Abstract
A system for controlling actuators based on pedal positions in a vehicle is described. The system comprises a control unit and a camera. The camera is configured to capture an image containing two or more pedals in a vehicle and to provide the image to the control unit. The control unit is configured to determine for each pedal, based on the provided image, the current position of the pedal relative to a fixed structure in the vehicle or relative to a reference position of the pedal, and control, based on the determined position, an actuator associated with the pedal.
Claims
1. A system for controlling actuators based on pedal positions in a vehicle, comprising: a control unit, a camera configured to capture an image containing two or more pedals in a vehicle and to provide the image to the control unit, wherein the control unit is configured to: determine for each pedal, based on the provided image, the current position of the pedal relative to a fixed structure in the vehicle or relative to a reference position of the pedal, and control, based on the determined position, an actuator associated with the pedal.
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein, for each pedal, the control unit is configured to: detect in the provided image one or more predefined points on the pedal, determine the position(s) of the detected one or more predefined points in the provided image, and calculate, based on the determined position(s) of the one or more detected predefined points, the position of each pedal relative to the fixed structure or relative to its reference position.
3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the camera is configured to capture and provide a sequence of images, wherein for at least one of said pedals, the control unit is configured to: compare the position of the pedal in two or more of the images in said sequence of images, to detect a positional change of the pedal, and control the associated actuator based on the detected positional change of the pedal.
4. The system according to claim 3, wherein one of said pedals is a brake pedal, wherein the control unit is configured to send an emergency brake signal to a brake actuator associated with the brake pedal when the detected positional change per unit of time exceeds a predetermined threshold.
5. The system according to claim 1, wherein said camera is a thermographic camera configured to capture and create images by using infrared radiation emitted from said pedals.
6. The system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the pedals is connected to a base plate, wherein said fixed structure comprises said base plate, wherein the control unit is configured to determine for said at least one of the pedals, based on the provided image, the position of the pedal relative to its connected base plate.
7. The system according to claim 1, comprising an electronic memory in which a reference image is stored, the reference image containing said two or more pedals when they are in their respective non-pressed original positions, wherein the control unit comprises or has access to said electronic memory, wherein the control unit is configured to determine the position of each pedal by comparing the captured image provided by the camera with said reference image.
8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the camera is configured to capture an image containing an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal, wherein the control unit is configured to: send an acceleration signal, based on the determined position of the accelerator pedal, to an associated acceleration actuator, a brake signal, based on the determined position of the brake pedal, to an associated brake actuator.
9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the captured image further contains a clutch pedal, wherein the control unit is configured to send a clutch actuating signal to a clutch actuator based on the determined position of the clutch pedal.
10. A vehicle comprising a system according to claim 1.
11. A computer-implemented method for controlling actuators based on pedal positions in a vehicle, comprising: receiving from a camera a captured image containing two or more pedals in a vehicle, determining for each pedal based on the received image, the position of the pedal relative to a fixed structure in the vehicle or relative to a reference position of the pedal, and controlling based on the determined position, an actuator associated with the pedal.
12. The method according to claim 11, comprising: detecting in the received image one or more predefined points of each pedal, determining, for each pedal, the position of said detected one or more predefined points in the provided image, and calculating, based on the determined position(s) of the one or more detected predefined points, the position of each pedal relative to the fixed structure or relative to its reference position.
13. The method according to claim 11, comprising: receiving a sequence of captured images, comparing for at least one of said pedals the position of the pedal in two or more of the images in said sequence of images, to detect a positional change of the pedal, and controlling the associated actuator based on the detected positional change of the pedal.
14. A computer program comprising program code for performing the steps of the method according to claim 11 when said program code is run on a computer.
15. A non-transitory computer readable medium carrying a computer program comprising program code for performing the steps of the method according to claim 11 when said program code is run on a computer.
16. A control unit for controlling actuators based on pedal positions in a vehicle, the control unit being configured to perform the steps in the method according to claim 11.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0058] With reference to the appended drawings, below follows a more detailed description of embodiments of the invention cited as examples.
[0059] In the drawings:
[0060] FIG. 1 illustrates a vehicle in which a system according to at least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be implemented.
[0061] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the system according to at least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[0062] FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of pedals, for which exemplary embodiments of the system may be used.
[0063] FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of another type of pedals, for which exemplary embodiments of the system may be used.
[0064] FIGS. 5-7 schematically illustrate methods according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
[0065] FIG. 8 schematically illustrates a control unit according to at least one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0066] FIG. 9 schematically illustrates a computer program product according to at least one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0067] The invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain aspects of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments and aspects set forth herein; rather, the embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein and illustrated in the drawings; rather, the skilled person will recognize that many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the description.
[0068] FIG. 1 illustrates a vehicle 1 in which a system according to at least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be implemented. In this example, the vehicle 1 is a heavy-duty vehicle in the form of a tractor unit. The tractor unit may, for instance, be powered by a propulsion system, such as including an internal combustion engine, electric motor, fuel cell engine, or a combination thereof. Although a tractor unit has been illustrated, it should be understood that the teachings of the present disclosure may also be implemented in other types of vehicles, such as busses, construction equipment and passenger cars. The illustrated vehicle 1 comprises a cabin 2 in which a driver may operate the vehicle 1. The vehicle 1 comprises pedals which the driver may depress with his/her feet to accelerate or decelerate the vehicle. In embodiments in which the vehicle has a manual gear shift, a pedal may also be provided for actuating a clutch when the driver wishes to shift gears.
