Apparatus and method for recognizing driving field of vehicle

An apparatus and method for recognizing a driving field of a vehicle are provided. The apparatus includes a sensor that is configured to sense a location of a vehicle driving on a road and sense whether an object is adjacent to the vehicle. In addition, a controller is configured to detect whether the object is present and a lane of the road on which the vehicle is being driven is changed to detect a final lane candidate group on which the vehicle is positioned. The final lane candidate group is then displayed by the controller.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0162430, filed on Dec. 24, 2013 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for recognizing a driving field of a vehicle, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method that recognize a driving field of a vehicle, to extract locations of road lanes, other vehicles, and a guard rail, adjacent to a vehicle using a global positioning system (GPS), an image sensor, and a radar sensor to detect a driving field of the vehicle.

Description of the Prior Art

In general, while a vehicle drives, a driving field (e.g., the area along the path on which the vehicle is traveling) of the vehicle is estimated using a global positioning system (GPS) installed in a navigation device for guidance for stopping on a road shoulder, accurate guidance for entrance and exit onto interchange (IC)/junction (JC), and accurate guidance for a path to a destination, or is estimated using sensors installed within the vehicle, such as an image recognition sensor, a radar sensor, or the like.

In particular, when a driving field of a vehicle is estimated using a GPS, it may be difficult to estimate an accurate lane of a road on which the vehicle drives due to errors of the GPS. In addition, when a driving field of a vehicle is estimated using a sensor such as an image recognition sensor, a radar sensor, or the like, it may be difficult to estimate a road lane on which numerous vehicles are present and to estimate a lane while the vehicle is being driven on an intermediate lane on a road with having a plurality of lanes.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, the present invention provides an apparatus and method for recognizing a driving field of a vehicle, to extract locations of road lanes, other vehicles, and a guard rail, adjacent to a vehicle using a global positioning system (GPS), an image sensor, and a radar sensor to check a driving field of the vehicle. In addition, the present invention provides an apparatus and method for recognizing a driving field of a vehicle, to track whether to change a lane in real time to detect a driving field of the vehicle.

In one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for recognizing a driving field of a vehicle may include a sensor configured to sense a location of a vehicle driving on a road and sense whether an object adjacent to the vehicle is present, a controller configured to detect whether the object is present and whether a lane of the road on which the vehicle is driven is changed to detect a final lane candidate group on which the vehicle is positioned, and an output unit executed by the controller to display the final lane candidate group.

The controller may also be configured to set a virtual road having the same number of lanes as the detected lane of the road, containing a lane of the vehicle (e.g., a lane in which the vehicle is being driven), a lane on the right and left side of the vehicle, and a virtual road having at least one lane, and detect a previous lane candidate group based on the detected object. The controller may be configured to detect a first lane candidate group using the same method as a method for detecting the previous lane candidate group when the lane of the road on which the vehicle is being driven is changed, and reduce and increase the number of lanes by as much as the changed number from the previous lane candidate group to detect the second lane candidate group. The controller may be configured to detect a first lane candidate group using the same method as a method for detecting the previous lane candidate group when the lane of the road on which the vehicle is being driven is not changed, and set the previous lane candidate group as the second lane candidate group. The controller may also be configured to combine the first lane candidate group and the second lane candidate group to detect the final lane candidate group. The object may include a vehicle object adjacent to the vehicle and a still object including a guard rail and a median strip positioned on the road on which the vehicle is positioned.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method for recognizing a driving field of a vehicle may include entering, by a controller, a driving field recognition mode according to external input, detecting, by the controller, a position of a vehicle driving a road, detecting, by the controller, whether an object is present adjacent to the vehicle, determining, by the controller, whether to change a lane of a road on which the vehicle is being driven, combining, by the controller, results to detect a final lane candidate group on which the vehicle is positioned, and displaying, by the controller, the detected final lane candidate group.

The method may further include detecting, by the controller, a previous lane candidate group after the detecting whether the object is present. The detection of the previous lane candidate group may include detecting a lane of a road on which the vehicle is positioned, additionally setting a virtual road having the same number of lanes as the detected lane of the road on the right and left side of the vehicle, and a virtual road having at least one lane, and detecting the previous lane candidate group based on the object on the virtual road.

