LANE CHANGING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE

• US 20150355641A1
• Filed: 10/28/2014
• Published: 12/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Inventors: CHOI, Tae Sung, You, Byung Yong, Yoon, Sung Won, Jung, Chang Young
• Granted Patent: US 9,625,910 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18163 Lane change; Overtaking manoeuvres
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/114 Yaw movement
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/001 Planning or execution of driving tasks
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0255 Automatic changing of lane, e.g. for passing another vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 6/003 in order to control vehicle yaw movement, i.e. around a vertical axis B62D6/007 takes precedence

Abstract

A lane changing apparatus of an autonomous vehicle includes a lane recognizer, a vehicle information collector, a control information calculator, a controller and a steering apparatus. The lane recognizer is configured to recognize a lane of a road on which the vehicle is driving and extract road information from the recognized lane. The vehicle information collector is configured to collect vehicle information by a variety of sensors installed in the vehicle. The control information calculator is configured to calculate control information for changing the lane by using the vehicle information and the road information. The controller is configured to control a yaw rate of the vehicle based on the control information upon changing the lane. The steering apparatus is configured to change a moving direction of the vehicle according to a control of the controller.

Claims

1. A lane changing apparatus of an autonomous vehicle, the lane changing apparatus comprising:

a lane recognizer configured to recognize a lane of a road on which the vehicle is driving and extract road information from the recognized lane;

a vehicle information collector configured to collect vehicle information by a variety of sensors installed in the vehicle;

a control information calculator configured to calculate control information for changing the lane by using the vehicle information and the road information;

a controller configured to control a yaw rate of the vehicle based on the control information upon changing the lane; and

a steering apparatus configured to change a moving direction of the vehicle according to a control of the controller.

2. The lane changing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lane recognizer is configured to extract, from a front image photographed by an image sensor, the road information including a moving direction and a driving road of the vehicle, and a road width of the lane recognized, by performing an image-processing of the front image.

3. The lane changing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle information collector is configured to collect the vehicle information by chassis-controller area network (CAN) communications with the variety of sensors.

4. The lane changing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle information includes a vehicle velocity, a steering angle, an accumulated steering angle, a yaw rate of the vehicle, a moving direction angle, and a lateral velocity.

5. The lane changing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control information includes a target yaw rate and transition timing information.

6. The lane changing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control information calculator is configured to calculate the target yaw rate by using a vehicle velocity, a road width, and an allowable maximum moving direction angle.

7. The lane changing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the target yaw rate includes:

a first target yaw rate for controlling a steering from a starting road on which the vehicle starts a lane change in a direction toward a target road to be changed, and

a second target yaw rate for controlling the steering from the target road in a direction toward the starting road.

8. The lane changing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the transition timing information is a target yaw rate transition timing calculated by using a lateral velocity of the vehicle and a road width.

9. The lane changing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to control the steering from the starting road in the direction toward the target road by controlling the yaw rate of the vehicle to be set to the first target yaw rate upon changing the lane.

10. The lane changing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to control the steering from the target road in the direction toward the starting road by changing and setting the first target yaw rate to the second target yaw rate when the vehicle deviates from the center of the starting road by a first limit distance.

11. The lane changing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to enter a lane deviation preventing mode by changing and setting the second target yaw rate to zero when the vehicle enters within a second limit distance from the center of the target road.

12. The lane changing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control information calculator is configured to calculate a target yaw rate and transition timing information by taking account of an average yaw rate until just before the lane change, and curvature and gradient of a curved lane when the vehicle is driving on the curved road.

13. A lane changing method of an autonomous vehicle, the lane changing method comprising:

calculating control information by using vehicle information and road information obtained by a variety of sensors installed in a vehicle upon performing a lane change while driving;

controlling a steering of the vehicle from a starting road in a direction toward a target road based on the control information;

determining whether or not the vehicle arrives at a first limit point by the steering control;

controlling a yaw rate of the vehicle to steer the vehicle from the target road in a direction toward the starting road based on the control information when it is determined that the vehicle arrives at the first limit point;

determining whether or not the vehicle arrives at a second limit point; and

matching a moving direction of the vehicle to a moving direction of the vehicle along the target lane by controlling the yaw rate of the vehicle when it is determined that the vehicle arrives at the second limit point.

14. The lane changing method according to claim 13, wherein the calculating of the control information includes calculating a target yaw rate by using a vehicle velocity, a road width, and an allowable maximum moving direction angle.

15. The lane changing method according to claim 13, wherein the calculating of the control information includes calculating the first and second limit points at which the target yaw rate transitions by using a lateral velocity of the vehicle and a road width.

16. The lane changing method according to claim 15, wherein the first limit point is a point spaced apart from a center of the starting road on which the vehicle attempts the lane change by a first limit distance in the direction toward the target road to be changed.

17. The lane changing method according to claim 15, wherein the second limit point is a point spaced apart from a center of the target road to be changed by the vehicle by a second limit distance in a direction toward the starting road on which the vehicle attempts the lane change.

18. The lane changing method according to claim 13, wherein the calculating of the control information includes calculating a target yaw rate and transition timing information by taking account of an average yaw rate until just before the lane change, and curvature and gradient of a curved lane when the vehicle is driving on the curved road.