CN115140050A

CN115140050A - Method and system for controlling automatic driving and/or assisted driving of vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN115140050A
Application number: CN202210954578.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李和安
Original assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Current assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Priority date: 2022-08-10
Filing date: 2022-08-10
Publication date: 2022-10-04
Also published as: DE102023003146A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for controlling automatic driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle, comprising: detecting whether a front vehicle with a running speed lower than a first preset speed exists within a first preset distance in front of the vehicle (S1); if yes, checking whether the front vehicle blocks a detection area of the sensing and fusion module of the vehicle; if the detection area of the sensing and fusion module is shielded, whether the front road section of the front vehicle meets the preset condition of overtaking is judged (S3); if so, controlling the vehicle to move transversely so as to enlarge the area of the driving environment in front of the front vehicle detected by the sensing and fusion module of the vehicle (S4). The invention also relates to a system, a computer program product and a vehicle for controlling autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle. According to the embodiment of the invention, the reasonability and the safety of the overtaking operation of the vehicle can be improved, and the occurrence of accidents in the overtaking process of the vehicle can be effectively avoided.

Description

Method and system for controlling automatic driving and/or driving assistance of vehicle

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle, in particular to a method for controlling autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle, a system for controlling autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle, a computer program product for performing the method according to the invention and a vehicle comprising said system.

Background

During the running process of the vehicle with the automatic driving function and/or the high-level auxiliary driving function, the vehicle can detect the running environment through the vehicle-mounted sensor and carry out overtaking operation and/or send overtaking prompt to a driver based on the detection result. However, in some driving scenarios of a vehicle, for example, when the vehicle is driving immediately behind a large vehicle (e.g., a bus or a truck) that is driving slowly, the view of the vehicle may be limited, especially blocked by the tail of the large vehicle, which may result in that the vehicle may not accurately detect the driving environment in front of the large vehicle. If there is an unknown obstacle (such as a construction site or a road block) or an oncoming vehicle in front of the large vehicle, it is very likely to cause the vehicle to pass by, or even cause a traffic accident.

Therefore, how to safely and reliably complete the overtaking operation when the front view of the vehicle having the automatic driving function and/or the high-level driving assistance function is limited is a technical problem to be solved at present.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for controlling autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle, a system for controlling autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle, a computer program product for performing the method according to the invention and a vehicle comprising said system to solve the problems of the prior art. The core concept of the invention is that: after the overtaking intention of the vehicle is obtained, the vehicle is not directly controlled to change lanes and overtake, but whether the front vehicle shields the view of the vehicle is checked; when the front vehicle blocks the view of the vehicle, the vehicle is controlled to move transversely under the condition that the front road section meets the preset condition of overtaking, and therefore the sensing area of the vehicle and the detection area of the fusion module are enlarged. According to the embodiment of the invention, the reasonability and the safety of the overtaking operation of the vehicle can be improved, and the accident of the vehicle in the overtaking process can be effectively avoided.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle, the method comprising:

step S1: detecting whether a front vehicle with a running speed lower than a first preset speed exists within a first preset distance in front of the vehicle;

step S2: if a front vehicle with a running speed lower than a first preset speed exists in a first preset distance in front of the vehicle, detecting a running environment in front of the front vehicle through a sensing and fusion module of the vehicle, and checking whether the front vehicle blocks a detection area of the sensing and fusion module of the vehicle in the detection process;

and step S3: if the front vehicle blocks the detection area of the sensing and fusion module of the vehicle in the detection process, judging whether the front road section of the front vehicle meets the preset condition of overtaking or not; and

and step S4: and if the front road section of the front vehicle meets the preset condition of overtaking, controlling the vehicle to move transversely, so that the area of the driving environment in front of the front vehicle detected by the sensing and fusion module of the vehicle is enlarged.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the method may further comprise:

step S5: after the vehicle finishes the transverse movement, detecting the current running environment of the vehicle again;

step S6: judging whether the vehicle is allowed to carry out overtaking operation or not based on the current running environment of the vehicle; and

step S7: and if the vehicle is allowed to carry out overtaking operation, sending prompt information about overtaking to a driver of the vehicle and/or initiating overtaking operation of the vehicle.

