KR20160089933A - Apparatus and method for preventing vehicle collision - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle collision preventing method comprises: a step of collecting collision risk information containing driving information and colliding object detection information; a step of determining a risk level of a collision between a vehicle and the colliding object based on the collision risk information; a step of determining a warning method based on the collision risk level; and a step of warning a collision to a driver based on the warning method. Therefore, the present invention recognizes the object existing on a front side to determine the collision risk level and warns the driver in order to prevent, in advance, an accident from occurring during driving of the vehicle.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PREVENTING VEHICLE COLLISION [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle running, and more particularly, to a vehicle collision avoidance apparatus and a vehicle collision avoidance method.

Recently, a variety of safety technologies have been developed to prevent car accidents. However, these technologies can not prevent accidents in advance due to the technology to minimize the damage of human life when an accident occurs. Approximately 70% of the casualties caused by actual casualties come from late recognition of situations such as anxiety and safety uncertainties. Most of them are caused by driving carelessness. Therefore, in order to prevent the accident caused by carelessness of the driver, the driver should be informed of the dangerous situation and provide the dangerous situation information while driving so as to secure the safety situation.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a collision avoidance apparatus that recognizes a collision risk situation between an object and a vehicle existing in front of the vehicle while driving and warns the driver according to the risk level to reduce the risk of an accident.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a collision avoidance method that recognizes a collision risk situation between an object and a vehicle existing in front of the vehicle while running and warns the driver according to the risk level to lower the accident risk.

A method for preventing a vehicle collision according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: collecting collision risk information including traveling information and collision object detection information; Determining a collision risk level between the vehicle and the collision object based on the collision risk information; Determining an alert method based on the collision risk level; And issuing a collision warning to the driver based on the warning method.

An apparatus for preventing vehicle collision according to another embodiment of the present invention includes an information collecting unit, a collision risk determining unit, and a warning unit. The information collecting part can collect the collision risk information by recognizing the forward situation of the vehicle. The collision risk determination unit may determine the collision risk level based on the collected collision risk information, and determine the warning method accordingly. The warning unit can perform an actual warning operation based on the warning method determined by the collision risk determination unit.

According to the vehicle collision avoidance apparatus and the vehicle collision avoidance method according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to recognize a collision risk situation and to secure a safety situation by recognizing an object (vehicle, pedestrian, obstacle, etc.) By providing the information, it is possible to prevent an accident caused by carelessness of the driver in advance.

1 is a block diagram showing a vehicle collision avoidance apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram showing an example of the information collecting unit of FIG.
3 is a block diagram showing an example of the collision risk determination unit of FIG.
4A to 4D are views for illustrating the occurrence of a danger in front of the vehicle while driving.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a vehicle collision avoidance method according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating in more detail an exemplary embodiment of the step of collecting the risk information of FIG. 5; FIG.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating in more detail an exemplary embodiment of the step of determining the crash risk level of FIG. 5;

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that, in the drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference symbols as possible. In the following description, only parts necessary for understanding the operation according to the present invention will be described, and descriptions of other parts will be omitted in order to avoid obscuring the gist of the present invention. Further, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein but may be embodied in other forms. It is to be understood, however, that the invention may be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof.

1 is a block diagram showing a vehicle collision avoidance apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a vehicle collision avoidance apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes an information collecting unit 110, a collision risk determining unit 130, and a warning unit 150. The information collecting unit 110 can recognize the forward situation of the vehicle and collect collision risk information. The information collecting unit 110 may include an image sensor, a radar, an acceleration sensor, a position information collecting unit, a rain sensor, an infrared sensor, and the like. Alternatively, the information collecting unit 110 may collect collision risk information collected from the image sensor, the radar, the acceleration sensor, the position information collecting unit, and the rain sensor. The collision risk information may include information such as a running image, a vehicle speed, a position of a vehicle, an amount of a tire, tire pressure, radar information, infrared sensor information, and the like. The detailed configuration of the government collection unit 110 will be described later with reference to FIG.

The collision risk determination unit 130 may determine the collision risk level based on the collected collision risk information and determine the warning method accordingly. (Hereinafter, referred to as " the vehicle ") based on the collision risk information collected by the information collecting unit 110, and calculates the safety distance and the braking distance based on the distance to the collision object and the vehicle speed or relative speed To calculate TTC (Time To Collision). Based on the calculated TTC, the collision risk determination unit 130 can determine the risk level, and can also adjust the risk level according to the type of collision object and the moving direction. In addition, the collision risk determination unit 130 can determine the warning method based on the determined risk level.

