VEHICLE SYSTEM FOR DETECTION OF ONCOMING VEHICLES

Abstract

A vehicle environment detection system in an ego vehicle, including a sensor arrangement and a main control unit is arranged to detect and track at least one oncoming vehicle, and to determine whether the ego vehicle has entered a curve. The main control unit is arranged to determine a common curve with a radius, along which common curve the ego vehicle is assumed to travel, determine a measured oncome direction of the oncoming vehicle on the common curve, corresponding to an oncome angle, determine a difference angle between the measured oncome direction and an oncome direction corresponding to if the oncoming vehicle would be moving along the common curve, compare the difference angle with a threshold angle, and to determine that the oncoming vehicle is crossing if the difference angle exceeds the threshold angle.

Claims

1. An oncoming vehicle detection system adapted to be mounted to an ego vehicle, the oncoming vehicle detection system being configured to: determine that an oncoming vehicle and the ego vehicle are concurrently present on a curved portion of a road; and determine, in response thereto: a calculated oncome direction of the oncoming vehicle relative to the curved portion of the road; a measured oncome direction of the oncoming vehicle based on at least one measurement of the oncoming vehicle by a vehicle environment sensor of the oncoming vehicle detection system; and whether a difference between the calculated oncome direction and the measured oncome direction is indicative of the oncoming vehicle being crossing traffic.

2. The oncoming vehicle detection system of claim 1, wherein to determine whether the difference between the calculated oncome direction and the measured oncome direction is indicative of the oncoming vehicle being crossing traffic, the oncoming vehicle detection system is configured to determine whether a difference between the calculated oncome direction and the measured oncome direction exceeds a threshold.

3. The oncoming vehicle detection system of claim 2, wherein the oncoming vehicle detection system is configured to increase the threshold over time.

4. The oncoming vehicle detection system of claim 1, wherein the calculated oncome direction is a tangent to the curved portion of the road at a location of the curved portion of the road corresponding to the oncoming vehicle.

5. An oncoming vehicle detection method comprising: determining that an oncoming vehicle and an ego vehicle are concurrently present on a curved portion of a road; and determining, in response thereto: a calculated oncome direction of the oncoming vehicle relative to the curved portion of the road; a measured oncome direction of the oncoming vehicle based on at least one measurement of the oncoming vehicle by a vehicle environment sensor of the oncoming vehicle detection system; and whether a difference between the calculated oncome direction and the measured oncome direction is indicative of the oncoming vehicle being crossing traffic.

6. The oncoming vehicle detection method of claim 5, wherein determining whether the difference between the calculated oncome direction and the measured oncome direction is indicative of the oncoming vehicle being crossing traffic comprises determining whether a difference between the calculated oncome direction and the measured oncome direction exceeds a threshold.

7. The oncoming vehicle detection method of claim 6, further comprising increasing the threshold over time.

8. The oncoming vehicle detection method of claim 5, wherein the calculated oncome direction is a tangent to the curved portion of the road at a location of the curved portion of the road corresponding to the oncoming vehicle.

9. An oncoming vehicle detection system comprising: means for determining that an oncoming vehicle and an ego vehicle are concurrently present on a curved portion of a road; and means for determining, in response thereto: a calculated oncome direction of the oncoming vehicle relative to the curved portion of the road; a measured oncome direction of the oncoming vehicle based on at least one measurement of the oncoming vehicle by a vehicle environment sensor of the oncoming vehicle detection system; and whether a difference between the calculated oncome direction and the measured oncome direction is indicative of the oncoming vehicle being crossing traffic.

10. The oncoming vehicle detection system of claim 5, wherein the means for determining whether the difference between the calculated oncome direction and the measured oncome direction is indicative of the oncoming vehicle being crossing traffic comprise means for determining whether a difference between the calculated oncome direction and the measured oncome direction exceeds a threshold.

11. The oncoming vehicle detection system of claim 6, wherein the means for determining whether the difference between the calculated oncome direction and the measured oncome direction exceeds the threshold comprise means for increasing the threshold over time.