According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the driving environment of the vehicle is redetected after the vehicle performs lateral movement to expand the detection area of the sensing and fusion module of the vehicle, and then it is determined whether to initiate a passing operation according to the detection result, thereby further enhancing the safety of the driving of the vehicle.

According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, in step S3, it may be determined whether the road segment ahead of the vehicle meets the preset condition for overtaking through high-precision map information in the navigation module of the vehicle and/or the detection result of the sensing and fusion module of the vehicle, wherein if there are, for example, a right-turn lane, a construction area, a road block, a tunnel, a lane center solid line, and/or a no-pass area in the road segment ahead of the vehicle, the road segment ahead of the vehicle does not meet the preset condition for overtaking.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, in step S4, the lateral movement of the host vehicle is controlled such that the distance of the host vehicle beyond the dashed line of the center of the traffic lane does not exceed a second preset distance, by which setting a collision of the host vehicle with an oncoming vehicle or a following vehicle possibly present on an adjacent lane is avoided.

According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, in step S5, the running environment in front of the preceding vehicle is re-detected and the running environment behind the own vehicle is detected.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the perception and fusion module comprises, for example, an image sensor, such as a front-view camera, a side-view camera and/or a rear-view camera, an ultrasound radar, a millimeter-wave radar and/or a lidar.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the driver of the vehicle may be sent optically and/or acoustically an alert about passing by via the human-machine interaction module. The man-machine interaction module comprises a vehicle-mounted voice device, an instrument panel, a head-up display screen and/or a central control display screen.

According to an optional embodiment of the invention, the first preset speed may be set based on a current driving speed and/or a desired driving speed of the host vehicle, wherein the first preset speed is lower than the current driving speed and/or the desired driving speed of the host vehicle by more than a preset percentage. The first preset distance may be set based on a current driving speed of the own vehicle and/or a minimum safe distance.

According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, in step S6, it may be checked whether there is an oncoming vehicle on an adjacent lane based on the detected running environment in front of the leading vehicle, and whether there is a trailing vehicle on an adjacent lane based on the running environment behind the subject vehicle.

According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, in step S2, it is checked, in particular, whether the tail of the vehicle ahead blocks the detection area of the sensing and fusion module of the host vehicle, wherein the vehicle ahead is, for example, a large vehicle such as a bus or a truck.

According to a second aspect of the invention, a system for controlling autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle is provided, said system being adapted to perform a method according to the invention. The system comprises one or more of the following components: a perception and fusion module configured to detect a driving environment in front of the preceding vehicle and/or a driving environment behind the own vehicle; a navigation module configured to determine whether a road section ahead of the vehicle ahead meets a preset condition for overtaking; a control module configured to control lateral movement and/or cut-in operations of the host vehicle; and a human-machine interaction module configured to send a prompt message about passing to a driver of the vehicle.

According to a third aspect of the invention, a computer program product, such as a computer-readable program carrier, is provided, containing computer program instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method according to the invention.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a vehicle is provided, comprising a system according to the invention.

Drawings

The principles, features and advantages of the present invention may be better understood by describing the invention in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The figures show:

fig. 1 shows a work flow diagram of a method for controlling autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

fig. 2 shows a work flow diagram of a method for controlling autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary driving scenario in accordance with the present invention; and

fig. 4 shows a block diagram of a system for controlling autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantageous technical effects of the present invention more apparent, the present invention will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and do not limit the scope of the invention.

Fig. 1 shows a work flow diagram of a method for controlling autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The following exemplary examples describe the method according to the invention in more detail.

