Method and driver assistance system for controlling a motor vehicle and motor vehicle

Abstract

A method controls a first motor vehicle. The method includes the steps of: i) receiving status data of a roadway section and a geographic position of the roadway section by the first motor vehicle, ii) sensing, as a function of the received status data, the roadway section by a surroundings sensor of the first motor vehicle, and in response thereto, iii) aligning the surroundings sensor with a particular roadway feature of the roadway section, and/or iv) adapting an evaluation of data of the surroundings sensor, and/or v) updating the status data and transmitting the updated status data.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a motor vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: receiving status data of a roadway section and a geographic position of the roadway section by the motor vehicle, sensing, as a function of the status data, the roadway section by a surroundings sensor of the motor vehicle, and in response: aligning the surroundings sensor with a particular roadway feature of the roadway section, and adapting a chassis parameter and/or a driving behavior of the motor vehicle in response to exceeding a predefined threshold for the status data.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receiving of the status data of the roadway section takes place while the motor vehicle is traveling.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the motor vehicle is a first motor vehicle, and the receiving of the status data of the roadway section and of the geographic position of the roadway section is preceded by: determining the status data of the roadway section by a second motor vehicle via at least one surroundings sensor of the second motor vehicle, and/or determining the geographic position of the roadway section.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the determining of the status data by the second motor vehicle comprises analysis of the status data of the roadway section with respect to at least one particular roadway feature.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of: analyzing the status data of the roadway section which is sensed by the surroundings sensor of the motor vehicle.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of: updating the status data and transmitting the updated status data.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein adapting an evaluation of data of the surroundings sensor.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the surroundings sensor comprises one or more of: acceleration sensors, distance sensors, roadway distance sensors, ride height sensors, rolling sensors, roadway unevenness sensors including cameras and LIDAR, sensors for sensing the motor vehicle's own movements, and ultrasonic sensors.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the status data comprises a lane, a travel direction, a frequency of roadway unevennesses, an amplitude of roadway unevennesses, and/or a data item at which the roadway section was passed through.

10. A driver assistance system for controlling a motor vehicle, comprising: a surroundings sensor of the motor vehicle; a data input; an evaluation unit; and a data output, wherein the data input is configured for receiving status data of a roadway section and a geographic position of the roadway section by the motor vehicle, the evaluation unit is configured to: sense, as a function of the status data, the roadway section via the surroundings sensor, and the data output is configured, in response, to: align the surroundings sensor with a particular roadway feature, and adapt a chassis parameter and/or a driving behavior of the motor vehicle in response to exceeding a predefined threshold for the status data.

11. The driver assistance system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the evaluation unit is further configured to analyze status data of the roadway section, and the data output is further configured to: adapt an evaluation of the surroundings sensor, or update the status data and transmit the updated status data.

12. A system, comprising: a driver assistance system that controls a motor vehicle; a surroundings sensor of the motor vehicle, wherein a driver assistance system is operatively configured to execute processing to: receive status data of a roadway section and a geographic position of the roadway section by the motor vehicle, sense, as a function of the status data, the roadway section by the surroundings sensor, and in response thereto: align the surroundings sensor with a particular roadway feature of the roadway section, and adapt a chassis parameter and/or a driving behavior of the motor vehicle in response to exceeding a predefined threshold for the status data.

13. A motor vehicle comprising a driver assistance system as claimed in claim 10.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: analyzing one or more dimensions of the particular roadway feature.

15. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the status data is a first status data, the particular roadway feature is a first particular roadway feature, and the method further comprises the step of: not adapting at least one chassis parameter and/or a driving behavior of the motor vehicle as a function of a second status data; updating the second status data to reflect that a second particular roadway feature of the roadway section does not exist; and transmitting the updated second status data.

16. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: pre-selecting the particular roadway feature from a plurality of roadway features indicated by the status data to be present in the roadway section.

17. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the surroundings sensor is a first surroundings sensor, and the method further comprises: sensing the particular roadway feature using a second surroundings sensor to generate data about the particular roadway feature that differs from data generated by the first surroundings sensor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the driver assistance system and the motor vehicle according to one embodiment of the invention.

