METHOD FOR GENERATING A ROUTING MAP OF AN AREA TO BE USED FOR GUIDING A VEHICLE IN THE AREA

Abstract

A method for generating a routing map of an area to be used for guiding a vehicle in the area, comprising obtaining a real-world map of the area comprising a driving network forming a graph with actual locations of the area connected by driving segments along which the vehicle is intended to be guided, wherein at least one of the actual locations is a start location for the vehicle and at least one of the actual locations is a target destination for the vehicle; and generating the routing map by providing guiding instructions for the vehicle for each driving segment, wherein guiding instructions for at least one driving segment comprise forward guiding instructions for guiding the vehicle in a forward direction of the vehicle along the driving segment.

Claims

1. A method for generating a routing map of an area to be used for guiding a vehicle in the area, the method comprising: obtaining a real-world map of the area comprising a driving network forming a graph with actual locations of the area connected by driving segments along which the vehicle is intended to be guided, wherein at least one of the actual locations is a start location for the vehicle and at least one of the actual locations is a target destination for the vehicle; and generating the routing map by: providing guiding instructions for the vehicle for each driving segment, wherein guiding instructions for at least one driving segment comprise forward guiding instructions for guiding the vehicle in a forward direction of the vehicle along the driving segment, and wherein guiding instructions for at least another driving segment comprise reverse guiding instructions for guiding the vehicle in a reverse direction of the vehicle along the driving segment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the driving segments is provided with forward and reverse guiding instructions for the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein guiding instructions for at least one driving segment comprise steering instructions for automatically steering the vehicle along the driving segment.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: associating the guiding instructions for each driving segment with a weight value for guiding the vehicle along the respective driving segment, wherein the weight values vary at least based on if the guiding instructions are forward or reverse guiding instructions.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the weight values are set so that for driving segments with the same or substantially the same physical length, forward guiding takes precedence over reverse guiding.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the weight value for the guiding instructions for each driving segment is set based on at least one of a time period required for performing the guiding operation along the driving segment, energy consumption, a vehicle swept area required for performing the guiding operation along the driving segment, type of vehicle intended to be guided along the driving segment, and/or risk of failures during the guiding along the driving segment, such as jack-knifing.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the guiding instructions comprise instructions for guiding a vehicle combination comprising at least one articulation joint.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the routing map further comprises: for at least one of the actual locations, providing a turning manoeuvre guiding instruction for turning the vehicle around from forward to reverse movement, and/or vice versa.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the routing map further comprises: associating a first subset of the driving network with a first set of guiding instructions and associating a second subset of the driving network with a second set of guiding instructions, and connecting the first and second subsets of the driving network with at least one connecting driving segment along which the vehicle is intended to be guided, wherein the at least one connecting driving segment is only provided with forward guiding instructions.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the area is at least one of a terminal area, a work site, a harbour area and a parking area.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is at least one of a truck, such as a truck and trailer vehicle combination, a construction equipment vehicle, and a bus.

12. A method for guiding a vehicle in an area, comprising: obtaining information about a target destination for the vehicle in the area; obtaining a routing map of the area generated by the method of claim 1; and guiding the vehicle from a start location to the target destination along a path formed by driving segments interconnecting the start location and the target destination, wherein the guiding is performed by use of the guiding instructions for the driving segments.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: associating the guiding instructions for each driving segment with a weight value for guiding the vehicle along the respective driving segment, wherein the weight values vary at least based on if the guiding instructions are forward or reverse guiding instructions; and selecting the driving segments to form the path by use of the weight values.

14. A control unit configured to perform the steps of the method of claim 1

15. A control unit configured to perform the steps of the method of claim 12.

16. A vehicle comprising the control unit of claim 14.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] With reference to the appended drawings, below follows a more detailed description of embodiments of the invention cited as examples.

[0046] In the drawings:

[0047] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a real-world map and a routing map according to an example embodiment of the present invention;

[0048] FIG. 2 is a side view of a vehicle according to an example embodiment of the present invention;

[0049] FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a real-world map and a routing map according to another example embodiment of the present invention;

[0050] FIGS. 4a-b are schematic views of parts of a real-world map and a routing map according to example embodiments of the present invention; and

[0051] FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts of methods according to example embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0052] FIG. 1 depicts a schematic view of a real-world map RWM and a routing map RM which has been generated according to a method of an embodiment of the first aspect of the invention. The routing map RM is intended to be used for guiding a vehicle 100 in the area 1, such as the vehicle 100 shown in FIG. 2. The vehicle 100 as shown in FIG. 2 is a truck 110 and trailer 120 combination. Such a vehicle 100 is generally more difficult to reverse than driving forward, especially since the vehicle combination 100 comprises an articulation joint 130.