The method comprises steps S1 to S4. In step S1, it is detected whether there is a preceding vehicle 2 having a traveling speed lower than a first preset speed within a first preset distance D1 in front of the own vehicle 1. In the current embodiment of the present invention, the first preset distance D1 may be set based on the current driving speed of the vehicle 1 and/or a minimum safe distance, where the minimum safe distance refers to a minimum inter-vehicle distance that should be maintained between the vehicle 1 and the preceding vehicle 2 according to the traffic rules during the driving of the vehicle, and the current driving speed of the vehicle 1 can determine the minimum braking distance of the vehicle 1 in an emergency. The first preset speed may be set based on a current travel speed and/or an expected travel speed (e.g., a travel speed planned according to a navigation route) of the host vehicle 1, where the first preset speed is lower than the current travel speed and/or the expected travel speed of the host vehicle 1 by more than a preset percentage. It is understood that when a preceding vehicle 2 having a traveling speed much lower than the current traveling speed and/or the desired traveling speed of the own vehicle 1 appears within a certain distance range in front of the own vehicle 1, the driver and/or the user of the own vehicle 1 generally desires to overtake the preceding vehicle 2.

If there is a front vehicle 2 with a traveling speed lower than a first preset speed within a first preset distance D1 in front of the host vehicle 1, in step S2, the driving environment in front of the front vehicle 2 is detected by the sensing and fusion module 11 of the host vehicle 1, and it is checked whether the front vehicle 2 blocks the detection area of the sensing and fusion module 11 of the host vehicle 1 during the detection process. Here, the sensing and fusion module 11 includes an image sensor, such as a front-view camera, a side-view camera and/or a rear-view camera, an ultrasonic radar, a millimeter-wave radar and/or a lidar. According to the exemplary driving scenario of the present invention as shown in fig. 3, since the rear of the front vehicle 2 (in fig. 3, the truck is exemplarily shown) blocks the view of the front camera of the host vehicle 1, the front camera cannot fully detect the driving environment in front of the front vehicle 2, and particularly cannot timely detect the oncoming vehicle 3 on the adjacent lane, which may cause the host vehicle 1 to have a traffic accident during the passing.

If the front vehicle 2 blocks the detection area of the sensing and fusion module 11 of the vehicle 1 in the detection process, it is determined in step S3 whether the front road section of the front vehicle 2 meets a preset condition for overtaking. Here, whether the road section ahead of the vehicle 2 meets the preset condition for overtaking may be determined by the high-precision map information in the navigation module 12 of the host vehicle 1. Illustratively, if it is determined that, for example, a right-turn lane, a construction area, a road block, a tunnel, a lane center solid line, and/or a no-pass area exists in the road section ahead of the preceding vehicle 1 based on the current vehicle position information and the high-precision map information, the road section ahead of the preceding vehicle 2 does not meet the preset condition for passing. It is also possible to determine whether the road section ahead of the preceding vehicle 2 meets the preset condition for overtaking based on the detection result of the sensing and fusion module 11, in particular, the driving environment ahead of the preceding vehicle 2 detected by the front camera. It should be noted that the above two determination methods can be used individually or in combination with each other, and especially, the two determination methods can be used for reliability check with each other, thereby improving the accuracy of recognition and avoiding erroneous determination as much as possible.

If the road section ahead of the vehicle 2 meets the preset condition of overtaking, the vehicle 1 is controlled to move transversely in step S4, so that the driving environment area ahead of the vehicle 2 detected by the sensing and fusion module 11 of the vehicle 1 is enlarged. In the present embodiment of the present invention, the lateral movement of the host vehicle 1 is controlled such that the distance from the host vehicle 1 to the center imaginary line of the traffic lane does not exceed the second preset distance D2, and the host vehicle 1 can be prevented from colliding with the oncoming vehicle 3 or the trailing vehicle 4 that may be present on the adjacent traffic lane by setting the second preset distance D2. As shown in fig. 3, the host vehicle 1 is marked as a host vehicle 1 'after moving leftward from the original position to a second preset distance D2 beyond the center dashed line of the traffic lane, and the sensing and fusion module 11, in particular, the front-view camera, at the position of the host vehicle 1' is reduced in the detection region blocked by the rear portion of the preceding vehicle 2, so that the region of the driving environment in front of the preceding vehicle 2 detected by the sensing and fusion module 11 of the host vehicle 1 can be enlarged.

