DE102021213916A1 - Remote controlled parking of a vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a system (1) for remotely controlling a vehicle (3) during a parking maneuver, comprising a mobile terminal (5) with a touch-sensitive screen with graphic elements (7) as symbols for a respective desired journey, with a movement command for the vehicle (3) is generated from touching a respective graphical element (7) only as long as the user keeps touching the respective graphical element (7), and wherein the system (1) has at least one further security mechanism, by means of which the system ( 1) a command to stop the movement of the vehicle (3) is generated if a predetermined condition of the safety mechanism is met, the condition being able to be met only by performing an active and intentional activity on the part of a user.

Description

The invention relates to a system for remote control of a vehicle.

Parking a vehicle such as a passenger car or a truck often requires a lot of concentration and increased attention from the driver of this vehicle compared to a regular journey, since there is a risk of collisions with other vehicles or objects or walls when parking in this way, especially in tight parking spaces. If a person is outside the vehicle, they can make a much better estimate of how far the vehicle is currently parking from other vehicles and other obstacles when parking, and it can be estimated whether the person parking will be successful with the current strategy . However, another person is not always available to help.

It is known in the prior art to control a motor vehicle by remote control. This makes it possible to solve this very problem, but it is a critical process from a safety point of view, since a malfunction of the remote control could have fatal consequences, for example if the controlled vehicle makes an unwanted movement without stopping.

The DE 10 2015 209 976 A1 relates to an assistance system for driverless driving of the motor vehicle that can be operated by remote control from outside a motor vehicle, in which case the motor vehicle can be controlled manually by a driver from inside the vehicle when it is not driving without a driver, the on-board assistance system being set up to receive information from the remote control, in In response to receiving the information before driverless driving, carry out a safety check of the vehicle with regard to achieving a safe state of the vehicle as a safety objective and, if the safety check is successful, allow driverless driving. The method for remotely controlling the vehicle during a parking maneuver provides for the use of a remote control that includes virtual buttons on a touch screen. Pressing and holding the virtual forward and backward buttons controls the movement of the vehicle, releasing the buttons stops the movement. The remote control can also have another button which is designed as a dead man's button.

The DE 10 2017 007 120 A1 also relates to a method for remotely controlling a function of a vehicle using an operating element, wherein an inertial dometry of the operating element is determined on the basis of detected signals from at least one detection unit integrated into the operating element and the function is remotely controlled as a function of the determined inertial dometry.

The DE 10 2019 126 803 A1 also relates to a vehicle comprising: wheels; a transceiver; and a processor and memory in communication with a remote control device via the transceiver and configured to: determine, based on signals from the remote control device, whether first and second buttons of the remote control device are pressed; stopping rotation of the wheels if one or more of the first and second buttons are released; and transmitting a notification regarding the released first and second buttons to the remote control device.

The DE 10 2018 116 515 A1 finally relates to a method for remote-controlled vehicle maneuvering, comprising at least the following steps: a) verification of the vehicle on the basis of a vehicle-specific signal selected from the group consisting of visual, audible or electromagnetic signals or combinations thereof, which is transmitted by a mobile, outside the Vehicle positioned signal detection device is detected; b) recording digital images of at least part of the vehicle by a mobile digital imaging device positioned outside the vehicle; c) distance calculation between the vehicle and the mobile digital imaging device; d) assessing whether the distance calculated in step c) is less than a specific maximum distance; and e) maneuvering the vehicle via a remote control in cases where the assessment result from step d) shows that the distance between the vehicle and the mobile digital imaging device is less than or equal to the maximum distance, the distance calculation in step c) being based on Digital image data of the vehicle part recorded in step b) is based.

The object of the invention is to make the remote-controlled parking process of a vehicle safer.

The invention results from the features of the independent claims. Advantageous developments and refinements are the subject matter of the dependent claims.

A first aspect of the invention relates to a system for remote control of a vehicle, in particular a passenger car or truck, during a parking process, comprising a mobile terminal with a touch-sensitive screen, wherein the mobile terminal is designed to graphic elements as symbols for to display a respective desired trip, to detect a touching input of a user on the respective of the graphic elements and to generate a movement command for the vehicle from touching a respective graphic element only as long as the user touches the respective graphic element, so that the vehicle is brought to a standstill by stopping the movement if the user does not touch any of the graphic elements, the system having at least one further safety mechanism by means of which the system generates a command to stop the movement of the vehicle if a predetermined condition of the safety mechanism is met , where the condition can only be fulfilled by performing an active and intentional activity on the part of a user.

