Automatic brake and steering system and method for a vehicle

• US 6,926,374 B2
• Filed: 07/12/2001
• Issued: 08/09/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Tsing-Hua Capital, LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Daimler Chrysler Company LLC (Stellantis NV)
• Inventors: Roehrig-Gericke, Thomas, Lauer, Wofgang, Kurz, Gerhard, Dudeck, Ingo, Schoeb, Reinhold, Troester, Harry, Zimmer, Richard, Yap, Andy, Freitag, Rainer
• Primary Examiner(s): Schwartz, Chris
• Application Number:
  US10/333,594
• Publication Number:
  US 20040090117A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,489 Days
• Field of Search: 303/190, 303/191, 701/300, 701/301, 340/435, 340/436
• US Class Current: 303/191
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/08 Lane monitoring; Lane Keeping Systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/083 using active brake actuation
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/087 using active steering actuation
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/22 initiated by contact of vehicle, e.g. bumper, with an external object, e.g. another vehicle , or by means of contactless obstacle detectors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/18 including control of braking systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/20 including control of steering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/08 Active safety systems predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision or attempting to minimise its consequences
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/09 Taking automatic action to avoid collision, e.g. braking and steering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/0953 the prediction being responsive to vehicle dynamic parameters
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/0956 the prediction being responsive to traffic or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0265 Automatic obstacle avoidance by steering
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0257 using a radar radar systems designed for anti-collision purposes between land vehicles or between land vehicle and fixed obstacles G01S13/931
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS

Abstract

An automatic brake and steering system and method for a vehicle contains a sensor unit for sensing vehicle state and characteristic variables, and ambient conditions. Furthermore, a control unit and actuator devices are provided for setting the vehicle brake system and/or the vehicle steering system. In order to be able to carry out automatic avoidance maneuvers with maximum safety, an avoidance route is determined if there is an obstacle in the path of the vehicle. Thereby, if there is a further obstacle on the avoidance route, the strategy for determining the avoidance route is applied once more. If it is not possible to find a collision-free avoidance route, that route on which the difference between the remaining braking distance and the remaining distance from the obstacle is smallest is selected.

Claims

1. Automatic brake and steering system for a vehicle, comprising a sensor unit configured to sense vehicle state variables, vehicle characteristic variables and ambient conditions, a control unit configured to generate actuation signals as a function of the sensed vehicle state variables and the ambient conditions, actuation signals being feedable to actuation devices in the vehicle to operate the vehicle brake and the vehicle steering system, the system being configured to determine a distance between a current vehicle position and an obstacle, to automatically drive along an avoidance path for driving around the obstacle in accordance with a stored avoidance strategy, to determine obstacle distances between the current vehicle position and each further obstacle when further obstacles are located in front of the vehicle as well as a minimum distance needed to bring the vehicle to a standstill, to determine differences between said minimum distance and said obstacle distances, to select an alternative avoidance path with a smallest difference between said minimum distance and obstacle distances, and to operate the vehicle brake and the vehicle steering system to follow the alternative avoidance path selected.

2. Brake and steering system according to claim 1, wherein the alternative avoidance path selected is that avoidance path which does not lead to an oncoming carriageway.

3. Brake and steering system according to claim 2, wherein the sensor unit is configured to sense peripheral conditions which describe characteristic features of the surroundings, and the system is configured to take the sensed peripheral conditions into account in the avoidance strategy.

4. Brake and steering system according to claim 2, wherein the system divides the further obstacles into categories, with avoidance paths which lead to a collision with a defined category of obstacles being eliminated in the avoidance strategy.

5. Brake and steering system according to claim 1, further comprising a memory unit operatively associated with the brake and steering system, such that at least certain data for the automatic triggering of a brake and/or steering process and/or at least certain data generated by the brake and steering system are storable in the memory unit.

6. Brake and steering system according to claim 5, wherein at least certain data are stored in the memory unit only for a limited, predefined period of time before the vehicle last comes to a standstill.

7. Brake and steering system according to claim 5, wherein certain data are stored in the memory unit without time restriction.

8. Brake and steering system according to claim 7, wherein at least certain data are stored in the memory unit only for a limited, predefined period of time before the vehicle last comes to a standstill.

9. Brake and steering system according to claim 1, wherein an electronic road map is provided and contains digitized data relating to road topography being driven along at a particular time, and road surroundings.

10. Brake and steering system according to claim 9, wherein a position-determining system is provided for determining an instantaneous position of the vehicle.

11. Brake and steering system according to claim 9, wherein the instantaneous vehicle position is enterable into the electronic road map, and peripheral conditions which are to be taken into account in the avoidance strategy are generatable from the position of the vehicle on the road map.

12. Brake and steering system according to claim 1, wherein the system divides the further obstacles into categories, with avoidance paths which lead to a collision with a defined category of obstacles being eliminated in the avoidance strategy.

