CN114114286A

CN114114286A - Ultrasonic radar control method and device for vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN114114286A
Application number: CN202111299076.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刁宁超
Original assignee: Guangzhou Xiaopeng Autopilot Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Guangzhou Xiaopeng Autopilot Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-04
Filing date: 2021-11-04
Publication date: 2022-03-01

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a method and a device for controlling an ultrasonic radar of a vehicle, wherein the method comprises the following steps: after the automatic parking is started, reducing a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar; determining a target area between every two reference vehicles according to echoes of the lateral ultrasonic radar aiming at radar waves received in the reduced first detection envelope; determining whether the target area is a parking space; and if the target area is determined to be a parking space, increasing a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar, and/or increasing a second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar, and detecting the position of the obstacle according to the increased first detection envelope and/or the increased second detection envelope in the process of parking the vehicle in the parking space. The embodiment of the invention not only improves the accuracy of scanning the boundary of the parking space, but also improves the accuracy of detecting the position of the obstacle by adaptively adjusting the detection envelope, thereby well considering the two conditions of scanning the parking space and detecting the obstacle.

Description

Ultrasonic radar control method and device for vehicle

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of vehicles, in particular to an ultrasonic radar control method and device for a vehicle.

Background

At present, in a vehicle with an automatic parking function, a plurality of ultrasonic radars are generally arranged at the head and the tail of the vehicle, and the vehicle can sense the surrounding environment based on the detection of the ultrasonic radars, wherein a detection envelope is an important parameter of the ultrasonic radars and represents a credible detection range of the ultrasonic radars.

Generally, lateral ultrasonic radars disposed on both sides of a headstock and a tailstock are used to scan a parking space or detect peripheral obstacles, and other ultrasonic radars are used to detect peripheral obstacles. If the obstacle is located in the overlapping area of the detection envelopes of the adjacent ultrasonic radars, the position of the obstacle can be calculated through trigonometric calculation, otherwise, the position of the obstacle cannot be calculated, and therefore, the larger the detection envelope of the ultrasonic radar is, the more accurate the position of the obstacle is calculated. However, due to the non-directional scanning of the lateral ultrasound radar, a larger detection envelope of the lateral ultrasound radar results in a lower accuracy of the parking space boundary scanned by the lateral ultrasound radar.

The size of the detection envelope of the conventional ultrasonic radar of the vehicle is fixed, and the two conditions of scanning a parking space and detecting surrounding obstacles cannot be well considered.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, embodiments of the present invention are proposed in order to provide an ultrasonic radar control method of a vehicle that overcomes or at least partially solves the above-mentioned problems.

The embodiment of the invention also provides an ultrasonic radar control device of the vehicle, so as to ensure the implementation of the method.

In order to solve the above problem, an embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for controlling an ultrasonic radar of a vehicle, including:

after the automatic parking is started, reducing a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar;

determining a target area between every two reference vehicles according to echoes of the lateral ultrasonic radar aiming at radar waves received in the reduced first detection envelope;

determining whether the target area is a parking space;

and if the target area is determined to be a parking space, increasing a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar, and/or increasing a second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar, and detecting the position of the obstacle according to the increased first detection envelope and/or the increased second detection envelope in the process that the vehicle is parked in the parking space.

Optionally, the determining a target area between two reference vehicles according to the echo received by the lateral ultrasonic radar in the reduced first detection envelope for the radar wave includes:

controlling the lateral ultrasonic radar to emit radar waves within the reduced first detection envelope;

receiving an echo of a reference vehicle for the radar waves from the lateral ultrasonic radar until the echo of the reference vehicle for the radar waves is not received, and determining an estimated boundary of the reference vehicle;

and determining a boundary area formed by the estimated boundaries between every two adjacent reference vehicles as a target area between every two reference vehicles.

Optionally, the determining whether the target area is a parking space includes:

determining a width of the target region;

and if the width of the target area is not smaller than the width threshold value, determining that the target area is a parking space.

Optionally, the reducing the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar comprises:

reducing an operating parameter of a lateral ultrasonic radar to reduce a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar;

the increasing the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar, and/or the increasing the second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar, comprises:

increasing an operating parameter of the lateral ultrasonic radar to increase a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

increasing the working parameters of the front-back ultrasonic radar so as to increase the second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar;

the working parameters of the lateral ultrasonic radar and the front-back ultrasonic radar comprise one of driving current, the number of emitted radar waves and echo gain.

Optionally, the detecting the position of the obstacle according to the increased first detection envelope and/or the increased second detection envelope during the parking of the vehicle into the parking space includes:

determining a first overlap region of an adjacent augmented first detection envelope and an augmented second detection envelope and/or determining a second overlap region of an adjacent augmented second detection envelope;

and detecting the position of an obstacle according to the first overlapping area and/or the second overlapping area during the process of parking the vehicle into the parking space.

