DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEM

Abstract

A driver assistance system for avoiding collisions includes an environmental sensor for detecting the traffic environment of the vehicle and a processing unit configured to assess the traffic environment as to the likelihood of a danger and plan a route avoiding or at least minimizing the danger for the vehicle. The processing unit is further configured to predict a possible control intervention of the driver in reaction to the danger and select a route which is compatible with that control intervention.

Claims

1-13. (canceled)

14. A driver assistance system for avoiding collisions comprising: an environmental sensor configured to detect a traffic environment for an ego-vehicle; and a processing unit configured to: assess a danger to the ego-vehicle based on the traffic environment; plan a route that at least minimizes or avoids the danger; predict a control intervention of a control instrument by a driver of the ego-vehicle in reaction to the danger; and control an actuator to execute a process intervention by adjusting the control instrument of the ego-vehicle, wherein the processor intervention is compatible with the route and the predicted the control intervention.

15. The driver assistance system according to claim 14, wherein the processing unit is further configured to differentiate between a manual driving mode and an automated driving and only to predict the control intervention during the manual driving mode.

16. The driver assistance system according to claim 15, wherein the processing unit is further configured to execute a processor intervention during the automated driving mode, which is incompatible with the predicted control intervention during a manual driving mode.

17. The driver assistance system according to claim 14, wherein the processing unit is configured to predict a vehicle braking intervention for the driver of the ego-vehicle in reaction to the danger.

18. The driver assistance system according to claim 14, wherein the processing unit is configured to predict a vehicle steering intervention having a maximum swerve not greater than a width of the vehicle for the driver of the ego-vehicle in reaction to the danger.

19. The driver assistance system according to claim 14, further comprising a sensor configured to assess a responsiveness of the driver, wherein the processing unit is configured to predict the control intervention for the driver accounts for the responsiveness.

20. The driver assistance system according to claim 20, wherein the sensor comprises a motion sensor configured to responds to movement of the control instrument.

21. The driver assistance system according to claim 14, wherein the processing unit is configured to communicate the predicted control intervention to the driver through a user interface.

22. The driver assistance system according to claim 21, wherein the user interface comprises an interface between the driver and the control instrument.

23. The driver assistance system according to claim 22, wherein the processing unit is configured to communicate the predicted control intervention manipulate the control instrument without executing the processor intervention.

24. The driver assistance system according to claim 22, wherein the control instrument comprises a steering wheel, wherein the actuator is coupled to a steering wheel and adapted to exercise a torque on the steering wheel in direction of the planned route.

25. A method for providing driver assistance to avoid a vehicle collision comprising: detecting a traffic environment for an ego-vehicle with an environmental sensor; assessing a danger to the ego-vehicle based on the traffic environment in a processing unit; planning a route that at least minimizes or avoids the danger in the processing unit; predicting a control intervention of a control instrument by a driver of the ego-vehicle in reaction to the danger in the processing unit; and adjusting the control instrument of the ego-vehicle with an actuator controlled by the processing unit to execute a process intervention, wherein the processor intervention is compatible with the route and the predicted the control intervention.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein predicting a control intervention further comprised predicting a vehicle braking intervention for the driver of the ego-vehicle in reaction to the danger.

27. The method according to claim 25, wherein predicting a control intervention further comprises predicting a vehicle steering intervention having a maximum swerve not greater than a width of the vehicle for the driver of the ego-vehicle in reaction to the danger.

28. The method according to claim 25, further comprising assessing the responsiveness of the driver with a sensor, wherein predicting the control intervention accounts for the responsiveness of the driver.

29. The method according to claim 25, further comprising communicating the predicted control intervention to the driver through a user interface.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The present disclosure will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements.

[0017] FIG. 1 shows a traffic situation in which a driver assistance system in accordance with the present disclosure may be used;

[0018] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the driver assistance system; and

[0019] FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of a working method of the driver assistance system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of the invention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background of the invention or the following detailed description.

[0021] FIG. 1 shows an ego-vehicle 2 on a road 1, which is fitted with a driver assistance system 2′ according to the present disclosure and a third-party vehicle 3, which are underway on the same traffic lane 1′ of the road 1. The ego-vehicle 2 is approaching the third-party vehicle 3 from behind. The aim of the driver assistance system 2′ is to avoid a collision with the third-party vehicle 3.

