EP3898370A1

EP3898370A1 - Method and system for controlling a motor vehicle

Info

Publication number: EP3898370A1
Application number: EP19832033.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Carlo Manna; Christian Wissing; Manuel Schmidt; Andreas Homann; Christian LIENKE; Torsten Bertram
Original assignee: ZF Automotive Germany GmbH
Current assignee: ZF Automotive Germany GmbH
Priority date: 2018-12-17
Filing date: 2019-12-16
Publication date: 2021-10-27
Also published as: JP7295239B2; US20220153308A1; WO2020127010A1; CN113165669A; JP2022513929A; DE102018132523A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for controlling a motor vehicle (10) which is driving on a road (12) in a current lane (14), the road (12) having at least one additional lane (16). First, free regions (B_f) and/or occupied regions (B_b) of the lanes (14, 16) are determined, which occupied regions are occupied by other road users (18, 20), the free regions (B_f) and the occupied regions (B_b) being spatio-temporal regions. Changing regions, in which a lane change between the two lanes (14, 16) is possible, and/or lane-keeping regions, in which a lane change between the two lanes (14, 16) is not possible, are determined on the basis of the determined free regions (B_f) and/or occupied regions (B_b). Possible driving maneuvers of the motor vehicle (10) at least between changing regions and/or lane-keeping regions adjoining one another in pairs are then determined. A system (26) for controlling a motor vehicle (10) is also described.

Description

Method and system for controlling a motor vehicle

The invention relates to a method for controlling a motor vehicle, a control device for a system for controlling a motor vehicle, a system for controlling a motor vehicle, a computer program for carrying out the method and a computer-readable data carrier with such a computer program.

One of the main challenges for driver assistance systems that control the longitudinal movement and lateral movement of a motor vehicle in a partially automated manner, and especially for fully automated motor vehicles, is to analyze a specific situation in which the motor vehicle is located and, based on this, to conduct appropriate driving maneuvers for the vehicle Derive motor vehicle.

The complexity of the calculation of the driving maneuvers generally increases with the duration of the individual driving maneuvers. If various possible driving maneuvers are to be determined for a longer period of time, for example longer than three seconds, or if complex driving maneuvers with several lane changes are involved, previously known methods are no longer able to determine them in real time.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide a method and a system for controlling a motor vehicle in which the disadvantages from the prior art are improved.

The object is achieved according to the invention by a method for controlling a motor vehicle which is traveling on a road in a current lane, the road having at least one further lane which is adjacent to the current lane of the motor vehicle. First, at least in the current lane of the motor vehicle and in the at least one further lane, free areas and / or occupied areas are determined which are occupied by other road users, the free areas and the occupied areas being spatio-temporal areas. Based on the determined free Areas and / or occupied areas are determined in areas in which a lane change between the two lanes is possible, and / or lane-keeping areas in which a lane change between the two lanes is not possible, the changeover areas and the lane-keeping areas each being a spatio-temporal sub-area of the free areas are. Now possible driving maneuvers of the motor vehicle are determined at least between changing areas and / or lane keeping areas adjoining each other in pairs.

The method according to the invention is based on the basic idea of mapping the street onto a space-time diagram and dividing the street into different partial areas in this space-time diagram, namely in partial areas in which a lane change is possible and in partial areas in which no lane change is possible. Possible driving maneuvers between these individual sub-areas can then be determined very quickly and in a resource-saving manner, since only a small sub-area of the road always has to be considered and not the entire road traffic situation. With the method according to the invention it is therefore possible to determine various possible driving maneuvers in real time.

In particular, the method according to the invention is a computer-implemented method that is executed on a control unit of the motor vehicle and / or on a control unit of a higher-level control system that is assigned, for example, at least to the section of the road in which the motor vehicle is currently driving, whereby the motor vehicle and the control system are in signal-transmitting connection with one another and can exchange signals with one another.

The spatio-temporal areas and the spatio-temporal sub-areas are each described by at least one location coordinate, in particular a longitudinal coordinate in the street direction, and by a time coordinate. In particular, a coordinate in the transverse direction to the road is discretized and is set to a specific value for each lane.

