Method and apparatus for controlling a vehicle in autonomous driving system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11628851-B2
Application number	US-201916489588-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 11, 2019
Priority date	Jul 11, 2019
Publication date	Apr 18, 2023
Grant date	Apr 18, 2023

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a control apparatus included in a vehicle in automated vehicle and highway systems, the control apparatus including: a steering wheel having at least one touch screen on which a screen for manipulating at least one of the functions of the vehicle is output In addition, a control unit determines an intention of the user related to a selection of any one of the functions of the vehicle and controls a screen for manipulating a function according to the determined intention of the user to be output.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus configured to control a function of a vehicle and configured to be provided in the vehicle in automated vehicle and highway systems, the apparatus comprising:
a sensor unit obtaining sensor data related to a selection of any one of functions of the vehicle;
a steering wheel having at least one touch screen on which a screen for manipulating at least one of the functions of the vehicle is output; and
a control unit determining an intention of a passenger related to the selection of any one of the functions of the vehicle and controlling a screen for manipulating a function according to the determined intention of the passenger to be output,
wherein the control unit determines the intention of the passenger using any one of the sensor data of the passenger, first context data which is pre-learned in relation to a situation in which the passenger selects any one of the functions of the vehicle, or second context data stored in a server that communicates with a plurality of other vehicles to learn a general situation in which any one of the functions of the vehicle is selected, and
wherein the control unit controls a screen of a manipulation target related to information obtained through the sensor data to be output, determines the intention of the passenger based on the first context data and controls to output a screen for manipulating a function related to current situation among the functions of the vehicle using the first context data when the manipulation target related to the information obtained through the sensor data is not detected, and controls to output a screen for manipulating a function generally used in relation to the current situation among the functions of the vehicle based on the second context data when the function related to the current situation is not detected.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the functions of the vehicle include at least one of a function of manipulating components provided in the vehicle or a function of manipulating applications installed in the vehicle.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the sensor data of the passenger is sensor data for at least one of a gaze, an operation, or a voice of the passenger, or a combination of each sensor data.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein
the manipulation target is any one of the components provided in the vehicle or any one of the applications installed in the vehicle.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the information obtained through the sensor data includes information about at least one of an internal environment of the vehicle, a posture of the passenger, driving related information, or a currently operating application.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the information related to the internal environment of the vehicle includes at least one of temperature, humidity, and an air pollution degree in the vehicle,
the information related to the posture of the passenger includes at least one of a backrest angle of a seat seated by the passenger, a neckrest angle of the seat, a height of the seat, and a position of the seat,
the driving related information includes at least one of a current traffic situation, a current location, and a driving destination, and
the information related to the currently operating application includes information related to an operation of at least one of a music player, a navigation, a radio, and a telephone.

7. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein when a location of any one of the components provided in the vehicle is included in a specific area within the vehicle determined according to the gaze of the passenger, the control unit controls to output a screen for operating the corresponding component.

8. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein at least one graphic object for manipulation of the passenger is displayed on one area of the output screen, and
the graphic object is the form of any one of a button, a slide bar, and a jog dial.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the control unit controls the form of the graphic object to be displayed differently according to the determined intention of the passenger.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the touch screen includes a touch sensor that senses a touch input, and
the control unit controls the touch sensor to sense only the touch input determined according to the form of the graphic object.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the touch input determined according to the form of the graphic object is any one of a short touch, a long touch, a multi touch, a drag touch, a flick touch, a pinch-in touch, a pinch-out touch, a swipe touch, and a hovering touch on the touch screen, or a combination thereof.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the control unit controls the manipulation to be performed differently according to a type of the sensed touch input even if the graphic object has the same form.

13. The apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising a message output unit outputting a guide message related to the output screen.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the guide message includes at least one of information on whether or not the output screen is updated, information on a function output on the screen among functions of the vehicle, and information on a manipulation result of the function output on the screen.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the message output unit outputs the guide message using at least one of an audio signal, a haptic signal for transmitting vibration or pressure to the passenger, and an image signal according to information included in the guide message.

16. A method of controlling a function of a vehicle including an apparatus of controlling a vehicle in automated vehicle and highway systems, the method comprising:
obtaining, by a sensor unit, sensor data of a passenger related to a selection of any one of functions of the vehicle;
determining, by a control unit, an intention of the passenger related to the selection of any one of the functions of the vehicle; and
outputting, by a touch screen included in a steering wheel of the vehicle, a screen for manipulating a function consistent with the determined intention of the passenger,
wherein the intention of the passenger is determined using any one of the sensor data of the passenger, first context data which is pre-learned in relation to a situation in which the passenger selects any one of the functions of the vehicle, or second context data stored in a server that communicates with a plurality of other vehicles to learn a general situation in which any one of the functions of the vehicle is selected, and
wherein the outputting outputs a screen of a manipulation target related to information obtained through the sensor data, outputs a screen for manipulating a function related to current situation among the functions of the vehicle based on the first context data when the manipulation target related to the information obtained through the sensor data is not detected and the intention of the passenger is determined based on the first context data and outputs a screen for manipulating a function generally used in relation to the current situation among the functions of the vehicle based on the second context data when the function related to the current situation is not detected.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Jaegal Chan

Classifications

• B60K2360/175

  Autonomous driving · CPC title

• B60K2360/148

  Instrument input by voice · CPC title

• B60K2360/1438

  Touch screens · CPC title

• B60K2360/126

  Rotatable input devices for instruments · CPC title

• B60K2360/122

  Instrument input devices with reconfigurable control functions, e.g. reconfigurable menus · CPC title