Patent Publication Number: US-2022212684-A1

Title: Integrated control apparatus and method for vehicle

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a continuation of Ser. No. 16/436,151 filed on Jun. 10, 2019, which claims the benefit of priority to Korean application number 10-2018-0084566, filed on Jul. 20, 2018, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates to an integrated control apparatus and method for a vehicle, and more particularly, to an integrated control apparatus and method for a vehicle, which control driving of the vehicle by performing integrated mediation on control commands generated by a plurality of systems provided in the vehicle. 
     An autonomous vehicle refers to a vehicle which recognizes a surrounding environment through external information detecting and processing functions during driving, autonomously determines a driving route, and drives independently by using its own power. Even if a driver does not operate a steering wheel, an accelerator pedal, or a brake, the autonomous vehicle may avoid collision with obstacles present on the driving route, and may drive to the destination for itself while adjusting the vehicle speed and direction according to a shape of a road. For example, acceleration may be performed on a straight road, and deceleration may be performed on a curved road, while changing the driving direction according to the curvature of the road. 
     A plurality of driver assistance systems (DASs) for assisting the driving of the driver are applied to such autonomous vehicles, and examples of the driver assistance systems include Advanced Smart Cruise Control (ASCC), Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS), Lane Keeping Assistance System (LKAS), High Beam Assistance (HBA), Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), and Blind Spot Detection (BSD). 
     Until now, the driver assistance system applied to the vehicle includes a few systems to which individual systems or single sensors are applied. In order to realize a high-level autonomous driving system in the future, a plurality of driver assistance systems using a plurality of sensor information must be integrated into one system. This requires an integrated architecture for controlling integrated driver assistance systems. In addition, since a redundancy problem may occur between the respective control commands generated by a plurality of driver assistance systems, there is a need for an integrated control system capable of integrating and mediating a plurality of control commands, and there is a need for a substitute logic capable of performing autonomous driving control of a vehicle in a state in which the integrated control system cannot be controlled due to extensive control operations. 
     The background art of the present invention is disclosed in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2012-0022305 (published on Mar. 12, 2012). 
     SUMMARY 
     Embodiments of the present invention are directed to an integrated control apparatus and method for a vehicle, which are capable of presenting an integrated architecture in which a plurality of driver assistance systems are integrated, and integrating and mediating a plurality of control commands generated by a plurality of driver assistance systems. 
     In one embodiment, an integrated control apparatus for a vehicle includes: a sensor unit including one or more sensing devices provided in the vehicle, wherein each of the one or more sensing devices provides driving environment information by sensing driving environments of the vehicle; an integrated control unit configured to generate one or more control commands for driving control of the vehicle based on one or more pieces of driving condition information of the vehicle received from a network of the vehicle and each driving environment information received from the sensor unit, mediate the generated control commands according to priorities determined based on driving safety of the vehicle and assigned to the respective control commands, and generate a final control command in which output response characteristic of the driving control according to the control command having higher priority is optimized. 
     The integrated control unit may include: a merging unit configured to generate merged driving condition information and merged driving environment information by merging the driving condition information and the driving environment information; and a control command generation unit configured to generate one or more control commands for driving control of the vehicle based on the merged driving condition information and the merged driving environment information. 
     The control command generation unit may include: a longitudinal control command generation unit configured to generate an acceleration/deceleration control command for avoiding a collision with an external object located in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, based on the merged driving condition information and the merged driving environment information; a transverse control command generation unit configured to generate a steering control command for avoiding a collision with an external object located in the transverse direction of the vehicle or preventing lane departure during driving, based on the merged driving condition information and the merged driving environment information; and a control command generation unit configured to generate a basic control command for real-time driving of the vehicle, based on the merged driving condition information and the merged driving environment information. 
     The integrated control unit may further include a control command integration unit configured to generate a final control command, in which output response characteristic of the driving control according to an emergency control command is optimized, by assigning higher priority to the emergency control command determined by one of the acceleration/deceleration control command transmitted from the longitudinal control command generation unit and the steering control command transmitted from the transverse control command generation unit as compared with the basic control command transmitted from the basic control command generation unit. 