The warning unit 150 may perform an actual warning operation based on the warning method determined by the collision risk determination unit 130. [ For example, the warning unit 150 may warn the driver through augmented reality, HUD, display, voice, or text.

2 is a block diagram showing an example of the information collecting unit of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 2, the information collecting unit 110 may include a traveling information collecting unit 111 and a collision object detecting unit 113. The travel information collecting unit 111 can collect information related to the traveling of the own vehicle. For example, the travel information collecting unit 111 may collect information on the speed, acceleration, tire inflation pressure, position of the vehicle, and the like of the vehicle. In addition, the collision object detection unit 113 can collect detection information of another collision object ahead of the vehicle. For example, the collision object detection unit 113 may collect information about a collision object ahead, based on image information collected through a camera or the like, a radar, an infrared sensor, or the like. The information collecting unit 110 may transmit the collected driving information and the detection information of the collision object to the collision risk determination unit 130. [

3 is a block diagram showing an example of the collision risk determination unit of FIG.

3, in one embodiment, the collision risk determination unit 130 includes a safety distance and braking distance calculation unit 131, a TTC calculation unit 133, a risk level determination unit 135, (137). The safety distance and braking distance calculation unit 131 can calculate the safety distance and the braking distance based on the speed of the vehicle, the road surface condition, the tire inflation pressure, and the like. Generally, the safety distance is greater than the braking distance.

The TTC calculation unit 133 can calculate the TTC based on the speed of the vehicle, the distance to the collision object, the speed of the collision object, and the like. If the collision object is stopped, the TTC can be obtained as follows.

TTC = Distance between the object to be collided and the subject / Speed of the subject

If the collision object is merely an obstacle on the road surface, a pedestrian, or a stationary vehicle, the TTC calculation unit 133 can calculate the TTC in the above-described manner.

If the collision object is moving, the TTC can be obtained as follows.

TTC = Distance between the object to be collided and the object / Relative velocity of the object to the object to be collided

If the collision object is a vehicle running at a speed lower than that of the own vehicle, the TTC calculation unit 133 can calculate the TTC in the above-described manner. Whether or not the collision object is stopped, or whether the collision object is moving can be determined by the information received from the information collection unit 110.

The risk level determining unit 135 can determine the risk level based on the safety distance and the braking distance calculated by the safety distance and braking distance calculating unit 131 and the TTC calculated by the TTC calculating unit 133. [ For example, when the distance to the collision object is smaller than the braking distance, the risk level determining unit 135 can set the current risk level to the highest level. For example, when the distance to the collision object is larger than the safety distance, the danger level determining unit 135 can release the danger level. In addition, the risk level determining unit 135 can determine the risk level as a level between the highest level and the released level according to the calculated TTC. For example, the smaller the TTC, the lower the risk level, and the higher the TTC, the lower the risk level. The specific method by which the risk level determining unit 135 determines the risk level based on the safety distance, the braking distance, and the TTC will be described later with reference to FIG.

The warning method determination unit 137 can determine the warning method based on the risk level determined by the risk level determination unit 135. [ For example, when the risk level is the highest level, the warning method determination unit 137 can determine the warning method in such a manner that the driver is immediately perceived as a dangerous situation. In this case, the HUD, the in-vehicle display, the warning sound, the warning voice message, and the internal light can all be used to warn of a dangerous situation. According to the embodiment, when the danger level is the highest level, the warning method determination unit 137 may automatically activate the vehicle brakes or other in-vehicle safety devices.

For example, when the risk level is a low level, the warning method determination unit 137 can warn the driver of the danger level using the HUD or a part of the in-vehicle display. Alternatively, the user can warn the driver of the danger level using only voice messages.

4A to 4D are views for illustrating the occurrence of a danger in front of the vehicle while driving.

As described above, according to the anti-collision apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the driving state of the preceding vehicle is recognized during the running, the safety situation is secured by determining the dangerous situation and providing the driver of the self- .

As shown in FIG. 4A, when the forward vehicle 403 decelerates suddenly while driving on the expressway or the general road, or when the forward vehicle 403 travels at a lower speed than the vehicle 401 as shown in FIG. 4B , The collision avoidance apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention judges the collision situation between the vehicle 401 and the front vehicle 403 and informs the driver of the vehicle 401 of information to secure the safety situation to the front vehicle 403 Provided or warned. In addition

In addition, when the pedestrian 405 enters the road as shown in FIG. 4C or the stopped obstacle 407 is on the road as shown in FIG. 4D, the collision avoidance apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention also recognizes the dangerous situation, To prevent the occurrence, the driver can be provided with danger information and warned.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a vehicle collision avoidance method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, a method for preventing vehicle collision according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes collecting collision risk information (S100), determining a collision risk level (S300), determining a warning method (S500 And a warning step S700.