According to the invention, the driver of the vehicle (passenger car or truck) is outside the vehicle when parking and controls the vehicle for parking via a mobile terminal device, in particular a smartphone. For safety reasons, the vehicle is stopped immediately if the driver no longer touches any of the graphic elements that lead to a movement command. Such graphic elements include, in particular, an element for commanding forward travel of the vehicle and a further element for commanding reverse travel of the vehicle. At this time, as long as the graphic element for commanding the vehicle to move forward is held down, the vehicle will move forward at a slow speed. Similarly, if the icon for commanding the vehicle to reverse is held down, the vehicle will slowly reverse.

Since it is already provided that when all the above-mentioned graphic elements are released, so that not a single one of the above-mentioned graphic elements is touched to command a journey, the vehicle is immediately brought to a standstill, a high level of safety is already created. However, the fact that an additional safety mechanism is provided, which, when triggered, also brings the vehicle to a standstill, regardless of whether one or more of the graphic elements mentioned above are still being operated, further increases the level of safety considerably, since malfunctions of the touch-sensitive screen can occur of the mobile end device do not lead to the vehicle moving on unintentionally. For example, the mobile terminal device and in particular the touch-sensitive screen goes into error mode during remote control of the vehicle, in which the vehicle continues to move even if the graphic elements are released because the touch-sensitive screen no longer recognizes the release or a computing unit in the mobile terminal device generates an equivalent error and thus continues to generate a command for driving the vehicle, the journey can only be stopped by the additional safety mechanism.

What distinguishes the first aspect of the invention, for example from the DE 10 2015 209 976 A1 , after which the dead man's button must also be pressed continuously. According to the invention, however, the user must actively and deliberately activate the additional safety mechanism, for example consciously pressing another button, performing a gesture or accelerating the mobile terminal device in a predetermined pattern in order to stop the vehicle.

It is therefore an advantageous effect of the invention that the safety of the remote control of a vehicle, in particular a passenger car or truck, for parking the vehicle is significantly increased, since despite errors on the touch-sensitive screen or elsewhere in the mobile terminal device, in which the journey of the vehicle can be continued despite releasing all graphic elements of the touch-sensitive screen, the vehicle's movement can be stopped and the vehicle can be brought to a standstill - and this at the conscious decision of the user.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the mobile terminal is a smartphone.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the safety mechanism consists in the vehicle being stopped when a graphic input element provided for an emergency is touched on the touch-sensitive screen. The input element is preferably a separate virtual button highlighted in color in order to graphically simulate the well-known “emergency stop” button.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the safety mechanism consists in that a button or switch that can be actuated physically is provided on the mobile terminal device, and when it is pressed or flipped over, the vehicle is stopped.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the button is a physical volume control or on/off button of the smartphone.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the security mechanism includes voice control on the mobile terminal device, the voice control being designed to generate a command to stop the vehicle when a predefined voice command is detected. Preferred voice commands are, for example, "stop", "stop", "emergency stop", "emergency" or the like. Provision is preferably made for several of these terms to be recognized on the mobile terminal device.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the safety mechanism comprises an acceleration measuring unit of the mobile terminal, with a command to stop the vehicle being generated by a user entering a predefined movement pattern on the mobile terminal, with the movement pattern being shaking or knocking in particular.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the security mechanism comprises a camera unit arranged on the mobile end device, the camera unit being designed to recognize a gesture by the user and, when detecting a predetermined gesture, in particular a gesture executed by the user's hand, to issue a command to stop the generate vehicle.

• - das für einen Notfall vorgesehene grafische Eingabeelement,
• - der physisch betätigbare Knopf oder Schalter,
• - die Sprachsteuerung,
• - die Beschleunigungsmesseinheit,
• - die Kameraeinheit.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the security mechanism comprises at least two of the following mechanisms, which individually or only in combination with one another lead to the fulfillment of the specified condition:

• - the graphic input element provided for an emergency,
• - the physically operable button or switch,
• - the voice control,
• - the accelerometer unit,
• - the camera unit.

Further advantages, features and details result from the following description, in which at least one exemplary embodiment is described in detail-if necessary with reference to the drawing. Identical, similar and/or functionally identical parts are provided with the same reference symbols.

• 1: Ein System zum Fernsteuern eines Fahrzeugs bei einem Einparkvorgang gemäß einem Ausführungsbeispiel der Erfindung.

It shows:

• 1 : A system for remotely controlling a vehicle during a parking operation according to an embodiment of the invention.