13. Brake and steering system according to claim 12, wherein the sensor unit is configured to sense peripheral conditions which describe characteristic features of the surroundings, and the system is configured to take the sensed peripheral conditions into account in the avoidance strategy.

14. Brake and steering system according to claim 1, wherein, in case of a failure of a steering actuating device, an assembly which influences vehicle longitudinal dynamics is employed in the system in accordance with a predefined equivalent strategy.

15. Brake and steering system according to claim 14, wherein the system is configured to decelerate the vehicle with maximum deceleration by activating at least one of a vehicle brake and an engine brake.

16. Brake and steering system according to claim 1, wherein a position-determining system is provided for determining an instantaneous position of the vehicle.

17. Brake and steering system according to claim 16, wherein the position-determining system is a satellite-supported system.

18. Brake and steering system according to claim 1, wherein the sensor unit is configured to sense peripheral conditions which describe characteristic features of the surroundings, and the system is configured to take the sensed peripheral conditions into account in the avoidance strategy.

19. Brake and steering system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is provided with a graphic display for representing an actual vehicle position and a setpoint position determined in accordance with the avoidance strategy.

20. Automatic brake and steering method for a vehicle, comprising sensing vehicle state variables, vehicle characteristic variables and ambient conditions, generating actuation signals as a function of the sensed vehicle state variables and the ambient conditions, determining a distance between a current vehicle position and an obstacle, feeding the actuation signals to actuation devices in the vehicle to operate the vehicle brake and the vehicle steering system so as to automatically drive along an avoidance path for driving around the obstacle in accordance with a stored avoidance strategy, determining obstacle distances between the current vehicle position and each further obstacle when further obstacles are located in front of the vehicle as well as a minimum distance needed to bring the vehicle to a standstill, determining differences between said minimum distance and said obstacle distances, selecting an alternative avoidance path with a smallest difference between said minimum distance and obstacle distances, and operating the vehicle brake and the vehicle steering system to follow the alternative avoidance path selected.

21. Brake and steering method according to claim 20, further comprising storing at least certain data for at least one of the automatic triggering of a brake, the steering process and brake and steering system generated data.

22. Brake and steering method according to claim 21, wherein certain data are stored in the memory unit without time restriction.

23. Brake and steering method according to claim 22, wherein at least certain data are stored only for a limited, predefined period of time before the vehicle last comes to a standstill.

24. Brake and steering method according to claim 21, wherein at least certain data are stored in the memory unit only for a limited, predefined period of time before the vehicle last comes to a standstill.

25. Brake and steering method according to claim 20, wherein the alternative avoidance path selected is that avoidance path which does not lead to an oncoming carriageway.

26. Brake and steering method according to claim 25, further comprising sensing peripheral conditions which describe characteristic features of the surroundings, and taking into account the sensed peripheral conditions in the avoidance strategy.

27. Brake and steering method according to claim 25, further comprising dividing the further obstacles into categories, with avoidance paths which lead to a collision with a defined category of obstacles being eliminated in the avoidance strategy.

28. Brake and steering method according to claim 20, further comprising dividing the further obstacles into categories, with avoidance paths which lead to a collision with a defined category of obstacles being eliminated in the avoidance strategy.

29. Brake and steering method according to claim 28, further comprising sensing peripheral conditions which describe characteristic features of the surroundings, and taking into account the sensed peripheral conditions in the avoidance strategy.

30. Brake and steering method according to claim 20, further comprising, in case of a failure of a steering actuating device, influencing vehicle longitudinal dynamics in accordance with a predefined equivalent strategy.

31. Brake and steering method according to claim 30, further comprising decelerating the vehicle with maximum deceleration by activating at least one of a vehicle brake and an engine brake.

32. Brake and steering method according to claim 20, further comprising sensing peripheral conditions which describe characteristic features of the surroundings, and taking into account the sensed peripheral conditions in the avoidance strategy.

33. Brake and steering method according to claim 20, further comprising determining an instantaneous position of the vehicle.

34. Brake and steering method according to claim 20, further comprising providing digitized data relating to road topography being driven along at a particular time, and road surroundings.

35. Brake and steering method according to claim 20, further comprising graphically displaying a representation of an actual vehicle position and a setpoint position determined in accordance with the avoidance strategy.