     The control command integration unit may generate the final control command that minimizes a delay time until the start of the driving control according to the emergency control command in consideration of the signs of the emergency control command and the basic control command. 
     When the signs of the emergency control command and the basic control command are the same, the control command integration unit may generate the final control command by correcting the emergency control command, with the value of the basic control command at the time of generating the emergency control command as an initial value of the emergency control command. 
     When the signs of the emergency control command and the basic control command are different, the control command integration unit may generate the emergency control command as the final control command. 
     The integrated control apparatus may further include: a failure determination unit configured to determine failure or not of the integrated control unit by determining validity of at least one of the merged driving condition information, the merged driving environment information, the respective control commands, and the final control command; and a backup control unit configured to, when the failure determination unit determines that the integrated control unit is failed, generate a backup control command for driving control of the vehicle based on the driving environment information received from the sensor unit. 
     In another embodiment, an integrated control method for a vehicle includes: receiving, by an integrated control unit, one or more pieces of driving condition information of the vehicle and driving environment information generated by sensing driving environments of the vehicle by one or more sensing devices provided in the vehicle; generating, by the integrated control unit, one or more control commands for driving control of the vehicle based on the driving condition information and the driving environment information; and mediating, by the integrated control unit, each control command according to priority determined based on driving safety of the vehicle and assigned to each control command, and generating a final control command in which output response characteristic of the driving control according to a control command having higher priority is optimized. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an integrated control apparatus for a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the integrated control apparatus for the vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 3A through 3E and 4A through 4C  are exemplary diagrams for describing a process of generating a final control command by a control command integration unit in an integrated control apparatus for a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 5 and 6  are flowcharts for describing an integrated control method for a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, an integrated control apparatus and method for a vehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the drawings are not to precise scale and may be exaggerated in thickness of lines or sizes of components for descriptive convenience and clarity only. Furthermore, the terms as used herein are defined by taking functions of the invention into account and can be changed according to the custom or intention of users or operators. Therefore, definition of the terms should be made according to the overall disclosures set forth herein. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an integrated control apparatus for a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the integrated control apparatus for the vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, and  FIGS. 3 and 4  are exemplary diagrams for describing a process of generating a final control command by a control command integration unit in an integrated control apparatus for a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to  1  and  2 , an integrated control apparatus for a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention may include a sensor unit  100 , an integrated control unit  200 , a failure determination unit  300 , a backup control unit  400 , a vehicle individual control unit  500 . The sensor unit  100  may include one or more sensing devices. The integrated control unit  200  may include a merging unit  210 , a control command generation unit  220 , a control command integration unit  230 , and a display control unit  240 . The vehicle individual control unit  500  may include an engine control unit  510 , a braking control unit  520 , a steering control unit  530 , and a display unit  540 . 
     The sensor unit  100  may include one or more sensing devices provided in the vehicle. Each of the sensing devices may provide driving environment information by sensing driving environments of the vehicle. Here, each of the sensing devices included in the sensor unit  100  may employ a camera (for example, a front camera, a rear camera, a left side camera, and a right side camera) for capturing a peripheral image of the vehicle, and a radar (for example, a front radar and a side radar) for detecting an external object around the vehicle.  FIG. 2  illustrates an example in which the sensor unit  100  includes a front camera  110 , a front radar  120 , and a side radar  130 . Therefore, the driving environment information provided by the sensor unit  100  may include external object information and lane information respectively obtained by the camera and the radar. Meanwhile, the sensor unit  100  may provide state information of each sensor device together with driving environment information as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the integrated control apparatus for the vehicle in accordance with the present embodiment may receive one or more pieces of driving condition information of the vehicle from a network (for example, a Controller Area Network (CAN), Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST), FlexRay, or the like) applied to the vehicle. As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , one or more pieces of driving condition information may include driver operation information (for example, steering operation information, accelerator pedal operation information, brake pedal operation information, shift operation information, or the like), vehicle driving information (for example, current vehicle speed information, acceleration information, steering information, or the like), and vehicle specification information (for example, vehicle model information, vehicle width information, or the like). 
