EP4214938A1

EP4214938A1 - Method and device for providing information in a vehicle

Info

Publication number: EP4214938A1
Application number: EP21766677.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Daniel Liebau; Claudia Liebau
Original assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
Current assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
Priority date: 2020-09-15
Filing date: 2021-08-30
Publication date: 2023-07-26
Also published as: US20230322080A1; CN116057597A; JP2023541538A; DE102020124055A1; KR20230037600A; WO2022058143A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a device (101) for providing information in a vehicle (100). The device (101) is configured to determine person-related data with respect to an occupant of another vehicle (112) in a surroundings of the vehicle (100) and/or vehicle-related data with respect to the other vehicle (112). Moreover, the device (101) is configured to output the person-related and/or vehicle-related data to an occupant of the vehicle (100).

Description

Method and device for providing information in a vehicle

The invention relates to a method and a corresponding device for providing information relating to the surroundings of a vehicle for an occupant or user of the vehicle.

An occupant of a vehicle, in particular an autonomously driving vehicle, can have a relatively large amount of time available on a trip that does not have to be spent driving the vehicle. The present document deals with the technical task of enabling a vehicle occupant to spend the available time when driving the vehicle as sensibly and/or as briefly as possible.

The object is solved by each of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments are described inter alia in the dependent claims. It is pointed out that additional features of a patent claim dependent on an independent patent claim without the features of the independent patent claim or only in combination with a subset of the features of the independent patent claim can form a separate invention independent of the combination of all features of the independent patent claim, which can be made the subject of an independent claim, a divisional application or a subsequent application. This applies equally to the technical teachings described in the description, which can form an invention independent of the features of the independent patent claims.

According to one aspect, an apparatus for providing information in a vehicle (which vehicle is also referred to in this document as referred to as the ego vehicle). The device can be set up to determine personal data relating to an occupant of another vehicle in the vicinity of the vehicle and/or vehicle-related data relating to the other vehicle. The other vehicle can be recognized, for example, on the basis of surroundings data from one or more surroundings sensors (in particular from one or more cameras) of the (ego) vehicle. The device may be set up to receive the personal and/or vehicle-related data from the other vehicle via a car-to-car communication connection (in particular in response to a request for the data from the (ego) vehicle).

The personal data may include: information relating to a characteristic (e.g. age, nationality, etc.), relating to an occupation and/or relating to a qualification (e.g. degree) of the occupant of the other vehicle. Alternatively or additionally, the vehicle-related data can include: information relating to a property and/or relating to a driving route of the other vehicle. The scope and/or depth of information of the personal and/or vehicle-related data can have been determined by the occupant of the other vehicle. The personal data can be provided by an electronic device belonging to the occupant of the other vehicle.

The device is also set up to output the personal and/or vehicle-related data to an occupant of the vehicle. The personal and/or vehicle-related data can be output in particular in the form of images (on a screen in the vehicle or on a terminal device belonging to the occupants of the vehicle). Alternatively or additionally, the personal and/or vehicle-related data can be auditory and/or be output acoustically (eg via a loudspeaker of the vehicle and/or via a headphone of an occupant of the vehicle).

In particular, the device can be set up to display the personal and/or vehicle-related data in an information field that is overlaid with a pictorial representation of the other vehicle, in particular with a pictorial representation of the situation surrounding the vehicle (in which the other vehicle is also located). is.

For example, the device can be set up to output the information field on a pane of the vehicle (e.g. as augmented reality), through which the occupant of the vehicle can see the other vehicle. Alternatively or additionally, the device can be set up to output a visual representation of the surrounding situation with the other vehicle on a screen (such as a TFT screen) of the vehicle based on image data from a camera in the vehicle. The information field can then be output within the pictorial representation on the screen.

The device thus enables personal and/or vehicle-related data from one or more other road users to be determined and made available to an occupant of the (ego) vehicle. In this way, the comfort for the occupants of the (ego) vehicle can be increased (in particular in the case of an autonomous journey).

The device can be set up to determine whether the occupant of the vehicle can only see the other vehicle or also the occupant of the other vehicle. The personal data may only be output to the occupant of the vehicle if it is determined that the occupant of the vehicle can also see the occupant of the other vehicle. So it can information can be output in a targeted manner. In this way, the comfort for the occupants of the (ego) vehicle can be further increased.

