FR3121898A1 - Mode of autonomous piloting of a vehicle with manual intervention of the driver on the lateral direction - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an autonomous piloting module (102) of a vehicle comprising a processor for detecting, on the basis of data from a steering wheel, that the driver wishes to control the vehicle laterally manually, while the piloting mode standalone is enabled. The autonomous piloting commands are then suspended, without however deactivating the autonomous piloting mode of the vehicle. If the manual lateral piloting phase ends when the manual piloting duration is less than a predetermined maximum duration, the autonomous piloting mode is maintained and the autonomous lateral piloting of the vehicle is continued. FIG. 3

Description

Mode of autonomous piloting of a vehicle with manual intervention of the driver on the lateral direction

The present invention belongs to the field of piloting a vehicle, such as a motor vehicle. It relates in particular to motor vehicles including an autonomous piloting mode and a manual piloting mode.

It is particularly advantageous in a driving phase with a high level of autonomy in which the user is not asked to intervene, for example by touching the steering wheel.

“Vehicle” means any type of vehicle such as a motor vehicle, moped, motorcycle, warehouse storage robot, etc.

“Autonomous driving” of an “autonomous vehicle” means any method capable of assisting the driving of the vehicle. The method may thus consist of partially or totally directing the vehicle or providing any type of assistance to a natural person driving the vehicle. Thus, “autonomous driving” covers all levels 0 to 5 of the OICA scale, for Organization International des Constructeurs Automobiles.

In the following, the term "ego-vehicle" is used to designate a vehicle capable of being piloted autonomously.

According to certain systems of the prior art allowing low levels of autonomy, the driver can be assisted in his driving, in particular in the sideways driving of the vehicle. In particular, a lane keeping assistant or “Lane Keeping Assistant” assists the driver in following a lane. Similarly, a vehicle centering assistance function in relation to the traffic lane keeps the vehicle in the middle of the lane. According to these systems, it is the driver who nevertheless has lateral control of the vehicle, and he must therefore place his hands on the steering wheel during the driving phases at these levels of autonomy.

However, there is no system allowing the driver to contribute to the lateral steering of the vehicle for higher levels of autonomy, in which the driver simply does not have to intervene, which is the case in particular for levels of autonomy greater than or equal to 3. At such levels of autonomy, the driver must deactivate the autonomous mode in order to be able to control the vehicle laterally, which does not make it possible to ensure sufficient responsiveness in certain driving situations.

In certain situations, it would be to the driver's advantage to intervene punctually without, however, deactivating the autonomous piloting mode.

The present invention improves the situation.

To this end, a first aspect of the invention relates to an autonomous piloting module of a vehicle, the autonomous piloting module being able to pilot the vehicle in an autonomous piloting mode and comprising:

- a first interface capable of receiving data from a steering wheel of the vehicle;

- at least one processor configured for:

detecting, on the basis of data from the steering wheel, a phase of manual lateral steering of the vehicle, while the autonomous steering mode is activated;

upon detection of the manual lateral piloting phase, suspending autonomous lateral piloting commands of the vehicle while maintaining the autonomous piloting mode activated;

during the manual lateral steering phase, comparing a current manual lateral steering duration with a predetermined maximum duration;

if the manual lateral piloting phase ends while the current manual lateral piloting duration is less than a predetermined maximum duration, maintaining the autonomous piloting mode activated and resuming the autonomous lateral piloting according to the autonomous piloting mode.

Setting a predetermined maximum duration advantageously allows the driver to intervene punctually on the steering of the vehicle, during the autonomous piloting mode, without the autonomous piloting mode being deactivated. Thus, the responsiveness associated with the driver's intervention is improved compared to a deactivation of the autonomous piloting mode, and the disturbance induced on the autonomous piloting mode is minimal.

According to one embodiment, the continuation of the lateral piloting of the vehicle according to the autonomous piloting mode can comprise a lateral displacement of the vehicle towards a central position on a traffic lane.

Such an embodiment allows the driver to momentarily correct the lateral position of the vehicle while subsequently readjusting the lateral position autonomously.

