Patent Description:
Vehicles need to drive safely, also considering challenging use cases related to tire-to-road friction. This is important for manual, semi-autonomous and fully autonomous vehicles. Driving safely in treacherous road friction conditions is challenging for both human and automated drivers.

<CIT> describes a non-slip control device which improves stability in road surface conditions with in particular different friction conditions of the road surface areas, with which the left and right wheels are in contact.

<CIT> discloses a driver assistance system configured to receive road friction data from a wheelset with an indication of a difference in friction between a left and a right wheel and to adjust the steering or the speed of the truck based on the road friction data and a driver reaction to a braking action.

<CIT> describes to control brake pressure in a wheel brake based on the friction of the road. The control is based on detecting a low friction side and a low friction side of the vehicle, and a stability index of the driving status of the vehicle.

<CIT> discloses a vehicle which includes at least one infrared source emitting light at first and second wavelengths corresponding to a water-absorption wavelength and an ice-absorption wavelength respectively. The vehicle further includes a plenoptic camera system configured to detect a backscatter intensity of the first and second wavelengths and generate a depth map that indicates water or ice on a road in response to the backscatter intensity associated with one of the wavelengths being less than a threshold intensity.

A road condition may be treacherous when the friction characteristics are different in different parts of the roadway. Tracks and patches are examples of road conditions which may be treacherous.

Tracks may be for example wet lane markings, wheel tracks in snow, water filled tracks, thick piles of snow between wheel tracks, tracks filled with water, loose gravel outside wheel tracks (especially in spring time), dirt road with loose gravel outside the wheel tracks. In these track conditions, there is a difference in road friction depending on where the vehicle is positioned laterally on the road.

Examples of patches may be for example spilled oil, ice or sand in the road intersection only etc. In patch conditions, there is a difference in road friction depending on where the vehicle is positioned laterally and longitudinally on the road.

These conditions often lead to longer stopping distances, slower take-off from a stationary mode, and stability problems. The latter is prominently in case of different friction between the left and right sides of the vehicle, i.e. split-mu, and is exaggerated if the vehicle has a degraded brake system, e.g. two-wheel braking only.

Therefore, there is a need to at least mitigate or solve these issues.

An objective of the invention is therefore to obviate at least one of the above disadvantages and to provide improved handling of conditions of the road on which a vehicle travels.

According to a first aspect, the object is achieved by a method performed by a vehicle system for handling conditions of a road on which a vehicle travels. The vehicle system detects that a first part of the road has a first condition which is different from a second condition of a second part of the road. The vehicle system estimates friction of the first part, and evaluates the estimated friction. The vehicle system determines that the vehicle's motion should be adjusted based on that a result of the evaluation indicates that the estimated friction of the first part of the road affects the vehicle's expected motion. The vehicle system initiates adjustment of the vehicle's motion on the road as determined. Furthermore, a map of a plurality of roads is created indicating the first parts which have friction that affects the vehicle's expected motion, wherein the first parts are patches or tracks, wherein the map is accessible to a plurality of vehicles by a cloud computer adapted to distribute the map.

According to a second aspect, the object is achieved by a vehicle system for handling vehicle feature information, the system being adapted to carry out the above method.

According to a third aspect, the object is achieved by a vehicle comprising the vehicle system.

Since the result of the evaluation indicates that the estimated friction of the first part of the road affects the vehicle's expected motion, the adjustment of the vehicle's motion can be initiated so improved handling of conditions of the road on which a vehicle travels is obtained, for example by obtaining appropriate driving strategies and detection for treacherous road condition.

Embodiments herein afford many advantages, of which a non-exhaustive list of examples follows:
An advantage of the embodiments herein is that it is possible to avoid planning backup or evasive manoeuvres where there is a risk for the vehicle's tires to come into contact with tracks of lower friction during a long time period.

Another advantage of the embodiments herein is that safety is improved since the vehicle's motion can be adjusted so that it avoids positioning the vehicle at the road part which has low friction. This also makes the vehicle easier to steer.

The embodiments herein are not limited to the features and advantages mentioned above. A person skilled in the art will recognize additional features and advantages upon reading the following detailed description.

The embodiments herein will now be further described in more detail in the following detailed description by reference to the appended drawings illustrating the embodiments and in which:.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale and the dimensions of certain features may have been exaggerated for the sake of clarity. Emphasis is instead placed upon illustrating the principle of the embodiments herein.

