Method for determining free spaces in the vicinity of a motor vehicle, in particular in the vicinity relevant to the vehicle operation

• US 8,321,066 B2
• Filed: 04/28/2009
• Issued: 11/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Becker, Jan-Carsten, Hoetter, Michael, Ike, Thorsten, Grabe, Baerbel, Simon, Andreas
• Primary Examiner(s): Beaulieu, Yonel
• Application Number:
  US12/431,719
• Publication Number:
  US 20090299547A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,309 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701300-302, 701 23- 25, 180167-168, 340/932.2, 340435-436, 705/16
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/08 Active safety systems predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision or attempting to minimise its consequences
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0265 Automatic obstacle avoidance by steering
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/024 in combination with a laser lasers per se H01S
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0246 using a video camera in combination with image processing means

Abstract

A method and system for determining free spaces in the vicinity of a motor vehicle, in particular a vicinity relevant to the vehicle operation, is provided. A method and system for determining an evasion trajectory for a driver assistance system of the motor vehicle is provided in which information from at least one object detection sensor of the motor vehicle about at least one detected object is used while taking the characteristics of the physical measuring principle of the at least one object detection sensor into account. A method and system is provided in which it is taken into account that the at least one object detection sensor has the capability of directly detecting a plurality of objects by a single measurement.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for determining free spaces in the vicinity of a motor vehicle, comprising:

obtaining, by a processor of a computer, information about at least one free space located in the vicinity of the motor vehicle from a measurement taken by at least one object detection sensor of the motor vehicle; and

using, by the processor, the information from the at least one object detection sensor to calculate at least one probability of a non-occupied state for the least one free space, while taking at least one characteristic of a physical measuring principle of the at least one object detection sensor into account;

wherein the processor takes into account that the at least one object detection sensor has the capability of directly detecting a plurality of objects simultaneously.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one probability of a non-occupied state is calculated while accounting for the fact that the information about the at least one free space is adversely affected by any object lying between the at least one object detection sensor and the respective free space.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one characteristic of a physical measuring principle of the at least one object detection sensor is taken into account by including a system-controlled detection capacity of the at least one object detection sensor in the calculation of the at least one probability of a non-occupied state.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one object detection sensor includes a lidar sensor.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one object detection sensor includes a video sensor.

6. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

subdividing the at least one free space in the vicinity of the motor vehicle into individual cells; and

assigning an individual probability value for the non-occupied state of the particular individual cell for each of the individual cells.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

implementing a driving maneuver of the motor vehicle for evasion purposes autonomously or semi-autonomously or suggesting the driving maneuver in response to the approach of an obstacle,

wherein the driving maneuver is based on a collision-avoiding evasion trajectory, which is determined while taking into account free spaces determined in the vicinity of the motor vehicle.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the vicinity of the motor vehicle is the vicinity relevant to the vehicle operation.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein an evasion trajectory for a driver assistance system of the motor vehicle is determined.

11. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

calculating, by the processor, at least one probability value representing a detection uncertainty for the at least one free space, as a function of a corresponding probability of a non-occupied state.

8. A driver assistance system of a motor vehicle, comprising:

at least one object detection sensor for detecting at least one object and obstacle in a vicinity of the motor vehicle; and

a control device which is connected to the at least one object detection sensor and which is designed to execute a computer program on a microprocessor of a microcomputer, wherein the computer program, when executed, causes the microprocessor to perform the following;

obtaining information concerning at least one free space located in the vicinity of the motor vehicle from a measurement taken by the at least one object detection sensor of the motor vehicle;

using the information from the at least one object detection sensor to calculate at least one probability of a non-occupied state for the least one free space, while taking at least one characteristic of a physical measuring principle of the at least one object detection sensor into account; and

taking into account that the at least one object detection sensor has the capability of directly detecting a plurality of objects simultaneously.