METHOD FOR OPERATING A DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEM IN A MOTOR VEHICLE, THE SYSTEM SUPPORTING THE DRIVER IN COASTING MODE, AND MOTOR VEHICLE

Abstract

Method for operating a driver assistance system in a motor vehicle wherein an action plan comprising at least one measure for the targeted deceleration of the motor vehicle is determined, as well as predictive route data describing the distance to the coasting destination is determined when the driver ends the activation of the gas pedal and at least one potential coasting destination, which requires deceleration of the motor vehicle, is determined, and said measure is used for the longitudinal guidance of the motor vehicle, whereby the measures are selected from the measure group of at least one operation in a free-run operating mode and one operation in a coasting operating mode, whereby a stopping position is determined as the coasting destination and the action plan is determined for the deceleration of the motor vehicle to a complete stop at the stopping position.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A method for operating a driver assistance system which provides assistance to a driver during a coasting process in a motor vehicle whose drive train can be operated in a free-run operating mode in which a drive motor is disconnected from the drive train by a clutch, the method comprising: determining a coasting destination of the motor vehicle, the coasting destination requiring a deceleration of the motor vehicle; determining, when the driver assistance system is activated, an action plan comprising at least one measure for a targeted deceleration of the motor vehicle, the action plan determined based at least in part on at least one effectiveness criterion relating to an energy balance of the motor vehicle, and at least one destination criterion relating to the targeted deceleration with respect to the coasting destination; and determining predictive route data describing a distance to the coasting destination when the driver ends an activation of the gas pedal; wherein the at least one measure is used for a longitudinal guidance of the motor vehicle, wherein the at least one measure is selected from a measure group of at least one operation in a free-run operating mode and at least one operation in a coasting operating mode, wherein the coasting destination comprises a stopping position, and wherein the action plan specifies the targeted deceleration of the motor vehicle so that the motor vehicle comes to a complete stop at the stopping position.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: receiving, by a vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, at least one of status information or digital map information, the status information received from at least one of a traffic light or a barrier, the digital map information received from a navigation system; and wherein the coasting destination is determined based at least in part on at least one of: positions of one or more stop signs or one or more intersections along a currently traveled route, traffic sign information determined by processing data from a camera device, or information describing a directly leading vehicle determined based at least in part on sensor data of at least one environment sensor, or communication data from a vehicle-to-vehicle communication; wherein at least one of the positions of the one or more stop signs or the one or more intersections, the traffic sign information, or the information describing the directly leading vehicle is determined based at least in part on the status information or digital map information.

18. The method according to claim 16, further comprising suppressing an activation of a crawl control of the drive train during an execution of the action plan when a current speed of the motor vehicle falls short of a threshold value.

19. The method according to claim 16, further comprising, after the motor vehicle has come to a complete stop at the stopping position, actively holding the motor vehicle in place by a holding action for at least a specified time span.

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising activating a braking system of the motor vehicle, and wherein actively holding the motor vehicle in place by the holding action comprises performing a hydraulic or electromotive holding of an operating brake of the braking system.

21. The method according to claim 19, further comprising, as the motor vehicle reaches a complete stop, providing an optical takeover indication to the driver relating to the holding action.

22. The method according to claim 21, further comprising providing a warning to the driver if the driver does not take control of the motor vehicle during the specified time span, the warning exceeding the optical takeover indication provided to the driver.

23. The method according to claim 19, further comprising, activating a crawl control after the end of the specified time span if the driver did not manually maintain the complete stop.

24. The method according to claim 19, wherein the specified time span is between one second and three seconds.

25. The method according to claim 16, further comprising limiting a maximum allowed brake deceleration during performance of the action plan.

26. The method according to claim 16, wherein the measure group further comprises at least one of an adaptation of a recuperation step, a change in a switching step of a transmission of the motor vehicle, or a brake intervention using a braking system of the motor vehicle.

27. The method according to claim 16, wherein the at least one measure is associated with a switch of operating mode of the motor vehicle relating to the longitudinal guidance.

28. The method according to claim 16, wherein determining the action plan comprises determining the action plan based at least in part on traffic situation data describing a current traffic situation.

29. The according to claim 28, wherein the traffic situation data comprises data associated with at least one traffic participant other than the driver, current weather conditions, or current road conditions, and wherein the traffic situation data is determined based at least in part on one or more environment sensors of the motor vehicle or vehicle-to-vehicle communication data.