The embodiments herein relate to detecting treacherous road friction conditions and to providing safe strategies for driving under such conditions.

<FIG> is a schematic drawing illustrating a vehicle <NUM> located on a road. The vehicle <NUM> may be any arbitrary vehicle, for instance a car, truck, lorry, van, bus, motorcycle etc. The vehicle <NUM> may be at least partly autonomous or self-driven, it may be completely autonomous or self-driven, or it may be non-autonomous, i.e. manual etc. The vehicle <NUM> may be standing still or it may be moving with a velocity and in a direction.

The road may be for example a highway, a city street, a gravel road etc. The road surface may be of asphalt, concrete, gravel, cobble stone, bricks, etc. The road may have one, two or more lanes. In <FIG>, the road is exemplified with two lanes which are separated by a longitudinal road marking. The longitudinal direction is in a y-direction as illustrated in the coordinate system in <FIG>, the y-direction is also direction in which the vehicle <NUM> travels. A lateral direction is the x-direction indicated in the coordinate system.

The vehicle <NUM> comprises an image capturing device <NUM>. The image capturing device <NUM> is adapted to capture images of at least the outdoor surroundings of the vehicle <NUM>, e.g. the road. The image capturing device <NUM> may be a camera, a radar, a lidar, etc. The image capturing device is exemplified in <FIG> to be positioned at the front of the vehicle <NUM>, e.g. at the bumper. However, any other suitable position may be applicable in which the image capturing device <NUM> is able to capture images of the surroundings of the vehicle <NUM>. The image capturing device <NUM> may be a front-looking device capturing images of the surroundings ahead of the vehicle <NUM>, the image capturing device <NUM> may be a front and side-ways looking device capturing images of the surroundings ahead and on the side of the vehicle <NUM> etc..

As seen in <FIG>, the road comprises at least one first part <NUM> and at least one second part <NUM>. The first part <NUM> of the road has a first condition which is different from a second condition <NUM> of the second part of the road. The first part <NUM> is illustrated with dotted filling in <FIG>, and the second part <NUM> is illustrated with blank filling. The first part <NUM> may be tracks or patches, as defined earlier. In <FIG>, the first part <NUM> is exemplified as snow between the wheel tracks. The second part <NUM> is exemplified as being a clean road surface not being covered by snow. The road with the first and second parts <NUM> having different friction characteristics may be referred to as a split-mu road.

<FIG> illustrates examples of other types of the first part <NUM>. Reference number 105a illustrates an example where the first part <NUM> is ice, reference number 105b illustrates an example where the first part <NUM> is gravel outside the wheel tracks, reference number 105c illustrates an example where the first part <NUM> is spilled oil and reference number 105d illustrates an example where the first part <NUM> is thick piles of snow between wheel tracks. Note that these are only examples of first parts <NUM>, and that any other types of first parts <NUM> are equally applicable.

<FIG> illustrates a method performed by a vehicle system for handling conditions of a road on which the vehicle <NUM> travels. The vehicle <NUM> may comprise at least one brake on each lateral side of the vehicle <NUM>. The vehicle system may be comprised in the vehicle <NUM>, or the vehicle system may be an external vehicle system adapted to communicate with the vehicle <NUM>. The vehicle <NUM> may be a non-autonomous vehicle, a partly autonomous vehicle or a fully autonomous vehicle. The method comprises at least one of the following steps, which steps may be performed in any suitable order than described below:.

The vehicle system detects that the first part <NUM> of the road has a first condition which is different from a second condition <NUM> of a second part of the road. The first part <NUM> may have a lower friction than the second part <NUM>. The first condition may be at least one of: patches and tracks. The detection may be done in different ways.

For example, the detection may be performed based on at least one image of the road obtained by an image capturing device <NUM> comprised in the vehicle <NUM>. Thus, the detection may be visual detection, i.e. detection of different visual characteristics between the first and second parts <NUM>, <NUM>. The image capturing device <NUM> may obtain one image or it may obtain two or more images over time.

In another example, the detection may be performed based on obtained measurements from a friction sensor associated with at least one of the vehicle's wheels.

The vehicle system estimates friction of the first part <NUM>. The estimation may be performed based on the detection in step <NUM>. The vehicle system may also estimate the friction of the second part <NUM>.

