WO2019108108A1

WO2019108108A1 - Method and control arrangement for maintaining a vehicle formation

Info

Publication number: WO2019108108A1
Application number: PCT/SE2018/051155
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mikael Johansson
Original assignee: Scania Cv Ab
Priority date: 2017-11-29
Filing date: 2018-11-12
Publication date: 2019-06-06
Also published as: SE1751465A1; SE542630C2

Abstract

Method (400) and control arrangement (310) of a vehicle (100a, 100b, 100c), for maintaining the vehicle formation (110) by discouraging a non-coordinated vehicle (200) to intervene with the vehicle formation (110). The control arrangement (310) is configured to determine a road area (135a, 135b, 135c) which the vehicle formation (110) is going to occupy within a time period; and activate a projection device (130a, 130b, 130c) for projecting a pattern (140a, 40b, 140c) on the determined road area (135a, 135b, 135c), thereby discouraging the non- coordinated vehicle (200) to enter the determined road area (135a, 135b, 135c).

Description

Method and control arrangement for maintaining a vehicle formation

TECHNICAL FIELD

This document discloses a control arrangement and a method in a control arrangement. More particularly, a method and a control arrangement is provided, for maintaining the vehi cle formation by discouraging a non-coordinated vehicle to intervene with the vehicle for mation.

BACKGROUND

An emerging technology is to drive vehicles such as e.g. trucks in groups of coordinated vehicles, often referred to as platoons or vehicle trains. A number of vehicles, such as e.g. 2-25 or more, may be organised in a platoon, wherein the vehicles are driving in coordination after each other with only a small distance between the vehicles, such as some decimetres or some meters, such as e.g. 20 meters. Thereby air resistance is reduced, which is im portant for reducing energy consumption, in particular for trucks, busses and goods vehicles or other vehicles having a large frontal area. In principle it may be said that the shorter the distance is between the vehicles, the lower the air resistance becomes, which reduces en ergy consumption for the vehicle platoon.

Yet an advantage of the vehicle platoon, in comparison with letting vehicles drive individually is that the vehicle platoon occupy radically less room; thereby increasing capacity of the roads and enhanced traffic flow.

On long distance routes vehicles could be mostly unattended whilst in following mode, giving the driver an opportunity to rest and be well rested when leaving the platoon for the final destination, which potentially leads to less traffic incidents. Further, it may not be required to stop the vehicle in order for the driver to rest, leading to a reduced transportation time (this may require modified law regulation concerning driving times, breaks and rest periods for drivers of vehicles in a platoon).

When driving in a platoon of trucks the distance between the trucks have to be very small, typically less than 10 m. Otherwise the benefits of reduced drag and congestion disappear. To uphold this short distance all vehicles in the platoon must be synchronised and connected to each other. Therefor it is important that no other vehicle enter in between the platooning vehicles which would force the platoon to break up and increase the distance to the alien vehicle. When the follower vehicles in the platoon are operated automatically, without manual control of a human driver, it might also be a requirement that there are no vehicles in between the platooning vehicles. In that case an alien vehicle entering into the platoon would force the driver to take over control which is inconvenient and annoying when it happens often.

In city traffic, busses may drive in groups of coordinated vehicles, sometimes referred to as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). BRT is a bus-based mass transit system, which may be regarded upon as a "surface subway", which aims at combining the capacity and speed of a subway with the flexibility, lower cost and simplicity of a bus system. In some embodiments, a driver may be present only in the first bus, and if the vehicles of the BRT train are divided by an intervening alien vehicle, it may present a danger for the passengers.

It would for these reasons be desired that other, alien vehicles are prevented from entering the spaces between the vehicles of the platoon, or at the side of the platoon when making a lane change.

Document US2015336502 describes an autonomous vehicle that can signal information to the environment through projection. For example, the vehicle can signal the intended track. It is also described that the vehicle may indicate via a projection that it is going to enter a convoy.

However, the document does not disclose neither how to prevent an alien vehicle from en tering in-between vehicles of a platoon, nor how to prevent alien vehicles from driving in the way of the platoon when changing driving lanes.

Document US2008134955 describes communication of a vehicle via light projection, inform ing the surroundings that the vehicle is travelling in a convoy.

Neither this document describes how to prevent an alien vehicle from entering in-between vehicles of a platoon, or how do prevent alien vehicles from driving in the way of the platoon when changing driving lanes.

