Vehicular mitigation system based on wireless vehicle data

• US 10,252,717 B2
• Filed: 01/10/2017
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Avedisov, Sergei, Bansal, Gaurav
• Primary Examiner(s): Trivedi, Atul
• Application Number:
  US15/403,064
• Publication Number:
  US 20180194352A1
• Time in Patent Office: 819 Days
• Field of Search: 701 96
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/801 Lateral distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/804 Relative longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/55 using telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2754/30 Longitudinal distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/143 Speed control B60W30/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0962 having an indicator mounted inside the vehicle, e.g. giving voice messages
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096708 where the received information might be used to generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/163 involving continuous checking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

The disclosure includes embodiments for modifying the acceleration of an ego vehicle based on wireless vehicle data included in a wireless message. A method includes receiving the wireless message that includes wireless vehicle data that describes one or more physical properties of a downstream vehicle. The wireless vehicle data indicates a presence of a traffic obstruction. The method includes determining a modification for an acceleration of the ego vehicle based on the wireless vehicle data and the indication of the traffic obstruction. The method includes modifying the acceleration of the ego vehicle based on wireless vehicle data compliant with the DSRC standard. The modified acceleration causes the ego vehicle to travel at a velocity consistent with a preceding vehicle and the downstream vehicle so that the ego vehicle does not collide with the preceding vehicle or the other downstream vehicle, which are in the same lane as the ego vehicle.

Claims

1. A method executed by an onboard vehicle computer system of an ego vehicle, the method comprising:

receiving a set of wireless messages from a set of vehicles;

extracting a subset of the set of wireless messages that were sent within a predetermined time period and that correspond to a set of downstream vehicles that are in a same lane of travel as the ego vehicle and within 500 meters of the ego vehicle, wherein the subset of the set of wireless messages are associated with wireless vehicle data;

determining that the wireless vehicle data describes a presence of a traffic obstruction that is at a location downstream of the ego vehicle and within the same lane of travel as the ego vehicle, wherein the location is described by the wireless vehicle data with lane-level accuracy;

determining a preceding velocity of a preceding vehicle that is traveling directly in front of the ego vehicle; and

modifying an ego velocity of the ego vehicle based on the preceding velocity and the presence of the traffic obstruction, wherein the ego velocity is modified by the onboard vehicle computer system so that the ego velocity is substantially equal to the preceding velocity prior to the ego vehicle arriving at the location of the traffic obstruction and the ego vehicle does not collide with the set of downstream vehicles including the preceding vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a downstream velocity of a downstream vehicle that is located, when compared to the preceding vehicle, further downstream of the ego vehicle than the preceding vehicle; and

wherein modifying the ego velocity includes modifying the ego velocity of the ego vehicle based on the preceding velocity, the downstream velocity and the presence of the traffic obstruction, wherein the ego velocity is modified by the onboard vehicle computer system so that the ego velocity is less than or substantially equal to the preceding velocity within an initial time period and less than or substantially equal to the downstream velocity and the preceding velocity prior to the ego vehicle arriving at the location of the traffic obstruction so that the ego vehicle does not collide with the preceding vehicle or the downstream vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the onboard vehicle computer system does not have knowledge of a wireless network which transmits the wireless vehicle data among the ego vehicle and one or more connected devices.

4. A method executed by an onboard vehicle computer system of an ego vehicle that is Dedicated Short Range Communication-equipped (“

DSRC-equipped”

), the method comprising;

receiving a set of wireless messages from a set of vehicles;

extracting a subset of the set of wireless messages that were sent within a predetermined time period and that correspond to a set of downstream vehicles that are on a same road of travel as the ego vehicle and within 500 meters of the ego vehicle, wherein the subset of the set of wireless messages are associated with wireless vehicle data and the wireless vehicle data is compliant with a DSRC standard;

determining that the wireless vehicle data describes a presence of a traffic obstruction that is at a location downstream of the ego vehicle and within the same road of travel as the ego vehicle; and

modifying, by the onboard vehicle computer system, an ego velocity of the ego vehicle prior to the ego vehicle arriving at the location.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the set of wireless messages include one or more DSRC-based wireless messages.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the wireless vehicle data includes Basic Safety Message data (“

BSM data”

).

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the wireless vehicle data describes the location with lane-level accuracy.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein lane-level accuracy includes the location being described by the wireless vehicle data with an accuracy of substantially plus or minus 1.5 meters where a specific lane of a roadway which is traveled in by the downstream vehicle at a specific time is substantially 3 meters wide.

9. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

determining a preceding velocity of a preceding vehicle that is traveling directly in front of the ego vehicle; and

wherein modifying the ego velocity includes modifying the ego velocity based on the preceding velocity and the presence of the traffic obstruction so that the ego velocity is less than or substantially equal to the preceding velocity prior to the ego vehicle arriving at the location of the traffic obstruction.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising executing an onboard sensor of the ego vehicle to generate sensor data describing one or more velocities of one or more vehicles traveling on the same road of travel.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the onboard sensor includes one or more of a range finder sensor and a RADAR sensor.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the sensor data describes the ego velocity and the preceding velocity at a specific time.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the wireless vehicle data describes a velocity of one or more downstream vehicles at one or more specific times, a location of one or more downstream vehicles with lane-level accuracy at the one or more specific times and one or more kinematics of the one or more downstream vehicles at the one or more specific times.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein determining that the wireless vehicle data describes the traffic obstruction includes analyzing the wireless vehicle data to identify the presence of the traffic obstruction based on one or more patterns of behavior of the one or more downstream vehicles over the one or more specific times.

15. The method of claim 4, wherein the wireless message is transmitted by one or more of a preceding vehicle, a downstream vehicle, a roadside unit and a server.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the wireless vehicle data describes one or more of the preceding vehicle and the downstream vehicle.

17. The method of claim 4, further comprising the onboard vehicle computer system providing acceleration data to an Advanced Driver Assistance System (“

ADAS system”

) of the ego vehicle, wherein the acceleration data describes an acceleration for modifying the ego velocity of the ego vehicle, and the ADAS system modifying the acceleration of the ego vehicle so that the ego velocity is less than or substantially equal to a preceding velocity of a preceding vehicle traveling directly in front of the ego vehicle in a same lane of travel as the ego vehicle.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the method is executed at a specific time described by the wireless vehicle data and the method is repeated substantially every 0.10 seconds based on new wireless vehicle data for a new wireless message, wherein the new wireless vehicle data describes a new time that is substantially 0.10 seconds subsequent to the specific time so that the ego velocity gradually decreases as the ego vehicle approaches the traffic obstruction.

19. A system of an ego vehicle comprising:

a communication unit that is operable to receive a set of wireless messages from a set of vehicles;

an onboard vehicle computer system of the ego vehicle that is communicatively coupled to the communication unit and operable to receive the set of wireless messages from the communication unit, the onboard vehicle computer system including a non-transitory memory storing computer code that, when executed by the onboard vehicle computer system, causes the onboard vehicle computer system to;

extract a subset of the set of wireless messages that were sent within a predetermined time period and that correspond to a set of downstream vehicles that are in a same lane of travel as the ego vehicle and within 500 meters of the ego vehicle, wherein the subset of the set of wireless messages are associated with wireless vehicle data;

determine a modification for a velocity of the ego vehicle based on a traffic obstruction described by the wireless vehicle data;

provide modification data describing the modification to an Advanced Driver Assistance System (“

ADAS system”

) of the ego vehicle; and

executing the ADAS system based on the modification data so that the velocity of the ego vehicle is modified based on receipt of the wireless vehicle data prior to the ego vehicle arriving at the traffic obstruction.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the set of wireless messages include one or more Basic Safety Messages (“

BSMs”

).

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the modification data describes a negative value for an acceleration of the ego vehicle to be achieved by the ego vehicle within a period of time specified by the modification data so that the velocity of the ego vehicle is less than a preceding velocity of a preceding vehicle prior to ego vehicle colliding with the preceding vehicle.

22. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory memory of an onboard vehicle computer system of an ego vehicle that is a Dedicated Short Range Communication (“

DSRC”

)-equipped vehicle, wherein the non-transitory memory stores computer-executable code that, when executed by the onboard vehicle computer system, causes the onboard vehicle computer system to;

receive a set of DSRC-based wireless messages from a set of vehicles;

extract a subset of the set of DSRC-based wireless messages that were sent within a predetermined time period and that correspond to a set of downstream vehicles that are in a same lane of travel as the ego vehicle and within 500 meters of the ego vehicle, wherein the subset of the set of wireless messages are associated with wireless vehicle data and the wireless vehicle data is transmitted via a DSRC channel;

determining that the wireless vehicle data indicates a presence of a downstream traffic obstruction affecting a downstream vehicle, a downstream velocity of the downstream vehicle and a location of the downstream traffic obstruction; and

after determining the presence of the downstream traffic obstruction, modifying a velocity of the ego vehicle to be consistent with the downstream velocity of the downstream vehicle prior to the ego vehicle arriving at the location of the downstream traffic obstruction.