A driving maneuver is to be understood here and in the following to mean at least one transition of the motor vehicle from a spatio-temporal sub-area to another. Of course, these transitions can only be positive Time direction. In general, a driving maneuver consists of several, in-line transitions between individual, adjoining spatial-temporal sub-areas.

In particular, the occupied areas include not only those partial areas that are actually occupied by another road user, but also additionally a safety distance to be maintained from the other road user concerned, the safety distance being predetermined, preset and / or selectable by the driver. In addition, the occupied areas can also include those partial areas that cannot be driven on due to other obstacles, for example construction sites or the like.

One aspect of the invention provides that the changeover areas are those subareas of the free areas of the current lane and the at least one further lane in which both the current lane and the at least one further lane are free from other road users. In particular, the free areas are also free of other obstacles, for example construction sites or the like, which would prevent traffic. The changeover areas are therefore the areas of the current lane and the at least one further lane in which a lane change is possible, since both the current lane and the at least one further lane are free.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the lane keeping areas are those subareas of the free areas of the current lane and the at least one further lane in which the other of the lanes is occupied and / or a lane change is not otherwise possible. In other words, the lane keeping areas are those subareas in which a lane change is not possible because there is another road user in the adjacent lane, because the neighboring lane is otherwise blocked and / or because the corresponding section of the road is prohibited from overtaking or there is a ban on changing lanes.

According to a further aspect of the invention, in order to determine the change ranges, it is determined whether a lane change zone that is spatially between the current lane and the at least one further lane is free. occupied by other road users or otherwise impassable. A transition from one lane to the other lane thus takes place via this lane change zone. The lane change zone is then free when both the current lane and the further lane are free. As a result, the lane change zone is occupied when at least one of the two lanes is occupied. The lane change zone takes into account the fact that the motor vehicle and other road users temporarily block both lanes during a lane change. The lane change zone is otherwise impassable, for example, if there is no overtaking or lane change on the corresponding road section and / or if obstacles prevent the lane change zone from being entered.

Preferably, at least one space-time polygon corresponding to the current lane, at least one to the at least one further lane and at least one space-time polygon corresponding to the occupied areas is determined, with polygon clipping corresponding space-time polygons from the determined polygons to the free areas of the two lanes are determined, in particular wherein those polygons that correspond to the occupied areas are each removed from the polygons that correspond to one of the two lanes in order to determine the free areas. The determination of the free areas is thus reduced to a geometric operation which can be carried out very quickly and in a resource-saving manner, which saves computing time in determining the possible driving maneuvers.

In particular, the respective lane and the occupied areas of the individual lanes are each polygons in a (L, t) coordinate system, where L is the current longitudinal direction of the road and t is time. The free areas for lane number i thus result, symbolically speaking, from the operation where P _{lane i is} the space-time polygon that corresponds to lane i and where P _{occupied i} includes all space-time polygons that enclose occupied areas in lane number i.

More preferably, an intersection of the two polygons is formed, which correspond to the free areas in the two lanes, in order to determine the change areas and lane keeping areas, in particular to determine whether the lane change zone is free. In other words, they result free areas of the lane change _{zone, i.e.} , as an intersection of the polygons that correspond to the free areas in the individual lanes, _i.e. by operation P _fre u ⁿ P _f r _ei.j The determination of the change areas and the lane _{keeping areas} is thus reduced to a geometric operation that can be carried out very quickly and conserves resources, which saves computing time in determining the possible driving maneuvers.

An embodiment of the invention provides that at least the current lane and / or the at least one further lane are or will be transformed into a Frenet-Serret coordinate system. In this coordinate system, every road is free of curvature, so that regardless of an actual course of the road, every road traffic situation can be treated in the same way. In particular, the space-time polygons described above are determined in the Frenet-Serret coordinate system.

According to a further aspect of the invention, a lane vertex is assigned to the changing areas and / or the lane keeping areas of the two lanes, the lane vertices being connected in pairs by edges if a driving maneuver of the motor vehicle between the corresponding changing areas and / or the lane keeping areas is possible, in particular with the track vertices are timed. A sequence of driving maneuvers that can be carried out in succession therefore results from an interrupted train of edges along the lane vertices in the ascending direction of time. In this way, a graph is generated that contains several different possible driving maneuvers, in particular all possible driving maneuvers. The generated graph can then be further processed by further modules and / or subsystems of the motor vehicle, for example by a module that determines what is to be carried out from the possible driving maneuvers.