Document US2016019782 and US2002070849 illustrates different methods for vehicles comprised in a platoon, for informing environmental vehicles (not part of the platoon) con cerning e.g. a recommendation to overtake the platoon. The provided information may com prise length of the platoon, number of vehicles forming the platoon, speed of the platoon, etc. The information is provided via radio signalling.

It appears that further development is required for reaching practical implementation of ve hicle groups.

SUMMARY

It is therefore an object of this invention to solve at least some of the above problems and improve safety when driving in a vehicle formation of coordinated vehicles.

According to a first aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a control arrange ment. The control arrangement aims at maintaining the vehicle formation by discouraging a non-coordinated vehicle to intervene with the vehicle formation. The control arrangement is configured to determine a road area which the vehicle formation is going to occupy within a time period. Further, the control arrangement is also configured to activate a projection de vice for projecting a pattern on the determined road area, thereby discouraging the non- coordinated vehicle to enter the determined road area.

According to a second aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a method in a control arrangement. The method aims at maintaining the vehicle formation by discouraging a non-coordinated vehicle to intervene with the vehicle formation. The method comprises determining a road area which the vehicle formation is going to occupy within a time period. Also, the method further comprises activating a projection device for projecting a pattern on the determined road area, thereby discouraging the non-coordinated vehicle to enter the determined road area.

Thanks to the described aspects, by illuminating the area that will be occupied by the vehicle formation, an alien, non-coordinated vehicle becomes informed both that the involved vehi cles are organised in the vehicle formation, and that the vehicles of the vehicle formation will occupy the illuminated area within briefly. It is thereby avoided that the vehicle formation is divided by intervening alien vehicles, which would disintegrate the vehicle formation. Thereby, the problems of alien vehicles dividing the vehicle formation is avoided, and the advantages of driving vehicles in coordinated vehicle formations are maintained.

Other advantages and additional novel features will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description.

FIGURES

Embodiments of the invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

Figure 1 A illustrates an embodiment of a group of coordinated vehicles in a vehicle for mation;

Figure 1 B illustrates an embodiment of a group of coordinated vehicles in a vehicle for mation, as regarded from an above perspective;

Figure 1C illustrates an embodiment of a group of coordinated vehicles in a vehicle for mation, as regarded from an above perspective;

Figure 2A illustrates an embodiment of a group of coordinated vehicles in a vehicle for mation, as regarded from an above perspective;

Figure 2B illustrates an embodiment of a group of coordinated vehicles in a vehicle for mation, as regarded from an above perspective;

Figure 3 illustrates a vehicle interior according to an embodiment;

Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the method;

Figure 5 is an illustration depicting a system according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention described herein are defined as a control arrangement and a method in a control arrangement, which may be put into practice in the embodiments de scribed below. These embodiments may, however, be exemplified and realised in many dif- ferent forms and are not to be limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these illustra tive examples of embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and com plete.

Still other objects and features may become apparent from the following detailed description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the herein disclosed embodiments, for which reference is to be made to the appended claims. Further, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and, unless oth erwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and pro- cedures described herein.

Figure 1A illustrates a scenario wherein a number of vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c, driving in a driving direction 105, with inter-vehicular distances, or road areas 135b, 135c. The vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c are coordinated and organised in a vehicle formation 110 on a road 120. The vehicle formation 1 10 may be described as a group of coordinated, inter-communicating vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c travelling at given inter-vehicular distances 135b, 135c and ve locity. The vehicle formation 1 10 may be referred to as a platoon, a convoy or a vehicle train, for example.

The inter-vehicular distances 135b, 135c may be fixed or variable in different embodiments. Thus the distances 135b, 135c may be e.g. some centimetres, some decimetres, some me ters or some tenths of meters in some embodiments. Alternatively, each vehicle 100a, 100b, 100c in the vehicle formation 1 10 may have a different distance 135b, 135c to the vehicle following, or leading, vehicle 100a, 100b, 100c, than all other vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c in the coordinated vehicle formation 1 10.

The vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c may comprise e.g. a truck or similar motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Also, or alternatively, the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c may comprise multi passenger vehicle such as a bus, a coach or any similar vehicle or other means of convey ance such as a truck or a car etc.

The vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c in the vehicle formation 1 10 may comprise vehicles of the same, or different types in different embodiments.

The vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c may be driver controlled or driverless autonomously con trolled vehicles in different embodiments. However, for enhanced clarity, the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c are subsequently described as having a driver, at least in the leading vehicle 100a.

The vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c in the vehicle formation 1 10 may be coordinated via wireless signal. Such wireless signal may comprise, or at least be inspired by wireless communication technology such as Wi-Fi, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Bluetooth (BT), Near Field Communication (NFC), Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), optical communication such as Infrared Data Association (IrDA) or infrared transmis sion to name but a few possible examples of wireless communications in some embodi ments.

In some embodiments, the communication between vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c in the vehicle formation 1 10 may be performed via vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, e.g. based on Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) devices. DSRC works in 5.9 GHz band with bandwidth of 75 MHz and approximate range of 1000 m in some embodiments. The wireless communication may be made according to any IEEE standard for wireless ve hicular communication like e.g. a special mode of operation of IEEE 802.1 1 for vehicular networks called Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE). IEEE 802.1 1 p is an extension to 802.1 1 Wireless LAN medium access layer (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) specification.

The communication may alternatively be made over a wireless interface comprising, or at least being inspired by radio access technologies such as e.g. 3GPP LTE, LTE-Advanced, E-UTRAN, UMTS, GSM, GSM/ EDGE, WCDMA, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) net works, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, Worldwide Interoperability for Micro- wave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), 3GPP2 CDMA technologies, e.g., CDMA2000 1 x RTT and High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), or similar, just to mention some few options, via a wireless communication network.

In some embodiments, when the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c in the vehicle formation 1 10 are coordinated and are communicating, the driver of the first vehicle 100a may actively drive the own vehicle 100a, while the other vehicles 100b, 100c in the vehicle formation 1 10 may merely be following the driving commands of the first vehicle 100a in some embodiments.

Some, or even all of the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c may be driverless (i.e. autonomously controlled) in some embodiments; for example, the leading vehicle 100a may be manned with a human driver while the other vehicles 100b, 100c in the vehicle formation 1 10 may be autonomous in some embodiments.

Figure 1 B illustrates vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of a vehicle formation 1 10, such as e.g. the vehicle formation 1 10 illustrated in Figure 1A, as regarded from above.

At least some of the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c comprise a projection device 130a, 130b, 130c, configured for projecting light in a projection pattern 140a, 140b, 140c on the road 120, or other surface.

The projection devices 130a, 130b, 130c are utilised to signal to other traffic participants the intention of the vehicle formation 1 10 and what space it needs to occupy, such as the road areas 135a, 135b, 135c. The projected pattern 140a, 140b, 140c on the road 120 clarify for other traffic participants what space 135a, 135b, 135c that the vehicle formation 1 10 requires and/ or will occupy within briefly. The projection 140a, 140b, 140c also gives a physiological effect for alien vehicles to stay away and not intervene between vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of the vehicle formation 1 10. The projected pattern may be designed to be discouraging in some embodiments, such as being red or orange, and / or comprise a cross pattern, etc.

In some embodiments, as illustrated in Figure 2B, a more aggressive approach may be con sidered. When detecting that the intention of another vehicle seems to be to enter in between the platooning vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c, a more active pattern 140a, 140b, 140c, e.g. blink ing, could be projected by the projection devices 130a, 130b, 130c to raise the psychological effect.

A dedicated projection device 130a, 130b, 130c may be installed in some embodiments. However, in other embodiments, the projection devices 130a, 130b, 130c may comprise the normal vehicle headlight, capable of projecting patterns 140a, 140b, 140c on the ground.

Thus, the projection may comprise laser light projection, visible light in one or several colour of an image, a pattern, a text, an animation, a movie, etc.

The area 135a, 135b, 135c of the patterns 140a, 140b, 140c to be projected may be deter mined by an algorithm, based on input values from various on-board sensors.

An advantage of the projected pattern 140a, 140b, 140c is that a strong psychological effect is created, preventing other vehicles from intervening in-between the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of the platoon 1 10. Thereby the advantages of platooning (low drag, decreased fuel consumption, less occupied road area, etc.) are maintained also during lane change, and it is avoided that the vehicle formation 1 10 is subdivided by alien vehicles.

