Driver assistance apparatus and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016121888-A1
Application number	US-201514690435-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 19, 2015
Priority date	Oct 29, 2014
Publication date	May 5, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A driver assistance method includes: sensing whether a vehicle enters a slope road; detecting information of the slope road using sensors which are equipped in the vehicle; confirming whether the slope road is a curved road based on the information of the slope road; measuring a curvature of the slope road when the slope road is confirmed to be a curved road; and assisting a driving operation of the vehicle based on the curvature of the slope road.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A driver assistance method, comprising:
sensing whether a vehicle enters a slope road; detecting information of the slope road using sensors which are equipped in the vehicle; confirming whether the slope road is a curved road based on the information of the slope road; measuring a curvature of the slope road when the slope road is confirmed to be a curved road; and assisting a driving operation of the vehicle based on the curvature of the slope road.

2 . The driver assistance method according to claim 1 , wherein the sensing of whether the vehicle enters the slope road comprises:
matching absolute coordinates of the vehicle to map data to confirm a current position of the vehicle and to sense whether the vehicle enters the slope road.

3 . The driver assistance method according to claim 1 , wherein the sensing of whether the vehicle enters the slope road comprises:
analyzing an environment around the vehicle based on data measured by a camera and an ultrasonic sensor to sense whether the vehicle enters the slope road.

4 . The driver assistance method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
sensing whether a vehicle enters a building; and causing an alarm, using a switch, when it is sensed that the vehicle has entered a building.

5 . The driver assistance method according to claim 1 , wherein the detecting of the information of the slope road comprises:
fusing data measured by at least one of: an image sensor, an ultrasonic senor, and a radar sensor.

6 . The driver assistance method according to claim 5 , wherein the information of the slope road includes a width of the slope road, a slope road type, a gradient of the slope road, and the curvature of the slope road.

7 . The driver assistance method according to claim 6 , wherein the slope road type is determined to be any one of an uphill road and a downhill road, based on a change in the width of the slope road.

8 . The driver assistance method according to claim 6 , wherein the gradient of the slope road is estimated based on a convergence and divergence degree which is obtained by calculating a convergence and divergence degree of a boundary line of the slope road within an image.

9 . The driver assistance method according to claim 8 , wherein the measuring of the curvature of the slope road comprises:
converting the image into a plane based on the gradient; converting the converted image into a slope road having the same width in accordance with the convergence and divergence degree; and detecting a curvature of the converted slope road.

10 . The driver assistance method according to claim 1 , wherein the assisting of the driving operation comprises:
displaying a guideline for steering control based on the curvature of the slope road.

11 . A driver assistance apparatus, comprising:
a navigator configured to confirm a position of a vehicle; an image acquisition device configured to photograph images around the vehicle; a detector configured to detect objects around the vehicle; a curvature measurer configured to measure a curvature of a slope road on which the vehicle is driven based on information acquired by the image acquisition device and the detector; and a controller configured to: i) detect information of the slope road when sensing that the vehicle enters the slope road based on information acquired by the navigator, the image acquisition device, and the detector, ii) confirm whether the slope road is a curved road based on the information of the slope road, and iii) assist a driving operation of the vehicle based on the curvature of the slope road.

12 . The driver assistance apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the image acquisition device is implemented as at least one of: an around-view monitoring (AVM) system, a wide view camera, and a monocular camera.

13 . The driver assistance apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the detector includes an ultrasonic sensor and a radar sensor.

14 . The driver assistance apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the information of the slope road includes a width of the slope road, a slope road type, a gradient of the slope road, and the curvature of the slope road.

15 . The driver assistance apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the controller is further configured to detect boundary lines of the slope road from an image acquired by the image acquisition device and to detect the width of the slope road based on a linear distance between the detected boundary lines.

16 . The driver assistance apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein the controller is further configured to calculate a convergence and divergence degree of the boundary lines of the slope road within the image to estimate the gradient of the slope road based on the calculated convergence and divergence degree.

17 . The driver assistance apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein the controller is further configured to: i) convert the image into a plane based on the gradient of the slope road, ii) convert the image into a slope road having the same width in accordance with the convergence and divergence degree; and iii) detect a curvature of the converted slope road.

18 . A non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions for performing a driver assistance method, comprising:
program instructions that sense whether a vehicle enters a slope road; program instructions that detect information of the slope road using sensors which are equipped in the vehicle; program instructions that confirm whether the slope road is a curved road based on the information of the slope road; program instructions that measure a curvature of the slope road when the slope road is confirmed to be a curved road; and program instructions that assist a driving operation of the vehicle based on the curvature of the slope road.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Choi Jae Seob

Classifications

• B60W2420/54

  Audio sensitive means, e.g. ultrasound · CPC title

• B60W40/076

  Slope angle of the road · CPC title

• G01S13/931

  of land vehicles · CPC title

• B60W2556/50

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

• G08G1/16

  Anti-collision systems (road vehicle drive control systems for predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision otherwise than by control of a particular sub-unit B60W30/08) · CPC title