At least one change zone vertex is preferably assigned to the lane change zone, in particular where the lane change zone is divided into a plurality of time strips, each of which is assigned at least one change zone vertex, the at least one change zone vertex being connected in pairs to the lane vertices by edges if a driving maneuver of the motor vehicle between the corresponding partial area the lane change zone and the corresponding change area or lane keeping area is possible. A Sequence of driving maneuvers which can be carried out in succession therefore results from an interrupted train of edges along the lane vertices and the transition zone vertices in the ascending direction of time. In this way, a graph is generated that contains several different possible driving maneuvers, in particular all possible driving maneuvers. The generated graph can then be further processed by further modules and / or subsystems of the motor vehicle, for example by a module that determines what is to be carried out from the possible driving maneuvers.

In particular, a new time strip for the lane change zone begins in each event in one of the two lanes. An event is to be understood here and in the following to mean any kind of change in the occupancy of one of the two lanes.

A plurality of different driving maneuvers for the motor vehicle are preferably determined, in particular all possible driving maneuvers. It is therefore not only a single possible driving maneuver that is determined, but several different from each other, the different driving maneuvers representing the different possibilities of how the motor vehicle can be controlled. The various driving maneuvers can then be forwarded to further modules and / or subsystems of the motor vehicle, for example to a module that selects the one to be carried out from the possible driving maneuvers.

Another aspect of the invention provides that when determining the free and / or areas occupied by the other road users, predicted trajectories of the other road users are taken into account. The predicted trajectories can be predicted by another module or subsystems of the motor vehicle, can be obtained via inter-vehicle communication from the other road users and / or can be obtained from a control system which is assigned at least to the section of the street in which the motor vehicle is located is driving. In particular, the predicted trajectories also contain lane changes by other road users. The method according to the invention thus makes it possible to include driving maneuvers of the other road users in the determination of the possible driving maneuvers of the motor vehicle and to control the motor vehicle in a manner adapted to the particular special road traffic situation. According to an embodiment of the invention, it is determined whether the motor vehicle can reach the respective spatio-temporal subregions, in particular taking into account a current speed of the motor vehicle, a maximum deceleration of the motor vehicle, a maximum acceleration of the motor vehicle and / or a speed limit. The unreachable subareas are then no longer taken into account in the following steps for controlling the motor vehicle, which saves computing time when determining the possible driving maneuvers.

Trajectories of the motor vehicle corresponding to the driving maneuvers are preferably determined. The trajectories are each a determined space-time curve along which the motor vehicle moves when the trajectory is selected and the motor vehicle is controlled accordingly. In particular, they are optimized trajectories that are optimized based on one or more conditions. For example, the distance traveled should be as short as possible, a duration of the driving maneuver should be minimized and / or longitudinal and / or lateral accelerations that occur should not exceed a predefined limit acceleration.

In particular, at least one sensor detects the current lane and / or the at least one further lane in order to determine the free areas, occupied areas and / or inaccessibility. The at least one sensor generates corresponding environmental data, which are used to generate an image of the environment, in particular in the form of a space-time diagram.

The at least one sensor can be a camera, a radar sensor, a distance sensor, a LIDAR sensor and / or any other type of sensor which is suitable for detecting at least part of the surroundings of the motor vehicle capture.

Alternatively or additionally, the at least one sensor can be designed as an interface to a control system that is assigned to at least the section of the road in which the motor vehicle is currently traveling. The control system is designed to transmit environmental data about the road and / or about the other road users, in particular about their predicted trajectories, to the motor vehicle and / or to the other road users. According to a further embodiment of the invention, at least one of the possible driving maneuvers is selected and the driver is given information based on the at least one driving maneuver. The instructions are in particular information about the at least one selected driving maneuver. For example, several possible driving maneuvers are selected and displayed on a user interface. The driver can decide which of the possible driving maneuvers should be carried out and select this driving maneuver, for example, via the user interface.