According to the present embodiment of the invention, the vehicle is controlled to move transversely when the front road section meets the preset condition of overtaking, so that the detection area of the sensing and fusion module of the vehicle can be enlarged, the rationality of the overtaking operation of the vehicle is improved, and accidents of the vehicle in the overtaking process are effectively avoided.

Fig. 2 shows a workflow diagram of a method for controlling autonomous driving and/or driving assistance of a vehicle according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention. Only the differences from the embodiment shown in fig. 1 are set forth below, and the description of the same steps is not repeated for the sake of brevity.

The method may further comprise steps S5 to S7. In step S5, after the vehicle 1 has finished moving laterally, the current driving environment of the vehicle 1 is detected again. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the running environment in front of the preceding vehicle 2 is redetected and the running environment behind the own vehicle 1 is detected. After the vehicle 1 moves leftward to slightly exceed the center dotted line of the traffic lane, the driving environment in front of the vehicle 2 in front is detected through a front-view camera, a side-view camera, an ultrasonic radar, a millimeter wave radar and/or a laser radar, and the driving environment behind the vehicle 1 is detected through a rear-view camera.

In step S6, it is determined whether or not the passing operation of the host vehicle 1 is permitted based on the current running environment of the host vehicle 1. Here, it is possible to check whether there is an oncoming vehicle 3 on the adjacent lane based on the detected running environment ahead of the preceding vehicle 2, and to check whether there is a rear vehicle 4 on the adjacent lane based on the running environment behind the own vehicle 1. And if the oncoming vehicle 3 and the rear vehicle 4 do not exist on the adjacent lanes, judging that the current driving environment allows the vehicle 1 to carry out overtaking operation.

If the passing operation of the host vehicle 1 is permitted, in step S7, a prompt message about passing is sent to the driver of the host vehicle 1 and/or the passing operation of the host vehicle 1 is initiated. Here, the vehicle having the full-automatic driving function can directly initiate the overtaking operation of the own vehicle 1. The driver of the host vehicle 1 may also be optically and/or acoustically sent a prompt for overtaking via a human machine interaction module 14, which human machine interaction module 14 comprises, for example, an onboard voice device, a dashboard, a head-up display and/or a central control display.

In addition, it should be noted that the sequence numbers of the steps described herein do not necessarily represent a sequential order, but merely one kind of reference numeral, and the order may be changed according to circumstances as long as the technical object of the present invention can be achieved.

Fig. 4 shows a block diagram of a system for controlling autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 4, the system 10 includes one or more of the following components: a sensing and fusion module 11, wherein the sensing and fusion module 11 is configured to detect a driving environment in front of the preceding vehicle 2 and/or a driving environment behind the host vehicle 1, the sensing and fusion module 11 includes, for example, an image sensor such as a front-view camera, a side-view camera, and/or a rear-view camera, an ultrasonic radar, a millimeter-wave radar, and/or a lidar; a navigation module 12, wherein the navigation module 12 is configured to determine whether a road section ahead of the front vehicle 2 meets a preset condition for overtaking; a control module 13, the control module 13 being configured to control lateral movement and/or passing operation of the host vehicle 1; and a human-machine interaction module 14, the human-machine interaction module 14 being configured to send an alert to a driver of the vehicle regarding the passing, the human-machine interaction module 14 including, for example, an in-vehicle voice device, a dashboard, a heads-up display, and/or a central control display.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein in detail, they have been presented for purposes of illustration only and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for controlling autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle, the method comprising:

step S1: detecting whether a front vehicle (2) with a running speed lower than a first preset speed exists in a first preset distance (D1) in front of the vehicle (1);

step S2: if a front vehicle (2) with a running speed lower than a first preset speed exists in a first preset distance (D1) in front of the vehicle (1), detecting a running environment in front of the front vehicle (2) through a sensing and fusion module (11) of the vehicle (1), and checking whether the front vehicle (2) blocks a detection area of the sensing and fusion module (11) of the vehicle (1) in the detection process;

