WO2019229345A1

WO2019229345A1 - Autonomous crossing of an obligatory passage zone on a road

Info

Publication number: WO2019229345A1
Application number: PCT/FR2019/051221
Authority: WO
Inventors: Patrick BOUTARD; Rachid ATTIA; Audrey MANDARD
Original assignee: Psa Automobiles Sa
Priority date: 2018-06-01
Filing date: 2019-05-27
Publication date: 2019-12-05
Also published as: FR3081806A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a crossing method for a vehicle (508), the driving of which is at least partially assisted, for crossing an obligatory passage zone (SL3) on a road (RD), said method comprosing the steps of: obtaining positioning data of the vehicle in a predetermined reference frame (RP); obtaining positioning data of the obligatory passage zone in said reference frame; determining a lateral direction set point value from the positioning data of the vehicle, the positioning data of the obligatory passage zone, and data relating to the variation of an angle between an axis that connects the vehicle to the obligatory passage zone and a direction which is set in relation to said reference frame.

Description

Autonomous crossing

a zone of passage of a road

The present invention belongs to the field of assistance in driving a vehicle. It relates in particular to a method of crossing by a vehicle, whose driving is at least partially assisted, a required passage area included on a road.

It is particularly advantageous in the case of an autonomous motor vehicle to cross a toll barrier.

"Vehicle" means any type of vehicle such as a motor vehicle, a moped, a motorcycle, a rail vehicle, etc. By assistance to the driving of a vehicle is meant any automated process capable of assisting the driving of the vehicle. The method may thus consist of partially or totally steering the vehicle or providing any type of assistance to the natural person driving the vehicle.

"Road" means any type of road capable of supporting a movement of the vehicle. A highway, a track in the desert, a national road or a path for motocross trials are examples of roads.

The assistance devices for driving a vehicle can, for example, guide the vehicle on a road, anticipate an intersection by braking, facilitate the parking or the rear steps, or detect obstacles, especially in front of their vehicle, or illuminate an obstacle detected in front of their vehicle (a function sometimes called "marking light"), or correcting the trajectory of their vehicle according to the marking delimiting the traffic lanes used, or regulating the speed of their vehicle according to a set of instructions provided by their driver or a speed restriction in effect on the traffic lane.

In certain situations, the vehicle has to cross areas where the road must pass. These situations typically correspond to the crossing of a toll barrier, a work area in which specific lanes are planned, or a customs or police control barrier. The road infrastructure (toll barrier for example) has a plurality of compulsory passage zones (eg toll lanes).

The document FR1756609, which is not accessible to the public on the day of filing or priority of the present patent application, proposes a method making it possible to cross an area of compulsory passage independently.

To do this, when it is determined that the vehicle must cross the required crossing area, such as a toll barrier lane, a preprogrammed trajectory is used. In particular, the vehicle determines lateral direction instructions to simply follow the preprogrammed path.

This solution has a certain rigidity insofar as the trajectories must all be predefined in particular according to the cartography of the passage area required for a vehicle to perform the crossing independently. At least three disadvantages emerge from such rigidity. On the one hand, a trajectory must have been calculated for each zone of passage required. This is very restrictive because the location (cartography), the layout, the environment or other characteristics of the zones of passage required vary frequently, which makes it necessary to recalculate each time a trajectory. For example, in the case of a toll, the areas of passage (toll lanes) change very frequently, typically depending on the traffic (weekend departures and weekend returns).

Then, these recurrent changes require to provide important means of calculating and storing trajectories.

Finally, the disturbances that make the vehicle leave its trajectory are particularly difficult to manage. Indeed, the rigidity of the process makes these situations complex because the vehicle will not dynamically adapt to the situation, and will always seek to join the path that has been assigned.

The present invention improves the situation. For this purpose, a first aspect of the invention relates to a method of crossing a vehicle, whose driving is at least partially assisted, of a compulsory passage zone included on a road, comprising the steps of:

obtaining vehicle positioning data in a predetermined reference frame;

obtaining positioning data of the passage zone required in said reference frame;

determination of a lateral direction setpoint from the vehicle positioning data, positioning data of the passage zone required and data of variation of an angle between an axis which links the vehicle to the zone of passage required and a fixed direction with respect to said repository.

