SE542316C2

SE542316C2 - Vehicle positioning control unit and method thereof

Info

Publication number: SE542316C2
Application number: SE1750244A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Jenny Eriksson; Johannes Slettengren; Jonny Andersson; Joseph Ah-King
Original assignee: Scania Cv Ab
Priority date: 2017-03-06
Filing date: 2017-03-06
Publication date: 2020-04-07
Also published as: SE1750244A1; DE102018001497A1

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a vehicle positioning control unit configured for lane keeping assistance of a vehicle, the vehicle positioning control unit configured to obtain sensor data indicative of an environment of the vehicle, estimate a drivable area based on the sensor data, wherein the drivable area comprises lateral boundaries which exceeds road lane boundaries of a road lane within which the vehicle shall be kept, adapt the drivable area to exclude one or more positions of obstacles present in the environment of the vehicle and indicated in the sensor data, determine a target lateral position of the vehicle within an overlapping area of the drivable area and the road lane, control a steering control unit of the vehicle based on the target lateral position. The invention further relates to a vehicle comprising the vehicle positioning control unit and a corresponding method of the vehicle positioning control unit.

Description

VEHICLE POSITIONING CONTROL UNIT AND METHOD THEREOF Technical Field The present invention relates to a vehicle positioning control unit configured for lane keeping assistance of a vehicle. The invention further relates to a vehicle comprising the vehicle positioning control unit and a corresponding method of the vehicle positioning control unit.

Background To manually keep a vehicle within road lane boundaries of a road lane may be tedious to a driver of a vehicle and take much needed attention from the traffic situation around the vehicle, thus increasing the risk of being involved in accidents. To address this problem, vehicle functionality such as lane keeping assistance, LKA, systems have been developed. Conventional LKA systems typically provide lateral control that keeps the vehicle at a fixed lateral position relative to the road lane boundaries of a road lane, e.g. dead center in the lane. The fixed position may be safe for the vehicle to travel in, as long as there are no obstacles in the lane, but may not necessarily feel or be perceived to be safe for the driver of the vehicle. A lateral position that is perceived not to be safe by the driver increases level of stress and level of tiredness, thus reducing road safety. The lateral position that feels safe to the driver will typically change as the road or traffic situation changes.

In one example, when driving in the rightmost lane on a highway that has a wide shoulder on the right side, the lateral position that feels most comfortable or safe to the driver may be a position to the right in the lane. In a further example, with traffic in the lane or lanes immediately to the left of the vehicle, a position further to the right in the lane may be preferred. If the shoulder disappears, or an on or off ramp appears to the right of the vehicle, a centrally placed or lateral position would feel most comfortable or safe to the driver. Yet an example is when crash barriers appear close to the lane, e.g. to the left or to the right. A lateral position further away from the crash barriers would feel most comfortable or safe to the driver.

Thus, there is a need for an improved vehicle positioning control unit and vehicle.

Objects of the invention An objective of embodiments of the present invention is to provide a solution which mitigates or solves the drawbacks described above.

Summary of the invention The above and further objectives are achieved by the subject matter described herein. Further advantageous implementation forms of the invention are described herein.

According to a first aspect of the invention, a vehicle positioning control unit is provided that is configured for lane keeping assistance of a vehicle. The vehicle positioning control unit comprises a processor and a memory, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor. The processor is communicatively coupled to the memory. The vehicle positioning control unit is configured to obtain sensor data indicative of an environment of the vehicle. The vehicle positioning control unit is further configured to estimate a drivable area based on the sensor data. The drivable area comprises lateral boundaries which exceeds road lane boundaries of a road lane within which the vehicle shall be kept. The vehicle positioning control unit is further configured to adapt the drivable area to exclude one or more positions of obstacles present in the environment of the vehicle and indicated in the sensor data. The vehicle positioning control unit is further configured to determine a target lateral position of the vehicle within an overlapping area of the drivable area and the road lane. The vehicle positioning control unit is further configured to control a steering control unit of the vehicle based on the target lateral position.

