PEDESTRIAL CRASH PREVENTION SYSTEM AND OPERATION METHOD THEREOF

• US 20170060130A1
• Filed: 08/25/2016
• Published: 03/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: KIM, Yeongoo, PARK, Yangdoo
• Granted Patent: US 10,149,132 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/244 using a network of reference devices, e.g. beaconing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

An autonomous vehicle may provide bidirectional communication with mobile terminals of pedestrians. The autonomous vehicle may include a short range communication module for providing a communication interface, and a controller for, when a specific driving condition occurs, activating wireless communication through the short range communication module, periodically broadcasting a beacon signal including vehicle location and speed information, and calculating a danger level for each pedestrian based on pedestrian information included in a response signal corresponding to the beacon signal

Claims

1. An autonomous vehicle comprising:

a short range communication module configured to provide a communication interface; and

a controller configured to;

determine a specific driving condition,

in response to the determined driving condition, activate wireless communication using the short range communication module,

broadcast a beacon signal that includes vehicle location and speed information,

receiving a response signal corresponding to a beacon signal, and

in response to receiving the response signal, determine a danger level for at least one pedestrian based on pedestrian information included in the response signal.

2. The autonomous vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the beacon signal includes danger level information for at least one pedestrian.

3. The autonomous vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to change a transmission period of the beacon signal based on the danger level information.

4. The autonomous vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the response signal is received from a mobile terminal of at least one pedestrian.

5. The autonomous vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the response signal is received from at least one of a fixed beacon terminal and a mobile beacon terminal.

6. The autonomous vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the pedestrian information includes pedestrian group information.

7. The autonomous vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to determine a level of an emergency mode at least based on pedestrian danger level information and the pedestrian group information.

8. The autonomous vehicle according to claim 7, wherein when the controller determines that the level of the emergency mode is a first emergency mode, the controller is configured to perform a pedestrian tracking operation while periodically transmitting the beacon signal.

9. The autonomous vehicle according to claim 8, wherein when the controller determines that the level of the emergency mode is a second emergency mode, the controller is configured to perform pedestrian evasive driving while the vehicle is reducing vehicle speed or changing a lane.

10. The autonomous vehicle according to claim 9, wherein when the controller determines that the level of the emergency mode is a third emergency mode, the controller is configured to perform a driving stop operation.

11. A mobile terminal comprising:

a short range communication module configured to provide a communication interface; and

a controller configured to;

in response to receiving a beacon signal from an autonomous vehicle, transmit, to the autonomous vehicle, a response signal including pedestrian location and speed information, and

determine whether a pedestrian is in danger based on vehicle location and speed information included in the beacon signal and the pedestrian location and the speed information in the response signal.

12. The mobile terminal according to claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to activate wireless communication using the short range communication module and to enter into a beacon reception mode.

13. The mobile terminal according to claim 11, wherein the response signal includes pedestrian group information.

14. The mobile terminal according to claim 13, wherein the controller is configured to preset user information to determine the pedestrian group information.

15. The mobile terminal according to claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to determine the pedestrian group information based on the preset user information and current state information of the mobile terminal.

16. The mobile terminal according to claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the pedestrian is in danger based on pedestrian danger level information included in the beacon signal.

17. The mobile terminal according to claim 11, wherein when the controller determines that a danger level of the pedestrian is greater than a threshold value, the controller is configured to output a pedestrian warning signal.

18. The mobile terminal according to claim 17, wherein when a hearing device is coupled to the mobile terminal, the controller is configured to output a pedestrian warning voice to the hearing device.

19. The mobile terminal according to claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to display a pedestrian warning message on a display of the mobile terminal.

20. A method for controlling an autonomous vehicle, comprising:

determining a specific driving condition;

in response to determining the specific driving condition, activating wireless communication;

broadcasting at least one beacon signal including vehicle location and speed information;

receiving a response signal corresponding to the beacon signal from a mobile terminal of at least one user; and

determine a danger level for the at least one user based on information included in the received response signal.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the beacon signal includes danger level information.

22. The method according to claim 21, further comprising changing a transmission period of the beacon signal based on the danger level information.

23. The method according to claim 20, wherein the response signal is received from a mobile terminal.

24. The method according to claim 20, wherein the response signal is received from a beacon terminal.

25. The method according to claim 20, further comprising determining a level of an emergency mode at least based on danger level information and group information.

26. The method according to claim 25, further comprising performing a tracking operation while periodically transmitting the beacon signal when the determined level of the emergency mode is a first emergency mode.

27. The method according to claim 26, further comprising performing evasive driving when the determined level of the emergency mode is a second emergency mode.

28. The method according to claim 27, further comprising performing a driving stop operation when the determined level of the emergency mode is a third emergency mode.