The device can be set up to provide an interactive game, in particular a guessing or assignment game, for the occupants of the vehicle on the basis of the personal and/or vehicle-related data. In this way, the comfort for the occupants of the (ego) vehicle can be further increased.

According to a further aspect, a (road) motor vehicle (in particular a passenger car or a truck or a bus) is described which comprises the control unit and/or device described in this document.

According to a further aspect, a method for providing information in a vehicle is described. The method includes determining personal data related to an occupant of another vehicle in a vicinity of the vehicle and/or vehicle-related data related to the other vehicle. The method also includes outputting the personal and/or vehicle-related data to an occupant of the vehicle.

According to a further aspect, a software (SW) program is described. The SW program can be set up to be executed on a processor (e.g. on a vehicle's control unit) and thereby to carry out the method described in this document.

According to a further aspect, a storage medium is described. The storage medium can comprise a SW program which is set up to be executed on a processor and thereby to carry out the method described in this document. It should be noted that the methods, devices and systems described in this document can be used both alone and in combination with other methods, devices and systems described in this document. Furthermore, any aspects of the methods, devices and systems described in this document can be combined with one another in a variety of ways. In particular, the features of the claims can be combined with one another in many different ways.

The invention is described in more detail below using exemplary embodiments. show it

FIG. 1 exemplary components of a vehicle;

FIGS. 2a and 2b exemplary driving situations;

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary visual output on a screen; and

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of an exemplary method for providing information to a vehicle user.

As explained at the outset, the present document deals with the provision of information to a user of a vehicle, in particular an autonomously driving vehicle. In this context, Fig. 1 shows an exemplary system 150 with at least one (ego) vehicle 100, with at least one other road user 112 (e.g. another vehicle) and possibly with a central unit 111 (e.g. a vehicle-external server).

The vehicle 100 has a communication unit 104 which is designed to communicate via a (wireless) communication link 114 (e.g. WLAN, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.) with the central unit 111 and/or directly with one or more other road users, in particular others vehicles to communicate 112 (to exchange data). The vehicle 100 includes one or more environment sensors 102 (eg an image camera, a radar sensor, a lidar sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, etc.) that are set up to capture sensor data relating to the environment of the vehicle 100 . This sensor data is also referred to as environment data in this document. A control unit 101 of vehicle 100 is set up to detect one or more objects, in particular one or more other road users (vehicles) 112, in the vicinity of vehicle 100 on the basis of the surroundings data. Furthermore, the control unit 101 can be set up, based on the environmental data, in particular based on an environmental model dependent on the environmental data, one or more longitudinal and/or lateral control actuators 103 of the vehicle 100 (e.g. a steering, a drive and/or a brake system) to operate in order to guide the vehicle 100 at least partially or fully automatically.

The vehicle 100 also includes a user interface 105 which is designed to interact with a user, in particular with an occupant and/or a driver, of the vehicle 100 . The user interface 105 can be designed to accept input from the user, such as a request for the output of information. Furthermore, the user interface 105 can be designed to output information to the user (e.g. via a screen of the user interface 105).

FIGS. 2a and 2b show exemplary driving situations in which (ego) vehicle 110 is driving on a roadway 200 on which one or more other road users (particularly vehicles) 112 are also located. The control unit 101 can be set up to ascertain distance information in relation to the distance 201 between the vehicle 100 and another road user 112 on the basis of the surroundings data. The control unit 101 can be set up to use the communication unit 104 to request personal and/or vehicle-related data for another road user 112 in the vicinity of the vehicle 100 . Examples of personal and/or vehicle-related data are

• a destination of the other road user 112;

• a departure point of the other road user 112;

• a route already covered by the other road user 112;

• a number of occupants in the other road user or vehicle 112; and or

• personal information relating to an occupant of the other road user or vehicle 112.

The data relating to the other road user 112 may be requested by the user of the vehicle 100 via the user interface 105 of the vehicle 100 . In response to this, a request can then be sent to the central unit 111 or directly to the other road user 112 via the communication link 114 (e.g. by means of Car-to-X communication), and the requested information can be provided to the vehicle 100 via the communication link 114 .

The control unit 101 can also be set up to output the personal and/or vehicle-related data relating to the other road user 112 to the user of the vehicle 100 via the user interface 105 . In particular, the data may be displayed on a user interface 105 screen.