Optionally, the ultrasonic radar is provided with a safe distance value and an echo threshold value, and the method further comprises:

determining a first minimum distance of the augmented first detection envelope from the ground;

if the first minimum distance is smaller than the safe distance value, increasing an echo threshold value of the lateral ultrasonic radar to reduce the increased first detection envelope until the first minimum distance is not smaller than the safe distance value; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

determining a second minimum distance of the augmented second detection envelope from the ground;

if the second minimum distance is smaller than the safe distance value, the echo threshold value of the front-back ultrasonic radar is increased to reduce the increased second detection envelope until the second minimum distance is not smaller than the safe distance value.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and after the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar is reduced, increasing a second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar, and in the process of detecting the parking space by the lateral ultrasonic radar, detecting the position of the obstacle according to the increased second detection envelope.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses an ultrasonic radar control device of the vehicle, which comprises:

the detection envelope reduction module is used for reducing a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar after the automatic parking is started;

the target area determining module is used for determining a target area between every two reference vehicles according to echoes of the lateral ultrasonic radar aiming at radar waves received in the reduced first detection envelope;

the parking space determining module is used for determining whether the target area is a parking space;

and the detection envelope increasing module is used for increasing a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar and/or increasing a second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar if the target area is determined to be a parking space, and detecting the position of an obstacle according to the increased first detection envelope and/or the increased second detection envelope in the process that the vehicle is parked in the parking space.

Optionally, the target area determination module includes:

the radar wave emission submodule is used for controlling the lateral ultrasonic radar to emit radar waves in the reduced first detection envelope;

the estimated boundary detection sub-module is used for receiving an echo of a reference vehicle for the radar waves from the lateral ultrasonic radar until the echo of the reference vehicle for the radar waves is not received, and determining the estimated boundary of the reference vehicle;

and the target area determining submodule is used for determining a boundary area formed by the estimated boundaries between every two adjacent reference vehicles as the target area between every two reference vehicles.

Optionally, the parking space determining module includes:

a width determination submodule for determining a width of the target region;

and the parking space determining submodule is used for determining that the target area is a parking space if the width of the target area is not less than the width threshold.

Optionally, the detection envelope reduction module comprises:

a detection envelope reduction submodule for reducing operating parameters of a lateral ultrasonic radar to reduce a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar;

the detection envelope boosting module comprises:

a first detection envelope increasing submodule for increasing an operating parameter of the lateral ultrasonic radar to increase a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the second detection envelope increasing submodule is used for increasing the working parameters of the front-back ultrasonic radar so as to increase the second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar;

Optionally, the detection envelope increasing module comprises:

an overlap region determination sub-module for determining a first overlap region of an adjacent augmented first detection envelope and an augmented second detection envelope and/or for determining a second overlap region of an adjacent augmented second detection envelope;

and the obstacle detection submodule is used for detecting the position of an obstacle according to the first overlapping area and/or the second overlapping area in the process of parking the vehicle into the parking space.

Optionally, the ultrasonic radar is provided with a safe distance value and an echo threshold value, and the apparatus further includes:

a first minimum distance determination module for determining a first minimum distance between the augmented first detection envelope and the ground;

a first echo threshold increasing module, configured to increase an echo threshold of the lateral ultrasonic radar to decrease the increased first detection envelope until the first minimum distance is not less than the safe distance value, if the first minimum distance is less than the safe distance value; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

a second minimum distance determination module for determining a second minimum distance between the augmented second detection envelope and the ground;

and the second echo threshold value heightening module is used for heightening the echo threshold value of the front-back ultrasonic radar to reduce the increased second detection envelope until the second minimum distance is not less than the safe distance value if the second minimum distance is less than the safe distance value.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

and the second detection envelope increasing module is used for increasing the second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar after reducing the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar, and detecting the position of the obstacle according to the increased second detection envelope in the process of detecting the parking space by the lateral ultrasonic radar.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a vehicle including a memory, and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory, and the one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors include a method for performing the ultrasonic radar control of the vehicle according to any of the embodiments of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention further provide a readable storage medium, and when instructions in the storage medium are executed by a processor of an electronic device, the electronic device is enabled to execute the ultrasonic radar control method of the vehicle according to any one of the embodiments of the present invention.

Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the invention has the following advantages:

in the embodiment of the invention, after automatic parking is started, a first detection envelope of a lateral ultrasonic radar is reduced, then a target area between every two reference vehicles is determined according to echoes of the lateral ultrasonic radar for radar waves received in the reduced first detection envelope, then whether the target area is a parking available space is determined, if the target area is determined to be the parking available space, the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar is increased, and/or a second detection envelope of a front-back ultrasonic radar is increased, and in the process that the vehicle is parked in the parking available space, the position of an obstacle is detected according to the increased first detection envelope and/or the increased second detection envelope. The embodiment of the invention scans the parking space by adopting the reduced first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar, greatly improves the accuracy of scanning the boundary of the parking space, and detects the position of the obstacle by adopting the increased first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar and/or the increased second detection envelope in the process of parking the vehicle into the parking space, thereby greatly improving the accuracy of detecting the position of the obstacle and well considering the two conditions of scanning the parking space and detecting the surrounding obstacles.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating steps of a method for controlling an ultrasonic radar of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the position of an ultrasonic radar of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a first detection envelope before adjustment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an adjusted first detection envelope provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a process of scanning a parking space by a lateral ultrasonic radar according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an overlapping region of a first detection envelope and a second detection radar that are adjacent before adjustment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an adjusted first detection envelope provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an overlapping region of an adjusted adjacent first detection envelope and a second detection radar provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a first detection envelope detection reference vehicle head before adjustment provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an adjusted first detection envelope detection reference vehicle head provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a block diagram of an ultrasonic radar control apparatus for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, not all, embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 1, a flowchart illustrating steps of a method for controlling an ultrasonic radar of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the method may specifically include the following steps:

step 101, after starting the automatic parking, reducing a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar.

In the embodiment of the invention, the ultrasonic radar automatic parking control system is applied to an automatic parking controller, and the automatic parking controller can realize an automatic parking function, a radar early warning function and the like by controlling the ultrasonic radar. Referring to fig. 2, a schematic position diagram of an ultrasonic radar of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the vehicle is configured with 12 ultrasonic radars, where 4 side ultrasonic radars are configured on a head side surface and a tail side surface of the vehicle, and 8 front and rear ultrasonic radars are configured on a head front surface and a tail front surface of the vehicle. In addition, the ultrasonic radars may be disposed at other positions of the vehicle, and the number of the ultrasonic radars may not be limited to 12, and the disposition position and the disposition number of the ultrasonic radars are not limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

The lateral ultrasonic radar may have a first detection envelope, the front-back ultrasonic radar may have a second detection envelope, and both the first detection envelope and the second detection envelope may be used to characterize a trusted detection range of the ultrasonic radar. The front and back ultrasonic radar detects the envelope through the second, can be used for detecting the barrier of vehicle front and back, and the side ultrasonic radar detects the envelope through first, not only can be used for detecting the barrier of left and right sides, can also be used for scanning parking stall. Therefore, during automatic parking, the parking space can be searched and scanned by the lateral ultrasonic radar.

In practical applications, PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) tubing with a diameter of 75mm is an industry standard tool for measuring probe envelopes. Referring to fig. 3, a schematic diagram of a first detection envelope before adjustment according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the first detection envelope may include a first detection envelope in a horizontal direction and a first detection envelope in a vertical direction, and fig. 3 shows a first detection envelope P in the horizontal direction₁In the embodiment of the invention, the first detection envelope P in the horizontal direction₁As an example illustration.

As an example, the first detection envelope P of a lateral ultrasonic radar for a 75mm diameter PVC pipe₁Can be approximated as an ellipse, as shown in FIG. 3, assuming a first detection envelope P₁Has a minor axis length of 1.5m and a major axis length of 2.0m, and both points a and B are located within a first detection envelope P₁On the same vertical line. Since the lateral ultrasonic radar detects the obstacle without directivity, the position of the obstacle cannot be accurately described, that is, as long as the obstacle is within the first detection envelope P₁Inside, the ultrasonic radar of side direction all thinks that the obstacle is on the radar axis. Therefore, the lateral ultrasonic radar can consider that the point A and the point B are both on the radar axis, the estimated positions of the detected point A and the detected point B are the same, however, the actual position of the point A is not on the radar axis, namely, the actual positions of the point A and the point B are not the same, so that a great error is caused, for example, the error is 0.75m, the accuracy of scanning the boundary of the parking space by the lateral ultrasonic radar can be greatly reduced, the risk of false alarm of the vehicle in the automatic parking process can be increased, and the user experience is greatly reduced.

As another example, after automatic parking is enabled in embodiments of the present invention,the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasound radar can be reduced, and referring to fig. 4, a schematic diagram of the adjusted first detection envelope provided by the embodiment of the present invention is shown, assuming that the minor axis length of the first detection envelope is reduced from 1.5m to 0.3m, the major axis length is still 2.0m, and the points a 'and B' are both located in the reduced first detection envelope P₁The same vertical line in. Because the lateral ultrasonic radar detects the obstacle without directionality, the lateral ultrasonic radar considers that the point A ' and the point B ' are both on the radar axis, the estimated positions of the detected point A ' and the detected point B ' are the same, although the actual position of the point A ' is not on the radar axis, namely the actual positions of the point A ' and the point B ' are not the same, the distance between the point A ' and the point B ' is only 0.15m, namely the error is 0.15m, compared with the point A and the point B in the graph 3, the detection error is reduced by 0.6m, so that the accuracy of scanning the boundary of the parking space by the lateral ultrasonic radar is greatly improved, and the risk of false alarm of the vehicle in the automatic parking process is also reduced.

The above examples are only for the purpose of better understanding the embodiments of the present invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, step 101 may comprise the following sub-steps:

a substep 11 of reducing the operating parameters of the lateral ultrasonic radar so as to reduce the first detection envelope of said lateral ultrasonic radar; the working parameters of the lateral ultrasonic radar comprise one of driving current, the number of emitted radar waves and echo gain.