     The integrated control unit  200  may generate one or more control commands for the driving control of the vehicle based on one or more pieces of driving condition information of the vehicle received from the network of the vehicle and each driving environment information received from the sensor unit  100 , may mediate the generated control commands according to the priorities determined based on the driving safety of the vehicle and assigned to the respective control commands, and may generate the final control command in which the output response characteristic of the driving control according to the control command having the higher priority is optimized. 
     That is, the present embodiment improves a conventional method in which each driving environment information provided from the sensor unit  100  is transmitted to each individual control system (engine control system, braking control system, steering control system, or the like) applied to the vehicle and the driving of each vehicle is individually controlled. The present embodiment employs a configuration in which the integrated control unit  200  functioning as an upper integrated control system of each individual control system is employed to generates one or more control commands for driving control of the vehicle through the integrated control unit  200  and mediate each generated control command, thereby eliminating the redundancy problem between the respective control commands and improving the control performance of the autonomous vehicle. 
     Hereinafter, the operation of the integrated control unit  200  will be specifically described as its subordinate configuration. 
     The merging unit  210  may generate merged driving condition information and merged driving environment information by merging driving condition information from the network of the vehicle and driving environment information from the sensor unit  100 . 
     Specifically, as described above, each driving condition information transmitted from the network of the vehicle includes driver operation information (for example, steering operation information, accelerator pedal operation information, brake pedal operation information, shift operation information, or the like), vehicle driving information (for example, current vehicle speed information, acceleration information, steering information, or the like), and vehicle specification information (for example, vehicle model information, vehicle width information, or the like). The merging unit  210  may merge each driving condition information to generate merged driving condition information, which is information necessary for the control command generation unit  220  to generate the control command, as described later. As the method of merging each driving condition information, various methods may be employed. For example, the merged driving condition information may be generated by integrating the steering operation information selected from the driver operation information, the current vehicle speed information selected from the vehicle driving information, and the vehicle width information selected from the vehicle specification information. 
     In addition, as described above, the driving environment information transmitted from the sensor unit may include the external object information and the lane information obtained by the sensing device, that is, the camera and the radar, respectively. The merging unit  210  may merge each driving environment information to generate the merged driving environment information which is information necessary for the control command generation unit  220  to generate the control command as described later. As the method of merging each driving environment information, various methods may be employed. For example, the merged driving environment information may be generated by selecting and integrating the lane information obtained by the front camera  110  and the external object information obtained by the front radar  120  among the external object information and the lane information obtained by the front camera  110 , the external object information obtained by the front radar  120 , and the external object information obtained by the rear radar. The merged driving environment information generated according to the above-described method includes the external object information and the lane information. 
     The calculation load occurring during the process by which the merging unit  210  processes a plurality of information by merging the plurality of information, which is the basis of generation of the control command, into the merged driving condition information and the merged driving environment information, may be reduced and the accuracy of the autonomous driving control may be improved. 
     The control command generation unit  220  may generate one or more control commands for driving control of the vehicle based on the merged driving condition information and the merged driving environment information generated by the merging unit  210 . As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the control command generation unit  220  may include a longitudinal control command generation unit  221 , a transverse control command generation unit  222 , and a basic control command generation unit  223 . 
     The longitudinal control command generation unit  221  may generate an acceleration/deceleration control command for avoiding a collision with an external object located in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, based on the merged driving condition information and the merged driving environment information. 
     That is, the longitudinal control command generation unit  221  may grasp information such as the vehicle speed or the acceleration in the longitudinal direction of the current vehicle from the merged driving condition information, grasp may grasp an external object (for example, another vehicle, a pedestrian, a two-wheeled vehicle, or the like) located in the longitudinal direction (front-rear direction) of the vehicle from the merged driving environment information, may grasp a distance from the vehicle to the external object, and may generate the acceleration/deceleration control command for avoiding a collision with the external object located in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, based on the grasped information. The acceleration/deceleration control command means an acceleration control amount of the vehicle for avoiding a collision with an external object (that is, a deceleration control amount (negative acceleration) for avoiding a collision with a front external object or an acceleration control amount (negative acceleration) for avoiding a collision with a rear external object). 
