Apparatus for gathering surroundings information of vehicle

• US 9,230,441 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2013
• Issued: 01/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: Sung, Kyung Bok, Choi, Hyun Kyun, Kwak, Dong Yong
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheung, Calvin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mahne, Kevin P
• Application Number:
  US13/891,546
• Publication Number:
  US 20140070960A1
• Time in Patent Office: 970 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096725 where the received information generates an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096783 where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 where the origin of the information is another vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/16 Anti-collision systems road vehicle drive control systems for predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision otherwise than by control of a particular sub-unit B60W30/08
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes

Abstract

An apparatus for gathering information about surroundings of a vehicle includes: a vehicle sensor data gathering block configured to gather first information about surroundings of the vehicle from one or more sensors mounted on the vehicle; a roadside equipment data gathering block configured to gather second information about surroundings of the vehicle from a roadside communication device installed on a driving infrastructure; and a data integration block configured to classify the first information about surroundings and the second information about surroundings for predefined data types and integrate and manage the classified information about surroundings based on a preset reliability criterion.

Claims

1. An apparatus for gathering information about surroundings of a vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle sensor data collector configured to gather first information about surroundings of the vehicle from one or more sensors mounted on the vehicle;

a roadside equipment data collector configured to gather second information about surroundings of the vehicle from a roadside communication device installed on a driving infrastructure;

a processor for data integration configured;

to classify the first information about surroundings and the second information about surroundings for predefined data types,

determine whether or not to integrate the classified first information or the classified second information based on a preset reliability criterion, and

integrate or delete the classified first information or the classified second information based on the determination of whether or not to integrate the classified first information or the classified second information,

wherein the processor for data integration decides to delete the classified first information or the classified second information having a lower reliability than the preset reliability criterion; and

an automatic vehicle controller configured to utilize the integrated managed information about surroundings, wherein the automatic vehicle controller applies the integrated managed information about the surroundings to automate control for the vehicle.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vehicle sensor data collector and the roadside equipment data collector gather the first information about surroundings and the second information about surroundings, respectively, at a predetermined interval.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the predefined data types comprise one or more of obstacle data around the vehicle, signal data around the vehicle, and driver guide data on the driving infrastructure.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the first information about surroundings and the second information about surroundings contain the same type of data, the reliability calculation unit accepts data of the first information about surroundings or the second information about surroundings as one integrated datum, depending on the type of data.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the automatic vehicle controller further comprises a terminal output controller to output the integrated managed information about surroundings through a vehicle terminal.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the automatic vehicle controller further comprises a broadcasting output controller to broadcast the integrated managed information about surroundings to surrounding vehicles on the driving infrastructure.

7. An apparatus for gathering information about surroundings of a vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle sensor data collector configured to gather first information about surroundings of the vehicle from one or more sensors mounted on the vehicle;

a central communication data collector configured to gather second information about surroundings of the vehicle from a remote central communication device through wireless communication;

a processor for data integration configured;

to classify the first information about surroundings and the second information about surroundings for predefined data types,

determine whether or not to integrate the classified first information or the classified second information based on a preset reliability criterion, and

integrate or delete the classified first information or the classified second information based on the determination of whether or not to integrate the classified first information or the classified second information,

wherein the processor for data integration decides to delete the classified first information or the classified second information having a lower reliability than the preset reliability criterion; and

an automatic vehicle controller configured to utilize the integrated managed information about surroundings, wherein the automatic vehicle controller applies the integrated managed information about the surroundings to automate control for the vehicle.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the vehicle sensor data collector and the central communication data collector gather the first information about surroundings and the second information about surroundings, respectively, at a predetermined interval.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the predefined data types comprise one or more of obstacle data around the vehicle, signal data around the vehicle, and driver guide data on the driving infrastructure.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein when the first information about surroundings and the second information about surroundings contain the same type of data, the reliability calculation unit accepts data of the first information about surroundings or the second information about surroundings as one integrated datum, depending on the type of data.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the automatic vehicle controller further comprises a terminal output controller to output the integrated managed information about surroundings through a vehicle terminal.

12. An apparatus for gathering information about surroundings of a vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle sensor data collector configured to gather first information about surroundings of the vehicle from one or more sensors mounted on the vehicle;

a roadside equipment data collector configured to gather second information about surroundings of the vehicle from a roadside communication device installed on a driving infrastructure;

a central communication data collector configured to gather third information about surroundings of the vehicle from a remote central communication device through wireless communication; and

a processor for data integration configured to;

classify the first information about surroundings, the second information about surroundings, and the third information about surroundings for predefined data types,

determine whether or not to integrate the classified first information, the classified second information, or the classified third information based on a preset reliability criterion, and

integrate or delete the classified first information, the classified second information, or the classified third information based on the determination of whether or not to integrate the classified first information, the classified second information, or the classified third information,

wherein the processor for data integration decides to delete the classified first information, the classified second information, or the third information having a lower reliability than the preset reliability criterion; and

an automatic vehicle controller configured to utilize the integrated managed information about surroundings, wherein the automatic vehicle controller applies the integrated managed information about the surroundings to automate control for the vehicle.