In the embodiment of the invention, the automatic parking controller can reduce the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar by reducing the working parameters of the lateral ultrasonic radar. The working parameters of the lateral ultrasonic radar may include one of a driving current, a number of emitted radar waves, and an echo gain, that is, the automatic parking controller may reduce the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar by reducing the driving current of the lateral ultrasonic radar, or reducing the number of emitted radar waves of the lateral ultrasonic radar, or reducing the echo gain of the lateral ultrasonic radar.

The radar wave is emitted by the ultrasonic radar, and the echo is a reflected wave of an obstacle received by the ultrasonic radar with respect to the radar wave, where the echo gain may include an analog gain and a digital gain, and the echo gain may amplify the echo. Both the radar wave and the echo may be sine waves, but the amplitude of the echo reflected by an obstacle while propagating in air becomes small.

And 102, determining a target area between every two reference vehicles according to echoes of the lateral ultrasonic radar aiming at the radar waves received in the reduced first detection envelope.

In the embodiment of the invention, the lateral ultrasonic radar can continuously send out the radar waves in the reduced first detection envelope, and if the reference vehicle enters the reduced first detection envelope, the lateral ultrasonic radar can receive the echo aiming at the radar waves reflected by the reference vehicle, so that the target area between every two reference vehicles can be determined according to the echo.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, step 102 may comprise the following sub-steps:

and a substep S21 of controlling the lateral ultrasonic radar to emit radar waves within the reduced first detection envelope.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first detection envelope may be used to characterize a trusted detection range of the lateral ultrasonic radar, and therefore, the automatic parking controller may detect whether the reference vehicle enters the reduced first detection envelope by controlling the lateral ultrasonic radar to emit radar waves within the reduced first detection envelope.

A substep S22 of determining the estimated boundary of the reference vehicle when an echo of the radar wave from a reference vehicle is received from the lateral ultrasonic radar until no echo of the radar wave from the reference vehicle is received.

In the embodiment of the invention, when the lateral ultrasonic radar receives the echo of a reference vehicle for the radar waves, an estimated boundary of the reference vehicle can be determined to be detected, and until the echo of the reference vehicle for the radar waves is not received, another estimated boundary of the reference vehicle can be determined to be detected, wherein the two estimated boundaries are the body contour boundary of the lateral ultrasonic radar for detecting the reference vehicle.

As an example, referring to fig. 5, which is a schematic diagram illustrating a process of scanning a parking space by a lateral ultrasonic radar in an embodiment of the present invention, a symbol mark 501 may be a target vehicle, the target vehicle is a vehicle configured with an ultrasonic radar in an embodiment of the present invention, a symbol mark 502 and a symbol mark 503 may be reference vehicles, respectively, and a symbol mark a may be a reduced first detection envelope P₁' the current position, symbol marks b, c, d, e may be respectively the target vehicle traveling in the traveling direction, the first detection envelope P₁' next position.

When the target vehicle 301 starts automatic parking, the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar can be reduced, and the reduced first detection envelope P is obtained₁'. The target vehicle travels in the traveling direction when the first detection envelope P₁' upon arrival at position a, the reference vehicle 502 enters the first detection envelope P₁' the side-to-side ultrasonic radar may receive an echo reflected by the reference vehicle 502 for the radar wave, and since the side-to-side ultrasonic radar may consider the boundary of the reference vehicle 502 to be on the radar axis, the side-to-side ultrasonic radar detects a boundary of the reference vehicle 502 as the estimated boundary a at this time; the target vehicle 501 continues to travel in the traveling direction when the first detection envelope P₁' when position b is reached, the reference vehicle 502 leaves the first detection envelope P₁' since there is a certain time delay between the sending time of the radar wave and the receiving time of the echo, the echo for the radar wave reflected by the reference vehicle 502 is not received by the lateral ultrasonic radar, and the other boundary where the lateral ultrasonic radar detects the reference vehicle 502 is the estimated boundary B.

The target vehicle 501 continues to travel in the traveling direction, and the first detection envelope P₁Between position b and position d, the lateral ultrasonic radar does not receive an echo for the radar wave, and it can be determined that there is no reference vehicle; the target vehicle 501 continues to followTraveling in the direction of travel, when the first detection envelope P₁' upon reaching position d, the reference vehicle 503 enters the first detection envelope P₁' the side-direction ultrasonic radar receives the echo of the radar wave reflected by the reference vehicle 503, and the side-direction ultrasonic radar detects a boundary of the reference vehicle 503 as an estimated boundary D; the target vehicle 501 continues to travel in the traveling direction when the first detection envelope P₁When the reference vehicle 503 leaves the first detection envelope when reaching the position E, because there is a certain time delay between the sending time of the radar wave and the receiving time of the echo, the side-direction ultrasonic radar does not receive the echo reflected by the reference vehicle 503 for the radar wave, and the other boundary of the side-direction ultrasonic radar detected the reference vehicle 503 is the estimated boundary E.