The method may further include detecting, by the controller, a first lane candidate group and a second lane candidate group after the detection of whether to change the lane of the road. The detection of the first lane candidate group and the second lane candidate group may include detecting, by the controller, a first lane candidate group using the same method as a method for detecting the previous lane candidate group in response to detecting that the lane of the road on which the vehicle is being driven is changed, and reducing and increasing the number of lanes by as much as the changed number from the previous lane candidate group to detect the second lane candidate group, and detecting a first lane candidate group using the same method as a method for detecting the previous lane candidate group in response to not detecting that the lane of the road on which the vehicle is being driven is changed, and setting the previous lane candidate group as the second lane candidate group. The detection of the final lane candidate group may include combining the first lane candidate group and the second lane candidate group to detect the final lane candidate group.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. With regard to the description of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, technical features that are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art and are not directly associated with the present invention are not described here. In the description of the present invention, detailed explanations of related art are omitted for clarity when it is deemed that they may unnecessarily obscure the essence of the invention.

FIG. 1is an exemplary diagram illustrating a main configuration of a driving field recognizing apparatus100according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring toFIG. 1, the driving field recognizing apparatus100according to the present exemplary embodiment may include a communicator110, a sensor120, an input unit130, an output unit140, a storage150, and a controller160. In this specification, for convenience of description, the driving field recognizing apparatus100is used, but embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. In general, the exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be applied to audio, video, and navigation (AVN) devices installed within a vehicle.

The communicator110may be configured to perform controller area network (CAN) communication for communication between the sensor120and the controller160. The sensor120may be configured to sense a location of a vehicle being driven on a road and sense an object adjacent to the vehicle. Accordingly, the sensor120may include a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, an image sensor, and a radar sensor. The GPS sensor may be installed within the vehicle and may be configured to convert a substantially accurate location of the measured vehicle into a coordinate value according to operation of the controller160. The image sensor may be configured to obtain image data of the front of a road on which the vehicle is being driven based on operation of the controller160. The radar sensor may be installed in the front of the vehicle and may be configured to measure presence of a still object including a vehicle object, a median strip, and a guardrail, adjacent to the vehicle. The radar sensor may use light detection and ranging (LiDAR) laser radar. However, the radar sensor is not limited thereto, and thus, may use various sensors corresponding thereto.

The input unit130may be configured to receive a signal for entrance of the vehicle to a driving field recognition mode from a driver. In particular, the input unit130may be configured by a keypad, a touchpad, a touchscreen, or the like. When the input unit130is configured by a touchscreen, the input unit130may also perform a function of the output unit140. The output unit140may be configured to output the image data acquired by the image sensor, provide the image data to the driver, and output information about a confirmed lane of a road on which the vehicle is being driven based on the operation of the controller160.

The storage150may be configured to store map data received from a map server (not shown) for providing the map data, extract map data that corresponds to a current location of the vehicle, and provide the map data to the controller160according to operation of the controller160. In addition, the storage150may be configured to store a program and the like for recognition of information of the lane of the road on which the vehicle is being driven. In addition, the storage150may be configured to store a previous lane candidate group of the vehicle, detected by the controller160.

The controller160may be configured to detect presence of an object and whether to change a lane of a road on which the vehicle is being driven to detect a final lane candidate group of a road in which the vehicle is positioned. In particular, upon receiving a signal for entrance to a driving field recognition mode from the input unit130, the controller160may be configured to enter the driving field recognition mode and operate the sensor120. The controller160may be configured to operate the GPS sensor, the image sensor, and the radar sensor, included within the sensor120, to receive sensing information from each sensor. The controller160may be configured to detect a current location of the vehicle from the sensing information received from the GPS sensor and access map data that corresponds to the detected current location from the storage150to determine the number of lanes of the road on which the vehicle is being driven.

The controller160may be configured to set a driving field for detection of an object. In particular, the controller160may be configured to additionally set a virtual road having the same number of lanes as the detected number of lanes and a virtual road having at least one lane to set the driving field of the object. For example, for a four-lane road, the controller160may be configured to virtually generate four lanes containing the vehicle on the left side of the vehicle based on the vehicle position and virtually generate four lanes containing the vehicle on the right side of the vehicle based on the vehicle position. In addition, the controller160may be configured to virtually generate one lane for a median strip and two lanes for a guardrail and a road shoulder. In particular, an object including the median strip and guardrail positioned in a road may be referred to as a still object.

The controller160may be configured to analyze the sensing information received from the radar sensor and the image sensor to detect a vehicle object positioned adjacent to the vehicle and a still object present on the right and left side of the vehicle based on the vehicle position. The controller160may be configured to detect whether the still object is present on the right and left side of the vehicle. When a still object is not present on the right and left of the vehicle, the controller160may be configured to detect the previous lane candidate group based on a moving vehicle object adjacent to the vehicle being driven. On the other hand, when a still object is present on the right and/or left side of the vehicle, the controller160may be configured to detect previous lane candidates based on the still object and vehicle object present on the right and left side of the vehicle.

