or warning of vehicles or road users located within the blind spot and extends in modern vehicles to the detection of perceived fatigue of the driver or to assist the driver while keeping the lane.

The fatigue detection is carried out in already known solutions, for example, based on an optical detection of the frequency of the blink of a driver with the help of a camera installed in the camera, as determined by the DE 10 2011 011 221 A1 is described or by an extraction of other features of the face of a driver from camera images, for what in the DE 10 2012 024 706 A1 a solution is described. Recent developments, such as those in the DE 10 2012 008 090 A1 Be described, are also designed to recognize, for example, during driving heart attack or fainting of the driver and in such a case technically to take control of the vehicle until this safely, for example, by changing to a lane, for Standstill can be brought.

The previously disclosed solutions are largely in common that they analyze the current events and respond to occurring or at least already clearly emerging problems in terms of the health of the driver, his fitness and / or his attention. However, such problems could possibly be addressed by improving the basic user-friendliness of vehicles, also known as increasing or improving usability, well in advance of their eventual emergence. In this context, it should be noted that, as has long been known, the attention and concentration of drivers of vehicles is dependent, among other things, on the time of day and increasingly deteriorating over a longer journey time. Certainly you will not be able to override natural and biological limits, but here are possibilities for influencing given by appropriate measures the general well-being of the driver is specifically influenced and / or the individual behavior of a driver is better taken into account. Especially with regard to the latter point, however, existing potentials by solutions that have hitherto become known often still remain unused.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide a solution which is more focused on preventing the emergence of problematic traffic situations, for which physical deficits or attention deficits of the driver may be the cause, by suitable measures already well in advance of their eventual occurrence , For this purpose, a suitable method should be specified.

The object is achieved by a method having the features of patent claim 1. Advantageous embodiments or further developments of the invention are given by the subclaims.

According to the method, control signals for actuation in or on the vehicle of installed actuators are derived by a control unit installed in a vehicle from sensor signals from sensors which are carried by the vehicle. It should be noted that the invention relates to motor vehicles, that is to motor vehicles, since a proper implementation of the method basically makes sense only in this context. However, linguistically simplifying is referred to below and in the claims in general of vehicles, the term "vehicle" is used so far in the context of the description of the invention and the claimed method synonymous with the term "motor vehicle".

The actuators controlled by the corresponding control signals are actuators by means of which the operating state or settings of elements of the vehicle operation and / or elements of the vehicle equipment influencing the well-being of the driver can be changed. The sensor signals used to derive the control signals thereby result from a detection of parameters for at least one of three categories, namely from the detection of parameters to physical variables in or on the vehicle itself, to physical parameters of the vehicle environment and / or to physical body values of the driver. The medium of the appropriately actuated actuators with regard to their operating state and / or their settings changed documents include both individual elements, as well as assemblies, devices and systems, which are according to this understanding to electrical, electronic, mechanical or electro-mechanical elements passive type (only self-adjustable) or may be elements of active type (other elements and the like influencing and / or issuing acoustic or visual information) elements.

According to the invention, the derivative of the control signals is not only taking into account in each case instantaneously to the mentioned categories sensory detected parameters, but taking into account historical data. This historical data is stored data on previously recorded sensor signals from the vehicle's own sensors. For this purpose, parameters of the cited categories in the case of the vehicle activated for driving (relative to a motor vehicle with an internal combustion engine, this means when the ignition is switched on) are respectively detected by the sensors carried by the vehicle in a time-cyclical manner. Data for the resulting sensor signals are then stored in association with the respective time of the detection of their underlying parameters in the already mentioned memory means. When deriving the control signals, the historical data recorded relative to the sensor signals are related to sensor signals resulting from the instantaneous detection of the same parameters or to the current time of day.

Of course, it is clear that the result of processing instantly detected parameters and their comparison with the historical data can also be such that a change in the operating state or the settings of elements of the vehicle just is not required because they currently have the appropriate operating condition and / or are suitably adjusted. As a control signal, a kind of "zero signal" would thus effectively be output in this case as a result of the derivation. It will also preferably be such that an influencing of the operating state and / or the settings of respective vehicle elements does not take place until there is a sufficiently broad basis of historical data. Until then, corresponding data are collected only in a time-cyclical manner and the system for implementing the method, including the processing unit and of the program applications processed by it, is, so to speak, only trained.