One of the possible driving maneuvers is preferably selected and the vehicle is controlled in accordance with the selected driving maneuver. The motor vehicle is controlled at least partially automatically, in particular fully automatically, based on the selected driving maneuver. The selected driving maneuver is preferably an optimal driving maneuver that is selected based on boundary conditions from the several possible driving maneuvers. For example, the distance traveled should be as short as possible, a duration of the driving maneuver should be minimized and / or longitudinal and / or lateral accelerations that occur should not exceed a predefined limit acceleration.

The object is also achieved according to the invention by a control device for a system for controlling a motor vehicle, the control device being designed to carry out a method described above. With regard to the advantages, reference is made to the above explanations regarding the method.

The control unit can be part of the motor vehicle or part of a higher-level system, for example part of the control system.

The object is further achieved according to the invention by a system for controlling a motor vehicle, with a control device described above. With regard to the advantages, reference is made to the above explanations regarding the method.

The object is also achieved according to the invention by a computer program with program code means in order to carry out the steps of a method described above when the computer program is executed on a computer or a corresponding computing unit, in particular a computing unit of a control device described above. With regard to the advantages, reference is made to the above explanations regarding the method.

“Program code means” are and are to be understood in the following as computer-executable instructions in the form of program code and / or program code modules in compiled and / or in uncompiled form, which can be in any programming language and / or in machine language.

The object is further achieved according to the invention by a computer-readable data carrier on which a computer program described above is stored. The data carrier can be an integral part of the control device described above or can be formed separately from the control device. The data carrier has a memory in which the computer program is stored. The memory is any suitable type of memory that is based, for example, on magnetic and / or optical data storage.

Further advantages and properties of the invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, to which reference is made. In these show:

- Figure 1 schematically shows a road traffic situation;

- Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of a system according to the invention for controlling a motor vehicle;

- Figure 3 is a flowchart of the steps of a method according to the invention;

FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b) schematically show a street before a transformation into a Frenet-Serret coordinate system or the street after a transformation into a Frenet-Serret coordinate system; and

FIGS. 5 to 10 each illustrate individual steps of the method according to the invention from FIG. 3. FIG. 1 schematically shows a road traffic situation in which a motor vehicle 10 is driving on a road 12 in a current lane 14. In addition to the current lane 14, another lane 16 runs.

In addition, a first further road user 18 and a second further road user 20 drive on the road 12 in the current lane 14 or in the further lane 16. In the example shown, the other road users 18, 20 are passenger cars, but it could be also deal with trucks, motorcycles or any other road users.

Between the current lane 14 and the further lane 16 there is a lane change zone 21 which partially overlaps with the current lane 14 and the further lane 16.

The dashed lines 22 and 24 indicate that the first further road user 18 plans in the near future to change from the current lane 14 via the lane change zone 21 to the further lane 16 or that the second further road user 20 plans in the near future, to change from the further lane 16 via the lane change zone into the current lane 14 of the motor vehicle 10. This is indicated by the other road users 18, 20, for example, by using the corresponding direction indicator.

1 also shows a coordinate system with a longitudinal axis and a normal axis, the longitudinal axis defining a longitudinal direction L and the normal axis defining a transverse direction N. The origin of the coordinate system lies in the longitudinal direction L at the current position of the tip of the motor vehicle 10 and, viewed in the longitudinal direction L, on the right side of the road.

This special coordinate system, which is also used in the following, is a road-fixed coordinate system, which consequently does not move with the motor vehicle 10. Of course, any other coordinate system can also be used. As shown in FIG. 2, the motor vehicle 10 has a system 26 for controlling the motor vehicle 10. The system 26 comprises a plurality of sensors 28 and at least one control device 30.

The sensors 28 are arranged at the front, rear and / or on the side of the motor vehicle 10 and are designed to detect the surroundings of the motor vehicle 10, to generate corresponding surroundings data and to forward them to the control unit 30. More specifically, the sensors 28 record information at least about the current lane 14, the further lane 16 and about the other road users 18, 20.

The sensors 28 are each a camera, a radar sensor, a distance sensor, a LIDAR sensor and / or any other type of sensor that is suitable for detecting the surroundings of the motor vehicle 10.