The term split-mu may be used in association a road having a first and second part <NUM>, <NUM> with different conditions, i.e. friction characteristics. Split-mu may also be referred to as split friction, and refers to a road condition that occurs when the friction differs between the first and second parts <NUM>, <NUM> of the road.

In one example where the first part <NUM> is a road marking, the friction may be estimated by using the measured reflectivity of road markings over time. New road markings may be detected by measuring their reflectivity in absolute numbers over time, i.e. compare with previous measurement to detect differences. Wet road markings are much more slippery when they are new due to lots of glass beads on the marking surface.

In another example, the first part <NUM> is a thick pile of snow between wheel tracks and the second part <NUM> is a part without snow, i.e. the first and second parts <NUM>, <NUM> have different visual characteristics. In such example, images captured by the image capturing device <NUM> may be used to detect tracks and/or patches with different visual characteristics. The vehicle motion may be actively controlled to estimate friction in the detected tracks and/or patches. This may be coordinated using a fleet of vehicles to build a map over tracks and patches, which will be described in more detail in step <NUM> below.

The friction may be estimated by obtaining friction data from a friction sensor, for example comprised in at least one wheel of the vehicle <NUM>.

The vehicle system evaluates the estimated friction. The result of the evaluation may indicate that the estimated friction is associated with that the first condition is a treacherous condition. A treacherous condition may be a condition that has a lower friction than the second part <NUM>, and a treacherous condition affects the vehicle's expected motion when the vehicle <NUM> is located at the first part <NUM> having the treacherous condition. Using other words, the estimated friction of the first part <NUM> may lead to that the vehicle <NUM> deviates from its planned, normal or desired vehicle trajectory. The road may affect the vehicle's expected motion for example in that it is difficult to steer the vehicle <NUM> due to the low friction due to e.g. ice.

The vehicle system determines that the vehicle's motion should be adjusted when the result of the evaluation indicates that the estimated friction of the first part <NUM> of the road affects the vehicle's expected motion. The expected motion is a motion that has been previously determined. The motion to be adjusted is the future motion of the vehicle <NUM> which it should have when taking the first part into account, instead of the expected motion.

The vehicle system may determine the vehicle's adjusted motion. Using other words, determining how the vehicle's motion should be adjusted, i.e. an adjusted trajectory. Thus, the road condition information may be applied for vehicle navigation.

The adjusted motion may be such that vehicle <NUM> is avoided to be located at the first part <NUM> of the road which is considered to have treacherous road friction conditions. The adjusted motion may be such that the vehicle <NUM> avoids backup/evasive manoeuvres where there is a risk for the vehicle's tires to come into contact with a first part <NUM> having a lower friction during a long time period, and/or the adjusted motion may be such that the manoeuvre is kept on the side of the tracks or the racks are put between the wheels. If this is not possible, the motion may be adjusted by reducing the vehicle's speed to manage longer stopping distance etc. It may also comprise to adjust the vehicle's lateral position when the first part <NUM> is detected to find a second part <NUM> with higher friction. The adjusted motion may prevent the vehicle <NUM> from stopping on the first part <NUM> to ensure maximum grip when taking off. It may further comprise to plan straight trajectories when crossing a first part <NUM>, e.g. thick piles of snow between wheel tracks, with very low friction. Steering when passing the first part <NUM> will most likely not be possible or risk causing instability.

The vehicle's motion may be adjusted so that the activated brakes are on the opposite side compared to the first part <NUM> of the road.

The vehicle's motion may be adjusted by adjusting at least one of: the vehicle's lateral position, the vehicle's longitudinal position and the vehicle's speed.

Initiating adjustment of the vehicle's motion may also involve determining a trajectory which the vehicle <NUM> should follow in order to avoid being located in the first part <NUM> of the road.

As mentioned earlier, the vehicle <NUM> may comprise at least one brake on each side of the vehicle <NUM>. The side may be a lateral or longitudinal side. The vehicle system may determine on which side the vehicle's wheel brakes should be activated. The side may be for example right or left side, front or rear side etc..

For example, the activated brake should be for at least one wheel which is located on the same side as the high friction road part when differential braking is used to steer the vehicle <NUM>. Consequently, the brakes on the opposite or other side should not be activated, or activated with an activation magnitude that is smaller than for the high friction part. The brakes of the wheels located on the high friction road part may be activated with a first magnitude and the brakes of the wheels located on a low friction side may be activated with a second magnitude. The first magnitude may be larger than the second magnitude.

