KR102426854B1 - Apparatus for recognition of distance on autonomous vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for recognizing a distance between vehicles for an autonomous vehicle, which can recognize the distance from a surrounding vehicle by generating a virtual centerline and a virtual grid between lanes recognized by a camera sensor loaded in an autonomous vehicle. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus for recognizing the distance between vehicles for an autonomous vehicle comprises: a camera sensor loaded in a vehicle to recognize lanes displayed on a road; a virtual centerline generation unit separating lanes recognized by the camera sensor, calculating a driving road width between lanes, and then generating a virtual centerline in the middle of a driving road between lanes recognized by the camera sensor; a virtual grid generation unit separating a left area and a right area at an equal ratio based on the virtual centerline to generate a virtual grid; and an inter-vehicle distance recognition unit recognizing the relative distance from a preceding vehicle, a following vehicle, and/or a surrounding vehicle while driving the vehicle through a virtual grid count based on the virtual grid.

Description

Apparatus for recognition of distance on autonomous vehicle

The present invention relates to an apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle, and more particularly, by creating a virtual center line and a grid between the lane and the lane recognized by a camera sensor mounted on the autonomous vehicle, the inter-vehicle distance with a surrounding vehicle It relates to an inter-vehicle distance recognition device for autonomous vehicles that can recognize

Autonomous driving vehicles are based on information about the surroundings (LiDAR data, image data, ultrasound data, etc.) detected by various sensors installed in the vehicle and information provided from outside the vehicle through communication (GPS information, map information, etc.). It means a vehicle capable of driving without intervention. A lot of research and development is being carried out for the realization of fully autonomous driving without the driver intervening in the driving of the vehicle.

LiDAR, laser sensor, ultrasonic sensor, etc. installed in the vehicle are used as means to measure the distance to surrounding vehicles while the vehicle is driving.

On the other hand, in a vehicle to which a driving assistance system is applied, a technology for detecting a vehicle approaching near the vehicle while the vehicle is driving through polite sensors and warning the driver of a danger is applied.

In particular, in an autonomous vehicle in which driving is controlled without driver intervention, it is necessary to measure a relative distance from a nearby vehicle very accurately while moving at a high speed.

Korean Intellectual Property Office Registered Patent Publication No. 10-1395616 Korean Patent Office Laid-Open Patent Publication 10-2019-0083774 Korean Intellectual Property Office Registered Patent Publication No. 10-1976822 Korean Patent Office Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-2017-0030936

This invention was created in view of the circumstances described above, and it is possible to recognize the inter-vehicle distance with surrounding vehicles by creating a virtual center line and grid between the lanes and the lanes recognized by the camera sensor mounted on the autonomous vehicle. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle-to-vehicle distance recognition device for autonomous driving vehicles.

This invention can be configured as follows as a means for achieving the object of the invention as described above.

An apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a camera sensor mounted on the vehicle to recognize a lane marked on a road; a virtual center line generating unit that divides the lane recognized by the camera sensor, calculates the driving lane width between the lane and generates a virtual center line at the center of the driving lane between the lane and the lane recognized by the camera sensor; a virtual grid generator for generating a virtual grid by dividing the left and right areas at the same ratio based on the virtual center line; and an inter-vehicle distance recognition unit for recognizing a relative inter-vehicle distance with a preceding vehicle, a following vehicle, and/or a surrounding vehicle during driving of the vehicle through a virtual grid count based on the virtual grid; may be included.

In the process of recognizing a lane in an image captured by a camera sensor in the apparatus for recognizing the distance between vehicles of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, when a missing or distorted portion of the lane is present, the missing or distorted portion a lane correction unit generating and correcting a virtual lane for It may be configured to further include.

In the apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, the camera sensor may include a width recognition unit for recognizing a light source arranged in a lane to recognize a lane width of a lane and a driving lane width between the lanes; It may be configured to further include.