Yet an advantage, in comparison with signalling the corresponding information over a radio communication interface is that all other traffic users, including vehicles lacking radio com munication ability, bicyclists, pedestrians, etc., understands which area the platoon 1 10 will occupy.

In case the vehicle formation 1 10 comprises busses or similar vehicle for human passenger transportation, it is important to avoid non-coordinated vehicles, or other traffic users such as pedestrians between the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of the vehicle formation 1 10 dedi cated for public transport in low speed in urban environment. A vehicle with passengers, unlike trucks, has to stop and / or accelerate with great care for avoiding accidents and dis comfort of the passengers. There may for example be standing passengers in the vehicle, or children and / or disabled passengers, why sudden braking may be very inappropriate or even dangerous.

In case a non-coordinated vehicle enters in-between the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of the vehicle formation 1 10 it may present a danger to the passengers, as a sudden brake or other manoeuvre of the non-coordinated vehicle may force the following bus to make a sudden brake, leading to that passengers may fall and lose consciousness, or become so badly injured that they cannot evacuate the vehicle without help.

Further, there may be no driver present in at least some of the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of the vehicle formation 1 10. It is for this reason crucial that the vehicle formation 1 10 is not subdivided by non-coordinated vehicles, as the human driver may not be able to overview the vehicle formation 1 10 with other vehicles intervening.

Figure 1 C illustrates vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of a vehicle formation 1 10, such as e.g. the vehicle formation 1 10 illustrated in Figure 1A, or Figure 1 B, as regarded from above when preparing for a change of driving lanes.

A calculation may then be made to determine which road area 135a, 135b, 135c the vehicle formation 1 10 will occupy when having changed driving lanes, and the projection pattern 140a, 140b, 140c may then be projected on this area 135a, 135b, 135c by the projection devices 130a, 130b, 130c.

Thereby, an upcoming alien vehicle is prevented from entering the illuminated area 135a, 135b, 135c while the vehicle formation 1 10 is changing driving lanes. Thereby, the ad vantages of platooning may be kept also during lane change (in comparison with the previ ously known method of firstly letting the last vehicle 100c of the platoon 1 10 change driving lane to block the way for any upcoming other vehicles, and then change driving lanes with the rest of the platoon 1 10), without risking that other vehicles intervene with the vehicle formation 1 10. This leads to decreased fuel consumption and yet reduced risk of getting an alien vehicle in between the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of the vehicle formation 1 10.

Figure 2A illustrates vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of a vehicle formation 1 10, such as e.g. the vehicle formation 1 10 illustrated in Figure 1A-1 C, as regarded from above when having de tected that an alien, non-coordinated vehicle 200 is about to enter a road area 135a, 135b, 135c that is determined to be occupied by the vehicle formation 1 10.

This scenario may occur in many traffic environments such as on a road 120 with a plurality of parallel driving lanes, in a road crossing, in a metropolitan area, etc.

The non-coordinated vehicle 200, and / or the intention of the non-coordinated vehicle 200 to enter the road area 135a, 135b, 135c may be detected by a sensor 210a, 210b, 210c.

The optional sensor 210a, 210b, 210c may comprise e.g. a camera, a stereo camera, an infrared camera, a video camera, a radar, a lidar, an ultrasound device, a time-of-flight cam era, or similar device, in different embodiments, for example a sensor 210a, 210b, 210c already present in any of the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c, for another main purpose. The sensor 210a, 210b, 210c may however alternatively comprise a dedicated sensor 210a, 210b, 210c utilised exclusively for the purpose of detecting the non-coordinated vehicle 200.

In some embodiments, the sensor 210a, 210b, 210c may comprise e.g. a motion detector and / or be based on a Passive Infrared (PIR) sensor; or on emission of a continuous wave of microwave radiation and detect motion through the principle of Doppler radar; or by emit ting an ultrasonic wave and detecting and analysing the reflections; or by a tomographic motion detection system based on detection of radio wave disturbances, to mention some possible implementations.

It may also be determined that the non-coordinated vehicle 200 is going to turn via inter- vehicular radio communication, e.g. over any of the previously enumerated wireless commu nication interfaces.

The vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of the vehicle formation 1 10 may comprise one or several sensors 210a, 210b, 210c each in different embodiments, which may be of the same or different types, directed into the same or different directions.

Further, the sensors 210a, 210b, 210c may comprise, or be connected to a control arrange ment configured for image recognition/ computer vision and object recognition.