     The transverse control command generation unit  222  may generate a steering control command for avoiding a collision with an external object located in the transverse direction of the vehicle or preventing lane departure during driving, based on the merged driving condition information and the merged driving environment information. 
     That is, the transverse control command generation unit  222  may grasp information such as the steering operation information of the driver and the vehicle speed or acceleration in the transverse direction of the current vehicle from the merged driving condition information, may grasp the external object (for example, another vehicle driving on the adjacent lane) or the lane located in the transverse direction (lateral direction) of the vehicle from the merged driving environment information, and may grasp the distance from the vehicle to the external object or the lane, and the transverse control command generation unit  222  may generate the steering control command for avoiding a collision with the external object located in the transverse direction of the vehicle or preventing lane departure during driving, based on the grasped information. The steering control command means a steering torque control amount of the vehicle for avoiding a collision with an external object or preventing lane departure (the sign thereof is changed according to a left-direction steering torque control amount or a right-direction steering torque control amount, and a left direction or a right direction). 
     The longitudinal control command generation unit  221  and the transverse control command generation unit  222  described above may be operable to generate the acceleration/deceleration control command and the steering control command only in a specific situation in which the external object is detected in the longitudinal direction or the transverse direction of the vehicle, or it is determined that there is a possibility of lane departure during driving. 
     The basic control command generation unit  223  may generate the basic control command for real-time driving of the vehicle based on the merged driving condition information and the merged driving environment information. 
     The basic control command generation unit  223  may be configured by a system applied to the vehicle for driver convenience, and may operate to generate the control command in real time (continuously) during a vehicle driving process, not generating the control command only in a specific situation in which emergency control is required, such as the longitudinal control command generation unit  221  and the transverse control command generation unit  222 . The basic control command generated by the basic control command generation unit  223  includes a basic acceleration/deceleration control command (for example, an acceleration/deceleration control command for coping with an overspeed camera, an acceleration/deceleration control command coping in a curve, an acceleration/deceleration control command for maintaining a distance from a preceding vehicle, or the like), a basic steering control command (for example, a steering control command for lane keeping and lane change during a vehicle real-time driving process), and a setting speed following control command. 
     According to the operations of the longitudinal control command generation unit  221 , the transverse control command generation unit  222 , and the basic control command generation unit  223  described above, the vehicle real-time driving may be controlled depending on the basic control command generated by the basic control command generation unit  223  during the vehicle real-time driving process. Emergency control of the vehicle may be performed according to the acceleration/deceleration control command or the steering control command generated by the longitudinal control command generation unit  221  or the transverse control command generation unit  222  In a specific situation in which an external object is detected in the longitudinal direction or the transverse direction of the vehicle or it is determined that there is a possibility of lane departure during driving. At this time, the mediation method between the basic control command, the acceleration/deceleration control command, and the steering control command is required. Hereinafter, the mediation method between the respective control commands will be mainly described with reference to the operation of the control command integration unit  230 . 
     The control command integration unit  230  may generate a final control command, in which the output response characteristic of the driving control according to the emergency control command is optimized, by assigning higher priority to the emergency control command determined by one of the acceleration/deceleration control command transmitted from the longitudinal control command generation unit  221  and the steering control command transmitted from the transverse control command generation unit  222 , as compared with the basic control command transmitted from the basic control command generation unit  223 . Hereinafter, the emergency control command means one of the acceleration/deceleration control command and the steering control command. 
     Specifically, as described above, the acceleration/deceleration control command and the steering control command are not generated in real time during the vehicle real-time driving process such as the basic control command, but are generated in a dangerous situation in which the external object is detected in the longitudinal direction or the transverse direction of the vehicle or it is determined that there is a possibility of lane departure during driving. Therefore, the acceleration/deceleration control command and the steering control command must have higher priority as compared with the basic control command, the emergency control command must be output as a final control command in a dangerous situation, instead of the basic control command. However, as described later, when only simple mediation is performed between the basic control command and the emergency control command (that is, the basic control command is simply replaced with the emergency control command), the output response characteristic of the driving control according to the emergency control command may be reduced. 
