APPARATUS FOR ASSISTING IN LANE CHANGE AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOF

• US 20150194057A1
• Filed: 10/20/2014
• Published: 07/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: JIN, Soon Jong
• Granted Patent: US 9,715,830 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/0956 the prediction being responsive to traffic or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/12 Lane keeping
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0255 Automatic changing of lane, e.g. for passing another vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/029 Steering assistants using warnings or proposing actions to the driver without influencing the steering system
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/255 Detecting or recognising potential candidate objects based on visual cues, e.g. shapes
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/457 by analysing connectivity, e.g. edge linking, connected component analysis or slices
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/588 Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection

Abstract

Disclosed are an apparatus for assisting in a lane change and an operating method thereof. The apparatus includes a driving information collecting unit, an image generating unit, a line detecting unit, a lane change determination unit, and a danger determining unit. The apparatus calculates a danger of an accident based on an image photographed by a camera and notifies a driver of the danger of the accident in advance when two or more vehicles, which are travelling with one lane interposed therebetween, simultaneously change lanes toward the same lane, thereby enabling a driver of a vehicle to be safe according to a lane change before the driver actually changes the lane.

Claims

1. An apparatus for assisting in a lane change, comprising:

a driving information collecting unit configured to collect driving information about a first vehicle;

an image generating unit configured to generate a driving image including a lateral side image of the first vehicle by using a camera;

a line detecting unit configured to detect a line of a first lane adjacent to a driving lane of the first vehicle in the driving image;

a lane change determining unit configured to determine whether the first vehicle attempts to change a lane from the driving lane to a first lane based on the driving information; and

a danger determining unit configured to determine whether it is dangerous to change the lane to the first lane based on a change in a line of the first lane detected by the line detecting unit when it is determined that the first vehicle attempts to change the lane, and generate a danger notifying signal when it is determined that it is dangerous to change the lane to the first lane.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

an alarm unit configured to output an alert corresponding to the danger notifying signal when receiving the danger notifying signal from the danger determining unit.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the driving information collecting unit collects movement direction information or turn signal light operation information about the first vehicle.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the line detecting unit includes:

a region setting module configured to set a region, which includes the line of the first lane and has a predetermined width, as a region of interest;

an edge image generating module configured to generate an edge image for the region of interest; and

a line detecting module configured to calculate an equation of a straight line for one or more contour lines including a first contour line that is a contour line corresponding to the line within the edge image.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the region setting module makes a control so that a region corresponding to 1/4 or more of a predetermined lane width toward the first vehicle from the line of the first lane is included in the region of interest.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein when a disconnected region exists in the first contour line, the line detecting module generates a virtual line for interpolating the disconnected region by using the equation of the straight line for the first contour line.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the line detecting module generates the virtual line based on a past history in which information about the equation of the straight line of the first contour line is accumulated by a predetermined number of times.

8. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein when a second contour line, which is a different contour line from the first contour line, exists as a contour line corresponding to the line in the edge image, the line detecting module calculates an equation of a straight line for the second contour line.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the danger determining unit determines whether the first contour line and the second contour line are simultaneously detected by the line detecting module.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the danger determining unit includes a straight line comparing module for, when the first contour line and the second contour line are simultaneously detected, comparing the equation of the straight line for the first contour line and the equation of the straight line for the second contour line, and calculating an inclination difference or an intercept difference.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein when the inclination difference or the intercept difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the danger determining unit generates the danger notifying signal.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein when the inclination difference or the intercept difference is smaller than the predetermined threshold value, the danger determining unit determines whether a disconnected region, which is continuously detected for a predetermined time or longer, exists in the one or more disconnected regions detected by the line detecting module, and when the disconnected region, which is continuously detected for the predetermined time or longer, exists, the danger determining unit generates the danger notifying signal.

13. A method of operating an apparatus for assisting in a lane change, comprising:

generating a driving image including a lateral side image of a first vehicle by using a camera;

detecting a line of a first lane adjacent to a driving lane of the first vehicle in the driving image;

collecting driving information about the first vehicle;

determining whether the first vehicle attempts to change a lane from the driving lane to a first lane based on the driving information about the first vehicle;

determining whether it is dangerous to change the lane to the first lane based on a change in the line of the first lane when it is determined that the first vehicle attempts to change the lane; and

generating a danger notifying signal when it is determined that it is dangerous to change the lane to the first lane.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

outputting an alert corresponding to the danger notifying signal.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the detecting of the line of the first lane includes:

setting a region, which includes the line of the first lane and has a predetermined width, as a region of interest;

generating an edge image for the region of interest; and

calculating an equation of a straight line for one or more contour lines including a first contour line that is a contour line corresponding to the line within the edge image.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the calculating of the equation of the straight line includes calculating an equation of a straight line for a second contour line, which is a different contour line from the first contour line, as a contour line corresponding to the line in the edge image.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining whether it is dangerous to change the lane to the first lane includes:

determining whether the first contour line and the second contour line are simultaneously detected;

when the first contour line and the second contour line are simultaneously detected, comparing the equation of the straight line for the first contour line and the equation of the straight line for the second contour line, and calculating an inclination difference or an intercept difference; and

determining whether the inclination difference or the intercept difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the determining whether it is dangerous to change the lane to the first lane includes determining that it is dangerous to change the lane to the first lane when the inclination difference or the intercept difference is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the determining whether it is dangerous to change the lane to the first lane further includes:

determining whether one or more disconnected regions exist in the first contour line when the inclination difference or the intercept difference is smaller than the predetermined threshold value; and

determining whether a disconnected region, which is continuously detected for a predetermined time or longer, exists in the disconnected regions, and

when the disconnected region, which is continuously detected for the predetermined time or longer, exists, it is determined that it is dangerous to change the lane to the first lane.