Computer vision is a technical field comprising methods for acquiring, processing, analysing, and understanding images and, in general, high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical or symbolic information. A theme in the development of this field has been to duplicate the abilities of human vision by electronically perceiving and understanding an image. Understanding in this context means the transformation of visual images (the input of retina) into descriptions of world that can interface with other thought processes and elicit appropriate action. This image understanding can be seen as the disentangling of symbolic information from image data using models constructed with the aid of geometry, physics, statistics, and learning theory. Computer vision may also be described as the enterprise of automating and integrating a wide range of processes and representations for vision percep tion.

The image data of the sensors 210a, 210b, 210c may take many forms, such as e.g. images, video sequences, views from multiple cameras, or multi-dimensional data from a scanner.

Figure 2B illustrates vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of a vehicle formation 1 10, such as e.g. the vehicle formation 1 10 illustrated in Figure 1A-1 C, as regarded from above. In particular, the scenario in Figure 2B may be regarded as a continuation of the scenario in Figure 2A, wherein it has been detected that a non-coordinated vehicle 200 is about to enter a road area 135a, 135b, 135c that is determined to be occupied by the vehicle formation 1 10.

As a reaction there upon, the projection devices 130a, 130b, 130c may blink the projected pattern 140a, 140b, 140c on the determined road area 135a, 135b, 135c. In some embodi ments, also other enhanced warnings may be performed, e.g. activating horns of the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c; sending inter-vehicular radio messages to the non-coordinated vehicle 200; intensifying the light of the projection devices 130a, 130b, 130c; directing the projection devices 130a, 130b, 130c in order to dazzle the driver of the non-coordinated vehicle 200, etc. Thereby, an increase in intensification may be made, when detecting that the non-coor dinated vehicle 200 is about to enter the road area 135a, 135b, 135c. By gradually increasing the alerting, the intervening non-coordinated vehicle 200 becomes aware of the vehicle for mation 1 10, without disturbing the environment more than necessary.

It is thereby further assured that the non-coordinated vehicle 200 is not entering the road area 135a, 135b, 135c of the vehicle formation 1 10 by mistake or unawareness.

Yet an advantage with the disclosed embodiment is that not only other vehicles 200 are discouraged from intervening with the vehicle formation 1 10, but also pedestrians and ani mals.

Figure 3 illustrates an example of a scenario as it may be perceived by the driver of the second vehicle 100b, driving behind the first vehicle 100a of the vehicle formation 1 10.

It may be noted that the second vehicle 100b, like other vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of the vehicle formation 1 10, may be autonomous in some embodiments. The vehicle 100b in the illustrated example comprises a control arrangement 310 for con trolling the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of the vehicle formation 1 10. In this illustrated embod iment, the control arrangement 310 is situated on-board one of the vehicles 100b in the ve hicle formation 1 10. However, in other embodiments, the control arrangement 310 may be situated outside the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of the vehicle formation 1 10, e.g. at a vehicle external structure.

The vehicle 100b may further comprise a transceiver 320, connected to the control arrange ment 310, configured for communication of information between the control arrangement 310 and vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of the vehicle formation 1 10, which may be made via e.g. any of the previously enumerated wireless communication interfaces.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the vehicle 100b may also comprise an output device 330, which may comprise e.g. a loudspeaker (for outputting a spoken message and / or an alarm sound), a tactile device, a display, a warning light on the dashboard, or any combina tion of these devices. Thereby, the driver (if any) of the vehicle 100b may be alerted when an alien vehicle 200 is about to enter the determined road area 135a, 135b, 135c of the vehicle formation 1 10. The driver thereby becomes alerted and may take appropriate measures, like for example decreasing the distance to in-front vehicle 100a in order to close the gap 135b between the vehicles 100a, 100b, making it impossible for the alien vehicle 200 to enter the gap 135b.

Figure 4 illustrates an example of a method 400 according to an embodiment. The flow chart in Figure 4 shows the method 400 in a control arrangement 310. The method 400 aims at maintaining vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of a vehicle formation 1 10 by discouraging a non- coordinated vehicle 200 to intervene with the vehicle formation 1 10.

The vehicle formation 1 10 comprises a plurality of coordinated vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c moving synchronised in a formation i.e. one vehicle after another in a queue sequence, mov ing in a direction 105.