     Therefore, in the present embodiment, the control command integration unit  230  may generate the final control command that minimizes a delay time until the start of the driving control according to the emergency control command in consideration of each sign of the emergency control command and the basic control command (therefore, the output response characteristic of the driving control according to the emergency control command is optimized). 
     First, the operation of the control command integration unit  230  when the emergency control command and the basic control command have the same sign will be described with reference to  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 3A  illustrates an example in which the emergency control command having the same sign as the basic control command is generated at T active  when the basic control command is generated in real time, and  FIG. 3B  illustrates the basic control command and the emergency control command on the same axis. 
     At this time, as illustrated in  FIG. 3C , when the emergency control command is generated and output as the final control command by simply mediating the basic control command and the emergency control command, the final control command is output with the initial value of “0”. Therefore, the delay time occurs until the driving control according to the emergency control command is started. 
     In addition, as illustrated in  FIG. 3D , when the final control command is generated and output by selecting a larger value among the absolute values of the basic control command and the emergency control command, the delay time occurs until the start of the driving control according to the emergency control command is started, although smaller than in the case of  FIG. 3C . 
     Therefore, when the signs of the emergency control command and the basic control command are the same, the control command integration unit  230  may generate the final control command by correcting the emergency control command, with the value of the basic control command at the time of generating the emergency control command as the initial value of the emergency control command. 
     That is, as illustrated in  FIG. 3E , when the emergency control command is corrected with the value of the basic control command at T active  as the initial value of the emergency control command, the delay time in  FIGS. 3C and 3D  may be minimized to generate the final control command in which the output response characteristic of the driving control according to the emergency control command is optimized. 
     Next, the operation of the control command integration unit  230  when the signs of the emergency control command and the sign of the basic control command are different will be described with reference to  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 4A  illustrates an example in which the emergency control command having a different sign from the basic control command is generated at T active  when the basic control command is generated in real time. 
     In this case, when the signs of the emergency control command and the basic control command are the same, and when the final control command is generated by correcting the emergency control command, with the value of the basic control command at the time of generating the emergency control command as the initial value of the emergency control command, the delay time occurs until the driving control according to the emergency control command is started as illustrated in  FIG. 4B . 
     Therefore, when the signs of the emergency control command and the basic control command are different, the control command integration unit  230  may generate the emergency control command as the final control command. 
     That is, as illustrated in  FIG. 4C , by generating the emergency control command as the final control command after T active , the delay time in  FIG. 4B  may be minimized and the output response characteristic of the driving control according to the emergency control command may be optimized. 
     Hereinafter, the operation of the control command integration unit  230  will be described as a specific example. 
     The acceleration/deceleration control command and the steering control command respectively generated by the longitudinal control command generation unit  221  and the transverse control command generation unit  222  are denoted by A 1  and T 1 , respectively. The basic acceleration/deceleration control command (basic acceleration control amount) and the basic steering control command (basic steering torque control amount) generated by the basic control command generation unit  223  are denoted by A 2  and T 2 , respectively. The final acceleration/deceleration control command and the final steering control command generated as the final control command by the control command integration unit  230  are denoted by A 3  and T 3 , respectively. 
     First, a case where A 1  is generated and T 1  is not generated (that is, a case where the longitudinal control command generation unit  221  is activated and the transverse control command generation unit  222  is deactivated) will be described. 
     When the signs of A 1  and A 2  are the same (that is, when the signs of the accelerations are the same), A 1  is corrected so as to have the value of A 2  at the time of generating A 1  as the initial value, and the corrected A 1  is generated as A 3 . When the signs of A 1  and A 2  are different (that is, when the signs of accelerations are different), A 3  after the generation time point of A 1  is generated as A 1 . On the other hand, T 3  is maintained as T 2 . 
     Next, a case where both A 1  and T 1  are generated (that is, a case where both the longitudinal control command generation unit  221  and the transverse control command generation unit  222  are activated) will be described. 
     When the signs of A 1  and A 2  are the same (that is, when the signs of the accelerations are the same), A 1  is corrected so as to have the value of A 2  at the time of generating A 1  as the initial value, and the corrected A 1  is generated as A 3 . When the signs of A 1  and A 2  are different (that is, when the signs of accelerations are different), A 3  after the generation time point of A 1  is generated as A 1 . 