[0053] The real-world map RWM is a map of an area 1, such as a terminal area or the like, and comprises a driving network forming a graph with actual locations A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and I of the area 1. The actual locations A, . . . , I may for example be defined as coordinates in a geographic coordinate system.

[0054] The boxes B1, B2, B3 and B4 of the real-world map RWM represent objects, such as buildings, which should be avoided by the vehicle 100 while driving in the area 1. The location of the objects B1, B2, B3 and B4 may also advantageously be defined by coordinates in e.g. a geographic coordinate system. In this regard it shall be noted that the real-world maps RWM and the routing maps RM as shown in the figures are here simplified illustrations and may of course be more complicated depending on the characteristics of the area 1.

[0055] The actual locations A, . . . , I are connected by driving segments DS along which the vehicle 100 is intended to be guided, wherein at least one of the actual locations A, . . . ,I is a start location for the vehicle 100 and at least one of the actual locations A, . . . ,I is a target destination for the vehicle 100. For example, the actual location A may be a start location for the vehicle 100 and the actual location E may be a target destination for the vehicle 100.

[0056] According to the method of the first aspect of the invention, the routing map RM is generated by providing guiding instructions for the vehicle 100 for each driving segment DS, wherein guiding instructions for at least one driving segment DS comprise forward guiding instructions for guiding the vehicle 100 in a forward direction of the vehicle 100 along the driving segment DS, and wherein guiding instructions for at least another driving segment DS comprise reverse guiding instructions for guiding the vehicle 100 in a reverse direction of the vehicle along the driving segment DS.

[0057] In FIG. 1, and also in FIGS. 3 and 4a-b, the driving segments DS and the associated guiding instructions are represented by arrows, where the direction of the arrow is indicative of the vehicle's 100 driving direction of the guiding instruction. For example, the driving segment DS between the actual locations A and B is associated with guiding instructions for guiding the vehicle 100 in a direction from the actual location A to the actual location B. As yet another example, the driving segment DS between the actual locations B and I is associated with guiding instructions for guiding the vehicle 100 in a direction from the actual location B to the actual location I, and also it is further associated with guiding instructions for guiding the vehicle 100 in the opposite direction from the actual location Ito the actual location B. Any of the guiding instructions may be forward guiding instructions or reverse guiding instructions, where guiding instructions for at least one driving segment DS comprise forward guiding instructions and wherein guiding instructions for at least another driving segment DS comprise reverse guiding instructions.

[0058] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of a method according to an example embodiment of the first aspect of the invention. The method comprises: [0059] S1: obtaining a real-world map RWM of the area 1, which map comprises a driving network forming a graph with actual locations A, . . . ,I of the area 1, which actual locations are connected by driving segments DS along which the vehicle 100 is intended to be guided, wherein at least one of the actual locations A, . . . ,I is a start location for the vehicle 100 and at least one of the actual locations A, . . . ,I is a target destination for the vehicle 100; [0060] S2: generating the routing map RM by: [0061] providing guiding instructions for the vehicle 100 for each driving segment DS, wherein guiding instructions for at least one driving segment DS comprise forward guiding instructions for guiding the vehicle 100 in a forward direction of the vehicle 100 along the driving segment DS, and wherein guiding instructions for at least another driving segment DS comprise reverse guiding instruction for guiding the vehicle 100 in a reverse direction of the vehicle 100 along the driving segment DS.

[0062] At least one of the driving segments DS may be provided with forward and reverse guiding instructions for the vehicle 100. For example, the driving segment DS between A and B in FIGS. 1 and 3 may be provided with both forward and reverse guiding instructions from A to B, and/or the driving segment DS between B and I may be provided with forward guiding instructions from B to I and with reverse guiding instructions from I to B.

[0063] Guiding instructions for at least one driving segment DS may comprise steering instructions for automatically steering the vehicle 100 along the driving segment DS. Still further, the guiding instructions for all driving segments DS may comprise steering instructions for automatically steering the vehicle 100 along the driving segments DS. Additionally, the guiding instructions may also comprise throttle and/or braking instructions, thereby enabling the possibility for fully autonomous driving along the respective driving segments DS.

[0064] The method according to the first aspect of the invention may further comprise: [0065] associating the guiding instructions for each driving segment DS with a weight value for guiding the vehicle 100 along the respective driving segment DS, wherein the weight values vary at least based on if the guiding instructions are forward or reverse guiding instructions. For example, the above-mentioned forward and reverse guiding instructions for the driving segment DS between the actual locations A and B may be weighted such that forward driving guiding takes precedence over reverse driving guiding. However, it shall be noted that on some occasions it may anyway be decided to reverse along the driving segment DS between A and B if for example it is required for the vehicle 100 to approach the actual location B by reversing. For example, the actual location B may be associated with a loading dock (not shown), whereby the vehicle 100 is intended to approach and dock with the loading dock by reversing towards the loading dock.

