Vehicle control system, external electronic control unit, vehicle control method, and application

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11397440-B2
Application number	US-201816142650-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 26, 2018
Priority date	Sep 26, 2017
Publication date	Jul 26, 2022
Grant date	Jul 26, 2022

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments relate to a vehicle control system, an external electronic control unit, a vehicle control method, and an application, and more particularly, to a vehicle communication system installed in a vehicle and an external electronic control unit capable of performing vehicle control by transmitting, to the vehicle communication system, a vehicle control signal for controlling behavior of the vehicle on the basis of vehicle information received from the vehicle communication system. According to exemplary embodiments, it is possible to easily add or update a vehicle control function, to perform precise vehicle control, and also to perform autonomous traveling control with a user's terminal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle control system comprising:
an image sensor mounted to a vehicle so as to have a field of view exterior of the vehicle, the image sensor configured to capture image data;
a first processor disposed in the vehicle apart from the image sensor and configured to process at least one image data captured by the image sensor;
at least one sensor disposed in the vehicle and configured to detect vehicle behavior information of the vehicle;
a second processor disposed in the vehicle apart from the at least one sensor and configured to process the vehicle behavior information detected by the at least one sensor;
one or more actuators disposed in the vehicle to execute behavior of the vehicle; and
a vehicle communication system disposed in the vehicle and configured to communicate with the first processor and the second processor, wherein the vehicle communication system is configured to:
transmit vehicle information acquired from the first processor and the second processor to an electronic control unit (ECU), which is a portable user terminal carriable by a user,
receive a vehicle control signal for controlling the behavior of the vehicle from the ECU, and
output the vehicle control signal such that the one or more actuators are executed by the vehicle control signal, and

wherein the vehicle control signal received from the ECU includes a control signal corrected by comparing the transmitted vehicle information with ECU behavior information acquired by using prestored electronic map data by the ECU, and
wherein the ECU behavior information, which is vehicle behavior information determined by the ECU, includes at least one of location information of the ECU, moving speed information of the ECU, traveling direction information of the ECU, orientation information of the ECU, or acceleration information of the ECU.

2. The vehicle control system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle control signal received from the ECU by the vehicle communication system includes one or more of a steering control signal, a braking control signal, a suspension control signal, and an engine control signal for the vehicle.

3. The vehicle control system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle control signal received from the ECU by the vehicle communication system further includes a traveling control signal for enabling the vehicle to travel along a predetermined traveling route or an obstacle avoidance signal for enabling the vehicle to avoid an obstacle.

4. The vehicle control system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle information transmitted to the ECU by the vehicle control system includes one or more of the vehicle behavior information of the vehicle, and
wherein the vehicle information further includes nearby-object detection information of an object near the vehicle.

5. The vehicle control system of claim 4 , wherein the vehicle behavior information includes one or more of vehicle speed information, acceleration information, yaw rate information, steering angle information, direction angle change information, and road inclination information, and
wherein the nearby-object detection information includes one or more of radar-detected information, camera-detected information, laser-detected information, and ultrasonic detection information.

6. The vehicle control system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle communication system wirelessly transmits or receives information to or from the ECU.

7. The vehicle control system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle communication system communicates with the at least one sensor through at least one of Controller Area Network (CAN), Local Interconnect Network (LIN), FlexRay, or Ethernet.

8. A vehicle control system comprising:
an image sensor mounted to a vehicle so as to have a field of view exterior of the vehicle, the image sensor configured to capture image data;
at least one sensor capable of being disposed in the vehicle and configured to detect vehicle behavior information of the vehicle; and
a domain control unit disposed in the vehicle apart from the image sensor and the at least one sensor and configured to process the image data captured by the image sensor, process the vehicle behavior information detected by the at least one sensor, and control at least one of a steering device, a braking device, a suspension device, or an engine device of the vehicle,
wherein the domain control unit processes information detected by the image sensor and the at least one sensor to acquire vehicle information including the vehicle behavior information, transmits the acquired vehicle information to an electronic control unit (ECU), which is a portable user terminal carriable by a user, receives a vehicle control signal for controlling behavior of the vehicle from the ECU, and outputs the vehicle control signal to operate at least one of the steering device, the braking device, the suspension device, or the engine device of the vehicle according to the vehicle control signal, and
wherein the vehicle control signal received from the ECU includes a control signal corrected by comparing the transmitted vehicle information with ECU behavior information acquired by using prestored electronic map data by the ECU, and
wherein the ECU behavior information, which is vehicle behavior information determined by the ECU, includes at least one of location information of the ECU, moving speed information of the ECU, traveling direction information of the ECU, orientation information of the ECU, or acceleration information of the ECU.

9. The vehicle control system of claim 8 , wherein the vehicle control signal received from the ECU by the domain control unit further includes a traveling control signal for enabling the vehicle to travel along a predetermined traveling route or an obstacle avoidance signal for enabling the vehicle to avoid an obstacle.

10. A vehicle having a vehicle control system, wherein the vehicle control system comprises:
an image sensor disposed in the vehicle to have visibility to an outside of the vehicle and configured to capture image data;
an image processor disposed in the vehicle apart from the image sensor and configured to process the image data;
one or more actuators capable of being disposed in the vehicle to execute behavior of the vehicle; and
a vehicle communication system configured to transmit the image data processed by the image processor to an electronic control unit (ECU), which is a portable user terminal carriable by a user, to receive a vehicle control signal generated by the ECU for controlling the behavior of the vehicle, and to output the vehicle control signal to the one or more actuators,
wherein the vehicle control signal received from the ECU includes a control signal corrected by comparing vehicle behavior information with ECU behavior information acquired by using prestored electronic map data by the ECU, and
wherein the ECU behavior information, which is vehicle behavior information determined by the ECU, includes at least one of location information of the ECU, moving speed information of the ECU, traveling direction information of the ECU, orientation information of the ECU, or acceleration information of the ECU.

11. The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the vehicle control signal further includes a traveling control signal for enabling the vehicle to travel along a predetermined traveling route or an obstacle avoidance signal for enabling the vehicle to avoid an obstacle.

12. An electronic control unit (ECU) comprising a processor, which is a portable user terminal carriable by a user, configured to:
communicate with a vehicle communication system of a vehicle,
transmit a vehicle control signal for contro

Assignees

• Mando Corp
• Mando Mobility Solutions Corp

Inventors

• Kim Soon Tae

Classifications

• B60W2554/80

  Spatial relation or speed relative to objects · CPC title

• B60W2554/4029

  Pedestrians · CPC title

• B60W2556/50

  of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data · CPC title

• B60W2710/22

  Suspension systems · CPC title

• B60W10/20

  including control of steering systems · CPC title