12. The oncoming vehicle detection system of claim 5, wherein the calculated oncome direction is a tangent to the curved portion of the road at a location of the curved portion of the road corresponding to the oncoming vehicle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] The present disclosure will now be described more in detail with reference to the appended drawings, where:

[0027] FIG. 1 shows a schematic top view of an ego vehicle;

[0028] FIG. 2 shows a schematic top view of an ego vehicle and an oncoming vehicle according to a first example;

[0029] FIG. 3 shows a schematic top view of an ego vehicle and an oncoming vehicle according to a second example; and

[0030] FIG. 4 shows a flowchart for a method according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] FIG. 1 schematically shows a top view of an ego vehicle 1 arranged to run at an ego vehicle velocity v on a road 2 in a forward over-ground movement direction F, in the following referred to as ego direction F, where the ego vehicle 1 includes a vehicle radar system 3. The vehicle radar system 3 includes a radar sensor arrangement 4 that is arranged to distinguish and/or resolve single targets from the surroundings by transmitting signals 6 and receiving reflected signals 7 and using a Doppler effect in a previously well-known manner. The vehicle radar system 3 further includes a main control unit 8 that is connected to the radar sensor arrangement 4 and is arranged to provide radial velocity and azimuth angles of possible target objects 5 by simultaneously sampling and analyzing phase and amplitude of the received signals 7.

[0032] The reflected signals 7 correspond to radar detections, where the main control unit 8 includes a tracking function that is arranged to group these radar detections as tracked objects, providing a common motion state for an extended detected object.

[0033] The ego vehicle 1 has a center of mass 10 and an angular rotational velocity γ.sub.ėgo around the center of mass 10, and the radar sensor arrangements 4 has a certain relation to the center of mass 10. In order to detect an ego direction angle γ.sub.ėgo, that corresponds to the ego direction F, and the corresponding rotational velocity γ.sub.ėgo a yaw sensor device 20 is connected to the main control unit 8.

[0034] The radar sensor arrangement is positioned in the origin of a corresponding coordinate system 11, and is positioned at a distance y.sub.sen along a y-axis of the coordinate system 11 from the center of mass 10, and at a distance x.sub.sen along an x-axis of the coordinate system 11 from the center of mass 10.

[0035] With reference also to FIG. 2, the ego vehicle 1 runs in the ego direction F on the road 2, and the vehicle radar system 3 tracks a detected object in the form of an oncoming vehicle 9. The tracking function is arranged to determine over-ground speed of the oncoming vehicle 9 in the form of perpendicular velocity components v.sub.xtrack, v.sub.ytrack as:

[00003]$\begin{array}{cc}\left[\begin{array}{c}{v}_{\mathrm{xtrack}}\\ v_{\mathrm{ytrack}}\end{array}\right]=\left[\begin{array}{c}{v}_{\mathrm{relX}}\\ v_{\mathrm{relY}}\end{array}\right]+\left[\begin{array}{c}{v}_{\mathrm{egoX}}\\ 0\end{array}\right]+\left[\begin{array}{c}-y_{\mathrm{sen}}.Math.\stackrel{.}{{\gamma }_{\mathrm{ego}}}\\ x_{\mathrm{sen}}.Math.\stackrel{.}{{\gamma }_{\mathrm{ego}}}\end{array}\right]& \left(1\right)\end{array}$

where v.sub.relx, v.sub.rely is the detected relative velocity of the oncoming vehicle 9, v.sub.egoX is the movement of the radar sensor arrangement 4 resulting from the center of mass 10 of the ego vehicle 1, y.sub.sen.Math.γ.sub.ėgo, x.sub.sen.Math.γ.sub.ėgo is the movement of the radar sensor arrangement 4 resulting from a rotational movement around the center of mass 10.