The control arrangement 310 may be comprised in one of the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c in the vehicle formation 1 10 in some embodiments, or alternatively in a vehicle external struc ture.

The vehicles may be any arbitrary kind of means for conveyance, like for example trucks. However, in some particular embodiments, the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c may be vehicles for public transportation of passengers such as busses or similar, driving in a vehicle train/ BRT.

In order to correctly be able to discourage alien vehicles 200 from intervening with the vehicle formation 1 10, the method 400 may comprise a number of steps 401-404. However, some of these steps 401 -404 may be performed solely in some alternative embodiments, like e.g. step 403 and / or step 404. Further, the described steps 401 -404 may be performed in a somewhat different chronological order than the numbering suggests. The method 400 may comprise the subsequent steps:

Step 401 comprises determining a road area 135a, 135b, 135c which the vehicle formation 1 10 is going to occupy within a time period.

The time period may be very short, like for example a segment of a second.

The determination of the road area 135a, 135b, 135c may be made by an approximation, by directing a projection device 130a, 130b, 130c for illuminating the road area 135a, 135b, 135c in-between the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of the vehicle formation 1 10.

In some embodiments, wherein the vehicle formation 1 10 is about to change driving lanes, the determination of the road area 135a, 135b, 135c may be made by an approximation, by directing a projection device 130a, 130b, 130c for illuminating the road area 135a, 135b, 135c aside of the vehicle formation 1 10.

The road area 135a, 135b, 135c may be situated between the coordinated vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c in the vehicle formation 1 10 in some embodiments. However, in other embodi ments, the road area 135a, 135b, 135c may be situated in a neighbouring driving lane when the coordinated vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c of the vehicle formation 1 10 is intending to change driving lanes.

Step 402 comprises activating a projection device 130a, 130b, 130c for projecting a pattern 140a, 140b, 140c on the determined 401 road area 135a, 135b, 135c, thereby discouraging the non-coordinated vehicle 200 to enter the determined 401 road area 135a, 135b, 135c.

The projected pattern 140a, 140b, 140c may comprise a predetermined pattern, an image, a text, an animated image, moving images, etc.

The intensity of the light of the projection devices 130a, 130b, 130c may be different at dif ferent environmental light conditions, such as e.g. more intense during daytime in order to assure visibility in daylight and less intense at night time in order not to dazzle the driver, or other road users.

Step 403, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises detecting that the non-coordinated vehicle 200 is about to enter the determined 401 road area 135a, 135b, 135c.

Step 404, which only may be performed in some embodiments wherein step 403 has been performed, comprises blinking, i.e. varying light intensity of the projected pattern 140a, 140b, 140c on the determined 401 road area 135a, 135b, 135c.

In some embodiments, a further intensification of the warning provided by the projected pat tern 140a, 140b, 140c may be activated in case it is detected that the alien vehicle 200 insist in interacting with the vehicle formation 1 10, e.g. by activating the horns of the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c; flashing with the headlights of the vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c; emitting a warning to the alien vehicle 200 via a radio interface; dazzling the driver (if any) of the alien vehicle 200 with the projection devices 130a, 130b, 130c and / or the head lights, etc.

Thereby, other road users, not comprised in the vehicle formation 1 10 are alerted and be comes aware of the increased danger if interacting with the vehicle formation 1 10, which decrease risks of further accidents and problems of dissolving of the vehicle formation 1 10.

Figure 5 illustrates a system 500 for maintaining a vehicle formation 1 10 of coordinated vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c by discouraging a non-coordinated vehicle 200 to intervene with the vehicle formation 1 10.

The system 500 comprises a control arrangement 310. The control arrangement 310 may be comprised in a vehicle 100a, 100b, 100c of a vehicle formation 1 10 in some embodiments; or alternatively be comprised in a vehicle external structure such as e.g. a traffic monitoring central or similar entity.

The control arrangement 310 may perform at least some of the previously described steps 401 -404 according to the method 400 described above and illustrated in Figure 4. Thus the control arrangement 310 aims at maintaining the vehicle formation 1 10 of coordinated vehi cles 100a, 100b, 100c by discouraging a non-coordinated vehicle 200 to intervene with the vehicle formation 1 10.