At least one advantage with this embodiment is that road safety is improved by reducing the level of stress and level of tiredness of the driver as a result of the dynamically determined lateral position of the vehicle. The lateral position will feel natural or safe to the driver and is adapted as the road or traffic situation changes.

In an implementation form of the first aspect, the vehicle positioning control unit is further configured to determine safety zones around the one or more positions of the obstacles based on the sensor data, wherein the size of the safety zones are dependent on the sensor data. The drivable area is then adapted to exclude the safety zones.

At least one advantage with this embodiment is to further improve road safety by reducing stress and level of tiredness of the driver as a result of the dynamically determined distance to obstacles, such as vehicles in an adjacent road lane. This is achieved by dynamically adapting the lateral distance to obstacles, such as crash barriers or other vehicles, dependent on the type of obstacle. In one example, a stationary obstacle may feel safe to pass at a close distance whereas another vehicles travelling in an opposite direction relative to the vehicle may require a larger lateral distance to avoid stressing the driver. Thus road safety is further improved.

In a second aspect of the invention a vehicle is provided that comprises the vehicle positioning control unit according to the first aspect, a steering control unit configured to actuate steering means of the vehicle in response to a control signal to steer the vehicle to a lateral position and a plurality of sensors configured to generate sensor data indicative of an environment of the vehicle.

In a third aspect of the invention a method performed by the vehicle positioning control unit is provided.

The advantages of the second and third aspect of the invention are the same as for the first aspect.

The scope of the invention is defined by the claims, which are incorporated into this section by reference. A more complete understanding of embodiments of the invention will be afforded to those skilled in the art, as well as a realization of additional advantages thereof, by a consideration of the following detailed description of one or more embodiments. Reference will be made to the appended sheets of drawings that will first be described briefly Brief description of the drawings Fig. 1A and 1 B illustrates scenarios for determining a lateral position of a vehicle, according an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2A and 2B illustrates scenarios for determining a lateral position of a vehicle, according an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows a vehicle comprising a vehicle positioning control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 shows a vehicle communicating with a sensor data server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 shows a vehicle positioning control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 shows a block diagram of a method according to one or more embodiments of the present invention.

Detailed description An "or" in this description and the corresponding claims is to be understood as a mathematical OR which covers "and" and "or", and is not to be understand as an XOR (exclusive OR). The indefinite article "a" in this disclosure and claims is not limited to "one" and can also be understood as "one or more", i.e., plural.

Figures 1 A, 1 B, 2A and 2B illustrate scenarios for determining a lateral position of a vehicle, according to embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 1A illustrates a first scenario with a vehicle 120 travelling on a road, shown in a downward direction in the figure. The road having left 171 and right 172 road boundaries. The road boundaries may e.g. be the edge of the road surface, crash barriers or tunnel walls. The road further have at least one road lane, having left 161 and right 162 road lane boundaries. The road lane boundaries may e.g. be road markings or road cones marking out the road lane. Sensor data indicative of an environment of the vehicle 120, e.g. the road lane boundaries, is then obtained. Further, the sensor data may e.g. be received from one or more sensors 121-123, such as radar, lidar, video camera, infrared camera, gps, or any other suitable environment sensor. A drivable area may be estimated, calculated or derived based on the sensor data. The drivable area may typically initially comprise lateral boundaries, e.g. left 151 and right 152 lateral boundaries, which exceeds the left 161 and right 162 road lane boundaries of the road lane, within which the vehicle shall be kept. The drivable area may initially be estimated by adding a fixed or dynamic width margin value to the left 161 and right 162 road lane boundaries, thus making the drivable area wider than the road lane, as seen in the direction of travel. The drivable area may further be adapted to exclude one or more positions of obstacles present in the environment of the vehicle and indicated in the sensor data. In one example, a car 181 is stopped on the hard shoulder of the road and the initially estimated drivable area is adapted by removing a segment to exclude the obstacle. Thus, the drivable area now represents a free area where the vehicle 120 may drive. A target lateral position 190 of the vehicle within an overlapping area 192 of the drivable area and the road lane is then determined. In one example the left 161 and right 162 road lane boundaries of the road are used to crop the drivable area. In an embodiment, a plurality of successive target lateral positions may be determined, thus forming a target lateral path. A steering control unit of the vehicle 120 may further be controlled based on the target lateral position 190 or the target lateral path. The steering control unit may further comprise a steering actuator controlling the angle of a pair of wheels e.g. front wheels of the vehicle, to steer the vehicle to the target lateral position 190.