As regards the time-cyclical sensory detection of parameters of the mentioned categories, the following should be noted. First of all, this means that the sensory detection of corresponding parameters in a vehicle equipped for carrying out the method, while this is activated for the driving operation (apart from the case not considered so far, that the driving operation is activated only very briefly and in a sense immediately deactivated again ) repeatedly, that is several times, takes place. In any case, however, this takes place with regard to the digitization of the detected values taking place for the processing by means of the control unit and the determination of a sampling rate at discrete time intervals required so far. In this case, in turn, different options come into consideration, depending on the type of each parameter to be detected and the sensors used based on the various sensors carried by a vehicle viewed different possibilities and possibly different time intervals for such time-cyclic detection with subsequent recording resulting Sensor signals can be used. Thus, it is conceivable to record respective parameters once in intervals defined for them, or else in a comparatively large time interval (one or more minutes), within a time interval at considerably shorter intervals (of, for example, a few seconds or milliseconds) several times capture. This is determined for the respective sensors and the parameters recorded by them in a set of rules which are processed by the control unit of the vehicle or in sets of rules processed by the latter.

According to a possible method design, it is provided, for example, that by means of sensors arranged in the region of the steering column, the steering behavior, namely a time profile of the steering angle, is detected by a time-cyclically detected detection of the steering angle several times within a defined period of time. The operation of an accelerator pedal (in a motor vehicle with an internal combustion engine, the operation of the accelerator pedal) and a brake pedal, for example, time-cyclically, several times within a defined period of time, are sensory recorded.

The method is preferably designed such that individual behavior patterns of the driver are derived from the data recorded on the sensor signals in the storage means by means of mathematical models. By means of a time-cyclic comparison of the sensor signals resulting from the respectively temporally current detection of the same parameters with these behavior patterns, the physical condition of the driver is thereby determined. According to the result of this comparison, actuators of suitable elements influencing the well-being of the driver are then also actuated, if necessary, with the aim of improving the driver's well-being. Examples of the aforementioned elements will be given later.

As far as related to the detection of parameters of the aforementioned categories in the context of the above and following embodiments of sensors carried by the vehicle, this includes the possibility that individual sensors, namely in particular those which the detection of physical body values of the driver for Determining his condition, be carried by the driver himself. In that regard, it may be provided that also records data on sensor signals from sensors to the control unit of the vehicle while establishing an active connection of coupled mobile terminals of the driver time-periodically and processed and in the course of comparison with current data of the same sensors in the derivation of the control signals for particular actuators Elements for influencing the well-being of the driver.

Assuming that a vehicle is controlled by the same driver, so it may be sufficient in accordance with the above-described embodiments of the method basically continuously collect data and log as historical data, what conclusions on the driving behavior of this driver or on its to enable the respective well-being. However, since vehicles are frequently moved by different drivers in practice, a practice-oriented development of the method according to the invention is given by the fact that it is provided to detect the vehicle currently currently controlling driver with the help of suitable technical means and for possibly different drivers of a vehicle driver profiles to apply. Depending on the respectively recognized driver, different or driver-individual data can then be included in the process of deriving the respective control signals by recourse to their respective driver profile depicted by corresponding stored historical data.

For example, based on suitable sensors for a certain period of time, detected and recorded parameters which are influenced by the driving behavior (parameters for the steering behavior as well as for the actuation of driving and / or brake pedals) can be determined by processing the corresponding data using mathematical models differentiated between different drivers for a certain period of time. Of course, however, a driver identification and thus a distinction between different driving by means of optical sensors installed in the vehicle is possible. Thus, a distinction between different drivers can be made, for example, by means of optical sensors scans performed their Augeniris. Other options for distinguishing between different drivers, which are dependent on the active participation of the driver, are that the drivers can be identified by the system, for example, by placing a finger on a fingerprint scanning sensor or by means of a token, such as a chip card.