(2) FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating method steps of a method for controlling a motor vehicle according to a further embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(3) The present invention will be explained in more detail on the basis of exemplary embodiments. Only the details which are essential to the invention are illustrated in the figures. All the other details are omitted for the sake of clarity. The same reference symbols stand for the same components/elements here.

(4) FIG. 1 shows in detail two situations which are chronologically separate from one another. In the right-hand half of the figure a second vehicle 10a is illustrated. The second vehicle 10a is moving in the direction of the arrow P on a roadway section 1. The roadway section 1 has a particular roadway feature 2, specifically a pothole, toward which the second motor vehicle 10a is moving.

(5) The second motor vehicle 10a has a driver assistance system 3 which comprises a data input 4, an evaluation unit 5 and a data output 6.

(6) The data input 4 is connected to a surroundings sensor 7 which is embodied in the form of a camera. The camera is configured to capture by use of imaging technology a route section of the roadway section 1 which lies ahead of the second motor vehicle 10a, and to determine status data of the roadway section 1 on the basis thereof. The second motor vehicle 10a is also able to determine the geographic position of the roadway section 1, for example by way of a GPS device 8 which can both receive data, such as e.g. location data or other geographic data, from a satellite 13 via the wireless communication link L1, and transmit data via the same wireless communication link L1 to the satellite 13 via the antenna 11. The data which are transmitted to the satellite 13 or received from the satellite 13 can be stored in a data memory 12.

(7) Some of the status data items which are determined by the second motor vehicle 10a include, for example, a lane, a travel direction, a frequency of roadway unevennesses 2, an amplitude of roadway unevennesses 2, and/or a data item relating to the roadway section 1 which has been passed through. These status data are advantageous for characterizing the particular roadway feature of the roadway section 1, which is in turn important for determining (and therefore also for increasing) the driving comfort when traveling through the roadway section 1 with a first motor vehicle 10b.

(8) At a time which occurs after the second motor vehicle 10a has passed through the roadway section 1, the first motor vehicle 10b (left-hand half of the figure) arrives at the same roadway section 1, e.g. given identical route planning of the route of the second motor vehicle 10a and of the first motor vehicle 10b.

(9) The first motor vehicle 10b is constructed in an analogous fashion to the second motor vehicle 10a and also includes a driver assistance system 3 with a data input 4, evaluation unit 5 and data output 6, a surroundings sensor 7, which is embodied in turn in the form of a camera, a GPS device 8, an antenna 11 for outputting data to the satellite 13 and a semi-active or active chassis damping or spring system 9, which is also connected by data technology to the data output 6.

(10) The data input 4 of the first motor vehicle 10b is configured to receive status data of the roadway section 1 and the data which are associated with the roadway section 1 and relate it to its geographic position. This can take place, e.g. as illustrated in FIG. 1, by the reception of satellite data via the wireless communication link L2. For this purpose, corresponding status data and/or data relating to the geographic position of the roadway section 1 can be read out of the data memory 12 and received by the first motor vehicle 10b via the satellite 13 by way of the antenna 11, and, e.g. by the data input 4 here.

(11) The evaluation unit 5 is configured to sense the roadway section 1 by use of the surroundings sensor 7, that is to say the camera of the first motor vehicle 10b, and, if appropriate, to analyze it, as a function of the received status data.

(12) The data output 6 is configured, in response to the sensing of the roadway section 1 by the surroundings sensor 7 of the first motor vehicle 10b, to align the surroundings sensor 7 with the particular roadway feature 2 which is located in front of the first motor vehicle 10b in FIG. 1. This can be recognized by the fact that the capturing range of the camera which is indicated by dashed lines is focused on the region of the roadway section 1 in which the status data which are determined by the second motor vehicle 10a permit the particular roadway feature 2 to be detected. This region of the roadway can be unambiguously identified by means of its geographic position.