36. Automatic brake and steering system for a vehicle, comprising a sensor unit configured to sense vehicle state variables, vehicle characteristic variables and ambient conditions, a control unit configured to generate actuation signals as a function of the sensed vehicle state variables and the ambient conditions, actuation signals being feedable to actuation devices in the vehicle to operate the vehicle brake and the vehicle steering system, the system being configured to determine a distance between a current vehicle position and an obstacle as well as an expected braking distance in order to stop the vehicle when the obstacle is in the path of the vehicle, and to automatically drive along an avoidance path for driving around the obstacle in accordance with a stored avoidance strategy, and, in the event of a further obstacle lying in the avoidance path, the avoidance strategy is applied again to calculate an alternative avoidance path, such that, in the event of a collision-free avoidance path not being available, the alternative avoidance path is one on which a difference between a minimum distance needed to bring the vehicle to a standstill and a remaining distance from each obstacle on the respective avoidance path is the shortest is selected, wherein a width of the obstacle in a lateral direction of the vehicle is determined, and a minimum lateral component of the avoidance path is determined by adding half of the width of the obstacle determined and half of a vehicle width.

37. Brake and steering system according to claim 36, wherein the sensor unit is configured to sense peripheral conditions which describe characteristic features of the surroundings, and the system is configured to take the sensed peripheral conditions into account in the avoidance strategy.

38. Brake and steering system according to claim 36, wherein the system divides the obstacles into categories, with the avoidance paths which lead to a collision with a defined category of obstacles being eliminated in the avoidance strategy.

39. Automatic brake and steering method for a vehicle, comprising sensing vehicle state variables, vehicle characteristic variables and ambient conditions, generating actuation signals as a function of the sensed vehicle state variables and the ambient conditions, determining a distance between a current vehicle position and an obstacle as well as an expected braking distance in order to stop the vehicle when the obstacle is in the path of the vehicle, feeding the actuation signals to actuation devices in the vehicle to operate the vehicle brake and the vehicle steering system so as to automatically drive along an avoidance path for driving around the obstacle in accordance with a stored avoidance strategy, and, in the event of a further obstacle lying in the avoidance path, the avoidance strategy is applied again to calculate an alternative avoidance path, whereby, in the event of a collision-free avoidance path not being available, the alternative avoidance path is one on which a difference between a minimum distance needed to bring the vehicle to a standstill and a remaining distance from each obstacle on the respective avoidance path is the shortest is selected, determining a width of the obstacle in a lateral direction of the vehicle, and determining a minimum lateral component of the avoidance path by adding half of the width of the obstacle determined and half of a vehicle width.

40. Brake and steering method according to claim 39, further comprising sensing peripheral conditions which describe characteristic features of the surroundings, and taking into account the sensed peripheral conditions in the avoidance strategy.

41. Brake and steering method according to claim 39, further comprising dividing the obstacles into categories, with the avoidance paths which lead to a collision with a defined category of obstacles being eliminated in the avoidance strategy.

42. Automatic brake and steering system for a vehicle, comprising a sensor unit configured to sense vehicle state variables, vehicle characteristic variables and ambient conditions, a control unit configured to generate actuation signals as a function of the sensed vehicle state variables and the ambient conditions, actuation signals being feedable to actuation devices in the vehicle to operate the vehicle brake and the vehicle steering system, the system being configured to determine a distance between a current vehicle position and an obstacle as well as an expected braking distance in order to stop the vehicle when the obstacle is in the path of the vehicle, and to automatically drive along an avoidance path for driving around the obstacle in accordance with a stored avoidance strategy, and, in the event of a further obstacle lying in the avoidance path, the avoidance strategy is applied again to calculate an alternative avoidance path, such that, in the event of a collision-free avoidance path not being available, the alternative avoidance path is one on which a difference between a minimum distance needed to bring the vehicle to a standstill and a remaining distance from each obstacle on the respective avoidance path is the shortest is selected, wherein a lateral component y of the avoidance path is determined as follows:

y=∫

(v²(t){dot over (Θ

)}(t)t²)/Ldt

where

v is the vehicle speed,

t is time,

{dot over (Θ

)} is steering speed, and

L is the wheel base.

43. Automatic brake and steering method for a vehicle, comprising sensing vehicle state variables, vehicle characteristic variables and ambient conditions, generating actuation signals as a function of the sensed vehicle state variables and the ambient conditions, determining a distance between a current vehicle position and an obstacle as well as an expected braking distance in order to stop the vehicle when the obstacle is in the path of the vehicle, feeding the actuation signals to actuation devices in the vehicle to operate the vehicle brake and the vehicle steering system so as to automatically drive along an avoidance path for driving around the obstacle in accordance with a stored avoidance strategy, and, in the event of a further obstacle lying in the avoidance path, the avoidance strategy is applied again to calculate an alternative avoidance path, whereby, in the event of a collision-free avoidance path not being available, the alternative avoidance path is one on which a difference between a minimum distance needed to bring the vehicle to a standstill and a remaining distance from each obstacle on the respective avoidance path is the shortest is selected, where a lateral component y of the avoidance path is determined as follows:

y=∫

(v²(t){dot over (Θ

)}(t)t²)/Ldt

where

v is the vehicle speed,

t is time,

{dot over (Θ

)} is steering speed, and

L is the wheel base.