The determination of the lateral direction setpoint is therefore made in real time and is not subject to any previously calculated fixed trajectory.

Therefore, a dynamic adaptation to the evolutionary characteristics of the forced passage zone is possible, without the need to recalculate a trajectory. This advantageously simplifies the means related to the calculations of trajectories and their storage.

In addition, when the vehicle is disturbed, it does not seek to return to its path as soon as possible, which is not optimal geometrically to most effectively reach the required passage area and optimal for the comfort of the passengers since the return to the trajectory imposes changes of direction with important angles. On the contrary, correlating the lateral direction setpoint to an angular variation of the vehicle (angle between an axis which links the vehicle to the compulsory passage zone and a fixed direction relative to said reference frame) is geometrically optimal and as fluid as possible for the passengers (because correlated to the effective angular variation of the vehicle). The term "lateral direction set" means any instruction capable of causing a lateral direction of movement of the vehicle, such as implying a directional grip to the left or right of the vehicle. A set of steering wheel angle or handlebar are examples of lateral direction set. In one embodiment, the method further comprises a step of obtaining vehicle speed data. In this embodiment, the variation data is obtained from the vehicle positioning data, the positioning data of the required passage area and the vehicle speed data. The use of these data makes it easy to determine, because of easy-to-acquire quantities, variation data.

In another embodiment, the step of determining the lateral direction setpoint comprises the sub-steps of:

calculating a normal acceleration of the vehicle from at least one variation data and a reactivity coefficient;

determination of the lateral direction setpoint from at least said normal acceleration.

The use of the coefficient makes it possible to adapt the autonomous driving to various criteria, such as, for example, the type of driving desired by the occupant (s) of the vehicle. The variation of this coefficient indeed has repercussions on the variability (abruptness) of the direction setpoint.

In another embodiment, if the normal acceleration is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the predetermined value is used for the determination of the lateral direction setpoint. In particular, in one embodiment, the predetermined value is determined from at least one of the following elements: at least one characteristic of the vehicle, maximum acceleration that is tolerable for a vehicle occupant, a regulatory constraint.

Thus, a steering instruction which would be unacceptable, in terms of the maximum steering angle of the vehicle, the maximum acceleration that is tolerable for the occupants or the mechanical stresses for the various components of the vehicle, is advantageously avoided.

In one embodiment, the road comprises a road infrastructure, the road infrastructure comprising a plurality of compulsory passage zones, the passage zone required, mentioned in the preceding claims, being one of the zones of obligatory passage of said plurality and being referred to as affected passage zone in the present claim, and wherein the method further comprises, before the steps mentioned in one of the preceding claims, the step of:

- Receipt by the vehicle of an identification information of the assigned passage zone, among the plurality of compulsory passage areas, for crossing the vehicle of the road infrastructure.

Dynamic management of the road infrastructure is made possible. In addition, since the method is not constrained by fixed predefined trajectories, the vehicles managed by the method may, in a flexible manner, be oriented towards different areas of passage required.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises, before the receiving step, the steps of:

determination of a state of congestion of each of the zones of compulsory passage;

generating identification information from said congestion states of the passage zones.

Thus, an optimal distribution of vehicles according to the traffic is made possible. Indeed, the method is flexible because it is not constrained by predefined trajectories and its control is centralized because the assignment of the passage zone can be imposed on the driver. The resulting gains in terms of traffic fluidity are considerable. A second aspect of the invention is directed to a computer program comprising instructions for implementing the method according to the first aspect of the invention, when these instructions are executed by a processor.