As an alternative or in addition, at least one of the sensors 28 can be designed as an interface to a control system, which is assigned to at least the section of the road 12 shown and is designed to transmit environmental data to the motor vehicle 10 and / or to the road 12 and / or the other road users to be transmitted to the other road users 18, 20. In this case, one sensor 28 can be used as

Mobile radio communication module can be designed, for example for communication according to the 5G standard.

In general terms, the control unit 30 processes the environmental data received from the sensors 28 and controls the motor vehicle 10 at least partially automatically, in particular fully automatically, based on the processed environmental data. On the control unit 30 is therefore a

Driver assistance system implemented, which can control a transverse movement and / or a longitudinal movement of the motor vehicle 10 at least partially automatically, in particular fully automatically.

For this purpose, the control unit 30 is designed to carry out the method steps explained below with reference to FIGS. 4 to 10. More precisely, the control device 30 comprises a data carrier 32 and a computing unit 34, a computer program on the data carrier 32 is stored, which is executed on the computing unit 34 and comprises the program code means in order to carry out the steps of the method explained below.

First, the road 12, more precisely an image of the current lane 14 and the further lane 16 based on the environmental data obtained from the sensors 28, is transformed into a Frenet-Serret coordinate system (step S1).

Step S1 is illustrated in FIG. 4. Figure 4 (a) shows the street 12 as it actually runs. In the example shown, the street, as seen in the longitudinal direction L, has a curvature to the left. A local coordinate transformation transforms the street 12 into the Frenet-Serret coordinate system, in which the street 12 no longer has any curvature, the result of this transformation being shown in FIG. 4 (b). As can clearly be seen, in this coordinate system the road 12 runs straight and without curvature along the longitudinal direction L.

Next, free areas B _f and occupied areas B _b in the current lane 14 and in the further lane 16 are determined (step S2), the free areas B _f and the occupied areas B _b each being spatio-temporal Areas.

The free areas B _{f are} those spatio-temporal areas that are free from the other road users 18, 20 and other obstacles that prevent driving in the respective lane 14, 16.

The occupied areas B _b , on the other hand, are those spatio-temporal areas that are occupied by the other road users 18, 20 and / or by other obstacles, so that the occupied areas B _b cannot be driven by the motor vehicle 10. In particular, the occupied areas B _b not only contain actually occupied areas, but additionally include a safety distance to be maintained, which can be predetermined, preset or can be selected by the driver.

In order to determine the occupied areas, the control device 30 requires predicted trajectories 22, 24 of the other road users 18, 20. The control device 30 can determine the trajectories 22, 24 itself, for example based on the environmental data obtained from the sensors 28, such as the information that a direction indicator of another road user 18, 20 is activated, or based on data exchanged via inter-vehicle communication. Alternatively, the control unit 30 can receive the trajectories 22, 24 directly from the other road users 18, 20 or from the control system.

As shown in FIG. 5 on the basis of the specific example from FIG. 1, the free areas B _f and the occupied areas B _{b are} first determined for the current lane 14 and for the further lane 16, in each case in a tL diagram, where t is time.

In this example, the first further road user 18 starts a lane change maneuver from the current lane 14 to the further lane 16 at the time t = 1 s, which maneuver is completed at the time t = 5 s. In the diagrams shown in FIG. 5, the first further traffic participant 18 occupies the upper of the two occupied areas Bb. During the lane change process, the first further traffic participant 18 occupies both lanes 14, 16 at least temporarily.

The second further road user 20 starts a lane change maneuver from the further lane 16 to the current lane 14 at the time t = 3s, which maneuver is completed at the time t = 7s. In the diagrams shown in FIG. 5, the second further road user 20 occupies the lower of the two occupied areas Bb.

The gradient of the occupied areas B _b corresponds to the speed of the corresponding other road user 18 or 20. In the example shown in FIGS. 5 to 10, the speed of the other road users 18, 20 is therefore constant.

For simplification, the coordinate in the transverse direction N is discretized, so it can only assume the three different values which correspond to the current lane 14, the further lane 16 or the lane change zone 21. The three diagrams shown in FIG. 5 are each a tL diagram for the current lane 14, for the further lane 16, and for the lane change zone 21. The hatched sections in the diagrams each correspond to the occupied areas B _{b of} the respective lane 14, 16. In contrast, the unshaded sections in the diagrams correspond to the free areas B _{f of} the respective lane 14, 16.