Fig. 1B illustrates a second scenario where the vehicle 120 is travelling on the road, shown in a downward direction in Fig. 1B. The road, road lane and estimated drivable area are shown in a similar manner to Fig. 1A. In Fig. 1B, a second obstacle 182, located on the right hand 162 road lane boundary, is present. In one example, the second obstacle is a car 182 travelling in the same direction as the vehicle 120 positioned in between the lanes shown in Fig. 1B. The initially estimated drivable area 192 is adapted to exclude the position of the obstacle. The vehicle 120 may be a driver controlled and/or an autonomously controlled vehicle in different embodiments.

Fig. 2A illustrates a third scenario where the vehicle 120 is travelling on the road, shown in a downward direction in Fig. 2A. The road, road lane and drivable area are shown in a similar manner to Fig. 1A. Safety zones 183 around the one or more positions of the obstacles are determined based on the sensor data. The size of the safety zones are determined dependent on the sensor data. The initially estimated drivable area is then adapted to exclude the safety zones. In an embodiment, the safety zones are defined as an ellipse having a major axis along the direction of travel and a minor axis perpendicular to the major axis and parallel to the road surface. In an embodiment, the major axis size of the ellipse is determined based on the sensor data and the minor axis size is determined based on a predetermined value. In an embodiment, the major axis size of the ellipse is determined based on the sensor data and the minor axis size is determined based on a predetermined scaling factor and the determined major axis size. In one example, the obstacle 182 is a car travelling in the same direction as the vehicle 120 positioned in an adjacent lane as shown in Fig. 2A. The size of the safety zone, e.g. the major axis, is then determined based on the sensor data indicative of relative direction of travel or relative speed of the car in relation to the vehicle 120. As the car travelling in the same direction as the vehicle, the size of the safety zone is determined as relatively small. In one embodiment, the size of the safety zone is determined based on relative speed between the vehicle 120 and the obstacle and/or a predetermined time margin. In one example, the size of the safety zone of a is determined as a relative speed of 2 meters/second multiplied with a predetermined time margin of 5 seconds resulting in a size of the safety zone of 10 meters. E.g. a safety zone having a major axis of 10 meters and a minor axis determined as a scaling factor multiplied with the major axis, i.e. 0.1 *10 = 1 meter. The initially estimated drivable area is then adapted to exclude the safety zone. The size of the safety zone may further be determined based on sensor data indicative of any of a selection of a classification of the obstacle as a static or a moving obstacle, a relative speed of the obstacle relative to the vehicle, a relative direction of travel of the obstacle relative to the vehicle, a road traffic sign, and a road marking. ;;Fig. 2B illustrates a fourth scenario where the vehicle 120 is travelling on the road, shown in a downward direction in Fig. 2B. The road, road lane and drivable area are shown in a similar manner to Fig. 1A. As the sensor data is indicative of the car travelling in the opposite direction to the vehicle, the safety zone is determined as relatively large. In one example, the size of the safety zone of a is determined as a relative speed of 44 meters/second multiplied with a predetermined time margin of 5 seconds resulting in a size of the safety zone of 220 meters. E.g. a safety zone having a major axis of 220 meters and a minor axis determined as a scaling factor multiplied with the major axis, i.e. 0.01 * 220 = 2.2 meters. The initially estimated drivable area 192 is then adapted to exclude the safety zone.