A third aspect of the invention relates to a vehicle crossing device, the driving of which is at least partially assisted, of a compulsory passage zone comprised on a road, comprising at least one memory and at least one processor arranged to perform the steps of:

obtaining vehicle positioning data in a predetermined reference frame; obtaining positioning data of the passage zone required in said reference frame;

A fourth aspect of the invention is a vehicle whose driving is at least partially assisted, comprising:

at least one sensor and / or at least one receiver arranged for obtaining the data:

o vehicle positioning;

o positioning of the passage area required;

o variation of the angle;

the device according to the third aspect of the invention.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on examining the detailed description below, and the attached drawings in which: FIG. 1 illustrates an application context of the invention; FIG. 2 illustrates a method of crossing by a vehicle, whose conduct is at least partially assisted, of a compulsory passage zone included on a road, according to the invention; Figure 3 illustrates a processing device, according to one embodiment of the invention.

The invention is described below in its non-limiting application to the passage of a toll by an autonomous vehicle. Other applications, such as a passage from a police barrier to the border by a moped whose driving is assisted or storage in a box of a device capable of carrying loads in a storage plant are also possible.

Figure 1 illustrates the context of implementation of the invention. In this figure, a vehicle 508 must cross a tollgate PG located on a road RD.

The vehicle 508 typically comprises at least one sensor, such as, for example, exteroceptive sensors, for example ultrasonic sensors, cameras, radars, a motion sensor or lidars.

When the vehicle 508 arrives close to the toll, it crosses a border LIM1 (the border may be virtual and not indicated by a marking on the ground) whose crossing triggers the implementation of the autonomous toll crossing process as described above. after referring to FIG. 2, until the vehicle 508 crosses a border LIM2 downstream of the toll.

To do this, a compulsory passage zone SL3 is assigned to the vehicle 508 by the toll PG. The assignment is made upon obtaining a request from the vehicle 508. This request may be generated by the vehicle, at the initiative of the driver or not (detection of the passage of the vehicle in a specific area) or by any other device connected to the vehicle. infrastructure. For example, sensors positioned on the road upstream of the infrastructure may be the source of the request.

The assignment method comprises the steps of:

- Obtaining a request from the vehicle upstream of the infrastructure (typically when crossing the LIM1 border) to assign a zone of passage of the infrastructure;

- Assignment of an area of passage required by the infrastructure or any type of outsourced device in charge of the assignment;

- Transmission to the vehicle of identification information of the assigned passage area.

Thus, once the request is received, the infrastructure, or any device related to the infrastructure to which the assignment is subcontracted, affects one of the required areas. In one embodiment, this assignment step includes the substeps of:

determination of a state of congestion of each of the zones of passage required. The state of congestion is for example given by the information transmitted by the vehicles (see step S17 of FIG. 2), by data from the internet, by a mapping provider, by sensors located on the road, etc. ;

- Generating information to the vehicle 508 identification of the affected passage area from said congestion states of the passage areas.

Other criteria than the state of congestion can be taken into account for the assignment. Thus, the category (utility, truck, light vehicle, etc.), the type of subscription subscribed (electronic toll, wireless payment, etc.), a characteristic of the vehicle, etc. can be taken into account during the assignment.

The parameters (such as coefficients a and b described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 2) for implementing the method described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 2 can be adapted, for example as a function of the zones between LIM1 and LIM2 where the vehicle is located, for example the area between LIM1 and the PG toll gate, the area corresponding to the PG toll gate and the area between the PG and LIM2 toll gate.

The longitudinal control (acceleration / braking to the front / rear of the vehicle) is performed from the position of the vehicle and the flow of other vehicles. For example, the instruction acceleration / braking is calculated so that the vehicle 508 follows at a distance the vehicle in front of it.

At any time, the driver can take control of his autonomous vehicle. In another embodiment, the driver can only regain control of the driving of the vehicle at certain times (for example, other than when he passes the PG barrier).

To implement the steps described below with reference to FIG. 2, a fixed RP mark is used. This marker can be set according to different conventions, the X axis of the abscissa can for example correspond to the geographical north. In another convention, the Y axis is substantially parallel to an axis representative of the toll barrier. An example of an RP landmark is the WGS84 inertial reference, World Geodetic System 1984 in English: World Geodetic System, 1984 revision, in French.