FIG. 3 shows an example pictorial representation 300 that may be output on a screen of user interface 105 . In the pictorial representation 300, the roadway traveled by the vehicle 100 can 301 are depicted. Furthermore, the one or more other road users 312 can be displayed. Furthermore, the ego vehicle 310 can be displayed if necessary. In this case, the pictorial representation 300 can include a video reproduction of the surroundings of the vehicle 100 . Alternatively, the graphic representation 300 can include a graphic representation of the current environmental situation using graphic symbols 301 , 310 , 312 .

The pictorial representation 300 also includes one or more information fields 313 for one or more other road users 112, 312. The information field 313 for another road user 112, 312 can be displayed in the immediate vicinity of the road user 112 or the symbols 312 of the road user 112 will. The information field 313 for a road user 112 can include the personal and/or vehicle-related data for the other road user 112, 312.

A situation can thus be taken into account in which at least two vehicles 100, 112 drive past one another (e.g. when overtaking, when passing on the freeway, etc.) and recognize one another based on the GPS coordinates that are approaching one another, which they, for example, exchange via car-to-car communication, or they recognize each other using the sensors 102 of their driver assistance systems. In this case, for example, the smartphones of one or more occupants can serve as mobile computers which transmit personal data (eg curriculum vitae, interests, etc.) to the respective vehicles 100, 112 (eg via Bluetooth). The personal data can in turn be transmitted from one vehicle 112 to another vehicle 100 via car-to-car communication (eg WLAN). The personal data can be made anonymous in stages. Excerpts can be released, for example restricted according to certain classifications, e.g. hobbies, interests, profession, etc.. The personal data can be anonymised in stages (e.g. stage 0: person anonymised; stage 1: person partially anonymous, level 2: no anonymization and therefore full profile with name, contact details, etc.).

An algorithm in the ego vehicle 100 can be set up to access the personal data of the one or more occupants of the one or more surrounding road users or vehicles 112 . The determined data can be shown on a display and/or monitor or on a pane of vehicle 100 (e.g. by a projection), so that a passing vehicle 112 receives an overlay 313 with information (in particular when the occupant of the ego Vehicle 100 sees the other vehicle 112 through the pane).

The information provided may depend on the level of anonymity, such as a) "a pilot is in the other vehicle", b) "a pilot of airline X for an aircraft type Y is in the other vehicle", c) "in the other vehicle is Mr. Müller, pilot of airline X for aircraft type Y on his way to work". Furthermore, additional information can be output using a search function (e.g. from one or more databases on the Internet), for example about the professional profile "pilot", about the airline X, about a specific airport or about the aircraft type Y or other conceivable information that of the person in question.

A system 150 is thus described which uses communication technologies in order to use data processing (databases from the Internet, personal data of the occupants and/or vehicle-related data from one or more road users 112 in the vicinity of the vehicle 100) to provide additional information for the occupant of an ego Provide vehicle 100, particularly during autonomous driving. Vehicle-related data can be used as an alternative or in addition to personal data of one or more road users 112 are recorded and/or transmitted.

Thus, on a screen of the ego vehicle 100 (e.g. in a projected display on a vehicle window or on a TFT screen), information relating to another vehicle 112 (such as vehicle age, performance, total mileage and/or mileage per year, current daily kilometers , place of departure, etc.) are displayed. For example, "vehicle A drove off at time T at starting point ZI with destination point Z2" can be displayed.

In order, for example, to be able to offer a pastime during an autonomously guided journey, assignment and/or guessing games can be carried out by the control unit 101 with the vehicle or personal data of one or more other road users 112. For example, in a matching game, three vehicles in the surrounding lanes can be circled in the vehicle window using augmented reality, with the question: "Which car has been on the freeway the longest today (in terms of travel time) or drove the longest (in terms of daily kilometers)? Allocate the vehicles in the order of the kilometers driven” or “Allocate the professions doctor, farmer, judge correctly to the three vehicles shown”. For example, the following can be output for a guessing game: What is the occupation of the occupant in the vehicle in the lane to your right "a) butcher, b) baker, c) politician"; or "Which car just came back from vacation?"

It can thus be made possible for a user of ego vehicle 100 to apply additional information to the window when looking outside through a window of ego vehicle 100, so that the one or more other vehicles 112 in the surrounding traffic are marked (e.g a colored box, a border, etc.) and so that additional information can be displayed. The real outside world can also be taken from one or more on-board cameras 102 of the ego vehicle 100 and played onto a monitor or display of the vehicle 100

The data can be displayed or visualized in different forms: in a head-up display, in a monitor, e.g. rear monitor, panorama monitor; in a projection onto a pane or onto the street; in a display on the vehicle occupant's mobile device, e.g. smartphone or tablet.