To determine the free areas B _f , a space-time polygon P ₁₄ or P ₁₆ is first determined for each lane 14, 16, which corresponds to the entire lane 14 or 16 in front of the motor vehicle 10, in particular the proportion of the lanes 14, 16 , which is within range of the sensors 28. In Figure 5, the polygons P ₁₄ and P _{16 are} the quadrilaterals indicated by the broken lines.

Furthermore, space-time polygons P _{14 b} and P _{16 b} , respectively, which surround the occupied areas B _{b of} the respective lane 14, 16 are determined for the two lanes 14, 16.

The free areas B _f in the current lane 14, or rather a polygon P ₁₄ , which corresponds to the free areas B _f , is then determined by polygon clipping by removing the polygons P _{14 b} from the polygon P ₁₄ . In other words, it is the operation

Analogously, the free areas B _f in the further lane 16 are determined by polygon clipping by removing the polygons P _{16 b} from the polygon P ₁₆ . Operation P ₁₆ = P ₁₆ \ P _{16 b} is therefore carried out.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the free partial areas of the lane change zone 21 are determined (step S3). The lane change zone 21 is clear if and only if both the current lane 14 and the further lane 16 are clear and if the lane change zone 21 is not passable for other reasons, for example due to obstacles or a no-overtaking condition.

Therefore, the free partial areas of the lane change zone 21, or rather a polygon P ₂₁ , which corresponds to the free partial areas of the lane change zone 21, are determined as the intersection of the two polygons P ₁₄ and P ₁₆ . If the lane change zone 21 is not due to an obstacle or otherwise a corresponding space-time polygon P _h , which encloses the non-accessible sub-area of the lane change zone 21, is determined and removed from the intersection mentioned above.

In other words, the free subareas P _{21 of} the lane change zone 21 result from the operation

Now the diagrams for the current lane 14 and for the further lane 16 are each divided into time strips (step S4), a new time strip beginning with each event. In FIG. 7, the different time strips are separated from one another by vertical dividing lines E, which are inserted into the diagram in the event of an event. An event is to be understood here and in the following to mean any kind of change in the occupancy of the respective lane 14, 16.

If an occupancy of any sub-area of the current lane 14 or the further lane 16 therefore begins or ends at a certain point in time, a new time strip begins in the diagram for the current lane 14 or for the further lane 16 at this point in time.

The dividing lines E between the individual time strips in the diagrams for both lanes 14, 16 are also transferred to the diagram for the lane change zone 21.

In order to achieve a consistent division of the diagrams between the three diagrams for the current lane 14, for the further lane 16 and the lane change zone 21, oblique dividing lines T are inserted in the diagrams for the current lane 14 and the further lane 16, each one Extend one of the occupied areas B _b . These additional oblique dividing lines T are shown in FIGS. 8 to 10.

The vertical dividing lines E, the oblique dividing lines T and the occupied areas B _b divide each of the three diagrams into a plurality of sub-areas T; a, where i is a natural number greater than zero, which can assume values from 1 up to a total number of sub-areas T _j . As shown in FIG. 8, a lane vertex V _t is next assigned to each of the subareas 7 ^ of the diagrams for the current lane 14 and for the further lane 16, while a lane change zone vertex W is assigned to each lane T _{t of} the diagram for the lane change zone 21 _{t is} assigned (step S5). Here again i is a natural number greater than zero, which can assume values from 1 up to a total number of partial areas T _t .

In FIG. 8, the track vertices V _t and the transition zone vertices W _{t are} each time-internally arranged in the diagram, ie those vertices which correspond to partial areas T _t with shorter times are further to the left than those vertices which are assigned to partial areas T _t with longer times.

Next, the lane vertices V _{t of} the current lane 14 are connected in pairs by edges (step S6), more precisely by directional edges, if a driving maneuver of the motor vehicle 10 is possible between the partial areas T _t to which the lane vertices V _{t are} assigned.

A driving maneuver is defined as “possible” if and only if the two partial areas T _t directly adjoin one another, that is, they are not separated from one another by an occupied area B _b . In addition, a driving maneuver is of course only possible in the positive direction of time.

