Abnormality detection device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11150649-B2
Application number	US-201815980001-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 15, 2018
Priority date	May 18, 2017
Publication date	Oct 19, 2021
Grant date	Oct 19, 2021

Abstract

An abnormality detection device includes a sensor configured to detect an external environment of a vehicle and an electronic control unit configured to: detect a traveling state of the vehicle; acquire a control command value for the vehicle in automatic driving control, the vehicle being caused to travel automatically in the automatic driving control; determine, based on a difference between the traveling state and the control command value, whether the traveling state is abnormal; determine, based on a detection result from the sensor, whether the external environment is suitable for execution of the automatic driving control; and determine that an abnormality has occurred in an automatic driving system when it is determined that the traveling state is abnormal and it is determined that the external environment is suitable for the execution of the automatic driving control, the automatic driving system performing the automatic driving control.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An abnormality detection device comprising:
a sensor configured to detect an external environment of a vehicle; and
an electronic control unit configured to:
detect at least one of the speed, yaw rate, position or acceleration of the vehicle as a traveling state of the vehicle;
acquire at least one expected value for the vehicle in automatic driving control, the vehicle being caused to travel automatically in the automatic driving control;
determine, based on a difference between the traveling state and the at least one expected value, whether the traveling state is abnormal;
determine, based on a detection result from the sensor, whether a road surface is suitable for execution of the automatic driving control; and
determine that an abnormality has occurred in an automatic driving system that performs the automatic driving control based on determining that the traveling state is abnormal and that the road surface is suitable for the execution of the automatic driving control, wherein the abnormality of the automatic driving system is a malfunction in the sensor or a malfunction of a component of the vehicle that affects traveling of the vehicle,
wherein the electronic control unit is further configured to perform a predetermined control of the vehicle based on determining that the abnormality has occurred in the automatic driving system,
wherein the electronic control unit is configured to perform the automatic driving control based on determining that the abnormality has not occurred in the automatic driving system, and
wherein the electronic control unit is configured to determine that the automatic driving system is in a normal state based on determining that the traveling state is abnormal and that the road surface is not suitable for the execution of the automatic driving control.

2. The abnormality detection device according to claim 1 , further comprising a database storing an expected road surface shape of a traveling road of the vehicle as a stored road surface shape, wherein
the sensor includes a LIDAR (light detection and ranging), the LIDAR being configured to irradiate surroundings of the vehicle with light and configured to detect reflected light of the irradiated light,
the sensor is further configured to detect an actual road surface shape of the traveling road as a detected road surface shape based on a detection result from the LIDAR, and
the electronic control unit is further configured to determine, when a difference between the stored road surface shape of the surroundings of the vehicle and the detected road surface shape is less than a predetermined determination threshold value, that the road surface is suitable for the execution of the automatic driving control.

3. The abnormality detection device according to claim 1 , wherein
the sensor includes a LIDAR (light detection and ranging), the LIDAR being configured to irradiate surroundings of the vehicle with light and configured to detect reflected light of the irradiated light, and
the electronic control unit is further configured to:
detect a measured yaw rate;
calculate a predicted yaw rate, the predicted yaw rate being a yaw rate predicted when the vehicle travels based on the at least one expected value;
determine that the traveling state is abnormal when a difference between the predicted yaw rate and the measured yaw rate is greater than a predetermined yaw rate threshold value;
detect a road shape of a traveling road based on a detection result from the LIDAR;
determine that the road surface is suitable for the execution of the automatic driving control when the road shape detected by the sensor is a straight line; and
determine that the abnormality has occurred in the automatic driving system based on determining that the traveling state is abnormal and that the road surface is suitable for the execution of the automatic driving control based on the road shape of the traveling road.

4. The abnormality detection device according to claim 1 , wherein
the sensor includes a LIDAR (light detection and ranging) and a camera, the LIDAR being configured to irradiate surroundings of the vehicle with light and configured to detect reflected light of the irradiated light, the camera being configured to capture an image of a traveling road of the vehicle, and
the electronic control unit is further configured to:
detect a measured yaw rate and a measured lateral acceleration of the vehicle as the traveling state;
calculate a predicted yaw rate and a predicted lateral acceleration, the predicted yaw rate being a yaw rate predicted when the vehicle travels based on the at least one expected value, the predicted lateral acceleration being a lateral acceleration predicted when the vehicle travels based on the at least one expected value;
determine that the traveling state is abnormal when at least one of subsequent conditions are satisfied, the conditions being (i) a condition that a difference between the predicted yaw rate and the measured yaw rate is greater than a predetermined yaw rate threshold value and (ii) a condition that a difference between the predicted lateral acceleration and the measured lateral acceleration is greater than a predetermined lateral acceleration threshold value;
detect a road shape of the traveling road based on a detection result from the LIDAR and the image captured by the camera;
determine that the road surface is suitable for the execution of the automatic driving control when the road shape detected by the sensor is a straight line; and
determine that the abnormality has occurred in the automatic driving system based on determining that the traveling state is abnormal and that the road surface is suitable for the execution of the automatic driving control based on the road shape of the traveling road.

5. The abnormality detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the electronic control unit is further configured to notify a driver of the vehicle that the automatic driving control is switched to a manual driving control in which the driver performs a driving operation of the vehicle, based on determining that the abnormality has occurred in the automatic driving system.

6. The abnormality detection device according to claim 2 , wherein the electronic control unit is further configured to detect road surface shapes including projections and depressions of the traveling road based on sensory output from the LIDAR.

7. The abnormality detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the electronic control unit is further configured to:
detect a measured longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle as the traveling state;
calculate a predicted longitudinal acceleration, the predicted longitudinal acceleration being a longitudinal acceleration predicted when the vehicle travels based on the at least one expected value; and
determine that the traveling state is abnormal when a difference between the predicted longitudinal acceleration and the measured longitudinal acceleration is greater than a predetermined longitudinal acceleration threshold value.

8. The abnormality detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the electronic control unit is further configured to determine that the abnormality has occurred in the automatic driving system when a predetermined number of differences between expected values and measured traveling state values occur within a predetermined amount of time.

9. The abnormality detection device according to claim 1 , wherein
the sensor includes a LIDAR (light detection and ranging), the LIDAR being configured to irradiate surroundings of the vehicle with light and configured to detect reflected light of the irradiated light, and
the electronic control

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Sato Kunihito
• Kamata Nobuhide
• Okumura Bunyo

Classifications

• B60W50/0098

  Details of control systems ensuring comfort, safety or stability not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• B60W2050/0072

  Controller asks driver to take over · CPC title

• B60W2050/143

  Alarm means · CPC title

• B60W2552/35

  Road bumpiness, e.g. potholes · CPC title

• B60W2520/14

  Yaw · CPC title