30. A motor vehicle comprising a drive train operable in a free-run operating mode, the motor vehicle having a driver assistance system configured to assist a driver during a coasting process, the driver assistance system implemented using a controller configured to: determine a coasting destination of the motor vehicle, the coasting destination requiring a deceleration of the motor vehicle; determine, when the driver assistance system is activated, an action plan comprising at least one measure for a targeted deceleration of the motor vehicle, the action plan determined based at least in part on at least one effectiveness criterion relating to an energy balance of the motor vehicle, and at least one destination criterion relating to the targeted deceleration with respect to the coasting destination; and determine predictive route data describing a distance to the coasting destination when the driver ends an activation of the gas pedal; wherein the at least one measure is used for a longitudinal guidance of the motor vehicle, wherein the at least one measure is selected from a measure group of at least one operation in a free-run operating mode and at least one operation in a coasting operating mode, wherein the coasting destination comprises a stopping position, and wherein the action plan specifies the targeted deceleration of the motor vehicle so that the motor vehicle comes to a complete stop at the stopping position.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] Other advantages, features and details of the present disclosure result from the claims, the description of embodiments below, and the drawings, in which:

[0031] FIG. 1 shows an example operations chart according to embodiments of the present disclosure,

[0032] FIG. 2 shows an illustration of an example action plan with a respective velocity plot according to embodiments of the present disclosure,

[0033] FIG. 3 shows an illustration of an example action plan with a respective velocity plot according to embodiments of the present disclosure,

[0034] FIG. 4 shows an illustration of an example action plan with a respective velocity plot according to embodiments of the present disclosure, and

[0035] FIG. 5 shows an example motor vehicle according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] FIG. 1 shows an operations chart of a method according to the present disclosure for the operation of a driver assistance system, which is to assist the driver during coasting processes until a complete stop has been reached. The driver assistance system comprises here two generally independently realizable functions 1, 2, whereby function 2 relates to the issuance of an indication for the termination of an actuation of a gas pedal of the motor vehicle to a driver in relation to a coasting destination. Function 1 for the determination and execution of an action plan relates to the determination of a suitable operating strategy as soon as a coasting process actually begins. The two functions 1, 2 may obviously use the same algorithms and/or exchange data but in the present exemplary embodiment can be activated and deactivated by a user independently from each other. Functions 1, 2 are suitable for coasting destinations as well where a desired speed of the motor vehicle that is greater than 0 is to be achieved. In spite of that, however, the cases of a deceleration to a complete stop at a stopping position that are central for the present disclosure are discussed below, whereby reference is made to DE 10 2014 002 111 A1 for further explanations.

[0037] Function 2 of the issuance of an indication to a driver for the termination of the actuation of a gas pedal will not be addressed here in further detail either because it is generally known.

[0038] As far as function 1, in which an optimal operating strategy for the coasting process is to be determined, is concerned, it is checked in a first step S1 whether a coasting process is taking place at all; i.e., it is detected whether a termination of the gas pedal actuation has occurred. If this is the case, it is determined, independently from the issuance of an indication by function 2, whether a coasting destination exists in connection with which the coasting process can be performed. Here, specific, stationary coasting destinations at which the motor vehicle is to be brought to a complete stop, i.e., stopping positions, are to be predominantly discussed as far as this is made possible by the method according to the present disclosure.

[0039] Step S2 determines whether such a coasting destination exists. Various options are conceivable here. The first is the analysis of state information from a relevant infrastructure device, in particular a traffic light and/or a barrier, which may be received through vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. Furthermore, digital map information from a navigation system, in particular the position of stop signs and/or intersections along the currently traveled route, and/or traffic sign information determined by the image processing of data from an optical imaging device, in particular a camera, can be analyzed. Finally, information about a directly leading vehicle that describes a stopped vehicle can be determined from sensor data from at least one environment sensor, and/or communication data from vehicle-to-vehicle communication may be used to determine a stopping position. The most relevant cases are red traffic lights, stop signs, intersections, and stopped directly leading vehicles.