Regardless of the above-described embodiment possibilities of the method, a further embodiment of the invention is that the logging of the data recorded by means of sensors takes place by storing them as historical data in the Internet cloud. Of course, the consideration of these historical data for the derivation of control signals in this type of embodiment of the inventive method basically requires the permanent existence of an Internet connection. In that regard, it is possibly, at least at the present time, more advantageous to log the data locally in suitable memory means of the control device or a data processing unit arranged in the vehicle or in a coupled mobile terminal of the driver.

Hereinafter, again some aspects of the invention will be explained with reference to a drawing in the manner of an embodiment. This is in the 1 a scheme is shown, from which both essential aspects of a possible embodiment of the method according to the invention as well as essential elements of a system suitable for implementing the method can be seen.

The example shown assumes a configuration in which a central, but locally arranged in the vehicle processing unit is provided, which via a vehicle bus, such as the widespread CAN Bus, is in operative connection with a more comprehensive vehicle management system, which may include, for example, a motor management with an electronic control unit. Components of the vehicle management system are also various vehicle sensors (sensors) as well as different controls and actuators. Data about the physical quantities detected by the vehicle sensors are forwarded to the central processing unit via the CAN bus and stored here in associated memory means with respect to their time course. According to the schematically illustrated exemplary embodiment of the method, data are also collected which allow conclusions about the driving behavior of the driver and possibly identification of the driver. In addition, in the example shown, the data on the vehicle environment, such as the outside temperature or the humidity, are included in the derivation of control data for controlling respectively suitable actuators. In the example shown, the data relating to the time profile of the sensor signals are recorded locally, namely in associated memory means of the processing unit of the vehicle, as historical data.

The driving behavior of a driver, which is mapped, for example, by the time profile of sensor signals of suitable sensors in the area of the steering and / or vehicle pedals, may permit conclusions about the physical and emotional state of the driver. Thus, for example, on the basis of the steering behavior, in particular in the context of a comparison with historical data collected to determine whether a driver is tired, if this is supposed to be the case, for example, by changing the climate in the passenger compartment and / or a change of seat settings counteracted or the driver in the worst case in a suitable manner (acoustically and / or optically via a display) to be warned.

If one finds relatively reliable indications of the mood or physical condition of the driver's driving behavior, the vehicle can adapt to a certain degree to their condition or needs. A hectically agitated state of mind can be counteracted, for example, with soothing or relaxing music. As already partially explained, the temperature within the car can also be adapted, seat heating activated or the position of the backrest of the driver's seat adjusted. For this, a suitable framework may first be defined for each driver in a kind of configuration process, so that the likelihood increases that later made adjustments actually to the desired goal to improve the driver's well-being and thus indirectly increase driving safety.

Another application example is based on the fact that human body size changes slightly during the day. As a rule, people are up to two centimeters taller in the morning than in the evening. For some drivers, this creates the need to adjust the seat and mirror position depending on the time of day. If a driver regularly adjusts the mirror and / or seating position at certain times of the day, the described method could be used to detect these behavioral patterns and make corresponding adjustments as a function of the time of day in an automated sequence. Thus, the driver could be assisted in the setting automatically or the vehicle could anticipate the recruitment needs.

If there are several drivers of a vehicle, the described solution can also be used to determine which driver is currently controlling the automobile. Thus, the automobile could adjust the adjustment of mirror and / or seat during longer trips exactly to the habits and needs of each driver recognized. It is thus avoided that a driver automatically receives the possibly incorrect adjustment adjustments of another or previous driver or a driver mainly leading the vehicle.

