Method for coordinating the operation of motor vehicles that drive in fully automated mode

• US 9,442,489 B2
• Filed: 10/24/2013
• Issued: 09/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Audi AG (Volkswagen AG)
• Original Assignee: Audi AG (Volkswagen AG)
• Inventors: Reichel, Michael, Siegel, Andreas
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): GOLDMAN, RICHARD A
• Application Number:
  US14/438,972
• Publication Number:
  US 20150286219A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,055 Days
• Field of Search: 701/23, 701/25, 701/301, 701/2, 701/26, 701/300, 701/411, 701/422, 701/423, 701/515, 340/961
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0289 with means for avoiding collisions between vehicles vehicle fittings for automatically controlling speed including means for detecting potential obstacles B60K31/0008; avoiding obstacles by action on the steering system B62D; radar, sonar, lidar systems designed for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0965 responding to signals from another vehicle, e.g. emergency vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/162 event-triggered
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/163 involving continuous checking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/164 Centralised systems, e.g. external to vehicles

Abstract

In a method for coordinating operation of motor vehicles driving fully automated, a trajectory described by a driving intervention is determined for each motor vehicle from status information of the motor vehicle, whereafter it is determined by an on-board vehicle system whether a coordination condition exists that requires coordination. If a coordination condition exists, trajectory data describing the trajectory are exchanged between the motor vehicles via a communication link through an on-board communication device and the trajectory is checked for conflicts caused by spatial and temporal overlap of the trajectories of at least two motor vehicles and/or because at least one of the motor vehicles did not reach its destination. If a conflict exists, the trajectory of a motor vehicle participating in the conflict is adjusted based on an arbitration rule evaluated by an arbitration device, whereafter the driving interventions described by the trajectory are performed by each motor vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for coordinating operation of motor vehicles driving in fully automated mode, comprising the steps of:

determining with an on-board vehicle system for each motor vehicle a trajectory that is described by at least one driving intervention from vehicle-specific information describing a condition of the motor vehicle including a destination, and environmental information describing an environment of the motor vehicle,

determining with the on-board vehicle system whether at least one coordination condition exists indicating that a trajectory of the motor vehicles has to be coordinated,

when the at least one coordination conditions exists, performing the following steps;

exchanging with an on-board communication device of each motor vehicle via a communication link trajectory data that describe the trajectory,

checking the trajectories of the vehicles for conflicts that exist when the trajectories of at least two of the motor vehicles spatially and temporally overlap,

when a conflict exists;

adjusting the trajectory of at least one motor vehicle involved in the conflict based on at least one arbitration rule, which is evaluated by an arbitration device selected from the vehicle system of a motor vehicle involved in the conflict and a computing device, and transmitting the respective adapted trajectory via the respective communication device to the respective motor vehicle, and

executing with each motor vehicle the at least one driving intervention described by the respective trajectory,

wherein the at least one coordination condition comprises determining with the vehicle system a blockade condition indicating a blockade, wherein when a blockade condition exists, the vehicle system is configured to determine a trajectory, which according to the environmental information cannot be executed without changing a position or a movement of at least one of other motor vehicles predicted by the vehicle system,

wherein the blockade condition represents a situation where within a predetermined time interval, a distance between the motor vehicle and the destination is never smaller than a smallest distance between the motor vehicle and the destination before a start of this predetermined time interval.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the blockade condition comprises repeatedly determining over a predetermined period of time a trajectory that fails to reach the destination.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the blockade condition represents a temporal or spatial deviation from an ideal trajectory which is greater than a predetermined temporal or spatial variation, wherein the ideal trajectory is calculated by disregarding at least one motor vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one coordination condition represents a presence of the motor vehicle in an area designed for coordinated driving, wherein the vehicle system is configured to determine the presence in this area in particular for using data of a device determining a position of the motor vehicle or of the communication device, or both.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the arbitration device is the vehicle system of a motor vehicle involved in the conflict, and wherein the trajectory data of the at least one adjusted trajectory are transmitted via the communication device of the motor vehicle to each other motor vehicle associated with the trajectory.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the vehicle system representing the arbitration device is determined randomly.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the communication device of at least one of the motor vehicles transmits determination information for determining the vehicle system representing the arbitration device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the determination information comprises priority information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the arbitration device comprises or is connected to a communication device via a communication network and communicates with the communication devices of at least two motor vehicles, and wherein the trajectory data of the at least one adjusted trajectory are transmitted via this communication device to the motor vehicle associated with the at least one adjusted trajectory.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the arbitration device is a decentralized ad-hoc network that includes the vehicle systems of the motor vehicles involved in a conflict, or that includes the vehicle systems of all vehicles.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining with the vehicle system of at least one of the motor vehicles desired trajectories for at least one other motor vehicle, and exchanging the desired trajectories between the at least one motor vehicle and the at least one other motor vehicle over the decentralized ad-hoc network.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting vehicle information via the communication device of at least one of the motor vehicles, wherein the vehicle information comprises at least one item of information selected from a position of the vehicle, the destination which the motor vehicle should reach, the destination which the motor vehicle should reach within a time window, driving option information describing possible driving maneuvers, and information assigning a priority to the motor vehicle, which are used as an input variable of the arbitration rule for adjusting at least one trajectory.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting with the communication device of at least one of the motor vehicles at least one item of environmental information.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one item of environmental information comprises at least one determined position of a vehicle or of an obstacle.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein when the at least one trajectory based on the at least one arbitration rule for reaching the destinations of the vehicles cannot be adjusted, determining another arbitration device, wherein the other arbitration device is a vehicle system of a motor vehicle that has not yet participated in the arbitration process, or a central computing device operating as an arbitration device.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after adjusting the at least one trajectory with the arbitration device,