In step S100 of collecting the collision risk information, the driving information of the own car is obtained from various sensors (image sensor, radar, acceleration sensor, position coordinate acquisition device, rain sensor, etc.) Speed, position, amount of air, tire air pressure, etc.) and information related to the front collision object (collision object position, moving direction and velocity of collision object, etc.). In this step, the collided object located in front of the car can be detected and recognized by analyzing the collected information. In addition, it is possible to collect distance information with respect to the recognized collided object and the traveling car, and determine the traveling speed of the car and the moving speed of the collided object. It is also possible to calculate the safety distance and the braking distance to the running speed of the present vehicle by analyzing the running state information (weight, ratio, tire condition, road surface condition, etc.) of the running vehicle. The step of collecting the collision risk information (S100) will be described later in more detail with reference to FIG.

In the step S300 of determining the collision risk level, the collision risk level can be determined based on the running information of the vehicle, the information related to the collision object, the safety distance, and the braking distance. For example, if the distance from the collision object is smaller than the braking distance, the current risk level may be set to the highest level. For example, if the distance to the collision object is greater than the safety distance, the risk level may be released. Also, depending on the calculated TTC, the risk level can be determined as the level between the highest level and the released level. For example, the smaller the TTC, the closer the risk level is set to the highest level, and the larger the TTC, the lower the risk level. The step S300 of determining the collision risk level will be described later in more detail with reference to FIG.

In the determination of the warning method (S500), the warning method may be determined based on the determined collision risk level. For example, if the risk level determined in step S300 of determining the risk level of collision is the highest level, the warning method can be determined in such a way that the risk situation can be immediately recognized to the driver. In this case, the HUD, in-vehicle display, beeps, warning voice messages, and internal lights can all be utilized to warn of dangerous situations. Depending on the embodiment, the vehicle brakes or other in-vehicle safeguards may be activated automatically if the risk level is at the highest level.

For example, if the risk is at a lower risk level, the risk level may be directed to the driver through the HUD or some area of the in-vehicle display. Alternatively, a voice message may be used to warn the driver of the risk level.

In the warning step S700, the driver can be warned of the dangerous situation and the danger level by the determined warning method.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating in more detail an exemplary embodiment of the step of collecting the risk information of FIG. 5; FIG.

Referring to FIG. 6, the step of collecting the collision risk information (S100) includes collecting travel information (S110), detecting a collision object (S130), collecting the speed of the vehicle and the distance to the collision object Step S150 of calculating the safety distance and braking distance based on the speed of the vehicle and the step S170. In the step of collecting the traveling information (S110), information related to the traveling of the vehicle can be collected. For example, information regarding the speed, acceleration, tire air pressure, position of the car, etc. of the car can be collected. In the step of detecting the collision object (S130), detection information of another collision object ahead of the vehicle can be collected. For example, based on image information collected through a camera (image sensor) or the like, a radar, an infrared sensor, or the like, it is possible to collect information about a collision object ahead and detect an object of collision. In step S150 of collecting the speed of the vehicle and the distance to the collision object, the vehicle speed is calculated based on the collected travel information, and the distance to the collision object may be calculated based on the collected collision object detection information . In step S170 of calculating the safety distance and the braking distance based on the speed of the vehicle, the safety distance and the braking distance may be calculated based on the collected travel information (speed of the vehicle, tire pressure, road surface condition, etc.).

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating in more detail an exemplary embodiment of the step of determining the crash risk level of FIG. 5;

Referring to FIG. 7, it is determined whether or not the distance between the object of collision and the vehicle is greater than the calculated braking distance (step S311). If the distance between the object of collision and the vehicle is smaller than the braking distance, the risk level may be determined as the highest level (step S313). Accordingly, the warning method is determined by the determined highest level of risk level, and the user is warned of the highest level of risk of collision.

If the distance between the collided object and the vehicle is larger than the braking distance, it is determined whether the distance between the collided object and the vehicle is greater than the safety distance (step S315). If the distance between the collision object and the vehicle is greater than the safety distance, the risk level of the vehicle can be judged as the safety stage. Accordingly, the risk level is released (S317) and the driver can be warned or guided according to the released risk level.

If the distance between the collision object and the vehicle is smaller than the safety distance, the type, position, and movement direction of the collision object may be collected (step S319). 4A to 4D, the risk level may be determined in a different manner depending on whether the object of collision is a vehicle, a pedestrian, or a simple obstacle.