Fig. 3 shows a vehicle 120 comprising a vehicle positioning control unit 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle may comprise a vehicle positioning control unit 100 according to embodiments described herein. The vehicle may further comprise one or more environment sensors 121-123. The one or more environment sensors may be configured to detect or register or capture first sensor data indicative of the environment of the vehicle. The one or more environment sensors 121-123 may further be configured to send the first sensor data as a signal to the vehicle positioning control unit. Examples of environment sensors 121-123 may be any selection of radar sensor, lidar sensor, video camera, infrared camera, GPS with map, traffic information receiver or any other suitable environment sensor. In an example, the environment sensors 121-123 may include a radar detecting obstacles in the environment of the vehicle. In a further example, the environment sensors 121-123 may include a camera, e.g. detecting road markings or road signs, such as white lines outlining the road or road lane surface. The environment sensors 121-123 may comprise a processor communicatively coupled to a transceiver for wired or wireless communication. Further, the one or more environment sensors 121-123 may further comprise at least one optional antenna (not shown in the figure). The antenna may be coupled to the transceiver and is configured to transmit and/or emit and/or receive wired signals in a wired communications system and/or wireless signals in a wireless communication system. The processor may be communicatively coupled to a selection of the transceiver and the memory. In one example, the processor may be any of processing circuitry and/or a central processing unit and/or processor modules and/or multiple processors configured to cooperate with each-other. Further, the one or more environment sensors 121-123 may further comprise a memory. The memory may contain instructions executable by the processor to perform the methods described herein, e.g. to capture sensor data indicative of the environment of the vehicle and send first sensor data to the vehicle positioning control unit 100. The vehicle may further comprise wheels W1-W4 of the vehicle. The vehicle may further optionally comprise a steering control unit SC configured to actuate steering means of the vehicle 120, e.g. to control an angle of a pair of wheels W1-W4 e.g. the front wheels. In one example, the steering means are controlled such that the vehicle 120 is directed to a lateral position, such as the target lateral position 190. The steering control unit SC may comprise control logic and/or a processor, an optional memory and an actuator configured to actuate the steering means. The steering control unit SC may be configured to receive control signals from the vehicle positioning control unit 100 and control an actuator controlled by the steering control unit and actuating the steering means based on the control signal. The steering control unit SC may further be configured to send status signals from the control unit to the vehicle positioning control unit 100 indicative of status of the steering control unit SC, the actuator or the steering means. The steering means may be any means or arrangement suitable to steering the vehicle, e.g. hydraulic, electric or pneumatic means acting on any of the wheels W1-W4 of the vehicle.

The vehicle positioning control unit 100 may be communicatively coupled to the one or more environment sensors 121-123 or the steering control unit SC, e.g. via wired or wireless communication, such as a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, Bluetooth, WiFi etc. The one or more environment sensors 121-123 may be configured to send the first sensor data directly to the vehicle positioning control unit 100 or via a wired and/or wireless communications network 130. The wired or wireless communication may be performed using any of a CAN bus, Bluetooth, WiFi, GSM, UMTS, LTE or LTE advanced communications network or any other wired or wireless communication network known in the art.

Fig. 4 shows a vehicle 120 communicating with a sensor data server 140 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle positioning control unit 100, comprised in the vehicle, may be configured to obtain sensor data by retrieving the sensor data from a memory. The vehicle positioning control unit 100 may be configured to alternatively or additionally obtain sensor data by calculating the sensor data based on received and/or retrieved sensor data, e.g. received and/or retrieved from the one or more environment sensors 121-123, such as a global positioning system GPS unit with map, and/or from a storage device/memory. The vehicle positioning control unit 100 may be configured to alternatively or additionally obtain sensor data by receiving the sensor data from the sensor data server 140, e.g. a server and/or a general purpose computer. The vehicle positioning control unit 100 may be configured to alternatively or additionally obtain sensor data by receiving the sensor data from another vehicle 129 located in the environment of the vehicle 120.