In the remainder of this description, approximations and simplifications are provided to facilitate explanations and calculations. Note the following approximations and simplifications: The process is implemented dynamically. This means that a direction setpoint is determined over time, at a predefined periodicity. For example, every tenth of a second, the method described hereinafter with reference to Figure 2 is implemented for new input data values (see below, including positioning, speed, etc.). Of course, other values of periodicity are conceivable, in particular as a function of the computing capacities of a device, such as the device D described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 3. Periodicity values of the order of one second. , the millisecond, the nanosecond or even the minute are also for example possible.

In addition, the vehicle 508 will be considered as a material point V, whose coordinates are in the reference frame RP: V =

Similarly, the obligatory passage zone SL3 will be considered as being a material point C, having coordinates in the reference frame RP: C =

A speed V _v of the vehicle 508 has it for coordinates in the reference mark RP: V _v =

As explained above, the method is implemented dynamically and here the speed Vv corresponds to the instantaneous speed of the vehicle 508.

In FIG. 1, an angle h (small Greek letter etta) is also represented h corresponds to an angle between an axis which links the vehicle 508 to the forced passage zone SL3 (here the VC axis) and a fixed direction relative to to the reference system RP (here the x-axis X, represented in dashed line).

Figure 2 illustrates the method according to the invention, in one embodiment. In a first step E1, vehicle positioning data, positioning data of the required passage area, vehicle speed data are obtained.

These data can be obtained in different ways. For example, they can be obtained from at least one of the following elements: o global positioning system GNSS (GNSS means Global Navigation

Satellite System in English, for global satellite navigation system in French), also known by the acronym GPS (GPS stands for Global Positioning

System in English, ie global positioning system in French);

o database integrated into the vehicle (in particular for the positioning of the required passage zone);

o vehicle sensors, such as those described above with reference to Figure 1; o communication between the vehicle and at least one other vehicle;

o communication between the vehicle and at least one infrastructure element; o communication between the vehicle and at least one user terminal; o communication between the vehicle and at least one extended telecommunication network;

o communication between the vehicle and at least one local telecommunication network. Once these data have been obtained, a step S2 for calculating the distance D between the point V and the point C and the norm V _R of the speed of V with respect to C is implemented. One way of calculating these quantities is for example given below:

At a next step S3, variation data of the angle h are calculated. In one embodiment, this variation corresponds to a variation with respect to time, and is therefore denoted by ê (eta point). One way to calculate this quantity is given below:

In a particular embodiment, the variation of the angle h is directly or indirectly obtained by other sensor measurements of the vehicle (such as those described above with reference to FIG. 1) or received from a remote entity and connected to the vehicle (eg surveillance camera of the toll gate).

Once the angle variation data h has been obtained, a calculation of a normal acceleration ACNS of the vehicle from at least these variation data and a coefficient of reactivity a (Greek letter alpha) is performed at step S4. In particular, one way of calculating this magnitude is given below:

ACNS ⁼ a. n _k . ή

The coefficient of reactivity can be chosen according to, for example, the driving preferences of the vehicle occupants (aggressive driving, with significant values of normal acceleration, with high values of a or conversely driving casting with lower values a) or dynamic capabilities of the vehicle (ability to take turns at a certain speed). A preferred value range of the reactivity coefficient is [2.5; 4,5]. An optimal value is a = 4. In a particular embodiment, other calculation data are used for the calculation of the normal acceleration ACNS. In particular, in this embodiment, a way of calculating the ACNS normal acceleration is given below:

(x _c x _y ). v _v (y _c y _v ). u _v

dV = tan ¹

(x _c x _v ). u _v + (y _c y _v ). v _v and let b (Greek letter beta) a coefficient, called coefficient of continuation, which can vary, for example, according to the same criteria as those detailed above for the coefficient of reactivity a, we have:

At _CNS CC. V _R. Ï} + b. άn

In one embodiment, b = 0. In another embodiment, a preferred value range of the tracking coefficient is [2.5; 4,5]. An optimal value is b = 4.