The same procedure is repeated for the lane vertices V _{t of} the further lane 16 and for the change zone vertices W _{t of} the lane change zone 21.

It should be noted that the letters “T”, “V” and “W” have been omitted from FIGS. 9 and 10 for reasons of clarity. Instead, the partial areas and the vertices have simply been provided with the corresponding number. In FIGS. 9 and 10 numbers are therefore not reference numerals, but represent the index of the corresponding subarea or vertex.

The result of step S6 is shown in FIG. 9. The graph obtained in step S6 already contains all possible driving maneuvers for the motor vehicle 10 within the two lanes 14, 16 and within the lane change zone 21.

Next, those lane vertices V _{t of} the current lane 14 are connected to those transition zone vertices W _t via directed edges, their assigned partial areas T _{t of} the current lane 14 or the lane change zone 21 overlap one another (step S7). In other words, those lane vertices V _{t are} connected to those transition zone vertices W _t whose assigned partial areas T _{t have} an intersection that is not empty if the two diagrams for the current lane 14 and for the lane change zone 21 are superimposed.

In addition, those transition zone vertexes W _{t are} connected to those lane vertices V _{t of} the further lane 16 via directional edges whose associated partial areas T _{t of} the lane change zone 21 or the further lane 16 overlap one another. So there are those track vertices V _t with those

Change zone vertices W are connected, the associated partial areas T of which have an intersection that is not empty if the two diagrams for the further lane 16 and for the lane change zone 21 are superimposed.

In other words, in step S7 the individual partial areas 7 ^ of the free areas B _{f are divided} into changing areas in which a lane change between the two lanes 14, 16 is possible, and lane-keeping areas in which a lane change between the two lanes 14, 16 is not is possible.

The result of step S7 is shown in FIG. 10. The graph obtained in step S7 contains all possible driving maneuvers for the motor vehicle 10, which include a change from the current lane 14 to the further lane 16. Each of the possible driving maneuvers corresponds to an uninterrupted train of edges in the graph shown in FIG. 10.

The various possible driving maneuvers determined in this way are then processed further by a further module of control unit 30 or by a further module of the computer program.

The further module selects at least one driving maneuver from the various possible driving maneuvers that can be carried out (step S8).

For this purpose, the further module determines whether the motor vehicle 10 can even reach the individual spatio-temporal sub-regions T _t , with a current speed of the motor vehicle 10, a maximum Deceleration of the motor vehicle 10, a maximum acceleration of the motor vehicle 10 and / or a speed limit that may be present on the road 12 are taken into account. Sub-areas T _t that cannot be reached are sorted out by the further module and are no longer considered in the following.

Next, the further module calculates a trajectory for motor vehicle 10 that corresponds to the at least one driving maneuver (step S9). If there are still several driving maneuvers to choose from, a corresponding trajectory is determined for each of these driving maneuvers.

In order to determine the trajectory that is ultimately to be used by the control device 30 to control the motor vehicle 10, various filters and / or conditions can still be applied to the trajectories or placed on the trajectories.

For example, the trajectory to be carried out must be collision-free and may not require any longitudinal and / or lateral accelerations of the motor vehicle 10 that are greater than a predefined limit acceleration.

Finally, one of the possible trajectories is selected and the motor vehicle 10 is at least partially automated, in particular fully automated, by the control device 30 according to the selected driving maneuver (step S10).

Alternatively or additionally, information about the driving maneuver can be displayed to a driver of the motor vehicle 10 based on the selected driving maneuver. In particular, several possible driving maneuvers are selected and the driver can decide which of the possible driving maneuvers should be carried out.

