Rear-end collision avoidance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9783145-B1
Application number	US-201615078781-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 23, 2016
Priority date	Mar 23, 2016
Publication date	Oct 10, 2017
Grant date	Oct 10, 2017

Abstract

A method and apparatus for use in traversing a vehicle transportation network may include a host vehicle receiving a remote vehicle message including remote vehicle information, identifying host vehicle information, determining a relative position code indicating whether an expected path for the remote vehicle and an expected path for the host vehicle are convergent based, determining a remote vehicle dynamic state code based on the remote vehicle information, determining a host vehicle dynamic state code based on the host vehicle information, identifying an expected rear-end collision condition based on the relative position code, the remote vehicle dynamic state code, and the host vehicle dynamic state code, in response to identifying the expected rear-end collision condition, identifying a vehicle control action based on the host vehicle dynamic state code, and traversing a portion of the vehicle transportation network in accordance with the vehicle control action.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for use in traversing a vehicle transportation network, the method comprising:
traversing, by a host vehicle, a vehicle transportation network, wherein traversing the vehicle transportation network includes:
receiving, at a host vehicle, from a remote vehicle, via a wireless electronic communication link, a remote vehicle message, the remote vehicle message including remote vehicle information,
identifying host vehicle information for the host vehicle,
determining a relative position code indicating whether an expected path for the remote vehicle and an expected path for the host vehicle are convergent based on the host vehicle information, the remote vehicle information, and a reference direction,
determining a remote vehicle dynamic state code based on the remote vehicle information,
determining a host vehicle dynamic state code based on the host vehicle information,
identifying an expected rear-end collision condition based on the relative position code, the remote vehicle dynamic state code, and the host vehicle dynamic state code, and
in response to identifying the expected rear-end collision condition, identifying a vehicle control action based on the host vehicle dynamic state code; and
traversing a portion of the vehicle transportation network in accordance with the vehicle control action.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the remote vehicle information includes:
remote vehicle geospatial state information for the remote vehicle, the remote vehicle geospatial state information including geospatial coordinates for the remote vehicle;
remote vehicle kinematic state information for the remote vehicle, the remote vehicle kinematic state information including one or more of a remote vehicle velocity for the remote vehicle, a remote vehicle heading for the remote vehicle, a remote vehicle acceleration for the remote vehicle, or a remote vehicle yaw rate for the remote vehicle; and
remote vehicle operational state information for the remote vehicle, the remote vehicle operational state information including one or more of lateral control state information for the remote vehicle, transmission state information for the remote vehicle, or exterior signal state information for the remote vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the host vehicle information includes:
host vehicle geospatial state information for the host vehicle, the host vehicle geospatial state information including geospatial coordinates for the host vehicle;
host vehicle kinematic state information for the host vehicle, the host vehicle kinematic state information including one or more of a host vehicle velocity for the host vehicle, a host vehicle heading for the host vehicle, a host vehicle acceleration for the host vehicle, or a host vehicle yaw rate for the host vehicle; and
host vehicle operational state information for the host vehicle, the host vehicle operational state information including one or more of lateral control state information for the host vehicle, transmission state information for the host vehicle, or exterior signal state information for the host vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the relative position code includes identifying a first eight-bit byte wherein a first bit of the first eight-bit byte and a second bit of the first eight-bit byte indicate a longitudinal position of the remote vehicle relative to the host vehicle, a third bit of the first eight-bit byte and a fourth bit of the first eight-bit byte indicate a lateral position of the remote vehicle relative to the host vehicle, a fifth bit of the first eight-bit byte and a sixth bit of the first eight-bit byte indicate an elevation of the remote vehicle relative to the host vehicle, and a seventh bit of the first eight-bit byte and an eighth bit of the first eight-bit byte indicate a heading of the remote vehicle relative to the host vehicle; and
traversing a portion of the vehicle transportation network in accordance with the vehicle control action includes, in response to a determination that the relative position code indicates a fault state, indicating the fault state to a driver of the host vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the remote vehicle dynamic state code includes identifying a second eight-bit byte wherein a first bit of the second eight-bit byte and a second bit of the second eight-bit byte indicate a kinematic state of the remote vehicle, a third bit of the second eight-bit byte and a fourth bit of the second eight-bit byte indicate a lateral control state of the remote vehicle, a fifth bit of the second eight-bit byte and a sixth bit of the second eight-bit byte indicate a transmission state of the remote vehicle, and a seventh bit of the second eight-bit byte and an eighth bit of the second eight-bit byte indicate an external signal state of the remote vehicle; and
traversing a portion of the vehicle transportation network in accordance with the vehicle control action includes, in response to a determination that the remote vehicle dynamic state code indicates a fault state, indicating the fault state to a driver of the host vehicle.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the host vehicle dynamic state code includes identifying a third eight-bit byte wherein a first bit of the third eight-bit byte and a second bit of the third eight-bit byte indicate a kinematic state of the host vehicle, a third bit of the third eight-bit byte and a fourth bit of the third eight-bit byte indicate a lateral control state of the host vehicle, a fifth bit of the third eight-bit byte and a sixth bit of the third eight-bit byte indicate a transmission state of the host vehicle, and a seventh bit of the third eight-bit byte and an eighth bit of the third eight-bit byte indicate an external signal state of the host vehicle; and
traversing a portion of the vehicle transportation network in accordance with the vehicle control action includes, in response to a determination that the host vehicle dynamic state code indicates a fault state, indicating the fault state to a driver of the host vehicle.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the expected rear-end collision condition includes determining that the remote vehicle is behind the host vehicle, the remote vehicle is in-line with the host vehicle, the remote vehicle is level with the host vehicle, the remote vehicle heading is convergent with the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle heading is aligned with the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle is in motion, and the remote vehicle is in a drive transmission state or a neutral transmission state.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the vehicle control action based on the host vehicle dynamic state code includes:
identifying a current geospatial distance between the host vehicle and the remote vehicle;
identifying a deceleration rate based on the current geospatial distance between the host vehicle and the remote vehicle, a current speed of the remote vehicle, and a current speed of the host vehicle, such that on a condition that the remote vehicle traverses the vehicle transportation network by decelerating in accordance with the deceleration rate, a difference between a speed of the host vehicle at a post-deceleration location and an expected speed for the remote vehicle temporally corresponding to the post-deceleration location is within a relative speed threshold for rear-end collision avoidance, and a difference between a geospatial location of the host vehicle corresponding to the post-deceleration location and an expected geospatial location for the remote vehicle corresponding to the post-deceleration location exceeds a minimum distance threshold for rear-end collision avoidance.

Assignees

• Nissan North America Inc

Inventors

• Konet Heather
• Goudy Roy
• Probert Neal
• Chambers Jeremy
• Christensen Andrew

Classifications

• B60Q1/525

  automatically indicating risk of collision between vehicles in traffic or with pedestrians, e.g. after risk assessment using the vehicle sensor data · CPC title

• B60Q9/00

  Arrangement or adaptation of signal devices not provided for in one of main groups B60Q1/00 - B60Q7/00 {, e.g. haptic signalling} · CPC title

• B60Q1/52

  for indicating emergencies · CPC title

• H04B1/3822

  specially adapted for use in vehicles (H04B1/3827 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04W4/046

  Electricity · mapped topic