The information relating to another road user 112 that is output in the ego vehicle 100 can depend on the distance 201 of the ego vehicle 100 from the other road user 112 . If the occupant of the ego vehicle 100 does not have eye contact with an occupant in the other vehicle 112, for example, then primarily vehicle-related data can be used or output (since the occupant of the ego vehicle 100 is the one or more occupants of the other vehicle 112 cannot recognize). If, on the other hand, the occupant of the ego vehicle 100 has eye contact with an occupant in the other vehicle 112, then personal and/or vehicle-related data can be used and/or output if necessary.

As already explained above, personal data of an occupant of a vehicle 112 can be transmitted from an electronic device of the occupant to the vehicle 112 and/or to the central unit 111 (eg via Bluetooth or WLAN). Furthermore, vehicle-related data can be transmitted to the central unit 111 . The personal and/or vehicle-related data can be transmitted from the other vehicle 112 and/or from the central unit 111 to the ego vehicle 100 by car-to-car communication. An occupant of the ego vehicle 100 can then personal and/or vehicle-related data in an information overview together with additional background information.

Fig. 4 shows a flowchart of an exemplary (possibly computer-implemented) method 400 for providing information in a vehicle 100.

The method 400 includes determining 401 personal data relating to an occupant of another vehicle 112 in an area surrounding the vehicle 100 and/or vehicle-related data relating to the other vehicle 112. The scope of the personal data provided by the other vehicle 112 and /or vehicle-related data may have been specified by the occupant of the other vehicle 112 .

The method 400 also includes outputting 402 the personal and/or vehicle-related data to an occupant of the vehicle 100 (e.g. as part of a guessing and/or assignment game). In this way, the comfort for the occupants of the vehicle 100 can be increased, in particular when driving autonomously.

The present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments shown. In particular, it should be noted that the description and the figures are only intended to illustrate the principle of the proposed methods, devices and systems by way of example.

Claims

Expectations

1) device (101) for providing information in a vehicle (100); wherein the device (101) is set up

- determine personal data relating to an occupant of another vehicle (112) in an area surrounding the vehicle (100) and/or vehicle-related data relating to the other vehicle (112); and

- output the personal and/or vehicle-related data to an occupant of the vehicle (100).

2) Device (101) according to claim 1, wherein the personal data comprises: information in relation to a property, in relation to a profession and/or in relation to a qualification of the occupant of the other vehicle (112).

3) device (101) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the vehicle-related data include: information relating to a property and / or in relation to a driving route of the other vehicle (H2).

4) device (101) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the device (101) is set up to receive the personal and / or vehicle-related data via a car-to-car communication link from the other vehicle (112).

5) device (101) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the device (101) is set up to display the personal and / or vehicle-related data in an information field (313) with a pictorial representation (300) of the other vehicle (112) superimposed is. ) Device (101) according to claim 5, wherein the device (101) is set up, the information field (313) on a window of the vehicle

(100) through which the occupant of the vehicle (100) can see the other vehicle (100). ) Device (101) according to any one of claims 5 to 6, wherein the device

(101) is set up,

- On the basis of image data from a camera (102) of the vehicle (100) to output a pictorial representation (300) of a surrounding situation with the other vehicle (112) on a screen of the vehicle (100); and

- Output the information field (313) within the pictorial representation (300) on the screen. ) Device (101) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the device (101) is set up,

- determine whether the occupant of the vehicle (100) can only see the other vehicle (112) or also the occupant of the other vehicle (112); and

- only output the personal data to the occupant of the vehicle (100) if it is determined that the occupant of the vehicle (100) can also see the occupant of the other vehicle (112). ) Device (101) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the device (101) is set up to provide an interactive game, in particular a guessing or assignment game, for the occupants of the vehicle (100) based on the personal and / or vehicle-related data. - 15 -) Method (400) for providing information in a vehicle (100); the method (400) comprising

- determining (401) personal data relating to an occupant of another vehicle (112) in an area surrounding the vehicle (100) and/or vehicle-related data relating to the other vehicle (112); and

- Outputting (402) the personal and/or vehicle-related data to an occupant of the vehicle (100).