VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM

Abstract

Vehicle control system comprising: a smart cell that is capable of storing and transmitting information on the state of the road surface a control module comprised in a vehicle
and the control module of the vehicle modifying the operating parameters of said vehicle based on the information transmitted by the smart cell.

Claims

1. A vehicle control system comprises: a smart cell that is capable of storing and transmitting information on the state of the road surface, and a control module comprised in a vehicle wherein the control module of the vehicle modifies the operating parameters of said vehicle based on the information transmitted by the smart cell.

2. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the information on the state of the road surface comprises the coefficient of transverse friction (CTF) and/or the International Roughness Index (IRI).

3. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle control system calculates a global safety factor, which is a function of the coefficient of friction, the International Roughness Index, the position and the time.

4. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 further comprising a control unit for a section of road.

5. The vehicle control system according to claim 4, wherein a control unit is provided for each of a plurality of road sections.

6. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, further comprising an external server that runs a machine learning algorithm based on the historical data for the calculation of the global safety factor.

7. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the global safety factor is calculated in a smart cell.

8. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the global safety factor is calculated in a control unit of a section of road.

9. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein a smart cell is provided for each of the sections of road.

10. The vehicle control system according to either claim 5, wherein a global safety factor is calculated for each of the sections of road.

11. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the control module of the vehicle additionally considers the state of the occupants and the state of the vehicle in order to modify the operating parameters of the vehicle.

12. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the smart cell that is capable of storing and transmitting information on the state of the road surface is located at a fixed point with respect to said road surface.

13. The vehicle control system according to claim 12, wherein said smart cell is embedded in the asphalt.

14. A method for placing at least one smart cell belonging to a system according to claim 13, the method comprising: laying the asphalt or bituminous mixture, inserting at least one smart cell into the asphalt or bituminous mixture, and compacting the asphalt or bituminous mixture having the at least one smart cell inside.

15. The method for placing at least one smart cell belonging to a system according to claim 13 further comprising: making at least one hole in the surface of the road inserting a corresponding smart cell in the at least one hole, and covering the at least one hole having the smart cell inside with an asphaltic mixture.

16. The vehicle control system according to claim 8, wherein a global safety factor is calculated for each of the sections of road.

Description

[0074] To aid understanding, explanatory yet non-limiting drawings are included of an embodiment of the vehicle control system according to the present invention, in which:

[0075] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of a vehicle control system according to the present invention.

[0076] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a second embodiment of a vehicle control system according to the present invention.

[0077] FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a third embodiment of a vehicle control system according to the present invention.

[0078] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a road divided into sections according to the present invention.

[0079] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the operation of the third embodiment of the vehicle control system according to FIG. 3.

[0080] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the operation of a fourth embodiment of a vehicle control system according to the present invention.

[0081] FIG. 7 is a schematic elevation view of a first method for placing the smart cells in the surface of a road according to the present invention.

[0082] FIG. 8 is a schematic, partially sectional elevation view of a second method for placing the smart cells in the surface of a road according to the present invention.

[0083] In the figures, identical or equivalent elements have been given the same reference numerals.

[0084] FIG. 1 schematically shows a first embodiment of a vehicle control system according to the present invention. In the embodiment shown in this figure, the smart cell -20- stores the CTF and IRI values of the road -2- and is responsible for calculating the global safety factor and transmitting same to the control module -10- comprised in the vehicle -1- driving on the road -2-. Based on said global safety factor, the control module -10- modifies the operating parameters of said vehicle -1-.

[0085] FIG. 2 schematically shows a second embodiment of a vehicle control system according to the present invention. As is easily discernible, the main difference between the first and second embodiment is that the second embodiment additionally comprises a road-section control unit -3-.

[0086] In the embodiment shown, the smart cell -20- transmits the information on the state of the road surface, in this case the CTF and IRI, to the road-section control unit -3- and said control unit -3- is responsible for calculating the global safety factor of the road section in which it is located and transmitting said global safety factor to the control module -10- comprised in the vehicle -1-. In said embodiment, the smart cell -20- is also capable of calculating and transmitting the global safety factor to the control module -10- comprised in the vehicle -1- in the event of failure of the control unit -3-.

[0087] FIG. 3 schematically shows a third embodiment of a vehicle control system according to the present invention. Said third embodiment additionally includes, with respect to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 2, an external server -4- to which the road-section control unit -3- is connected. Said external server -4- is popularly known as cloud. Said external server -4- or cloud runs a machine learning algorithm which, based on the historical data on the state of the road, behaviour of the users, response actions, etc., is capable of recalibrating the temporal prediction algorithm which, in the embodiment shown, is run on the control unit -3-.

[0088] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a road divided into sections according to the present invention. In this figure, it is possible to see how, when driving on the road, the vehicle -1- traverses the different sections -2A-, -2B-, -2C-, -2D-, -2E-, -2F- of road. For each section, the system calculates a global safety factor such that the operating parameters of the vehicle are modified depending on the state of the road surface in each section. It is important to note that, in the present invention, the data on the state of the road surface are real, not estimated, and standardised data. Moreover, as mentioned previously, there are embodiments which also take account of the state of the occupants (tiredness, heart rate, breathing rate, temperature, etc.) and also their preferences (sport driving, driving to relax, etc.) in order to determine the optimal operating parameters for each section -2A-, -2B-, -2C-, -2D-, -2E-, -2F- of road. This type of more advanced and complete embodiment is especially advantageous for use in combination with autonomous vehicles or vehicles having a high degree of driver assistance, although it is also possible to use said type of embodiment with conventional vehicles.