[0036] The oncoming vehicle 9 has a detected oncoming position 14 and a measured oncome direction 13 according to an oncome angle θ.sub.track with respect to the x-axis, which oncome angle θ.sub.track is calculated as:

[00004]$\begin{array}{cc}{\theta }_{\mathrm{track}}=a\tan \frac{v_{\mathrm{xtrack}}}{v_{\mathrm{xtrack}}}.& \left(2\right).\end{array}$

[0037] In FIG. 2, the measured oncome direction 13 and the ego direction F are shifted to correspond with that the vehicles 1, 9 are positioned on a common curve 12 with a certain curve radius R. The center of mass 10 of the ego vehicle 1 is shifted to an adjusted center of mass 10′ and the oncoming vehicle 9 is shifted to an adjusted detected oncoming position 14′ which both are positioned on the common curve 12. This does not affect the oncome angle θ.sub.track.

[0038] According to the present disclosure, the main control unit 8 is arranged to determine whether the ego vehicle 1 travels in a curve 17 by detecting if the angular rotational velocity γ.sub.ėgo exceeds a certain threshold, according to some aspects 2 deg/s. If that is the case, the main control unit 8 is arranged to determine a calculated oncome direction 13′ that the oncoming vehicle 9 would have if it is moving along the common curve 12. The calculated oncome direction 13′ corresponds to a direction the ego vehicle 1 would follow when it had travelled to the position of the oncoming vehicle 9 along the common curve 12. The calculated oncome direction 13′ has a certain calculated oncome angle α relative the ego direction F″ in the position of the oncoming vehicle 9, and the calculated oncome angle α is thus the angle that the ego direction F would be shifted when the ego vehicle 1 has travelled to the position of the oncoming vehicle 9 along the common curve 12.

[0039] The main control unit 8 is then arranged to calculate a difference angle δ between the measured oncome direction 13 and the calculated oncome direction 13′ such that it can be established how much the oncome direction 13 differ from the calculated oncome direction 13′ that corresponds to if the oncoming vehicle is moving on the same common curve 12 as the ego vehicle 1. The difference angle δ thus constitutes a difference between the oncome angle θ.sub.track and the calculated oncome angle α. If the difference angle δ exceeds a certain threshold angle θ.sub.max, the oncoming vehicle 9 is determined to be crossing.

[0040] With reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, showing a first example and a second example, respectively, it will now be explained how the calculated oncome direction 13′ and the calculated oncome angle α are determined.

[0041] For the calculated oncome direction 13′ it is assumed that both vehicles 1, 9 move along the common curve 12. In order to obtain the calculated oncome angle α, a triangle between a common curve middle-point 15, the adjusted detected oncoming position 14′, and the adjusted center of mass 10′ is formed. This triangle is divided into two isosceles 90°-triangles. A distance D between the detected oncoming position 14 and the adjusted center of mass 10 is known and assumed to be the same as a distance between the adjusted detected oncoming position 14′ and the adjusted center of mass 10′; a short side of one 90°-triangle is then D/2.

[0042] The common curve radius R is calculated by using the ego vehicle velocity v and the angular rotational velocity γ.sub.ėgo according to:

[00005]$\begin{array}{cc}R=\frac{v}{\stackrel{.}{{\gamma }_{\mathrm{ego}}}}.Math.,& \left(3\right)\end{array}$

where trigonometry together with equation (3) yields:

[00006]$\begin{array}{cc}\sin \frac{\alpha }{2}=\frac{\frac{D}{2}}{R}=\frac{\frac{D}{2}}{\frac{v}{\stackrel{.}{{\gamma }_{\mathrm{ego}}}}}.& \left(4\right)\end{array}$

[0043] As a result,

[00007]$\begin{array}{cc}\alpha =2.Math.\arcsin \left[\frac{D.Math.\stackrel{.}{{\gamma }_{\mathrm{ego}}}}{2.Math.v}\right].& \left(5\right)\end{array}$

[0044] In FIG. 2, the oncome angle θ.sub.track equals the calculated oncome angle α, such that the difference angle δ equals zero. In this example, both vehicles 1, 9 move in the common curve 12.

[0045] In FIG. 3, the oncome angle θ′.sub.track does not equal the calculated oncome angle α such that there is a certain difference angle δ=θ′.sub.track−α.

[0046] It is thus determined how much the actual measured moving direction of the oncoming vehicle 9 differs from the moving direction corresponding to if the oncoming vehicle 9 would be moving along the common curve 12.