Claims

Patent claims

1. A method for controlling a motor vehicle (10) which is traveling on a road (12) in a current lane (14), the road (12) having at least one further lane (16) leading to the current lane (14) Motor vehicle (10) is adjacent, with the following steps:

Determining free areas (Bf) and / or occupied areas (Bb), which are occupied by other road users (18, 20), at least in the current lane (14) of the motor vehicle (10) and in the at least one further lane (14) , wherein the free areas (Bf) and the occupied areas (Bb) are spatio-temporal areas;

Determining change areas in which a lane change between the two lanes (14, 16) is possible and / or lane keeping areas in which a lane change between the two lanes (14, 16) is not possible based on the determined free areas ( Bf) and / or occupied areas (Bb), the alternating areas and the lane keeping areas each being a spatio-temporal partial area (7)) of the free areas (Bf); and

Determining possible driving maneuvers of the motor vehicle (10) at least between changing areas and / or lane keeping areas that are adjacent to one another in pairs.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the changing areas are those partial areas (7)) of the free areas (Bf) of the current lane (14) and the at least one further lane (16) in which both the current lane (14 ) and the at least one further lane (16) is free from other road users (18, 20).

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the lane keeping areas are those subareas (7)) of the free areas (Bf) of the current lane (14) and the at least one further lane (16) in which the other of the Lane (14, 16) is occupied and / or a lane change is not otherwise possible.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that to determine the change ranges, it is determined whether a lane change zone (21), which is spatially between the current lane (14) and the at least one further lane (16), free other road users (18, 20) occupied or otherwise impassable.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in each case at least one to the current lane (14), at least one to at least one further lane (16) and at least one of the occupied areas (B _b ) corresponding space-time polygon is determined from the determined polygons of the free areas (B _f ) of the two tracks corresponding space-time polygons by means of polygon clipping, in particular those polygons that correspond to the occupied areas are each removed from the polygons that one of the two Lanes (14, 16) correspond to determine the free areas (B _f ).

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that an intersection of the two polygons is formed, which correspond to the free areas (B _f ) in the two lanes (14, 16) in order to determine the changing areas and lane keeping areas, in particular to determine whether the lane change zone (21) is free.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least the current lane (14) and / or the at least one further lane (16) are or will be transformed into a Frenet-Serret coordinate system.

8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the changing areas and / or the lane keeping areas of the two lanes are each assigned a lane vertex (7 _έ ), the lane vertices (n _έ ) being connected in pairs by edges when a driving maneuver of Motor vehicle (10) between the corresponding changing areas and / or the lane keeping areas is possible, in particular wherein the lane vertices (n _έ ) are time-ordered.

9. The method according to claims 3 and 8, characterized in that the lane change zone (21) is assigned at least one change zone vertex (W _t ) , in particular where the lane change zone (21) is divided into several time strips, each of which is assigned at least one change zone vertex (W _t ), the at least one change zone vertex (W _t ) being connected in pairs to the lane vertices (V _j ) by edges, if a driving maneuver of the motor vehicle (10) between the corresponding partial area (7)) of the lane change zone (21) and the corresponding change area or lane keeping area is possible.

10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a plurality of different driving maneuvers for the motor vehicle (10) are determined, in particular all possible driving maneuvers.

11. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that when determining the free areas (Bf) and / or areas (Bb) occupied by the other road users, predicted trajectories of the other road users (18, 20) are taken into account.

12. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is determined whether the motor vehicle (10) can reach the respective spatial-temporal sub-areas (7)), in particular wherein a current speed of the motor vehicle (10), a maximum deceleration of the Motor vehicle (10), a maximum acceleration of the motor vehicle (10) and / or a speed limit are taken into account.

13. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that trajectories of the motor vehicle (10) corresponding to the driving maneuvers are determined.

14. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one sensor (28) detects the current lane (14) and / or the at least one further lane (16) to the free areas (Bf), occupied areas (Bb ) and / or impassability.

15. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the possible driving maneuvers is selected and the driver is given information based on the at least one driving maneuver.

16. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one of the possible driving maneuvers is selected and the motor vehicle (10) is controlled according to the selected driving maneuver.

17. Control device (30) for a system (26) for controlling a motor vehicle (10), the control device (30) being designed to carry out a method according to one of the preceding claims.

18. System (26) for controlling a motor vehicle (10), with a control device (30) according to claim 17.

19. Computer program with program code means to carry out the steps of a method according to one of claims 1 to 16, if the

Computer program is executed on a computer or a corresponding computing unit (34), in particular a computing unit (34) of a control device (30) according to claim 17.

20. Computer-readable data carrier (32) on which a computer program according to claim 19 is stored.