and step S3: if the front vehicle (2) blocks the detection area of the sensing and fusion module (11) of the vehicle (1) in the detection process, judging whether the front road section of the front vehicle (2) meets the preset condition of overtaking; and

and step S4: and if the front road section of the front vehicle (2) meets the preset condition of overtaking, controlling the vehicle (1) to move transversely, so that the area of the driving environment in front of the front vehicle (2) detected by the sensing and fusion module (11) of the vehicle (1) is enlarged.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

step S5: after the vehicle (1) finishes the transverse movement, the current running environment of the vehicle (1) is detected again;

step S6: determining whether to allow the vehicle (1) to perform overtaking operation based on the current running environment of the vehicle (1); and

step S7: if the vehicle (1) is allowed to carry out overtaking operation, sending prompt information about overtaking to a driver of the vehicle (1) and/or initiating overtaking operation of the vehicle (1).

3. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein in step S3 it is determined by means of high-precision map information in a navigation module (12) of the host vehicle (1) and/or the detection result of a perception and fusion module (11) of the host vehicle (1) whether a road section ahead of the host vehicle (2) complies with a preset condition for overtaking, wherein the road section ahead of the host vehicle (2) does not comply with the preset condition for overtaking if, for example, a right-turn lane, a construction area, a road block, a tunnel, a lane center solid line and/or a no-pass area is present in the road section ahead of the host vehicle (1).

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein in step S4, the lateral movement of the own vehicle (1) is controlled such that the own vehicle (1) does not exceed a second preset distance (D2) beyond the traffic lane center imaginary line, a collision of the own vehicle (1) with a possible oncoming vehicle (3) or a following vehicle (4) on an adjacent lane being avoided by the setting of the second preset distance (D2); and/or

In step S5, the driving environment in front of the vehicle (2) in front is detected again, and the driving environment behind the vehicle (1) is detected again.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the perception and fusion module (11) comprises an image sensor, such as a front-view camera, a side-view camera and/or a rear-view camera, an ultrasound radar, a millimeter-wave radar and/or a lidar; and/or

-sending optically and/or acoustically prompt information about overtaking to a driver of the host vehicle (1) by means of a human-machine interaction module (14); and/or

The man-machine interaction module (14) comprises a vehicle-mounted voice device, an instrument panel, a head-up display screen and/or a central control display screen.

6. A method according to any one of the foregoing claims, in which said first preset speed is set on the basis of a current and/or desired travelling speed of the own vehicle (1), wherein said first preset speed is lower than the current and/or desired travelling speed of the own vehicle (1) by more than a preset percentage; and/or

The first preset distance (D1) is set based on a current running speed of the vehicle (1) and/or a minimum safe distance.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein in step S6 it is checked whether there is an oncoming vehicle (3) in an adjacent lane based on the detected driving environment in front of the leading vehicle (2) and whether there is a trailing vehicle (4) in an adjacent lane based on the driving environment behind the own vehicle (1); and/or

In step S2, it is checked during the detection whether the tail of the vehicle (2) in front obstructs the detection area of the sensing and fusion module (11) of the vehicle (1), wherein the vehicle (2) in front is a large vehicle such as a bus or a truck.

8. A system (10) for controlling autonomous driving and/or assisted driving of a vehicle, the system (10) being adapted to perform a method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the system (10) comprises one or more of the following components:

a perception and fusion module (11), the perception and fusion module (11) being configured for detecting a driving environment in front of the vehicle (2) in front and/or a driving environment behind the vehicle (1);

a navigation module (12), the navigation module (12) being configured to determine whether a road section ahead of the vehicle (2) ahead meets a preset condition for overtaking;

a control module (13), the control module (13) being configured for controlling lateral movement and/or passing operations of the host vehicle (1); and

a human-machine interaction module (14), the human-machine interaction module (14) being configured to send a prompt message to a driver of the vehicle regarding overtaking.

9. A computer program product, such as a computer-readable program carrier, containing computer program instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method according to any of the preceding claims.

10. A vehicle comprising a system (10) according to claim 8.