Alternatively, continued autonomous lateral steering of the vehicle may include maintaining a lateral position determined manually by the driver, relative to a traffic lane.

Thus, if the driver has positioned the vehicle on a part of the traffic lane, the autonomous piloting module maintains this lateral position while following the traffic lane. The driver thus has the possibility of intervening in the configuration of the autonomous piloting mode.

According to one embodiment, when the current manual lateral steering duration is greater than the predetermined maximum duration, the processor can be configured to deactivate the autonomous vehicle steering mode and/or to activate the manual vehicle steering mode.

Thus, when the manual intervention exceeds a duration threshold, this means that the driver needs to maintain manual control of the vehicle. Such an embodiment thus makes it possible to avoid requiring input from the driver to leave the autonomous mode. The safety associated with the manual piloting of the vehicle is thus improved.

According to one embodiment, when the current manual lateral piloting duration is greater than the predetermined maximum duration, the processor can be configured to transmit, via a second interface of the autonomous piloting module, an information signal to a man- machine indicating that the autonomous piloting mode is deactivated and/or that the manual piloting mode is activated.

Thus, the security associated with the deactivation of the autonomous piloting mode is improved, the driver being informed of the deactivation.

According to one embodiment, upon detection of the manual lateral piloting phase of the vehicle, the processor can be configured to transmit via a second interface of the autonomous piloting module, an information signal to a man-machine interface indicating that the phase manual lateral steering can be continued for a predetermined maximum duration before autonomous steering mode is deactivated.

Thus, the driver is informed in real time of the elapse of the predetermined maximum duration before the deactivation of the autonomous piloting mode.

A second aspect of the invention relates to a system comprising an autonomous steering module according to the first aspect of the invention, and a steering wheel adapted to detect an input from the driver, to generate data based on the input and to transmit the data to the autonomous piloting module.

A third aspect of the invention relates to a method for controlling the steering of a motor vehicle, comprising the following steps, implemented during the autonomous steering of the vehicle:

- Detecting, on the basis of data from the steering wheel, a manual lateral steering phase of the vehicle, while the autonomous steering mode is activated;

- upon detection of the manual lateral piloting phase, suspending the vehicle's autonomous lateral piloting controls while maintaining the autonomous piloting mode activated;

- during the manual lateral piloting phase, comparing a current manual lateral piloting duration with a predetermined maximum duration;

- if the manual lateral steering phase ends when the current manual lateral steering duration is less than a predetermined maximum duration, keep the autonomous steering mode activated and resume autonomous lateral steering of the vehicle.

A fourth aspect of the invention relates to a computer program comprising instructions for implementing the method according to the third aspect of the invention, when these instructions are executed by a processor.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on examination of the detailed description below, and of the appended drawings in which:

illustrates a system according to one embodiment of the invention;

is a diagram illustrating the steps of a method according to one embodiment of the invention;

illustrates an autonomous piloting module of a vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention.

There presents an ego-vehicle control system 100 according to one embodiment of the invention. In what follows, the term "vehicle" is used instead of ego-vehicle, for the sake of simplification. However, the vehicle 100 is indeed an ego-vehicle as defined above.

The system comprises a steering wheel 101, able to mechanically or electronically control a lateral direction of the vehicle 100, when it is manipulated in rotation by a driver-passenger not represented on the . According to one embodiment of the invention, the steering wheel 101 is able to detect the touch of the driver-passenger and/or the support of the driver-passenger. As a variant or additionally, the steering wheel 101 is capable of detecting a close presence of the driver's hands, such as a proximity of less than a few millimeters.

To this end, the steering wheel 101 can be equipped with at least one sensor on at least one zone of the steering wheel 101, called the detection zone. No restriction is attached to the technology used for such a sensor, which can be capacitive or resistive for example, nor to the shape and position of the detection zone on the steering wheel.

The steering wheel 101 can thus generate data:

- Manual lateral steering, when the driver-passenger 103 rotates the steering wheel; and or ;

- touch detection when the driver-passenger 103 touches, presses or approaches the hands of the steering wheel 101. The touch detection data can indicate touch, support and nearby presence in a differentiated manner.