[0047] In order to determine whether the oncoming vehicle 9 should be determined to be crossing or not, i.e. whether the difference angle δ exceeds a threshold or not. If the oncoming vehicle 9 is determined to be crossing, suitable safety measure are taken; for example emergency braking, emergency steering and pushing vehicle occupants towards the middle of the ego vehicle 1, suitably by provision of one or more airbags.

[0048] According to some aspects, the threshold angle θ.sub.max is adaptive, such that in straight driving situations, a first threshold angle θ.sub.max1 is used, and in curves a second threshold angle θ.sub.max2 is used, where the second threshold angle θ.sub.max2 exceeds the first threshold angle θ.sub.max1. According to some aspects, the first threshold angle θ.sub.max1 is about 35°, and the second threshold angle θ.sub.max2 is about 45°.

[0049] For this purpose the main control unit 8 is arranged to determine whether the ego vehicle 1 travels in a curve or not by detecting if the angular rotational velocity γ.sub.ėgo exceeds a certain threshold γ.sub.eg{dot over (o)}max, according to some aspects 2 deg/s, as mentioned previously. According to some aspects, If γ.sub.ėgo≥γ.sub.eg{dot over (o)}max, the main control unit 8 is arranged to increase the threshold angle θ.sub.max stepwise from the first threshold angle θ.sub.max1 to the second threshold angle θ.sub.max2 in a step-wise manner according to:

[00008]$\begin{array}{cc}{\theta }_{\max }\left(i\right)={\theta }_{\mathrm{m\alpha x}}\left(i-1\right)+\left(\frac{2.Math.t_{\mathrm{cyc}}}{\stackrel{.}{{\gamma }_{\mathrm{ego}}}}\right),& \left(6\right)\end{array}$

where t.sub.cyc is the time for each radar cycle, where i is an increasing step index indicating that the current value always is calculated based on the value of the last cycle.

[0050] When the main control unit 8 determines that γ.sub.ėgo<γ.sub.eg{dot over (o)}max, the threshold angle θ.sub.max is step-wise reduced to the first threshold angle θ.sub.max1.

[0051] Each subsequent step-wise change is according to some aspects performed for each subsequent radar cycle.

[0052] In this context, a radar cycle is one observation phase during which the vehicle radar system 3 is arranged to acquire data, process the data on several signal processing levels and to send out available results. This can be a fixed time interval, or it can be a dynamic time interval depending on environment conditions and processing load.

[0053] With reference to FIG. 4, the present disclosure also relates to a method for detecting oncoming vehicles relative an ego vehicle 1, where the method includes:

[0054] Step 41: Detecting and tracking at least one oncoming vehicle 9.

[0055] Step 42: Determining whether the ego vehicle 1 has entered a curve 17.

[0056] When it has been determined that the ego vehicle 1 has entered a curve 17, for each tracked oncoming vehicle 9, the method further includes the steps of:

[0057] Step 43: Determining a common curve 12 with a radius R, along which common curve 12 the ego vehicle 1 is assumed to travel.

[0058] Step 44: Determining a measured oncome direction 13, 13′ of the tracked oncoming vehicle 9 on the common curve 16, corresponding to an oncome angle θ.sub.track with respect to a predetermined axis x.

[0059] Step 45: Determining a difference angle δ between the measured oncome direction 13, 13′ and an oncome direction 13 corresponding to if the oncoming vehicle 9 would be moving along the common curve 12.

[0060] Step 46: Comparing the difference angle δ with a threshold angle θ.sub.max.

[0061] Step 47: Determining that the oncoming vehicle 9 is crossing if the difference angle δ has been determined to exceed the threshold angle θ.sub.max.

[0062] According to some aspects, for each tracked oncoming vehicle 9 that has been determined to be crossing, the method includes applying one or more safety measures.

[0063] The present disclosure is not limited to the examples above, but may vary freely within the scope of the appended claims. For example, the vehicle radar system 3 is provided in a vehicle environment detection system 40. Generally, the present disclosure is related to a vehicle environment detection system 40 arranged for any suitable environment detection technology, for example radar as in the examples above, but also Lidar (Light detection and ranging) and/or image detection are conceivable. According to some aspects, when a yaw sensor device is present, the yaw sensor device 20 is part of the vehicle environment detection system 40.