[0089] FIG. 5 schematically shows the operation of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 3. This figure shows how the different road-section control units -3-, -3-, -3-, -3- are interconnected so as to form a local area network. In the embodiment shown, communication between the different control units -3-, -3-, -3-, -3- of the different road sections is bidirectional. As can be seen, the control units -3-, -3-, -3-, -3-communicate with the vehicle -1- such that the control module embedded in said vehicle (not shown in this figure) adjusts the operating parameters of the vehicle to the state of the road. This figure also shows how the road-section control units are connected to the external server -4- or cloud, which, in this embodiment, is responsible for running the hypervisor algorithm.

[0090] To aid understanding and reduce the complexity of the operation diagram, the smart cells have not been shown in FIG. 5. As explained above, it should be understood that said smart cells communicate with the control units -3-, -3-, -3-, -3- and with the vehicle, or more specifically, with the control module embedded therein (not shown in this figure).

[0091] FIG. 6 schematically shows the operation of a fourth embodiment of a vehicle control system according to the present invention. In this embodiment, in addition to the global safety factor calculated in the road-section control units -3-, -3-, -3- based on the state of the road surface transmitted by the smart cells -20A-, -20B-, -20A-, -20A-, -20B-, the system also considers the state and/or preferences of the user -5- with a view to determining the operating parameters of the vehicle -1-. The user -5- may be the driver of the vehicle -1-, the co-driver, the passengers or all of these. In this embodiment, the user -5- can receive warnings of upcoming dangers. In this embodiment, the system, in addition to ensuring the safety of the occupants of the vehicle, can also ensure the comfort of said occupants. For this purpose, the vehicle and the system have access to the sensors that provide biometric information on said occupants and to the stored preferences of said occupants.

[0092] In FIGS. 1 to 3, for illustrative purposes, the smart cell -20- has been shown on the surface of the road -2-, whereas, in reality, said smart cell is preferably embedded in the road surface -2-.

[0093] All of the information transmission operations shown in the previous figures, be they wired or wireless, can be carried out in an encrypted manner, such that no one can intercept and/or modify the information transmitted. This is especially relevant since the information transmitted will be important with regard to road safety and, as a result, the safety of the people.

[0094] Although the embodiments shown in the previous figures evaluate the state of the road surface based on the coefficient of transverse friction (CTF) and the International Roughness Index (IRI) of one section of said road, other embodiments of the present invention that additionally consider the International Friction Index (IFI) of said road section or equivalent are also possible. Although the accuracy of the system would decrease, embodiments that only consider one of the previously mentioned parameters are possible, i.e. they either consider only the CTF or they only consider the IRI or they only consider the IFI. The system according to the present invention can also be used with other standardised parameters relating to the state of the uppermost portion of the road surface or wearing course of the road.

[0095] FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a first method for placing the smart cells in the surface of a road according to the present invention. This method consists in embedding the smart cells -20-, -20-, -20- in the road surface during asphalting thereof. For this purpose, the hot-mixture paver -200- comprises a mechanical insertion arm that inserts the smart cell into the asphalt or bituminous mixture after the paver -200- and before the roller -100-. When the roller passes over the smart cells -20-, -20-, -20-, the asphalt or bituminous mixture is perfectly compacted and smoothed and the smart cells -20-, -20-, -20- remain in their respective locations. It is important to note that, due to the temperatures of the asphalt or bituminous mixture after passing through the paver -200-, and due to the pressure exerted on said asphalt or bituminous mixture by the roller -100- passing thereover, the smart cells -20-, -20-, -20- must be made of materials that are resistant to heat (150 C.-200 C. approximately) and chemicals and that have an adequate mechanical strength. In the embodiment shown in this figure, the smart cells are coated in a thermoset plastic.

[0096] The reference numeral -300- indicates the dump truck, which is responsible for supplying the bituminous mixture or asphalt to the paver -200-.

[0097] FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a second method for placing the smart cells in the road surface. Said second placement method is specially conceived for existing roads which, because the asphalt in still in good condition or for other technical and/or economic reasons, do not need to be re-asphalted. In this case, a rotary probe -400- is provided which makes a hole in the surface of the existing road -2- by means of a cylindrical cutting tool -410-. The depth of said hole is such that it does not impede the transmission of information from the smart cell -20- to the vehicle and the other previously described elements making up the system. Once the smart cell -20- has been placed in the appropriate position, the hole is covered with a cold or hot asphaltic mixture, depending on availability and the specific circumstances of each case.

[0098] In the figures shown, the wearing course of the road -2- is made of hot bituminous mixture (or hot mix asphalt, HMA). However, other embodiments in which said wearing course is made of bituminous mixtures other than asphalt, cement, concrete or other materials suitable for paving roads are also possible.

[0099] Although the smart cells are embedded in asphalt in the embodiments shown in the previous figures, other embodiments in which the smart cells are arranged close to the wearing course of the road, in locations such as road markings, the roadside, road signs, etc., are also possible. In order to secure the smart cells to the road signs, roadside, etc., both permanent and non-permanent securing means can be used.

[0100] Although the invention has been set out and described with reference to embodiments thereof, it should be understood that these do not limit the invention, and that it is possible to alter many structural or other details that may prove obvious to persons skilled in the art after interpreting the subject matter disclosed in the present description, claims and drawings. In particular, in principle and unless otherwise explicitly stated, all the features of each of the different embodiments and alternatives shown and/or suggested can be combined. Therefore, the scope of the present invention includes any variant or equivalent that could be considered covered by the broadest scope of the following claims.