Method for guiding a vehicle and a driver assistance system

US10240933B2 · US · B2

Patent metadata
FieldValue
Publication numberUS-10240933-B2
Application numberUS-201214352452-A
CountryUS
Kind codeB2
Filing dateAug 28, 2012
Priority dateOct 27, 2011
Publication dateMar 26, 2019
Grant dateMar 26, 2019

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Abstract

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A method for guiding a vehicle, at least one parameter of the surroundings of the vehicle being detected by at least one sensor; a travel corridor being ascertained based on the parameter; a trajectory being ascertained as a function of at least one other parameter within the travel corridor; and the guidance of the vehicle being adapted as a function of the ascertained trajectory.

First claim

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What is claimed is: 1. A method, which directs a vehicle's movement, the method comprising: detecting at least one surroundings parameter by at least one sensor; ascertaining a travel corridor based at least on the surroundings parameter, wherein the travel corridor identifies a safe vehicle travel space, the travel corridor having boundaries that are different than and non-overlapping with roadway markings disposed on a road on which the vehicle is traveling, wherein the travel corridor has a length along the road in a direction of travel that represents a trajectory over which the vehicle is to travel, wherein the travel corridor is limited by a setpoint distance to a preceding vehicle; detecting at least one vehicle parameter, which defines a current operating condition of the vehicle, wherein the at least one vehicle parameter is at least one of: a current operating parameter of an engine of the vehicle, a current operating parameter of a brake of the vehicle, or a current operating parameter of a steering of the vehicle; determining a current availability of an actuating reserve of an actuator of the vehicle; setting the vehicle's trajectory within the travel corridor as a function of the detected at least one vehicle parameter, wherein the trajectory defines the vehicle's movement through the travel corridor, wherein the setting is performed based on the actuating reserve of the actuator being currently available and indicating that the actuator retains further actuating potential to increase a function of the actuator; and controlling the vehicle's movement based at least on the set trajectory at least by changing the at least one vehicle parameter. 2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controlling the vehicle's movement includes at least one of: a longitudinal control of the vehicle's movement; and a transverse control of the vehicle's movement. 3. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the vehicle's trajectory within the travel corridor is further based on at least one evaluation parameter, which identifies current limitations of the vehicle's resources at the time of the detecting. 4. The method of claim 3 , wherein current limitations of the vehicle's resources include a current charge state of the vehicle's battery. 5. The method of claim 1 , wherein an interface is provided, which receives input from a driver that defines at least one user predefined strategy order. 6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the surroundings parameter is at least one of: a road width; a road curvature; road traffic; pedestrians; cyclists; car drivers; intersections; traffic lights; road routing; and weather conditions. 7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the current availability of actuating reserve of an actuator of the vehicle is one of: an availability of increased acceleration as compared to the vehicle's current acceleration; an availability of increased steering as compared to the vehicle's current steering; and an availability of increased braking as compared to the vehicle's current braking. 8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one user predefined strategy order defines at least one of: an acceleration boundary; a braking action boundary; an emissions boundary; a fuel-efficiency boundary; and a time gap between the vehicle and a preceding vehicle boundary. 9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the travel corridor includes an anticipation horizon. 10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the anticipation horizon is less than 10 m. 11. The method of claim 1 , wherein: the travel corridor has a left corridor limit and a right corridor limit, and the left and right corridor limits have a curvature that corresponds to a curvature of the road. 12. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the vehicle's trajectory within the travel corridor is further based on at least one user predefined strategy order. 13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the setpoint distance is established by a predefined time gap and a speed of the preceding vehicle. 14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the setting of the vehicle's trajectory is optimized by minimizing a longitudinal jolt corresponding to a time derivative of a longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle. 15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the setting of the vehicle's trajectory is optimized by minimizing a transverse jolt corresponding to a time derivative of a transverse acceleration of the vehicle. 16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the setting of the vehicle's trajectory is optimized by minimizing at least one of a longitudinal acceleration and a transverse acceleration of the vehicle. 17. The method of claim 1 , wherein a left-hand corridor limit of the travel corridor is a spherical segment that has as parameters: a transverse offset of a limit relative to a reference point in the vehicle, and a differential angle between a tangent to the spherical segment and a longitudinal axis of the vehicle. 18. A driver assistance system, comprising: a first processing unit, which adapts a vehicle's movement, by performing the following: receiving at least one surroundings parameter from at least one sensor; ascertaining a travel corridor based at least on the surroundings parameter, wherein the travel corridor identifies a safe vehicle travel space, the travel corridor having boundaries that are different than and non-overlapping with roadway markings disposed on a road on which the vehicle is traveling, wherein the travel corridor has a length along the road in a direction of travel that represents a trajectory over which the vehicle is to travel, wherein the travel corridor is limited by a setpoint distance to a preceding vehicle; a second processing unit, which adapts variables of a vehicle's movement, by performing the following: receiving at least one vehicle parameter from another sensor, wherein the at least vehicle parameter defines a current operating condition of the vehicle, wherein the at least one vehicle parameter is at least one of: a current operating parameter of an engine of the vehicle, a current operating parameter of a brake of the vehicle, or a current operating parameter of a steering of the vehicle; determining a current availability of an actuating reserve of an actuator of the vehicle; setting the vehicle's trajectory within the travel corridor as a function of the detected at least one vehicle parameter, wherein the trajectory defines the vehicle's movement through the travel corridor, wherein the setting is performed based on the actuating reserve of the actuator being currently available and indicating that the actuator retains further actuating potential to increase a function of the actuator; and controlling the vehicle's movement based at least on the set trajectory at least by changing the at least one vehicle parameter. 19. The driver assistance system of claim 18 , wherein the first processing unit performs a vehicle guidance task which ascertains the travel corridor; and the second processing unit performs a vehicle control task which sets the vehicle's trajectory and which controls the vehicle's movement through the travel corridor, wherein the first processing unit is connected to the second processing unit via an interface. 20. The driver assistance system of claim 18 , wherein the travel corridor includes an anticipation horizon. 21. The driver assistance system of claim 20 , wherein the anticipation horizon is less than 10 m. 22. The driver assistance system of

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What does patent US10240933B2 cover?
A method for guiding a vehicle, at least one parameter of the surroundings of the vehicle being detected by at least one sensor; a travel corridor being ascertained based on the parameter; a trajectory being ascertained as a function of at least one other parameter within the travel corridor; and the guidance of the vehicle being adapted as a function of the ascertained trajectory.
Who is the assignee on this patent?
Grinenval Charlotte, Wilhelm Ulf, Schroeder Wolfgang, and 3 more
What technology area does this patent fall under?
Primary CPC classification B62D15/025. Mapped technology areas include Operations & Transport.
When was this patent published?
Publication date Tue Mar 26 2019 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (B2). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
What related patents are in patentsdb?
We list 6 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).