[0064] The vehicle environment detection system 40 generally includes one or more environment detection sensor arrangements 4.

[0065] The main control unit 8 includes one or more control unit parts which according to some aspects are combined, adjacent or distributed. One or more of such control unit parts are according to some aspects included as part of the vehicle environment detection system 40.

[0066] Instead of center of mass, any suitable reference point on the ego vehicle 1 can be used and adjusted to lie on the common curve 12.

[0067] The orientation of the coordinates and the coordinate system may have many suitable configurations, generally there is a predetermined axis with reference to which the ego direction F is determined.

[0068] Generally, the present disclosure relates to a vehicle environment detection system 40 adapted to be mounted in an ego vehicle 1 and including at least one vehicle environment sensor arrangement 4 and a main control unit 8, where the vehicle environment detection system 40 is arranged to detect and track at least one oncoming vehicle 9, where the vehicle environment detection system 40 is arranged to determine whether the ego vehicle 1 has entered a curve 17. When the vehicle environment detection system 40 has determined that the ego vehicle 1 has entered a curve 17, for each tracked oncoming vehicle 9, the main control unit 8 is arranged to:

[0069] determine a common curve 12 with a radius R, along which common curve 12 the ego vehicle 1 is assumed to travel:

[0070] determine a measured oncome direction 13, 13′ of the tracked oncoming vehicle 9 on the common curve 16, corresponding to an oncome angle θ.sub.track with respect to a predetermined axis x;

[0071] determine a difference angle δ between the measured oncome direction 13, 13′ and an oncome direction 13 corresponding to if the oncoming vehicle 9 would be moving along the common curve 12;

[0072] compare the difference angle δ with a threshold angle θ.sub.max; and

[0073] determine that the oncoming vehicle 9 is crossing if the difference angle δ has been determined to exceed the threshold angle θ.sub.max.

[0074] According to some aspects, for each tracked oncoming vehicle 9 that has been determined to be crossing, the main control unit 8 is arranged to apply one or more safety measures.

[0075] According to some aspects, the vehicle environment detection system 40 includes a yaw sensor device 20 that is connected to the main control unit 8 and is arranged to enable the main control unit 8 to determine an ego direction F along which the ego vehicle 1 travels and to determine whether the ego vehicle 1 has entered a curve 17.

[0076] According to some aspects, the main control unit 8 is arranged to calculate the difference angle δ according to δ=θ.sub.track−α, where θ.sub.track is the oncome angle and α is a calculated oncome angle corresponding to if the oncoming vehicle 9 would be moving along the common curve 12, where the main control unit 8 is arranged to calculate the calculated oncome angle α according to:

[00009]$\alpha =2.Math.\arcsin \left[\frac{D.Math.\stackrel{.}{{\gamma }_{\mathrm{ego}}}}{2.Math.v}\right]$

where D is a position between a reference point 10′ with respect to the ego vehicle and detected oncoming position 14′ which both are adjusted to be positioned on the common curve 12, γ.sub.ėgo is an angular rotational velocity γ.sub.ėgo around the reference point 10′, and v is an ego vehicle velocity.

[0077] According to some aspects, the reference point 10′ is an adjusted center of mass 10 of the ego vehicle 1, and that the angular rotational velocity γ.sub.ėgo is defined around the center of mass 10.

[0078] According to some aspects, when the vehicle environment detection system 40 has determined that the ego vehicle 1 has entered a curve 17, the main control unit 8 is arranged to increase the threshold angle θ.sub.max stepwise from a first threshold angle θ.sub.max1 to a second threshold angle θ.sub.max2 in a step-wise manner according to:

[00010]${\theta }_{\max }\left(i\right)={\theta }_{\mathrm{m\alpha x}}\left(i-1\right)+\left(\frac{2.Math.t_{\mathrm{cyc}}}{\stackrel{.}{{\gamma }_{\mathrm{ego}}}}\right),$

where t.sub.cyc is the time for each radar cycle, i is an increasing step index indicating that the current value always is calculated based on the value of the last cycle, γ.sub.ėgo is an angular rotational velocity for the ego vehicle 1, and where the second threshold angle θ.sub.max2 exceeds the first threshold angle θ.sub.max1.