[0040] Step S3 relates to the parametrization of the determination of the action plan that follows in step S4 depending on whether an indication is issued by function 2 at the latest a specified time prior to the detection of the termination of the actuation of the gas pedal in step S1, as indicated by the arrow 6. The corresponding determination of the action plan is performed with a modification of what is described in DE 10 2014 002 111 A1, and which will be discussed below, so that, in summary, a sequence of measures relating to a switch in the operating state of the motor vehicle regarding the longitudinal guidance is selected from a measure group, whereby the measure group comprises an activation of an operation of the drive train of the motor vehicle in the free-run operating mode, an activation of an operation of the drive train in a coasting operating mode, an adaptation of a recuperation step, a change in the switching step of a transmission of the motor vehicle, and a brake intervention using a braking system of the motor vehicle. A maximum permitted braking deceleration, in this case of 3 m/s.sup.2, is taken into consideration, whereby additionally a maximum permitted change of the braking deceleration may be provided to make an action plan that is as comfortable as possible. When a reaction follows the indication, higher values may be chosen for both limiting parameters.

[0041] When determining the action plan, an efficiency criterion relative to the energy balance of the motor vehicle and a target criterion relative to the deceleration to the coasting destination are taken into consideration to be able to achieve a complete stop at the stopping position in the most energy-efficient manner. An optimization process is used to determine the action plan. It is advantageous to generally classify some measures as less beneficial, in particular the performance of a brake intervention with the braking system. In addition to the ego data pertaining to the current operating state of the motor vehicle, route data containing a static description of the path to the stopping position and traffic situation data describing the current traffic situation, i.e., a dynamic description of temporary events along the path, is taken into consideration as well. The dynamic behavior of the motor vehicle, in particular the deceleration behavior, is mapped in a dynamic model of the motor vehicle, which is used as well.

[0042] Possible exemplary action plans are to be explained in further detail by FIG. 2-4.

[0043] FIG. 2 shows a case in which a motor vehicle 7 is to be decelerated along a route 8 to a coasting destination 9 in the form of a red traffic light 10. For the sake of simplicity, static and dynamic characteristics of the route are not shown here, but, as described, are certainly taken into consideration in Step S4.

[0044] A corresponding action plan, here for a motor vehicle 7 without electric motor, is shown in the form of a diagram of speed over time.

[0045] At a specific time 11, the driver takes the foot off the gas pedal and thus initiates the coasting process, whereby the movement was previously constant as indicated by the velocity plot 12. After, in this case, the free-run, indicated by the dotted course 13, leads to a slight deceleration and therefore another stronger brake intervention would be necessary, the first measure of the action plan is here that the drive train of the motor vehicle 7 is put in a coasting operating mode for as long as possible (refer to course 14), which is maintained up to a specific time 15. Then a braking system of the motor vehicle 7 is actuated for a brake intervention so that the maximum allowed brake deceleration is not exceeded, to bring the motor vehicle to a stop at the stopping position 16 at the specific time 17 shortly in front of the traffic light.

[0046] FIG. 3 shows another possible action plan. To make the explanation easier, the corresponding specific times/courses have the same reference signs. In contrast with FIG. 2, a stop sign 18 is used here as the coasting destination 9, the existence and position of which the motor vehicle 7 may know of from a traffic sign recognition from image data of a camera and/or from the digital map information of a navigation system of the motor vehicle 7.

[0047] In this case, the motor vehicle 7 has an electric motor so that a recuperation operating mode is possible. It was found that it is an energy-efficient option to first switch the drive train of the motor vehicle 7 to a free-run operating mode at a specific time 11 (cf. course 13), to then switch it to the coasting operating mode of the drive train as a further measure of the action plan at a specific time 19, whereby the recuperation step is adapted so that the course 20 with a complete stop at the stopping position 16 results at the specific time 17.

[0048] FIG. 4 shows another example of an action plan for the deceleration of the motor vehicle 7 to a total stop at a stopping position 16, whereby the coasting destination 9 is formed in this case again by a red traffic light 10. It is determined there in the optimization method as well that using the free-run operating mode (course 13) is not practicable either, so that a switch is made at the specific time 11 to the coasting operating mode, still without recuperation (cf. course 14). At a specific time 21, a switch is made to a recuperation operating mode as another measure to gently increase the brake deceleration, where the braking system here applies slightly more brake force at a specific time 22.

[0049] In any of the cases of FIG. 2, it is important and planned to suppress the actually scheduled activation of a crawl control when the speed of the motor vehicle 7 falls short of a threshold value 23 (cf. specific time 24).