[0022] To this end, the driver assistance system 2′, as may be seen from the block diagram in FIG. 2, includes an environmental sensor 4, for example a camera, a radar sensor or an arrangement of cameras or radar sensors, which monitors the environment around the ego-vehicle 2. The driver assistance system 2′ also includes a processing unit 5, typically a microcomputer configured to use the data from the environmental sensor 4 to identify objects in the vicinity of the ego-vehicle 2, such as the third-party vehicle 3, to determine their distance from the ego-vehicle 2 as well as the rate of change of that distance, and to assess an object as being a danger if the time it would take until a collision, calculated on the basis of the actual distance of the object and the rate of change of that distance (hereinafter also referred to as time to collision or TC) falls below a given threshold. In the event that an object is assessed to be a danger, the processing unit 5 is configured to find a route 15, 15′ for the ego-vehicle 2 on which a collision with the object is avoided. In the situation shown in FIG. 1, this route may include continuing to drive in lane 1′ whilst simultaneously braking, or in changing over into lane 1″.

[0023] The processing unit 5 is connected to actuators 6, 7, which are configured to intervene in the directional or speed control of the ego-vehicle 2. The actuator 6 is arranged on a brake pedal 8, in order to move it under the control of the processing unit 5. The actuator 7 is configured to exert a torque on a steering spindle 9, which couples a steering wheel 10 to a steering track rod 11 and the front wheels 12 of the ego-vehicle 2.

[0024] In order to assess the readiness of the driver to interfere in the control of the vehicle, a touch sensitive sensor for detecting a driver's hand on the steering wheel 10 may be provided. It is however also possible to monitor the torque exerted on the steering spindle 9 by the intervention of the driver at the steering wheel 10, or to monitor the effort made by the power steering 13 by a sensor 14, in order, if appropriate, to conclude that the driver has his hands on the steering wheel 10 and, if appropriate, is able to quickly activate the steering wheel 10.

[0025] Furthermore, the processing unit 5 is connected to a display instrument 16 which is arranged within the driver's field of vision.

[0026] The driver assistance system 2′ supports manual as well as automated driving. If the third-party vehicle 3 is moving at a constant speed, in automatic driving mode the vehicles 2, 3 do not come close enough to one another for vehicle 3 to be assessed as a danger because the processing unit 5 either slows down the ego-vehicle 2 or carries out an overtaking maneuver. During manual driving, a critical convergence with vehicle 3 may occur if the driver allows too strong an approach out of carelessness. In both modes, the third-party vehicle 3 may become a hazard if it slows abruptly and thereby reduces the distance to the ego-vehicle 2.

[0027] FIG. 3 shows a working method for dealing with such a situation. The process begins at S1 in which the third-party vehicle 3 is identified as a danger, because the time to collision (TC) has dropped below a given threshold. If this is the case, S2 involves checking whether the processing unit 5 is in manual or automated mode.

[0028] In the automated mode of operation, it must be assumed that the driver is not able to take over control of the vehicle and adequately control it in the remaining time available before the threatened collision. Thus, at S3 information is displayed to the driver on the display instrument 16 which indicates an imminent control intervention by the processing unit 5 and by which the driver, if he is alarmed by the abrupt movement of the vehicle 2 resulting from the control intervention, can make certain that the driver assistance system 2′ is functioning correctly. At S4, the processing unit 5 simultaneously activates the actuator 6 in order to slow the vehicle 2 down.

[0029] At S5, a new estimate of the TC is made taking into consideration the slowing of the vehicle 2 and comparing it with a lower braking intervention limit (CAB). If the TC is above the lower limit CAB and therefore long enough for such a braking intervention, the ego-vehicle 2 is slowed down at S6 to the speed of the vehicle 3 in front in accordance with route 15 shown in FIG. 1, and the process returns to the beginning.

[0030] If the TC is too short for the ego-vehicle 2 to be slowed down to the speed of vehicle 3 before colliding with it, a decision is made at S7 as to whether a swerve into the neighboring lane 1″ of the road 1 may be considered. The requisite assessment for this purpose of whether there is enough room to swerve into lane 1″, i.e. whether the required stretch of lane 1″ is free of on-coming and overtaking vehicles, should conveniently already have been made before the identification at S1 of the danger, so that at S7 the results of this assessment can be recalled without having to spend significant computing power. If there is space in lane 1″, S7 can be limited to the assessment of whether the TC is still longer than the time needed for switching lanes (CAS). If ‘yes’, the processing unit 5 intervenes with a supporting or processor intervention via the actuator 7 in the directional control of the ego-vehicle 2 in order to steer it into a swerve into lane 1″ according to route 15′.

[0031] If there is no longer enough time TC for this, or there is insufficient room to swerve into lane 1″, then at S9 a warning is initiated on the display unit 16 and an emergency stop follows at S10, in order to make the collision, which has been recognized as unavoidable, as mild as possible.

