APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR WARNING LOSS OF CONTROL OF A VEHICLE USING VEHICLE-TO-VEHICLE COMMUNICATIONS

• US 20160023599A1
• Filed: 07/23/2015
• Published: 01/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: JO, Jang Hyeon
• Granted Patent: US 9,682,654 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/008 for anti-collision purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/161 Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication

Abstract

An apparatus for warning loss of control of a vehicle using communications between vehicles may include: a speed detecting unit for detecting a speed of a vehicle; a position detecting unit for detecting a current position and a travel direction of the vehicle; a route estimating unit for estimating a future position of the vehicle after a time period using the current speed and the position information; a WAVE message generating unit for generating a WAVE message comprising the future position information of the vehicle; a WAVE data communicating unit for broadcasting the WAVE message to a surrounding vehicle and an infrastructure periodically, and receiving WAVE message broadcast from the surrounding vehicle and the infrastructure; and a control unit for sensing accident risk using the future position information of the vehicle and the future position information of the surrounding vehicle, when the surrounding vehicle is in loss of control.

Claims

1. An apparatus for warning loss of control of a vehicle using communications between vehicles, comprising:

a speed detecting unit for detecting a travel speed of an own vehicle;

a position detecting unit for detecting a current position and a travel direction of the own vehicle;

a route estimating unit for estimating a future position of the own vehicle after a predetermined time period using the current speed and the position information;

a WAVE message generating unit for generating a WAVE message including the future position information of the own vehicle after the predetermined time period;

a WAVE data communicating unit for broadcasting the WAVE message to a surrounding vehicle and an infrastructure periodically, and receiving the WAVE message broadcast from the surrounding vehicle and the infrastructure;

a control unit for sensing accident risk using the future position information of the own vehicle and the future position information of the surrounding vehicle, when the surrounding vehicle is in loss of control; and

a guide and alarm output unit for warning the accident risk by an audible means, a visible means, and a vibrating means in combination under the control of the control unit in advance, or providing behavior guides to a driver to prevent the traffic accident in advance.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the behavior guides of the driver to prevent the accident comprise:

at least one of braking, turning, emergency lighting, and emergency beeping.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position detecting unit detects the current position of the own vehicle using at least one of a position information collecting module provided in the own vehicle, a GPS/GNSS module, and electronic map information.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit senses the accident risk by sensing at least one of an ahead zone in the same travel direction as that of the own vehicle, a left/right lane zone adjacent to the ahead zone, a behind zone, a left/right lane zone adjacent to the behind zone, a front lane zone approaching from the front, and an intersecting left/right lane zone.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the WAVE (Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments) message comprises at least one of a position and a status of the vehicle, at least one event information, whether there is the loss of control or not, and operating status information including ABS (Anti-Lock Brake System), ESC (Electronic Stability Control), and TCS (Traction Control System) as its detail information.

6. A method for warning loss of control of a vehicle using communications between vehicles, comprising:

sensing, by a control unit, at least one vehicle abnormal signals generated by actuating a function of the vehicle according to an operating maneuver performed by a driver in an emergency situation which is encountered during travelling of the own vehicle;

determining, by the control unit, whether a current speed of the vehicle is above a predefined threshold at the same time when the vehicle abnormal signal is sensed, or within a predefined time period;

further sensing, by the control unit, vehicle abnormal status information, when the current speed of the vehicle is above the threshold while the vehicle abnormal signal is sensed;

determining, by the control unit, that the vehicle is in loss of control status, when the current speed of the vehicle is above the threshold while the vehicle abnormal signal is sensed, and also the vehicle abnormal status information is sensed;

generating, by the control unit, a WAVE message where the loss-of-control status is recorded in a particular field for recording event information in the WAVE message via a WAVE message generating unit; and

broadcasting, by the control unit, the WAVE message to the surrounding through the WAVE data communicating unit.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the vehicle abnormal status information comprises at least one of a status that an acceleration/deceleration value of the vehicle is abruptly varied in a unit time, a status that a vehicle steering angle is abruptly varied in a unit time, a status that a vehicle projectile (Longitudinal and Latitudinal Distance) is abruptly varied in a unit time, and a status that the vehicle maneuver which is not fitted with a geometrical structure of the corresponding road is sensed on comparing with the map information.

8. A method for warning loss of control of a vehicle using communications between vehicles, comprising:

receiving, under the control of a control unit, a WAVE message broadcast from a surrounding vehicle through a WAVE data communicating unit;

analyzing, by the control unit, the WAVE message and, when the WAVE message contains status information pointing to the loss of control, calculating a relative position between an own vehicle and the surrounding vehicle using the status information contained in the WAVE message;

determining, by the control unit, whether a position of the own vehicle is in a range of possible accident risk with the surrounding vehicle using the relative position between the own vehicle and the surrounding vehicle; and

when the own vehicle is positioned in the range of possible accident risk, detecting, by the control unit, a travel speed of the own vehicle, and outputting a guide and an alarm to prevent an accident via a guide and alarm output unit assuming that there is a possible risk that the accident will take place when the travel speed is above a predefined threshold.

9. The method according to claim 8, after outputting the guide and alarm, further comprising:

stopping, by the control unit, outputting the guide and alarm, when the conditions of the possible risk that the accident will take place is released,

wherein the release of the conditions of the possible risk that the accident will take place comprises that the speed of the own vehicle is reduced by braking of the driver, or the loss of control of the surrounding vehicle is released.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein in deciding whether the position of the own vehicle is in the range of the possible accident risk with the surrounding vehicle, the control unit decides at least one of whether the distance of the surrounding vehicle in the front/rear in the same lane as that of the own vehicle is in a predefined first threshold, whether the distance of the surrounding vehicle in the front/rear in the lane adjacent to that of the own vehicle is in a second threshold, whether the distance of the surrounding vehicle when the surrounding vehicle approaches from the front is in a third threshold, or whether the distance to the intersection points of the surrounding vehicle and the own vehicle which are intersected in the intersection is in a fourth threshold.