And a substep S23 of determining a boundary region formed by the estimated boundaries between adjacent pairs of reference vehicles as a target region between the reference vehicles.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the estimated boundary between two adjacent reference vehicles may form a boundary region, and the boundary region has two possibilities: one possibility is a clearance area between adjacent pairs of reference vehicles, and the other possibility is a parking space between adjacent pairs of reference vehicles. The width of the clearance area may typically be 0.4m, the width of the parking space may typically be 1.8m, and the reduced first detection envelope P₁The short axis length of' may typically be 0.3m, so that no echo for the radar wave is received by the lateral ultrasonic radar in the gap region or in the parking space. According to the embodiment of the invention, whether the boundary area is a parking space or not needs to be verified, the boundary area can be determined as a target area between every two reference vehicles, and then the subsequent verification steps are carried out.

And 103, determining whether the target area is a parking space.

Because the target area can be a parking space or a gap area, the embodiment of the invention needs to determine whether the target area is a parking space.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the step 103 may comprise the following sub-steps:

and a substep S31 of determining the width of the target region.

As an example, as shown in FIG. 5, if the symbol 504 has a parked reference vehicle, the boundary region between the adjacent reference vehicle 502 and reference vehicle 504 may be a void region, which may be generally 0.4m wide. Specifically, since the lateral ultrasonic radar regards the boundary of the reference vehicle 504 as being on the radar axis, the lateral ultrasonic radar detects that a boundary of the reference vehicle 504 is an estimated boundary C, then a boundary region is formed by an estimated boundary B of the reference vehicle 502 and the estimated boundary C of the reference vehicle 504, and the boundary region is determined as a target region BC, and the width m1 of the target region BC is 0.4-0.3-0.1 m.

As another example, as shown in fig. 5, if the reference mark 504 does not park the reference vehicle, the boundary area between the reference vehicle 502 and the reference vehicle 503 may be a parking space, and the width of the parking space may be generally 1.8 m. Specifically, from the example of the above sub-step S22, it is found that the two boundaries of the reference vehicle 502 are the estimated boundary a and the estimated boundary B, respectively, and the two boundaries of the reference vehicle 503 are the estimated boundary D and the estimated boundary E, respectively, a boundary region is formed by the estimated boundary B of the reference vehicle 502 and the estimated boundary D of the reference vehicle 503, the boundary region is determined as the target region BD, and the width m2 of the target region BD is 1.8+0.3+ 0.1-2.3 m.

And a substep S32, determining that the target area is a parking space if the width of the target area is not less than the width threshold.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a width threshold may be preset as a basis for determining whether the target area is a parking space, the width threshold may be preset to be 1.8m, the width threshold may also be preset to be 1.85m/1.95m/2.0m, and the like, and the embodiment of the present invention does not limit the width threshold.

If the width of the target area is not less than the width threshold value, namely the width of the target area is greater than or equal to the width threshold value, determining that the target area is a parking space; if the width of the target area is less than the width threshold, then it may be determined that the target area is not a parking space.

As an example, as shown in fig. 5, in the sub-step S31, after obtaining that the width m1 of the target area BC is 0.1m and the width m2 of the target area BD is 2.3m, it may be determined that m1 is smaller than the width threshold 1.8m, and then it may be determined that the target area BC is not a parking space, and it may be determined that m2 is not smaller than the width threshold 1.8m, and then it may be determined that the target area BD is a parking space.

In an optional embodiment of the invention, the method may further comprise:

In the embodiment of the invention, after the automatic parking is started, the lateral ultrasonic radar can be used for scanning the parking space, and the front-back ultrasonic radar can be used for detecting the obstacle, so that the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar is reduced, and the second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar is increased. Let the second detection envelope before augmentation be P₂And the increased second detection envelope is P₂'. Assuming a second detection envelope P before the increase₂With the first detection envelope P before reduction₁Same, i.e. the second detection envelope P before the increase₂May be 1.5m and the major axis may be 2.0m, and then the second detection envelope P may be adjusted₂Is increased to 1.8m, the length of the long axis can still be 2.0m, so that the second detection envelope P of the adjacent front-back ultrasonic radar is₂' with more, larger overlap regions, with adjacent second detection envelopesP₂The overlapping region of' is a second overlapping region R₂', so that during lateral ultrasound radar detection of a parking space, according to the second overlapping region R₂' the position of the obstacle can be accurately calculated by utilizing trigonometric calculation. Furthermore, the second detection envelope P before the increase₂With the first detection envelope P before reduction₁May or may not be the same, and the invention is not limited in this respect.

And 104, if the target area is determined to be a parking space, increasing a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar, and/or increasing a second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar, and detecting the position of an obstacle according to the increased first detection envelope and/or the increased second detection envelope in the process that the vehicle is parked in the parking space.