QUOTES INCLUDE IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of the documents listed by the applicant has been generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Cited patent literature

• DE 102011011221 A1 [0003]
• DE 102012024706 A1 [0003]
• DE 102012008090 A1 [0003]

Claims (15)

Method for improving the user-friendliness of a motor vehicle for a driver leading the vehicle, according to which are derived by a built-in vehicle control unit from sensor signals from the vehicle entrained sensors control signals by means of which actuators of elements of the vehicle operation and / or influencing the well-being of the driver elements the vehicle equipment are controlled to change the operating state or the settings of these elements, the sensor signals resulting from a detection of parameters for at least one of the categories - physical sizes of the vehicle - physical quantities of the vehicle environment - physical body values of the driver, characterized in that the derivative the control signals taking into account historical data, namely of data held in storage means to previously recorded sensor signals, wherein parameters of said categories in for de n driving mode activated vehicle detected in each case by the sensors carried by the vehicle time-cyclic and data on the resulting sensor signals in association with the respective time of detection of their underlying parameters are stored in the memory means and wherein the recorded to the sensor signals historical data in the derivation of the Control signals for the actuators are related to sensor signals resulting from the instantaneous detection of the same parameters or to the current time of day. Method according to Claim 1 , characterized in that physical quantities of the vehicle by means disposed within the vehicle or on the outside of the vehicle sensors are recorded and recorded time-cyclically once each time or in a, by a processed by the control unit of the vehicle program application time segment multiple times and recorded. Method according to Claim 2 , characterized in that arranged by means arranged in the region of the steering column sensors, the steering behavior, namely a time profile of the steering angle by a time-cyclically, each time within a predetermined period of detection of the steering angle detected. Method according to Claim 2 , characterized in that the operation of an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal sensed and recorded time-cyclically, in each case several times within a specified period of time. Method according to Claim 3 or 4 , characterized in that derived from the recorded data to the sensor signals in the memory means of individual behavior patterns of the driver by means of mathematical models and that on the basis of a time-cyclic comparison of the respective temporally current detection of the same parameters resulting sensor signals with these behavior patterns on the physical condition the driver is closed and control signals are derived with which, if necessary, actuators are driven to improve the well-being of the driver of suitable elements. Method according to Claim 1 characterized in that sensor signals from sensors carried in the vehicle by the driver, namely from sensors to the control unit of the vehicle, are used to establish an operative connection of coupled mobile terminals, by means of which body values of the driver are detected, which are compared with historical data of the same sensors in a time-cyclic manner and that, based on the result of this comparison, the physical condition of the driver is concluded, and control signals are derived, with which, if necessary, actuators of suitable elements for improving the well-being of the driver are activated. Method according to Claim 5 or 6 , characterized in that depending on the result of the assessment of the well-being of the driver of the control unit of the vehicle by controlling corresponding actuators, the temperature in the vehicle interior or settings of an air conditioner can be changed. Method according to Claim 7 , characterized in that in the derivation of the control signals for the control of actuators for changing the temperature in the vehicle interior or settings of the air conditioning sensor signals from sensors are included, which detect the respective current outside temperature and / or humidity. Method according to one of Claims 5 to 8th , characterized in that are changed depending on the result of the assessment of the well-being of the driver of the control unit of the vehicle by controlling corresponding actuators settings of the driver's seat. Method according to one of Claims 5 to 9 characterized in that, depending on the result of the assessment of the well-being of the driver by the control unit of the vehicle by controlling corresponding actuators, an entertainment system of the vehicle for reproducing relaxation-promoting music is caused. Method according to Claim 1 or 5 , characterized in that based on the recorded historical data, depending on the time of day, a change of settings of the rear and exterior mirrors and / or seat adjustment or the driver's seat takes place. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 11 , characterized in that with the aid of means provided for this a distinction is made between different drivers driving the vehicle and a driver-individual and that the actuators of elements of the vehicle operation and / or the well-being of the driver influencing elements of the vehicle equipment on the basis of the different drivers in Storage means stored profiles are driver-individually controlled. Method according to Claim 12 , characterized in that the distinction of the driver on the basis of their driving behavior and the sensory recorded and stored in memory means historical data takes place. Method according to Claim 12 , characterized in that the distinction of the driver by means of optical sensors in the vehicle takes place. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 14 , characterized in that the logging of the historical data takes place in the cloud, wherein the control unit of the vehicle has radio-based access to the data stored in the cloud.

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