[0066] Furthermore, the weight values may be set so that for driving segments DS with the same or substantially the same physical length, forward guiding takes precedence over reverse guiding. Thereby it can be assured that forward driving is performed more often than reverse driving, implying more efficient driving. For example, if the vehicle is a vehicle combination as e.g. the vehicle 100 shown in FIG. 2, more efficient driving of the vehicle 100 in the area 1 can be achieved by the vehicle 100 performing forward driving more often than by reverse driving.

[0067] The weight value for the guiding instructions for each driving segment may also be set based on at least one of a time period required for performing the guiding operation along the driving segment DS, energy consumption, a vehicle swept area required for performing the guiding operation along the driving segment DS, type of vehicle 100 which is intended to be guided along the driving segment DS, risk of failures during the guiding along the driving segment DS, such as jack-knifing. Jack-knifing is a condition which can occur for articulated vehicle combinations, such as the vehicle combination 100 in FIG. 2. Jack-knifing is the situation when the articulation joint 130 reaches an articulation angle where the truck 110 and the trailer 120 will hit each other. Accordingly, some guiding instructions for some driving segments may be more sensitive for failures, such as when reversing in narrow areas, around corners etc. Thereby, by setting the weight values by taking such risks into consideration, the guiding efficiency can be further improved. The type of vehicle may also affect the weight values. For example, if the vehicle is a vehicle combination with more than one articulation joint (not shown), the risk of failures during guiding along some of the driving segments DS may be higher, especially during reverse driving. Thereby, setting the weight values by also taking the type of vehicle into consideration, the guiding can be further improved.

[0068] With respect to FIG. 3, generating the routing map RM may further comprise: [0069] associating a first subset RM1 of the driving network with a first set of guiding instructions and associating a second subset RM2 of the driving network with a second set of guiding instructions, and [0070] connecting the first and second subsets RM1, RM2 of the driving network with at least one connecting driving segment DS.sub.c1, DS.sub.c2 along which the vehicle 100 is intended to be guided, wherein the at least one connecting driving segment DS.sub.c1, DS.sub.c2 is only provided with forward guiding instructions.

[0071] Thereby, a larger routing map RM1, RM2 can be generated without unnecessarily increasing the complexity, as also mentioned in the above. Accordingly, the routing map RM1, RM2 can be up-scaled for a larger area, whereby only forward driving is allowed in the connecting driving segments DS.sub.c1, DS.sub.c2. As shown in FIG. 3, there are two connecting driving segments DS.sub.c1, DS.sub.c2 connecting the two subsets RM1 and RM2 of the driving network. The forward guiding instructions are provided in opposite directions, thereby enabling a vehicle 100 to be guided from the driving network RM1 to the driving network RM2, and vice versa. The driving network RM2 which comprises the actual locations A2, . . . , I2 is created in a similar manner as the driving network RM1, i.e. with forward and reverse guiding instructions. As can be further seen, obstacles B5, B6, B7 and B8 are associated with the second subset of the driving network RM2. The obstacles B5, B6, B7 and B8 may also for example be buildings. Still further, the two connecting driving segments DS.sub.c1, DS.sub.c2 may be formed by a road section, such as a road section with two lanes, wherein only forward guiding is allowed along the road section.

[0072] The areas 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 may be a terminal area, a work site, a harbour area and a parking area, or any other area in which a vehicle is intended to be guided.

[0073] With respect to FIGS. 4a and 4b, schematic illustrations of two respective connected driving segments DS between actual location A′, B′ and C′ (FIG. 4a) and between actual locations A″, B″ and C″ (FIG. 4b) are shown. Here it is shown that the driving segments DS may have any shape, such as a straight shape and a curved shape. As an example, the driving segment DS between A′ and B′ is provided with forward guiding instructions and the driving segment DS between B′ and C′ is provided with reverse guiding instructions. Accordingly, a vehicle 100 can first be guided by the forward guiding instructions from A′ to B′, and thereafter be guided by the reverse guiding instructions from B′ to C′. The shape and orientation of the driving segments DS is arranged such that the vehicle 100 does not need to perform any turning manoeuvre when changing from forward driving to reverse driving at the actual location B′. More specifically, the driving segments DS are aligned at the actual location B′. As another example, the driving segment DS between A″ and B″ is associated with forward guiding instructions and the driving segment DS between B″ and C″ is associated with reverse guiding instructions. Due to the shape and orientation of the driving segments DS between A″, B″ and C″, a turning manoeuvre at B″ for the vehicle 100 will be required. Accordingly, the actual location B″ is here associated with a turning manoeuvre guiding instruction for turning the vehicle 100 around from forward to reverse movement.

