Vehicle sensor diagnosis system and method and a vehicle comprising such a system

• US 10,086,844 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2015
• Issued: 10/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation (AB Volvo)
• Original Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation (AB Volvo)
• Inventors: Coelingh, Erik, Solyom, Stefan, Brannstrom, Mattias Erik
• Primary Examiner(s): Han, Charles J
• Application Number:
  US14/644,676
• Publication Number:
  US 20150266490A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,301 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0215 Sensor drifts or sensor failures
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0295 Inhibiting action of specific actuators or systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/00 Input parameters relating to infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/15 Road slope, i.e. the inclination of a road segment in the longitudinal direction
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/20 Road profile, i.e. the change in elevation or curvature of a plurality of continuous road segments
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/53 Road markings, e.g. lane marker or crosswalk
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/20 Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/60 Traffic rules, e.g. speed limits or right of way
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/20 Data confidence level
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0097 Predicting future conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0205 Diagnosing or detecting failures; Failure detection models
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/029 Adapting to failures or work around with other constraints, e.g. circumvention by avoiding use of failed parts
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/001 Planning or execution of driving tasks
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/0059 Estimation of the risk associated with autonomous or manual driving, e.g. situation too complex, sensor failure or driver incapacity
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005

Abstract

A vehicle sensor diagnosis system and method, and a vehicle including such a system are provided. The vehicle sensor diagnosis system is configured to predict upcoming vehicle surrounding conditions along at least a section of a host vehicle route based on database information on the host vehicle surroundings along the section and information on a current host vehicle surrounding, estimate an expected level of sensor performance for the route section based on the prediction, assess the level of sensor performance detected during host vehicle travel along the host vehicle route section, assess if a difference between the estimated level of sensor performance and the detected level of sensor performance for the host vehicle route section exceeds a first threshold difference and, if so, initiate a diagnose result communication.

Claims

1. A vehicle sensor diagnosis system comprising:

a sensor configured to monitor a current surrounding of a host vehicle during driving along a host vehicle route; and

a processing unit connectable to a database;

the vehicle sensor diagnosis system being connectable to a host vehicle positioning arrangement configured to determine a host vehicle position and driving direction, wherein the vehicle sensor diagnosis system is configured to;

predict, by the processing unit, upcoming conditions along an upcoming section of the host vehicle route based on information retrieved from the database on surroundings along the upcoming section and on the current surrounding of the host vehicle;

estimate, by the processing unit, a level of performance to be expected of the sensor for the upcoming section of the host vehicle route based on the predicted upcoming conditions along the upcoming section;

assess, by the processing unit, a level of performance of the sensor detected during host vehicle travel along the upcoming section;

assess, by the processing unit, when a difference between the estimated level of sensor performance and the detected level of sensor performance exceeds a first threshold difference;

when the difference between the estimated level of sensor performance and the detected level of sensor performance exceeds the first threshold difference, initiate, by the processing unit, a diagnosis result communication based on the assessed difference between the estimated and detected levels of sensor performance; and

retrieve from the database information on sensor performance levels for sensors in other vehicles.

2. The vehicle sensor diagnosis system according to claim 1 wherein the vehicle sensor diagnosis system is configured to communicate the diagnosis result into a vehicle interior.

3. The vehicle sensor diagnosis system according to claim 1 wherein the vehicle sensor diagnosis system is configured to communicate and store the diagnosis result to the database.

4. The vehicle sensor diagnosis system according to claim 1 wherein the vehicle sensor diagnosis system is further configured to estimate the expected level of sensor performance for the section of the host vehicle route also based on the information on sensor performance levels for sensors in other vehicles.

5. The vehicle sensor diagnosis system according to claim 1 wherein the vehicle sensor diagnosis system is arranged in an autonomous vehicle.

6. The vehicle sensor diagnosis system according to claim 5 wherein the sensor diagnosis system is further configured to disable autonomous drive functions if the difference between the estimated level of sensor performance and the detected level of sensor performance for the section exceeds the first threshold difference.

7. The vehicle sensor diagnosis system according to claim 1 wherein the vehicle sensor diagnosis system is further configured to estimate an expected level of sensor performance for the section of the host vehicle route based on information, retrieved from the database, wherein the information comprises at least one of road sign information, road geometry information, light condition information, weather information, and information on received data signal strength for the positioning arrangement.

8. The vehicle sensor diagnosis system according to claim 1 wherein the vehicle sensor diagnosis system is further configured to:

repeatedly assess and store information on the difference between the estimated level of sensor performance and the detected level of sensor performance over a period of time; and

initiate a diagnosis result communication if the difference exceeds a second threshold difference.

9. A vehicle comprising a vehicle sensor diagnosis system according to claim 1.

10. A method for diagnosing vehicle sensors with a vehicle sensor diagnosis system comprising a sensor configured to monitor a current surrounding of a host vehicle during driving along a host vehicle route and a processing unit connectable to a database, the vehicle sensor diagnosis system being connectable to a host vehicle positioning arrangement configured to determine a host vehicle position and driving direction, the method comprising:

predicting, by the processing unit, upcoming conditions along an upcoming section of the host vehicle route based on information retrieved from the database on surroundings along the upcoming section and on the current surrounding of the host vehicle;

estimating, by the processing unit, a level of performance to be expected of the sensor for the upcoming section of the host vehicle route based on the predicted upcoming conditions along the upcoming section;

assessing, by the processing unit, a level of performance of the sensor detected during host vehicle travel along the upcoming section;

assessing, by the processing unit, when a difference between the estimated level of sensor performance and the detected level of sensor performance exceeds a first threshold difference;

when the difference between the estimated level of sensor performance and the detected level of sensor performance exceeds the first threshold difference, initiating, by the processing unit, a diagnosis result communication based on the assessed difference between the estimated and detected levels of sensor performance; and

retrieving from the database information on sensor performance levels for sensors in other vehicles.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising communicating the diagnosis result into a vehicle interior.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising communicating and storing the diagnosis result to the database.

13. The method of claim 10 further comprising estimating the expected level of sensor performance for the section of the host vehicle route also based on the information on sensor performance levels for sensors in other vehicles.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the vehicle sensor diagnosis system is arranged in an autonomous vehicle.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising disabling autonomous drive functions if the difference between the estimated level of sensor performance and the detected level of sensor performance for the section exceeds the first threshold difference.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein the information retrieved from the database for use in estimating an expected level of sensor performance comprises at least one of road sign information, road geometry information, light condition information, weather information, and information on received data signal strength for the positioning arrangement.

17. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

repeatedly assessing and storing information on the difference between the estimated level of sensor performance and the detected level of sensor performance over a period of time; and

initiating a diagnosis result communication if the difference exceeds a second threshold difference.