DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A VEHICLE MODULE

Abstract

The invention provides a device for controlling a vehicle module with plausible information, which contains a multicore safety processor, configured to check processed information for plausibility. A control unit for a vehicle module is also provided, which contains a power processor, the evaluated information of which is checked for plausibility via an information interface in the safety processor of the device according to the invention. A driver assistance system process is also provided, in which a control unit according to the invention is used.

Claims

1. A device for controlling a vehicle module comprising: a safety processor comprising: at least one information interface at an input of the safety processor; a control interface at an output of the safety processor; at least one first core; at least one second core; and at least one third core; wherein the first core is configured to execute a first plausibility control of at least one first information sent to the safety processor via the information interface with respect to at least one second information sent to the safety processor via the information interface; wherein the second core is configured to execute a second plausibility control of the first information with respect to the second information; wherein the third core is configured to: execute a comparison of a result of the plausibility control executed on the first core forwarded to the third core with a result of the second plausibility control executed on the second core forwarded to the third core; and forward the information determined to be plausible in the first plausibility control and the second plausibility control to the control interface; and wherein the vehicle module can be controlled via the control interface with the information determined to be plausible.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first core is further configured to execute the first plausibility control for the first information, the second information, and at least one third information sent to the safety processor via the information interface, wherein the first information, the second information, and the third information can each be checked for plausibility with respect to one another.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the second core is configured to execute the second plausibility control for the first information, the second information, and at least one third information sent to the safety processor via the information interface, wherein the first information, the second information, and the third information can each be checked for plausibility with respect to one another.

4. The device according to claim 2, wherein the results of the first plausibility control executed on the first core is a majority selection of the information with the greatest plausibility.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the safety processor has a redundant power supply for the first core, the second core, and the third core.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the safety processor has a monitoring device for the first core, the second core, and the third core.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the information interface is a redundant information interface.

8. A control unit for a vehicle module, the control unit comprising: the device according to claim 1; and a power processor; wherein the information interface of the device is located between the power processor and the safety processor; wherein the power processor contains an acquisition device and an evaluation unit; wherein the acquisition device is configured to acquire at least one first signal and at least one second signal; wherein the evaluation unit is configured to generate at least one first information from the at least one first signal and at least one second information from the at least one second signal; and wherein at least the at least one first information and the at least one second information is sent to the safety processor for controlling the vehicle module.

9. The control unit according to claim 8, wherein the power processor contains at least one first channel and a separate second channel, wherein the first signal can be acquired in the first channel, and the first information can be generated from the acquired first signal, and wherein the second signal can be acquired in the second channel, and the second information can be generated independently of the first information.

10. The control unit according to claim 8, wherein the power processor contains a redundant power supply for at least one of the first channel, the second channel, the acquisition device, or the evaluation unit.

11. The control unit according to claim 8, wherein the power processor contains a monitoring device for at least the first channel and the second channel.

12. The control unit according to claim 8, wherein the evaluation unit executes an artificial neural network.

13. The control unit according to claim 8, wherein the at least one first signal and the at least one second signal acquired by the acquisition device are from environment sensors.

14. The control unit according to claim 8, wherein the vehicle module is associated with at least one of an infotainment domain of a vehicle, a chassis domain of the vehicle, a drive domain of the vehicle, an interior domain of the vehicle, or a safety domain of the vehicle.

15. A driver assistance system that has a control unit according to claim 8.

16. A driver assistance method comprising: acquiring a first signal, a second signal, and a third signal from an environment of a vehicle with an acquisition device of a power processor of a control unit; evaluating, by an evaluation unit of the power processor, the first signal, the second signal, and the third signal and generating, by the evaluation unit, first information from the first signal, second information from the second signal, and third information from the third signal in separate channels of the power processor; forwarding the first information, the second information, and the third information to a safety processor coupled to the power processor via an information interface of the safety processor; executing a first plausibility control for each of the first, second, and third information with respect to each other on a first core of the safety processor, wherein a majority selection of at least one of the first, second, or third information that is most plausible with respect to each other takes place; executing a second plausibility control for each of the first, second, and third information with respect to each other on a second core of the safety processor, wherein a majority selection of at least one of the first, second, or third information that is most plausible with respect to each other takes place; forwarding a result of the first plausibility control executed on the first core and a result of the second plausibility control executed on the second core to a third core of the safety processor; comparing the results of the first plausibility control and the second plausibility control on the third core; forwarding the information for which plausibility has been established in the first plausibility control and the second plausibility control to a control interface at an output of the safety processor; and controlling a vehicle module with the information determined to be plausible.

17. The control unit according to claim 13, wherein the at least one first signal and the at least one second signal are at least one of camera signals, radar signals, or lidar signals.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0052] The invention shall be explained in detail in reference to the following drawings. Therein:

[0053] FIG. 1: shows an exemplary embodiment of the device according to the invention;

[0054] FIG. 2: shows an exemplary embodiment of a control unit according to the invention; and

[0055] FIG. 3: shows an exemplary embodiment of a driver assistance system process according to the invention.

[0056] Identical reference symbols indicate identical or functionally identical features. For purposes of clarity, only the respective relevant reference symbols are given in the respective figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] FIG. 1 shows a device 1 according to the invention for controlling a vehicle module 2. The device 1 contains an information interface 20, a safety processor 10, and a control interface 21. A first information 31, second information 32, and third information 33 are sent to the safety processor 10 via the information interface 20. The safety processor 10 has a first core 11, a second core 12, and a third core 13. Each individual core is connected to a redundant power supply 14. Furthermore, each core is monitored by a monitoring device 15.

[0058] It is also within the scope of the invention that the first information 31, second information 32, and third information 33 are each input to the device 1 as a two-channel object.