[0074] The vehicle 100 as shown in FIG. 2 may be guided in the areas 1 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The vehicle 100 may thereby be guided by a method according to the second aspect of the invention.

[0075] With reference to FIG. 6, the method according to the second aspect comprises: [0076] S10: obtaining information about a target destination, such as E, for the vehicle 100 in the area 1; [0077] S20: obtaining a routing map RM of the area 1, which routing map has been generated by a method according to any one of the embodiments of the first aspect of the invention; and [0078] S30: guiding the vehicle 100 from a start location, such as A, to the target destination E along a path formed by driving segments DS interconnecting the start location A and the target destination E, wherein the guiding is performed by use of the guiding instructions for the driving segments DS.

[0079] The guiding instructions are preferably associated with coordinates along the respective driving segments DS, and the vehicle 100 may be equipped with a Global Navigation and Satellite System (GNSS) sensor for determining the actual position of the vehicle 100 in the area 1. Thereby, specific guiding instructions associated with specific coordinates along a driving segment DS can be used by the vehicle 100 when it is determined that the vehicle 100 is positioned at a specific coordinate along the driving segment DS. The vehicle 100 may also be provided with other sensors for the guiding, such as cameras, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors, radio detection and ranging (RADAR) sensors, sound navigation and ranging (SONAR) sensors, ultrasonic sensors, sensors for determining an actual orientation of the vehicle 100 etc. Thereby, even further improved guiding can be achieved, taking also other circumstances into consideration. For example, a camera (not shown), or any other environment perception sensor, may identify obstacles along the path which should be avoided, such as vulnerable road users (VRU), other vehicles etc. As such, according to an example embodiment, the vehicle 100 may in certain circumstances use other guiding instructions, based on e.g. information from the environment perception sensor, instead of the guiding instructions obtained from the routing map RM. For example, the other guiding instructions may be used when an obstacle is identified by the environment perception sensor, or when an operator indicates that other guiding instructions should be used. According to a yet further embodiment, an operator, such as a driver, may be able to override the guiding instructions associated with the routing map RM and manually control the vehicle 100 instead. Thereby, further improved safety is achieved.

[0080] The guiding instructions associated with the routing map RM are preferably guiding instructions for automatically steering the vehicle along the respective driving segments DS. Typically, the guiding instructions are in the form of control signals provided to a vehicle steering system (not shown) of the vehicle 100. The guiding instructions may also be instructions for controlling vehicle speed, such as throttle control and braking control.

[0081] The path from A to E formed by driving segments DS therebetween may be selected by use of any one of the aforementioned weight values. Thereby, an efficient, fast and safe path for the vehicle 100 may be found. For example, it may be selected to drive and guide the vehicle 100 from A to E by driving in consecutive order from A to B, from B to I, from I to D and from D to E. Alternatively, depending on the weight values, it may instead be selected to drive and guide the vehicle 100 in consecutive order from A to B, from B to C, from C to D and from D to E.

[0082] The present invention also relates to a control unit 140 configured to perform the steps of the method according to any one of the embodiments of the first aspect of the invention and/or of the method according to any one of the embodiments of the second aspect of the invention. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 140 is part of the vehicle 100. More specifically, the control unit 140 is integrated in the truck 110. It shall however be noted that the control unit 140 does not necessarily need to be part of the vehicle 100, but may also be a remote control unit not part of the vehicle 100, whereby the remote control unit is arranged to communicate with the vehicle 100, e.g. by wireless communication means. For example, the method for generating the routing map may in an alternative embodiment be performed by a remote control unit which is e.g. associated with the area 1, such as associated with a terminal area. The method for guiding the vehicle 100 is however preferably performed by a vehicle on-board control unit 140, even though also this method may at least partly be performed by a remote control unit.

[0083] The control unit 140 is an electronic control unit and may comprise processing circuitry, one or more memories for storing e.g. the generated routing map RM. The control unit 140 may be adapted to run a computer program as disclosed herein. The control unit 140 may comprise hardware and/or software for performing the methods as disclosed herein. The control unit 140 may be embodied as one device, or it may be constituted by two or more sub-control units which are communicatively connected to each other. The control unit 140 is also preferably communicatively connected to the aforementioned vehicle steering system such that it can issue control signals to the vehicle control system, and/or to any other vehicle system, such as to a throttle control system and a brake control system.

[0084] It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above 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.