Apparatus for controlling autonomous driving of a vehicle, system having the same and method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11753004-B2
Application number	US-202017073613-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 19, 2020
Priority date	Apr 6, 2020
Publication date	Sep 12, 2023
Grant date	Sep 12, 2023

Abstract

An apparatus for controlling autonomous driving includes: a processor to determine a travelling situation and a lane position, and determine an autonomous driving control maneuver of a vehicle depending on the determination result, and a non-transitory storage medium to store a result calculated by the processor and a set of instructions executed by the processor. The processor determines a safety of each lane of a road on which the vehicle is travelling to control the vehicle to stop on a lane representing a highest safety, after starting a minimum risk maneuver of the autonomous driving control maneuver.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for controlling autonomous driving, the apparatus comprising:
a processor configured to determine a travelling situation and a lane position, and determine an autonomous driving control maneuver of a vehicle based on the determined travelling situation and the determined lane position; and
a non-transitory storage medium configured to store information calculated by the processor and a set of instructions executed by the processor to cause the processor to control the autonomous driving,
wherein the processor is further configured to:
control the vehicle by selecting one of an emergency avoidance strategy, a minimum risk maneuver, and a control authority transfer of the vehicle to a driver,
start a minimum risk maneuver of the autonomous driving control maneuver,
determine a safety of each lane of a plurality of lanes of a road on which the vehicle is travelling, and
control the vehicle to stop on a lane which is determined as having a highest safety among the plurality of lanes of the road,

wherein the autonomous driving control maneuver further includes:
at least one of an emergency maneuver or the control authority transfer,

wherein the processor is further configured to:
when a front vehicle is suddenly stopped or when an accident is present in front of the vehicle, perform the emergency maneuver,

wherein the processor is further configured to:
when the emergency maneuver is performed, perform an emergency stop on a lane on which the vehicle is travelling,

wherein the processor is further configured to:
when an autonomous driving control function is unable to perform and the control authority transfer of the vehicle to the driver of the vehicle is failed, perform the minimum risk maneuver, and

wherein the processor is further configured to:
when the vehicle is out of an area designed for an operation of a specified autonomous driving control function, determine that the control authority transfer of the vehicle to the driver of the vehicle is required.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:
calculate a relative distance and a relative speed of the vehicle to a moving object or a stationary object in the plurality of lanes of the road; and
calculate a time to collision (TTC) between the vehicle and the moving object or the stationary object based on the calculated relative distance and the calculated relative speed.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to:
determine that the safety is higher as the TTC is increased.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to:
apply a weight for a safety to an ego-vehicle lane in which the vehicle is traveling among the plurality of lanes, or a shoulder of the road.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to:
when a shoulder of the road is determined as having a highest level of safety compared with safety levels of the plurality of lanes, determine whether the stationary object is present on the shoulder of the road.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the processor is configured to:
determine whether a space for stopping the vehicle is present on the shoulder, and
when the space for stopping the vehicle is present on the shoulder, perform a stop control to guide and stop the vehicle in the space.

7. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to:
calculate a danger probability, an occupation probability, and a safety probability of each lane of the plurality of lanes based on specified reference times using the TTC; and
determine the safety of each lane of the plurality of lanes based on the danger probability, the occupation probability, and the safety probability.

8. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to:
calculate a longitudinal danger probability for each object and a lane position probability for each object on the plurality of lanes based on a specified reference time and the TTC; and
determine the safety of each lane of the plurality of lanes using the longitudinal danger probability for the object and the lane position probability for the object.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:
during performing a minimum risk maneuver of the autonomous driving control maneuver, when an ego-lane in which the vehicle is traveling does not have the highest safety, determine whether lane change to a lane having the highest safety is possible.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to:
when the lane change is possible, perform the lane change to the lane having the highest safety and perform a stop control on the lane having the highest safety.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:
determine whether the vehicle is completely stopped within a specified time after completing a stop control for the vehicle; and
when the vehicle is not completely stopped, request the control authority transfer of the vehicle to the driver of the vehicle.

12. A vehicle system comprising:
a sensing device configured to sense a travelling situation and a lane position during an autonomous driving control; and
an autonomous driving control apparatus configured to determine an autonomous driving control maneuver of a vehicle based on the travelling situation and the lane position,
wherein the autonomous driving control apparatus is configured to:
control the vehicle by selecting one of an emergency avoidance strategy, a minimum risk maneuver, and a control authority transfer of the vehicle to a driver,
determine a safety of lanes of a road on which the vehicle is travelling, and
control the vehicle to stop on a lane, among the lanes of the road, representing a highest safety, after starting a minimum risk maneuver of the autonomous driving control maneuver,
wherein the autonomous driving control maneuver further includes:
at least one of an emergency maneuver, or a control authority transition,

wherein the autonomous driving control apparatus is further configured to:
when a front vehicle is suddenly stopped or when an accident is present in front of the vehicle, perform the emergency maneuver,
when the emergency maneuver is performed, perform an emergency stop on a lane on which the vehicle is travelling,
when an autonomous driving control function is unable to perform and transferring a control authority of the vehicle to the driver of the vehicle is failed, perform the minimum risk maneuver, and
when the vehicle is out of an area designed for an operation of a specified autonomous driving control function, determine that the control authority transfer of the vehicle to the driver of the vehicle is required.

13. A method for controlling autonomous driving, the method comprising:
determining, by a processor, a travelling situation and a lane position;
determining, by the processor, an autonomous driving control maneuver of a vehicle based on the determined travelling situation and lane position;
controlling the vehicle by selecting one of an emergency avoidance strategy, a minimum risk maneuver, and a control authority transfer of the vehicle to a driver;
determining, by the processor, a safety of lanes of a road on which the vehicle is travelling, after starting the minimum risk maneuver of the autonomous driving control maneuver; and
controlling, by the processor, the vehicle to stop on a lane, among the lanes of the road, representing a highest safety,
wherein the autonomous driving control maneuver further includes:
at least one of an emergency maneuver, or a control authorit

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corp

Inventors

• Kim Jun Soo
• Jeong Jin Su
• Jeon Jae Yong

Classifications

• B60W60/0015 Primary

  specially adapted for safety · CPC title

• B60W60/00274 Primary

  considering possible movement changes · CPC title

• B60W30/09 Primary

  Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering · CPC title

• B60W60/0059

  Estimation of the risk associated with autonomous or manual driving, e.g. situation too complex, sensor failure or driver incapacity · CPC title

• B60W60/007

  Emergency override (Handing over between remote control and on-board control or handing over between remote control arrangements G05D1/227) · CPC title