Method for a Driver Assistance Application

• US 20150307110A1
• Filed: 11/19/2013
• Published: 10/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Conti Temic Microelectronic GmbH (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Conti Temic Microelectronic GmbH (Continental AG)
• Inventors: HEGEMANN, Stefan, FISCHER, Marc, ADOMAT, Rolf, GREWE, Ralph
• Granted Patent: US 9,481,374 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0006 Digital architecture hierarchy
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0215 Sensor drifts or sensor failures
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0292 Fail-safe or redundant systems, e.g. limp-home or backup systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/00 Input parameters relating to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/00 Input parameters relating to exterior conditions, not covered by groups B60W2552/00, B60W2554/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/029 Adapting to failures or work around with other constraints, e.g. circumvention by avoiding use of failed parts

Abstract

A driver assistance system with improved fault tolerance and a method for the same are provided. For this purpose, a control variable for an actuator for a reduced driver assistance system is calculated in a second control unit.

Claims

1. A method for a driver assistance system, including

i) at least one sensor unit for detecting the surroundings

ii) a first control unit with means

for calculating a surroundings model (5) at a high degree of precision based on data from the at least one sensor unit and

for calculating a control variable for a driver assistance application, and

for transmitting a first control signal for an actuator in accordance with the calculated control variable,

iii) an actuator with an actuator control unit

iv) a second control unit (SE2) for calculating a second control variable for a reduced driver assistance application and a second control signal for the actuator based on data from the at least one sensor unit, wherein the second control unit is either disposed in the sensor unit or in the actuator unit,

wherein a third control signal (7) is determined for triggering the actuator in the event that the first control signal is not available, wherein

the value of the second control signal (4) is used for the third control signal (7), or

a third control signal for triggering the actuator is calculated based on the last transmitted first control signal(s) and the second control signal (7), or

the surroundings model calculated by the first control unit is transmitted to the second control unit and a third control signal (7) is calculated based on said model.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that less computing time is needed for calculating the second control variable for the reduced driver assistance application as compared to calculating the control variable for the application in the first control unit because fewer control cases are considered.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the reduced driver assistance application does not include any comfort requirements.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the calculation of a control variable for a reduced driver assistance application is performed in an actuator control unit at least twice, using either data from different sensor units and/or different calculation methods (algorithms), and that a control signal for the actuator is calculated based on these at least two second control variables.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one sensor unit comprises means for preprocessing sensor data, said preprocessing particularly including object and free space detection, and that the sensor data is transmitted to the first sensor unit and the actuator control unit after preprocessing.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that for the preprocessing of a sensor unit, object or free space information is calculated in accordance with a first method and a different second method, then the redundantly generated information is checked for plausibility for use in a first control unit, then further processed, and only information based on one of the two methods is used in an actuator control unit.

7. A driver assistance system for performing the method according to claim 1, including

I) at least one sensor unit for detecting the surroundings

ii) a first control unit with means

for calculating a surroundings model (5) at a high degree of precision based on data from the at least one sensor unit and

for calculating a control variable for a driver assistance application, and

for transmitting a first control signal for an actuator in accordance with the calculated control variable

iii) an actuator with an actuator control unit

iv) a second control unit (SE2) for calculating a second control variable for a reduced driver assistance application and a second control signal for the actuator based on data from the at least one sensor unit, wherein the second control unit is either disposed in the sensor unit or in the actuator unit,

v) means for calculating and transmitting a trigger signal for an actuator in accordance with the method.

8. A method for operating a driver assistance system of a vehicle including at least one sensor unit, a first control unit, an actuator control unit, an actuator, and a second control unit incorporated in the sensor unit, the actuator control unit or the actuator, wherein the method comprises:

with the at least one sensor unit, detecting surroundings of the vehicle and producing corresponding sensor data;

with the first control unit, attempting to calculate a surroundings model based on the sensor data, calculate a first control variable for a first driver assistance application, and transmit a first control signal to trigger the actuator dependent on and in accordance with the first control variable;

with the second control unit, calculating a second control variable for a second driver assistance application having reduced functionality compared to the first driver assistance application, and transmitting a second control signal to trigger the actuator based on the sensor data;

if the first control signal is not available, then determining a third control signal to trigger the actuator, wherein a value of the second control signal is used for the third control signal, or the third control signal is calculated based on the second control signal and a last transmitted value of the first control signal, or the surroundings model is transmitted from the first control unit to the second control unit and the third control signal is calculated based on the surroundings model.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein less computing time is needed for calculating the second control variable for the second driver assistance application than for calculating the first control variable for the first driver assistance application because fewer control cases are considered.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the second driver assistance application does not include any driver comfort requirements.

11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the at least one sensor unit includes at least two different sensor units that are different from one another, wherein the second control unit is incorporated in the actuator control unit, wherein the calculating of the second control variable for the second driver assistance application is performed in the actuator control unit at least twice to produce at least two second control variables respectively using the respective sensor data from the at least two different sensor units and/or at least two different calculation algorithms, and wherein the second control signal for triggering the actuator is calculated based on the at least two second control variables.

12. The method according to claim 8, wherein the at least one sensor unit includes a processor configured to preprocess the sensor data, wherein the method further comprises preprocessing the sensor data including object and free space detection of the sensor data in the processor of the at least one sensor unit, and wherein the sensor data is transmitted to the first control unit and to the second control unit after the preprocessing thereof.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein for the preprocessing, object or free space information of the sensor data is calculated a first time in accordance with a first calculation method to produce a first preprocessing result and calculated a second time in accordance with a second calculation method different from the first calculation method to produce a second preprocessing result, then the first and second preprocessing results are compared to one another to check for plausibility thereof and produce a plausibilized result which is provided as the sensor data to the first control unit, and only either the first preprocessing result or the second preprocessing result is provided to the second control unit.

14. A driver assistance system for a vehicle, comprising:

an actuator configured and arranged to actuate a control component of the vehicle;

an actuator control unit configured and arranged to provide control signals for triggering the actuator;

at least one sensor unit configured and arranged to detect surroundings of the vehicle and produce corresponding sensor data;

a first control unit configured and arranged to calculate a surroundings model based on the sensor data, to calculate a first control variable for a first driver assistance application, and to transmit a first control signal to trigger the actuator dependent on and in accordance with the first control variable; and

a second control unit that is incorporated in the sensor unit, the actuator control unit or the actuator, and that is configured and arranged to calculate a second control variable for a second driver assistance application having reduced functionality compared to the first driver assistance application, and to transmit a second control signal to trigger the actuator based on the sensor data, and wherein the second control unit is further configured and arranged to determine a third control signal to trigger the actuator if the first control signal is not available, wherein a value of the second control signal is used for the third control signal, or the third control signal is calculated based on a last transmitted value of the first control signal and the second control signal, or the surroundings model is transmitted from the first control unit to the second control unit and the third control signal is calculated based on the surroundings model.