Problems may result from too high normal acceleration values imposed on the vehicle. In particular, maximum steering angles of the vehicle must be respected, a maximum acceleration that is tolerable for the occupants or mechanical stresses for the various components of the vehicle can be taken into account.

To solve these problems, a normal acceleration control is performed in steps T5, S6 and S7. In particular, in step T5, it is verified that the normal acceleration ACNS is not greater than or equal to a maximum acceleration AMAX. The maximum acceleration AMAX is determined from at least one of the following: at least one characteristic of the vehicle (eg maximum turning radius, table of maximum angles as a function of speed, etc.); maximum permissible acceleration for a vehicle occupant (eg twice the weight of the occupant, in the side); a regulatory constraint. If, at step S6, the normal acceleration ACNS is not greater than or equal to a maximum value AMAX, the normal acceleration ACN which will be used to determine the direction setpoint is equal to the normal acceleration ACNS calculated at step S4.

On the contrary, if, in step S7, the normal acceleration ACNS is greater than or equal to a maximum value AMAX, the normal acceleration ACN which will be used to determine the direction setpoint is equal to the maximum acceleration AMAX calculated at step S4.

In step S8, a radius of curvature Rc is calculated according to the normal acceleration ACN. In particular, one way of calculating this magnitude is given below:

This radius of curvature Rc is then used in step S9 to determine a lateral direction set CSGN. A set of steering wheel angle or handlebar are examples of lateral direction set CSGN. To do this, it is for example calculated the angle to be made by the wheel or wheels and / or the rear wheel or wheels so that the vehicle follows the radius of curvature Rc. The lateral direction set CSGN is then applied so that the vehicle is moving, according to the law detailed above, to the SL3 obligatory passage zone.

A particular method of autonomous crossing of a road infrastructure comprising a plurality of compulsory passage zones, a particular embodiment of the present invention, is described below:

A. Method of crossing by a vehicle, the driving of which is at least partially assisted, of a road infrastructure comprised on a road, the road infrastructure comprising a plurality of compulsory passage zones, comprising the steps of:

- Receiving an identification information of a compulsory passage area affected by the road infrastructure among said plurality of compulsory passage areas;

obtaining positioning data of the assigned passage zone; obtaining vehicle positioning data;

obtaining instantaneous speed data of the vehicle;

determining a lateral direction setpoint from said positioning data of the assigned forced passage area, said vehicle positioning data and said speed data.

A forced passage zone among the plurality of compulsory passage zone is thus assigned to the vehicle for it to cross autonomously, and without following a predefined path, the infrastructure through this affected area.

Indeed, the determination of the lateral direction setpoint is made in real time (starting from the instantaneous speed) and is not subject to any previously calculated fixed trajectory.

Combining a reception of information on the affected area of passage and the real-time determination of the direction setpoint makes possible a dynamic management optimized in traffic for the infrastructure and time, comfort and safety for the occupants of the vehicle. An adaptation to the evolving characteristics of traffic or even infrastructure is indeed possible, without the need to re-map the infrastructure to recalculate a trajectory. For example, the required area of passage can be reassigned by sending a new message of identification information without disturbing the autonomous driving which, by its real time processing, will easily adapt to the change of passage area required.

B. A method according to A., further comprising the steps of:

- Generation of traffic information from data acquired by at least one sensor of the vehicle;

transmission of said traffic information to the road infrastructure. Going back to the data infrastructure that can enrich the understanding of congestion phenomena in real time significantly improves the management of traffic on the infrastructure.

C. A method according to A. or B., further comprising the steps of: - obtaining information of presence of objects in the vehicle environment;

- Emission of the vehicle to the infrastructure of a request for reallocation of the required passage area assigned by a new passage area required among the plurality of compulsory areas of the road infrastructure. Thus, in cases where situations make it difficult or even dangerous, the crossing of the forced passage area initially affected, the process makes possible a reallocation of a new passage area required. This improves the security and fluidity of the crossing of the infrastructure.