The system according to the invention further comprises an autonomous piloting module 102 in charge of the autonomous piloting of the vehicle 100.

The autonomous piloting module 102 is capable of piloting the vehicle 100 without input from the driver-passenger 103, in particular without the driver-passenger 103 having to turn the steering wheel 101. As such, the autonomous piloting module 102 is able to control the lateral trajectory, the speed and the acceleration of the vehicle 100, via control signals intended for the engine and the steering column of the vehicle 100. The commands can be generated by the autonomous piloting module 102 , from data, in particular from sensor data, and/or data or commands from a central control module of the vehicle 100.

The autonomous piloting module 102 is thus capable of ensuring autonomous driving, of level 2, 3 or higher, in the scale of the OICA, for Organization International des Constructeurs Automobiles. In the following, "autonomous piloting mode" means any piloting mode with a level of autonomy greater than or equal to 2 in the OICA scale, in particular a level of autonomy equal to 3, in which the driver-passenger generally does not have to touch the steering wheel 101 during the autonomous piloting of the vehicle.

The system can further comprise one or more sensors capable of acquiring data on the basis of which the autonomous piloting module 102 pilots the vehicle 100 in autonomous piloting mode. Such sensors are not shown on the .

No restriction is attached to the sensor or to the set of sensors, which may include:

- a radar

- a lidar;

- a camera directed towards the outside of the vehicle 100, in particular towards the road facing the vehicle 100;

- A vehicle geolocation module 100, such as a GPS module for example, for " Global Positioning System " in English; and or

- any other sensor.

The system according to the invention further comprises a man-machine interface, HMI, 104. No restriction is attached to the HMI 104 which can be:

- a speaker ;

- a screen, such as a touch screen for example;

- a luminous pictogram on a dashboard; Or

- a combination of some of the previous elements.

The HMI 104 is able to receive information signals from the autonomous piloting module 102, and to restore them in the form of output data perceptible by the driver-passenger 103. No restriction is attached to the restitution format information signals, which may be audible and/or visual. For example, the output data may be a voice command from a speaker of the HMI 104, and/or graphical information from a display system, such as a screen, of the HMI 104, or a pictogram on a vehicle dashboard.

Conversely, the HMI 104 may be capable of receiving inputs from the driver, in particular when the HMI 104 is a touch screen or includes buttons or other actuators. The driver's input data can be transmitted to the autonomous piloting module 102.

There is a diagram illustrating the steps of a method according to one embodiment of the invention. The method is implemented by an autonomous piloting module 102 according to one embodiment of the invention.

At a step 200, the autonomous piloting module 102 controls the piloting of the vehicle 100 in autonomous mode, without requiring actions on the part of the driver 103, who is then driver-passenger. In particular, the autonomous mode can correspond to a level greater than or equal to level 3, a level at which the driver-passenger does not have to touch the steering wheel 101.

At a step 201, the autonomous piloting module 102 receives data from the steering wheel 101, such as touch detection data or autonomous piloting data, and thus determines that the driver is attempting to manually control the lateral position of the vehicle.

Thus, it can be considered that the manual lateral steering begins when the steering wheel is touched or when the driver turns the steering wheel.

At an optional step 202, the autonomous piloting module 102 transmits a first information signal to the HMI 104 indicating that the driver can laterally pilot the vehicle 100 for a predetermined maximum duration without leaving the autonomous piloting mode. Thus, the driver 103 understands that if he continues the manual lateral piloting of the vehicle beyond the predetermined maximum duration, the manual piloting mode will be activated and the autonomous piloting mode will be deactivated, and can achieve, if he wishes, a trajectory correction maneuver within the allotted time. No restriction is attached to the format of restitution of the first information signal, which may be sound, such as a voice message, and/or visual, such as the display of a message on a screen of the vehicle 100.

No restriction is attached to the predetermined maximum duration, which can be equal to a few seconds. For example, the predetermined maximum duration can be between 2 and 5 seconds.