As an example, referring to fig. 6, a schematic diagram of an overlapping region between adjacent first detection envelopes and second detection radars before adjustment according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the first detection envelope in fig. 6 is the first detection envelope P in fig. 3₁The points A and B are obstacles, and the obstacle A is positioned in the first detection envelope P₁And a second detection envelope P₂First overlap region R therebetween₁Within the first detection envelope P, an obstacle B is located₁And a second detection envelope P₂First overlap region R therebetween₁Furthermore, the position of the first overlapping region R can be calculated by trigonometric calculation₁The position of the A point inside, however, the position in the first overlap region R cannot be calculated₁And the position of the external B point cannot accurately perform anti-collision alarm or perform better obstacle avoidance in the automatic parking process.

In the embodiment of the invention, when the target area is determined to be the parking space, the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar can be increased, and/or the second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar can be increased, and then the automatic parking controller can control the lateral ultrasonic radar and the front-back ultrasonic radar to detect the position of the obstacle together.

As another example, referring to FIG. 7, an embodiment of the present invention is shown providingWhen the target area is determined to be a parking space, the first detection envelope P may be adjusted₁' the length of the short axis is increased from 0.3m to 3.0m, so that an increased first detection envelope P can be obtained₁”。

In addition, the second detection envelope P of the front-back ultrasonic radar can be further increased₂', the second detection envelope P may be set, for example₂' the length of the short axis is increased from 1.8m to 3.0m, so that a further increased second detection envelope P can be obtained₂”。

The embodiment of the invention increases the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar and/or increases the second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar, and aims to ensure that the adjacent ultrasonic radars have more and larger overlapping areas, and the positions of obstacles and the distance between the obstacles and a vehicle bumper can be accurately calculated in the overlapping areas by utilizing a trigonometric algorithm, so that the conditions that the obstacles are detected by a single detection envelope in a non-directional manner and cannot be accurately detected, and the anti-collision alarm can be more accurately carried out or the obstacles can be better avoided in the automatic parking process.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the step 104 may comprise the following sub-steps:

a substep 41 of increasing an operating parameter of said lateral sodar to increase a first detection envelope of said lateral sodar; and/or increasing the working parameters of the front-back direction ultrasonic radar so as to increase the second detection envelope of the front-back direction ultrasonic radar; the working parameters of the lateral ultrasonic radar and the front-back ultrasonic radar comprise one of driving current, the number of emitted radar waves and echo gain.

In the embodiment of the invention, the automatic parking controller can increase the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar by increasing the working parameters of the lateral ultrasonic radar. The working parameters of the lateral ultrasonic radar can include one of a driving current, the number of emitted radar waves and an echo gain, that is, the automatic parking controller can increase the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar by increasing the driving current of the lateral ultrasonic radar, or increasing the number of emitted radar waves of the lateral ultrasonic radar, or increasing the echo gain of the lateral ultrasonic radar.

In addition, the automatic parking controller can increase the working parameters of the front-back ultrasonic radar, and further can increase the second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar. The working parameters of the front-back ultrasonic radar can include one of a driving current, the number of emitted radar waves and echo gains, that is, the automatic parking controller can increase the second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar by increasing the driving current of the front-back ultrasonic radar, or increasing the number of emitted radar waves of the front-back ultrasonic radar, or increasing the echo gains of the front-back ultrasonic radar.

sub-step S51, determining a first overlapping region of the neighboring augmented first detection envelope and the augmented second detection envelope and/or determining a second overlapping region of the neighboring augmented second detection envelope;

as an example, embodiments of the present invention increase the first detection envelope P₁' and/or second detection envelope P₂' thereafter, a first detection envelope P may be obtained₁"and/or second detection envelope P₂", referring to fig. 8, there is shown a schematic diagram of an overlapping region of the adjusted adjacent first detection envelope and the second detection radar, the first overlapping region R₁Is a neighboring first detection envelope P₁"with the second detection envelope P₂"compared with the first overlapping region R in FIG. 6₁First overlap region R₁The parking space is larger, so that anti-collision alarm can be performed more accurately or better obstacle avoidance can be performed in the automatic parking process.

In addition, the embodiment of the invention increases the second detection envelope P of the front-back direction ultrasonic radar₂' rear, adjacent second probingEnvelope P₂' second overlapping region R₂' may be further augmented, and may result in an adjacent augmented second detection envelope P₂"second overlapping region R₂Therefore, the anti-collision alarm can be more accurately carried out or the obstacle can be better avoided in the automatic parking process.

And a substep S52 of detecting a position of an obstacle during parking of the vehicle in the parking space based on the first overlap region and/or the second overlap region.

As an example, as shown in fig. 8, the a 'point and the B' point are both obstacles, and the a 'point and the B' point are located at the same positions as the a point and the B point in fig. 6, whereas the B point in fig. 6 is located in the first overlap region R₁In addition, while obstacle a 'and obstacle B' in fig. 8 are both located within the first detection envelope P₁"with the second detection envelope P₂"first region of overlap R between₁"inner, therefore, the position in the first overlap region R can be calculated by using trigonometric calculation₁"the A point location and the B' point location.