Examples of sensor data received from the sensor data server 140 may be indicative of one or more positions of obstacles located further ahead on or adjacent to the road on which the vehicle is travelling on. In one example, another vehicle 129 has detected one or more positions of obstacles using its on-board sensors and has communicated the one or more positions to the sensor data server 140.

The sensor data may be received directly from the sensor data server 140 or via a wired and/or wireless communications network 130. The a wireless communications network 130 may comprise e.g. any of a Bluetooth, GSM, UMTS, LTE or LTE advanced communications network or any other wired or wireless communication network known in the art.

Fig. 5 shows a vehicle positioning control unit 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle positioning control unit 100 may be in the form of an Electronic Control Unit, a server, an on-board computer, a vehicle mounted computer system or a navigation device. The vehicle positioning control unit 100 may comprise a processor 112 communicatively coupled to a transceiver 104 for wired or wireless communication. Further, the vehicle positioning control unit 100 may further comprise at least one optional antenna (not shown in figure). The antenna may be coupled to the transceiver 104 and is configured to transmit and/or emit and/or receive a wireless signals in a wireless communication system, e.g. send/receive control signals and/or status data to/from the one or more environment sensors 121-123, the steering control unit SC or any other control unit or sensor. In one example, the processor 112 may be any of a selection of processing circuitry and/or a central processing unit and/or processor modules and/or multiple processors configured to cooperate with each-other. Further, the vehicle positioning control unit 100 may further comprise a memory 115. The memory 115 may contain instructions executable by the processor to perform the methods described herein. The processor 112 may be communicatively coupled to a selection of any of the transceiver 104, the one or more environment sensors 121-123 and the memory 115. The vehicle positioning control unit 100 may be configured to receive the sensor data directly from the one or more environment sensors 121 -123 or via the wired and/or wireless communications network 130.

In one or more embodiments the vehicle positioning control unit 100 may further comprise an input device 117, configured to receive input or indications from a user and send a user-input signal indicative of the user input or indications to the processing means 112. In one or more embodiments the vehicle positioning control unit 100 may further comprise a display 118 configured to receive a display signal indicative of rendered objects, such as text or graphical user input objects, from the processing means 112 and to display the received signal as objects, such as text or graphical user input objects. In one embodiment the display 118 is integrated with the user input device 117 and is configured to receive a display signal indicative of rendered objects, such as text or graphical user input objects, from the processing means 112 and to display the received signal as objects, such as text or graphical user input objects, and/or configured to receive input or indications from a user and send a user-input signal indicative of the user input or indications to the processing means 112. In embodiments, the processing means 112 is communicatively coupled to the memory 115 and/or the communications interface and/or transceiver and/or the input device 117 and/or the display 118 and/or the one or more environment sensors 121-123. In embodiments, the communications interface and/or transceiver communicates using wired and/or wireless communication techniques.

In embodiments, the one or more memory 115 may comprise a selection of a hard RAM, disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a CD or DVD drive (R or RW), or other removable or fixed media drive or memory. In a further embodiment, the vehicle positioning control unit 100 may further comprise and/or be coupled to one or more additional sensors configured to receive and/or obtain and/or measure physical properties pertaining to the vehicle 120 and send one or more sensor signals indicative of the physical properties to the processing means 112, e.g. second sensor data indicative of relative wheel speeds of the vehicle.

Fig. 6 shows a block diagram of a method 600 according to one or more embodiments of the present invention. The method 600 may performed by the vehicle positioning control unit 100 configured for lane keeping assistance of the vehicle 120.

