SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PREVENTING VEHICLE FROM ROLLING OVER IN CURVED LANE

• US 20140081542A1
• Filed: 12/11/2012
• Published: 03/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Automotive Research & Testing Center
• Original Assignee: Automotive Research & Testing Center
• Inventors: YAO, Chi-Chun, HSU, Jin-Yan, CHEN, Chun-Hsiung, HSU, Tsung-Hua, SU, Yi-Feng
• Granted Patent: US 9,116,784 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/70
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/184 with wheel brakes
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2030/043 about the roll axis
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2040/1315 Location of the centre of gravity
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/125 Lateral acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/18 Roll
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/18 Steering angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/04 related to roll-over prevention
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/072 Curvature of the road
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/076 Slope angle of the road
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/10 related to vehicle motion
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/105 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/109 Lateral acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/112 Roll movement
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00

Abstract

The present invention proposes a system and method for preventing a vehicle from rolling over in curved lane. The road images captured by the image capture devices are used to calculate road information. The road information together with the vehicular dynamic information, such as the speed and acceleration of the vehicle are used to predict the rollover angle and lateral acceleration of the vehicle moving on the curved lane. The height of the gravity center and critical rollover speed of the vehicle moving on the curved lane are worked out and used to define a vehicular rollover index. If the vehicular rollover index exceeds a preset value, the system warns the driver or directly controls the speed of the vehicle to prevent the vehicle from rolling over in the curved lane.

Claims

1. A method for preventing a vehicle from rolling over in curved lane, comprising steps:

using at least two image capture devices to capture at least one image of a road before said vehicle, and using said image of said road to calculate a curvature of said curved lane and a banking of said curved lane;

using said image of said road to estimate variation of a turning angle of a steering wheel of said vehicle moving on said curved lane, and using said variation of said turning angle and a plurality of types of vehicular dynamic information to predict a rollover angle and a lateral acceleration;

using said rollover angle, said lateral acceleration, and said vehicular dynamic information to calculate an height of a gravity center of said vehicle and a critical rollover speed when said vehicle moving on said curved lane; and

using said height of said gravity center, said rollover angle, and said lateral acceleration to define a vehicular rollover index, substituting values of said height of said gravity center, said rollover angle, and said lateral acceleration into said vehicular rollover index, and generating a warning signal or a control signal if said vehicular rollover index exceeds a preset value.

2. The method for preventing a vehicle from rolling over in curved lane according to claim 1, wherein a curve of a traffic lane model is calculated with said image of said at least one image of said road and height of said image capture devices.

3. The method for preventing a vehicle from rolling over in curved lane according to claim 1, wherein said vehicular dynamic information includes a turning angle of wheels, a lateral speed, a curvature radius, a steering ratio, a vehicle weight, a stiffness coefficient, a damping coefficient, a wheel tread, a wheelbase between a front-wheel axis and a rear-wheel axis, and a rotation inertia.

4. The method for preventing a vehicle from rolling over in curved lane according to claim 1, wherein said rollover angle and said lateral acceleration are predicted with an extended Kalman filter.

5. The method for preventing a vehicle from rolling over in curved lane according to claim 1, wherein said vehicle using a processor calculates said critical rollover speed and said vehicular rollover index, and wherein said processor generates a warning signal to enable a buzzer to emit warning sounds, or generates a control signal to regulate speed of said vehicle.

6. A system for preventing a vehicle from rolling over in curved lane, which is installed in said vehicle, comprising

at least two image capture devices capturing at least one image of a road before said vehicle;

a vehicular status sensing module detecting a plurality of types of vehicular dynamic information, wherein said vehicular dynamic information includes a speed, a tilt angle and an acceleration of said vehicle; and

a processor connected with said at least two image capture devices and said vehicular status sensing module, using said image of said road to compute a plurality of road information, using said road information and said vehicular dynamic information to calculate an height of a gravity center of said vehicle moving on said curved lane and a critical rollover speed, defining a vehicular rollover index, and outputting a warning signal or a control signal if said vehicular rollover index exceeds a preset value.

7. The system for preventing a vehicle from rolling over in curved lane according to claim 6, wherein said vehicular status sensing module further comprises

a wheel speed sensor installed in a wheel of said vehicle and detecting a rotation speed of said wheel;

a gyroscope measuring posture variation of said vehicle; and

an acceleration sensor detecting acceleration of said vehicle.

8. The system for preventing a vehicle from rolling over in curved lane according to claim 6, wherein said vehicular dynamic information includes a turning angle of wheels, a lateral speed, a curvature radius, a steering ratio, a vehicle weight, a stiffness coefficient, a damping coefficient, a wheel tread, a wheelbase between a front-wheel axis and a rear-wheel axis, and a rotation inertia.

9. The system for preventing a vehicle from rolling over in curved lane according to claim 6, wherein said road information includes a curvature of said curved lane and a banking of said curved lane, and wherein said processor uses said road information and height of said image capture devices to calculate a curve of a traffic lane model.

10. The system for preventing a vehicle from rolling over in curved lane according to claim 6 further comprising a buzzer triggered by said warning signal to emit warning sounds.

11. The system for preventing a vehicle from rolling over in curved lane according to claim 6 further comprising an accelerator and brake controller, which regulates speed of said vehicle according to said control signal.