     When the signs of T 1  and T 2  are the same (that is, when the steering directions are the same), T 1  is corrected so as to have the value of T 2  at the time of generating T 1  as the initial value, and the corrected T 1  is generated as T 3 . When the signs of T 1  and T 2  are different (that is, when the steering directions are different), T 3  after the generation time point of T 1  is generated as T 1 . 
     Next, a case where T 1  is generated and A 1  is not generated (that is, a case where the transverse control command generation unit  222  is activated and the longitudinal control command generation unit  221  is deactivated) will be described. 
     When the signs of T 1  and T 2  are the same (that is, when the steering directions are the same), T 1  is corrected so as to have the value of T 2  at the time of generating T 1  as the initial value, and the corrected T 1  is generated as T 3 . When the signs of T 1  and T 2  are different (that is, when the steering directions are different), T 3  after the generation time point of T 1  is generated as T 1 . On the other hand, A 3  is maintained as A 2 . 
     When both A 1  and T 1  are not generated (that is, both the longitudinal control command generation unit  221  and the transverse control command generation unit  222  are deactivated), A 3  and T 3  are maintained as A 2  and T 2 , respectively. 
     On the other hand, when the acceleration control command or the steering control command is received from the longitudinal control command generation unit  221  or the transverse control command generation unit  222 , the control command integration unit  230  may generate warning information for notifying the driver of the dangerous situation, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . The warning information may be provided to the driver through the display unit  540  described later. 
     The control command integration unit  230  may transmit the generated final control command and the generated warning information to the vehicle network. The final control command and the warning information transmitted to the vehicle network may be transmitted to the vehicle individual control unit  500  described later and may be used for driving control of the vehicle and display control of the vehicle, respectively. 
     The display control unit  240  may generate a display control command for causing the final control command generated by the control command integration unit  230  to be processed and output in the form recognizable by the driver. A display unit described later may receive the display control command from the vehicle network and visually provide the final control command to the driver. Furthermore, the display control unit  240  may generate the display control command in consideration of the failure information generated by the failure determination unit  300  described later. Therefore, the display unit may receive the display control command considering the failure information and visually provide the driver with the failure state of the integrated control unit  200 . 
     The failure determination unit  300  may determine the failure or not of the integrated control unit  200  by determining the validity of at least one of the merged driving condition information, the merged driving environment information, the respective control commands (that is, the acceleration/deceleration control command, the steering control command, and the basic control command), and the final control command. That is, when at least one of the merged driving condition information, the merged driving environment information, the respective control commands, and the final control command has a value outside an expected range in a normal state, the failure determination unit  300  may determine that the integrated control unit  200  is failed. The expected range may be preset in the failure determination unit  300 . 
     When the failure determination unit  300  determines that the integrated control unit  200  is failed, the backup control unit  400  may generate a backup control command (including a backup acceleration/deceleration control command and a backup steering control command) for driving control of the vehicle based on each driving environment information received from the sensor unit  100 . That is, the backup control unit  400  may perform redundancy logic for driving control of the vehicle when the integrated control unit  200  is failed. The driving control accuracy by the backup control command (that is, the precision level of the backup control command) may be variously designed according to the designer&#39;s intention in consideration of the specification of the system. 
     The vehicle individual control unit  500  may receive the final control command generated by the control command integration unit  230  or the backup control command generated by the backup control unit  400  from the vehicle network, and may control the driving of the vehicle. That is, the driving, braking, and steering of the vehicle may be controlled through an engine control unit  510  (for example, an engine control unit (ECU)), a braking control unit  520  (for example, an electronic stability control (ESC)), and a steering control unit  530  (for example, a motor driven power steering (MDPS)), based on the final control command or the backup control command transmitted through the vehicle network. In addition, the final control command and the failure state of the integrated control unit  200  may be visually provided to the driver through the display unit  540  (for example, an LCD provided in an instrument panel), based on the display control command transmitted through the vehicle network. 