The control arrangement 310 is configured to determine a road area 135a, 135b, 135c which the vehicle formation 1 10 is going to occupy within a time period. Further, the control ar rangement 310 is additionally configured to activate a projection device 130a, 130b, 130c for projecting a pattern 140a, 140b, 140c on the determined road area 135a, 135b, 135c, thereby discouraging the non-coordinated vehicle 200 to enter the determined road area 135a, 135b, 135c.

The control arrangement 310 may in some embodiments be configured to detect that the non-coordinated vehicle 200 is about to enter the determined road area 135a, 135b, 135c. Additionally, the control arrangement 310 may also be configured to generate a command signal for the projection device 130a, 130b, 130c to blink the projected pattern 140a, 140b, 140c on the determined road area 135a, 135b, 135c.

The control arrangement 310 comprises a receiver 510 configured for receiving signals from other vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c in the coordinated vehicle formation 1 10.

The control arrangement 310 further comprises a processor 520 configured for controlling the vehicle formation 1 10 of coordinated vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c in a formation, moving in a direction 105, and discouraging a non-coordinated vehicle 200 to intervene with the vehicle formation 1 10, according to at least some of the method steps 401 -404.

Such processor 520 may comprise one or more instances of a processing circuit, i.e. a Cen tral Processing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processing logic that may interpret and execute instruc tions. The herein utilised expression“processor” may thus represent a processing circuitry comprising a plurality of processing circuits, such as, e.g., any, some or all of the ones enu merated above.

Furthermore, the control arrangement 310 may comprise a memory 525 in some embodi ments. The optional memory 525 may comprise a physical device utilised to store data or programs, i.e., sequences of instructions, on a temporary or permanent basis. According to some embodiments, the memory 525 may comprise integrated circuits comprising silicon- based transistors. The memory 525 may comprise e.g. a memory card, a flash memory, a USB memory, a hard disc, or another similar volatile or non-volatile storage unit for storing data such as e.g. ROM (Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable PROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM), etc. in different embod iments.

Further, the control arrangement 310 may comprise a signal transmitter 530. The signal transmitter 530 may be configured for transmitting a signal to be received by other vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c in the vehicle formation 1 10.

Further, the system 500 also comprises at least one projection device 130a, 130b, 130c, configured to project a pattern 140a, 140b, 140c on a determined road area 135a, 135b, 135c.

In some embodiments, the system 500 furthermore may comprise at least one sensor 210a, 210b, 210c configured to detect that a non-coordinated vehicle 200 is about to enter the determined road area 135a, 135b, 135c.

In yet some embodiments, the system 500 may also comprise a wireless communication device 320, for enabling the control unit 210 to communicate wirelessly with the projection device 130a, 130b, 130c, or the sensor 210a, 210b, 210c.

The previously described method steps 401 -404 to be performed in the control arrangement 310 may be implemented through the one or more processors 520 within the control arrange ment 310, together with computer program product for performing at least some of the func tions of the steps 401 -404. Thus a computer program product, comprising instructions for performing the steps 401 -404 in the control arrangement 310 may perform the method 400 comprising at least some of the steps 401 -404 for discouraging the non-coordinated vehicle 200 to intervene with the vehicle formation 1 10, when the computer program is loaded into the one or more processors 520 of the control arrangement 310.

The described steps 401 -404 may be performed by a computer algorithm, a machine exe cutable code, a non-transitory computer-readable medium, or a software instructions pro grammed into a suitable programmable logic such as the processor 520 in the control ar rangement 310.

Further, some embodiments may comprise a vehicle 100a, 100b, 100c in a vehicle formation 1 10 of coordinated vehicles 100a, 100b, 100c, comprising a control arrangement 310. Further, some embodiments may comprise a vehicle external structure, comprising a control arrangement 310, configured to discourage a non-coordinated vehicle 200 to intervene with the vehicle formation 1 10.

The computer program product mentioned above may be provided for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing at least some of the method steps 401 -404 according to some embodiments when being loaded into the one or more processors 520 of the control arrangement 310. The data carrier may be, e.g., a hard disk, a CD ROM disc, a memory stick, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device or any other appropriate medium such as a disk or tape that may hold machine readable data in a non-transitory manner. The computer program product may furthermore be provided as computer program code on a server and downloaded to the control arrangement 310 re motely, e.g., over an Internet or an intranet connection.