[0059] The information 31, 32, 33 are checked against each other for plausibility in a first plausibility control 30 in the first core 11. The information 31, 32, 33 are checked against each other in the second core 12 by means of a second plausibility control 40, which differs from the first plausibility control 30.

[0060] If the first information 31 is environment information acquired with a camera, the second information 32 is information acquired with a radar, and the third information 33 is information acquired with a lidar, the majority selection is based on the following majority voter formula:

TABLE-US-00001 1: not plausible 0: plausible Majority voter Camera/ Camera/ Radar/ Erroneous Radar Lidar Lidar Information Combinations 0 0 0 None Combinations 1 0 0 None Combinations 0 1 0 None Combinations 0 0 1 None Combinations 1 1 0 Camera Combinations 0 1 1 Lidar Combinations 1 0 1 Radar Combinations 1 1 1 All

[0061] If, for example, the camera information 31 is plausible with respect to the radar information 32, but not with the lidar information 33, and the radar information 32 is not plausible with respect to the lidar information 33, then the device 1 realizes that the lidar information 33 is erroneous.

[0062] The information 31, 32, 33 determined to be plausible with respect to one another in the first plausibility control 30 and the second plausibility control 40 are sent to the third core 13, in which a comparison 45 of the information takes place. If the information determined to be plausible in relation to one another in the first core 11 is also recognized as plausible information in the second core 12, as can be determined by a comparison 45, the vehicle module 2 is controlled via the control interface 21 with the plausible information.

[0063] If the results of the comparison show that the information determined to be plausible in the first core 11 differs from the information determined to be plausible in the second core 12, a hardware and/or software error is detected by the third core 13.

[0064] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a control unit 3 according to the invention. A power processor 50 is combined with a safety processor 10 by the control unit 3 via the information interface 20 located between the power processor 50 and the safety processor 10.

[0065] The power processor has an acquisition device 51 and an evaluation unit 52. The acquisition device 51 has a redundant power supply 14. A first signal 53, second signal 54, and third signal 55 are accumulated in the acquisition device. The signals 53, 54, and 55 can be signals from environment sensors, for example. By way of example, the first signal 53 can be a signal from a camera sensor, the second signal 54 can be the signal from a radar sensor, and the third signal 55 can be the signal from a lidar sensor.

[0066] The signals 53, 54, 55 are acquired and processed in separate channels in the power processor, specifically a first channel 56, second channel 57 and third channel 58.

[0067] Corresponding information 31, 32, 33 is generated from the signals 53, 54, 55 in the evaluation unit 52, which are sent to the safety processor 1 via the information interface 20. The information from a camera signal 53, for example, is then a corresponding camera image. The camera image can be an image of the area to the front, to the rear, or to the side of a vehicle.

[0068] The evaluation unit 52 exhibits artificial intelligence. The artificial intelligence is formed by an artificial neural network that has been trained to identify traffic situations.

[0069] The function of the power processor 50 is monitored with a watchdog 15.

[0070] A high performance processor is used in particular as the power processor 50. The chip on which the power processor 50 is implemented is also known as a performance or power chip. A processor with less capacity can be used as the safety processor.

[0071] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of a driver assistance system process 5 according to the invention, which can be executed with a driver assistance system 4. The signals 53, 54, and 55 are first acquired in the acquisition step 60 by means of the acquisition device 51. The signals 53, 54, and 55 are subsequently evaluated in the evaluation step 61 in the evaluation unit 52. The acquisition 60 and evaluation 61 of the signals 53, 54, and 55 representing the information 31, 32, and 33, respectively, takes place in the power processor 50.

[0072] The evaluated information 31, 32, and 33 are sent to the safety processor 10 in the forwarding step 62 via the information interface.

[0073] The following steps take place in the safety processor 10: the first plausibility control 30 is executed 63 in the first core 11. The second plausibility control 40 is executed 64 in the second core 12. The results of the first plausibility control 30 executed in the first core 11 and the results of the second plausibility control 40 executed in the second core 12 are sent to the third core 13 of the safety processor in the forwarding step 65. The results of the plausibility controls 30 and 40 are compared 66 in the third core 13 of the safety processor 10. The information determined to be plausible in the first plausibility control 30 and the second plausibility control 40 is then forwarded 67 to the vehicle module 2 via the control interface 22, wherein the vehicle module 2 is controlled with the information determined to be plausible in the actuation step 68.

[0074] A vehicle module can be controlled in the scope of the invention such that the control can be perceived hapticly. By way of example, a steering wheel can be actuated when it has been determined that the vehicle is not in the driving lane, such that the steering wheel vibrates, which is then perceived by the driver with his sense of touch. The actuation can also be visible or audible, or it can take place via actuators, in particular mechatronic actuators.

REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0075] 1 device [0076] 2 vehicle module [0077] 3 control unit [0078] 4 driver assistance system [0079] 5 driver assistance system process [0080] 10 safety processor [0081] 11 first core [0082] 12 second core [0083] 13 third core [0084] 14 power supply [0085] 15 monitoring device [0086] 20 information interface [0087] 21 control interface [0088] 30 first plausibility control [0089] 31 first information [0090] 32 second information [0091] 33 third information [0092] 40 second plausibility control [0093] 45 comparison [0094] 50 power processor [0095] 51 acquisition device [0096] 52 evaluation unit [0097] 53 first signal [0098] 54 second signal [0099] 55 third signal [0100] 56 first channel [0101] 57 second channel [0102] 58 third channel [0103] 60 acquisition [0104] 61 evaluation [0105] 62 forwarding information [0106] 63 execution of a first plausibility control [0107] 64 execution of a second plausibility control [0108] 65 forwarding [0109] 66 comparison [0110] 67 forwarding of plausible information [0111] 68 actuation