Specifically, the obstacle a ', the front-back ultrasonic radar and the side ultrasonic radar may be connected in sequence to form a triangle, and the height a' O of the triangle may be obtained_A’Thus according to a high A' O_A’The position information of the front-back ultrasonic radar and the position information of the side ultrasonic radar can accurately calculate the position of the obstacle A 'and the distance between the obstacle A' and a vehicle bumper.

In a similar way, the barrier B ', the front-back ultrasonic radar and the lateral ultrasonic radar can be connected in sequence to form another triangle, the connecting line of the front-back ultrasonic radar and the lateral ultrasonic radar is prolonged, and the high B' O of the triangle can be obtained_B’Thus according to high B' O_B’The position information of the front-back ultrasonic radar and the position information of the lateral ultrasonic radar can accurately calculate the position of the obstacle BAnd the distance of the obstacle B' from the vehicle bumper.

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the ultrasonic radar is provided with a safe distance value and an echo threshold, and the method may further include:

determining a first minimum distance of the augmented first detection envelope from the ground; if the first minimum distance is smaller than the safe distance value, increasing an echo threshold value of the lateral ultrasonic radar to reduce the increased first detection envelope until the first minimum distance is not smaller than the safe distance value; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

determining a second minimum distance of the augmented second detection envelope from the ground; if the second minimum distance is smaller than the safe distance value, the echo threshold value of the front-back ultrasonic radar is increased to reduce the increased second detection envelope until the second minimum distance is not smaller than the safe distance value.

It should be noted that the first detection envelope in the horizontal direction and the first detection envelope in the vertical direction are reduced or increased proportionally, that is, the length of the short axis of the first detection envelope in the horizontal direction is reduced from 1.5m to 0.3m or increased to 3.0m, and at the same time, the length of the short axis of the first detection envelope in the vertical direction is also reduced from 1.5m to 0.3m or increased to 3.0 m. Similarly, the second detection envelope in the horizontal direction and the second detection envelope in the vertical direction are also reduced or increased proportionally.

Including ground such as pitch way, grit way, ecological brick way, rubble, if the first envelope of surveying in the vertical direction and the second envelope of surveying in the vertical direction are too close to these ground's distance, because the echo of these ground reflection probably is stronger, ultrasonic radar probably discerns into the barrier by mistake ground to cause the wrong alarm condition, consequently, certain safe distance need be reserved with these ground to the first envelope of surveying in the vertical direction and the second envelope of surveying in the vertical direction.

For the sake of the following illustration, the first detection envelope in the vertical direction is collectively referred to as the first detection envelope, and the second detection envelope in the vertical direction is collectively referred to as the second detection envelope.

As an example, a safety distance value L may be preset, and the increased first detection envelope P may be determined₁"first minimum distance d from ground₁When the first minimum distance d₁When the distance value is smaller than the safe distance value L, the echo threshold value of the lateral ultrasonic radar can be increased, and the echo threshold value can filter out too strong echoes, so that the increased first detection envelope P can be reduced₁", up to a first minimum distance d₁And when the distance is not less than the safe distance value L, stopping adjusting the echo threshold value of the lateral ultrasonic radar.

As another example, the increased second detection envelope P may also be determined₂' or the increased second detection envelope P₂", a second minimum distance d from the ground₂When the second minimum distance d₂When the value is smaller than the safe distance value L, the echo threshold value of the front-back ultrasonic radar can be increased to filter out too strong echoes, so that the second detection envelope P after the increase can be reduced₂' or the increased second detection envelope P₂", up to a second minimum distance d₂And when the distance is not less than the safe distance value L, stopping adjusting the echo threshold value of the front-back ultrasonic radar.

To better embody the advantage of the embodiment of the present invention that the parking space boundary is scanned by using the reduced first detection envelope P, the embodiment of the present invention uses the first detection envelope P before reduction in fig. 3₁And using the reduced first detection envelope P of FIG. 4₁' the following comparative description is made for the same reference vehicle:

example one: referring to fig. 9, a schematic diagram of detecting a reference vehicle head by using a first detection envelope before adjustment according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the first detection envelope in fig. 9 is the first detection envelope P before adjustment in fig. 3₁The vertical distance between the lateral ultrasonic radar and the head of a reference vehicle is assumed to be 1.0m, and the actual width of the head of the reference vehicle is assumed to be 1.8 m. When the reference vehicle is located in the first detection envelope P₁When the point a is detected, the lateral ultrasonic radar can consider that the reference vehicle is located at a point a 'of the radar axis because the lateral ultrasonic radar detects the obstacle without directivity, that is, the point a is an actual point of the reference vehicle, and the point a' is an estimated point of the reference vehicle. Due to the reference vehicle entering the first detection envelope P₁And leaves the first detection envelope P₁This is the case for both lateral ultrasonic waves, and the distance between points A and A' is 0.75m (P)₁The minor axis length of (1.5 m), the error size is therefore 1.5 m. For a 1.8m head, the width of the head scanned by the lateral ultrasonic radar is 1.8+ 1.5-3.3 m, so the error percentage is 1.5/1.8-83.3%.