STEP 610: The method comprises obtaining 610 sensor data indicative of an environment of the vehicle 120. As mentioned previously, the vehicle positioning control unit 100 may be configured to obtain sensor data by retrieving the sensor data from the memory. The vehicle positioning control unit 100 may be configured to alternatively or additionally obtain sensor data by calculating the sensor data based on received or retrieved sensor data, e.g. received and/or retrieved from a global positioning system GPS unit and/or a storage device/memory, or other data or parameters available to the vehicle positioning control unit 100. The vehicle positioning control unit 100 may be configured to alternatively or additionally obtain sensor data by receiving the sensor data from the sensor data server 140, e.g. a server and/or a general purpose computer. The vehicle positioning control unit 100 may be configured to alternatively or additionally obtain sensor data by receiving the sensor data from another vehicle 129. The sensor data may be indicative of any combination of crash barriers or fences, one or more positions of obstacles ahead in or adjacent to the lane the vehicle is travelling in , on or off ramps, road construction, route diversions, width of the hard shoulder, relative location or speed or direction of travel of other vehicles on the road, road markings such as lines indicating road lane boundaries, cones indicating a temporary stretch of a road lane, road traffic signs indicating allowed vehicle type in the lane, road traffic signs indicating direction of traffic, traffic conditions ahead, driver preferences or road side ditches.

STEP 620 The method further comprises estimating 620 a drivable area based on the sensor data. The drivable area comprises first 151 and second 152 lateral boundaries which exceeds road lane lateral boundaries 161, 162 of a road lane within which the vehicle shall be kept. In one example, the first 151 and second 152 lateral boundaries are estimated by widening road lane lateral boundaries 161, 162 indicated by the sensor data, e.g. line road markings, with a predetermined offset. The extent of the area in the direction of travel of the vehicle 120 may be limited to a predetermined distance or to a line of sight distance indicated by the sensor data.

STEP 630: The method further comprises adapting 630 the drivable area to exclude one or more positions of obstacles present in the environment of the vehicle and indicated by the sensor data. In one example, adapting the drivable area comprises removing a section of the drivable area including one or more positions of obstacles present in the environment, e.g. an arc shaped section starting from either of the first 151 or second 152 lateral boundaries, including the one or more positions of obstacles and finishing on the same lateral boundary.

STEP 640: The method further comprises determining 640 a target lateral position 190 of the vehicle within an overlapping area of the drivable area and the road lane. In one example, the target lateral position may be indicative of an intended lateral position of the vehicle 120 in the near future. In an embodiment, a plurality of successive target lateral positions may be determined, thus forming a target lateral path. An advantage of this is that a smooth change of lateral position of the vehicle 120 can be obtained.

STEP 650: The method further comprises controlling 650 a steering control unit SC of the vehicle 120 based on the target lateral position 190. In one example this involves steering the vehicle 120 to the target lateral position.

At least one advantage with this embodiment is that road safety is improved by reducing stress and level of tiredness of the driver as a result of the dynamically determined lateral position of the vehicle. The lateral position will feel natural or safe to the driver and is adapted as the road or traffic situation changes.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises determining safety zones around the one or more positions of the obstacles based on the sensor data, wherein the size of the safety zones are dependent on the sensor data. A adapting the drivable area further comprises excluding the safety zones from the drivable area.

At least one advantage with this embodiment is to further improve road safety by reducing stress and level of tiredness of the driver as a result of the dynamically determined distance to obstacles, such as vehicles in an adjacent road lane. This is achieved by dynamically adapting the lateral distance to obstacles, such as crash barriers or other vehicles, dependent on the type of obstacle. In one example, a stationary obstacle may feel safe to pass at a close distance whereas another vehicle 129, 181, 182 travelling in an opposite direction relative to the vehicle 120 may require a larger lateral distance to avoid stressing the driver. Thus road safety is further improved.

In an embodiment, the sensor data is further indicative of any of a selection of a classification of the obstacle as a static or a moving obstacle, a relative speed of the obstacle relative to the vehicle, a relative direction of travel of the obstacle relative to the vehicle, a road traffic sign, and a road marking. In one example, the sensor data indicates the classification.

In an embodiment, controlling the steering control unit SC of the vehicle comprises providing a torque profile specifying the target lateral position or providing a control signal to steer steering the vehicle 120 to the target lateral position.