monitoring execution of the driving interventions of the trajectories, and

when at least one of the motor vehicles deviates from an assigned trajectory, adjusting at least one trajectory and transmitting the at least one adjusted trajectory via the communication device associated with the arbitration device to the motor vehicle assigned to the at least one trajectory.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein execution of the driving interventions is monitored by receiving transmitted position data or by using sensor data, or both.

18. A method, for coordinating operation of motor vehicles driving in fully automated mode, comprising the steps of:

determining with an on-board vehicle system for each motor vehicle a trajectory that is described by at least one driving intervention from vehicle-specific information describing a condition of the motor vehicle including a destination, and environmental information describing an environment of the motor vehicle,

determining with the on-board vehicle system whether at least one coordination condition indicating that a trajectory of the motor vehicles is coordinated,

when the at least one of the coordination conditions exists, performing the following steps;

exchanging with an on-board communication device of each motor vehicle via a communication link trajectory data that describe the trajectory,

checking the trajectory of the vehicles for conflicts that exist when the trajectories of at least two of the motor vehicles spatially and temporally overlap,

when a conflict exists;

adjusting the trajectory of at least one motor vehicle involved in the conflict based on at least one arbitration rule, which is evaluated by an arbitration device selected from the vehicle system of a motor vehicle involved in the conflict and a computing device, and transmitting the respective adapted trajectory via the respective communication device to the respective motor vehicle, and

executing with each motor vehicle the at least one driving intervention described by the respective trajectory,

wherein when the at least one trajectory for reaching the destinations of the vehicles cannot be adjusted based on the at least one arbitration rule, activating an alarm device that notifies a person by a message by way of an acoustic signal or by a visual signal triggered by the message transmitted to a communication device via a communication network.

19. A method for coordinating operation of motor vehicles driving in fully automated mode, comprising the steps of:

determining with an on-board vehicle system for each motor vehicle a trajectory that is described by at least one driving intervention from vehicle-specific information describing a condition of the motor vehicle including a destination, and environmental information describing an environment of the motor vehicle,

determining with the on-board vehicle system whether at least one coordination condition indicating that a trajectory of the motor vehicles is coordinated,

when the at least one of the coordination conditions exists, performing the following steps;

exchanging with an on-board communication device of each motor vehicle via a communication link trajectory data that describe the trajectory,

checking the trajectory of the vehicles for conflicts that exist when the trajectories of at least two of the motor vehicles spatially and temporally overlap,

when a conflict exists;

adjusting the trajectory of at least one motor vehicle involved in the conflict based on at least one arbitration rule, which is evaluated by an arbitration device selected from the vehicle system of a motor vehicle involved in the conflict and a computing device, and transmitting the respective adapted trajectory via the respective communication device to the respective motor vehicle, and

executing with each motor vehicle the at least one driving intervention described by the respective trajectory,

wherein when the at least one trajectory for reaching the destinations of the vehicles cannot be adjusted based on the at least one arbitration rule, stopping the motor vehicles involved in the conflict.

20. A motor vehicle comprising

at least one sensor,

a communication device for at least one of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, and

a vehicle system configured to participate in coordinating operation of motor vehicles driving in fully automated mode, by:

determining with an on-board vehicle system for each motor vehicle a trajectory that is described by at least one driving intervention from vehicle-specific information describing a condition of the motor vehicle including a destination, and environmental information describing an environment of the motor vehicle,

determining with the on-board vehicle system whether at least one coordination condition indicating that a trajectory of the motor vehicles is coordinated,

when the at least one of the coordination conditions exists, performing the following steps;

exchanging with an on-board communication device of each motor vehicle via a communication link trajectory data that describe the trajectory,

checking the trajectory of the vehicles for conflicts that exist when the trajectories of at least two of the motor vehicles spatially and temporally overlap,

when a conflict exists;

adjusting the trajectory of at least one motor vehicle involved in the conflict based on at least one arbitration rule, which is evaluated by an arbitration device selected from the vehicle system of a motor vehicle involved in the conflict and a computing device, and transmitting the respective adapted trajectory via the respective communication device to the respective motor vehicle, and

executing with each motor vehicle the at least one driving intervention described by the respective trajectory,

wherein when the at least one trajectory for reaching the destinations of the vehicles cannot be adjusted based on the at least one arbitration rule, activating an alarm device that notifies a person by a message by way of an acoustic signal or a visual signal triggered by the message transmitted to a communication device via a communication network.