Method and control unit for communication between an autonomous vehicle and a road user

• US 9,783,106 B2
• Filed: 06/09/2016
• Issued: 10/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• Original Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• Inventors: Vegt, Emar, Sorokin, Lenja
• Primary Examiner(s): POPE, DARYL C
• Application Number:
  US15/177,839
• Publication Number:
  US 20160362045A1
• Time in Patent Office: 488 Days
• Field of Search: 340906, 340907, 340916, 701300
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 5/005 automatically actuated
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]

Abstract

A control unit for a vehicle is set up to receive environment data from one or more ambient sensors of the vehicle. The control unit is additionally set up to take the environment data as a basis for detecting at least one road user in an environment of the vehicle, and to take the environment data and a driving strategy as a basis for determining whether there is a need for communication between road user and vehicle and what content needs to be communicated in what way. The control unit is set up, when it has been determined that there is a need for communication between road user and vehicle, to prompt one or more acoustic communication devices of the vehicle to generate an acoustic output in order to communicate with the road user.

Claims

1. A control unit for a vehicle, wherein the control unit is operatively configured to:

receive environment data from one or more ambient sensors of the vehicle;

take the environment data as a basis for detecting at least one road user in an environment of the vehicle;

take the environment data as a basis for determining whether there is a need for communication between the road user and the vehicle;

ascertain a position of the road user; and

if there is a need for communication between the road user and the vehicle, generate a locally pinpointed acoustic output in the direction of the position of the road user by prompting an acoustic group emitter of the vehicle, having a multiplicity of individual emitters, to generate the locally pinpointed acoustic output.

2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is further operatively configured to ascertain what content needs to be communicated from the vehicle to the road user and/or how the content needs to be communicated from the vehicle to the road user;

wherein

the acoustic output is generated on the basis of the content to be communicated and/or on the basis of how the content is to be communicated.

3. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein:

the control unit is further operatively configured to ascertain vehicle data in relation to a driving strategy of the vehicle, in relation to a driving destination of the vehicle, in relation to a driving mode of the vehicle, in relation to an action by an occupant of the vehicle and/or in relation to a preference of an occupant of the vehicle; and

the vehicle data are also taken as a basis for determining whether there is a need for communication between the road user and the vehicle, and if need be what content needs to be communicated in what way.

4. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is further operatively configured to take the need for communication as a basis for one or more of:

selecting a sound for the acoustic output from a multiplicity of predefined sounds;

generating a sound for the acoustic output by way of a sound algorithm from a multiplicity of predefined sound algorithms;

or

modulating a sound generated synthetically or nonsynthetically by the vehicle and/or a sound generated for the acoustic output.

5. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is further operatively configured to:

ascertain ambient noise in the environment of the vehicle; and

generate the acoustic output on the basis of the ambient noise.

6. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein:

the acoustic output comprises a combination of transient and nontransient sound events;

the nontransient sound events are abstract and nonabstract; and

the transient sound events comprise human voice and/or a combination of abstract and/or nonabstract sound elements that act as nonhuman voice.

7. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is further operatively configured to:

take the environment data as a basis for determining that there is a need for communication between the vehicle and a multiplicity of road users; and

prompt the one or more acoustic communication devices of the vehicle to generate a multiplicity of acoustic outputs for a communication with the corresponding multiplicity of road users.

8. A control unit for a vehicle, wherein the control unit is operatively configured to:

receive environment data from one or more ambient sensors of the vehicle;

take the environment data as a basis for detecting at least one road user in an environment of the vehicle;

take the environment data as a basis for determining whether there is a need for communication between the road user and the vehicle;

if there is a need for communication between the road user and the vehicle, prompt one or more acoustic communication devices of the vehicle to generate an acoustic output in order to communicate with the road user;

ascertain one or more properties in relation to the need for communication between the road user and the vehicle; and

generate the acoustic output on the basis of the one or more properties in relation to the need for communication.

9. The control unit according to claim 8, wherein the control unit is further operatively configured to:

ascertain a position of the road user; and

generate a locally pinpointed acoustic output in the direction of the position of the road user.

10. The control unit according to claim 9, wherein:

the one or more acoustic communication devices comprise an acoustic group emitter having a multiplicity of individual emitters; and

the control unit is further operatively configured to prompt the acoustic group emitter to generate the locally pinpointed acoustic output.

11. The control unit according to claim 8, wherein the one or more properties in relation to the need for communication comprise one or more of:

urgency of a communication between the road user and the vehicle;

content of the communication between the road user and the vehicle;

or

intention of the communication between the road user and the vehicle.

12. A method for communication between a vehicle and a road user, wherein the method comprises the acts of:

ascertaining environment data on the basis of one or more ambient sensors of the vehicle;

detecting, on the basis of the environment data, at least one road user in an environment of the vehicle;

determining, on the basis of the environment data and on the basis of a driving strategy of the vehicle, whether there is a need for communication between the road user and the vehicle and what content needs to be communicated with what communication strategy;

if there is a need for communication between the road user and the vehicle, generating an acoustic output on the basis of the content and the communication strategy by way of one or more acoustic communication devices of the vehicle in order to communicate with the road user;

taking the environment data as a basis for determining that there is a need for communication between the vehicle and a multiplicity of road users; and

prompting the one or more acoustic communication devices of the vehicle to generate a multiplicity of acoustic outputs for a communication with the corresponding multiplicity of road users.