Method and device for data exchange and processing

• US 20050021201A1
• Filed: 06/07/2002
• Published: 01/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Staempfle, Martin, Uhler, Werner, Klotz, Albrecht
• Granted Patent: US 7,340,380 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/35
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/726 Multiple target tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/86 Combinations of radar systems with non-radar systems, e.g. sonar, direction finder
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/932 using own vehicle data, e.g. ground speed, steering wheel direction
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/003 Transmission of data between radar, sonar or lidar systems and remote stations
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/16 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

Abstract

A method and a device are proposed for the exchange and the processing in common of object data between sensors and a processing unit, position data and/or speed data and/or additional object attributes (size, identification, markings) of sensor objects and fusion objects being transmitted and processed.

Claims

1-13. -13. (Canceled)

14. A method for processing sensor data to fusion data, comprising:

causing at least one sensor to generate the sensor data;

performing an association step in which one of the following is performed;

assigning sensor data to existing fusion data, and

in the case that no assignment takes place, generating new fusion data;

performing a subsequent fusion step in which the fusion data is formed from associated data; and

performing a merging step in which a fusion is performed out of a first fusion piece of data with a second fusion piece of data.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

in the subsequent fusion step, weighting the sensor data as a function of a quality measure of the sensor data.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein:

for the weighting of the sensor data, one of a statistical standard deviation and a statistical variance thereof is used.

17. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein:

in the merging step, the fusing performed if a difference between the first fusion piece of data and the second fusion piece of data undershoots at least one threshold value.

18. The method as recited in Claim 14, further comprising:

performing an evaluation step in which a plausibility measure is assigned to one of the first fusion piece of data and the second fusion piece of data.

19. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

performing an evaluation step in which a priority measure is assigned to one of the first fusion piece of data and the second fusion piece of data.

20. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

performing a processing step in which for one of the first fusion piece of data and the second fusion piece of data an object size attribute is calculated, the object size attribute representing a size of a detected object.

21. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

performing a processing step in which, on the basis of at least one of the first fusion piece of data and the second fusion piece of data, at least one of the following is recognized;

that an object is moving out of a detection range of the at least one sensor into a detection gap,

that the object is present in the detection gap, and

that the object is moving out of the detection gap into a detection range of the at least one sensor.

22. A method for exchanging data between a first sensor and a processing unit and between a second sensor and the processing unit, comprising:

transmitting the sensor data to the processing unit;

causing the processing unit to transmit acknowledgment data to at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor, wherein;

the sensor data includes at least one of position data and speed data of an object relative to the first sensor and the second sensor, and

the acknowledgment data includes information proportions of at least one of the sensor data and fusion data.

23. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein:

the sensor data includes sensor objects and time data.

24. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein:

the acknowledgment data is used for at least one of alertness control and a preconditioning of the first sensor, the second sensor, and a third sensor.

25. A device for processing sensor data to fusion data, comprising:

a plurality of sensors for generating sensor data; and

a processing unit for receiving the sensor data, the processing unit;

performing an association step in which one of the following is performed;

assigning sensor data to existing fusion data, and

in the case that no assignment takes place, generating new fusion data,

performing a subsequent fusion step in which the fusion data is formed from associated data, and

performing a merging step in which a fusion is performed out of a first fusion piece of data with a second fusion piece of data.