Next, it is determined whether the vehicle to be collided is a vehicle (step S321). If the collision object is a vehicle, the relative speed of the vehicle is calculated based on the target vehicle (step S323). In step S323, a value obtained by subtracting the speed of the subject vehicle from the speed of the subject vehicle can be determined as the relative speed. Thereafter, the TTC can be calculated based on the distance to the target vehicle and the calculated relative speed (step S325). In step S325, the TTC can be calculated as follows.

TTC = Distance between the object to be collided and the object / Relative velocity of the object to the object to be collided

Next, the risk level can be determined based on the location, motion, and TTC of the target vehicle (step S327). In step S327, the shorter the TTC, the higher the risk level, and the longer the TTC, the lower the risk level. Thereafter, it is determined whether the relative speed is greater than 0 (step S329), and if the relative speed is less than 0, no further adjustment of the risk level may be performed. If the relative speed is greater than 0, it is determined whether or not the target vehicle advances to the front collision area of the own vehicle (step S331). The forward collision area may mean an area that can collide with the progress of the car in accordance with the progress of the car. For example, the lane area of the current vehicle on the road can be defined as the forward collision area. When the target vehicle travels to the front collision area of the vehicle, the risk level is adjusted upward because the possibility of collision is higher (step S333). If the target vehicle does not advance to the frontal collision area of the vehicle, the possibility of collision is relatively low. Therefore, the warning method can be determined according to the already determined risk level without adjusting the risk level any more.

Returning to step S321, if the collision object is not a vehicle, the TTC is calculated based on the distance to the collision object and the vehicle speed (step S341). The case where the collision object is not a vehicle is mostly a case where the collision object is a pedestrian or an obstacle that is stopped. In this case, since the speed is very low even in the case of the pedestrian compared with the speed of the vehicle moving at high speed, the TTC can be determined only by the speed of the car without considering the relative speed. In step S341, the TTC can be obtained as follows.

TTC = Distance between the object to be collided and the subject / Speed of the subject

Next, the risk level can be determined based on the position, motion and TTC of the collision object (step S343). In step S343, the shorter the TTC, the higher the risk level, and the longer the TTC, the lower the risk level.

Thereafter, it is determined whether the collided object is a pedestrian (step S345). If the object of the collision is not a pedestrian, the warning method can be determined based on the risk level determined in step S343 without adjusting the danger level any more. If the collision object is a pedestrian, whether or not the pedestrian advances to the front collision area of the vehicle can be an important factor in determining the collision risk level, even if the pedestrian speed in the direction of movement of the vehicle is negligible.

If the pedestrian does not proceed to the frontal collision area of the vehicle, the warning method can be determined based on the risk level determined in step S343 without adjusting the risk level since the possibility of collision between the vehicle and the pedestrian is relatively low. However, when the pedestrian advances to the front collision area of the vehicle, the possibility of collision between the vehicle and the pedestrian is relatively high, so that the risk level can be adjusted upward (step S333). The warning method can then be determined according to the adjusted level of risk.

At this point, it will be appreciated that the combinations of blocks and flowchart illustrations in the process flow diagrams may be performed by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded into a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, so that those instructions, which are executed through a processor of a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, Thereby creating means for performing functions. These computer program instructions may be stored in a computer readable memory or in a computer capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to implement a function in a particular manner, It is also possible for instructions stored in memory to produce manufacturing items that contain instruction means for performing the functions described in the flowchart block (s). Computer program instructions may also be stored on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment so that a series of operating steps may be performed on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to create a computer- It is also possible for the instructions to perform the processing equipment to provide steps for executing the functions described in the flowchart block (s).

In addition, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code that includes one or more executable instructions for executing the specified logical function (s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions mentioned in the blocks may occur out of order. For example, two blocks shown in succession may actually be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be performed in reverse order according to the corresponding function.

Herein, the term " part " used in the present embodiment means a hardware component such as software or an FPGA or an ASIC, and 'part' performs certain roles. However, 'part' is not meant to be limited to software or hardware. &Quot; to " may be configured to reside on an addressable storage medium and may be configured to play one or more processors. Thus, by way of example, 'parts' may refer to components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, and processes, functions, , Subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functions provided in the components and components may be further combined with a smaller number of components and components or further components and components. In addition, the components and components may be implemented to play back one or more CPUs in a device or a secure multimedia card.

The embodiments of the present invention disclosed in the present specification and drawings are merely illustrative examples of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications based on the technical idea of the present invention are possible in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

100: collision risk prevention device 110: information collecting part
130: collision risk determination unit 150: warning unit

Claims (1)

Collecting collision risk information including traveling information and collision object detection information;
Determining a collision risk level between the vehicle and the collision object based on the collision risk information;
Determining an alert method based on the collision risk level; And
And issuing a crash warning to the driver based on the warning method.

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