Further, the controller160may be configured to detect whether the vehicle changes a lane. The controller160may be configured to detect a first lane candidate group irrespective of whether the vehicle changes a lane. Additionally, the controller160may be configured to detect the first lane candidate group using the same method as a method of detecting the previous lane candidate group. When the lane of the vehicle is changed, the controller160may be configured to detect a second lane candidate group. In particular, when the vehicle changes a lane to the left, the controller160may be configured to reduce the number of lanes from the previously-detected previous lane candidate group to detect the second lane candidate group. In addition, when the vehicle changes a lane to the right, the controller160may be configured to increase the number of lanes from the previous lane candidate group to detect the second lane candidate group. On the other hand, when the vehicle does not change a lane, the controller160may be configured to set the previous lane candidate group as the second lane candidate group. The controller160may be configured to set a final lane candidate group using a combination of the first lane candidate group and the second lane candidate group and display the final lane candidate group on the output unit140.

FIG. 2is an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method of recognizing a driving field of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring toFIGS. 1 and 2, in operation S11, the controller160may be configured to determine a signal for entrance to a driving field recognition mode from the input unit130and enter the driving field recognition mode in response to receiving the signal. In operation S13, the controller160may be configured to detect whether a current mode is a state in which the previous lane candidate group is stored in the storage150. As the detection result of operation S13, when the current mode is the state in which the previous lane candidate group is stored in the storage150, the controller160may proceed to operation S15to extract the previous lane candidate group and proceed to operation S33.

Furthermore, as the detection result of operation S13, when the current mode is not the state in which the previous lane candidate group is stored in the storage150, the controller160may proceed to operation S17to operate the sensor120. The controller160may be configured to operate the GPS sensor, the image sensor, and the radar sensor, included within the sensor120, to receive sensing information from each sensor. In operation S19, the controller160may be configured to detect the number of lanes of a road on which the vehicle is being driven. Accordingly, the controller160may be configured to detect a current location of the vehicle from the sensing information received from the GPS sensor and access map data that corresponds to the detected current location from the storage150to detected the number of lanes of the road on which the vehicle is being driven.

In operation S21, the controller160may be configured to set a driving field for detection of an object. In particular, the controller160may be configured to additionally set a virtual road having the same number of lanes as the detected number of lanes and a virtual road having at least one lane to set the driving field of the object. For example, for a four-lane road, the controller160may be configured to virtually generate four lanes containing the vehicle on the left side of the vehicle being driven based on the vehicle position and virtually generate four lanes containing the vehicle on the right side of the vehicle being driven based on the vehicle position. In addition, the controller160may be configured to virtually generate one lane for a median strip and two lanes for a guardrail and a road shoulder. In particular, an object including the median strip and guardrail positioned in a road may be referred to as a still object.

In operation S23, the controller160may be configured to detect an object. In particular, the controller160may be configured to analyze the sensing information received from the radar sensor and the image sensor to detect a vehicle object positioned adjacent to the vehicle being driven and a still object present on the right and left of the vehicle based on the vehicle position. In operation S25, the controller160may be configured to detect whether the still object is present on the right and left side of the vehicle based on the detection result of operation S23. As the detection result of operation S25, when a still object is not present on the right and left side of the vehicle, the controller160may proceed to operation S27. When the still object is present on the right and left side of the vehicle, the controller160may proceed to operation S29. In operation S27, the controller160may be configured to detect the previous lane candidate group based on a moving vehicle object adjacent to the vehicle being driven and proceed to operation S31. On the other hand, in operation S29, the controller160may be configured to detect the previous lane candidates based on the still object and moving vehicle object present on the right and left side of the vehicle and proceed to operation S31.

In operation S31, the controller160may be configured to store the previous lane candidates in the storage150and proceed to operation S15to extract the stored previous lane candidate group. In addition, the controller160may proceed to operation S33. In operation S33, the controller160may be configured to detect a first lane candidate group using the same method as a method for detecting the previous lane candidate group. The first lane candidate group may be detected since a lane of a road on which the vehicle is be driven may be changed and a lane of a road on which a vehicle object adjacent to the vehicle being driven is positioned may be changed. In operation S35, the controller160may be configured to detect whether to change a lane of a road on which the vehicle is being driven based on detecting other objects surrounding the vehicle. As the detection result of operation S35, when the lane of the road on which the vehicle is being driven is changed, the controller160may proceed to operation S37. When the lane of the road on which the vehicle is being driven is not changed, the controller160may proceed to operation S39.

