METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY CONTROLLING A VEHICLE

Abstract

A method for automatically controlling a vehicle based on a driving specification received from an external infrastructure. In a normal mode the vehicle is controlled along a trajectory specified thereby and in a test mode the vehicle is controlled along a test trajectory that deviates from the trajectory specified by the driving specification, and/or is controlled using test parameters. This allows the reliable operation of the infrastructure to be verified.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a vehicle, the method comprising: receiving a driving specification from an external infrastructure; controlling the vehicle along a trajectory specified by the driving specification; and controlling the vehicle along a test trajectory that deviates from the trajectory specified by the driving specification.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein controlling the vehicle along the test trajectory comprises performing a check to determine whether an error signal is received from the infrastructure.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the error signal includes a fault report and/or a stop signal and/or a new trajectory and/or new waypoints.

4. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the vehicle is stopped and/or an error message is output if no error signal is received when controlling the vehicle along the test trajectory within a specified period of time.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the error message is sent to the infrastructure via a radio connection and/or is output by operating a visual and/or an audible warning device.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the error message contains information about a location of the vehicle and/or about a course of the vehicle and/or about the trajectory and/or about the test trajectory.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the vehicle switches to controlling the vehicle along the trajectory after receiving the error signal.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the driving specification specifies opening of a tailgate or another element on the vehicle, switching-off of one or more lights of the vehicle, and/or activating hazard warning lights or one or more lights of the vehicle.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the vehicle is controlled without using data from the vehicle's own environment sensors.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vehicle is controlled using data from the vehicle's own environment sensors, and wherein a reaction of the infrastructure to operating the vehicle along the test trajectory is taken as a basis for changing the control in terms of the weighting of the environment sensors and the infrastructure.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the test trajectory is defined using a random deviation from the trajectory.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the test trajectory is defined using a specified deviation from the trajectory.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the vehicle switches from operating along the trajectory to operating along the test trajectory at randomly selected times and/or at regular intervals.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein data from the vehicle's own environment sensors are taken as a basis for determining when to switch to operating the vehicle along the test trajectory.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the driving specification specifies the trajectory by including the trajectory and/or waypoints.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] The application will now be described on the basis of the drawing, which shows an arrangement comprising a vehicle and an infrastructure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The FIGURE shows a vehicle 10 and an infrastructure 20. This is a purely schematic representation, which is used hereinbelow to describe aspects of the functionality.

[0034] The vehicle 10 has a communication module 15, to which an antenna 17 is connected. This allows it to communicate with the infrastructure 20. Environment sensors on the vehicle 10 are not required, at least according to one version. The infrastructure 20 has a central computing unit 21, which performs central control tasks. The infrastructure 20 has a camera 22, which observes the vehicle 10. Typically, multiple such cameras and/or other sensors are also present; the camera 22 is used only as an example here. The infrastructure 20 furthermore has a communication module 25, to which an antenna 27 is also connected. The vehicle 10 moves through an area that is controlled by the infrastructure 20. For this purpose, it receives driving specifications, which contain trajectories or from which at least trajectories can be extracted, via the communication modules 25, 15. The vehicle 10 follows these trajectories in a normal mode and is monitored by the infrastructure 20 in the process.

[0035] At certain times, for example at times specified by a random number generator, the vehicle 10 deviates from the specified trajectory at random. It then waits for a specified period of time to ascertain whether it receives a fault report from the infrastructure 20. This can include a stop signal or a new trajectory, for example. If such a fault report is received, the vehicle 10 establishes that the infrastructure 20 is working properly and returns to the normal mode. If such a fault report is not received within a specified time, the vehicle 10 must assume that the infrastructure 20 is not performing the monitoring tasks correctly. It will therefore typically stop and send an error message containing information about the fault. This allows protection against property damage or personal injury possibly arising as a result of the vehicle 10 otherwise travelling onward.

[0036] Other parameters can also be varied by the vehicle 10, for example hazard warning lights can be switched on or a tailgate can be opened. The correct reaction of the infrastructure 20 can be verified in this case too.

[0037] In general, it should be pointed out that vehicle-to-X communication is understood to mean in particular a direct communication between vehicles and/or between vehicles and infrastructure devices. By way of example, it may thus be vehicle-to-vehicle communication or vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. By way of example, a vehicle-to-X communication can be effected using the IEEE 802.11p or IEEE 1609.4 standard. Other examples of communication technologies include LTE-V2X, 5G-V2X, C-V2X, WLAN, WiMax, UWB or Bluetooth. A vehicle-to-X communication can also be referred to as C2X communication. The subareas can be referred to as C2C (car-to-car) or C2I (car-to-infrastructure). However, the embodiment does not exclude vehicle-to-X communication with switching via a mobile radio network, for example.

[0038] Steps of the method according to the embodiment that have been mentioned can be carried out in the indicated order. However, they can also be carried out in a different order, if technically useful. One of the versions of the method according to the embodiment can be carried out with a specific combination of steps, for example, in such a way that no further steps are carried out. However, further steps can also be carried out in principle, even those that are not mentioned.

[0039] It is pointed out that features may be described in combination in the claims and in the description, for example in order to facilitate understanding, even though they can also be used separately from one another. A person skilled in the art will recognize that such features, independently of one another, can also be combined with other features or combinations of features.

[0040] Dependency references in dependent claims may characterize preferred combinations of the respective features but do not exclude other combinations of features.