[0032] If it is established at S2 that the driver assistance system 2′ is in manual mode, a short term control intervention by the driver cannot be precluded. In order to ensure the decision-making autonomy of the driver, the driver assistance system 2′ should, as far as possible, not hinder this control intervention. On the other hand, however, it should be able to protect the vehicle and its occupants in the absence of any control intervention by the driver. To this end, at S11, the preparedness of the driver to make the control intervention is assessed first. If the assessment shows that the driver has his hands on the steering wheel, or if the last turn of the steering wheel recorded by the sensor 14 is so recent that it can be assumed that his hands are on the steering wheel, then an assessment is made next at S12 of whether CAB>TC>CAS, i.e. whether, on the one hand, the TC is too short for a collision to be avoided by braking, but on the other it is still long enough for a swerve maneuver according to route 15′, and how far sideways the ego-vehicle 2 would have to swerve in order to pass the third-party vehicle 3.

[0033] If the required lateral displacement (d) of the ego-vehicle 2 is relatively small, in particular if it is smaller than the width of the lane 1′, this justifies the assumption that the driver has already recognized the possibility of overtaking the third-party vehicle 3 and has accordingly positioned the ego-vehicle 2 in lane 1′. In this case a signal that a swerve maneuver is necessary is given (S13, S14).

[0034] That signal may include issuing a warning on the display instrument 16 (S13). In any event the signal should be issued in that the actuator 7 exerts a torque on the steering spindle 9, in the form of one or more short pulses, in the direction of lane 1′, which is strong enough to be perceived by the driver's hands at the steering wheel 10, but at the same time not strong enough to outweigh the inertia of the steering system and the driver's arms and to actually noticeably turn the steering spindle 9 (S14). Such a torque pulse should last less than a second, typically 300 ms; the torque may be a few Nm, e.g. 3 Nm.

[0035] If the driver follows the prompt from the processing unit 5 to make a swerve maneuver quickly and decisively enough, a processor intervention by the processing unit 5 may be unnecessary. If, in order to drive the swerve route recommended by the processing unit 5, it is necessary to make sharper directional and speed interventions than those made by the driver, the processing unit 5 may, at S15 via the actuators 6, 7, perform a supporting or processor intervention in the control of the vehicle. A resistance by the driver against this processor intervention is unlikely, since it is aimed in the same direction of the driver's control intervention.

[0036] If it is established at S16 that the collision hazard has been eliminated, the processor intervention by the processing unit 5 finishes and the driver regains full control of the vehicle 2.

[0037] If however, it is shown at S12 that the lateral displacement necessary to drive around the hazard is greater than the width of a lane, or that the TC does not fall in the interval [CAS, CAB] and that a swerve maneuver is therefore of no use, it must be concluded that the driver is not prepared to change lanes and, if the processing unit 5 should attempt to perform a change of lane, would resist that since he would be afraid of colliding with other vehicles. The processing unit 5 takes this into account in that at S17, even if a swerve maneuver according to route 15′ is physically possible, it plans a slowing down according to route 15, uses the display unit 16 to notify the driver of the need to brake, and additionally suggests slowing down at S18 by activating the actuator 7 in order to produce vibrations of the brake pedal 8 which the driver can feel if he has his foot on it.

[0038] If the driver indicates his agreement with the suggestion of the processing unit 5 by depressing the brake pedal 8, the processing unit 5, at 519, checks whether TC>CAB, i.e. is still long enough to slow the ego-vehicle 2 down to the speed of the vehicle 3 before colliding with it. If ‘yes’, it increases the braking deceleration at S20, if necessary, with the help of the actuator 6, to the level necessary to avoid the collision. If ‘no’, i.e. if TC<CAS, that is there is no longer enough time to drive around the hazard, but also if there is enough time available but the driver probably would not support the necessary swerve maneuver, a full emergency stop is initiated at S21, regardless of how strongly the driver is operating the brake pedal 8.

[0039] If the check at S11 shows that the driver is not prepared to perform a short term control intervention in the steering, then the processing unit 5 can do this without having to anticipate opposing actions by the driver. In that case, at S22, it will be initially checked whether a slowing down of the ego-vehicle 2 is still sufficient to avoid a collision, and if ‘yes’, then as described above in relation to steps S17, S18, S20, the necessity to brake will be notified at S23, S24, S25 by the display instrument 16 and the actuator 6, and finally, independently from that, whether or not the driver himself operates the brake pedal 8, the vehicle 2 will be slowed down sufficiently to avoid the collision.

[0040] If braking is not sufficient to avoid a collision, the process branches off at S26 to sequence S13 thru S16 already described above. The processing unit 5 may in the course direct a swerve maneuver where the lateral displacement is greater than the maximum allowed at S12. Even if the driver, as anticipated, was not prepared for such a large swerve maneuver, it can be made in this case since the driver cannot stop it if his hands are not on the steering wheel.

[0041] If the collision is no longer avoidable, the process branches from S26 into S9, S10 as described above.

[0042] While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment, it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims and their legal equivalents.