Example two: referring to fig. 10, a schematic diagram of detecting a head of a reference vehicle by using an adjusted first detection envelope according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the first detection envelope in fig. 10 is the adjusted first detection envelope P in fig. 4₁' assuming that the vertical distance of the lateral ultrasonic radar from the head of the reference vehicle is also 1.0m, the actual width of the head of the reference vehicle is alsoIs 1.8 m. When the reference vehicle is located in the first detection envelope P₁When the point a is the point a ', the lateral ultrasonic radar may consider that the reference vehicle is located at the point a ' of the radar axis, that is, the point a is the actual point of the reference vehicle, and the point a ' is the estimated point of the reference vehicle. Due to the reference vehicle entering the first detection envelope P₁' and leave the first detection envelope P₁', the above-mentioned situation occurs with lateral ultrasonic waves, and the distance between the point A and the point A' is 0.15m (P)₁The length of the short axis of' is 0.3m), and therefore, the error size is 0.3 m. For a 1.8m head, the width of the head scanned by the lateral ultrasonic radar is 1.8+ 0.3-2.1 m, so the error percentage is 0.3/1.8-16.7%.

Comparing the first example with the second example, it can be seen that the parking space boundary is scanned by the reduced first detection envelope, so that the accuracy is higher, and the lateral parking radar can scan the outline of the reference vehicle, the pillar, the wall surface and the like on the two sides of the parking space more accurately, so that the released parking space is more accurate, and the path planning and the automatic parking are more facilitated.

Referring to fig. 11, a block diagram of a structure of an ultrasonic radar control apparatus for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, and may specifically include the following modules:

a detection envelope reduction module 1101 for reducing a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar after the automatic parking is started;

a target area determining module 1102, configured to determine a target area between every two reference vehicles according to an echo of the lateral ultrasonic radar for the radar wave received within the reduced first detection envelope;

a parking space determining module 1103, configured to determine whether the target area is a parking space;

the detection envelope increasing module 1104 is configured to increase a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar and/or increase a second detection envelope of the front-back ultrasonic radar if it is determined that the target area is a parking space, and detect a position of an obstacle according to the increased first detection envelope and/or the increased second detection envelope when the vehicle is parked in the parking space.

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the target area determining module 1102 may include:

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the parking space determining module 1103 may include:

a width determination submodule for determining a width of the target region;

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the detection envelope reduction module 1101 may include:

a detection envelope reduction sub-module for reducing operating parameters of the lateral ultrasonic radar to reduce a first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar;

in an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the detection envelope increasing module 1104 may include:

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the ultrasonic radar is provided with a safe distance value and an echo threshold, and the apparatus may further include:

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus may further comprise:

For the device embodiment, since it is basically similar to the method embodiment, the description is simple, and for the relevant points, refer to the partial description of the method embodiment.

The embodiments in the present specification are described in a progressive manner, each embodiment focuses on differences from other embodiments, and the same and similar parts among the embodiments are referred to each other.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, apparatus, or computer program product. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, terminal devices (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing terminal to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing terminal, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing terminal to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing terminal to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable terminal to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable terminal provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications of these embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the embodiments of the invention.

Finally, it should also be noted that, herein, relational terms such as first and second, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Also, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or terminal that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or terminal. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or terminal that comprises the element.

The present invention provides a method, an apparatus, a vehicle and a readable storage medium for controlling an ultrasonic radar of a vehicle, which are described in detail above, and a specific example is applied in the present disclosure to illustrate the principle and the implementation of the present invention, and the description of the above embodiment is only used to help understanding the method and the core idea of the present invention; meanwhile, for a person skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present invention, there may be variations in the specific embodiments and the application scope, and in summary, the content of the present specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic radar control method of a vehicle, characterized by comprising:

determining whether the target area is a parking space;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a target region between two reference vehicles from echoes for radar waves received by the lateral sodar within the reduced first detection envelope comprises:

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining whether the target area is a parking space comprises:

determining a width of the target region;

4. The method of claim 1, wherein reducing the first detection envelope of the lateral ultrasonic radar comprises:

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said detecting a location of an obstacle during parking of the vehicle in the parking space based on the increased first detection envelope and/or the increased second detection envelope comprises:

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic radar is provided with a safe distance value and an echo threshold, the method further comprising:

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

8. An ultrasonic radar control apparatus of a vehicle, characterized in that the apparatus comprises:

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the target area determination module comprises:

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the detection envelope reduction module comprises:

the detection envelope boosting module comprises:

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the detection envelope boosting module comprises:

12. A vehicle comprising a memory, and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors comprises a method for performing the ultrasonic radar control of the vehicle of any of method claims 1-7.

13. A readable storage medium, characterized in that instructions in the storage medium, when executed by a processor of an electronic device, enable the electronic device to perform the method for ultrasonic radar control of a vehicle according to any of method claims 1-7.