In the apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, the camera sensor recognizes the lane width recognition code and/or the driving lane width recognition code displayed on the lane to recognize the lane width of the lane and/or the driving lane width between the lanes. a width recognition unit for recognizing It may be configured to further include.

In the apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, the virtual grid formed on the driving lane may be set to be generated at intervals of the lane width.

In the apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, a driving control unit for controlling the driving of the vehicle so that the center of the vehicle width is aligned with the virtual center line while the vehicle is driving; It may be configured to further include.

In the apparatus for recognizing the distance between vehicles of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, the virtual grid generated by the virtual grid generator may be set to be provided from a remote server.

According to the device for recognizing the inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to the present invention, the relative inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle while driving is clearly determined when a front vehicle, a rear vehicle, and/or a nearby vehicle are present while the vehicle is driving. It has a recognizable effect.

In addition, according to the device for recognizing the distance between vehicles of an autonomous vehicle according to the present invention, there is an advantage in that the vehicle in motion can be driven more stably along the center of the driving lane.

On the other hand, according to the inter-vehicle distance recognition device for an autonomous vehicle according to the present invention, there is an advantage in that the approach angle or the approach direction can be quickly reflected in recognizing the relative distance of the surrounding vehicles while the vehicle is driving.

Furthermore, according to the inter-vehicle distance recognition device of an autonomous vehicle according to the present invention, it is a method of supplementing other types of various sensors (LiDAR, Radar, ultrasonic sensor, etc.) that are mounted on the vehicle and recognize an absolute or relative distance from a surrounding object. When applied as an autonomous vehicle, there is an advantage in that the stability of the autonomous vehicle can be further improved.

1 is a view for explaining the configuration of an apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 and 3 are views for explaining a state in which an apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention is executed;
4 is a view for explaining an apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to another embodiment of the present invention;

Hereinafter, an apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings for describing an embodiment of the present invention, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and similar reference numerals will be assigned to similar parts throughout the specification. Throughout the specification, when a part is "connected" with another part, this includes not only the case of being "directly connected" but also the case of being "indirectly connected" with another member interposed therebetween. . In addition, when a part "includes" a certain component, it means that other components may be further included, rather than excluding other components, unless otherwise stated.

1 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of an apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are an apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. is a view for explaining a state in which is executed, and FIG. 4 is a view for explaining an apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to another embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 100 displayed in the drawing indicates an apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the apparatus 100 for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a camera sensor 110 mounted on a vehicle and recognizing a lane marked on a road, and a camera sensor 110 . After classifying the recognized lanes and calculating the driving lane width between the lanes, the virtual center line 220 is generated in the center of the driving lane between the lane 210 and the lane 210 recognized by the camera sensor 110. The centerline generator 120, the virtual grid generator 130 and the virtual grid 230 for generating the virtual grid 230 by separating the left and right areas at the same ratio based on the virtual center line 220, respectively. Based on the virtual grid ( 230), the inter-vehicle distance recognition unit 140 for recognizing through the grid count; is made including

The camera sensor 110 of the inter-vehicle distance recognition device 100 for an autonomous driving vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a vehicle equipped with an autonomous driving function and analyzed images around the vehicle captured by lanes, road signs, traffic lights, etc. , dynamic moving objects, etc. are distinguished and recognized, and important information to control the vehicle is provided along with the detection results detected through various other sensors (LiDAR, Radar, ultrasonic sensor, etc.) mounted on the vehicle. Therefore, when a lane is misrecognized, it can lead to a fatal accident immediately, so accurate lane recognition in a camera sensor mounted on an autonomous vehicle is particularly important.

After dividing the lane 210 recognized by the camera sensor 110, the virtual center line generating unit 120 according to this application calculates the driving lane width W between the lane 210 and the lane 210, and A virtual center line 220 is created in the center of the driving lane 200 between the 210 and the lane 210 . The virtual center line 220 does not actually exist in the image captured by the camera sensor 110 , but means that it is created virtually in the process of measuring the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle.