This may also be referred to as split-mu braking and may be described as the vehicle <NUM> brakes on the road with a left-right asymmetrical friction coefficient. As an example, the split-mu road comprises a first part <NUM> being a strip of ice on one side of the road, and a second part <NUM> being dry asphalt on the other side of the road. A heavy braking on the brakes on both sides of a road having a split-mu surface may cause the vehicle <NUM> to skid or spin or lose the steering control. However, step <NUM>, only activates the brakes on one side to avoid skid, spinning or losing the steering.

Below are some examples of combinations of brakes that may be activated:.

The vehicle system initiates adjustment of the vehicle's motion on the road as determined. The initiating may involve sending instructions to the vehicle's control system to start adjusting the motion, it may involve providing instructions to a user of the vehicle <NUM> to manually start adjusting the motion etc. As a consequence of step <NUM>, the vehicle's motion is adjusted, manually or automatically. The motion may be adjusted by for example keeping the maneuver on the side of the tracks or maneuver the vehicle <NUM> so that the racks are located between the wheels. If this is not possible, the speed may for example be reduced to manage longer stopping distance.

The vehicle system may create a map of a plurality of roads indicating the first parts <NUM> which has friction that affects the vehicle's expected motion. Thus, the vehicle system may create a map over tracks and patches of different kinds. The map may be accessible by the vehicle <NUM>, it may be accessible by two or more vehicles <NUM>. The map may be visible to the user of the vehicle <NUM> e.g. on a display unit associated with the vehicle <NUM>. The map may be accessible by a cloud computer adapted to distribute the map to a plurality of vehicles <NUM>.

The vehicle system may provide, to two or more vehicles <NUM>, information indicating that the first part <NUM> is associated with the estimated friction that affects the vehicle's expected motion. Consequently, the lateral and/or longitudinal position of one or several vehicles <NUM> may be adjusted to avoid the treacherous first part <NUM>, and to also collectively estimate the friction in and out of tracks.

The embodiments herein may be used for manual or autonomous driving of the vehicle <NUM>, e.g. fully-autonomous driving or supervised automation, e.g. pilot assist. The embodiments herein may also be used in several active safety and user assistance features. For example, the embodiments herein may be used in automatic recovery from split-mu surfaces, using knowledge on where to steer to get back on a high-mu surface. Prevention of loss of control on a first part <NUM>, either by longitudinal/lateral assistance to avoid entering the first part <NUM> or by assisting the user of the vehicle <NUM> to keep the vehicle <NUM> on a straight path while passing a low mu surface. Automatic speed reduction before entering a first part exemplified as a low mu surface to prevent loss of control, e.g. aqua planning on high speed roads. The embodiments herein may also be applied in collision avoidance systems using path planning for combined braking and steering to stay away from a first part <NUM> being exemplified with a low mu surfaces to prevent more collisions with other vehicles on the road.

The embodiments herein are not limited to the above described embodiments. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used. Therefore, the above embodiments should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims. A feature from one embodiment may be combined with one or more features of any other embodiment.

It should be emphasized that the term comprises/comprising when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof. It should also be noted that the words "a" or "an" preceding an element do not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The terms "consisting of" or "consisting essentially of" may be used instead of the term comprising.

The term "adapted to" used herein may also be referred to as "arranged to", "configured to", "capable of" or "operative to".

Claim 1:
A method performed by a vehicle system for handling conditions of a road on which a vehicle (<NUM>) travels, the method comprising:
detecting (<NUM>) that a first part (<NUM>) of the road has a first condition which is different from a second condition (<NUM>) of a second part of the road;
estimating (<NUM>) friction of the first part (<NUM>);
evaluating (<NUM>) the estimated friction;
determining (<NUM>) that the vehicle's motion should be adjusted when a result of the evaluation indicates that the estimated friction of the first part (<NUM>) of the road affects the vehicle's expected motion; and
initiating (<NUM>) adjustment of the vehicle's motion on the road as determined,
the method being characterized by
creating (<NUM>) a map of a plurality of roads indicating the first parts which have friction that affects the vehicle's expected motion, wherein the first parts are patches or tracks, wherein the map is accessible to a plurality of vehicles by a cloud computer adapted to distribute the map.