Moreover, the controller160may to operation S37to detect the second lane candidate group and then proceed to operation S41. In particular, when the vehicle changes the previous lane candidate group to a lane in a left direction, the controller160may be configured to reduce the number of lanes from the previous lane candidate group by as much as the changed number of lanes to detect the second lane candidate group. When the vehicle changes a lane to the right, the controller160may be configured to increase the number of lanes from the previous lane candidate group by as much as the changed number of lanes to detect the second lane candidate group. In addition, the controller160may proceed to operation S41. On the other hand, in operation S35, the controller160may proceed to operation S39upon detecting when the lane of the road is not changed. In operation S39, the controller160may be configured to set the previous lane candidate group extracted in operation S15as the second lane candidate group and may proceed to operation S41.

In operation S41, the controller160may be configured to detect a final lane candidate group using a combination of the first lane candidate group and the second lane candidate group. In operation S43, the controller160may be configured to display the detected final lane candidate group on the output unit140. In operation S45, the controller160may be configured to terminate the aforementioned process upon receiving a termination signal for termination of a driving field recognition mode through the input unit130, and proceed to operation S47when the controller160does not receive the termination signal. In operation S47, the controller160may be configured to re-set the final lane candidate group detected in operation S41as the previous lane candidate group and return to operation S33to re-perform the aforementioned operations. Thus, according to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a driving field on which the vehicle currently is being driven may be recognized in real time until the driving field recognition mode is terminated.

FIGS. 3A-3Bare exemplary diagrams illustrating a method for recognizing a driving field of a vehicle when a still object adjacent to the vehicle is not detected, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.FIGS. 4A-4Bare exemplary diagrams illustrating a method for recognizing a driving field of a vehicle when a still object adjacent to the vehicle is detected, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.FIGS. 5A-5Bare exemplary diagrams illustrating a method for recognizing a driving field of a vehicle when a lane of a road on which the vehicle is being driven is maintained, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.FIGS. 6A-6Bare exemplary diagrams illustrating a method for recognizing a driving field of a vehicle when a lane of a road on which the vehicle is being driven is changed, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

With reference toFIGS. 1 and 3A-3B, when a still object is not present on the right and left side of a vehicle will now be described. As illustrated inFIG. 3A, when a vehicle V is being driven on a four-lane road, the controller160may be configured to set object detection driving field CA, LA, RA, and SA, as illustrated inFIG. 3B. In particular, the object detection driving fields CA, LA, RA, and SA may be set by a virtual road that includes the same number of lanes as the detected lanes on the right and left sides of the vehicle V and a virtual road that includes at least one lane. The controller160may be configured to generate a virtual four-lane road LA on the left side of the vehicle V, including the lane on which the vehicle V is positioned, and generate a virtual four-lane road RA on the right side of the vehicle V, including the lane on which the vehicle V is positioned. When the vehicle V is being driven in a direction indicated by an arrow shown in the drawings, the controller160may be configured to generate a virtual road CA for a median strip on the left of the LA and generate a virtual road SA for a guardrail on the right of the RA. In particular, a two-lane road may be allocated to the SA for a guardrail and a road shoulder.

The controller160may be configured to detect an object from the object detection driving fields CA, LA, RA, and SA and extract a road on which the object is positioned. The controller160may be configured to detect a candidate group of roads on which the vehicle V is positioned as two, three, and four-lane roads, based on a vehicle object (a), and may be configured to detect a candidate group of roads on which the vehicle V is positioned as one, two, and three-lane roads, based on a vehicle object (c). The controller160may further be configured to detect the set candidate group of two and three-lane roads as the previous lane candidate group using a combination of candidate groups.

With reference toFIGS. 1 to 4A-4B, when a still object is present on right and left sides of a vehicle will now be described. As illustrated inFIG. 4A, when a vehicle V is being driven on a four-lane road, the controller160may be configured to set object detection driving fields CA, LA, RA, and SA, as illustrated inFIG. 4B. The setting of the object detection driving fields CA, LA, RA, and SA is the same as those described with reference toFIG. 3A.