The terminology used in the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the accompa nying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the described method 400, control arrange ment 310, computer program, system 500, vehicle 100a, 100b, 100c and / or vehicle external structure. Various changes, substitutions and / or alterations may be made, without departing from invention embodiments as defined by the appended claims.

As used herein, the term "and/ or" comprises any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The term“or” as used herein, is to be interpreted as a mathematical OR, i.e., as an inclusive disjunction; not as a mathematical exclusive OR (XOR), unless ex pressly stated otherwise. In addition, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are to be inter preted as“at least one”, thus also possibly comprising a plurality of entities of the same kind, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "includes", "comprises", "including" and / or "comprising", specifies the presence of stated features, ac tions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, actions, integers, steps, operations, ele ments, components, and / or groups thereof. A single unit such as e.g. a processor may fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. A computer program may be stored/ distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms such as via Internet or other wired or wireless communication system.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1 . A control arrangement (310) for maintaining a vehicle formation (1 10) of coordinated vehicles (100a, 100b, 100c) by discouraging a non-coordinated vehicle (200) to intervene with the vehicle formation (1 10); wherein the control arrangement (310) is configured to: determine a road area (135a, 135b, 135c) which the vehicle formation (1 10) is going to occupy within a time period; and

activate a projection device (130a, 130b, 130c) for projecting a pattern (140a, 140b, 140c) on the determined road area (135a, 135b, 135c), thereby discouraging the non-coor- dinated vehicle (200) to enter the determined road area (135a, 135b, 135c).

2. The control arrangement (310) according to claim 1 , wherein the road area (135a, 135b, 135c) is situated between the coordinated vehicles (100a, 100b, 100c) in the vehicle formation (1 10).

3. The control arrangement (310) according to claim 1 , wherein the road area (135a, 135b, 135c) is situated in a neighbouring driving lane when the coordinated vehicles (100a, 100b, 100c) of the vehicle formation (1 10) is intending to change driving lanes.

4. The control arrangement (310) according to any one of claims 1 -3, further config ured to:

detect that the non-coordinated vehicle (200) is about to enter the determined road area (135a, 135b, 135c); and

generate a command signal for the projection device (130a, 130b, 130c) to blink the projected pattern (140a, 140b, 140c) on the determined road area (135a, 135b, 135c).

5. A method (400) in a control arrangement (310) for maintaining a vehicle formation (1 10) of coordinated vehicles (100a, 100b, 100c) by discouraging a non-coordinated vehicle (200) to intervene with the vehicle formation (1 10); wherein the method (500) comprises: determining (401 ) a road area (135a, 135b, 135c) which the vehicle formation (1 10) is going to occupy within a time period; and

activating (402) a projection device (130a, 130b, 130c) for projecting a pattern (140a, 140b, 140c) on the determined (401 ) road area (135a, 135b, 135c), thereby discour aging the non-coordinated vehicle (200) to enter the determined (401 ) road area (135a, 135b, 135c).

6. The method (400) according to claim 5, further comprising:

detecting (403) that the non-coordinated vehicle (200) is about to enter the deter mined (401 ) road area (135a, 135b, 135c); and blinking (404) the projected pattern (140a, 140b, 140c) on the determined (401 ) road area (135a, 135b, 135c).

7. A computer program comprising program code for performing a method (400) ac- cording to any one of claims 5-6, when the computer program is executed in a control ar rangement (310) according to any one of claims 1 -4.

8. A system (500) for maintaining a vehicle formation (1 10) of coordinated vehicles (100a, 100b, 100c) by discouraging a non-coordinated vehicle (200) to intervene with the vehicle formation (1 10); wherein the system (500) comprises:

a control arrangement (310) according to any one of claims 1 -4; and

at least one projection device (130a, 130b, 130c), configured to project a pattern (140a, 140b, 140c) on a determined road area (135a, 135b, 135c).

9. The system (500) according to claim 8, further comprising:

at least one sensor (210a, 210b, 210c) configured to detect that a non-coordinated vehicle (200) is about to enter the determined road area (135a, 135b, 135c).

10. The system (500) according to any one of claim 8 or claim 9, further comprising: a wireless communication device (320), for enabling the control unit (210) to com municate wirelessly with the projection device (130a, 130b, 130c), or the sensor (210a, 210b, 210c).

1 1. A vehicle (100a, 100b, 100c) comprising a system (500) according to any one of claims 8-10.