At a step 203, the autonomous piloting module 102 suspends the autonomous lateral piloting of the vehicle, while maintaining the autonomous piloting mode activated, while touch detection data from the steering wheel 101 are received. Such suspension includes stopping the sending of autonomous lateral steering commands. During step 203, the driver 103 thus controls the vehicle 100 laterally manually. Note that the autonomous piloting module 102 can continue to control the speed of the vehicle during step 203.

At a step 204, the autonomous piloting module 102 compares the current manual lateral piloting duration, i.e. the duration between a current instant and the start of step 201, with the predetermined maximum duration.

If the current manual lateral steering duration is less than the predetermined maximum duration, the method proceeds to step 205.

In step 205, the autonomous steering module 102 determines whether manual steering data and/or touch detection data is received from the steering wheel 101. If touch detection data indicates that the driver 103 is still touching the steering wheel or manual steering data indicates that manual steering is in progress, the method proceeds to an optional step 206.

At step 206, the autonomous piloting module 102 transmits a second information signal to the HMI 106 indicating in real time the result of the comparison between a current manual lateral piloting duration and the predetermined maximum duration. The driver 103 is thus warned, in particular when approaching the predetermined maximum duration, that if he or she does not release the steering wheel, the autonomous piloting mode will be deactivated at the end of the predetermined maximum duration.

No restriction is attached to the restitution format of the second information signal, which may be audio and/or visual. For example, it may be the display of a pictogram on a dashboard of the vehicle, the display of a message on a screen and/or a voice message emitted by a loudspeaker.

The method then returns to steps 203 then 204, the autonomous lateral piloting still being suspended to allow the driver to manually pilot the lateral position of the vehicle.

If at the next iteration of step 204, the autonomous piloting module 102 determines that the current manual lateral piloting duration is greater than the predetermined maximum duration, the autonomous piloting module 102 deactivates the autonomous piloting mode at the step 207, and activates the manual piloting mode.

At a step 208 consecutive or parallel to step 207, the autonomous piloting module 102 transmits a third information signal to the HMI 104 indicating that the autonomous piloting mode is deactivated and/or that the manual piloting mode is activated.

No restriction is attached to the restitution format of the third information signal, which may be audio and/or visual. For example, it may be the display of a pictogram on a dashboard of the vehicle, the display of a message on a screen and/or a voice message emitted by a loudspeaker.

If, in step 205, the autonomous piloting module 102 determines the absence of reception of touch detection data from the steering wheel 101, or receives a signal of end of touchdown from the steering wheel 101, the autonomous piloting module 102 puts in implements step 209 of resuming lateral control of the vehicle in autonomous mode. More generally, step 209 is implemented following the determination of the end of the lateral manual steering phase by the driver 103. Step 209 may consist of:

- a lateral displacement of the vehicle towards a central position on a traffic lane. Such an embodiment allows the driver 103 to momentarily correct the lateral position of the vehicle while subsequently readjusting the lateral position autonomously;

- maintenance of the lateral position determined manually by the driver, relative to the traffic lane. Thus, if the driver 103 has positioned the vehicle on a straight part of the traffic lane, the autonomous piloting module maintains this lateral position while following the traffic lane.

At a step 210, consecutive or parallel to step 209, the autonomous piloting module 102 transmits a fourth information signal to the HMI 104 indicating that the autonomous piloting mode is maintained.

No restriction is attached to the restitution format of the fourth information signal, which may be audio and/or visual. For example, it may be the display of a pictogram on a dashboard of the vehicle, the display of a message on a screen and/or a voice message emitted by a loudspeaker.

There presents the structure of an autonomous piloting module 102 of a vehicle 100 according to one embodiment of the invention.

The autonomous piloting module 102 comprises a processor 301 configured to communicate unidirectionally or bidirectionally, via one or more buses or via a direct wired connection, with a memory 302 such as a "Random Access Memory" type memory, RAM, or a “Read Only Memory” type memory, ROM, or any other type of memory (Flash, EEPROM, etc.). Alternatively, memory 402 includes several memories of the aforementioned types.

