Autonomous vehicle and control method thereof

• US 9,786,181 B2
• Filed: 10/26/2015
• Issued: 10/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Inventors: Jo, Won Jin, Kwon, Hyoung Geun, Lim, Tae Won, Lee, Changjae, Yang, Seokyoul
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Jelani
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fei, Jordan S
• Application Number:
  US14/922,443
• Publication Number:
  US 20160328976A1
• Time in Patent Office: 715 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2040/0881 Seat occupation; Driver or passenger presence
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/0616 Position of fuel or air injector
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/182 Selecting between different operative modes, e.g. comfort and performance modes
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2400/432 Diesel Engines
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/60 said parameters being related to the driver demands or status
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/701 Information about vehicle position, e.g. from navigation system or GPS signal
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 29/02 peculiar to engines driving vehicles; peculiar to engines driving variable pitch propellers
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/029 the exhaust gas treating apparatus being a particulate filter
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/403 with pilot injections
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/405 with post injections
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/40 Engine management systems

Abstract

Autonomous diesel vehicles and control methods thereof are disclosed. An autonomous vehicle may include a peripheral information collecting unit configured to collect peripheral information necessary for autonomous travelling through an image camera and a laser scanner, a main control unit configured to control the autonomous travelling with reference to the peripheral information collected by the peripheral information collecting unit, a passenger monitoring unit configured to check whether a passenger exists inside the vehicle through a sensor and transmit a result of the check to the main control unit, and an engine control unit configured to control driving of an engine and injection of fuel of an injector according to a control instruction of the main control unit. When the passenger is inside the vehicle, the main control unit performs a pilot injection control, and when the passenger is not inside the vehicle, the main control unit omits the pilot injection control.

Claims

1. An autonomous vehicle, comprising:

a peripheral information collecting unit including an image camera and a laser scanner, the peripheral information collecting unit configured to collect peripheral information;

a passenger monitoring unit configured to;

determine whether a passenger is detected inside the autonomous vehicle through a sensor; and

transmit a result of the determination whether the passenger is detected inside the autonomous vehicle;

a main control unit configured to;

receive the result from the passenger monitoring unit;

when the result indicates the passenger is detected inside the autonomous vehicle, provide a first control instruction;

when the result indicates the passenger is not detected inside the autonomous vehicle, provide a second control instruction; and

an engine control unit configured to;

perform a pilot injection control when the first control instruction is received from the main control unit; and

remove the pilot injection control when the second control instruction is received from the main control unit.

2. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1, wherein

the pilot injection control is performed by a fuel control logic injecting fuel to a diesel engine, and

wherein removing the pilot injection control is performed by the fuel control logic.

3. The autonomous vehicle, of claim 1, further comprising

a communication unit configured to transceive autonomous travelling operation information including at least one of an autonomous travelling start command, destination information, and vehicle owner location information with a vehicle owner terminal located at a remote place.

4. The autonomous vehicle, of claim 3, wherein

the main control unit is configured to set an autonomous travelling route to a set destination or a location at which a vehicle owner is located through an analysis of the autonomous travelling operation information received from a vehicle owner terminal at the remote place.

5. The autonomous vehicle of claim 4, wherein

the main control unit is configured to transmit movement location information of the vehicle and expected destination arrival information calculated by a navigation system to the vehicle owner terminal at the remote place while the autonomous vehicle unmannedly and autonomously travels.

6. The autonomous vehicle of claim 5, wherein

the main control unit is configured to transmit a peripheral image obtained by the peripheral information collecting unit to the vehicle owner terminal at the remote place, and provide a vehicle owner with a location at which the autonomous vehicle is unmannedly and autonomously travelling and a road situation when the autonomous vehicle unmannedly and autonomously travels.

7. The autonomous vehicle, of claim 1, wherein

the main control unit is configured to set an autonomous travelling route to a set destination or a location at which a vehicle owner is located through an analysis of autonomous travelling operation information received from a vehicle owner terminal at a remote place.

8. The autonomous vehicle of claim 7, wherein

the main control unit is configured to transmit movement location information of the vehicle and expected destination arrival information calculated by a navigation system to the vehicle owner terminal at the remote place through the communication unit while the autonomous vehicle unmannedly and autonomously travels.

9. The autonomous vehicle of claim 8, wherein

the main control unit is configured to transmit a peripheral image obtained by the peripheral information collecting unit to the vehicle owner terminal at the remote place, and provide a vehicle owner with a location at which the autonomous vehicle is unmannedly and autonomously travelling and a road situation when the autonomous vehicle unmannedly and autonomously travels.

10. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1, wherein

the passenger monitoring unit is formed of at least one of a carbon dioxide sensor, a piezoelectric sensor of a seat, an infrared sensor, and an indoor camera inside the autonomous vehicle to detect whether a passenger exists inside the vehicle.

11. A method of controlling autonomous travelling of an autonomous diesel vehicle using diesel as fuel, comprising:

when autonomous travelling operation information is received from a vehicle owner terminal located at a remote place, analyzing the received autonomous travelling operation information, starting a diesel engine, and setting an autonomous travelling route;

collecting, by a peripheral information collecting unit, peripheral information;

determining, by a passenger monitoring unit, whether a passenger is detected inside the autonomous diesel vehicle;

upon a determination that the passenger is detected inside the autonomous diesel vehicle, performing pilot injection control on the diesel engine;

upon a determination that the passenger is not inside the autonomous diesel vehicle, removing the pilot injection control on the diesel engine; and

performing autonomous travelling to a set destination based on the peripheral information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein performing pilot injection control comprises:

upon a determination that the passenger is inside the autonomous diesel vehicle, transmitting to an engine control unit a control instruction for performing the pilot injection control in a fuel control logic injecting fuel to the diesel engine.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein omitting the pilot injection control comprises:

upon a determination that the passenger is not inside the autonomous diesel vehicle, transmitting to the engine control unit a control instruction for removing the pilot injection control in the fuel control logic.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein performing autonomous travelling to the set destination comprises:

transmitting at least one of movement location information of the autonomous diesel vehicle, an expected destination arrival time, and peripheral image information photographed by a camera to the vehicle owner terminal, or notifying a vehicle owner of an autonomous travelling situation.