[0069] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a system 10 according to at least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2 three pedals 12, 14, 16 are illustrated, however, the system 10 may also be implemented in vehicles having only two pedals. The pedals illustrated in FIG. 2, may for example be an accelerator pedal 12, a brake pedal 14 and a clutch pedal 16. As conventional, when a driver presses a pedal, a corresponding actuator 22, 24, 26 will be activated, whereby the propulsion, acceleration, deceleration, gear-shifting, etc. may be controlled.
[0070] Although it is known to use a control unit which translates pedal sensor signals into actuating signals for controlling the corresponding actuators, the general inventive concept achieves it in a new and efficient way, eliminating the need for individual sensors for each pedal.
[0071] The system 10 of the present general inventive concept uses a single camera 30 for capturing an image 40 containing all the pedals 12, 14, 16 (or containing portions of all the pedals 12, 14, 16). The captured imaged 40 is provided to a control unit 50 for analysis. Thus, the system 10 of FIG. 2 is a system 10 for controlling actuators 22, 24, 26 based on pedal positions in a vehicle. The system 10 comprises the control unit 50 and the camera 30. The camera 30 may suitably be a thermographic camera, even though the inventive principle could be implemented with other types of cameras as well. The camera 30 is configured to capture an image 40 containing two or more pedals (in this example, three pedals 12, 14, 16), and to provide the image 40 (suitably in the form of a digital image) to the control unit 50. In its turn, the control unit 50 is configured to determine for each pedal, 12, 14, 16, based on the provided image 40, the current position of the pedal relative to a fixed structure in the vehicle or relative to a reference position of the pedal. Then, based on the determined position, the control unit 50 is configured to control the actuator 22, 24, 26 associated with the pedal 12, 14, 16. Thus, the control unit 50 may be configured to send an acceleration signal 52, based on the determined position to the accelerator pedal 12, to the associated acceleration actuator 22. Similarly, the control unit 50 may be configured to send a brake signal 54, based on the determined position of the brake pedal 14, to an associated brake actuator 24. In embodiments in which a clutch pedal 16 is present and captured in the image 40 provided by the camera 30, the control unit 50 may be configured to send a clutch actuating signal 56 to an associated clutch actuator 26 based on the determined position of the clutch pedal 16.
[0072] FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 illustrates two different types of pedals. In FIG. 3 two pedals 60 are shown of suspended type. The two pedals 60 may be an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal. In other examples, there may be a third pedal as well, e.g. a clutch pedal. In FIG. 4 another type of pedal 70 is illustrated, wherein the pedal 70 is connected to a base plate 72. A vehicle may suitably have two or more pedals of this type. The pedals 12, 14, 16 illustrated in the system 10 of FIG. 2 may be of either one of the types.
[0073] The base plate 72 in FIG. 4 represents a fixed structure which may conveniently be captured in an image together with the pedal 70. For the suspended types of pedals 60 in FIG. 3, it may be more appropriate to compare the captured image with a stored reference image, when the control unit determines the positions of the pedals 60.
[0074] As illustrated in FIG. 3 as well as in FIG. 4, each pedal may have one or more predefined points 80 which the control unit is configured to find in the image provided by the camera 30. As exemplified in FIG. 3, the predefined points 80 may be at a respective edge of the pedals 60. However, another conceivable location may be the underside of the foot-receiving part of each pedal 60. Yet another conceivable location may be at the long shank part that extends from the foot-receiving part of each pedal 60. In either case, the camera 30 should be positioned so that it can capture all predefined points 80 in one image. As exemplified in FIG. 4. in at least some exemplary embodiments there may be two (or more) predefined points 80 on each pedal 70 for the control unit to detect in the image provided by the camera 30. This may improve the accuracy of the calculations made by the control unit.
[0075] When the control unit has identified the predefined points 80 in the image received from the camera 30 and determined their positions in the image, the control unit may, based on these determined positions, calculate the position of each pedal 60, 70. In the example of FIG. 3 the control unit would suitably calculate the position of each pedal 60 relative to their reference position. For instance, the control unit would suitably compare the positions of the predefined points 80 in the now captured and received image with their positions in a reference image (taken in an original non-depressed state of the pedals), which is suitably stored in an electronic memory accessible by the control unit. Thereby, the control unit can calculate the position of each pedal 60. In the example of FIG. 4, the captured image provided by the camera 30 would suitably also include the base plate 72 (i.e. a fixed structure). The base plate may suitably also have a predefined point 82. By comparing the position of the predefined points 80 of the pedal 70 with the position of the predefined point 82 of the base plate 72, the control unit can calculate to what extend the pedal 70 has been pressed.