The memory 302 is capable of storing, permanently or temporarily, at least some of the data used and/or resulting from the implementation of the method according to the invention illustrated with reference to the . In particular, memory 302 is capable of storing the two information signals described above, as well as the predetermined maximum duration.

The processor 301 is capable of executing instructions, stored in the memory 302, for the implementation of the steps of the method according to the invention, described with reference to the . Alternatively, the processor 302 can be replaced by a microcontroller designed and configured to carry out the steps of the method according to the invention, described with reference to the .

The autonomous piloting module 102 can also comprise a first interface 303 arranged to communicate with the steering wheel 101, in particular to receive touch detection data and/or direction data for the manual piloting of the vehicle 100.

The autonomous piloting module 102 also comprises a second interface 304 capable of communicating with the HMI 106, in particular for transmitting the information signals described above.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above by way of examples; it extends to other variants.

Claims (9)

Autonomous piloting module of a vehicle (100), the autonomous piloting module (102) being capable of piloting the vehicle in an autonomous piloting mode and comprising:
- a first interface (303) capable of receiving data from a steering wheel (101) of the vehicle;
- at least one processor (301) configured for:
detecting, on the basis of data from the steering wheel, a phase of manual lateral steering of the vehicle, while the autonomous steering mode is activated;
upon detection of the manual lateral piloting phase, suspending autonomous lateral piloting commands of the vehicle while maintaining the autonomous piloting mode activated;
during the manual lateral steering phase, comparing a current manual lateral steering duration with a predetermined maximum duration;
if the manual lateral piloting phase ends while the current manual lateral piloting duration is less than a predetermined maximum duration, maintaining the autonomous piloting mode activated and resuming the autonomous lateral piloting according to the autonomous piloting mode. The module of claim 1, wherein continuing lateral steering of the vehicle (100) in the autonomous steering mode includes lateral movement of the vehicle to a center position in a lane. Module according to claim 1, in which the continuation of the autonomous lateral steering of the vehicle comprises maintaining a lateral position determined manually by the driver (103), relative to a traffic lane. Module according to one of the preceding claims, in which, when the current manual lateral steering duration is greater than the predetermined maximum duration, the processor (301) is configured to deactivate the autonomous steering mode of the vehicle and/or to activate the manual vehicle steering mode. Module according to one of the preceding claims, in which, when the current manual lateral piloting duration is greater than the predetermined maximum duration, the processor (301) is configured to transmit, via a second interface (304) of the autonomous piloting module (102), an information signal at a man-machine interface (104) indicating that the autonomous piloting mode is deactivated and/or that the manual piloting mode is activated. Module according to one of the preceding claims, in which, on detection of the manual lateral steering phase of the vehicle (100), the processor (301) is configured to transmit via a second interface (302) of the autonomous steering module (102 ), an information signal at a man-machine interface (104) indicating that the manual lateral piloting phase can be continued for a predetermined maximum duration before the autonomous piloting mode is deactivated. A system comprising an autonomous steering module (102) according to one of the preceding claims, and a steering wheel (101) adapted to detect an input from the driver (103), to generate data based on the input and to transmit the data to the autonomous piloting module. Method for controlling the steering of a motor vehicle (100), comprising the following steps, implemented during the autonomous steering of the vehicle:
- Detecting (201), on the basis of data from the steering wheel, a manual lateral piloting phase of the vehicle, while the autonomous piloting mode is activated;
- upon detection of the manual lateral piloting phase, suspending (203) the vehicle's autonomous lateral piloting controls while maintaining the autonomous piloting mode activated;
- during the manual lateral steering phase, comparing (204) a current manual lateral steering duration with a predetermined maximum duration;
- if the manual lateral piloting phase ends while the current manual lateral piloting duration is less than a predetermined maximum duration, maintaining the autonomous piloting mode of the vehicle activated and resuming (209) the autonomous lateral piloting of the vehicle. Computer program comprising instructions for implementing the method according to claim 8, when these instructions are executed by a processor (301).