[0050] Compared to a coasting destination in which the desired speed of the motor vehicle 7 is greater than 0 km/h, the action plan is further expanded by another measure, which is only indirectly shown in FIG. 4, but which is certainly provided for the examples of FIGS. 2 and 3 as well. The motor vehicle is kept at a complete stop at the specific time 17 for a time span 25 (cf. FIG. 4), which may be 2 seconds, for example. To keep the motor vehicle 7 at a complete stop, a hydraulic, gentle actuation of the operating brake of the braking system is provided here. At the same time, a takeover indication is provided at the specific time 17, primarily optically in a display as an indicator device in the instrument panel of the motor vehicle 7, for example in the form of take over brake pedal or the like. If the driver does not take over the braking within the time span 25, which ends at a specific time 26, an acoustic warning, for example a warning sound, is emitted, and additionally the crawl control, whose activation was suppressed on until now, is activated again so that the motor vehicle would start moving forward again. This way, the driver is intuitively caused to actuate the brake pedal when the complete stop has been achieved. If the driver has already taken over the brake pedal during the time span 25, no warning is issued; the crawl control is, however, reactivated regardless.

[0051] It should be pointed out that, as can be seen at all specific measure times 11 15, 19, 21, and 22, the operating state of the motor vehicle 7 changes regarding the longitudinal guidance.

[0052] Returning to FIG. 1, the execution of the action plan begins with step S5, whereby, however, the further validity of step S6 is always monitored depending on the current traffic situation data and the current speed of the motor vehicle 7. If an unexpected effect occurs, for example an overly strong deceleration of the motor vehicle due to an incline, which was not exactly reflected in the route data, the action plan may be altered accordingly by dynamic adaptation so that a complete stop is still achieved as closely to the stopping position 16 as possible. Another example for the potentially necessary adaptation of the action plan is when the traffic situation data describes that the motor vehicle is about to hit a slower traffic participant, whereby it then may become necessary to first adapt the speed of the motor vehicle to the leading, slower traffic participant.

[0053] If it becomes impossible in the context of the coasting process and the specified limits of its calculation to reach a complete stop at the stopping position 16 or within a tolerance range around the same so that, to maintain the overall safety, an intervention by the driver itself is necessary, the driver is informed accordingly by issuing the corresponding notification, here a driver takeover request, which is not shown in FIG. 1 for the sake of clarity.

[0054] Step S7 verifies that the coasting destination 9 has been reached. If not, the execution of the potentially not updated action plan is continued in step S5 (cf. arrow 27).

[0055] Otherwise, the action plan is concluded in step S8, as described by keeping the vehicle stationary for the time span 25, whereby the takeover notification is issued at the same time, and after the end of the time span 25, the crawl control is reactivated and, if necessary and if the driver did not take over the braking, the warning is issued.

[0056] Then the process is continued in step S1 again to wait for the next coasting process.

[0057] It should be noted here, however, that the sequence of steps S1 and S2 may be interchanged as needed.

[0058] During the execution of an action plan, this can be communicated to the driver by a corresponding status display, whereby in the present exemplary embodiment different status displays are used, depending on whether a notification is responded to or not within the specified time. In the second case, exemplary embodiments in which no status display is provided are conceivable as well. The status display may be realized as an expansion of the symbol that is used for the issuance of the indication.

[0059] FIG. 5 finally shows a schematic diagram of the motor vehicle 7 according to the present disclosure. It comprises the driver assistance system 28 for assisting the driver during a coasting process, which can realize the functions 1 and 2 by means of a control device 29 formed to execute the method according to the present disclosure. To obtain the data necessary, the control device 29 is connected with other vehicle systems by means of a bus system, for example a CAN bus or a FlexRay bus, which are shown here only partially. The motor vehicle 7 furthermore has a navigation system 30 with digital map data, a vehicle-to-X communication device 31, and environment sensors 32, comprising a camera.

[0060] With the control device 29, the operating states of the motor vehicle 7 that relate to the longitudinal guidance 7 can be established, in particular through other control devices not described in further detail here. Via the vehicle bus, there is therefore a connection to the transmission 33, the drive motor 34, the clutch 35, and the braking system 26. The clutch 25, the transmission 33 and the drive motor 34 are parts of the drive train of the motor vehicle 7, which the crawl control 37 is considered part of as well.