Autonomous vehicle assistance device

• US 9,562,777 B2
• Filed: 12/01/2015
• Issued: 02/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Korea Aerospace Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Korea Aerospace Research Institute
• Inventors: Kang, Woo Yong
• Primary Examiner(s): Trivedi, Atul
• Application Number:
  US14/955,338
• Publication Number:
  US 20160187147A1
• Time in Patent Office: 434 Days
• Field of Search: 701/468
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/30 Map- or contour-matching
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]

Abstract

Provided is an autonomous vehicle assistance device and method that may precisely determine a position of a vehicle based on input position error information. The autonomous vehicle assistance device includes a communicator configured to receive satellite navigation information, correction information transmitted from a base station, and position error information transmitted from a fixed body, and a vehicle position determiner configured to calculate first position information corresponding to the received satellite navigation information and correction information and to calculate a current position of a vehicle by correcting the first position information based on the position error information.

Claims

1. An autonomous vehicle assistance system comprising:

a fixed body, comprising;

a communicator configured to receive satellite navigation information and correction information from a base station; and

an error calculator configured to acquire first position information corresponding to the satellite navigation information and the correction information, to calculate a difference value between the first position information and second position information stored in the autonomous vehicle assistance device, and to acquire a position error vector; and

an autonomous vehicle assistance device provided in an autonomous vehicle, comprising;

a vehicle communicator receiving satellite navigation information and, when the fixed body is present within a predetermined distance radius, the vehicle communicator receives the position error vector therefrom;

a vehicle position determiner analyzing the satellite navigation information and the position error vector to calculate a vehicle first position information, and wherein the vehicle position determiner calculates a current position of the autonomous vehicle by applying the vehicle first position information and the position error vector received at the vehicle communicator;

a vision detector configured to detect image information of a lane and to acquire driving lane information corresponding to the image information, wherein the vision detector corrects the vehicle first position information based on the driving lane information; and

a stop detector detecting whether the autonomous vehicle is stopped, the stop detector transmitting a signal indicating that the autonomous vehicle is in a stop state to the vehicle communicator, which, in turn, transmits a request for the vehicle position error vector to the fixed body within the predetermined distance radius, wherein

the position error vector is transmitted and received in a two-dimensionally converted vector form.

2. The autonomous vehicle assistance device of claim 1, wherein the communicator is further configured to receive a request for the position error vector from a vehicle within a preset radius and to transmit the position error vector to the vehicle.

3. The autonomous vehicle assistance device of claim 1, wherein the communicator is further configured to transmit a unique identification signal of the autonomous vehicle assistance device corresponding to the second position information.

4. The autonomous vehicle assistance device of claim 1, wherein the error calculator is further configured to acquire the position error vector in each of a heading direction of the vehicle on a lane around a position at which the fixed body is installed and a direction perpendicular to the heading direction, in correspondence to the lane.

5. The autonomous vehicle assistance device of claim 1, wherein the second position information is a position information of the fixed body.

6. The autonomous vehicle assistance device of claim 5, wherein the first position information is real-time position information received at the communicator and the second position information is fixed constant value.

7. An autonomous vehicle assistance device provided in an autonomous vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle communicator receiving satellite navigation information and, when a fixed body, having receive satellite navigation information and correction information from a base station, is present within a predetermined distance radius, the vehicle communicator receives a position error vector therefrom;

a vehicle position determiner analyzing the satellite navigation information and the position error vector to calculate a vehicle first position information, and wherein the vehicle position determiner calculates a current position of the autonomous vehicle by applying the vehicle first position information and the position error vector received at the vehicle communicator;

a vision detector configured to detect image information of a lane and to acquire driving lane information corresponding to the image information, wherein the vision detector corrects the vehicle first position information based on the driving lane information; and

a stop detector detecting whether the autonomous vehicle is stopped, the stop detector transmitting a signal indicating that the autonomous vehicle is in a stop state to the vehicle communicator, which, in turn, transmits a request for the vehicle position error vector to the fixed body within the predetermined distance radius.

8. The autonomous vehicle assistance device of claim 7, wherein the position error vector is transmitted and received in a two-dimensionally converted vector form.

9. The autonomous vehicle assistance device of claim 7, wherein the fixed body includes:

a communicator configured to receive satellite navigation information and correction information from a base station; and

an error calculator configured to acquire first position information corresponding to the satellite navigation information and the correction information, to calculate a difference value between the first position information and second position information stored in the autonomous vehicle assistance device, and to acquire a position error vector.

10. The autonomous vehicle assistance device of claim 7, wherein the vision detector is further configured to recognize a first driving lane information that the vehicle is being driven on a centerline based on two yellow solid lines and a second driving lane information that the vehicle is being driven on a last lane based on a single white solid line.