Meanwhile, in the virtual grid generator 130 , the driving lane 200 is divided into a left region and a right region based on the virtual center line 220 generated in the image of the driving lane 200 captured by the camera sensor 110 . Each is separated, and the virtual grid 230 is created in the same ratio in the left area and the right area.

And, based on the above-described virtual grid 230, the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle, the following vehicle, and/or the surrounding vehicle is calculated while the vehicle is driving. That is, it is set to recognize the inter-vehicle distance by counting the number of the virtual grids 230 displayed between vehicles in the process of calculating the relative inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle, the following vehicle, and/or the surrounding vehicle during driving.

In this case, the interval of the virtual grid 230 may be set to be appropriately variable according to the state of the driving lane, the state of the vehicles being driven, the traffic situation, and the like. For example, depending on the environment, such as whether the vehicle is traveling at low or high speed, whether the driving lane is a straight section or a curved section, whether the driving lane is a highway or a city road, or whether there is a traffic jam, the virtual grid can be relatively wide or It can be set relatively narrowly. In addition, the virtual grid 230 may be shared between the corresponding vehicle and the other vehicle (a front vehicle, a rear vehicle, and/or a surrounding vehicle), and may be set to be provided from a remote server.

In particular, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the interval between the virtual grids 230 may be set to the interval of the lane width w.

The lane width w of the lane may be set to be recognized through calculation of a distance between the lane recognized by the camera sensor 110 and a camera sensor installed in the vehicle. To this end, the apparatus 100 for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention further includes a width recognition unit 160 for recognizing a lane width w and/or a driving lane width W. can be

On the other hand, in order to accurately recognize the lane width w, which is the width of the lane, light sources such as LEDs are arranged at regular intervals in the lane, and the camera sensor 110 recognizes the width of the arrangement of the light sources to recognize the lane width w can be configured to To this end, a method of displaying information on the lane width w in numbers through a light source such as an LED is installed in the lane of the road, and the camera sensor 110 recognizes the light source as described above and recognizes the corresponding lane It is configured to obtain information about the lane width w of .

As another method for recognizing the lane width w, a lane width recognition code containing information about the lane width w of the corresponding lane is arranged at regular intervals in the lane, and the camera sensor 110 It may be set to recognize the lane width w by recognizing the lane width recognition code. To this end, the lane is configured to display information on the lane width w of the corresponding lane as a recognition code such as a barcode that can be recognized through the camera sensor 110 . In addition, the lane width recognition code as well as the driving lane width recognition code containing information about what the driving lane width W is may be displayed on the lane.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4 , a part of the lane 210 marked on the road is a barcode type lane width recognition code 400 containing information about the lane width w and/or the driving lane width W of the corresponding lane. ) and/or driving lane width recognition code 410, and the camera sensor 110 recognizes that the lane width recognition code and/or driving lane width recognition code are displayed in the process of recognizing the lane, and the width of the lane while driving and the width of the driving lane can be recognized.

The aforementioned width recognition unit 160 may be configured to recognize the driving lane width W while recognizing the lane width w as described above. That is, as described above, the road system can be constructed so that information about the driving lane width W as well as the lane width w can be displayed by a light source such as an LED or by an identification code such as a barcode.

Furthermore, the aforementioned lane width recognition code and/or driving lane width recognition code may include information about the virtual grid that is generated and provided in advance. In this case, the virtual grid generating unit 130 reads the lane width recognition code and/or the driving lane width recognition code photographed through the camera sensor 110 and is configured to display a preset virtual grid, so that the virtual grid is generated according to the road environment. The virtual grid can be used.

And in the process of recognizing a lane in the image captured by the camera sensor 110 in the inter-vehicle distance recognizing apparatus 100 of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, some of the lanes are physically omitted on the road. Like a case in which recognition of some of the lanes becomes unclear, a lane correction unit 150 may be further included to generate and correct a virtual lane for a portion in which some of the lanes are missing.