     The integrated control unit  200 , its subordinate configurations  210  to  240 , the failure determination unit  300 , the backup control unit  400 , the vehicle individual control unit  500 , and its subordinate configurations  510 - 540  described above may be implemented by using at least one of Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, and electronic units for performing other functions. 
       FIGS. 5 and 6  are flowcharts for describing an integrated control method for a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , an integrated control method for a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention may include: step S 100  of receiving, by the integrated control unit  200 , one or more pieces of driving condition information of the vehicle and driving environment information generated by sensing driving environment of the vehicle by one or more sensing devices provided in the vehicle; step S 300  of generating, by the integrated control unit  200 , one or more control commands for the driving control of the vehicle based on each driving condition information and each driving environment information; and step S 400  mediating, by the integrated control unit  200 , each control command according to the priority determined based on the driving safety of the vehicle and assigned to each control command, and generating the final control command in which the output response characteristic of the driving control is optimized according to the control command having high priority. 
     The integrated control method for the vehicle in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to  FIG. 6 . First, the integrated control unit  200  receives one or more pieces of driving condition information of the vehicle and driving environment information generated by sensing driving environment of the vehicle by one or more sensing devices provided in the vehicle (S 100 ). 
     Then, the integrated control unit  200  generates the merged driving condition information and the merged driving environment information by merging the driving condition information and the driving environment information (S 200 ). 
     Then, the integrated control unit  200  generates one or more control commands for driving control of the vehicle based on the merged driving condition information and the merged driving environment information (S 300 ). 
     In step S 300 , the integrated control unit  200  generates an acceleration/deceleration control command for avoiding a collision with an external object located in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, a steering control command for avoiding a collision with an external object located in the transverse direction of the vehicle or preventing lane departure during driving, and a basic control command for real-time driving of the vehicle, based on the merged driving condition information and the merged driving environment information. 
     Then, the integrated control unit  200  mediates each control command according to the priority determined based on the driving safety of the vehicle and assigned to each control command, and generates the final control command in which the output response characteristic of the driving control according to the control command having higher priority is optimized (S 400 ). 
     In step S 400 , the integrated control unit  200  assigns higher priority to the emergency control command determined by any one of the acceleration/deceleration control command and the steering control command as compared with the basic control command, and generates the final control command in which the output response characteristic of the driving control according to the emergency control command is optimized. That is, the integrated control unit  200  generates the final control command that minimizes the delay time until the start of the driving control according to the emergency control command in consideration of the signs of the emergency control command and the basic control command. 
     Specifically, in step S 400 , when the signs of the emergency control command and the basic control command are the same, the integrated control unit  200  generates the final control command by correcting the emergency control command, with the value of the basic control command at the time of generating the emergency control command as the initial value of the emergency control command, and when the signs of the emergency control command and the basic control command are different, the integrated control unit  200  generates the emergency control command as the final control command. 
     Then, the failure determination unit  300  determines the failure or not of the integrated control unit  200  by determining the validity of at least one of the merged driving condition information, the merged driving environment information, the respective control commands, and the final control command (S 500 ). 
     When the failure determination unit  300  determines that the integrated control unit  200  is not failed (S 600 ), the vehicle individual control unit  500  controls the driving of the vehicle based on the final control command (S 700 ). 
     When the failure determination unit  300  determines that the integrated control unit  200  is failed (S 600 ), the backup control unit  400  generates the backup control command for driving control of the vehicle based on each driving environment information (S 800 ), and the vehicle individual control unit  500  controls the driving of the vehicle based on the backup control command (S 900 ). 
     As described above, in accordance with the present embodiment, it is possible to improve adaptability to the high-level autonomous driving system by providing the integrated architecture in which the plurality of driver assistance systems are integrated, it is possible to eliminate the redundancy problem between control commands by integrating and mediating the plurality of control commands generated by the plurality of driver assistance systems, and it is possible to improve the control performance of the autonomous vehicle. 
     In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, it is possible to improve adaptability to a high-level autonomous driving system by providing an integrated architecture that integrates a plurality of driver assistance systems, and it is possible to eliminate the redundancy problem between the respective control commands and improve the control performance of the autonomous vehicle by integrating and mediating a plurality of control commands generated by a plurality of driver assistance systems. 
     Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.