[0079] According to some aspects, when the vehicle environment detection system 40 has determined that the ego vehicle 1 has left the curve 17, the threshold angle θ.sub.max is step-wise reduced to the first threshold angle θ.sub.max1.

[0080] According to some aspects, the vehicle environment detection system 40 includes at least one of a radar system 3, a Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) system and/or an image detection system.

[0081] Generally, the present disclosure also relates to a method for detecting oncoming vehicles relative an ego vehicle 1, where the method includes the steps of:

[0082] Step 41: detecting and tracking at least one oncoming vehicle 9: and

[0083] Step 42: determining whether the ego vehicle 1 has entered a curve 17.

[0084] When it has been determined that the ego vehicle 1 has entered a curve 17, for each tracked oncoming vehicle 9, the method further includes the steps of:

[0085] Step 43: determining a common curve 12 with a radius R along which common curve 12 the ego vehicle 1 is assumed to travel:

[0086] Step 44: determining a measured oncome direction 13, 13′ of the tracked oncoming vehicle 9 on the common curve 16, corresponding to an oncome angle θ.sub.track with respect to a predetermined axis x;

[0087] Step 45: determining a difference angle δ between the measured oncome direction 13, 13′ and an oncome direction 13 corresponding to if the oncoming vehicle 9 would be moving along the common curve 12;

[0088] Step 46: comparing the difference angle δ with a threshold angle θ.sub.max; and

[0089] Step 47: determining that the oncoming vehicle 9 is crossing if the difference angle δ has been determined to exceed the threshold angle θ.sub.max.

[0090] According to some aspects, for each tracked oncoming vehicle 9 that has been determined to be crossing, the method includes applying one or more safety measures.

[0091] According to some aspects, the method includes:

[0092] calculating the difference angle δ according to δ=θ.sub.track−α, where θ.sub.track is the oncome angle and α is a calculated oncome angle corresponding to if the oncoming vehicle 9 would be moving along the common curve 12; and

[0093] calculating the calculated oncome angle α according to:

[00011]$\alpha =2.Math.\arcsin \left[\frac{D.Math.\stackrel{.}{{\gamma }_{\mathrm{ego}}}}{2.Math.v}\right]$ [0094] where D is a position between a reference point 10′ with respect to the ego vehicle and detected oncoming position 14′ which both are adjusted to be positioned on the common curve 12, γ.sub.ėgo is an angular rotational velocity γ.sub.ėgo around the reference point 10′, and v is an ego vehicle velocity.

[0095] According to some aspects, the reference point 10′ is an adjusted center of mass 10 of the ego vehicle 1, and that the angular rotational velocity γ.sub.ėgo is defined around the center of mass 10.

[0096] According to some aspects, when it has been determined that the ego vehicle 1 has entered a curve 17, the method includes increasing the threshold angle θ.sub.max stepwise from a first threshold angle θ.sub.max1 to a second threshold angle θ.sub.max2 in a step-wise manner according to:

[00012]${\theta }_{\max }\left(i\right)={\theta }_{\mathrm{m\alpha x}}\left(i-1\right)+\left(\frac{2.Math.t_{\mathrm{cyc}}}{\stackrel{.}{{\gamma }_{\mathrm{ego}}}}\right),$

where t.sub.cyc is the time for each radar cycle, i is an increasing step index indicating that the current value always is calculated based on the value of the last cycle, γ.sub.ėgo is an angular rotational velocity for the ego vehicle 1, and where the second threshold angle θ.sub.max2 exceeds the first threshold angle θ.sub.max1.

[0097] According to some aspects, when it has been determined that the ego vehicle 1 has left the curve 17, the method includes step-wise reducing the threshold angle θ.sub.max to the first threshold angle θ.sub.max1.

[0098] While the above description constitutes the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope and fair meaning of the accompanying claims.