[0076] With reference to FIGS. 2-4, as already discussed in this disclosure, irrespective of the type of pedals used, the camera 30 may suitably be configured to capture and provide a sequence of images to the control unit 50. Suitably, the camera 30 continuously captures and provides images to the control unit 50 from the time the propulsion system of the vehicle is started/enabled. For each pedal 12, 14, 16, 60, 70, the control unit 50 may compare the position of the pedal in two or more of the images in said sequence of images to detect a positional change of the pedal. The control unit 50 may then control the associated actuator 22, 24, 26 based on the detected positional change of the pedal. For instance, for a brake pedal 14, if the positional change per unit of time is very large (e.g. exceeding a predetermined threshold), then the control unit 50 may suitably send an emergency brake signal to the brake actuator 24 associated with the brake pedal 14.
[0077] Turning now to FIGS. 5-7, some different steps of non-limiting exemplary embodiments of the computer-implemented method of the present disclosure are illustrated. Such a computer-implemented method may suitably be performed by one or more control units, such as the control unit 50 illustrated in FIG. 2 or FIG. 8.
[0078] FIG. 5 illustrates schematically a method 500 in accordance with at least one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. More specifically, FIG. 5 illustrates a computer-implemented method 500 for controlling actuators based on pedal positions in a vehicle, comprising: [0079] in a step S1, receiving from a camera a captured image containing two or more pedals in a vehicle, [0080] in a step S2, determining for each pedal based on the received image, the position of the pedal relative to a fixed structure in the vehicle or relative to a reference position of the pedal, and [0081] in a step S3, controlling based on the determined position, an actuator associated with the pedal.
[0082] FIG. 6 illustrates schematically a computer-implemented method 600 in accordance with at least another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. This exemplary embodiment may include all the steps S1-S3 of the method 500 and additionally include the illustrated steps S4-S6. Steps S4-S6 may actually be considered to represent substeps to step S2. Thus, the method 600 may comprise: [0083] in a step S4, detecting in the received image one or more predefined points of each pedal, [0084] determining, in a step S5, for each pedal, the position of said detected one or more predefined points in the provided image, and [0085] calculating, in a step S6, based on the determined position(s) of the one or more detected predefined points, the position of each pedal relative to the fixed structure or relative to its reference position.
[0086] FIG. 7 illustrates schematically a computer-implemented method 700 in accordance with yet another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. This exemplary embodiment may include all the steps S1-S3 of the method 500, and additionally includes the illustrated steps S7-S9. Furthermore, the method 700 may additionally include the steps S4-S6 of method 600. Thus, the method 700 may comprise: [0087] in a step S7, receiving a sequence of captured images, [0088] in a step S8, comparing for at least one of said pedals the position of the pedal in two or more of the images in said sequence of images, to detect a positional change of the pedal, and [0089] in a step S9, controlling the associated actuator based on the detected positional change of the pedal.
[0090] FIG. 8 schematically illustrates a control unit 50 according to at least one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 8 illustrates, in terms of a number of functional units, the components of a control unit 50 according to exemplary embodiments of the discussions herein. The control unit 50 may be comprised in any vehicle disclosed herein, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 1, and others discussed above. Processing circuitry 810 may be provided using any combination of one or more of a suitable central processing unit CPU, multiprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor DSP, etc., capable of executing software instructions stored in a computer program product, e.g. in the form of a storage medium 830. The processing circuitry 810 may further be provided as at least one application specific integrated circuit ASIC, or field programmable gate array FPGA.
[0091] Particularly, the processing circuitry 810 is configured to cause the control unit 50 to perform a set of operations, or steps, such as the method discussed in connection to FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and/or FIG. 7 and exemplary embodiments thereof discussed throughout this disclosure. For example, the storage medium 830 may store the set of operations, and the processing circuitry 810 may be configured to retrieve the set of operations from the storage medium 830 to cause the control unit 50 to perform the set of operations. The set of operations may be provided as a set of executable instructions. Thus, the processing circuitry 810 is thereby arranged to execute exemplary methods as herein disclosed.
[0092] The storage medium 830 may also comprise persistent storage, which, for example may be any single one or combination of magnetic memory, optical memory, solid state memory or even remotely mounted memory.
[0093] The control unit 50 may further comprise an interface 820 for communications with at least one external device such as the camera 30 and the actuators 22, 24, 26 discussed herein. As such, the interface 820 may comprise one or more transmitters and receivers, comprising analogue and digital components and a suitable number of ports for wireline or wireless communication.
[0094] The processing circuitry 810 controls the general operation of the control unit 50, e.g. by sending data and control signals to the interface 820 and the storage medium 830, by receiving data and reports from the interface 820, and by retrieving data and instructions form the storage medium 830. Other components, as well as the related functionality, of the control unit 50 are omitted in order not to obscure the concepts presented herein.
[0095] FIG. 9 schematically illustrates a computer program product 900 according to at least one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. More specifically, FIG. 8 illustrates a computer readable medium 910 carrying a computer program comprising program code means 920 for performing the methods exemplified in FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and/or FIG. 7, when said program product is run on a computer. The computer readable medium 910 and the program code means 920 may together form the computer program product 900.
