Driverless vehicle steering control method and apparatus

• US 10,095,237 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2016
• Issued: 10/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd (Baidu Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd (Baidu Incorporated)
• Inventors: Li, Yajie, Zhang, Song, Luo, Min
• Primary Examiner(s): Badii, Behrang
• Assistant Examiner(s): Testardi, David A
• Application Number:
  US15/280,449
• Publication Number:
  US 20170313352A1
• Time in Patent Office: 740 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/025 Active steering aids, e.g. helping the driver by actively influencing the steering system after environment evaluation B62D1/28 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0212 with means for defining a desired trajectory involving a plurality of land vehicles G05D1/0287
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS

Abstract

The present application discloses at least a the steering control method and apparatus for a driverless vehicle. In some embodiments, the method includes: acquiring in real time a current location of a driverless vehicle; finding, on a high precision map, a curvature radius of a turn on a road at the current location; acquiring a distance between a front axle and a rear axle and an axle length of the driverless vehicle in response to finding the curvature radius; determining a rotation angle of a steering wheel of the driverless vehicle based on the curvature radius, the distance between the front axle and rear axle, and the axle length; and controlling the steering wheel of the driverless vehicle to rotate by the rotation angle. This implementation can reduce the number of times the driverless vehicle is steered, thereby improving passenger experience of the driverless vehicle.

Claims

1. A driverless vehicle steering control method, comprising:

acquiring in real time a current location of a driverless vehicle;

finding, on a map, a curvature radius of a turn on a road at the current location, the curvature radius being a value used for representing an arc radius of the turn on the road, the curvature radius being greater than zero;

acquiring a distance between a front axle and a rear axle and an axle length of the driverless vehicle in response to finding the curvature radius;

determining a rotation angle of a steering wheel of the driverless vehicle based on the curvature radius, the distance between the front axle and rear axle, and the axle length; and

controlling the steering wheel of the driverless vehicle to rotate by the rotation angle,

wherein the determining a rotation angle of a steering wheel of the driverless vehicle based on the curvature radius, the distance between the front axle and rear axle, and the axle length comprises;

determining the rotation angle of the steering wheel of the driverless vehicle by using the following formula;

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

presetting a curvature radius at a turn on each road on the map.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the finding, on the map, the curvature radius of the turn in the road at the current location comprises:

finding, on a local map of the driverless vehicle and/or a map of a cloud server providing support for the driverless vehicle, the curvature radius of the turn on the road at the current location.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the acquiring in real time the current location of the driverless vehicle comprises:

acquiring in real time the current location of the driverless vehicle by using a global positioning system.

5. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor and storing computer readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform a driverless vehicle steering control method, the driverless vehicle steering control method comprising;

acquiring in real time a current location of a driverless vehicle;

finding, on a map, a curvature radius of a turn on a road at the current location, the curvature radius being a value used for representing an arc radius of the turn on the road, the curvature radius being greater than zero;

acquiring a distance between a front axle and a rear axle and an axle length of the driverless vehicle in response to finding the curvature radius;

determining a rotation angle of a steering wheel of the driverless vehicle based on the curvature radius, the distance between the front axle and rear axle, and the axle length; and

controlling the steering wheel of the driverless vehicle to rotate by the rotation angle,

wherein the determining a rotation angle of a steering wheel of the driverless vehicle based on the curvature radius, the distance between the front axle and rear axle, and the axle length comprises;

determining the rotation angle of the steering wheel of the driverless vehicle by using the following formula;

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the method further comprises:

presetting a curvature radius at a turn on each road on the map.

7. The system according to claim 5, wherein the finding, on the map, the curvature radius of the turn in the road at the current location comprises:

finding, on a local map of the driverless vehicle and/or a map of a cloud server providing support for the driverless vehicle, the curvature radius of the turn on the road at the current location.

8. The system according to claim 5, wherein the acquiring in real time the current location of the driverless vehicle comprises:

acquiring in real time the current location of the driverless vehicle by using a global positioning system.

9. A non-transitory storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs when executed by an apparatus, causing the apparatus to perform a driverless vehicle steering control method, the driverless vehicle steering control method comprising:

acquiring in real time a current location of a driverless vehicle;

finding, on a map, a curvature radius of a turn on a road at the current location, the curvature radius being a value used for representing an arc radius of the turn on the road, the curvature radius being greater than zero;

acquiring a distance between a front axle and a rear axle and an axle length of the driverless vehicle in response to finding the curvature radius;

determining a rotation angle of a steering wheel of the driverless vehicle based on the curvature radius, the distance between the front axle and rear axle, and the axle length; and

controlling the steering wheel of the driverless vehicle to rotate by the rotation angle,

wherein the determining a rotation angle of a steering wheel of the driverless vehicle based on the curvature radius, the distance between the front axle and rear axle, and the axle length comprises;

determining the rotation angle of the steering wheel of the driverless vehicle by using the following formula;