The representations in the figure are schematic and not to scale.

1 shows a system 1 for remote control of a vehicle 3 during a parking maneuver. On a smartphone in the function of a mobile terminal device 5 with a touch-sensitive screen, graphic elements 7 are displayed as symbols for a respective desired trip. These are a forward arrow and a reverse arrow which, when touched and held, will command forward travel and reverse travel at 4km/h respectively. A movement command for the vehicle 3 is only generated within the period of time during which a touching input from a user on the forward arrow or backward arrow is detected by the mobile terminal device 5 . If the user releases the forward arrow or the backward arrow so that neither arrow is touched anymore, the vehicle 3 is brought to a standstill by stopping the movement. However, the system 1 also has another safety mechanism: if the emergency stop button N displayed is pressed, the vehicle 3 is brought to a standstill. This emergency stop button N is arranged at a certain distance from the other graphic elements 7 in order to use display areas that are still functioning in the event of damage to the display in the area of the graphic elements 7 away from the damage around the vehicle 3 regardless of whether the Forward arrow or the backward arrow is still touched or such a touch is incorrectly accepted by the mobile terminal 5 to quickly bring it to a standstill.

Although the invention has been illustrated and explained in more detail by means of preferred exemplary embodiments, the invention is not restricted by the disclosed examples and other variations can be derived therefrom by a person skilled in the art without departing from the protective scope of the invention. It is therefore clear that a large number of possible variations exist. It is also understood that the exemplary embodiments given are really only examples and should not be construed as limiting in any way the scope, applications or configuration of the invention. Rather, the preceding description and the description of the figures enable the person skilled in the art to concretely implement the exemplary embodiments, whereby the person skilled in the art, knowing the disclosed inventive concept, can make a variety of changes, for example with regard to the function or the arrangement of individual elements mentioned in an exemplary embodiment. without departing from the scope of protection defined by the claims and their legal equivalents, such as further explanations in the description.

Reference List

1

system

3

vehicle

5

mobile device

7

graphic elements

QUOTES INCLUDED IN DESCRIPTION

This list of documents cited by the applicant was 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.

Patent Literature Cited

• DE 102015209976 A1 [0004, 0013]
• DE 102017007120 A1 [0005]
• DE 102019126803 A1 [0006]
• DE 102018116515 A1 [0007]

Claims (9)

System (1) for remote control of a vehicle (3), in particular a passenger car or truck, during a parking process, comprising a mobile terminal (5) with a touch-sensitive screen, the mobile terminal (5) being designed to display graphic elements (7) as symbols for a respective desired journey, to record a user's touch input on the respective graphic element (7) and to generate a movement command for the vehicle (3) from touching a respective graphic element (7) only for as long as the user keeps touching the respective graphic element (7), so that the vehicle (3) is brought to a standstill by stopping the movement if the user does not touch any of the graphic elements (7), the system (1) having at least one further safety mechanism , by means of which the system (1) generates a command to stop the movement of the vehicle (3) when a predetermined condition of the safety mechanism is met, the condition being able to be met only by performing an active and intentional activity on the part of a user. System (1) after claim 1 , wherein the mobile terminal (5) is a smartphone. System (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the safety mechanism consists in the fact that the vehicle (3) is stopped when a graphic input element provided for an emergency is touched on the touch-sensitive screen. System (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the safety mechanism consists in that a physically actuable button or switch is provided on the mobile terminal device, when it is pressed or flipped over, the vehicle (3) is stopped. System (1) after claim 2 and claim 4 , where the button is a physical volume control or power button on the smartphone. System (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the safety mechanism comprises voice control on the mobile terminal, wherein the voice control is designed to generate a command to stop the vehicle (3) when a predetermined voice command is detected. System (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the safety mechanism comprises an acceleration measuring unit of the mobile terminal device, wherein when a user enters a predefined movement pattern on the mobile terminal device (5), a command to stop the vehicle (3) is generated, wherein the Movement pattern is in particular shaking or knocking. System (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the security mechanism comprises a camera unit arranged on the mobile end device (5), the camera unit being designed to recognize a gesture by the user and, when detecting a predetermined gesture, in particular one made by the hand of the User executed gesture to generate a command to stop the vehicle (3). System (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the security mechanism comprises at least two of the following mechanisms, which individually or only in combination with one another lead to the fulfillment of the specified condition: - the graphic input element provided for an emergency, - the physically operable button or switch, - the voice control, - the accelerometer unit, - the camera unit.

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