The controller160may be configured to detect an object from the object detection driving fields CA, LA, RA, and SA and extract a driving field on which an object is present. As the detection result of the object, as illustrated inFIGS. 4A-4B, upon detecting still objects SO1and SO2, the controller160may be configured to determine that the still object is present on the right and left side of the vehicle V. In particular, the still object may be reflected when two or more still objects are detected. The controller160may be configured to detect a candidate group of roads on which the vehicle V is positioned as two-lane roads, based on a median strip SO1, and detect a candidate group of roads on which the vehicle V is positioned as two and three-lane roads, based on a guardrail SO2. Since the controller160may allocate a two-lane road to the SA, a candidate group of locations of the vehicle may be two and three-lane roads, based on the guardrail SO2. Based on the vehicle object (a), the controller160may be configured to detect a candidate group of driving fields on which the vehicle V is positioned as two, three, and four-lane roads. In addition, based on the vehicle object (c), the controller160may be configured to detect a candidate group of driving fields on which the vehicle V is positioned as one, two, and three-lane roads. The controller160may also be configured to detect the set candidate group of a two-lane road as the previous lane candidate group using a combination of candidate groups.

With reference toFIGS. 1 to 3B and 5A-5B, when a still object is not present on right and left sides of a vehicle and a lane of a road of the vehicle is not changed will now be described. As illustrated inFIG. 5B, the controller160may be configured to set object detection driving fields CA, LA, RA, and SA. The setting of the object detection driving fields CA, LA, RA, and SA is the same as those described with reference toFIG. 3A. The controller160may be configured to detect a first lane candidate group using the same method as a method for detecting the previous lane candidate group. InFIG. 5B, since a vehicle object is not present on the left side of the vehicle V, the controller160may be configured to detect a candidate group of roads on which the vehicle V is positioned as one, two, three, and four-lane roads, and detect a candidate group of roads on which the vehicle V is positioned as one and two-lane roads, based on a vehicle object e present in a last lane on the right of the vehicle V. The first lane candidate group detected using a combination of the detected candidates may be one and two-lane roads.

Then, the controller160may be configured to detect a second lane candidate group. In particular, since a lane of the vehicle V is not changed, the second lane candidate group may be the same as the previous lane candidate group detected inFIGS. 3A-3B. The controller160may also be configured to detect a two-lane road obtained using a combination of one and two-lane roads as the detected first lane candidate group and two and three-lane roads as the second lane candidate group as a final lane candidate group the vehicle V.

With reference toFIGS. 1 to 3B and 6A-6B, when a still object is not present on right and left side of a vehicle and a lane of a road of the vehicle is changed will now be described. As illustrated inFIG. 6B, the controller160may be configured to set object detection driving fields CA, LA, RA, and SA. The setting of the object detection driving fields CA, LA, RA, and SA is the same as those described with reference toFIG. 3A. The controller160may be configured to detect a first lane candidate group using the same method as a method for detection of the previous lane candidate group. InFIG. 6B, the controller160may be configured to detect a candidate group of roads on which the vehicle V is positioned as two, three, and four-lane roads, based on a vehicle object d present on the left of the vehicle V, and detect a candidate group of roads on which the vehicle V is positioned as one, two, and three-lane roads, based on a vehicle object e present on the right of the vehicle V. The first lane candidate group detected using a combination of the detected candidates may be two and three-lane roads.

Then, the controller160may be configured to detect a second lane candidate group. In particular, since the lane of the vehicle V is changed to the right by one lane compared with inFIG. 6A, the controller160may be configured to add one lane (+1) to the previous lane candidate group detected inFIGS. 3A-3Bto detect the second lane candidate group. Thus, the second lane candidate group may be three and four-lane roads. The controller160may also be configured to detect a three-lane road obtained using a combination of two and three-lane roads as the detected first lane candidate group and three and four-lane roads as the second lane candidate group as a final lane candidate group the vehicle V.

According to the aforementioned exemplary embodiments of the present invention, locations of lanes of a road, another vehicle, and a guard rail, adjacent to a vehicle, may be extracted using a GPS, an image sensor, and a radar sensor to detect a driving field of the vehicle. In addition, according to the aforementioned exemplary embodiments of the present invention, whether to change a lane of a road of the vehicle may be determined in real time to detect a driving field of the vehicle in real time.

Herein, an apparatus and method for recognizing a driving field of a vehicle have been described with regard to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. It should be interpreted that the scope of the present invention is defined by the following claims rather than the above-mentioned detailed description and all modifications or alterations deduced from the meaning, the scope, and equivalences of the claims are included in the scope of the present invention.