In the device for recognizing the distance between vehicles of an autonomous vehicle according to another embodiment of the present invention, when the driving lane corresponds to a curved section, the curvature of the lane and the driving radius according to the driving speed of the vehicle are reflected, and the virtual center line 220 ) and/or the virtual grid 230 may be set to be created.

In the apparatus 100 for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, a driving control unit that controls the driving of the vehicle so that the center of the vehicle width is aligned with the virtual center line 220 generated as described above 170 may be further included.

In addition, in the apparatus 100 for recognizing the inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to another embodiment of the present invention, the distance between the tire 310 mounted on the vehicle 300 and the lane can be recognized based on the virtual grid 230 . Accordingly, it is possible to quickly reflect the approach angle or the approach direction in recognizing the relative distance of the surrounding vehicles to the vehicle to which the present invention is applied.

Therefore, the vehicle to which this invention is applied is more stably driven along the center of the driving lane while driving, and when there is a front vehicle, a rear vehicle, and/or a nearby vehicle that comes close during driving, the distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle while driving is present. The relative inter-vehicle distance is clearly recognized and provided.

Of course, the inter-vehicle distance recognition apparatus 100 for an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted on the vehicle and uses various other types of sensors (LiDAR, Radar, ultrasonic sensor, etc.) for recognizing an absolute or relative distance from a surrounding object. ) may be applied in a complementary way.

In the above, an apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The technical contents described above may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer means and recorded in a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like, alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded in the medium may be specially designed and configured for the embodiments, or may be known and available to those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and magnetic such as floppy disks. - includes magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like.

Examples of program instructions include not only machine language codes such as those generated by a compiler, but also high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. A hardware device may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the embodiments, and vice versa.

The above description of the present invention is for illustration, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can understand that it can be easily modified into other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention. will be. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single type may be implemented in a distributed manner, and likewise components described as distributed may be implemented in a combined form.

100: inter-vehicle distance recognition device of autonomous vehicle
110: camera sensor 120: virtual center line generation unit
130: virtual grid generating unit 140: inter-vehicle distance recognition unit
150: lane correction unit 160: width recognition unit
170: driving control unit 210: lane
220: virtual center line 230: virtual grid
300: vehicle 310: tire
400: lane width recognition code 410: driving lane width recognition code

Claims (7)

In an autonomous vehicle traveling on a road in which a light source for recognizing the width of a lane is arranged in a lane while information about the lane including a lane width recognition code and/or a driving lane width recognition code is formed in the middle of the lane,
a camera sensor mounted on a vehicle to recognize a lane marked on the road and recognize information about the lane;
a lane correction unit for generating and correcting a virtual lane for the missing or distorted portion when a missing or distorted portion of the lane is present in the process of recognizing a lane in the image captured by the camera sensor;
a width recognition unit for recognizing a lane width of the lane and/or a driving lane width between lanes based on the information on the lane recognized by the camera sensor;
a virtual center line generation unit generating a virtual center line in the center of the width of the driving lane recognized by the width recognition unit;
a virtual grid generating unit configured to generate a virtual grid by dividing the left area and the right area at the same ratio based on the virtual center line, wherein the virtual grid is created at intervals of lane widths;
a remote server for sharing the virtual grid generated by the virtual grid generating unit to a vehicle in front of the vehicle, a vehicle in the rear and/or a vehicle around the vehicle;
an inter-vehicle distance recognition unit for recognizing a relative inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle, the following vehicle, and/or a neighboring vehicle while the vehicle is driving through a virtual grid count based on the virtual grid; and
a driving control unit controlling the driving of the vehicle so that a center of the vehicle width is aligned with the virtual center line while the vehicle is driving; An apparatus for recognizing an inter-vehicle distance of an autonomous vehicle, characterized in that it comprises a.
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