At least one advantage with this embodiment is to further improve road safety by reducing stress and level of tiredness of the driver by assisting the driver to laterally positioning the vehicle or automatically laterally positioning the vehicle.

In an embodiment, the target lateral position is determined in a range, seen in the driving direction of the vehicle, between lateral boundaries of the overlapping area. In an embodiment, the range is further limited by a predetermined margin, e.g. based on driver preferences.

At least one advantage with this embodiment is to further improve road safety by reducing stress and level of tiredness of the driver by positioning the vehicle in a position that is perceived natural or safe to the driver.

In an embodiment, the target lateral position is determined such that, seen in the driving direction of the vehicle, a left hand side of the vehicle is aligned with a left hand boundary of the overlapping area or a right hand side of the vehicle is aligned with a right hand boundary of the overlapping area or a longitudinal center of the vehicle is aligned with the center of the overlapping area.

In one embodiment, a computer program is provided comprising computer-executable instructions for causing the vehicle positioning control unit 100 when the computerexecutable instructions are executed on a processing unit comprised in the vehicle positioning control unit 100, to perform any of the methods described herein. Furthermore, any methods according to embodiments of the invention may be implemented in a computer program, having code means, which when run by processing means causes the processing means to execute the steps of the method. The computer program is included in a computer readable medium of a computer program product.

In one embodiment, a computer program product is provided comprising a computerreadable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium having the computer program above embodied therein. The memory and/or computer-readable storage medium referred to herein may comprise of essentially any memory, such as a ROM (Read-Only Memory), a PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable PROM), a Flash memory, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM), or a hard disk drive.

In one embodiment, a carrier containing the computer program above, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

In embodiments, the communications network 130 communicate using wired or wireless communication techniques that may include at least one of a Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), Global System for Mobile Network (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, Long term evolution, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, Wi-Fi, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), LTE Advanced, IEEE802.16m, WirelessMAN-Advanced, Evolved High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) (formerly Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) Rev. C), Fast Low-latency Access with Seamless Handoff Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (Flash-OFDM), High Capacity Spatial Division Multiple Access (iBurst®) and Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) (IEEE 802.20) systems, High Performance Radio Metropolitan Area Network (HIPERMAN), Beam-Division Multiple Access (BDMA), World Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wi-MAX) and ultrasonic communication, etc., but is not limited thereto.

Moreover, it is realized by the skilled person that the vehicle positioning control unit 100 may comprise the necessary communication capabilities in the form of e.g., functions, means, units, elements, etc., for performing the present solution. Examples of other such means, units, elements and functions are: processors, memory, buffers, control logic, encoders, decoders, rate matchers, de-rate matchers, mapping units, multipliers, decision units, selecting units, switches, interleavers, de-interleavers, modulators, demodulators, inputs, outputs, antennas, amplifiers, receiver units, transmitter units, DSPs, MSDs, encoder, decoder, power supply units, power feeders, communication interfaces, communication protocols, etc. which are suitably arranged together for performing the present solution.

Especially, the processor and/or processing means of the present disclosure may comprise one or more instances of processing circuitry, processor modules and multiple processors configured to cooperate with each-other, Central Processing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, a processing circuit, a processor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other processing logic that may interpret and execute instructions. The expression "processor" and/or "processing means" may thus represent a processing circuitry comprising a plurality of processing circuits, such as, e.g., any, some or all of the ones mentioned above. The processing means may further perform data processing functions for inputting, outputting, and processing of data comprising data buffering and device control functions, such as call processing control, user interface control, or the like.

Finally, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but also relates to and incorporates all embodiments within the scope of the appended independent claims.