(13) The data output 6 is configured, in response to the sensing of the roadway section 1 by the surroundings sensor 7 of the first motor vehicle 10b, to adapt an evaluation of the surroundings sensor 7. This can be done, for example, by way of a detailed analysis of the dimensions of the particular roadway feature 2, or else e.g. also by using different surroundings sensors in order e.g. to generate different or more precise status data. This is advantageous, in particular, in the situation illustrated in FIG. 1. As is indicated by the dashed lines on the particular roadway feature 2, the particular roadway feature 2, that is to say the pothole, has been filled in and covered with an asphalt layer 14. The particular roadway feature 2 therefore no longer exists. This consequently results in changed status data for the geographic position of the roadway section 1. These status data can be determined by use of the surroundings sensor 7 or else by use of further surroundings sensors (not shown).

(14) The data output 6 can also be configured in this context to update the status data determined by the first motor vehicle 10b and to transmit the updated status data to the satellite 13. This updated status data are then available for retrieval by further motor vehicles or else by the second motor vehicle 10a and/or by the first motor vehicle 10b at a later point in time, which makes it possible to determine a comfort-optimized route.

(15) In the current present case here, the data output 6 is also configured to adapt at least one chassis parameter and/or a driving behavior of the first motor vehicle 10b as a function of the status data analyzed by the first motor vehicle 10b. This is advantageous, in particular, if the status data relating to the roadway section 1 which have been determined by the first motor vehicle 10b permit passage through a particular roadway feature 2 to be expected, in particular if the determined status data exceed a threshold value which would indicate a significant reduction in the driving comfort when the roadway unevenness 2 is passed through. Since in the present case in FIG. 1 the particular roadway feature 2 has been covered by an asphalt layer 14, it is not necessary to adapt a chassis parameter and/or driving behavior of the first motor vehicle 10b, but adaptation could be carried out e.g. by activating the semi-active or active chassis damping or spring system 9.

(16) FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating method steps for controlling a motor vehicle, in particular for improving a driving comfort of a motor vehicle. The method steps can be carried out e.g. by the driver assistance system 3 from FIG. 1. Reference is therefore made additionally to the statements relating to FIG. 1.

(17) In method step 100, status data of a roadway section 1 and of a geographic position of the roadway section 1 are received by the first motor vehicle 10b. These status data relate, in particular, to any particular roadway features on the roadway section 1 which permit a decrease in the driving comfort when the first motor vehicle 10b drives through the roadway section 1 to be expected.

(18) In method step 200, sensing of the roadway section 1 by a surroundings sensor 7 of the first motor vehicle 10b takes place as a function of the received status data, and in response thereto in method step 300 the surroundings sensor 7 is aligned with a particular roadway feature 2 of the roadway section 1, which corresponds to focusing of the camera of the first motor vehicle 10b on the particular roadway feature 2. This is possible, in particular, by virtue of the fact that corresponding status data relating to the particular roadway feature 2 have already been received by the first motor vehicle 10b. In addition, in method step 400 adaptation of an evaluation of data of the surroundings sensor 7 of the first motor vehicle 10b takes place, for example by means of more precise analysis of the status data relating to the particular roadway feature 2. Additionally or alternatively, the status data which are obtained by the first motor vehicle can be updated in a method step 500 and transmitted e.g. to a satellite 13 and/or stored in a data memory 12.

(19) By virtue of the more specific analysis of the status data which have been initially received by the first motor vehicle 10b, the status of a roadway section 1 can be analyzed in a precisely targeted fashion and corresponding status data can be updated in this respect. For example a very accurately detailed and current roadway map can be produced on this basis, and the different motor vehicles can access said map and orient their comfort-oriented route planning according to said map. The method significantly improves the quality, the reliability and the availability of status data of a roadway section.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

(20) 1 Roadway section 2 Particular roadway feature 3 Driver assistance system 4 Data input 5 Evaluation unit 6 Data output 7 Surroundings sensor 8 GPS device 9 Semi-active or active chassis damping or spring system 10a Second motor vehicle 10b First motor vehicle 11 Antenna 12 Data memory 13 Satellite 14 Asphalt layer L1, L2 Wireless communication links P Direction of movement 100-500 Method steps

(21) The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.