FIG. 3 represents an exemplary device D of the vehicle 508. This device D can be used as a centralized device in charge of at least certain steps of the method carried out by the vehicle, according to the invention. The process steps performed by the vehicle, according to the invention, can be performed by the single device D but also be carried out for some or all by a landed device connected to the vehicle, such as a server of the toll gate in charge of the autonomous driving of vehicles passing the toll.

This device D can take the form of a housing comprising printed circuits, any type of computer or a smartphone.

The device D comprises a random access memory 1 for storing instructions for the implementation by a processor 2 of at least one step of the method as described above. The device also comprises a mass memory 3 for storing data intended to be stored after the implementation of the method.

The device D may further comprise a digital signal processor (DSP) 4. This DSP 4 receives the data from the sensors to format, demodulate and amplify, in a manner known per se, these data.

The device also comprises an input interface 5 for receiving data implemented by the method according to the invention, such as the vehicle positioning data, and / or received by an antenna of the vehicle and an output interface 6 for transmitting the data implemented by the method, such as the lateral direction setpoint.

A device similar to the device D described above can also be used to implement the method of assigning the passage area required by the infrastructure described above with reference to Figure 1, it is then included in the infrastructure or connected to it (wired or radiofrequency link).

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

Thus, examples of embodiments have been described above in which road infrastructure of the toll barrier type was described. The invention is not limited to such a toll barrier and can be implemented for other road infrastructure such as a set of vehicle disinfection gantry, vehicle storage boxes, a border post etc.

In addition, examples of embodiments have been described above in which a reference frame RP and a Cartesian coordinate system was described to implement the steps of the method that is the subject of the invention. The invention is not limited to such a reference system and can also be implemented in other reference systems (such as a barycentric or heliocentric reference) or coordinate system (typically polar coordinates).

A system has also been described in which it is the infrastructure that communicates with the vehicle and in particular affects it a zone of passage required. These communications and processing can be relocated, typically in cloud computing, cloud, so that the vehicle actually communicates with remote servers. In addition, described above are examples of mathematical calculations described to implement the steps of the method object of the invention. The invention is not limited to such calculations and variants in the mathematical expressions are possible. 

Claims

claims

A method of crossing a vehicle (508), whose driving is at least partially assisted, of a compulsory passage area (SL3) included on a road (RD), comprising the steps of:

obtaining vehicle positioning data in a predetermined reference frame (RP);

The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of:

obtaining vehicle speed data; and wherein the variation data is obtained from the vehicle positioning data, the positioning data of the passage area and the vehicle speed data.

3. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of determining the lateral direction setpoint comprises the substeps of:

The method of claim 3, wherein, if the normal acceleration is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the predetermined value is used for determining the lateral direction setpoint.

The method of claim 4, wherein the predetermined value is determined from at least one of the following:

at least one characteristic of the vehicle;

a maximum acceleration that is tolerable for an occupant of the vehicle;

- a regulatory constraint.

6. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the road comprises a road infrastructure (PG), the road infrastructure comprising a plurality of forced passage zones (SL1, SL2, SL3, SL4, SL5, SL6), the passage zone (SL3), mentioned in the preceding claims, being one of the compulsory passage zones of said plurality and being called compulsory passage zone affected in the present claim, and wherein the method further comprises, before the steps mentioned in one of the preceding claims, the step of:

The method of claim 6, further comprising, prior to the receiving step, the steps of:

8. Computer program comprising instructions for implementing the method according to any one of the preceding claims, when these instructions are executed by a processor (2).

9. Device (D) for crossing a vehicle, whose driving is at least partially assisted, of a compulsory passage zone included on a road, comprising at least one memory and at least one processor arranged to perform the steps of:

obtaining vehicle positioning data in a predetermined reference frame;

10. Vehicle (508), whose driving is at least partially assisted, comprising:

o vehicle positioning;

o positioning of the passage area required;

o variation of the angle;

the device according to claim 9.