Claims

1. A vehicle positioning control unit (100) configured for lane keeping assistance of a vehicle (120), the vehicle positioning control unit (100) comprising: a processor (112), and a memory (115), said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, wherein the processor (112) is communicatively coupled to the memory (115), wherein said vehicle positioning control unit (100) is configured to: obtain sensor data indicative of an environment of the vehicle (120), estimate a drivable area based on the sensor data, wherein the drivable area comprises lateral boundaries (151, 152) which exceeds road lane boundaries (161, 162) of a road lane within which the vehicle shall be kept, adapt the drivable area to exclude one or more positions of obstacles present in the environment of the vehicle and indicated in the sensor data, determine a target lateral position (190) of the vehicle within an overlapping area of the adapted drivable area and the road lane, control a steering control unit (SC) of the vehicle (120) based on the target lateral position (190).

2. The vehicle positioning control unit (100) according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle positioning control unit (100) is further configured to: determine safety zones around the one or more positions of the obstacles based on the sensor data, wherein the size of the safety zones are dependent on the sensor data, and wherein the drivable area is adapted to exclude the safety zones.

3. The vehicle positioning control unit (100) according to any of the preceding claims wherein the sensor data is further indicative of any of a selection of a classification of the obstacle as: a static or a moving obstacle, a relative speed of the obstacle relative to the vehicle, a relative direction of travel of the obstacle relative to the vehicle, a road traffic sign, and a road marking.

4. The vehicle positioning control unit (100) according to any of the preceding claims configured to control the steering control unit (SC) of the vehicle by: providing a torque profile specifying the target lateral position, or providing a control signal to steer the vehicle (120) to the target lateral position.

5. The vehicle positioning control unit (100) according to any of the preceding claims configured to determine the target lateral position such that, seen in the driving direction of the vehicle, a left hand side of the vehicle is aligned with a left hand boundary of the overlapping area or a right hand side of the vehicle is aligned with a right hand boundary of the overlapping area or a longitudinal center of the vehicle is aligned with the center of the overlapping area.

6. A vehicle comprising: the vehicle positioning control unit (100) according to any of claims 1 -5, a steering control unit (SC) configured to actuate steering means of the vehicle (120) in response to a control signal to steer the vehicle to a lateral position, a plurality of sensors (121-123) configured to generate sensor data indicative of an environment of the vehicle (120).

7. A method (600) performed by a vehicle positioning control unit (100) configured for lane keeping assistance of a vehicle (120), the method comprising: obtaining (610) sensor data indicative of an environment of the vehicle (120), estimating (620) a drivable area based on the sensor data, wherein the drivable area comprises lateral boundaries (151, 152) which exceeds road lane boundaries (161, 162) of a road lane within which the vehicle shall be kept, adapting (630) the drivable area to exclude one or more positions of obstacles present in the environment of the vehicle and indicated in the sensor data, determining (640) a target lateral position (190) of the vehicle within an overlapping area of the adapted drivable area and the road lane, and controlling (650) a steering control unit (SC) of the vehicle (120) based on the target lateral position (190).

8. The method (600)according to claim 7, further comprising: determining safety zones around the one or more positions of the obstacles based on the sensor data, wherein the size of the safety zones are dependent on the sensor data, and wherein adapting the drivable area comprises excluding the safety zones.

9. The method (600) according to any of the preceding claims wherein the sensor data is further indicative of any of a selection of a classification of the obstacle as: a static or a moving obstacle, a relative speed of the obstacle relative to the vehicle, a relative direction of travel of the obstacle relative to the vehicle, a road traffic sign, and a road marking.

10. The method (600) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein controlling the steering control unit (SC) of the vehicle comprises: providing a torque profile specifying the target lateral position, or providing a control signal to steer the vehicle (120) to the target lateral position.

11. The method (600) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the target lateral position is determined such that, seen in the driving direction of the vehicle, a left hand side of the vehicle is aligned with a left hand boundary of the overlapping area or a right hand side of the vehicle is aligned with a right hand boundary of the overlapping area or a longitudinal center of the vehicle is aligned with the center of the overlapping area.

12. A computer program comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a vehicle positioning control unit (100) when the computer-executable instructions are executed on a processing circuit comprised in the vehicle positioning control unit, to perform the method of any of claims 7-11. 13 A computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium having the computer program according to claim 12 embodied therein.